rebeccac

The July 8 sailing had around 1100 sailors.

My biggest piece of dining advice is to book Test Kitchen when you have plenty of time. It is a long meal (somewhere between 2 and 3 hours). Very tasty and definitely worth doing, but unless you are a very light eater, you may still be hungry afterward. We ended up sharing a pizza afterward. I had wanted the ramen, but I had not realized that at night, they switch from their regular menu to a single option, which that night was a duck ramen which I did not want since I don't eat meat.

During our recent cruise, the cost was $500 per cabana. Since we are early risers and got to the beach club shortly after we could disembark, we ended up being the only people in the rockstar area for at least one hour, so a cabana would not have been worth the cost for DH and me as we had our pick of loungers. Even after that, it filled in very slowly.

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if you replace one of the names with someone who wants to travel solo and then the original person still on the booking is just a "no show"?

We're only sailing as a couple, so the cabanas were completely out of the question for us price-wise, but just out of curiosity, if you book a cabana, they sell out (which all cabanas are gone for our December cruise) and then find a lower price, are you guaranteed to get the new price or is it possible that other people have since gotten on a wait list and you could loose your cabana all together once you cancel your original booking?

The only time I even consider it, is if the price is REALLY close to the cost of purchasing the internet. Even then it is still generally going to be significantly cheaper to just buy one internet package with however many devices you think your family will use at once.

Personally, we avoid the pizza at Sorrento's.

You may also want to ask this question/do a search in the Florida homeports forum.

Somewhere around 48 hours before your cruise, you will be locked out of your cruise planner, so just be sure that whatever you do (or cancel and re-do) happens before that time.

I think the VV tram will drop off at a few locations. On our return from the beach club, the tram did stop at a shopping area.

While there were other things that we enjoyed, the food is the number one reason to at least give VV a try.

Of course, those 1000 people are not just in the US and due to some sort of local laws, there were a certain amount of slots that had to go only to Spain (maybe 50, but I can't quite remember).

All of the cruise lines are taking a while to completely process refunds. We cancelled a Royal Caribbean cruise in December. We got the cruise fare as a FCC in about two months and some of the pre-purchased items were refunded quickly, but the port fees and taxes took 5 months and there are still 2 items we pre-purchased that have still not been refunded (that will involve yet another call as soon as I am able). 14 days is nothing about now. Yes, all lines should be quicker. Patience is the word.

We just got off the Scarlet Lady. I will agree with others that every restaurant is "specialty restaurant" quality, but for no extra charge. The casino is smallish, but the nice thing (for me) is that it is non-smoking (there is a smoking room nearby if needed). VV doesn't really have mini-suites, but you may be able to get some of the starter rockstar suites for close to the same price range which would definitely come with more perks than a mini-suite. They didn't have a stand-up comedian, but there was a nice mix of different types of shows/music. I would have spent a huge chunk of my time in the hammock on our balcony if I hadn't gotten a really bad sunburn day 3, but at least I did get to try it out before that. We have sailed Princess and really enjoyed ourselves, and we wouldn't hesitate to book either Princess or VV.

Although, the nice part about the two ships in the Caribbean from Florida in the winter is that Scarlet will be doing the shorter itineraries and Valiant will be doing longer ones. We just came off a 5 day on Scarlet and it was not nearly long enough.

I misunderstood. I thought the original cancellation was due to the pandemic.

From Royal's website: The following policy applies to sailings that were cancelled as part of our COVID-19 operations suspension: You will receive one Future Cruise Credit combining the two amounts: 100% of your original Future Cruise Credit amount and 125% of any additional cruise fare funds paid on the reservation. The additional 25% issued as an FCC can be redeemed on any sailing departing on or before December 31, 2022 or one year from the original sailing date, whichever is later. The remaining FCC amount will not have an expiration date. So, it looks like at least the original amount paid will not expire, only the additional 25% added on.

I thought it applied to all FCC????

Royal has changed their policy and FCC no longer expire.

We are sailing on the Symphony in December. When I first looked at MTD reservations the only thing available was 9:15pm. Since that time, there have slowly been more times added (at least on certain days). My suggestion is to keep looking regularly as things have a tendency to change. Worst case scenario, is to try to make reservations the first thing after boarding the ship.

There will be longer sailings in the Caribbean once the Valiant Lady finishes up her season in Europe.

Or you can order the proctored home tests which cost anywhere between $25 and $35 per test depending on how many you order.

On the Virgin website, it says the test must take place "in the 48 hours prior to boarding". I know most cruise lines are not sticking to a strict 48 hours, but more like anytime 2 days prior. Since I sail on a Friday, does that mean I can do the test anytime Wednesday or do I need to wait until 48 hours prior to my boarding time?

One of the nice things about Royal is that (unlike Princess) you can use OBC to make purchases before you board.

I don't know for sure (we board in 9 days), but as far as I am aware the bands for regular rooms are red and for all suites are black. So, likely they will scan you band, at least until the bartenders get to know you. 🙂