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What are the smaller lines you have tried or are going to try?

We are getting ready to take our second VV long weekend cruise to give them a second chance. We have not boarded yet and the status match is a sticking point. PROS from the first cruise: Food was fantastic!!! Adult only was awesome. Loved the private beach club experience. Enjoyed that there is an onboard drag queen. Liked the Wednesday to Sunday itinerary. CONS from the first cruise: The dining reservation system (one night we could not get a dinner reservation and the staff could give a flip -- no help). Crew was not at all customer service oriented nor interested in solving anything -total blank stares, did not know how to help with wifi - I would not have been shocked if they said "ok boomer" even though we are not boomers. Pool on board was not great. Cabins are Ikea-ish. WE ARE: Empty-nesters in our 50's. Extremely busy work life which equals plenty of discretionary income to spend on travel & experiences, but we want/need no hassles (such as a messed up dining reservation system and crew with an attitude). STATUS MATCH: This is an issue I am about to speak with VV about AGAIN for our upcoming cruise. They granted my husband the match and not me. (We have the same status everywhere else - cruise lines, car rental, hotels etc..) Why does this matter... he has an early embarkation perk and I do not. They will not make him the primary on the reservation and have the attitude of "oh well -maybe it will work out at the port but we can't guarantee". We have a 3:45 embarkation and he has the ability to get on well before this time. To me, this seems like a very easy no cost fix that would greatly reduce my agita...just change our embarkation time to an earlier embarkation to honor my husband's status. The early embarkation is the only perk he has that I care about...not the $100 drink credit...the early embarkation which is free to them to handle, and they just do not seem to get it.

Agree! One of our cruise rituals is to have a Mudslide as our first drink onboard. We only drink them on a cruise ship.

Many thanks for all for the answers! Very helpful!

It has been awhile since our last cruise with Celebrity. We just did our check in for an upcoming cruise and were assigned a late check-in time. We are staying in a Retreat cabin. We thought we go to the port (Ft Lauderdale) at 11am - which is now several hours before our assigned check in time. Has Celebrity been sticking to the assigned check in times? Should we reach out to Celebrity to get our time changed or just show up when we choose?

A few questions for the folks who have sailed with Margaritaville at Sea! We are seasoned cruisers with status with Celebrity & RCCL. Booked Paradise at Sea for a quick weekend getaway in a week or so - Friday departure. Have looked through the reviews on this site. The ship is smaller & older but that happens to be what we like in a ship. We understand it is a quick 2 night trip and that it might have a budget feel. We are ok with this as we are local and this is just an option for a weekend away vs driving to the Keys or Orlando etc. We booked an ocean view cabin on deck five and we purchased the License to Chill package. Questions: 1- The package includes a dinner at JWB Steakhouse as well as a SPA credit. Is it hard to get reservations at either place? Can they be made ahead of time or only once on board? 2- Does the ship clear out while in port? We enjoy a quiet ship while in port. Wondering if other passengers feel the same and the ship is still busy while in port. 3- SPA - any thoughts or suggestions about the spa treatments? 4- JWB Steakhouse - any thoughts or suggestions about this restaurant both for dinner and breakfast? Thanks in advance!

One of my favorites - the white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies. The last two cruises they did not serve them - I missed them.

The place where we noticed the adults only aspect the most was at the Bimini Beach Club - it was very nice to have only adults in the pools and beach. The pizza was very good. Grab & Go boxes - awesome. No announcements nor photographers - another subtle difference. A new spin on entertainment - a drag show at sea - seriously fun!

Thus the reason for a place such as Cruise Critic where cruisers can share their opinions! The Celebrity cruises we have been on have not been filled with senile old ladies cruising solo and we sail with Celebrity a lot. The last few Celebrity cruises we experienced many families with children running wild thus the reason for giving VV a try! It comes down to preferences. What makes for a nice vacation for some may not work for others. VV was not for us but I am glad it is wonderful for others.

We are just off Scarlet Lady this morning and said this very thing on the drive home. We are avid cruisers with Celebrity as our line of choice. We were intrigued by the Adult Only aspect of VV. We toyed with the idea of purchasing the future cruise offer while on board and decided not to. We may give VV another try but did not want to be boxed in with having to go again.

Razzle Dazzle bacon is amazing! Their Cobb Salad (on dinner and breakfast menu) is also very good. The French toast encased in multicolored sprinkles was not good. We are just off Scarlet Lady with very mixed feelings about the experience. It seems the place to get an omelet at any time is The Galley. Overall, we felt breakfast was a weak spot in the food lineup. Best meal we had was dinner at The Wake. We considered it the best meal we have ever had on a cruise ship and it rivaled meals at high-end land-based steak houses.

Agree! Always ask. This morning at The Wake one of our party only wanted scrambled eggs and an English muffin. He ordered Steak & Eggs - hold the steak and double up the eggs. The English muffin was not on the menu, but they were able to provide.

We had breakfast at The Wake and then departed. We got off the ship after 9am which is later than we have ever been off of a cruise ship. There were 7 other ships in port. There was a slight delay with Virgin getting in to port. Getting off the ship was a breeze. The garage was chaos.

We just got off of Scarlet Lady this morning. Bingo with the Diva did not take place on our cruise. It was crazy getting out of the port this morning. Took about 45 minutes to get out of the garage. We have never seen the port so busy.

We are on the April 5th sailing. Wondering if it is going to crowded or a light sailing. How would we go about finding out? Having some anxiety about dinner reservations, show reservations etc... We were not able to do anything with the APP and are hoping that once on board it will all work out.

We have been very loyal to RCL & Celebrity. Giving VV a try. A few questions... 1- Trying to make reservations for dinner. I am not able to get into two of the restaurants we really want to try. Since they seem to be booked - is there any chance of being a walk up? 2- Are reservations needed for breakfast & lunch? 3- The whole reservation concept is stressing me out a bit (what is I change my mind / what is we dont want to eat at that time etc..) For those who have sailed with VV - does it all work out? I have not ever heard of anyone starving on a cruise but at the same time I would like to know we can try the restaurants that we want.