kwokpot

That's assuming you have a Beverage Package or high enough loyalty status. Otherwise all the beverages there have an additional charge. The food choices are indeed complimentary.

The Silent disco is a dance party where you wear headphones to listen to the music you'll be dancing to. On the headphones there's a switch to change the music to 3 different channels, with each channel having its' own color that the headphone displays. When you go to the party you won't hear any music, but see people with headphones on with different color lights dancing and singing with the music they hear. It's fun to see people reacting to the different music channels and if you see some other people enjoying a particular song you'll notice what color channel they're listening to and switch your headphone to match what they're listening too.

I so want to try Prima class! My personal take on Virgin is take Carnival, move it up a couple of notches, delete kids and family, and you have Virgin. It's definitely not NCL Prima. As I was researching Virgin's development and marketing towards Millennials the information I was reading reminded me of something I read about legacy hotel companies and developing new Hotel Brands to attract Millennials. If you read this article on Marriott's Moxy brand you could literally substitute Virgin Voyages and the article would read exactly the same and be on point. https://globetrender.com/2018/02/09/moxy-hotels-fun-hunters/

I've done 16 on NCL (not recently, though) and 22 on Celebrity. Young 60 here (Enjoy dance and music festivals)Celebrity's nightlife is most assuredly more tame than NCL. The E Class is my favorite cruiseship design and agree there's a wider demographic than other Celebrity ships but the nightlife is tame. The Silent Disco usually is the most attended nighttime party. Deck parties are sparsely attended, very sparsely. The Club on E-Class can get an OK crowd but nothing like Bliss on NCL. Agreed that late night eats is not a thing on Celebrity. Celebrity is a make your own fun cruiseline. Poolside activities consists of trivia, corn hole tossing, golf putting, volleyball, pinpong, dance lessons. If the OP is looking for a new cruiseline that's young and fun I would highly recommend Virgin. Just finished my first Virgin, a four nighter, and loved it. The deck party was the best put on by any mainstream cruiseline. And no kids! The Manor Nightclub is a copy of Studio 54 and it was a great club. Virgin spent big bucks outfitting every inch of their ships with nightclub quality sound and light systems. Check out the video (sorry for the quality at the beginning) of the deck party. PXL_20220729_025826564_TS.mp4

Wow, thanks for this! So reviewing the benefits of this it's basically all the benefits of an Elite Offer (The 150 Folio credit/person is basically what the free excursion/spa credit is worth) that can be applied to any cruise, not just what Carnival deems an Elite cruise. Have you been assigned a permanent casino host at Carnival? My husband prefers the casinos on Carnival (we were just on the Pride for 31 days and the casino was totally updated with new machines and tables, but not the rest of the ship, lol) but TBH we like Celebrity ships better. But even on Celebrity's newest ships the casinos are smaller and not as many of the fun slots as on Carnival.

How did you get an Echo offer?

Exactly. And their pricing shows MSC actually charging more for their IO than a standard balcony. Edit: looking at the floor plan MSC decided NOT to use the jigsaw/interlocking cabin configurations and went back to the original cabin designs where the room is one continuous rectangle with no indentations.

Thank you for the info. My husband gambles in a sweet spot to qualify for Elite cruises but he's definitely not at the highest level. He spreads his gambling among all the lines, so not concentrated to any particular one. We just finished our first comped Virgin cruise and it was great! Going on a comped Royal cruise in two days then a MSC end of September.

The IV room isn't a balcony. It's an Oceanview room with a panoramic window that opens from the top down. The room is setup to resemble a balcony. They use frosted Bi fold doors, similar to closet doors, to simulate a balcony. But the 'balcony' space is indoors, there's no outdoor space. The idea is to leave the window down and simulate a balcony. If all you want from a balcony cabin is to get fresh air, and enjoy some views, the IV cabin is great. But if you enjoy having a real outdoor space, then don't get an IV cabin.

What kind of offer is it? Is it a lower level or higher level offer? My husband has been getting offers for years never received this type of offer. Even in their own website it states Elite is their best offers which he gets and we book the most often (Next one is on the Celebration Thanksgiving Week in a Spa Balcony!!!)

SO I did some quick cruise searching and the results are quite interesting. Feb 2,2023 MSC World Europa from Dubai. Trying to compare Apple to Apples (Which is difficult with the way MSC prices their cabins) an Oceanview is $1,356/cabin An Infinite Ocean View $1,616 and the lowest priced balcony $1,476. The reason for this is the room size. Oceanviews vary from 161-172 Sq Ft, IO is 215 Sq Ft , and Balconies 172 Sq Ft with 54 Sq Ft Balcony.

Is Echo and third party Cruise Casino Hosting company? I only know of URComped.

I didn't realize it was available so early either! BTW, what was the earliest time? 7:30?8?

The food quality was fresh and the plating of the meals was beautiful. The pastries below from the Food Hall were Land Based Pastry Shop Quality. The Acai Fruit Bowl in the first picture was fresh and flavorful, Frittata perfectly cooked, and Waffles crispy yet fluffy inside.

Agree 100. I've completed 25 Carnival cruises and my one cruise on the Splendor was definitely my worst cruise with Carnival SOLEY because of the decor. Instead of being happy on the ship the decor depressed the hell out of me.

I never said that. I said Virgin's food rivals Celebrity and may be a bit better. I just got off a four night Virgin cruise, and having sailed on Celebrity 22 times I need to sail on Virgin again (already booked an 8 nt Valiant Lady cruise for January) before I can give a more definitive comparison.

I Love both traditional balconies AND the IV cabins. But I totally agree with your statement about people discussing the IV cabins like it's a real balcony or even a faux balcony, when all it is is an open window and a room divider. That's why I always use the example of a family room with the opened sliding doors analogy.

Yes, there's DEFINATELY, 100% a button where you can choose if you want to share a table in the app.

No need to keep an open mind. There's plenty of Carnival ships without the tackiness for you to try. Despite what some people seem to want to say, enjoying a Carnival cruise doesn't mean you have to put up with dated, tacky interiors. By the same token, the newer, more sedate designs doesn't mean they're not the fun ships.

No the only real balconies besides the Aft facing ones are the porthole balconies.

Your statement is a bit contradictory since on the one hand you understand the benefits of the IV but then you go and mention a negative which seems you don't understand what the IV is. The IV in no way shape or form a balcony any more than is your family room at home is when you open up the sliders and put two chairs facing out to your backyard. The IV is a window in an interior space, so the only way to accomplish what you would want to is have connecting doors and you would have to prop open the doors.

Oh wow, that's great! I'm jealous! Oh the Drag Queen show was lots of fun and not dumbed down for the masses. And I have to say the Scarlet Night Pool Party was the best deck party given by any mainstream cruiseline (Sorry Carnival). We'll be on the Celebration during Thanksgiving this November and have a Cloud Nine Spa Cabin. Yes the Thermal Suite is a bit small for the size of the ship but it has all the needed facilities and I was always able to get a heated tile lounger on the Mardi Gras on two separate cruises when we had a Cloud Nine Cabin.

Although I haven't sailed Viking it's the same target market. Virgin definitely designed the ship for Millennials. I'm a young 60 and enjoyed the many aspects of the ship but the rooms are definitely NOT UPSCALE. They are too small and the decor is Target Chic and resembles a dorm room. We had an XL SeaTerrace(Best room before a suite) and there's not enough storage for longer cruises and not even a closet door.

We've sailed all those lines and like them all for different reasons. Just got off Virgin this week and it was GREAT. Food was amazing an rivals Celebrity(Our favorite line) and maybe surpasses it. The only negative with Virgin are their cabins. We had an XL Balcony, best cabin before suites, and it's SMALL and not enough storage. The design, although attractive, is cheap Target chic and the room reassembles a dorm room. We love the Mardi Gras and the vast array of food choices is mind boggling. Enjoy your cruises!