neverendingcruising

If you don't use a travel agent definitely call after booking your B2B cruises. It was a quick call to have the room moved in the second cruise so we could stay in the same place. The agent said he needed to flag us as B2B as well. 

We were on with 2,200 people in Europe which is definitely one of their busiest sailings and the only issue we ran into was the Galley. Lots of confusion, sometimes took a while to get attention of a server, orders messed up but overall still excellent. And we've been on with 600 so we've seen both sides. 

Looks to be the same from Vegas, maybe different hosts though. Tons of cardboard signs used throughout. 

Agreed that the additional seating added to Valiant in the Social Club "hallway" was a much needed improvement! It gets busy in that area!

As soon as you board the ship there will be various places around deck 7 to get assistance. One will be for shows/activities and they can help you with bookings much faster than doing it in the app (provided space is available of course), they also make good recommendations on shows if you don't know what you're looking for. There will also be an area for dining reservations, shore things, spa, etc. Sailor Services cannot directly make a dining or activity reservation for you although they'll usually reach out to someone to help you out if they can. 

Was on Scarlet and Valiant in December and both left shortly after 6 (in the dark). 

I watched a bartender on Scarlet respond to someone wanting to "add extra money to their crew account since we don't have any cash to tip you" by saying "Why would you do that, I get paid by Virgin?"

I realize it's a hard concept for Americans and some other countries, but it is absolutely acceptable to not tip people if that is not part of their compensation. No need to feel guilty or wonder if they have to pay taxes. Just accept that they are being paid for their work, just like many people that never accept or want tips to do their job. 

Generally the first half of the cruise is A menu and then it switches to B. If it's in the app I haven't seen it, we tend to book it first or second night and then check when we get on board if we need to reschedule. Our preference is the A menu. 

There is a cocktail party for Deep Blue that's usually several nights into the voyage. We've done it at the Dock and the Perch. You should get an invitation in your room. 

Test Kitchen has tables for two in addition to bar type seating. Shouldn't be a problem to request a table specifically if that's what you prefer. 

2 chairs on most balconies. Some of the suites also have loungers. You cannot currently pick your room online. If you use a travel agent they can select one for you or you can call Sailor Services and they can move or book you for whatever you're looking for. 

In a unique twist, you are expected to keep the tags on your luggage from embarkation and reuse them for departure. Seems odd at first but really makes sense when you think about it. 

I do believe you can choose your departure time under Shore Things whenever you want in advance, no need to wait until it pops up in the app. 

3 hours ago, scubagal44 said:

I stopped at Olbia as part of the French Daze & Ibiza Nights sailing in October, and I can say you won't be missing much.  It was a quaint little main city center, but we saw the whole thing in less than 2 hours and just went back to the ship because there wasn't much to do.  I'd have rather had it be a sea day, and if I were on an itinerary that stopped there again, I'd stay on the ship.

Couldn't agree more, we did the same in September and thought it was a one and done port. 

Sailor Services is unable to make dining reservations although I have seen them contact someone in the restaurants to make a booking. There is typically someone on deck 7 during the day that can make dining reservations for any available meal or restaurant. I have not tried to make a new reservation at a restaurant in the evening but presumably that is a possibility. 

Just purchase the premium WiFi when you first connect and then the charge will be removed a day or two later. 

On 12/16/2022 at 12:55 PM, misguy said:

They kept billing me for the coffee and I had a $10.00 per day allowance.  The process is supposed to be automatic where the credit is applied, but at the end of the cruise they were all showing on my account.

When we sailed in September it was not automatic. Sailor Services told me they remove charges manually as time allows. 

Most likely "I ♥️ 305", that's what it was the week before. 305 is the area code for Miami. 

We were parked on the roof of garage G for Sunday's sailing. It wasn't full but it was pretty tight. 

No option in Miami, as mentioned, it's a unionized port so large luggage must be handled by the porters. 

12 hours ago, angela12345 said:

$90 per person ?  Or $45 x 2 ?  Thanks in advance !

$45/person

It's not uncommon in the restaurant industry to pre cook burgers and then leave them in warm water until needed. Not the best experience but it speeds up service. I noticed that if you order the social burger of the day that patty always came out fresh. With the standard burgers it was hit or miss. 

Moral of the story - always get today's specialty burger!

We sailed in Europe in September in a back to back. First week was 1,700 and second was 2,100. That's compared to somewhere around 600 on our first voyage in 2021. It was definitely noticeably busier. I would say everything really held up expect the Galley. Hopefully they have adjusted and learned with the busier sailings, but some of our Galley meals were rough. 

There is an ATM in the casino, I did not happen to catch the fee though. 

Anecdotally, my wife's iPhone 12 mini worked better than my Pixel 6a. I found I had to force restart the app quite a bit. We did two 7 day voyages back-to-back and I reinstalled the app completely around day 10 and it worked noticably better after that. The big red table on deck 7 can help out if you have issues. They recommended disabling VPN and some other settings for a more reliable experience. 

If you pay for premium internet that day (or the whole voyage) you will probably be able to stream it.