jon81uk

I think we had it delivered two or three days on one cruise and just found the main three hot choices got repetitive (eggs, French toast or frittata) and I wanted pancakes so opted to walk up the the Galley instead! Would be nice to have breakfast sandwich, burrito or similar on the room service menu too.

VV Insider has most of the menus https://vvinsider.com/restaurant-menus/ here is the Ship Eats room service one. The drink prices are out of date on this one I think though, expect everything to be $1 more. https://vvinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ship-Eats-Menu.pdf

Room service has been pretty much the same for us in suites and standard cabins. The only difference is rockstars never get a delivery fee. But for others, if you add a $5 coffee (like Americano or latte) that waives the delivery charge, you can then add as much free drip coffee as you want. Although the room service breakfast is fine, not amazing. The food isn’t bad. It’s just not a very extensive menu.

It used to be a dinner option. No idea why they stopped it.

They’ve pretty much stopped opening it anyway. It’s not really worked as it’s so separated from the other stores. Yes, it’s quite well used. Certainly more than the cabanas.

One way flights seem to be crazy with many transatlantic airlines. We’ve in the past used airmiles to book them to Miami with VA. But in this case it was then a lot of miles for the internal leg of the flight really. JetBlue are still expensive for one way compared to a return but not as bad as VA or BA wanted.

Virgin Atlantic is a separate company to Virgin Voyages and VA is mainly owned by Delta. As it’s possible to fly into New York (or Atlanta) with Virgin or Delta and then get a flight from there to San Juan I assume Virgin/Delta don’t see a need for direct international flights to San Juan. I don’t think the market for direct UK to Puerto Rico will be big enough to make it worth offering. We’ve chosen to book with JetBlue as their Mint business class looks good and was a better price than VA. Others are looking at flying with Iberia as they have a Madrid to San Juan flight so you can change in Europe not the US.

We invested in a USB toothbrush charger so we don’t have to bring shave adapters on holiday!

Supposedly you can ask for a card instead on VV if that’s your preference. https://www.virginvoyages.com/help-and-support/search?text=I do not like wearing things on my wrist, are there other options other than the wearable? I like the band as it’s easy on the ship, don’t need anything in pockets and can wear the band into the hot tub etc.

There is one time when you do need to ensure you have the correct band, getting on and off the ship at port. It would probably be fine if both are together getting off at the same time and can just swap back, but one at a time may be more of an issue with security!

As the lifeboats are closer in to the ship for the Panama Canal, most of deck 8 now has slightly smaller balconies, it’s those smaller ones that have two hammocks. It’s not clear if they are still limited view like the other ships.

You either need to call or use a travel agent to get a specific cabin. Or can book on the website and then use live chat or call to move.

No sockets in standard cabin bathrooms at all and no shave sockets anywhere.

Virgin haven’t used Portsmouth in two years so there probably won’t be many people to report back. I’ve always got off the ship a bit later so not sure myself, but I wouldn’t expect to get off any earlier than 7.30-8am. They are generally the only cruise line using Portsmouth though, so biggest external delay will be ensuring British immigration is set up if it’s a one way cruise.

You need the band to unlock the cabin door, purchase drinks and get on and off the ship. Once in the room you can remove if you wish. I take it off for showers and sleep.

Honestly I’d use the seating if you order room service and want to sit and eat or have drinks, but if you want to lie down and relax it’s better just to head to deck 16 and find a lounger.

Those aren’t chairs, they are playground swings for swinging in, hence them being next to the see-saws.

The see-saw and swings are some of the best features! Playgrounds are wasted on kids. I’m just annoyed there isn’t a slide as well.

On the Shore Things excursion page in the app it will have the option to book morning tenders if they are needed. But the only ports I know of that need them are Cannes, Santorini and sometimes Mykonos.

I think PJ Party is deliberately on the first night as the “theme” is that you want an early night but decide to party instead. Most people fly in the day before the cruise so the party is busy to midnight at least.

If you see photos of a cabin in sofa mode, the single bed set up is exactly the same just with sheets on.

As above it can’t be used on the food items, but does work for drink pairings including the Sip and Savour menus. The only exception is that bar tab is reported to work for afternoon tea in Sip.

Ah yeah that’s a single stall with a floor to ceiling door and the wash basin outside the stall. So yes gender neutral but it just means you are washing your hands where others might be waiting to go in and use the stall. There are also toilets in the Athletic club area near the stairs to the running track which are similar, but that has two stalls to one sink.

All restaurants except Gunbae have two-tops, but they might only have a few inches from other two top tables. Test Kitchen has some regular seating, some on high stools and a lot of diner-style counter seating facing open kitchens. Even if you are at the diner style counter it’s possible to keep yourselves to yourselves and not interact with others if you wish. The only place you will feel a need to talk to table-mates is Gunbae Korean BBQ. I’ve not had major app issues once airplane mode is on and I’m connected to the ship WiFi. Biggest issue with Shake for Champagne is that it can take 10 minutes to arrive or it can take 45 minutes and you’ve no way of knowing. That in my opinion makes the feature a bit pointless as you might as well go to a bar, but if you get Splash of Romance you have to do it via the app.

The one between Sun Club and Richards Rooftop is a single room accessible toilet.