jon81uk

4 minutes ago, Hot Rod Lincoln said:

Is a dry dock after only three years normal?

It’s been five years since the ship was built so yes it’s normal. The pandemic caused them to push the sailings with guests back by over a year, but the ship was still floating during that time.

Looks like a nice softening to the furniture and look in their too, maybe some carpet as well which might improve the acoustics.

The more surprising change is the rethink to Grounds Club Too in the Galley to make it into a bar.

https://vvinsider.com/pictured-scarlet-lady-dry-dock-changes-razzle-dazzle/

It is permitted at The Perch sundeck on the 17th floor. But that space is also used for activities such as yoga and dance classes at certain times.

14 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

On some cruise lines (e.g. Holland America) you can't serve yourself at the buffet. You have to ask the staff/servers to put food on your plate, and you point to what you want. That's essentially what VV turned into now. Holland America calls it a buffet. 

I think VV always instensed the Galley to be a food court, the waited service was brought in for Covid reasons to minimise the number of people moving around for social distancing etc. They’ve kept it as many people prefer it and find it more convenient but allowed the original food court concept too.

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

 

This is exactly my way of looking at it. If you have a list of amenities or perks that you've paid for, that's one thing (and you have a right to expect them). But if you receive extra services or amenities because your cabin steward aka agent goes above and beyond, then that is NOT something everyone should expect, and the "failure" to get something unexpected is no reason to slam the cruise line for being inconsistent. I think sometimes people have difficulty with the concept of "going above and beyond." If it's extra and not expected, by definition it's not something you can ask/demand be given to you every time. Otherwise it simply becomes another paid-for perk like all the rest of them.

But if 4/5 people receive that level of service it’s not really going above and beyond is it?

18 minutes ago, kaysha2004 said:

I have used the app to do that.  They prefer that you select a time to manage the flow of guests leaving the ship.  However, if you're running late, you can leave later.  It's not high pressure. 

I would add that although disembarkation times are not enforced we’ve had two cruises now where a significant number of people tried to leave after 10am leading to them having to turn the lifts off as there was no space for people to exit the lifts. I’d strongly suggest if you do want to get off promptly to disembark before 10am.

4 hours ago, AndyUK said:

I agree with the above this is all about service levels. I been on 5 VV, all in mega rockstars cabins, and it really depends on the agent. If you can build a rapport with them you get more, the less you interact the less you appear to get. On our last 2 VV, nothing was a problem... specific champagne provided, restaurant food in room, even afternoon tea in the room, we already had the bubbles! We find talking to them just about their day and building a rapport really helps, they only human end of the day, missing friends, family etc. . That said, on one VV we did have to complain about the service of the agent, which got immediate attention and fixed overnight! The agent was like a best friend the next day, sure, initially we felt awaked, but the agent told us, they didn't realise how they made us feel, and so appreciated the honestly... regional/ culture differences impact how things are delivered and perceived.  

Yep and if you’d told a friend about those more recent amazing experiences and then they went on to get the not so great service the OP had and you had on the other trip the. I’d expect them to be disappointed.

There needs to be more consistency so that most people get closer to those amazing experiences.

14 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Sorry, that's no longer true. 🙂 We booked our disembarkation time for our last Valiant cruise the day before the cruise started (August 29th for cruise that started August 30th). It was already in the app under Shore Things. 

On Resilient Lady two weeks ago I couldn’t find it until half way through the cruise. I think it must vary by ship.

2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

What happens on blogs and vlogs, your opinion or my opinion don't matter. What matters is the official policy from VV. Other cruise lines specifically mention "Order from any/select restaurants and have your dinner in your suite." In those cases the guest would be right to be upset if their butler did not bring the food to the room.

 

Virgin Voyages leaves that vague as 'no matter the ask.' Until they make it a specific perk for the suite, it's up to the agent on what they will do. 

But I’m sure you can see why the OP was disappointed that the service they received did not match what multiple other people have got?

Yes blogs/vlogs can create unrealistic expectations when they do get preferential treatment (like you say about some getting rooftop access when staying in sea terrace cabin) but I do think the OP had poor service compared to other experiences that have been reported in reviews including on this forum. 
As I said there should be some consistency of service and even if the thing can’t be offered the way it was dealt with for the OP sounds poor.

2 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

That's up to the agent, but it's not a defined benefit so there's no requirement for the agent to do so, nor is there a reason to complain if the agent doesn't do it.  If VV has it listed as a specific benefit, then the agent will be required to do so. What VV Insider has to say has nothing to do with official policies. Until VV adds "Order in your suite from any restaurant" to the Mega Rockstar Perks, it's not included. 

But it’s also about consistency of service, when many reviews of mega rockstar mention being able to get food to your room from any restaurant you would also expect the same service the bloggers and vloggers talk about as well as other posters on this forum. In my opinion the level of service the OP describes on here is not the standard I’d expect for mega rockstar.

The dinner on your balcony is discussed in this video at 24 minutes in.

15 minutes ago, SailorMoons said:

Personally they have over done the loyalty. They really need to stagger priority boarding it's a too hectic with DBE, SoR & DB all turning up at once plus the first boarding groups. Unfortunately people are faking disabilities to queue jump.... I feel so sorry for people with real needs that have to suffer due to this, virgin could handle this we pre-embarkation form with doctors note and then allow these people to board before the first groups.

 

Personally it's good they don't also award access keys from points and travel industry rates. As someone who has benefited from 3 virgin red points redemptions by doing bonus signs ups and 70% transfer / top up bonus - I'm paying about 1/3 the current cabin rate and should not be rewarded again, the points are the reward IMO.

 

With ships full I would like loyalty to change to the previous planned "total spend" model based on tokens, but I don't think there IT is up to the job.

It was mentioned on the celebration voyage I was on that they have recruited a new VP of loyalty or similar and he is tasked with creating a “proper” loyalty programme as Nirmal (CEO) put it. They are also further partnering with Virgin Red so point redemption will become a permanent thing.

10 minutes ago, AmoMondo said:

Thanks so much for all that information Jon.

I did the status match last year when I booked.

I’ve got the app working fine on my IPad but not on my phone. I will sort that out this week, so i can make changes and bookings without having to depend on wiFi.

Once on the ship you need to connect to the onboard WiFi to make bookings.

when did you status match? To get deep blue extras that includes priority boarding you have to have matched in 2023. A match in 2024 only gives blue extras.
 

You can rearrange your dining in the app for yourself much quicker than going to see the staff. It’s easier to rebook what you have instead of cancelling and starting over.

The only restaurant with shared table is Gunbae, everywhere else you’ll get seated at a two-top as a solo, unless you go to the solo social dinner.

breakfast/brunch is available 8am to 1pm at Razzle Dazzle and The Wake, or until 0930 on disembarkation day. Book on the app.

The Galley serve’s breakfast to 11am everyday except disembarkation when it’s 10.30.

Shows are first come, doors open 15-30 minutes before, but the dinner show (Lolz Supper Club) and fitness classes need to booked on the app.

book a disembarkation time slot under shore excursions a day or two before the end of the cruise. Last time slot is 10.30am.

if you want your case taken off then leave the tag on from embarkation and put it outside the door by 10.30pm last night. 

1 hour ago, kaysha2004 said:

I'm on a Virgin cruise right now. The times for all aboard are not consistent with the 30 minutes before departure time, as has been my previous experience.  Our Amsterdam port aboard is 4:30 p.m. but we don't leave till 6:00 p.m.  Last week's cruise was different for each port.  I wouldn't count on a pattern with Virgin anymore.  They seem to be inconsistent with a lot of things these days.

The Amsterdam issue is because the ship stays on UK time, so it leave Amsterdam 6pm Amsterdam time, which is 5pm Ship (UK) time hence all-aboard is 4.30pm ship (UK) time. 
 

so it is consistent that all-aboard is 30 minutes before, but there is confusion as itinerary pages show port times in local time not ship time.

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

That's not offered for any of the suites on VV. You might get that on other lines, but not VV. If you want the restaurant menu, you go to the restaurant. 

Although not strictly listed as a defined benefit, multiple people report that mega rockstar means your agent will fetch food from any restaurant. It’s reliably happened enough for VV Insider to show it as a mega benefit https://vvinsider.com/guides-and-faqs/guide/mega-rockstar-suites/

The official website does state “Mega RockStar Agent

You’ll have a RockStar Agent personally dedicated to you and your needs. So no matter the ask, you’ve got an agent at your (RockStar) service.” 
so they should be doing any reasonable request for you. 
 

I think the OP would have been right to complain whilst onboard and got a different agent or an improvement in service.

Only in suites. Not regular rooms.

55 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

As someone that actually sailed on VV 5 times, I can tell you the Galley is an awful choice for dinner. Most food options are closed/not available for dinner. They do have a "special" every night to eat there. but the ambience is absolutely not there. It is exactly like dining at a buffet for dinner on a "regular" cruise line, which I also don't recommend. We tried it once, and ended up leaving and going to Gunbae as walk-ins (had to wait but got seated). 

 

The only time dinner at the Galley was fun was when they had Asian Night Market nights on sea days during our last cruise.

Although can also depend on what you are trying to get out of the cruise, for the celebration voyage last week we prioritised shows and talks and combined with having done all the restaurants on previous trips

so we had two nights eating in the Galley, plus a meal at The Wake, Pink Agave and Another Rose. In the Galley I had Beef Wellington with roast root vegetables and truffle mash potato one night and sweet chilli Asian chicken plus lamb korma another night.

Did you raise your concerns with your agent not getting you what you asked for with the rockstar manager? Feels like both the getting food sent to the room and supplying the Woodford would have been easy fixes.

17 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Gunbae (I never ate at Gunbae but the reservations were always available)

Oddly for our upcoming cruise Gunbae was the hardest one to find an advance reservation for! But I think that’s also because it can be a long meal so I don’t want to go there late in the evening.

1 hour ago, ryarger said:

I double checked and it was Caribbean but while the video was this week, the sailing was Dec. ‘22.

 

It was definitely the Galley that had the bacon, but she had to ask to get it.

Valiant Lady was in the UK March/April 2022, it’s possible they still had stock in the freezer from earlier in the year.

10 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

not easy to get reservations for dinner at the Wake, Extra Virgin, and Pink Agave.

I’ve not had a cruise without being able to get into them. Not sure what exactly I’m doing right but between advance bookings and on the cruise bookings I’ve got a reservation. So everyone’s experience varies.

8 hours ago, ryarger said:

 

I saw a video of someone on VL in just the past month who asked for English bacon and got it.

 

They also had baked beans and grilled tomatoes which are very British as part of breakfast.

Valiant Lady has been operating out of Miami for at least 9 months, are you sure it’s a recent video? I think they did have some back bacon when it was in the UK two years ago but I doubt they do in the Caribbean. I’ve not noticed it on any of their ship in the last two years. 
 

Baked beans and roasted tomato are listed on the menu for the diner counter https://vvinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/the-galley-breakfast-follow-vvinsider.pdf

9 hours ago, babalooo said:

I didn't think you could do a sit down brunch on disembarkation day. Do you know if this standard on even the shorter cruises?

Yep they do breakfast/ brunch in The wake and Razzle Dazzle on disembarkation day 0630-0930. It’s last reservation at 0930 to give you time to get to your disembark slot which can be as late as 10.30.

Pretty sure it’s still three per restaurant for cruises over seven nights and as many brunch as you want. Disembarkation day brunch can only be booked onboard.

Generally 2-3 visits at each restaurant is plenty, I find only Extra Virgin and Pink Agave are more repeatable. The Wake gets repetitive and Test Kitchen you might need to ask the host stand which menu of the rotation is being served.

33 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

I've not heard of this with Rockstars, just the regular sailors at 45 days.

I’ve had the same as the above poster of reservations actually opening on the app at 57-58 days instead of 60. The prime 7-8pm slots were already taken by those who called up by that point!