jon81uk

I don’t think this one ever made it on sale, the itinerary posters went to TAs but there are a couple of 2025 itineraries which didn’t appear on the VV website

Sounds like you got a terrible server, when they supplied food for the table they gave a set of sauces per person or per couple, rice dishes per couple and some things like the seafood pancake the server shared a slice to each person. When passing round cooked meats he passed tongs round with it. Sharing with my husband isn’t a problem to me, but if they tried to give just one set of sauces to the table that would be weird! Unless you were a solo person and the server assumed you were part of a couple? Did you ask for some for yourself when they laid them out to share?

A schedule will appear in the app at 45 days when restaurants can be booked, but it changes a lot and several things only appear in the last week, particularly guest acts like the live music. So you will have an idea when the big shows like Duel Reality are (usually 7 or 8pm and 10pm) but other stuff fills in later.

Technically NSA was replaced with the festival stage acts on all ships, but yes nothing replaced phantom folktales. Although there has been a slight increase in daytime activity I think like Zumba, there has also been an increase in paid for stuff like Loteria.

I don’t think that would count for Loteria as there are no cash prizes, you are paying for the drinks really. But yes it’s possible that bingo can only be done in international waters, although it is an odd game that doesn’t count as “gambling” in the same way casino games like roulette/poker do.

I enjoyed the pork when it is cooked well, I think that’s the issue too. They probably should go back to allowing guests to have their own tongs and remove the meat when they think it’s ready.

Generally things that normally only happen on sea days like the VHS workout and Loteria will only happen on the one or two sea days. Things like bingo can get scheduled in the evening though.

The beef is marinated but the pork isn’t so you need to use the dipping sauces with the pork. That and cook it until it’s crispy and the fat renders a little.

Generally they will serve the starters/appetisers first, then rice and then grilled items. You can order more appetisers to come out later if you wish but if you want apps as your main you’ll need to make that clear with the server. Most of the time the server does “take control” and order for the table serving to share if everyone eats meat/seafood as it simplifies things, I also find some of the portion sizes (like the seafood pancake) is better for sharing as you can have one slice and share the rest amongst the table.

Scarlet Lady will be in dry dock November 2024 before doing a Rome to Miami transatlantic in December.

Whereas with the menu change this summer Razzle Dazzle went from not that great and style over substance to now being good modern American food. Nothing on the old dinner menu was must do for me but there are several nice things on the current after dark dinner menu, especially dessert.

Virgin Voyages ships have a dedicated sealed smoking room near the casino and an outdoor one on deck 16, those are the only places smoking is permitted. Restaurants operate like on land the staff come to your table and take the order. In the Galley food hall (VV doesn’t have a buffet) you can either go to counters like a food hall or flag down a server to take the order to have some hot items bussed to you. The pool area on sea days can be crowded but the interior of the ship rarely feels busy as crowds spread out between multiple bars and the shows/nightclub and casino.

The main thing is because there is only 78 suites on the ship the demand outstrips supply, they don’t need to discount the suites as they sell well enough anyway.

Yep I was comparing prices for the May 2025 transatlantic and a similar cruise was a similar price with Celebrity once tips are included.

The April 2024 transatlantic seems to be a weird outlier where the price went to crazy in the last few months. May 2025 transatlantic is more expensive than previous cruises but not outrageous at £4716 for sea terrace. So a significant increase on previous transatlantic but at £314 a night it doesn’t seem terrible value, but not cheap either.

Yesterday there was nothing for June 2025 and now there is.

No, the only forward area is Richards rooftop which is for suite guests only. But there is a decent amount of space across deck 16 to see the sights.

Any show in the Red Room you should be fine getting in for if you book it. Shows in the Manor such as It’s a Ship Show film quicker as the capacity is much lower.

There isn’t much shade, best option can be deck seven as usually one side will be shaded by the ship. Next to the pool there are some triangular couches under deck 16 for full shade, but you get the noise of the pool.

I think both on our Athens and Barcelona trips they offered Opa Hour every day except embarkation.

You leave the tags on from embarkation. It’s printed on the tags “leave on throughout the voyage”. No need for extra paper to be used when the tags are the same as embarkation!

We had a large article on the front page of the app showing the details on disembarkation slots and about leaving luggage out by 10pm if you don’t want to take it yourself.

Have you checked the line up in the app to see what time the party actually is? I would expect the Let’s Set Sail party will still be 5.30-7pm (with free wine 5.45-6.15 and the cast introduced and toast about 6pm) as it is on other ships, but the ship just isn’t moving yet. Quite often from other ports the ship doesn’t move until around 7pm when the party is already over. So I would find the party time and decide if you want to attend then separately work out what time the ship will leave port and whether you want to be on deck for that.

I think it shows once you book the excursion, but maybe only close to sailing date. But the excursion listings show how long it will take and most set off in the morning. Generally I don’t think many get back past 5-6pm though.

Okay, sorry, I must have missed that entirely! But it’s been a year since we were last in a suite but I don’t recall noticing it at all, and the hairdryer provided had a European plug anyway so was used in front of the vanity.