ClemMovieRunner

Could be problematic without a passport, borders are borders!

How do you prove your perk level?

That's a nice tip!

Very useful, thanks very much!

How much time would you build in?

We're planning a couple of DIY excursions involving trains and while we're planning to be back onboard in plenty of time, I wondered if anyone knew if the arrival/departure times that have been supplied to us are the times we should expect to be allowed off the ship, or if they're the times that the ship will be docking/leaving? For example one stop is La Spezia. Arrival is 9am and departure is 8pm. If we don't plan to get back to the port until 6pm, giving us 2 hours of delay time, is that a safe plan?

Thanks! What timing, I just checked and got the time I wanted! Thanks @Gretchendz!

Dare I ask what happened..?

My travel agent has arranged my flights, hotel before cruise and connection from the hotel to ship. They're picking us up at 11am but Virgin have assigned us a 4.30pm boarding. If we just show up at midday as expected, they won't make us wait for 4 and a half hours will they?

I have to say (and I'm assuming your name alludes to Washington DC) that American travel agents seem to be a lot more helpful than ones in the UK. I actually asked mine... ...And was directed to Virgin's app!

This is it, I absolutely don't blame you, that's what everyone will do, because they won't want to miss out. But, It'll surely mean some people will have bookings they don't want, or can't make because they haven't planned their excursions or the shows or activities they want to go to, etc. etc.

Sorry to hear you had such a rotten time. It's pretty terrible that cruise lines make this such a scramble to actually be able to enjoy your holiday. On the cruise I mentioned earlier (P&O, not VV) we couldn't get any restaurant bookings either, which I think effectively means the holiday we were sold didn't match the experience "20 restaurants! ...But it'll be the buffet for you." Etc. I hope you don't mind me asking but what do VV do in lieu of luggage tags? What's their disembarkation system (sounds like they don't really have one...)?

Nope, they just opened!

TYVM! I just came to say the same thing!

I agree, my experience of getting no reservations on a cruise (as mentioned earlier) really exposes that there aren't enough bookings to go around.

Thanks for the updates, @islandchick, @kruzgal Can't believe I set my alarm for 4.50 for this now. They ought to just let everyone request one booking and make the rest walk ups!

I can't believe they have so few bookings available that the suites had booked every available slot - I again cannot stress that I was logged in and ready as the app updated to show entertainment and restaurant times. If there was a single slot, a last booking for dinner or brunch on one of the days, it would make sense. But I think @islandchick has it right: Do let us know if they're helpful.

No, not a rockstar but it's 45 days out so open to all. I can't stress enough that I was there the moment the bookings opened. There can't be enough suite passengers to book the entirety of the available times before anyone else sees them, surely?

That's what I'm assuming, but I've never used this app before either.

Here in the UK, restaurant bookings became available at 5am. A couple of years ago we went on a cruise (P&O) where ALL speciality dining was fully booked by the time we went to make reservations so I was keen to make some bookings this time around. So, a few minutes before 5am, I logged into the app, and refreshed it until the restaurant details appeared. No times have been available for any day at any time at all. Is it worth me continuing to check?

Thanks for the vote of confidence, tbh, there are a number of days on our upcoming cruise where there's not a central "thing" to go do, and La Spezia doesn't seem to have anything that grabs us, so we might brave the train after all! If we make it a flying visit to Pisa that'll give us time to not worry about timings and give us opportunity to take a look at La Spezia too. Perhaps we'll find we love it.

Wow, thanks for this post. I've just been weighing up a trip to Pisa from La Spezia and that sounds like not much fun. Is the train ride a pleasant one?