aviators99

3 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

That sounds like it's going to be the plan, but your TA can make the call for you is my understanding. Also keep in mind that the bookings will open one week early for the Front of the Line so you won't be calling with the general public to get those rooms. It should not be that bad, especially if your TA takes care of it.

Since there are placeholders in our account that you can see on the website, I was thinking we might be able to "convert" them, just like we convert MNVV, as opposed to calling.

Has anyone else attempted to book these?  My TA attempted to book one Rockstar and 3 Sea Terraces (want to bring the whole family).  For some reason, I only got deposit e-mail messages for the 2 Sea Terraces, and they both say "Limited View", which is a non-starter for an Alaska cruise!  Could be just that's what they put for the placeholder, but it's pretty scary to me.

On 5/2/2024 at 6:44 PM, CineGraphic said:

We're hopping on the Valiant for a short 5 day sailing next week to hold us over until our 12 day September sailing on the Resilient, and we placed a few bids so we could experience Bimini as a Rock Star. I started to see what few RS suites were left disappear, so I put in a last minute bid on a Gorgeous Suite and was informed yesterday that our bid was accepted. The first sign that it was accepted was a notification that my credit card had been charged, then an hour or so later a flurry of rejection emails came in for each bid I placed on other suite categories, and finally one acceptance email noting our new cabin #. Today I called Red Glove Services to arrange our transportation to and from the port, and the rep, Jennily was great to deal with.

 

This will be our first sailing as any sort of Rock Star which will be fun since I worked so many years as backstage security at several of our local concert venues. From Pitbull to Bono, Dolly to Cher, and even Cheech & Chong, I've seen, heard, and smelled all sorts of things backstage. 🥸

Believe it or not, the only time I had to call the police was during an Indian concert. The "Elvis of Mumbai" fan's got way out of hand. 🤣
 

Congrats!  I am definitely interested in both the bid amount and where it was on the scale of bids for the MRS, if you are willing to say.

11 minutes ago, WhyWeCruise said:

Prices below are pre-early access deal // MNVV pricing.

Brilliant Lady New York MerMaiden5-Night Voyage, September 5-10, 2025 2 Sailors in a The Sea Terrace Cabin: $4647

Brilliant Lady Miami MerMaiden8-Night Voyage, October 17-25, 2025 2 Sailors in a The Sea Terrace Cabin: $7487

Brilliant Lady Los Angeles MerMaiden5-Night Voyage, April 7-12, 2026 2 Sailors in a The Sea Terrace Cabin: $4405

Totally bonkers IMO. 3x+ the cost of the OG Mermaiden before we were displaced. 

Also struggling with how they think they can charge $4700 for a 5-night cruise, but then at the same time over a full month at sea for $10,000. 

Yes, these are the numbers I was given and declined.  I wonder how many people will actually pay this much.  I can't imagine why anyone would, considering you can go on an identical ship for the same amount of time for half as much or sometimes 1/3 as much.  But it will be really interesting to see what happens with this pricing, because if my gut is correct, they will need to lower them substantially.

34 minutes ago, mattyeager said:

Did you get an email for the early booking? We were displaced (twice) from the Brilliant booking but I didn’t get any communication about it.

 

Agree the prices are absolutely absurd though. 

Yes. I got mine at around the same time as above.

On multiple fronts.

Background for those who aren't familiar, if you had booked a MerMaiden on Brilliant from December and it was canceled, you were given the ability to choose another cruise of any length (same cabin type) without paying more, plus an extra $1k in loot.  THIS was a good deal.

However, in addition to that (and whether you accepted it or not), we were also told that we would get first dibs on the actual MerMaiden (same cabin type), with an additional $300 off plus $600 in sailor loot.

Well, the first dibs part is real.  We have a week to book starting today, where nobody else can.

BUT:

1) The $300 off plus $600 in sailor loot is not combinable with with MNVV.  This is just stupid.  The terms are the same as MNVV, so I'm getting nothing more than I already have.  And most people who would be using this deal already have or have access to an MNVV.

2) What they are charging for these voyages is absolutely ridiculous.  A central sea terrace for the 6 night Miami MerMaiden is almost $8,000!  I have a Rockstar 14 night sailing that's almost $2k less than that.

For #1, I'm sure people will say that I should be happy with what I got booking my alternate cruise, which I am.  But don't promise me more and give me nothing.

They used to have Scorpion Powder at Pink Agave, but last time they told me they stopped getting it because too many people compained it was too spicy 😞

Below was taken on the ship:

52 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Woah! My MDR meals on Celebrity were way better than that! No wonder you think Virgin is so much better.  
 

 

When was the last time you went?  When I went last January, I was told that there were cost-cutting changes that had just started.  I also saw some videos that showed these changes and the differences in the food, especially the buffet.  

1 hour ago, aviators99 said:

For me the main thing was the food.  The food was pretty bad on Celebrity.  Frozen vegitables.  I thought our "Concierge Balcony" room on Celebrity was about the same size as our Sea Terrace on Virgin, and although there was more variety of entertainment on Celebrity, the style of entertainment on Virgin was more my personal style.  But I would say it was 80% the food and 20% the vibe.

 

 

These are exactly as they were served...

14 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Can I ask why? I find Virgin and Celebrity very comparable with Celebrity having nicer rooms, better over all service and Virgin having better quality food and beverage ingredients, better quality entertainment and a lovely lack of announcements, upsells, and children lol.  

For me the main thing was the food.  The food was pretty bad on Celebrity.  Frozen vegitables.  I thought our "Concierge Balcony" room on Celebrity was about the same size as our Sea Terrace on Virgin, and although there was more variety of entertainment on Celebrity, the style of entertainment on Virgin was more my personal style.  But I would say it was 80% the food and 20% the vibe.

4 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

I just think it’s funny that so many people act like Virgin is beyond compare to other lines.  They do some things better, and some things worse but at the end of the day it’s pretty much the same.  

Perhaps taken as a whole, that's true.  But for some people, Virgin is better suited than the other lines (and for some people, the other lines are better suited to them).  It's fine to say that "Virgin is beyond compare to other lines", for *you*.  That doesn't mean it will be true for everyone.  But it certainly can be a true statement for that person.  I've tried 3 different lines (all within the past year), and Virgin is beyond compare to Celebrity and Norweigan for me, at least for my small sample of one each of the other two.

Hope it's going to Alaska!

22 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I'll miss Carlos.  Best Diva ever!

+1,000,000

I still don't get the "cancel the excursion so she gets the money" scam.  I'm obviously missing something.

I had a weird run-in with that VV security guy who did most of the talking for VV.  I had an incorrect charge on my bill and the Sailor Services person called him over and he didn't smile once with me, either.  He was also treating me with suspicion.  But it eventually got fixed.

I'm in the process of planning this now.  On the September 3rd (now "Celebration") cruise from Portsmouth.  So planned a trip around it.  Flying FLL-LGA (JetBlue), EWR-ATH (Emirates), ATH-JTR (Aegean), JTR-LHR (British), Overnight in London, Train Waterloo-Portsmouth.  Then after cruise, train Portsmouth-Gatwick (Have to make a 4pm flight that day!), LGW-OPO (British), train Porto-Lisbon, LIS-MIA (TAP). 

Will be 2 days in Athens, 3 days in Santorini, 2 days in Porto, 1 day in Lisbon.  I looked at hotels in Portsmouth and Southampton, and didn't see anything that was appealing to me.

I think this is a big change, not a slight one.  I'm very happy about it.

Just now, aviators99 said:

It's not real Freestyle.  It's what I call "Freestyle Light".  You can't mix anything.  It does not have Coke Zero Vanilla (but does have Coke Zero and Diet Coke)

Maybe you could bring some sugar free vanilla extract?  Then you wouldn't be limited to what you have on board, since they have Coke Zero?

37 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

From videos I think they have the Coke Freestyle dispensing machines in The Galley, which means you could mix your own adventure there 🙂

It's not real Freestyle.  It's what I call "Freestyle Light".  You can't mix anything.  It does not have Coke Zero Vanilla (but does have Coke Zero and Diet Coke)

14 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

They are apparently getting ready to move her to Palermo, to finish the interior.

Wow, so it wasn't even close to being ready in time. They should have let us know sooner that our voyage would be canceled... 

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

If the Diva was in any of the Bingo shows, it would have been the first one that started at 9:30p. We did not make it to the Red Room for that one. The rest of the week on Valiant Lady it was hosted by other folks in the Happenings Cast. Carlos was hosting a lot of other events, but not much in the way of Bingo. 

Hmm...That's a shame (I assume your word "any" in the first sentence should have been a "one").  He's by far the best bingo host I've seen.  Also, I thought he was on RL.  Glad to hear he's on VL.

On 11/19/2023 at 10:03 PM, CruisingWalter said:

On our current Valiant Lady sailing it's only listed as "Happenings Cast" twice, no mention of the Diva. On Scarlet it was specifically the Diva and we had a near sellout in the Red Room. We didn't go to tonight's show so I'm not sure who hosted tonight. 

For my cruise next month on VL it's also listed as "with the Happenings Cast", which took me by surprise.  I've always just seen "with the Diva", including the last time on VL.  I hope you check it out this trip and report back.

44 minutes ago, aviators99 said:

I meant, have you done the $24/$24/$2 or anything like this at all, @-The-True-North- ?

Also, @-The-True-North-, my friend and I have been thinking more about it.  Why not (for example, if you have $925 in SL) just bet $25 on each of the 37 numbers on one spin.  You then lose $25 for the conversion fee, have converted $875 and have another $25 left over in monopoly money to figure out how to convert.

15 minutes ago, aviators99 said:

Have you done this?  One person on Reddit said one dealer would not let him do it.

I meant, have you done the $24/$24/$2 or anything like this at all, @-The-True-North- ?

1 minute ago, -The-True-North- said:

Can do any domination you want, but you will need to do it multiple times.

 

With the above, you would still have $290 in promo credit. (Unless you hit green, in which case give the $20 promo chips as a tip).

 

You would have to take that and again split the remaining $290 over the 3. And repeat till you have 0.

Have you done this?  One person on Reddit said one dealer would not let him do it.

2 minutes ago, aviators99 said:

Also, I think your math is assuming a $1 bet on 0?  A $2 bet would be net positive, wouldn't it?

Also, why not just start off with $290 red, $290 black and $20 green?