numnums

It was my TA, but he went to call to verify and he said that they told him it wouldn't be a problem so I'm glad about that. With that affirmation I'm able to rest easy. Just happy someone can enjoy the Deluxe Veranda on the new Ascent. I agree... I have one good friend who i always go with that is one of my best friends for never flaking or telling me the deal. I'm lenient about emergencies and ETC, and I do love treating my family and friends but it's very easy to see who can be a problem or not. Yea, I was feeling quite frantic. I'm able to relax now! Thank you so much for the support 🙂 Thank you! And I'm terribly sorry that happened to you, I hope you were able to at least enjoy a delicious meal. 💘

That's excellent, these were my initial thoughts as well. I was just starting to get stressed out because I thought it might have been new changes celebrity put out or some hidden rule somewhere! I just absolutely hate putting anyone in the position of not being allowed entry, or any uncomfortable situation. It would truly make me pop a vein if I wasn't allowed to bring at least one person in an already paid for cabin... In all honesty my mom pushed them to going, when I told her it wasn't a good idea for various reasons, one that you have also listed. Since they're old she wanted to do a nice thing and also celebrate their retirement... And also hid a very important fact from me that they're deathly afraid of water.🤦‍♀️ (That I just found out RIGHT NOW.) Because they're family I also can't expect them to pay or I would be a heartless monster and have relatives messaging me why and inflammatory things.😭 I can say more but what's done is done, If I can just pull off to someone enjoying that cabin I'll be very happy!

Yes, we're able to change the guest. But now I'm being told that if the other person doesn't show up, the substitute might not be able to get on? Is that normal? Are they actually able to enforce that at the port??

Sorry! I was writing this last night in a panic and no sleep scrambling to salvage this. Only 4 people are booked for this cruise, my mom and I, and my grandparents. I put my grandparents in their own cabin since they wanted to be together- (which later in the road is now the problem) I am using a TA and asking them about it, but I'll keep my hopes to a minimum. For now the rules officially state I can at least change one guest, and the substitute would be my friend. So they might be in a cabin of their own then since both of my grandparents will be a no show. I have no cruise insurance, and my grandparents just don't want to go in general... So there wouldn't even be a way to get documentation.

Is there also a rule about letting people in different cabins into your room to sleep in? If i do the sub, I'd like my mom to be with my grandpa and me with my friend, even though it's written for my friend to be in the room with my grandpa in the system.

there is 2 cabins. no children I see! 😕 Guess it wouldn't hurt to ask on the phone anyways, maybe someone will be benevolent to me.

Hi, read title above. I'm trying to salvage the cost by replacing them, but is it only possible to replace one of them? If both of them can't go, I'm not able to change it to two different guests? I wanted to book them together, but I made a grave oversight with how much my grandma is making a fuss about going...on my birthday no less. It's a lot of my own money that's really hard to just throw away, does anyone have experience with trying to change the guests? The sailing literally happens in around 4 weeks.

Like an actual dedicated smoothie or milkshake place, or bring back the creperie that I never got to try. Or just another specialty dining restaurant, it feels like there’s not enough. A cooking class would be fun too. For unrealistic expectations I would like to enjoy watching a big aquarium while I’m eating….

I hear that VV quality all around is very inconsistent and depends on the boat you go on, if you’re reviewing can you please tell us what boat you were on that you found to be excellent and what boat you found to be terrible?

I don’t think I enjoyed any of the music aside from silent disco, it wasn’t a big deal though since it’s not my demographic but on that particular sailing it was so rock heavy… I wish there was more light piano or soft jazz/ instruments playing…. But do take my opinion with a grain of salt since it wasn’t very memorable for me, I just remember being slightly annoyed.

😬 And they'll keep trying to see if they can put a FEE on any item that is desirable enough for people to pay for... When will they reveal the person who launch these ideas, and the person/board that let it pass through?! The only thing I know VV for is that they provide some transparency (?) compared to other lines since I heard cruise passenger thoughts/voices were actually the one who helped them form their ideals such as the Bar Tab & having it be all inclusive, adult only, etc. I suppose we will see how it goes later down the road when VV gets older (will it get corrupted? Who knows) And if they become successful post pandemic (sway other loyalist)

Agree, I feel that not only in cruise sailing but every other company just hand -shaking in cutting costs with food/ingredients/etc in general.😬 People at the top just collectively deciding what's what on their soft cushions while the workers and the consumers gotta pay for it! No company would reveal their Data with what consumers are doing on their ship, testing the limits to see what would be just enough to squeeze $$ out of us while making sure they don't make us mad enough to stop going altogether! [The fine line of tiptoeing in maxing profits) The only cutting costs I can agree with is really with being environment friendly- or reducing Food waste like with smaller portions, etc (as long as they don't charge you for asking more!) But seriously, where can I get a nice genuine fruit smoothie or milkshake around here? I don't fancy popcorn, and I would have 100% went with VV if I saw they also had some milkshake machine or something! I got a serious sweet/fruit tooth! Anyways, Right now. I'm seeing that VV might be more of a ship experience than a destination experience I suppose? I don't get on ports much so I don't mind. Sometimes I hear they might have too many fully booked activities or shows, so unless they manage that or pump out some more ships for their passengers to spread out more evenly, that would be nice. This is all my speculation on my part and reading other peoples thoughts though. I also like their website, and that they show the total price for the cabin and everything is already all inclusive!

I'd like to try virgin once they have more diversity/longer sailings just for the for the experience and food. I found celebrity entertainment to be quite bland usually so it'd be nice to see something really different. VV just feels so pricy for it's short sailings sometimes, but I think I'll keep a look out anyway. Competition is good and stops competitors from trying to slowly/secretly kill off their perks if they're desperate to keep their customers or gain customers, just a shame they're all in debt from covid and also desperately trying to climb out of that debt. But if you're gonna cut stuff & raise prices at the same time, don't be surprised if a new upcoming line is going to poach your custies.

On another note, I just remembered that AL will not include gratuities in the future anymore. So if you do get AL, You will only get internet + Drinks in the future.

When I tried Al before, it felt pretty bad since I barely to drink to nothing all, plus I had to upgrade my wifi. I can imagine AL being better for longer sailings, but I haven’t done the math to see if I only want the n/a package plus premium wifi, and I never buy that without a good flash sale since I always book far out in advance. If I book without a TA I don’t buy internet at all. If only celebrity update their website to add add-ons during booking along with the AL included package so you could see the totals without using manage reservation. The only add on you can choose is Gratuities so far. And if they cared about their functionality and wanted to bring it to the next level, have those add ones be manageable in the cruise planner that you bought during the booking to be removable without having to call. Such as when you were buying it from there itself and refund it whenever you see a good flash deal. But that’s just a magical dreamland, imagine any company trying to make profit make things accessible and transparent to your customers/consumers.

if they don’t make it less, for me personally I couldn’t justify the costs. Concierge/veranda/AQ rooms itself don’t really have a difference, and for the concierge service it’s just a little more than the regular veranda, while usually an AQ is a massive jump+depends on the ship. I wonder if they allowed cruise only because AQ isn’t as successful or they have a goal in mind in increasing the book rate , (since I also read some quips about people with high status not booking AQ since they already have included benefits from CC), and the advertisement/incentive to try an AQ cabin isn’t good enough since as a newcomer you have no idea if you would like BLU? On top of the All inclusive package if you didn’t want that. So it feels like as someone who wants to try AQ but seeing these variables make it hard for new passengers to try it. Wishful thinking indeed, I hope the first pricing for AQ rooms will be cheap so they can adjust over time. Or, if anyone would want to do the math of how much an AQ really is without the all included package. Apologies for the ramble of my thoughts, but if we do get that one imaginary week of cheap AQ rooms , I will be snatching! 🤣

I wasn't aware that AQ gives a nicer shower! I thought it was essentially the same as veranda/concierge rooms. Are the bathrooms slightly different then? I genuinely already find the inside room bathrooms more than sufficient, but that would be a pleasant surprise!

I'm interested to see how it will pan out, I usually don't need fancy drink packages so I would probably only get the cabin, NA drink pack, and maybe some wifi. When the cruise only fare comes out for this cabin, will you be intrigued? How would you think it compare to the other cabins? Vs Spa Passes? Treatment? Once the changes roll out, I'll be keeping an eye out since I wanna try dining in the BLU at least once.

Hate buying wifi unless it's a lot of sea days, but I always have to get it since I'm such a worry wort and want some contact in case of those once in a chance emergencies!

That's very unfortunate. I've been using the search function and been getting very different answers. I see that there is the new dessert, which is probably the closest thing you could ask for? I don't want to seem dramatic but It would very much be a make it or break it moment for me, On my last celebrity E ship the drinks were very lacking. I just want to relax with a nice hearty milkshake or smoothie. I don't want a party atmosphere either or lots of kids, but it is what it is! I see a lot of other lines having milkshake/smoothie deficiency as well.

Hi, I’m thinking of trying princess for the first time for the California ports next year, I’m seeing that some people can get milkshakes or it’s not available. Has anyone recently been able to get milkshakes or any of the milkshake variety in princess? Do they have smoothies as well that is like a classic fruit smoothie and not those super fitness smoothies? is Sushi also included in the package ? I’m thinking about getting the plus/premier. Do you also feel like the ship is relatively clean? Very good hygiene practices?

Feels very clean… the only reason I went with celebrity over lesser lines… the prices can also drop by a large margin so sometimes it feels very affordable.

I thought every bathroom was nice, felt very sanitary, very limited hand touching as to prevent spread of germs. I’d have to ask if public princess bathrooms are also nice and felt sanitary. My first time on celebrity was very magical so I have two cruises booked in the future with them. The only thing I dislike is one of them is on an older ship but that negative isn’t exclusive to celebrity.

Agree with all of the above. I do typically find the lowest right when the listing comes out or when the cruise is very soon, before final payment if that helps. You should always check the official website first as it'll always be up to date on price changes, I typically check every morning or afternoon. I also use Cruiseplum to keep track of the prices, it is very helpful and keeps track of your cruiseline prices for all rooms and dates. It's not my website or a TA(I believe it to just be a cruise tracker), so i think I'm allowed to suggest it here. Anyway, it has a linear graph so you can also see when prices are rising or lowering, just find your sailing through the search bar.

I feel like they'd only reserve a certain amount of reservations or appointments otherwise specialty dining package would be quite useless, or be met with much critique. I do have the same anxieties as you, it is my first time buying the package as well. Your best bet is probably boarding and going to the desk ASAP. I know for other things they'll reserve a certain amount of spots/special items but not all of it so people on board can purchase as well. The dining package was also all sold out for me on the website but I managed to get another one through call. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more knowledge.