CruisingWalter

Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm so glad the information has been helpful!

It's a glitch, they already turned it off.... 🙂

For some reason our TA can book Rockstar Reservations today, 65 days out from the cruise. Not sure if it's a glitch or VV is trying something new with their dining reservation system? One of our fellow Rockstars noticed that the reservations said they opened up today in the app, but can't actually make the reservations in the app. But our TA can.

More or less, but you do have to have a specific amount of sailings now or Status Match. The coffee benefit changed from $10/day to 2 coffees per day. I was always able to squeeze 3 Macchiatos for $9/day. 🙂

I will say you were lucky. I'm still hearing from Sailors who are spending 3 hours or more trying to get dining reservations. The dining usually comes online around 11:45p ET, though sometimes as early as 11:30. We have had our TA book the reservations for us lately because when the booking engine works (it can be as flaky as the app sometimes) they can get our reservations done in a few minutes. Glad it worked for you, but you are an exception at the moment. 🙂

We've met folks from 18 to 90+ on our sailings. If I were to guess, I would peg the median age at 50 for the four sailings we've taken so far. It skews younger on the 4 nighters and older on the 6 and 8 nighters. VV is for those who are young at heart, age is irrelevant. 🙂

Gamblers always pay more than the rest of us. You don't really think the cruise lines are giving away free cabins do you? 😅 For a time I worked in the marketing department of Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, at the time it was the largest casino in the world. What I learned is that the house always win, there's no such thing as a comped room, there's no such thing as a 'comped' anything. You're paying far and above what non-gamblers do for the 'privilege' of the 'comped' whatever. We just created amazing marketing that made you think you were getting free stuff. Those who simply stayed in the resort and never entered the casino paid far less for their vacations than the gamblers. It's the same with the cruise lines. It always makes me laugh on cruises when I meet someone who says "This is a free cruise for me thanks to a casino comp." Cruise lines and casinos don't give anything away. The power of marketing my friend. I was in that game for over 30 years, we could make you believe almost anything. 😀

Sounds like you're working with a discount cruise site or a big box cruise site. But that happens when you're just 'shopping the field for the best deal.' You're better off sticking to the 'cheap cruise websites' for that. When you say you're shopping for the most onboard credit I assume you're just looking for TAs who have MNVVs to sell. That's not how you build a relationship with a TA. When you work with a really good TA they are there with you from the time you book through the time you return home. And then they start to know you so they can find vacations that might appeal to you on cruise lines and on land. We worked with the same TA for almost 20 years and you build that relationship that pays far more dividends than shopping for the best onboard credit. I know our TA has saved their clients hundreds and thousands of dollars on overall vacations beyond just the cruise and/or onboard credit. And for those who say you should find a local TA, that's not bad, but with today's digital age, our TA is servicing clients all over the US and even some clients abroad. WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Meet all make face to face meetings so easy with the added benefit of screen sharing. You can find a good TA most anywhere today. 🙂

No, actually they don't fully get the loyalty points for future cruises. On Princess specifically you will gain only one point or no points towards your loyalty status if you take a casino comped cruise. This is from guests who have sailed within the past two months and did not gain any points or only got one point for sailing in a Suite when it should have been double points.

Pretty much the same on most cruise lines. When you take a comp or a deeply discounted cruise fare, you can get reduced or no perks from the cruise line. I've seen this on Princess with some of my casino friends who complained they didn't get 'double points' for suite that they barely paid for. 🙂

Absolutely, its one of the best reasons to use a TA. They can also move your cabins around if you booked directly and then transfer your booking to the TA. Additionally TAs can book your dinner reservations so you don't have to deal with the app, and they can book Shore Things for you as well.

The official Sailing Club is now live on the Virgin Voyages website. https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club?item=7c99a8ad-d2cd-4829-9ae2-4241baa210e3#intro

No cruise line rents scooters and no cruise line allows you to park a scooter in the hallway to charge. VV probably refers people to Scootaround or Special Needs Group, both of whom can provide scooter rentals. But they must fit inside your room when not in use, they cannot be left in the hallways, nor can they be left in the elevator lobbies for charging.

The ones they showed me were gel batteries. I wonder if they have gel batteries specifically for cruise ships.

The wording I've been seeing from multiple cruise lines is a requirement for a gel battery for mobility scooters. If you can, I would suggest you take a look at the Whill power chairs. We've introduced those to multiple cruise guests after we had a chance to the visit the Scootaround offices here in Orlando. They're smaller than a standard 3 or 4 wheel scooter, easy to drive with a right or left hand joystick and fit into most any stateroom door. The batteries pop out for super easy charging. The C1 can be rented for cruises and while it's smaller it does not fold up. They also have an F model that literally folds up against the wall when it's not in use. Both come with a phone app that allows you to drive the chair via the app. The primary use of this on a cruise ship would be to park the chair out of the way after you sit down and to drive it back to you when it's time to leave. Here's my visit to the offices and the two chairs. Whill is the parent company of Scootaround. https://youtu.be/HjS6qhJIRUY

The best is NCL. They alternate between One Guest Free! and 50% off Both Guests! It's the exact same offer, different words. And I'll get calls all the time, "Hey they changed the offer! Can we rebook to get the new rate?" I have to explain it's literally the same deal, bringing up the pricing so they can see it, just different wording. 🙂

VV tends to go up in price as the sail date gets closer. I've seen it go up 2 to 3x the original cruise fare in the weeks and months before sail date. Our Thanksgiving cruise last November was 3x the original cruise fare a few months before sailing. VV's best pricing tends to be the day they open up. Note that if the pricing does go down, VV does not price match like other cruise lines. You'll have to cancel your cruise and rebook. When you do that, you will lose any promotion that was attached to the original sailing and be rebooked with any current promotions. Your MNVV can be cancelled and reused one time.

I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise

Actually your TA should be contacting the First Mates dept. directly. He should have asked you to send an email detailing the situation. Then the First Mates dept would be the first contact for that TA to fix the situation. If they could not get the situation sorted, then your TA escalates the situation directly to their business development contact from VV to get the situation sorted. That's one of the advantages of using a TA, having them go directly to their contacts if the situation has to be escalated. That is a very strange situation to be sure. It does sounds like you've been put into a Circle but even there, you would not see anyone else's personal information. .

Thanks for the kind words. Every time I'm on a ladyship I get so many compliments on that particular video. And so many Sailors will tell me they tried Virgin for the first time because of that video. It's super cool.

TAs make your life so much easier to be honest. We have cruised for almost 20 years and have always used a TA. The biggest advantage is not having to call the cruise lines ourselves to do anything. They take care of it. And if we really need to take things to a higher level to get a situation taken care of, they have direct contacts at all of the cruise lines. And in the case of VV, having them take care of our dining reservations is worth their weight in gold. VV's app can make it incredibly challenging to book dining reservations when they open. So long as the booking engine is working for the TA, they can usually make your reservations pretty quickly. And our TA never charges us a dime so why wouldn't we use their expertise and connections? 🙂

They can cancel for any reason at any time. It's in section 9 of the contract. I believe 9.3.5 in VV's contract. It's in every single cruise contract on any cruise line. 300 days, 200 days, 100 days, 10 days, and even after the ship leaves port, itineraries can change for whatever reason at all. No itinerary is guaranteed, ever. If Toulon was that important to you, fly there, don't take a cruise. If any destination is so important it will ruin your cruise if it's cancelled, don't take the cruise. fly there. It's that simple. Everyone who is 'defending' the cruise line understands the cruise contract. We go into the cruise knowing the itinerary can change.

There is no audacity on anyone's part. Itinerary changes are normal in cruising. It's in the contract. Those of us who have been cruising for 20 years know exactly how all of this works. Anyone who books through a travel agent knows that your itinerary is NEVER guaranteed on a cruise ship. If Toulon is the most important thing in the world to you, fly there. Don't take a cruise. That holds true of any cruise destination on any cruise line from the cheapest to the most expensive luxury cruise. If your vacation is going to be RUINED because the ship won't stop at XYZ port, don't take a cruise. Fly there. It's not audacious to understand itinerary changes. It's understanding the cruise contract and understanding that itineraries can and will be changed.

60 days for Rockstars. 45 Days for Sailors. Since you've sailed on VV previously you should have known that your dining options were going to be slim to nil via the app booking 37 days out. All dining reservations are generally gone the day after the 45 day mark. It's great to score the 'best price available' 37 days out, but you know that booking that late on any cruise line will leave you limited options when it comes to reservations. That comes with the territory.

I would not book a flight earlier than noon from Athens. You need to get there from the port and that's about an hour away. Then security lines, etc... Maybe 1p might be better.