CruisingWalter

For these first few sailings she's supposedly sailing at 80% so there should be some cabins available to swtich.

The small portions and overall small meal are well known for Test Kitchen. Most of us grab some pizza about an hour or two later. It's a fun place and we enjoy seeing what they try to come up with. It's not for everyone but nowhere near a 0 for us. It's a 7 most of the time.

I don't have that personal experience but I do advise all my friends to avoid staying under or above The Manor. It's the bass that comes through the below and above cabins. How bad it will be depends on the ship construction, but it's nearly unavoidable. We just came off Icon of the Seas and while sitting in Surfside my chair was vibrating so bad I was almost sliding across the floor. It was the bass from the Absolute Zero ice rink below us while they were rehearsing. That's an extreme example and that show is LOUD, but it's near impossible to prevent bass from going up or down from the venue.

I guess that's why I never noticed it. We're usually in the first boarding group.

The last we saw any mention of Brilliant Lady from VV it was sitting on a calendar in the fourth quarter of 2025. No dates, just a big red "Brilliant Lady" in the fourth quarter of 2025. Reports I've seen lately says they have yet to take delivery of the ship. It's basically ready to go, just VV is not taking delivery of it at this time. And all mention of it has ceased from the VV side as if they want everyone to forget about it for the time being and concentrate on the current three ships.

Going around Africa is a HUGE change that requires so much to make that happen with infrastructure and port availability. That would not be "hey we're going to make a longer itinerary and not charge you anything for it." That would involve a big price increase to cover the costs for the added time to go around Africa, which is exactly what the freight companies are doing. Lots of additional fuel required and additional ports requires to make that journey. It's not an easy decision and I would not want to be at the center of that logistical nightmare for all the cruise lines.

The situation is so fluid there that's probably why they have not made any announcements yet. With the recent attack on a US Navy ship, that makes the situation even more perilous. As others have mentioned, making changes to the itinerary has ripple effects on new ports that have to be sourced and possibly a longer cruise to avoid that area. It appears that most cruise lines are wisely avoiding that area for now.

I believe the Burger Bar is now open till midnight if I recall correctly from our Scarlet Lady cruise a few weeks ago. Still amazed the Ramen station is closed for dinner and late night. I mean ramen IS a late night staple in so many places. 🙂

I don't recall having to watch the video before we could book shows, but I suppose it's possible. It's usually the first thing we do as soon as we're onboard, pull up the video on the app and let it run.

As soon as you get to your stateroom, start the video, wait for it to end, check off that both Sailors (if there are two) have watched it. Go enjoy the ship. When they announce Muster Stations are open, report in and watch a life vest demo. If you've never seen the video, you'll enjoy it, best safety video out there since Princess included all the Love Boat stars. But still not at good as New Zealand Air's classic safety video.

Reservation.

That rule is definitely changing. I saw some tattoos on crew members on Oceania over the holidays. Much more modest than the openness of VV, but I was pleasantly surprised. Curious to see if Royal has started relaxing their appearance protocols when we sail next weekend.

These sailings are from San Juan and Barcelona only. Valiant is sailing from San Juan during that time, Scarlet Lady will be sailing from Barcelona. The only cabins eligible for this special is the Central Sea Terrace.

I had the worst haircut on any cruise ship in November on Valiant. I actually enjoy getting my hair cut onboard and chatting with the always interesting crew. I think I've had my hair cut on 5 or 6 cruise lines now. She was quick and efficient on Valiant, but it really wasn't that great. Certainly not worth the price they charge, but we used our Sailor Loot for it. Princess has been consistently good for me with the hair cuts along with NCL and Royal Caribbean.

We were just there for the Holidays on an Oceania 12-Night cruise. If you're a fan of "Death In Paradise" on BBC, book the show tour. Or book a tour of the Botanical Gardens in Deshaies and you'll probably have an opportunity to stop in the town for photos. That's the town where they film the series. Photo is us in front of the "Honore Police Station" and Catherine's Bar is about a 2 block walk away. Guadeloupe was lovely, it was our first time there, absolutely stonkin beautiful scenery, so glad we went on the tour. In fact it was our first time in Dominica, St. Barts, Grenada and Guadeloupe on that cruise. If you're staying in San Juan for a day, Flavors of San Juan is a fabulous walking tour of Old San Juan. Usually 5 or 6 stops for small bites, a cocktail or coffee. But the best part is you can find shops, bars and restaurants you might want to come back and explore when the tour is over. Especially if you ask the tour guide where to go after the tour is over. When you first board the ship, our "go-to" has been to drop off our bags and head back to The Dock for tapas and a cocktail. Last week on Scarlet we changed it up and went up to Deck 16 for a Poke Bowl and some Bao Buns. We always forgot the Sun Cafe is up there till the end of each cruise. Hopefully your Sea Terrace has a Hammock and not the bird cage. Some XL's can't have a hammock due to the curve in the front of the ship. Either way you'll have a great time.

The short answer is 'Yes you should." The long answer is reach out to your TA and have them attempt to book the restaurants for you with the extra bookings. If that doesn't work, they can reach to Sailor Support services so you don't have to.

the food is Ok. We just went to the show last week on Scarlet and it was ok. Most everyone around me went to Razzle Dazzle before the show or planned to go for Pizza after the show. The acts in the show are fabulous. Whoever wrote the script for the host..... well I'm not going to say anything more except that I could without the host for that show. 🙂

On Scarlet Lady it's been brilliant in the Caribbean. Valiant was running like dial up speeds over Thanksgiving for the entire 8 days of our cruise.

Valiant Lady was terrible with high speed internet during our Thanksgiving cruise. I stream video from most every cruise ship we sail now and Valiant was not only unable to stream video for the entire 8 days, but trying to work onboard was like working with dial up speeds. Yet Scarlet Lady works perfectly with high speed. I was on Scarlet last week for 4 days and it was nearly as fast as the speeds I have at home. No clue why Valiant is so bad but this past November it was absolutely terrible with no bad weather in sight to mess with the signal.

They are available at the Bimini Beach club as well.

As others have noted, no dress code, come as you are. In the evenings you'll find folks dressed to the 9s while some are shorts and t-shirts. It's not 'dumbing down' the dress code, it's 'you're an adult, come as you feel comfortable.' We've sailed VV 4 times and they are a good product, but I would never limit myself to VV or any other single cruise line. Too many amazing ships and experiences out there. For the Holidays this year we were on a 650 passenger ship, also nearly all inclusive, and the food game was incredible. We'll soon be heading out on the world's largest cruise ship and I know we're going to have an absolute blast. Basically if the itinerary matches what you are looking for and the ship meets your needs, then you sail them. VV checks a lot of great boxes, but not all. Our Scarlet Lady experience this past week was not the same experience we got last year. It wasn't a bad experience but there were noticeable shifts in the crew, service and food quality. VV has a lot to live up to and as the cruise fares increase, so will the scrutiny on the product. All in all, you should have an awesome time.

As others mention, 90 minutes-ish is a good timeframe. I recommend Gunbae for the first night because it's a good way to meet some of your fellow Sailors. Not the best Korean BBQ but a fun meal nonetheless. If you or anyone in your party does not want to partake in the drinking game, just ask for a shot of water instead of Soju.

We're currently on the 4-Night Fire and Sunset Soiree. Demographic is much younger, upper 20's - 40's predominately. On our 8-Night Eastern Caribbean Antilles for Thanksgiving it was older, median age was more like 55-60. That's pretty standard for short vs. longer cruises. Shorter cruises attract a younger crowd looking for a quick getaway to either chill or party. Longer cruises draw an older demographic. The VV demographic has always mirrored Celebrity as the experiences are somewhat similar. Good food, adult centric, usually good entertainment. Celebrity has the edge on the pools and VV has the edge with more inclusive nature way of sailing. We were on one of the early sailings in 2021 and the onboard demographic in terms of age hasn't really changed at all. What's changed is how many people are now willing to explore Virgin Voyages because of the wealth of coverage across the social media spectrum. Our group of nearly 30 at Thanksgiving on Valiant included at least 20 "virgins" who never would have sailed except they were coming with us. Almost all booked a second VV cruise. VV is not as 'scary and weird' as it was in the beginning, now it's becoming a mainstream adult cruise line.

As others have noted OBC and Sailor Loot are the same, but I've honestly never seen it show up as another other than Sailor Loot. It's a Use it or Lose It item just like any other cruise line. If you still have a bunch left over on the last night, go peruse the shops, that's what I usually do. VV is retooling all of their pricing programs and where many Gold Tier TAs are able to offer $100 Sailor Loot for Sea Terrace or above cabins, some of those perks are about to go away or be changed at the end of this month.

Yes, I know. We've interacted with them. Obviously you are their Number One Fan and they're lucky to have you. I wish you well.