CruisingWalter

And the beginning of a new month is upon us. All the current specials have ended and we're in a 'limbo state' until the new offers are released. Would be good timing to release the new itineraries and the September deals at the same time. Will they announce it onboard the ship this week? That is a celebration of Virgin the company, not Virgin Voyages. But with the leadership of VV onboard, it's possible we might see an announcement towards the end of the journey.

I have found it interesting that while VV has absolutely no dress code for dinner, I find people do put more effort in 'looking nice' for dinner than most other cruise lines. Even if it's just a pair of nice shorts with button down shirt or dress jeans and a shirt. I think it's because the dinners really are a 'night out' on VV vs. going to a main dining room that's more like a cafeteria than restaurant experience. As others have mentioned, you do you and have fun with it. We've seen shorts and t-shirts to full on amazing dresses and suits but without the tie. That would be my only suggestion to you, skip the tie with the suit and leave that top button undone so you'll feel a little more relaxed. But you do you and have an amazing time!

That's the one aspect of VV that honestly keeps us from sailing them more. They had an opportunity to create an incredible aft pool experience ala NCL Prima class Haven, but all that wasted space in the back with the net and seating that nobody uses. That and the fact that the Miami itineraries are so repetitive there's not much to choose from in the Caribbean. I'm hopeful that the 10 night itineraries in Greece might spur some occasional 7 and 10 nighters from Miami when we only have one ship in town. Anything to mix up the repetition. Other cruise lines have repetitive itineraries too, but they may also have 2 to 5 ships in Florida at a time offering options.

On our two sailings on Scarlet so far, I'd say the median age is 50, but literally the entire spectrum from 18 to 90+ is represented onboard. Vibe is mostly chill, "Adult Summer Camp" as one crew member put it. I think that's accurate. If you want to party every night, The Manor the place for you. If you want to chill in the evenings with some great live music, On the Rocks has amazing musicians and shows. If you enjoy cruising, you should try VV at least once. For most people it's not at all what they expected based on the vloggers who focus on nothing but Scarlet Night or The Manor because those draw clicks and views.

Whaaaaaa?!?!? You don't appreciate quality Olive Artwork?!?!? It's SUCH a great value on a ship! 🤣 Glad the tips were helpful.

First off, thanks so much for the kind words above about our reviews, we really try to present what it's really like on the ships. Here's the full playlist from our first Scarlet Lady cruise including the food tour, ship overview and the Cheeky Corner Suite tour. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8wFV2tZMxXq3Lbmd6VbXJdMNQEzc8SqH As for VV vs the other 9 cruise lines we've sailed? There are going to be things you're going to absolutely love about VV. All meals, WiFi, Gratuities, Soft Drinks and Exercise classes rolled into the price. It makes VV's pricing higher than others, but we have taken 2 cruises on Scarlet so far and have paid $0 onboard other than the premium bevvies. My favorite thing about VV vs. the others is no photographers. They've become pretty aggressive on some of the other cruise lines of late, so it's a really nice reprieve. The pools are terrible on VV, no way around that if you are a pool person. Way too small, the deck space around the pools is too small and cramped. We absolutely love the pools on Celebrity, Princess and were really impressed with the MSC pools on the Seaside. That's the biggest knock for us on VV and one reason why we don't sail on them as often as we might. While all the food is included and much of it is amazing, that doesn't mean it's all better than every other cruise line out there. I think it's on-par with Disney in terms of quality. The Wake has become a 'skip' for dinner for us because it just was not that great and service was very slow on our second Scarlet sailing. The Crown Grill on Sky Princess blows The Wake out of the water if you pardon my pun. 🙂 Razzle Dazzle and Pink Agave are the standouts right now on VV for dinner and Extra Virgin is also quite good. Test Kitchen is an excellent light early meal and then you can grab a pizza or something from The Galley later. The Sun Cafe up on Deck 16 is a nice poke bowl treat when it's open, it has irregular hours. Gunbae has become a dividing point among VV sailors as to whether they like it or not. It's not the best Korean BBQ, not even close, but it is a fun evening. Honestly they could do away with the drinking game, but if you really don't want to participate in it, just ask the water to pour you a shot of water instead of the soju. In some ways The Galley is good because they prepare items to order, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's superior to a really good, well maintained buffet. The buffet we had on Sky Princess had much more variety and the quality of the food was consistently better than what we might get in The Galley. Celebrity and Holland America also run outstanding buffets with a lot of variety. In The Galley The Sweet Spot, the salad station, the Burger Bar and the Bento Boxes are the standouts for me. The tacos can be pretty good, the panini sandwiches are so-so. It's like any food hall, you have hits and misses. If you really like to cruise, you should give VV a try. It's a really really fun cruise line. We've done a lot of games and met a lot of really fun people on the ship. Don't miss Bingo with the Diva, it's a hilarious show and I think the Diva is always my favorite cast member other than the Foodie. 🙂

It's because Brilliant Lady is not finished yet. Nor is the schedule. It's very possible they're going to reveal some sort of a surprise on her and that's one reason why she's not showing up on the app yet. VV has said they would keep all four ships identical but it's always possible they may have tweaked one of the restaurants based on customer feedback.

Yes, first sailing is four or five days from Miami to San Juan. Then a one day party / press event for the local press and dignitaries in San Juan. Then the MerMaiden. I have friends who booked both not realizing it's not a true back to back. They have to debark the ship for one day and then come back for embarkation the next day.

Yep, it'll probably show up about the time dinner reservations are available for the Rockstar Agents, 60 days before its first cruise from Miami.

1000% this. And note that internet speeds vary wildly throughout the cruise and even throughout the day depending on a number of factors. That's for any cruise ship. As for the pricing, it's been $10/day for the streaming upgrade, though with the Deep Blue Extras we get one upgrade for free on each cruise.

Understand that MSC is NOT Celebrity, nor is it any other cruise line. As long as you go in with the right expectations you should have an amazing time. We've sailed 9 cruise lines now and while MSC would not be my favorite cruise line, for price you pay it's a good value and we will definitely be sailing their ships again. Celebrity is much more adult centric, MSC is much more family centric. We met family groups of 12 to 20 or more during our recent sailing on MSC Seaside. It reminded me of a European Carnival cruise with so many families, but so many from all over the world. It was a real melting pot of cultures that was super cool. So be prepared for a lot of kids that you would not normally see on Celebrity. The entertainment onboard is decent, but not the best at sea. Royal and NCL have the best entertainment, but MSC's is entertaining. If you have an overnight stay at Ocean Cay, that's awesome. LOVED the nighttime party and then waking up to the island the next day. Be sure to pack water shoes as the shore beaches are very rocky. They're lovely but rocky. The bars were decent on MSC, they're much better on Celebrity, especially the World Class Bar. The best bar I found on MSC Seaside is the one up on 16 as you enter the specialty dining area. Otherwise, they were just decent. But the affogado from Venchi was otherworldy. I had 4 of them during our cruise. 🙂 We did the Pan Asian trio dinners on our cruise and really enjoyed them, especially the Sushi and Pan Asian restaurants. The Teppenyaki was good, but not as good as other cruise lines. The pools were awesome on MSC Seaside, very deep and plentiful. We especially loved the salt water pool in the Jungle Lounge or whatever they called it. I appreciated it was tinted green to fit the Jungle motif. 🙂 Have an amazing cruise!

I'm hopeful at some point in the future, maybe with Scarlet's Drydock, VV will ditch these silly Ikea style soft beds and install more traditional beds that can be split side by side vs. head to tail L shape.

They'll fill your shot glasses with water. Drinking really has nothing to do with Gunbae if you don't want it to. So you started a thread speculating that one restaurant might be leaving the fleet because you're on the ship for the first time and you don't like this one restaurant. So you don't like Virgin Voyages therefore let's start a thread with a major negative speculation. Got it.

The most incredible Halloween at sea we have experienced was on the Disney Fantasy. The costumes from the guests were better than Hollywood and Disney. I swear some of these people must have packed and extra suitcase (or two) just for their costumes. It was unreal. I'd love to hop on one of these Halloween sailings, but we're doing Thanksgiving on Valiant Nov 18. Have fun all!

Probably related to the pier incident as noted above. She's headed into her first scheduled dry dock next year so she's due to have everything updated.

Our Thanksgiving cruise on Valiant Lady was in the $5500+ range for a Sea Terrace for the final month before it sold out so that rate is not necessarily 'phony.' It could also be the "brochure rate" that all cruise lines have. The rate they never charge but they use it so show the '50 - 75% Off' so you think you're getting an amazing deal. 🙂 The Sea Terrace is fine, it's functional, but it's not luxurious by any means. And those beds.... I'm not quite sure why they went with the IKEA convertible sofa as they are not that comfortable. Our interior on Sky Princess was much more comfortable than the Sea Terrace beds on Scarlet. But what the Sea Terrace DOES have is that hammock. That makes up for the shortcomings inside the cabin. Now the Suites are lovely, we stayed in a Cheeky Corner on our first Scarlet sailing and I think that's one of the best cabins on any ship. We've sailed 9 cruise lines so far and that balcony and cabin combination are amazeballs. I just wish they had an outdoor sofa and a larger table on the balcony, but dang, that is a sweet sweet cabin. And of course the nearly all-inclusive nature of VV vs. the 'pay for this package,' mentality of every other cruise line wins hands-down. It's just so dang refreshing to walk onto a VV ship with nobody pushing a drink package, a meal package, a WiFi package and knowing that I do not have to spend a dime on the ship unless I want to.

If the sailing is cancelled by VV you will get everything restored. If you cancel most likely you'll get FVC but I don't know if the $600 OBC benefits will be retained.

Guadaloupe is where they film one of our favorite shows, "Death in Paradise." If there's enough time on the island, this is what I would be doing. 🙂 https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g147300-d13084085-The_Death_in_Paradise_TV_Series_Tour_from_Guadeloupe-Guadeloupe.html

As mentioned above, you'll have to cancel and rebook to get the current promotions. VV does not add things like Bar Tab or additional money off. That $500 off per cabin has been running for a while, it's already baked into the prices you see online.

Not sure why they wouldn't. We've cruised almost 20 years and always use a TA. Thank goodness we did before the shutdown, they were invaluable managing all the changes. If yours doesn't book MSC, find someone who does. I always find it interesting that some TA 'won't book certain cruise lines.' Why would you NOT book a certain cruise line, different strokes for different folks.

And of course Diner and Dash will be your 24 hour munchie spot in the Galley. 🙂

If you have a Travel agent, they should be able to get Virgin to give you Future Voyage Credit for another cruise without too much of a loss. Especially since you cannot go. If you booked directly, call VV yourself and explain the situation. They have been much more forgiving of changes than most of the other cruise lines, even very late. You should be able to move your booking to another sailing.

Except for Pink Agave and Razzle Dazzle, the restaurants can be a much more relaxed pace than you're used to on other ships. They emphasize the experience of dining over the speed of turning over tables. The Test Kitchen in particular is a longer dinner. If your dining time is within 90 minutes of a show, simply let the server know as soon as you sit down and they should be able to move you along a little faster to make the show. For example the standard four course meal in Extra Virgin was changed to a three course meal for us so we could make the Duel Reality show starting in 70 minutes. We were late to dinner due to a Secret Show, but she managed to get us through our meal even with dessert and we walked into the theater 2 minutes before the show. You could potentially move your dining schedule around once you see the entertainment slate onboard. Depending on how full your ship is, the availability of other dining times may be earlier or much later than what you selected. If it's going to be a later dinner, grab some light bites in The Galley to hold you over or share a pizza. Since you're first time VV some of my recommendations: When you board the ship, drop your bags in your stateroom and head straight to The Dock on the back of deck 7. Excellent tapas on the back of the ship, it's a great way to start your VV vacation. Also notice the Grab N Go station on your left just before you walk outside to The Dock. I usually grab the meat and cheese box as well when I head out there. Sun Cafe up on Deck 16 is a fabulous Poke and Bao Bun spot that has irregular hours, but tasty when it's open. Pizza is truly awesome and they have outdoor seating. Social Club Diner has hot dogs and more along with really fun sweet snacks. Razzle Dazzle has become our favorite restaurant of late, if they have the butter chicken, that has been one of my favorite things on the ship. The Test Kitchen is a really fun experience, but it is a very light meal. We now book this meal earlier because we know we'll be hungry again about 2 hours later. We'll either grab a pizza or head up to The Galley for munchies later. Pink Agave has over 125 Tequila and Mezcal so if you're a fan of either it's the place to visit, they also have a stand alone bar. On our second sailing they had a mezcal and tequila tasting that was outstanding. My big guilty pleasure is the French Toast Burger from the Burger Bar in The Galley for breakfast. So filling but just so dang good. 🙂 Ramen has been hit or miss in The Galley but the Bento Boxes are great. With The Galley, make a lap around the space to see what the specials are before you sit down. If a server is not with you almost immediately after you sit down, raise the red flag on the table card and someone will be over shortly to take your order. There is a second Grab N Go station in the back of The Galley to take items out to the pool or sun deck areas. My favorite music venue is On The Rocks, usually a quartet or trio. If you want to laugh like you haven't laughed in a while, grab a private Karaoke booth in The Groupie up near the Red Room. SO MUCH FUN even if you don't sing karaoke in public, which I don't. 🙂 An excellent place to relax on the ship are the two decks on either side of the Roundabout on Deck 7, midship. Lots of comfortable outdoor seating near the waterline. the ship should provide a lot of shade on one side of the ship as well. If you'd like to see the food, this is our food tour from our first Scarlet Lady sailing. https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU Most of all, keep an open mind because VV is similar to other cruise lines, but it is its own thing. You are going to LOVE aspects of this cruise line and you're going to be annoyed by other things. Just like any other cruise line. We've sailed twice and will be on an 8 night with Valiant Lady in November. It's a really fun cruise line, have an amazing time!

My guess would be around late September / early October that app will start working for Brilliant Lady once they have all the port operations finalized with the Puerto Rico or San Juan Port Authority. In addition to BL, the NCL Viva and Royal Jewel of the Seas will all be homeporting in San Juan starting in December/January for the season. It's possible they're still working out the final details on how all of that is going to work. Plus, while all indicators are that BL will sail on time, they may be waiting until they are 100% certain there will be no changes to the inaugural sailings before making that ship live on the app. I'm not sure what's going on with the $400M project that's supposed to build a new terminal and docks there as well as renovate the existing terminal and docks. That was announced in 2022 and I can't find any recent news reports on what is happening, if anything. An emergency repair to Pier 3 was just completed in July for damage that happened in 2019 from the NCL Epic. But nothing about that big renovation project that I can find.

Very little in the way of organized activities. The only games onboard are the Retro Arcade, which I love, and the games in the Social Club. You also have the outdoor gym and the sports court. But otherwise you're going to find a very chill and quiet ship. VV really emphasizes getting off the ship and going into port so they do not have a full slate of activities like the other ships. Mini Golf and Ping Pong have no place on VV. I've never understood ping pong on a ship to be honest, Mini Golf all day long, but ping pong has always amused me because it seems people are chasing the ball around the deck more than they are playing. 🙂 The best part of staying onboard during a port day is access to the main pool. It's basically a huge hot tub on sea days, we've literally seen it where you almost cannot move there are so many people in there. But we did a ship day in Puerto Plata on our first Scarlet sailing and had a glorious 3 hours or so just lounging in and around the pool.