CruisingWalter

No itineraries announced, nor will they be for some time.  But Tamika posted this on Facebook today, Brilliant has her mermaid. 

We are thrilled to unveil our Brilliant Lady Mermaid to the world, continuing our tradition of inclusivity. Our fourth Mermaid (who was just painted while in dry dock) celebrates the cultures of Southeast Asia and was beautifully brought to life by artist Janice Sung.‘Brilliant Lady’ symbolizes living meaningfully and purposefully. With her unwavering gaze, she reminds us of the boundless potential within each one of us to overcome obstacles and achieve greatness.

This is the completion of our story across the fleet. The full expression of every part of ourselves brought to life in our four ladies:

Scarlet - to explore and immerse in your bright and passionate side.

Valiant - to live boldly and courageously, and to take charge.

Resilient - to have strength through adversity and to rise up to challenges.

Brilliant - to live meaningfully and purposefully.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Janice resides in British Columbia, Canada, where she crafts art fueled by a multitude of influences. Drawing inspiration from the enduring allure of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, the refined intricacies of Japanese and Chinese traditional art, as well as the rich diversity of fauna and flora, she endeavors to produce pieces that are both enchanting and enduring, transcending time with their captivating essence.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, the_fh_mets said:

Virgin's currently available US itineraries for 2025 aren't particularly exciting (a downside of only having three ships and a contractual commitment to Port of Miami). For those who have cruised with Virgin and other lines, which line do you sail when you can't sail Virgin? Why?

Celebrity cruises is adult centric. Princess is adult centric.  Oceania Cruises has the most inclusions like VV and the food is superior. Much smaller ships at 1250 and 650 pax maximum. 

14 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Now we just need to know what’s up with Brilliant Lady. 

Last thing we saw was Q4 2025 for Brilliant Lady's arrival, but it's all conjecture until they actually put her back up for sale again. 

We all knew the Resilient Lady was going to be cancelled because there was no way they could go through the Red Sea right now.  But I was honestly surprised at this turn of events. I can't wait to see what these 10 and 11 night itineraries are!

Get with your First Mate, this is going to be an amazing Winter 2024 - 2025 season!  I'm going to try to get one of those longer itineraries myself. 

Resilient Lady will now reposition to her new temporary home in the Caribbean from Athens, where she’ll be sailing 7, 8, 10 and 11-night voyages from San Juan, Puerto Rico — visiting St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Colombia, and Dominica — which will be available to book on February 29th.

"It's Official, Resilient Lady is coming to San Juan".  

Gunbae.  If you get a dinner reservation and get seated near the window for sail away, it's a nice spot.  Otherwise up on Deck 16 with a glass of champagne. 

22 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

Was it a regular Sea Terrace or Central?

The price differences between those two categories is typically nominal.  $200 or less for most sailings  unless the Central is about sold out.

Those could very well be port holds from when Brilliant was originally supposed to be sailing. Port slots are purchased up to 3 years (or more) in advance and since she was supposed to sailing already, spring 2025 slots in LA make sense. VV would have purchased those slots at least a few years ago. The last tentative word we got from VV was the end of 2025 for Brilliant Lady to launch. Until VV actually releases a schedule showing Brilliant in LA, I would not get too excited yet. We're supposed to see new 2025 itineraries anytime now. 

Because they run the risk of catching the edge of the channel if she simply turned right. Much safer to make the 270 spin. If you watch when some of the larger ships spin in the turning basin, you'll notice they don't just spin. They tend to slide their ships away from where Scarlet sits as they make the spin, whether she's docked there or not. 

Ditto to above. Leave the Bluetooth on. 

3 minutes ago, fsdorado said:

I think it's fair to say that all of us are really bad about reading the Cruise Contract, especially those of us who have been on many cruises.  Just check the box and move on.

That's totally true, after almost 20 years we rarely read anything anymore. 🙂  But that's one rule we've always remembered because it can bite you in the butt with the cruise line who decides to enforce it when you show up.  

28 minutes ago, lovetotravel06 said:

That's all fine and dandy but I've NEVER seen or heard anything about it on the many closed loop cruises I've taken on Royal and Celebrity. Not once out of MANY closed loops. SO, when I got the VV email and the very first thing I saw to "remember" was to "triple check my PP is valid for at least 6 months after the voyage end date" maybe you could understand where I was like WHAT?

It's literally the first thing in Royal Caribbean's Travel Documents FAQ. "The passport must be valid for six months after the day your cruise ends...

13 hours ago, Cinders411 said:

Okay I completed the price drop form and tried to submit. It would not take as it now has to be within 48 hours of the original booking. 

You have to call.  If you use a TA, they can take care of it for you. Another great reason to use a TA, especially those who don't charge you for their services. 

On 2/18/2024 at 8:08 PM, Tree_skier said:

And a Tik tok video is where you are getting your getting your information. LOL

 

 

You have to consider the source.  I get a LOT of great cruise information via TikTok from specific sources.  Once you know who the good sources are, you follow them. Some have even built incredibly successful businesses via TT as well. 🙂

My advice is to skip The Key for now, it's pretty easy to get around. 

On Embarkation go to the Aquadome Market instead of the Windjammer. I particularly liked the Feta Mediterranean and GNGR Asian stations.  

Or go back to the Surfside Eatery for some really fun comfort food. I didn't have a chance to actually eat there but my friends onboard were raving about the hot dog cheese melt. 🙂 

9 hours ago, Sass4 said:

Can we check in early? Or where would we wait for check in?  

In general most cruise lines are not enforcing check in times. VV is one of the few that still does, so you should be fine showing up early.  Maybe check out of your hotel right at 11 and head over to the port. 

8 hours ago, ddvgww said:

 If I book direct through RCI, will they give me the cheaper price if they drop the price of the cruise later?  My understanding is they will match the cheaper price as long as it is before final payment.   Would they also price match if I booked through an online cruise site and not directly through them?

In the U.S., if you book directly with RCI and you see that the price has gone down, you call RCI and ask them to price adjust. Remember that it has to be your specific category that has gone down. Inside, Ocean View, Balcony and Suites have many categories within them, when the prices drop, it may not affect your specific category. 

If you book with a travel agent, they can check very quickly if your category is eligible for a price drop and either make the change themselves or call RCI for you.  No clue what happens if you book through an online clearinghouse website. 

As others have noted, the rules outside the U.S. may be different. 

In the beginning of the embarkation process, VV lines up all guests in 'corrals' outside the terminal in accordance with your check in time. Those corrals typically start out going to 3:00p. I would not show up much before 2:30 or 3 if you have a 4:30p check in. 

On 2/18/2024 at 2:21 PM, lovetotravel06 said:

Title pretty much says it all. Surely that's not required for a closed loop out of Miami is it? (the 6 months thing)

It's the same rule for all cruise lines. 6 months after sailing date for all cruises, yes including closed loop cruises. VV can issue an exception, but are not required to. 

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

It wasn’t that way on our last voyage in September 2023. We have DBE and when we logged on the only option was to connect to premium WiFi, it knows we have the benefit and therefore it was already enabled.

It was a cluster in January.  It didn't automatically connect at all or offer the premium upgrade. Then when I did get the premium upgrade it took 2 days for Sailor Services to get the charge removed. 

48 minutes ago, WatermelonSugarHigh said:

We were surprised how much cruising has gone back to not managing or caring about social distancing at all, anywhere.

The CDC declared the national emergency over as of May 11, 2023. There is no legal requirement for social distancing or any other protective measures beyond what the cruise lines already do.  You're sailing with a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers along with those who have not kept up with their boosters.  

You're right back to where cruising was before the pandemic. What you're describing is not shocking or different in any way to our almost 20 years of cruising. If you cruise you accept that there is a risk you may get sick due to crowding or unsanitary practices of any number of guests. It's no different than flying or taking a land based vacation. 

We took 6 cruises over 3 months to end 2023 into 2024. The only thing we got was a cold on our very last cruise in January. We stay up to date on the boosters, we do the best we can with sanitizers and such on board. But cruising is back to normal and has been for some time. 

18 hours ago, jcarter4551 said:

Thanks Walter. My wife and I are big virgin voyage cruisers as well so appreciate your advice there. I am hoping this Hideaway is a lot like Virgins private pool and beach party at Bimini. Is that accurate? 

It's YUGE compared to the pools and vibe at the Bimini Beach Club. It's more of a destination than Bimini with all the food stalls, multiple bars and that massive, massive pool. That dual level bar is 'next level' if you will.  If you really enjoy good music and a party vibe, you should like the pool. No floaties like Bimini, but it's a great pool.  We were not there long enough to see if the DJ gets any sort of a party vibe going but it would not surprise me. 

The beach is fully man made with a private lagoon so it's a very protected water area. The cabanas are MUCH better at Hideaway than those twigs at Bimini. 🙂  The standard cabanas are close to the main pool while the swim up cabanas are further away. 

Two completely different spaces, you're going to like Hideaway more for some things but you'll like Bimini Beach more more for other things. I would definitely give Hideaway a shot and see what you think.  Thanks for the kind words!

Independent travel agents should be able to book most any cruise.  If you're talking about one of those vacation specialists from the actual cruise line, no they will not be able to book Royal Caribbean cruises.  

Whether it's 'lit' or not is up to you. The setting is there, the DJ is there. It's up to you whether you want to be chill or party. When we were there the pool was heated which was great on a very chilly day. 

On 2/1/2024 at 12:03 AM, WatermelonSugarHigh said:

I’m from Ny. We were in a tour van today in St Lucia with 14 Brits who were on another cruise ship. They were not fans of Mr. Branson at ALL.

That has been typical of many of my friends and colleagues from the UK. I personally really enjoy following his exploits and he was the reason we booked a VV cruise the very first week they went on sale. I've thought about booking one of the Celebration cruises because some friends were on last year's cruise and said it was an absolute blast. 

As noted above, it will be like Miami because you are going through U.S. Customs just like Miami.  Your letter in the cabin will tell you where to meet and you'll be escorted off the ship as a group and when the ship is ready, you'll be the first to board the ship.  If you have the same cabin, you'll leave everything in your room.