CruisingWalter

Because our hotel checkout was 11am, we arrived at Terminal V at 11:15am, dropped off our bags with the porter and parked the car. Then we took the Virgin shuttle over to the Bayside Marketplace to kill a few hours while we waited for the terminal to open. It's free and it runs in a loop between the marketplace and Terminal V. I preferred to get to the terminal early before any traffic started up, the parking is fantastic, right across the street from the terminal. We got back to the terminal a little after 2pm and walked right onto the ship.

Travel Agents are the way to go. Cruise Call Centers are only as good as the person you get on the line and it seems since the pandemic, the information has been 'less than helpful.' Travel Agents have direct connections with Business Managers and Account Managers that are dedicated to their agencies vs. an 800 Call Center number. It's easy to make changes, request fare reductions when the prices drops, get upgrades, etc...

Definitely won't miss NSA. But good to see they are re-evaluating because after 2 years, the entertainment will get very stale. It would be good to see them add a few more shows and maybe some other ways to use the Red Room.

Just incredible!

Nope, gratuities are not included in TA commission. They're part of the NFC for a cruise. It makes no difference if they are included or not. Virgin Voyages includes the tips in all of their fares, it makes no difference for the commission rate for a TA. Virgin's prices are well in line for the services and food they provide and it's one less thing to worry about on the cruise.

USB hubs are the way to go if you're trying to charge up USB based devices. I've been using a 10 port USB Hub for years now. 1 power outlet charges my GoPros, Phones, Kindle, and every other USB based device. No worries about the power strip ban. In fact I just posted a YT short about it yesterday from Symphony OTS. https://youtube.com/shorts/a8OxObu-CZE

When you book directly online you cannot choose your cabin. After you've completed the booking, you can then call VV to ask them to assign a different cabin. Or you can book through a travel agent who CAN select a specific cabin for you during the booking process.

2 Chairs on all balconies, even our "biggest" Cheeky Corner Suite balcony. 2 dinky chairs plus that same tiny little table. Yes we did have two chaise loungers which were nice, but literally the rest of the balcony was empty space. It honestly surprised us there wasn't at least a table large enough for four people to enjoy a meal together or a cocktail party. We had to carry the table and chairs from our friend's suite to ours just to have enough space to enjoy breakfast on the balcony one morning. 🙂

I don't really follow the logic. Just because ships are not home porting from San Juan all year doesn't mean they're not visiting the islands. There are plenty of ships still visiting many of the area islands, though the 'prime season' is September - March/April. I don't think any islands are 'losing money' just because San Juan isn't homeporting a major ship during certain times of the year. I think most of the islands know how to handle the ebb and flow of tourist season and off season.

I just checked over on the Virgin Voyages site as I know Brilliant Lady will be homeported out of San Juan. She doesn't start until December 2023 and they only show her schedule through the end of April 2024 at the moment. She would be a great ship to keep an eye on if she ends up staying in San Juan for the entire year. We had an amazing experience on Scarlet Lady, best food and crew of any of the 8 cruise lines we've sailed so far.

That port is scheduled for over $300M in renovations soon with a new pier and renovations to the old pier to allow up to 8 ships per day to call into the city. The idea being that it will allow for more ships to home port from that city. Fewer people are flying into San Juan for cruises during the late spring and summer months, so you'll find fewer mainstream cruise lines home porting there during those months. They start reappearing in October/November following the 'snow birds.'

Once you're onboard, you can make requests to your Agent and they'll make changes for you. They'll also get limes, lemons, simple syrup and mixers if you ask.

It's not a mini-bar. It's a BAR with full bottles of liquor, full cocktail set and glasses. Ours had four bottles of liquor when we arrived and I asked for Tequila to be added. Our friends had rum and Tequila added to theirs. You can see the full bar on my YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/B4I6YJtueuo I have a full playlist that includes a Cheeky Corner Suite cabin tour as well. You can take home whatever you don't use. I brought home four bottles of liquor and the wine. 🙂

So weird, not our experience at all at the VV Terminal. It was a very laid back, easy affair when we sailed in July.

To my knowledge there is no port in Florida that gives you any option other than the porters. Ports are controlled by unions and you have two choices. Take all the bags onboard yourself or hand them off to a porter.

In terms of embarkation, no, you only have the porters who work for the Port Authority of Miami. You cannot drop your bags off with anyone else. I'm not following on them being aggressive. They were as pleasant as could be when we dropped off our bags.

The worst we've had it was on the NCL Escape a year ago, barf bags in all the stairwells for the first three days of the cruise. It was the worst rocking on a ship we've experience in a very long time. When the swells are coming in sideways to the movement of the ship, that's when you really feel it, especially on the upper decks. It's been a bad few weeks out there for everyone for sure. As for the shore excursions, remember VV has much different requirements than all the other cruise lines. They are all in for local community support, green first companies, no animal exploitation (swimming with dolphins or pigs) so when things change, they have limited options compared to the other cruises lines to replace excursions. That's why you might not see all that much choice when they have to change itineraries mid cruise. We were underwhelmed by their choices when we sailed and opted to look at third party independent excursions instead.

Lack of kid activities?!? It has the triple water slides, flow rider, mini golf, lazer tag, ice skating, outdoor movies, rock climbing. I mean that's a lot for the kids to do. 🙂

Yeah it has a LOT more than Valor does for sure. I think the kids will have a great time. It has the triple water slides, flow rider, mini golf, lazer tag, ice skating, outdoor movies, rock climbing.... the kids will have a great time on that ship.

Like I said, I've not seen the standard drinks package lower than $65/pp per day in a while. The Refreshment package will vary from $19 on sale to $29/day depending on the ship and itinerary.

If you don't have a drinks package anything included at the fountains at the buffet is included. Then water, iced tea, lemonade and some juices everywhere else along with basic drip coffee and bagged teas.

From the RCCL Page for our upcoming Symphony OTS cruise. We have the Refreshment Package for our voyage: Overview Wake up with the aroma of your favorite freshly brewed premium coffee or tea and enjoy breakfast with fresh-squeezed juices. Keep hydrated all day long with unlimited fountain soda refills in your Coca-Cola souvenir cup or a refreshing bottle of still or sparkling water. At night, pull up a seat at the bar and order your choice of non-alcoholic cocktails. What's Included Coca-Cola Freestyle beverages Non-alcoholic cocktails (mocktails) Fountain soda and refills at any venue Bottled still and sparkling water Premium coffees and teas Fresh-squeezed juices Johnny Rockets Shakes Coca-Cola souvenir cup Important details and advisements All Beverage Packages exclude any beverages served inside licensed Starbucks® stores.

That is very strange. you should see pretty much everything for that cruise being about 3 months out. Oh, never mind, you said 2024. Yeah, you won't see much of anything until this Summer or so.

The Refreshment Package is exactly what we get, even though we also enjoy cocktails. The specialty coffees being included makes it break even for me everytime because I will get three or four each day. Plus we love the freestyle coke machines so we can get flavored waters and teas. Then we just pay ala carte for the cocktails. Right now the beverage package starts at $73/day vs. $22/day for the refreshment package on our upcoming Symphony OTS sailing. My guess is most passengers on RCCL would come out ahead if they went with the Refreshment Package, but they don't do the math and just give free money to RCCL. 🙂

Drinks and WiFi should be there immediately. Dining for our Symphony OTS sailing showed up almost immediately as well. You won't see them on the app but if you login via computer it should all be there. The app updates much later in the process than the website. Shore excursions have been slower in showing up in some ports since the pandemic as I think there have been a lot of changes. We actually started using the Shore Excursions Group to find excursions because they're cheaper and usually smaller groups than the cruise line. And they come with a return to ship and satisfaction guaranteed. If you should miss the ship, they will get you to the next port and pay you $1000/pp for the inconvenience. Pretty much the same guarantee as the cruise line, but they won't pay us $1000. 🙂