Swells1

We actually chose a ship sponsored excursion in the morning. We'll determine then if we want to see more of the area. I'd love to see a black sand beach, but it looks like it might be too far away.

I admit it- the waiting is killing me. We're flying to San Juan Thursday morning and sailing on Saturday. That means I have TWO entire days of work. We're undergoing a renovation, and sitting at 50% occupancy at the hotel. I. Am. BORED. To kill time, I humbly ask you experts to help a girl out. Tell me anything you know that you think I might NOT know about: cruising out of San Juan Virgin Voyages the Valiant Lady XL Sea Terrace 13-326Z Guadeloupe?!? Has anyone been here? Anything else that comes to mind (This is meant to be a light-hearted conversation, and I hope it comes across that way...)

I don't drink alcohol either, but I plan on drinking my share of virgin Virgin foo-foo drinks.

I'm taking mine just in case. You can't have too much documentation.

My Platinum status on NCL got me priority embarkation, $200 bar credit, $10 daily specialty coffee credit, free laundry, and unlimited premium wifi on Virgin. For the 32 seconds it took me to take a screenshot of my status and send the request, I ain't complaining.

Is there a good forward area to watch sailaway away from the crowds?

They have a "Happenings Cast". My first voyage is next month, so I'll report back with more details.

I had two new cruisers with me last year. I made everyone matching personalized beach/ excursion bags, journals, and masks for the plane.

I'm on the January 13th sailing and I've booked all my dinner reservations for 5:45 and 6:00pm.

Virgin Voyages doesn't have cruise directors, and most people tend to rave about the entertainment on board.

I bring the entire pharmacy. I get two weeks of vacation time, and I refuse to be ill for any of it. I bring medications that I have literally never taken, but I'm not taking any chances! Because I take my time and pack well, everything fits in a 5"x7"x.5" pouch.

I always stick a magnet on the door when I'm cruising with mom, since her eyesight isn't great (and her memory is worse). I must admit, it's a nice souvenir to put on the fridge when I get home. I can't see myself doing those big, ornate decorations I've seen in the past- mostly because I would be afraid they wouldn't survive the flight. OP- I believe NCL doesn't allow door decorations, but I've never had a problem with my magnet.

When I checked the CDC ship inspection reports a month or so back, that was really the only issue VV had.

I might be losing my mind. Back in September, everything kinda hit at the same time: I was approved for DBE, we were switched from BL to VL, and the stupid app finally started working for me. I distinctly recall boring my poor sailing partner to tears with the details. Since we didn’t get a lot of perks when we made our reservation, the extra $200 in sailor loot was a big deal and I mentioned it a lot. Of course, this is literally the only thing I never bothered to screenshot. So… a while later I got the magical email survey with the promise of $200 sailor loot on my next booking. Of course, we all know about that. I had to contact sailor services and was told it would be applied to my upcoming voyage. Woohoo. Only I have yet to see it. I printed up the confirmation email to take onboard, then I looked up the DBE details. Sure enough, the $200 sailor loot I’d been talking about for months isn’t listed as a perk. I recently replied to their resolution email explaining I hadn’t gotten said credit yet. The reply was, “The credit has been applied. We sent you an email. It might be in your Spam file.” No. I’m literally replying to it. It’s not hidden. Am I nuts? Am I entitled to $400? Where did the original $200 come from? Would the $200 from the survey be listed a different way? Should I just be grateful for the $200 I know I’ve gotten? Am I rambling? Does this make any sense?

Technically, Hampton brand standards exclude hot items from the Manager's Reception. You'll find it on occasion, but it's a push for better scores and will be put away during inspections.

Does that mean my sailing on the 13th of January on the Valiant will be the first sailing out of San Juan? Does that mean we'll get to see a welcoming ceremony? (Or whatever the official terminology is?)

All booked and doing my happy dance!! (It's helpful in keeping me awake, since I had to wake up at 5am for work...)

I opened this thread to ask about the Gabriel. Thank you for saving me the time!!

My alarm is set for tomorrow (Tuesday) night to make my reservations. I'm getting so excited for this trip!!

Fancy! I like those. I don’t have a color printer, or I’d steal it. I laminate my own and use the metal eyelets and steel cables like those.

I start preparing months in advance. I'm that nerd who considers cruise prep part of the cruise, and I like to spread it out over several weekends. One weekend, I'll pack my medical/ first-aid kit (and, yes, I bring an entire pharmacy with me). One weekend, I'll pack toiletry cases. You get the picture. I hope I never become so jaded I stop getting pleasure from prepping for a cruise. As far as actually putting everything in suitcases, I do that two weeks in advance. The last weekend is reserved for post-cruise prep like tidying up, cleaning out the fridge (aka- eating all the leftovers from the last 10 days), making sure all the laundry is done, and scheduling any household maintenance that we've been putting off to be done while the ferocious lap dog is at the kennel.

Amazon! Where else?

It worked last year. Oh well.

My favorite tee!

I'm kind of a nerd, so I used a simple excel spreadsheet. I was able to get 6 on one sheet. I just put my name, Virgin Voyages, Valiant Lady, Cabin Number, Sailing Dates and both of our phone numbers. (Here's where my true nerd comes in.) I printed them on red paper, cut them out, laminated them, and punched a hole in the top. I'd probably use the current cabin number for now, and carry a Sharpie if you need to change it.