Wildcatllamas

Wow, the couple next to me he had the cocktail pairing and she and I had the wine. Our wines were about half a serving but his drinks were pretty close to a full drink. He was definitely getting toasty but the time dinner was done.

I definitely respect your opinion. And the portions are smaller then a meal in one of the other restaurants. I know that everyone here at some time has had poor experiences with any one of the restaurant venues on our different sailings. It happens. If this was a norm then there are problems there but I think that as you can see most of us have had good experiences there. Now a perfect example of a change in experience - I have eaten the rib steak at Pink Agave 3 times. The first two is was one of the best rib steaks I have ever had. This last time the taste was wonderful but there was a line of gristle in it. Very unlike the other two times. This is usually found in the last couple of cuts on the smaller end and sometimes these will be labeled as Delmonico cuts. If that had been my first experience, being a steak lover, I would have been a bit turned off by it. So I can fully understand where you are coming from.

Definitely the cliffhanger drama was a laugh. Working in a casino I do understand the drama that a "highroller" can come up with if things in their hotel room are the least little bit off. Imagine getting upset because the end of the toilet paper wasn't folded in a perfect triangle.

I have to agree with Walter. I have done it 3 times and each time I have enjoyed it. I would agree with a 7 rating. I was born and raised in Denver - or as it was referred to back in the early 60s a "cow town" by those from back East. But I have traveled all over this country and eaten at some of the very high end fine dining and steakhouses across the country. With that being said - I will never judge a cruise lines food by some very exclusive restaurant anywhere in this country. Unlike a land based restaurant there are so many variables that a cruise line must factor in for their dining experiences that making a head to head comparison is difficult. Some cruise lines definitely come close. But to say the steak was "thimble sized" is a gross exaggeration of the portion size. It was a tenderloin medallion that was about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. So with that being said this is the second "restauranteur" from the Big Apple to come here and blast the food.

I think it gave a pretty decent preview of what to expect. I've been on Scarlet three times now. Twice on a B2B right after sailing began and then just back in December.

@rj59 I've been talking to a couple of economists who follow cruising. They are thinking that we may see in 18 months a down turn due to the number of cabins/ships exceeding the demand. It's a possibility if anything causes a ripple in the economy and people back off from cruising to vacation closer to home. Of course I have yet to meet anyone whose crystal ball actually worked.🙂

Well!!! Pen to paper for an 11 night NCL Prima in the solo balcony with the packages and their 50% off sale and my 10% off military is $4311 versus $6805 on Virgin. That is before deposits and with Virgin is the $300 off the price. That is a huge difference and one not to scoff at for a solo cruiser. I'm going to reach out to the friend who is going with her husband and see what she might come up with on NCL and we may just jump over.

Years ago, right after I lost my husband, NCL created their solo cabins. NCL was the groundbreaking leader at that time. But when I looked at them, and dinky is a mild description, and there is no frig I reached out to NCL numerous times saying there are those of us who now cruise solo and love balconies or suites. What about smaller, but still comfortable, cabins in those areas for solo sailors. Yesterday I was looking to see if they had anything comparable to my cruise in 2025 and they now have solo balconies on Prima. They are a decent size and look pretty nice. If it wasn't for MNVV that I used on the Virgin cruise I would possibly consider jumping over to that one. I'm going to have to sit and crunch number to see if it would be worth my while to test out that new cabin on NCL.

I was just reading an article regarding Celebrity now charging solo travelers 300% of the fare and Royal has been inching up past 200%. I can understand many lines make more off the onboard spending then they do off of cabin fares so those extra cabin mates are lost revenue. But you start making it hard for those of us to travel solo you will be losing us as well. I don't expect a complete give away, but in my mind 125% to 150% should give most lines enough towards that lost revenue versus nothing from me if I go elsewhere.

Yes it did. I always like to get as close a comparison as I can.

I'm booked on the England to Iceland in July of 2025. When I booked I thought the price was high at $6800 for a Sea Terrace with a MNVV. Today a friend asked me what the price was for a Sea Terrace on that cruise. It is now $8030. So I looked at one on NCL, with their current promo, that is close to that one and a balcony there with my 10% military would be just about $5000. It's going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out over the next year.

When I sailed NCL I would organize Meet & Greets and it doesn't matter how many sign up ahead of time you can usually figure that 1/3 to 1/2 will actually show up. People get busy enjoying their cruise and relaxing and time slips by. It just happens.

I love your description of some of the ones I have run into on my travels. It is a hoot!!

A few years back I was on a NCL cruise with a friend. We were sailing in one of their large suites that my late husband and I had booked before he passed. So instead of cancelling I took my friend. I was now a Platinum. We were seated with a woman and her daughter and the minute we set down she was bragging about being Platinum. I told her I was Platinum as well and she asked how many cruises. She got all bent out of shape when I told her that cruise was my 5th with NCL. She had sailed something like 30 times on short cruises on the West Coast in the cheapest interior and all of them were last minute bookings. With working I had to plan my time off so we would usually book a minimum of a year out and always in a suite. It was easy to earn the points needed to become Platinum with the way NCL did it. I would never begrudge a person who could fast track to a top tier if they can do it through planning. As much as I would love to cruise in a suite again - since it is just me most of the times a Sea Terrace works. If they had a mini-suite style, like what I usually do now on Princess, then that would be my option. But don't mess with my hammock! My next cruises are both 12 nights, although I haven't told my boss yet. Both are bucket list cruises. A coworker commented "what is she going to do, fire you? Who is crazy enough to take your management position." NCL was one point for each night you sailed, book 9 months or more out and you got an extra 1 point per night and stay in a suite it was an extra 1 point per night (and sometimes the promos were up to 3 extra points if you were in a suite). So a system like that takes in number of nights, advanced booking and giving credit to those in a suite. For those of us who are Sea Blazers and Sea Rovers maybe a couple of extra points to recognize us.

For the last 4 days I have been unable to log in to my account or open any possible dates and locations for cruises. I just get tossed to an empty screen. I have tried on my laptop, pc and my work pc. I have cleared cookies and everything I can think of. Tried chat with Virgin and got the "Oops - everyone is busy.". I would blame Mercury Retrograde but I'm thinking this is more a Virgin annoyance. Any suggestions from those who have had this happen?

When I was on Scarlet, earlier this month, there was a channel with a live view from the bridge. Since all was calm it was pretty boring on the open sea.

I don't see dropping a tier if you haven't sailed for awhile. We all know how life can bite your backside at times. I have Platinum with NCL and Elite with Princess. I don't remember my status with Celebrity but I have cruised with them 3 times and have earned Captain's point through surveys and other options. I like the ideas that @-The-True-North- has suggested for levels. But as a Sea Blazer, I think we should have at least a couple of extra perks. We were there and took the chances from the beginning. Maybe the coffee credit and the laundry or early check in. None of which would break the bank but would recognize those who were there from the beginning. As to how you would earn a tier I like the way that NCL has done theirs. Every cabin gets 1 point per night sailed. If you book a suite you earn extra points per night. That rewards those who spend more. I probably won't be sailing in a suite in the near future, but my late husband and I always sailed in suites and it was nice to earn those extra points for what we spent. It would be nice if Virgin Voyages does combine with Virgin Red is some capacity. I don't think it would be a good option to combine with Virgin Atlantic because that airline is so limited in it's service to the US. If it services more of the US then that might also be an option.

Wow, I was on Scarlet from December 3rd through the 8th and there were several folks who did walk ups that I know about. The table next to me when I went to Pink Agave hadn't been able to get a reservation to there once they boarded but did a walk up a 6 pm with no problem. I would think that Virgin has numbers down for how many in each restaurant versus how many on the ship. But then many folks may not want to do Razzle Dazzle for dinner any more since the food was mediocre at best so now you have a virtually empty restaurant the night I was there and all those folks trying to get in elsewhere.

Even though inflation has slowed, folks are still dealing with limited disposable income, unlike a couple of years ago. I have several friends who would cruise several times a year and with the current prices across all the lines they are now looking towards land tours. I got in on the England to Barcelona repo of Resilient Lady in September of 2024 when the Sea Terrace was going for $2600. It is over $4K now and there is now way I would do that. The one in 2025 is with MNVV amount off and a solo traveler, so not extra taxes/fees, I'm at $6800. If this didn't have many bucket list ports on it I wouldn't be doing it at that price. It is better then Celebrity and Princess and has the ports that I want and there is enough time in case there is any price lowering.

I just priced Princess for a 16 day itinerary that is close to the England and Iceland and with their Plus Package it comes to $6917. So Virgin is close on this one but the number of days differ. So as hard as it is to take these prices for the cruise I am booked on it is pretty comparable to the other similar cruise lines. I will definitely be watching for a price drop though.

The prices were with the gratuities. I wanted as much equal as possible.

I just priced out a Celebrity Cruise that is similar to the England to Iceland cruise in 2025. I had heart failure when I booked that 12 night cruise but Celebrity has an 11 night out of Rotterdam and for a balcony similar in size with Virgin (although with a better bed) and this is major sticker shock. Without any specialty restaurants but with all perks similar (Bar Tab on VV is $300 vs Celebrity's drink package(?) Virgin is $7484 and Celebrity is $9345. So Virgin is still a deal if you are looking for a specific itinerary. Anything on Viking that really isn't close on itinerary but similar is over $14000.

Amen to the rubbery chicken. I had to order gluten free and I had wanted to order the Lamb Shank. The waiter came back and said it wasn't gluten free but their "fried chicken" was gluten free if they left off the biscuit. This according to the chef. Two small pieces of chicken, one leg and I think, a thigh. It's not marked GF and I seriously don't think it was. I peeled the skin off and ate what little rubbery meat was there. Then went to the Galley for real food.

I had a steak in The Wake, Pink Agave and Extra Virgin on Scarlet Lady this last week. The filet in the Wake was excellent. Both the strip steak in Extra Virgin and the rib steak in Pink Agave had nice flavor and the meat was good but both had bands of gristle running through them. You couldn't even cut through it. I brought it to the attention of the maitre d of both restaurants. You shouldn't find gristle that bad in prime meat cuts. Razzle Dazzle was so underwhelming last night I will never consider them for dinner again. Poor service and not a great selection. Currently sitting in Dallas and flight home has been delayed by an hour. So it will be after 9pm before I get to Colorado Springs.