lesters

One week of work left until we are flying to Barcelona via Toronto (Air Canada) for a week on the Scarlet Lady! We have the French Daze & Ibiza Nights itinerary booked. I cannot wait... I officially have holiday brain at work.... spending too much time on here checking the VV page for updated posts from a couple of folks doing the TA to Barcelona. I am hoping and crossing all the fingers and toes that this trip goes smoothly. Our last cruise in October - we flew Westjet via Calgary to Fort Lauderdale and WJ somehow sent DH's luggage to Toronto... we had to do a super fast shopping trip in Miami the day before the cruise as his bag did not make it in time. Thankfully we were able to get full reimbursed for all the expenses for the new wardrobe for the week. UGH but it was a stressful start to the holiday. Hoping for an easy travel experience this time around. I will say the AirTags were worth their weight in gold on that trip... we knew in flight on our way to Florida that the bag did not make it and were able to land fully prepared on our next steps and plans as we did not have a lot of time to remedy the situation. This will be our first VV cruise after primarily cruising Carnival. Looking forward to an all adult experience!!!

Wow. As noted you sound like a real treat. people who do this during prime meal times are just plain rude and beyond selfish.

Ok ignore that earlier quote post lol. I was going to ask about the set up and then found my answer and could not get rid of the quote. Was just wanting to say thank you for the menus and everything you are posting. I board in 2 weeks and can not wait!

Have a day and a half coming up next month on board the VV Scarlet Lady. DH and I are looking for a nice spot with beach chairs, drink service and great food. The problem is there are TOO many options that fit this description lol. We are 50 so not looking for foam party clubs nor ones with a ton of kids running around. Recommendations?? Also as it’s early in the summer season is it necessary to prebook with a place? Thank you!

Did you have to request this? I had read in some other reviews that the room attendant did not want to convert the day to night options

This is my #1 most favourite cruise of all time - same ship & itinerary a couple years ago. looking forward to reliving it - although we did completely different activities lol Aruba - Eagle Beach morning, lunch, casino visits in Aruba, sunset catamaran Bonaire - DH scubaed, then local lunch and walked around Curaçao - rainy day - walked around on our own and a cab over to an AI we’ve considered booking. So many amazing things to do and see

I read about this on his page. We’ve played this game with my in-laws for years - using the game pieces it comes with. You don’t need to play with real money. How anyone thought playing with real money with strangers in the lido was an acceptable idea is beyond me. Why not just start up a poker game then?! Also it’s people doing this hogging up space in the lido when others want to eat that drives me crazy. The whole situation is all kinds of wrong. SMH

We always start out cruises with a night in the upcharge restaurant. On our Celebration sailing we booked Rudi’s and really enjoyed it. Food was great service as well until they did the oddest thing… the dining room was quite empty when we were there but near the end of our meal - but before our dessert - they sat another couple in the table directly next to us when there was empty tables everywhere. We were seated along the long banquette with two tops side by side Mina’s space between tables. If the room had been packed I get it but when the entire row was empty to put us so close was strange. We are heading back to the Celebration in February and I already have our cruising starting with another night at Rudi’s

I was only booking for two but when I started just as it opened I had all the choices. i did go into making my reservations with a plan in mind. I knew what time we wanted and an idea of the order of restaurants that we wanted to book. The only variable was when scarlet night was…. I had to go back in and adjust one booking to make sure we were able to be done early enough for all of the scarlet night events. FYI - I booked all our dinners at 8:00.

We are planning on this next month for our sailing. I’ve already booked the first tender to get us ashore early so that we can be on a train to Monaco in the morning and to ensure lots of time heading back - we are there until 9 so I want to be back in Cannes by 3/4 at the latest to give some time there as well. Glad to see others have had this idea as well. Looking for some posts /. Moments from those who have done this adventure!

Ok had my first annoying glitch lol - looking at « Shore Things » and on a couple of the days it kept bringing up the wrong port info. Lol. So if I was seriously looking to book a VV excursion on those days I would be annoyed. I was just having a peek as I get twitchy on the days leading up to our sailing. Lol

Well I will report back in a month! it’s wild to me that our usual line - ye old Walmart of the Seas lol - has a fantastic app that is really quite functional when on board. Will be an interesting comparison I’m sure!

We are sailing next month on the French Daze Ibiza Nights itinerary and I was just reviewing the app - things to do - shopping, spa info etc. and noticed these hours listed for the casino. This isn’t correct is it? Is the casino only open a tiny amount??!

That is HORRIBLE. I am really counting myself lucky - I was prepared for an awful experience but thankfully it was not. Now here's hoping all works when we actually board 😉 I do check daily to ensure everything has remained in place.

That is wild! Hmmm I wish I had some advice or insight for those that are having a tough time. I will be grateful though that it worked, and continued to work easily even when I went back in and booked a brunch reservation for our Sea Day at the Wake that I forgot to do. @CruisingWalter thanks for all the great information you have provided here and on your channel. With there being so much less out there compared to a line like Carnival I don't think I'd be half as prepared as I am without your valuable insight. I hope to repay the great insight of this board with some posts along the way - won't be live but hope to find some time to share some thoughts throughout the sailing and then a review at the conclusion.

I am not sure if I was just lucky but after reading so many comments about how terrible and frustrating the app is to book your dining reservations I was super nervous when our date opened up. My experience worked out quite well so wanted to share... In anticipation of them opening I was on the app the day before around 9:30 pm my local time which was 11:30 EST. Someone on the FB group had posted that Dining was open so I logged on to check. The dining did appear to be live but when I tried to select a restaurant nothing would happen. I thought to myself - oh here is the PITA app I've heard so much about. I left it alone and then about 10/15 minutes later I went back in and low and behold the options were fully loaded. If you use Open Table for dining reservations it looks and feels a lot like that app. I was able to scroll to each day of the sailing and our ideal time and shows you what restaurants are available. Click on what works for you and boom you are confirmed! I just went in to have a look at how the reservations are looking now for our sailing (May 12th French Daze & Ibiza Nights) and there is a lot already booked but I could still make reservations for the two of us IF we didn't have any yet. I also adjusted one of our reservations after I realized it was scarlet night - we tend to like an 8:00 booking but on that night I have us in a bit earlier. All the bookings are showing up in my agenda and after I made them they also went into my hubby's agenda as well. Unsure if improvements have been made to the system or not but I did not have any of the frustrations that have been vented about so many times on here. 35 sleeps until we sail 🙂 but who's counting LOL (ummm me I am!!)

This May we have the Continental Palacete booked - it looks to be in the heart of things, not too far from the port and is more of a historic building. I will post my review and somewhat live take of things when we arrive. 50ish days!

Thanks @mz-s! OK that helps my planning Mom wants to try Rudi's so will do that night one and find a second night for the Bonsai and the rest will be the various restaurants on the Celebration may not hit MDR once this time!

OK thanks for the info. Our local Japanese Steakhouse closed a few years ago - in Canada so no Benihana's here - so I think I will go for it. It does seem to have decent reviews. Do they provide the free wine /50% off purchase of bottles on Night One like the Steakhouse and Rudi's? We will have cheers so not a big deal but I do like taking advantage of this bonus if possible.

Hey CC experts In all my 10+ Carnival cruises we have never booked the Bonsai Teppanyaki. Considering a booking here for an upcoming cruise (Feb 2025 lol) with my parents on the Celebration - I typically like to start our first night off with a fancy meal - Steakhouse or Rudi's on our last Celebration sailing. My mom suggested the Bonsai Teppanyaki as we all have never tried it on board before. Going as a couple is what has held us back previously - so now that there are 4 of us I thought this would be a great opportunity to book. I have some OBC so thought I'd lock up our preferred day and time early. As I went into to book much to my surprise and dismay there is a $15 service charge to book this restaurant??? I checked our November booking on the Panorama and again same thing - wanting to charge a $15 service fee just to book Bonsai Teppanyaki. Is this new?? It has turned me off from booking this restaurant out of principle - even though a booking at the steakhouse ends up at the same amount as Bonsai with the service charge 😉 (all about my principles LOL) If it just is what it is I will likely reconsider but it caught me off guard. Thanks peeps!

The countdown is on 52 days until we fly out via Toronto for Barcelona on Air Canada. Its been a few years since I last travelled AC let alone to Europe (Germany twice over the years). This is for our first European sailing which I am so excited for - and first Virgin Voyages sailing. Looking at seats for our flight and I would love to be one of those people who can purchase or upgrade to Premium seats but that is not in the cards this trip. So with the Economy seats in mind what are the pros cons to the locations? Going to try to select an aisle & window as lots of open seats still - hoping we are able to keep that middle seat free for a bit more hip room 🙂 Other than that any tips or thoughts on the trip? Also - any experiences as a Canadian on a European sailing? We are doing the French Daze & Ibiza nights itinerary - Barcelona - Marseille, Cannes, Palma de Mallorca and 2 days in Ibiza! Can Not Wait!!

I rarely attend the shows - we are primarily Carnival cruisers - trying out Virgin for the first time in May - French Daze & Ibiza Nights. I was looking forward to trying to to book one or two shows - we are not super into the shows too many other things to do, but I for sure won't be waiting in line. It is a big reason why I dont attend most Carnival shows - comedy etc. - as I have zero use for line ups. I don't want to waste that much time of my limited holiday time standing in a line. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Especially if the show rooms are smaller than the larger theatres you see on some of the other lines.

We did this and did not have to carry two sets of cards. Have everyone go together to guest services after your board and let them know you need to move people around. They did this easily. And it ensured our on board charges were just linked to our credit card and my parents (the other cabin) had their info linked just to their card. Worked great. We have this happening again in November when we are taking daughter & her boyfriend. Currently one cabin in DHs name one cabin in mine for the best rates. We will switch it all out on board. The worst part is finding a moment at guest services that isn’t too busy.

This is exactly why I’m on here daily. Reading everything I can from other cruisers. I say it all the time to friends and family that laugh about by CC reading and planning obsessiveness - there are people who get on board and know NOTHING of what to expect, how to do things or what options are available. This site, the input from others really maximizes my holiday each and every time. I’ve been on here for years. Not a big poster but I always appreciate the insight. i am 70 days out from my first VV and am looking in forward to your summary!