Universe93B

I will be going on a cruise with my wife on the Scarlet Lady at the end of July - have been on so many other cruise lines.  But I'm nervous about Virgin cruises being "party-only" type due to the no kids atmosphere?  I know people on here ask all the time on "what to expect other than no kids" on VV.  See, I've given up alcohol recently due to health reasons and I can't say it's been easy.  But overall, I feel better in health/energy. 

I think Virgin has the Heineken 0.0 beer at all the bars so I usually get that.  All of my other cruises have been full of kids and so I've always been busy with that and their activities.  Are there things to enjoy on VV other than drinking at the different bars all day?  Is it a good laid-back atmosphere where I can relax with my wife and perhaps other couples as well?  Those 3-day Carnival cruises Fri-Sun when I was like 19-20 y/o where alcohol flows like water and people are partying all night keeps popping in my head! 

Excited to go on our 2nd NCL cruise - a bucket list Europe trip (Greek Isles) - June 16-25, 2024 on the NCL Getaway.

It’s currently $7340 for a balcony room for 4 people.  We are just leaving over a year out, when do prices go up here?  Possibly within the year mark?  Trying to see when to book.  

Are there any big NCL sales coming up?  I’ve found most of the NCL sales like 70% 2nd guest are really just all the same by adjusting the other passenger prices up.  
 

Any advice on when you guys would book this?

I thought you can just get it as On Board Credit if you’ve already made the final payment?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/best-price-guarantee-policy

55 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I've never seen this to be the case. 

Yep, happened to iPhones and android devices on the Wonder on spring break.  Very slow app overall.  Good functions though 

Sometimes you can’t access updated things until right before the cruise, day before.

be warned, the RCI app is very power intensive and takes a lot of battery power.   Keep the phone charged on board and close other apps.

Isn’t the vista going into dry dock to fix the engine/transmission/propellor issues?  That’s what I heard, no cosmetic fixes 

Thanks for the quick review - I always wondered about the cove balconies.  Your description sounds cool! But what about the view when coming into port, or looking further out into the ocean?  I carry my binoculars, but was wondering about that since the balcony is so low.

11 minutes ago, john91498 said:

Why even go to the Steakhouse if you're a vegetarian?

So they can eat with someone who wants to go to the steakhouse, like with your wife, husband, family member or friend.  It would be nice to eat together, not sure why people jump to your thought first.

Did Royal Caribbean have Kids Sail Free promotions before the pandemic?  Or it was always there and are they just promoting that more often now to get people to cruise more with the lost revenue during covid?  

I understand it’s a numbers game and they just increase the first 2 guests’ prices, but for some select cruises, it does make a pretty nice savings.  Trying to figure out whether to pick a cruise for Kids Sail Free promotions in case in the future (in a year or 2), they don’t do this anymore.  

Thanks for all the replies guys.  Looks like Kids Sail Free is coming back on April 25th (Monday) for 5 days.  This time however, they included April 2nd as a black out date.   It was NOT included in the March Kids Sail Free offer. 

Oh well, lol!  Guess they added more dates to their liking.  I read this at momsatsea.com. 

Maybe future Kids Sail Free will leave off the April 2nd date.  It's just annoying that the March sale had April 6-16 as blackout dates and now supposedly this April Kids Sail Free has April 1-11 as black out dates. 

https://www.momsatsea.com/moms-at-sea-blog/2022/4/22/kids-sail-free-returns

Trying to book a cruise on Wonder of the Seas for April 2, 2023 but a regular oceanview balcony room for 4 (2 kids under 12) is like $7000!  Even with the 30% discount.  Haven't cruised in 2.5 years, is this what prices are like now? 

I know I just missed the Kids Sail Free (March 24-28) sale - is that offered several times a year?  Maybe I can put a deposit down now - does RCI still do a price adjustment for new promotions like this before the final cruise deposit payment?

LOL. Well, everyone has their opinions. Less than 10% of actual cruisers actually visit cruisecritic for opinions and tips. The rest of them will think what they think, and bring their rum runners or whatever attitudes they have aboard the ship.

You guys having a high horse about following alcohol rules does little.

Correct, clear liquor is most easily brought on board by rum runners, rather than "dark" liquids. Therefore, Vodka is the easiest alcohol to sneak on board.

I'm not sure why this thread makes people uncomfortable. People do much worse things than sneaking on alcohol on a cruise. Many people are inconsiderate to the hard-working staff, plain mean to them, don't leave then a tip, rude to fellow passengers, save seats everywhere and the list goes on and on.

Think about the big picture folks.

Bring your rum runners, they will be fine -don't bring dark liquors.

If you know how to successfully take Rum Runners on a cruise, then taking them on a Disney cruise would be no different than RCCL or any other line. Disney doesn't use any advanced security screening compared to other lines. Not that rum runners would be detectable anyway if they did. I'm not really sure how rum runners are easily detected other than opening up bags, because they hide so easily on x-rays.

How many cruises have you been on? Are you booked in concierge? The earliest ANYONE can book is 120 days before embarkation--that is concierge and Platinum castaway members. So' date=' for a November cruise, that is sometime in July. You can pay in full any time, but that doesn't change the earliest you can book stuff. If this is your first cruise on DCL, your booking window opens at 75 days before embarkation.

 

The ability to book what you want depends on how flexible you can be and which ship you are on. If you don't care which night/what time you go to Palo, but just want a reservation there, your odds are better than if you want night 2 at 8 pm. The longer the cruise, the better your chances of getting what you want.[/quote']

 

We have been on many cruises, but this is our first Disney cruise. So I guess I'm not allowed to book things too early. So I can wait to pay in full until July or later?

Okay thanks for the info on this thread about Disney cruises. I am kinda of worried about booking meet and greets and adult dining if I wait all the way til the end. I'm cruising on November 2017 and figured we should pay in full now to start booking some of that stuff? Anyone do what I would do?

Hi, I forgot to research this before I left, at the airport now. Getting to San Juan at 4pm today and need to get to Embassy Suites on tartak rd. I looked at google maps and it seems right next door. Do I really have to pay $14 for a taxi there? Are there any other options I have? Thanks so much for the past minute question!

We were on the valor 3/2011. The drinks were really poor quality and watered down. We're going on the freedom 2/2012. Any chance the drinks will be better? Any recent cruisers and their opinions?

Did you try drinks from all the different bars on the Valor? They were all the same? Usually you can find 1 bar/bartender who makes the strong ones.

This sounds very interesting! I think I am leaning towards booking this as soon as I get on board. I really like the mechanical aspects of things, is there anything on this tour related to the engines, engine room, electrical room, etc, that sort of thing?