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Thanks to their status match program, every time we sail with Virgin, Pam and I each get $100, free specialty coffees daily, free laundry, upgraded wifi, early boarding. and an invite to a champagne reception. $50 is a joke.

The demographic you see advertised is quite different from reality. We’ve yet to smell any weed while on board Virgin. So far only Princess potheads 😁

Food is cooked to order, no announcements, no art auctions, no cruise director, unique shows, no Effy, and the happiest crew at sea who get paid the same no matter if the ship is empty or full. There is even a health and happiness office on board for the crew. On this sailing we’ll have two crew members join us for dinner as it’s their last sailing of their contracts.

Thank you for your kind words. We used to be such cheerleaders for Princess, and always imagined we’d be on a Princess ship, in a suite for our 25th anniversary. We cancelled all of our remaining Princess bookings while still on our first Virgin sailing. There’s literally no comparison. Tomorrow we sail as “Mega Rockstars” with complimentary private transportation to and from the port, a bottomless in-room bar, and all other sorts of wonderful freebies. There’s not a single hint of John Padgett and his nonsense anywhere on the ship.

Pathetic is a good word too 😁

Our last sailings with Princess were b2b sailings on the Ruby out of San Francisco in April of 2022. These were the worst cruises we’ve ever taken. Among other things, they were taking reservations for both specialty dining rooms but only opening 1 each night. We were served a partially eaten appetizer from another table in Sabatinis, and they did nothing about the pot smokers on board, despite the posted policy. Since then, we’ve been very happy sailing with Virgin Voyages, in fact we’re sitting in a hotel in Miami at this very moment as we are boarding the Valiant Lady tomorrow for our 6th sailing with Virgin since October of 2022. I just received an email from Alvin Stokes, the new head of customer support for Princess in which he apologizes for the delay (2 years) and as an offer to win me back, he’s offered us $50 OBC. 🤣 Needless to say, I think we’ll pass. So glad we unloaded our CCL stock too. I hope they put that $50 to good use instead of digging a bigger hole for themselves.

Anyone booked on deck 13 post drydock have been reassigned elsewhere. Make of that what you will.

The Mega Rock Star offer sold out quickly....even without an itinerary!

Pam and I booked the Canada to Miami leg.....back in 2017 we did a north-bound version of this itinerary on another line and loved it. Our friends wanted to join us, but they always sail as Rock Stars and balked at the price. I was surprised to see that the 16 day PC sailing is $1K less for a sea terrace than the 13 day Canada -Miami sailing. I thought the canal tolls would make the price higher.

Another reason why it pays to have an agent. I was up at midnight Eastern Standard Time and at first, only the 3 Mermaidens were available, then around 1AM we were able to see the other sailings.

No announcements, no cruise director, no art auctions, and no EFFY! Food in the dining rooms is cooked ala' minute, instead of being cooked hours ahead of time and held in a food warmer.

The don't offer it on highly discounted rates, and I had the First Mate (travel agent rate)

I normally get the premium wifi as a perk with Deep Blue Extra and the speed/quality is usually excellent, however I recently did a 4 day Caribbean sailing without any perks, and the regular free wifi. It was only good enough for basic surfing and email. Many of my apps had a hard time loading, so when in port, I turned off airplane mode and used the cell connections on shore.

Our T-Mobile plan includes free international data....I think many of their plans include it. As for language, I use the Google Translate App. It's a life saver, and it's free!

May 8th

I saved over 50%

Since you are spending the night in Barcelona,here's our favorite Wine Bar, "Cellarer" We loved the it so much that for our next trip, I booked a hotel that's just a 3 minute walk away. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d10456682-Reviews-Cellarer_Wine_Bar-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

This is a favorite bathroom of mine on board, and one of my favorite selfies. 🤣

I don't remember if the bidding page stated that my bid was "Poor" or just "OK", but there were quite a few Gorgeous Suites available, more than the other suite categories, so I didn't go nuts. To be honest, we've always preferred the aft, and were hoping to win a Cheeky Corner suite, but there was only 1 available.

It will be nice to be in a real king sized bed instead of two twins pushed together. I've also been told that things like the pillows are upgraded as well.

I was just on the Scarlet for the sailing before the crossing. The current cast & crew are fantastic! Enjoy your cruise!

We're going to be regular Rock Stars in September, I hope it's not a huge disappointment. lol

We're hopping on the Valiant for a short 5 day sailing next week to hold us over until our 12 day September sailing on the Resilient, and we placed a few bids so we could experience Bimini as a Rock Star. I started to see what few RS suites were left disappear, so I put in a last minute bid on a Gorgeous Suite and was informed yesterday that our bid was accepted. The first sign that it was accepted was a notification that my credit card had been charged, then an hour or so later a flurry of rejection emails came in for each bid I placed on other suite categories, and finally one acceptance email noting our new cabin #. Today I called Red Glove Services to arrange our transportation to and from the port, and the rep, Jennily was great to deal with. This will be our first sailing as any sort of Rock Star which will be fun since I worked so many years as backstage security at several of our local concert venues. From Pitbull to Bono, Dolly to Cher, and even Cheech & Chong, I've seen, heard, and smelled all sorts of things backstage. 🥸 Believe it or not, the only time I had to call the police was during an Indian concert. The "Elvis of Mumbai" fan's got way out of hand. 🤣

I love this hand washing station too. I took this video last year https://youtube.com/shorts/CAZNZ9SpGso?feature=share

My guess is that they will repeat the same 5 night itinerary listed as the LA Mermaiden for 3 additional sailings before they do the Hollywood Sunsets and Cali to Canada sailings.