CineGraphic

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Oddly enough, even though I had prepaid and had my bag tagged they still require you to stop at an agent before dropping the bag. So what is the purpose of the kiosk?

That's usually when they check your ID to see if it matches the name on the ticket. They can't let just anyone drop off a bag.

11 minutes ago, zzik said:

Puerto Rico

The itinerary from San Juan is nice. I did it with another line many years ago.

20 hours ago, zzik said:

read that 45-0 days you cannot cancel for a refund but can transfer the reservation to someone else. 

Try calling Virgin, I've heard in the past that they have been sympathetic to those who are faced with last minute cancellations, and have made exceptions. The worst thing they can do is say "no".

7 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

There are lot of non-alcoholic options on board--specialty coffee and tea, cold pressed juices, smoothies, as well as mocktails

I'm just saying that a price reduction would attract more interest.

56 minutes ago, zzik said:

Figured the OB credit/bar tab would be enticing to a last minute cruiser.

Remember, some last minute sailors don't drink.

On the Valiant's most recent TA, there were a few days in the North Atlantic where the wifi was spotty & slow. The satellite coverage in the Caribbean is much better.

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

You can remove the bracelet after boarding--it isn't needed for any of the other perks.

Having ours on just happened to help us when we attended the "champagne" sail-away party.

There was someone with a clipboard checking names to get in, but they saw our blue ribbons and waved us in. A day or two later, I ripped it off. 🙂

Part of me wondered if they could change terms on something that's already booked.....

Didn't seem right.

Thanks for the heads-up!

There was a big guy working the crowd in and around the ride share waiting area when we disembarked last week. All I heard was $10, no mention of a van.

Not sure if it's completely "Kosher"

We book the same cabin for every cruise. It's all about a location that works best for us.

Twice, they've tried to change cabins on us a week or two before the sailing, and we let our travel agent deal with it.  The first time around, we couldn't get our original cabin back because it was being worked on, but they were able to give us another cabin very close by. The second time around Virgin was able to assign us back to our original cabin right away.

It pays to check your cabin assignment on the app every now and then because the chances of getting your cabin back on embarkation day are not very good.

It wouldn't hurt to email them again at sailorservices@virginvoyages.com

Keep it short & sweet, and let them know that you haven't received a reply to your earlier emails.

It's a ribbon...and you can wear it in the shower where it should clean up nicely if you wish to keep it on during your cruise.

3 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

But honestly how hard is it to host Bingo?!? Especially when you have the Diva as your cohost. Especially when you are a 'professional entertainer' on a cruise ship.

In this case the Hostess took the role of the Diva, which is hard to compete with in the first place. Carlos was literally running laps around the theater. That's hard to compete with when it's only your 2nd cruise of your very first cruise contract. She was great, just not great as someone who's been doing it for considerably longer. Edel the Hostess is a delightful person, ready to take on anything.

We look forward to sailing with her again.

On the recent transatlantic we attended Bingo with the Diva twice.

She had a different co-host each time, but everything else was the same. It's a great act.

They also had Bingo sessions hosted by the Gamer, the Hostess, and possibly one more.

The jackpot amounts were insane when the Diva hosted. The place was packed.

51 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

We had The Hostess at another session....she wasn't as good.

FYI: It's her first contract, and it was her first time ever hosting bingo.

I don't think the website is set up to handle the discounts.

If you used a travel agent, let them handle it. If not, call VV, and tell them that you want to pay in full and are unable to get the 10% discount online.....they should be able to take care of it for you.

25 minutes ago, Freelancer3 said:

Just FYI- Current VV cruise prices are quite a bit higher.

The 2024 crossing is 2.61 times higher then the one we just completed.

Disclaimer: it's 16 days instead of 14

You get nothing for your current cruise when buying a future cruise deposit (My Next Virgin Voyage MNVV) All benefits are for the future cruise. BTW...you don't have to actually book a particular future cruise when buying the deposit, consider it a placeholder.

3 hours ago, Freelancer3 said:

The "almost all inclusive pricing model" makes it a joy to cruise.

We had to cough-up a whopping $25.47 extra.

Such a deal.

Since this is the first call in the states, the entire crew has to clear immigration, so we’ve pulled into Miami earlier than usual (3:30am) The first immigration checks for crew being at 5am…..it will be a very long, hard day of work for them. I’m sure they’ll be quite tired by the time they have the sail away, and pajama party.

It’s been a lovely two weeks on board, and we will miss our friends both old and new.

We’re looking forward to boarding the VL again in May, even if it’s just for 5 days.

I’m not sure who this is, or what happened, but it’s certainly not cool.

(We’ve also had a phantom pooper on board, but I’ll spare you the details)

Our last visit to the Test Kitchen was 3 cruises ago, and I’m glad that we finally went back. Our favorite dish was the shrimp. The flavor combination was perfect. The noodles are made with shrimp, fish, and rye flower. Amazing.

I owe the management on board, especially Harry, a great big thanks for making sure our third visit to the Wake would go better than our previous two.

They really do listen to feedback and do what they can, when they can, to improve on things. Both the food and service were exceptional, even though our waitress had no one to assist her with her tables. She made sure everyone was taken care of and satisfied with dinner.
It was a wonderful meal, and we are very grateful to everyone on board, both behind the scenes and on the floor who made it all possible. ❤️

6 hours ago, Freelancer1 said:

We saw the notification on our TV and app. No one was concerned. Everyone just thought it was an unusual glitch. 

It was more of an inconvenience than anything else, but it seems that handful of folks may have momentarily panicked.

The British press is living up to its reputation.

A crew member who was in the roundabout told me they only saw one person with a life jacket. People were still in line for coffee, oblivious to the situation. There were no horn blasts warnings that they talk about during muster.

It was a non-event for most of us.