CineGraphic

Call Virgin, be nice and explain the situation....you never know what exceptions they may make.

13 minutes ago, Ixtoras said:

As for flight prices

For our transatlantic sailing in October on the Valiant, we're flying to Boston in order to catch a great deal in premium economy to Barcelona with Level Airlines. It was 1/2 the cost of Delta's basic economy out of ATL.

58 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Their next date to release flights is Sept 14.  Yes, their schedules can be odd.  For our last cruise, we had to fly into FLL as they weren't doing anything from my daughter's home airport to MIA on the days we needed.  We were flying from different home cities and meeting up in Florida, so FLL didn't make any real difference.  It was just rather odd.

The last time I looked I noticed that flights from Orlando, FLL, and Miami are more frequent and considerably lower in price than anything we can get out of ATL, so we're considering adding a day or two pre-cruise in one of them before heading out to San Juan.

13 hours ago, Fogcityca13 said:

They really need a better Virgin branded merch store

Virgin has a program called "Innercircle" and they recently sent out a survey asking what type of branded merch  we were interested in, so they seem to be aware that many of us have been disappointed in the offerings so far. They've also seen quite a bit of homemade items on board, so they understand the need to step-up their game.

We love staying on board while in port, especially in the Caribbean, where we've been to several of the islands many times.

1 minute ago, Sayra said:

Do I just walk into one of the shops and ask to see their secret selection? 🤣

I'm not sure if the new contractors have them or not.

Last year they were on display during the Med season, but tucked away during Miami based sailings. Chit-chat with a store staff member you'd feel comfortable speaking to about such things.

These days everything seems to be USB chargeable, so you won't have to worry about packing extra batteries. Enjoy your cruise! 🤣

37 minutes ago, Sayra said:

Curious minds need more details. Please. 

Adult toys

1 minute ago, CruisingWalter said:

One channel's opinion.

Based on  Which? Magazine who state, "Our results are driven by thousands of cruise-line guests rating their experience of the facilities onboard – the cabin, food and drink and customer service – so you can avoid queuing for the restaurant every morning, or being ripped off over tips."

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/cruise-lines/article/best-and-worst-cruise-lines-aXDfX7O9uJEz

5 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

If you really want to see the Princess experience, check out Ben and David's vlogs on the Sky Princess.

Did you watch the video I posted, it's by Ben & David.

Princess just made this list of the 3 worst cruise lines based on internet reviews.

The three worst lines according to this vid are Costa, MSC, and Princess.

The segment on Princess begins at the 13:48 time stamp.

https://youtu.be/HcSnC9wihD4

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

I loved my VV cruise last year and would make them mu number 1 line if they had ships on the West Coast. Princess had always been "my" cruiseline but I really don't love the way they are going and their product is not what it used to be.

Welcome to the club.

18 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Probably helps that there is only 15 Mega Rockstar suites per ship so they don’t have 

many people to deal with its a small dedicated team without the stress of hundreds of calls.

So why can't a a clueless rep say, "We have a special red glove department for MRS, here's the number".

6 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

I can't put Walter in that group at all.  He's not a "hey look at me," full of himself reporter.  He is accurate in his reporting.

I didn't imply anything of the sort, just that cruise lines like to avoid bad publicity by making sure they don't screw up when it comes to dealing with vloggers. I'm an early fan of Walter's Virgin vids, and have shared them with others on numerous occasions.

Just now, CruisingWalter said:

Not in the least. Most of the crew have absolutely no idea who I am and I'm fine with that.

If their social media department is worth their weight in salt, they know exactly who you are.

The special treatment could easily be all behind the scenes, while they're preparing and plating your dishes. Like I said earlier....it's subtle. They don't want to make it obvious.

3 hours ago, Sherry84 said:

Refresh my memory but "sailor loot" can NOT be used for drinks/bar tab, correct? 

Loot can be used for drinks, bar tabs cannot be used for anything other than drinks.

13 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

If that is the case then you simply write the contract so that it is allowed. 

Easy to say in hindsight, but I don't think either party expected things to go the way they did. Usually these relationships tend to be long term.

1 minute ago, Travel-and-See said:

Schedule the change-over to happen over the course of 2 sailings - and have it be store by store so that throughout the cruise only 1 or 2 stores are ever closed at a time.

My guess is that the contract terms wouldn't allow it.

13 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

It should be so obvious, that at an point a manager should say "no we can't do it like this" but yet... that doesn't happen. 

It's not a great thing to have zero retail during a sailing or two, but how do you suggest they get one vendor to pack up everything and remove it from the ship, and have a new vendor bring in all of it's new stuff on-board? Cancel a sailing? That would cost them a fortune, having to give everyone bonus future cruise credit, reimburse everyone for flight/hotels.

1 hour ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

I have to wonder if Alaska can handle more ships.  Between the ever increasing ship size, limited months and increasing number of ships, I'm expecting there to be rush hour ship pile up on the Inner Passage.

 

I'm booked on the Discovery Princess in May 2024 in Alaska.  I'd Jump ship in a minute if VV sailed there.

I wouldn't be surprised if the other lines reduce their Alaskan presence next year. They've had plenty of empty cabins this summer. I've received several offers for free Alaskan sailings from 2 lines this year. One line said I could book up to 3 sailings, including those with land packages. (And no, I'm not a big gambler at all...far from it)

16 minutes ago, chefchick said:

but I do remember walking by the Scarlet Lady stores and thinking some of those items actually looked interesting.

You should see the items they DON'T have on display! lol (Yet another cruise ship 1st)

 It's not surprising that known Youtubers like Walter will often times get subtle, preferential treatment.

The guys that review airlines on Youtube get all sorts of special treatment and upgrades, while most poor schlubs are left to the cattle treatment.

The last meal I had at the Crown Grill, featured two lamb chops, all alone on the plate. No sauce, no sides, no steak knife.

During our last meal at Sabatini's we were served an appetizer that was just removed from another table, and partially eaten.

One can only hope that things have improved since then, but you'll have to forgive me for not wanting to subject myself to anything like that ever again since we sail for completely different reasons, and have had completely different experiences.

8 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

I would take a longer Princess or Celebrity cruise over a shorter VV any day

We get offers for heavily discounted and free sailings from Princess, not just the Caribbean, but most of their itineraries. Our most recent offer included 12 days from Quebec to FLL for just $25 per person. We didn't even consider it for a second, even though our favorite past sailing with them was 14 days from FLL to Quebec, and we always wanted to do the reverse route.

Currently we don't get casino offers from Virgin, but we still prefer to sail with them over Princess for free or next to nothing. The number of days at sea are not as important to us as the overall quality of everything.

3 hours ago, basketballdad said:

The food was bizarre.  Curry for an island lunch ?!!where are the burgers?

Curry is a Caribbean staple....but it would be nice if they offered burgers as well for those who prefer not to experiment.

58 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

Honestly the Princess Plus package is one of the best in the mainstream cruise lines.

36 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

May 10, 24: Dominican Daze. 5 Days in a Sea Terrace: $3244

May 11, 24: Eastern Caribbean on Enchanted Princess, one of their newest ships: 7 Days in a Balcony $3061 with Princess Plus. 

This former Princess loyalist kindly disagrees.

I would much rather have "specialty dining" every day on Virgin instead of just 2 nights with the Princess Plus nonsense.

Princess can't even begin to compete when it comes to food quality and selection. We're talking warmed-over hotel banquet fodder, vs, meals cooked "ala minnute" (to order).

With all of the loot and bar tabs, we don't need a drink package, and the selection of liquors & wines on Virgin vs. Princess is again far superior.

Our last two Princess sailings we spent more time in line than practically anything else.

Never again. You get so much more on Virgin, even if it costs slightly more.

23 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

I saw a live stream with a vlogger and a VV rep and while the rep did say "never say never" about Alaska, she seemed fairly skeptical that it was going to happen any time in the near future if at all.

Well, you don't make a ship capable of fitting through the Panama Canal just for the helluva it.

1 hour ago, Freelancer3 said:

Our last Princess was an Alaska in 2022. The food was not very good and buffet was really a pre-portioned serving line. And unfortunately, the ship was also old.  In November of 2022 we went on our first VV and have never looked back....

 

After our first VV, I sent an email to John Padgett of Princess, thanking him for forcing us to look elsewhere, and finding Virgin.