CineGraphic

24 minutes ago, richsea said:

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on a 12 day sailing from Portsmouth to Barcelona in a Sweet Aft Suite, for $200 per person per day.

11 minutes ago, richsea said:

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

They cost more, but include more.

These are the only cruises we’ve been on where we haven’t had a balance due when disembarking. The food is also on an entirely different level, with no specialty dining charges.

12 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Status match?  Can you elaborate?  Who are they matching?

The original status match program for which we qualified is more generous than the new current one, but for Princess, Platinum and Elite qualify.

Details and the levels they match for other lines can be found here;

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

But no medallion. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

This is probably the only similarity, Virgin has “The Band”. The red ones are for “sailors” and the black ones are for “Rock Stars”. They are made from recycled plastic from the sea, and you are encouraged to drop them off when disembarking for further recycling.

1 hour ago, AllHandsAstern said:

Wow 50 bucks, that's like almost a tank of gas 🤠🤠

 
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.

16 minutes ago, walkingsoon said:

Regarding pot smoking, I would assume that with Virgin's demographic and short duration itineraries in the Caribbean that they'd have their share as well.

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 😁

13 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

 

How do you like Virgin?  Been thinking about trying it.

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. 

3 minutes ago, that said:

@CineGraphic

Oh PUHLEEZ to Alvin Stokes 🤬

Disappointing!  Thank you for sharing this laugh

 

Have missed your insights and wry comments here on the Princess Boards

and read on the Virgin Voyages site here and there

the delight and satisfaction you and Pam have found..  

Nothin’ better than being on a cruise ship

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.

1 minute ago, dickinson said:

OMG!  Shocking to say the least.  Glad you found a new "home".

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.

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

But this is all rumor until Scarlet comes out of drydock in October. 

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.

31 minutes ago, Lustate said:

Turns out agents had early access and had them before people at home who wanted to buy them directly could even open the site

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.

33 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

why didn’t you get you DBE benefit?

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

6 hours ago, psu8284 said:

I will be sailing VV Scarlet Lady later this month.  Interested to hear how the wifi and internet experience has been.  I do some stock and option trading and would rather keep that option open for myself while cruising.   Any feedback on speed, reliability, sea days?

 

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

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.

5 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I need to find a way to mitigate the language and data barrier.

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!

On 5/2/2024 at 2:54 PM, KyloRen said:

Anyone know when they will start booking? I wanna get in on this asap! 

May 8th

3 minutes ago, babalooo said:

Do you know if was cheaper than if you had purchase that same cruise from the start and by how much?

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

3 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

 

Okay, I’ve posted more bathroom pictures on this Live thread than any other.

 

Why?  Because these bathrooms fascinate me!

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

1 hour ago, aviators99 said:

Congrats!  I am definitely interested in both the bid amount and where it was on the scale of bids for the MRS, if you are willing to say.

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.

5 hours ago, rebeccac said:

IMHO, the best part about any of the Rockstar/MegaRockstar rooms is that the beds are actually comfortable.  

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.

2 hours ago, Janthere said:

We are sailing in a gorgeous suite on Sunday from Barcelona.

I was just on the Scarlet for the sailing before the crossing.

The current cast & crew are fantastic! Enjoy your cruise!