CineGraphic

1 minute ago, Gretchendz said:

I can tell you I qualified using status match and got the benefits in January.  But given they are supposedly improving the program I would be shocked if they took it away from people who signed up in good faith. Time will tell, of course.

I don't believe DBE was ever meant to be a permanent offering for Sea Blazers or Sea Rovers. There was always an expiration date. Sure it's been extended a few times, but it's always been there.

4 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Might try to walk up and hope others don’t show up for their reservation 

It's worth the effort. It's the first show produced at sea that is now touring on land!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2024/02/13/virgin-voyages-show-sea-to-land/72522950007/

The artist usually gives the winners two times to choose from. However on our Transtlantic for whatever reason, we all painted our horses at the same time. I can't remember if we had a choice, of if everyone just ended up choosing the same time. Either way, it's a fun time to meet new people and share some bubbles and laughs.

These are our seahorses from the two times we participated.

Bubbles (left) and Mrs.Ed (right)

Neither won their race.

We suspected that Bubbles was drugged prior to the event, but the ship's doctor refused to investigate. 🤣

Everything is higher this year.

You can't book at last year's price.

We sailed in October of 2022, and the price is $800 higher for the same sailing this October.

17 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

And the bids seemed to be $75-250 per horse.

On the last Transatlantic, the range was $250 - $400

You attend the seahorse auction,which will be the first date,

Only 6 seahorses are auctioned off.

5 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I wore mine for a few extra days after the cruise as a little memento.  Love that you don’t need to take it off at all.

We removed the fobs, and have been wearing ours since October 2022.

7 minutes ago, jwattle said:

I missed that. Apologies :)

No worries,"ship happens" 🤣

Just now, jwattle said:

Scarlet's gonna have to beat feet from Ibiza to be in LA, unless the port schedule is just a placeholder 🤭

That's why I mentioned the Brilliant being the only ship that can get through the canal.

Here's the LA port schedule for Spring 2025. Scarlet Lady is listed, but Brilliant is the only ship in the fleet that can make it through the Panama Canal.

https://youtu.be/SF9feVMvQgk?si=Bu6TLscNsS1ESJ0G

1 hour ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Reserving Uber for ride to port of miami it’s about $95 for uber xl.  estimated 1 hr at this time of day. 

We take the Brightline train. First Class includes a ride within 5 miles of the station, and the port is less than 3 miles away.

Don't sweat the app or your docs issue. It's probably in the process of being updated for the sailing.

13 hours ago, Coral said:

I believe Princess needs to "make it right"

Don't be surprised if they only give you something insulting like $50 obc

40 minutes ago, jwattle said:

As far as no kids...

You should see the shirts someone is selling on Etsy. 🤣

12 minutes ago, jcarter4551 said:

So, I was happy to hear it’s because they are rolling out their own loyalty program and benefits.

I'd be surprised if anyone gets loyalty points on comped cruises.

2 hours ago, Rambo24 said:

Has anyone been on deck 14 with Virgin we are basically under the pool.... it it noisy? 

The golden rule is, the quietest cabins have cabins above and below them.

8 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

At this time about the only way to get a boarding time around the 1:30 mark is to sign up for the Splash of Romance package.

It should be noted, that the Splash of Romance Package is limited to how many packages they can sell per sailing, so at this late date, it MIGHT not be available.

23 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Thanks for the info. Do you know when the Rockstars will be boarding? Would like to find out so I know when it’s a good time for us to show up.  We are on the Scarlet Lady on March 1st out of Miami. Is this info located on the app or somewhere else I can look? 
 

How do people get the DBE? Can they be bought or is it a loyalty thing? Thanks.

We show up around 1:00PM.

DBE cannot be purchased.

Here's the info from Virgin's site.

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

Another good site for doing homework is VV Insider.

https://vvinsider.com/

46 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

We were status matched from Pinnacle on Royal Caribbean to get the DBE. Does this allow us to board earlier than our 2:15 boarding time?

Anyone with DBE gets to board after the Rockstars (suites), so ignore the time on the app.

Boarding order is Rockstars, then DBE and SOR (Splash of Romance), then everyone with assigned times.

I just told Pam, this is how I want to go….in the waters we love to sail in.

18 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

First is, their demographic is younger and working and really only take one week or shorter vacations.

That's the demographic they wanted, but in reality it skews older.

The average age as reported by Virgin is 43.

12 minutes ago, voljeep said:

what is that - about 3-4 drinks on Virgin?

Virgin does not tack on 18% to the drink prices, and the variety of top-shelf liquors is vast.

https://profcruise.com/virgin-bar-menus-2024/

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

We do enjoy some fun activities

The activities on board are fun and inclusive. They have a retro arcade, a gaming area, an artist on board who will install a giant coloring book canvas for anyone walking by to stop add to it, painting classes, karaoke, tastings, pub crawls, trivia, etc.... The Halloween costume contest during our TA was great, and 1st prize was a free cruise!

7 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

May I ask what age groups are represented on VV.  I worry that we’re too old and may feel out of place.

18 to Alta-Kaker. It's a judgement-free vibe that might be too much for the closed-minded.

We are in our 60s, and love it. You can have a quiet cruise without feeling left-out, or join the party. There's enough space for everyone, except for the pool which doesn't bother us as the pool has never been our scene.

28 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

the uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  

26 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

I have to fully agree about the mattresses in the regular cabins. They are worse then awful if you have any joint issues.

We've had a Princess mattress in our home for years and had zero complaints about the bedding on Virgin, even during our 14 day transatlantic.

It should be noted that the food on Virgin for the most part is cooked "ala minute", and not your typical hotel banquet fodder that's been sitting in warmers. Each chef is only allowed to work on 3 dishes at a time. They are also prepared to handle all sorts of food allergies. The worst dish we had was still better than anything we had on 15 Princess sailings.