cantgetin

2 hours ago, EffortlessVoyages said:

Hey TA here, if you book through a TA they can choose a specific cabin at the time of booking.

 

MW

I recommend using a TA for many reasons (I'm not one). but anyone can choose their own cabin by calling VV rather than booking on line.

On 9/11/2022 at 10:53 PM, gkbiiii said:

Here are my ideas which are bound to be controversial: Make Disney type ships for adults.

1.  The new ships should be the size of the Disney Magic & Wonder.

2.  Use Disney's Rotational Dining Concept, for Specialty/Main Dining.

3.  Have large staterooms that are all mini-suites & above.

4.  All Cabins should have a separate shower & bathroom room.

5.  Disney quality, big budget, adult entertainment. 

6.  Mostly all inclusive, including all gratuities. 

7.  Comped, full meal Room Service

I'm puzzled by the suggestions above.  The Disney Magic and Wonder hold about 2700 passengers in 845 cabins; the virgin ships hold about 2700 in 1440 cabins.  Essentially, they have a lot more 2 person cabins while DCL has a lot of 4 person cabins. They are about the same size, and they were built in the same shipyard. 
2) The whole idea of dining on VV is to do what you want, when you want.  That wouldn't fit with rotational dining

3)I can see larger staterooms if the current suites are selling out

4) so again, you want the "divided bathroom" concept that DCL has.  I can't argue against it, but it is less needed with 2 people in a cabin than with 4

5) Increasing the entertainment budget will mean increasing costs.

6) VV is already "mostly all inclusive" except for alcohol.  Gratuities ARE included, including those on alcoholic beverages, spa services, etc.

7) You can get full meal room service.  There is a $5 delivery fee which is comped if you order anything that has a charge--a glass of fresh squeezed OJ, hot chocolate, alcohol, etc. 

Have you cruised on VV?  It sounds like you want DCL with no kids.  In that case, I'd suggest the longest cruises possible, and cruising during times when most schools are in session.  That leads to a lot more toddlers on DCL, and they are in programming, nursery, or with parents...not running the ship.  We loved DCL when kid was little; now we love VV because they offer the "all inclusives" that I want and I don't have to deal with other people's children.

I suspect that the security personnel were always on board but that they are more obvious now.  That makes sense given that there have been several "incidents" recently on another cruise line and VV cruises are sailing with more passengers than previously.

you can have up to 16 "referrals."  Each referral can be used only once.

1 hour ago, wirralcruisers said:

How does the $10 a day coffee allowance get added?

Does it just get added to your bar tab?

For our transatlantic it becomes a really useful perk!

 

Similarly line of questions if I may; for a 14 night cruise is that 15 days ($10 x 15 = $150!)?

From a friend who was on Valiant last week...the $10 per day is only good at the specialty coffee places (Grounds Club) but can be used on any product there, like the specialty teas and hot chocolate as well as coffee.  She said that they have a system where the charge was applied and immediately deducted.  No, it was not just added to the bar tab.  Sorry, I don't know if they got the credit for the number of nights or number of days on the cruise.  I also don't know if it can be "evened out" or if it is strictly $10 per day.  For instance, if I got 3 beverages at $5 each on one day (total $15) and only 1 (total $5) on another day, I don't know whether all of them would be taken off my bill or if I'd owe $5 since I exceeded the $10 per day once.  These are on the list of things I need to clear up with our dedicated agent after boarding!

Do be aware that while in port at some locations in the Med, the cruise line is required to add VAT to all purchases including coffee, alcohol, etc.  The stores on board are closed while in port, but some of the beverage outlets remain open.

1 hour ago, neverendingcruising said:

 

 

Regarding internet on board, the connection seemed suddenly more responsive Thursday morning and a quick speed test showed Starlink as the ISP so it seems they have started using it in place of the traditional satellite connection. 

I certainly hope this is true on our upcoming cruise!

One review mentioned tax being applied.  In some Med ports, the ship is required to charge VAT on any purchases made while the ship is in port or in waters belonging to certain countries.  We've encountered this on other lines as well.  The shops are closed while in port, but various beverage outlets may be open.  The ship people will know exactly when they no longer are required to charge the VAT.  On another line, we received a letter telling us exactly when the tax would no longer need to be applied so we could plan any shopping accordingly.  They also supplied us with the necessary forms to get a partial refund at the airport when we left the EU....but the amount wasn't much and it was a pain to process even with the paperwork from the ship.

My friend was on Valiant last week and posted multiple pictures of them having a great time.  I can't make sense out of these reviews beyond that they seem to be written by the same person.  There are reviews of the same cruise, including the one linked above, that do not sound anything like these two negatives.  I think that the individual who posted the negatives has some sort of grudge against VV.

Interesting.  There have been at least three incidents recently on another cruise line, the most recent of which resulted in severe injuries to a passenger.  While I haven't heard of anything happening on VV, perhaps they decided to take action in advance of any issues.

I can swipe between cruises on the app

It has been added and I can see it on my VV account on the website.  It is not showing up on the app, but I did a screen shot of the web site and figure I'll argue it after we board if the app is still wrong.  The app supposedly tends to be very peculiar until after boarding.

7 hours ago, Lustate said:

I am just thinking something through...

So the Deep Blue bonus for 2022 states the $10 for coffee per day is per cabin... but what about the Moet and the laundry? Can two members who both have the same status sharing a cabin each claim a bag of washing and the bubbles?

It is per cabin.  The laundry clearly states that is per cabin.  On another page, it says that regardless of how many promotions including Moet may be in your add ons, you will only get one per cabin.  For instance, my rebooking on board and deep blue perks each include moet, but our cabin will only get one.

I can't quote the rules on pregnancy on VV, but they definitely have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages available all over the ship.  THe party atmosphere is as much or as little as you wish.  If you don't like the party feel, go elsewhere.

It is per cabin.  Some of the perks, like laundry and the $10 coffee credit, clearly state "per cabin."  In the fine print on another page, it states that regardless of number of offers/qualifications, only one bottle of Moet will be given per cabin (so I have one from my rebooking on board and one for the deep blue perks, but the cabin will only get one free.)  Both people are invited to the reception and get the limited time services of a rockstar agent as well as vip booking.  Per the agent, rather than having 24 hour access in the way a mega rockstar guest does, the rockstar agent has designated hours which are printed on the information you'll get in your cabin on the first day.

Virgin has been running some amazing specials recently.  We have 3 upcoming bookings, each in a Sea Terrace, with a significantly lower "per day" price than you quoted.  My advice is to watch the specials and do rebooking on board whenever possible.  I love that what's included with VV is exactly what I want.  We are not heavy drinkers, so the alcohol packages on other lines never made sense.

1 hour ago, laxcruising said:

Hi...I assume your code has already been used, but I am booked on the Transatlantic cruise from Barceona and would love to get a link!

My name is Kathryn and this is my travel agent's email.  She can try to link us together, or if that doesn't work, she might have someone else she can link you with.  She will need your name and booking number to make the connection.  As far as I know, we are unable to do any private communication thru Cruise Critic, and this way we don't have to post private stuff here.  THe $200 is over, but $50 is worth getting!  https://virg.in/ow3S is my link.  her email is: Magic@TootlesTravels.com

THey can reprogram your band.

You can have a separate credit card tied to each sea band, so there would be no problem with purchases.  VV doesn't care who sleeps where....they care who is booked where.  So if you are asking whether passengers 1&2 are booked in one room and 3&4 in the other, and 1 & 3 actually share a room...no problem.  

On 9/12/2022 at 8:54 PM, mishelly76 said:

Thanks everyone! I assume if I get a chance to bid on an upgrade it’d be an email? I was hoping to get the chance since we are in a GTY obstructed view. 

Yes, upgrade bidding would come in an email.  A gty can put you anywhere as high as you've booked or higher...so in this case, you could be in an obstructed view or in a regular view.  You can also ask about purchasing an upgrade at the terminal; these were being offered a couple months ago. I don't know if they still are.
Regardless of the reason, the porters have a list of names/cabins, and even if you purchase an upgrade at port, VV will take care of the switch.  No worries. In the past, luggage tags were in the box with the sea bands.  Since they are no longer doing sea bands, I'm not sure what they are doing about tags.  No, you don't print them off at home the way you do on some other lines.

I'm really surprised that they are doing upgrade bids 3 days before the cruise....good luck.  

there was some remodeling in the cabins to add storage space and make them look a little "warmer" and less IKEA than at the beginning.  The bathrooms are small.  The showers are OK, but not generous unless you go to the XL Sea Terrace size. That will give you a little more cabin space but a lot more bathroom space.

2 hours ago, klkaylor78 said:

Have a Nov cruise on Scarlett Lady to try out VV. I saw the loyalty program email and was trying to do a status match. We are Plat on Seabourn - a Carnival line - do you think they will upgrade as Carnival is listed but not Seabourn. Looking to see if I can get in another 2022 cruise just to make that mark as well

THey seem to be approving almost anything.  Sometimes they even do it right.  I submitted matching for myself and my adult daughter, and our booking shows 2 "deep blues" for her...so I tried again in my name.  This time I got the email but nothing on the cruise.  It doesn't matter since it is one per cabin, but very odd.....Like you, I'm considering working in another cruise before the end of the year.

On 8/11/2022 at 9:11 AM, WheresWalter said:

 

Some time between 7:30 and 8:00 was the earliest disembark times if I recall correctly. You will use the app to schedule a disembark time, you can do that literally as soon as you get on board so you have your choice of times to exit. 

We've already scheduled our disembarkation time for our upcoming cruise.  It was under "shore things" on the app.

14 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

Unfortunately don't think you can double dip, but whether their system is actually coded to catch this is another story!

 

From the My Next Virgin Voyage promo terms, "If champagne is included, see section 1.2.1, there is a limit of one bottle of champagne among all offers, i.e., anyone already receiving a bottle of champagne from a different offer will not receive a second bottle."

Thanks....I thought that might be the case, but had no real need to go looking for the fine print.

On 8/31/2022 at 9:42 AM, Lustate said:

On our third voyage now, and a forth booked for October… no invite yet lol 

You should be automatic and not need to do anything.  It should show up on your next cruise.  This assumes your sailings were regular fares...not casino fares, won a contest, or something else where you paid far less than posted charges.

18 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

You will need to be at the  Sea-Rovers or Sea Blazers Tier Level, to get the Champagne.  Virgin is currently doing status matches and their new program page is here:  

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sites/sailing-club#deep-blue-extras

I'm not getting the champagne as part of the deep blue extras.  I'm getting it as part of a rebooking while on board thru the Richard's Birthday deal...which specifically included a bottle of champagne.  Actually, I might get 2 bottles because I also qualify thru the deep blue extras.

16 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Is this based on number of voyages or days at sea?

so far, based on number of voyages.  It looks like 2023 will include something based on dollars spent both on bookings and on the ship.