cantgetin

Totally agree with this. However, we have still, almost always been able to get "wait list" reservations at THe Wake. Waitlist means that when someone doesn't show up within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, the restaurant will send a notification thru the app to the next person on the list that your table will be held for 15 minutes. You don't stand there and do nothing while waiting; you can go about your business. When you get the notification, you respond that you are on the way or that you are no longer interested. All I can say is that it worked for us multiple times. Walk ups are usually available at the less popular locations. You show up and ask if you can be seated, THey check the computer and tell you if and possibly when, although we've usually been seated within 10 minutes.

It doesn't change on the app. It changes in real life when you show up at the terminal about 1pm.

This is my favorite food review. It is a little out of date (has the old Razzle Dazzle menu,) but still mostly up to date. There are some small alterations depending on where you are cruising. There is no real buffet on VV. It is much more a food court concept. You can sit down and be served or go to the counter and place your order yourself--your choice. There are daily specials at several of the locations that won't show up on the menu. The shorter the cruise and the more full the ship, the more difficult reservations can be. We've only had 2 experiences where we were told outright that we couldn't be seated or the chances of a waitlist coming thru were very small (one brunch and one dinner at The Wake). In each case, we were offered a reservation for the next day. We've done same day reservations and waitlists multiple times and had them come thru. People "no show" regularly without canceling--that's why you can get in on a wait list. I'm totally confused about a TA who has a special deal to get clients 60 day restaurant booking. My TA has been in the top 10 agents of 2022 and 2023 and doesn't have such a deal. I have not heard of VV favoring one agent over another prior to the statement in the above post. They DO require agents to complete some level of VV training before they can book the line and those who complete the higher training are designated Gold tier agents. In the past, the 100 who sold the most were invited on a celebration cruise with the execs and those in the top 10 got a few more perks. There are thousands of agents who have completed the basic training, but that top 100 are people who really know the product inside and out.

As above, they ask that you not arrive more than 30 minutes before your "terminal arrival time" which became 1:30 when you purchased SOR. In our experience, check in has started between 1 and 1:30 with boarding starting at 1:30. Suites board first followed by those with priority boarding. On days when things were working right, we were in our cabin before 1:45. We hit SNAFUs twice at Miami, but chances of the same mess happening again or to you are small. Never had a boarding issue at Barcelona.

Advice--don't listen to shoreside Sailor Services. THey had the wrong info on our first cruise. I don't know how it is working now that SOME cruises have the C menu. The easiest thing is to talk to the dining res people on embarkation day. If you have the "wrong" menu, they can shuffle your reservations to get what you want,

I dont fly in "day of," so only know what I've seen reported. The transfer is only available on the day of the cruise.

If you win an upgrade bid, all perks follow you--Loot, Bar Tab, etc. As Pam noted, some may be useless as they are duplicated by suite perks, but others are still worthwhile. And if you become Mega, you can give or sell your bar tab to someone else.

If you are sailing in Europe, it will be European Diet Coke which they usually market as Coke Zero but is different than US coke zero. I'm not a purist. All I know is that my family doesn't like the European variety if they have a choice,

Welcome to VV. Something is ALWAYS screwed up with their system.

I've read that there is a VV booth at the airport on embarkation day that will transport luggage to the cruise terminal, but I have no personal experience with this. I can attest that you can drop luggage at the cruise terminal as early as 10 am.

Yes, more reservations will open at boarding.

Unless friend has been granted VIP status, it makes no sense. Black wrist bands are sometimes handed out to those who are not in suites--"Influencers," executives, some TAs, etc. That gives them access to Richard's Rooftop and their accounts might be flagged for other suite perks. Normally, suites are 60 days, all other cabins 45 days. You can "link" reservations with your friends which allows you to book for each other, or you can have it taken care of on the ship. Your TA can move your reservations if what you want is available, or you can call Sailor Services shoreside...or do it yourself on the app. Each person has a different idea of what is a "good" slot. More slots will open on embarkation day. You an book them on the app once you board or you can go to an assigned location for help with reservations--usually Razzle Dazzle, but we once had it in Pink Agave.

Yes, 4 times, always the same. THe drinks may start off fresh, but the ice melts quickly so the Sangria was very watered down. It was "just OK" in my opinion.

I didn't see it as that great. Yes, smaller numbers of people and free drinks at certain times, but not nearly as nice as some of the reserved areas on other lines. Sorry, I really don't think the suite benefits on VV are worth the cost unless you really like to drink. In fairness, I've never done mega. and I do understand that there are many "unpublished" perks. I thought I was the only weirdo who had done everything from an inside cabin to a suite on another line, but then I met someone on VV who had been in everything from an inside to a massive suite! Yes, suites are better, but some lines have better suite perks than others.

Because my travel buddy has a medical issue, we travel with a suitcase of medical supplies, braces, etc which would be a disaster to have lost. Thus, I always carry it on board. I turned over a suitcase that was intact (but not the medical bag) and it showed up in our room obviously cut. The porter was really rude when I "only" tipped him $5 for 2 bags and carried the third one myself. I obviously can't prove that the porter was responsible, only that he was rude. But it wasn't like the suitcase "exploded " or ripped, it was obviously slashed.

I no longer trust the porters in Miami after a bad experience. We do carry on now.

This is very odd. We've done 2 Barcelona embarkations, one from each terminal, and they were far smoother than Miami. We had 1:30 times each time. At WTC, showed up at 1, went thru security and check in, then boarded about 1:35. In fact, at 1:30 the woman "in charge" of us went to call her supervisor saying we should have begun boarding by now. She returned within minutes and we boarded. We were in our cabin by 1:45...likely a few minutes earlier, but I didn't look till then.. The second time was similar but at the other terminal, again, quick and easy. Both of our Miami boardings were a bit of a mess

You can find out at any time up to embarkation. MOST people seem to find out about a week in advance. Your TA can see on their portal whether any Megas are showing up as available.

The difference is that there are 70 Rockstar cabins per ship and 1400 other typed of cabins. Glad it all worked well for you. In 4 cruises, we haven't had a good app experience, but we've had a great, helpful TA who took care of what the app didn't.

A cabin can be assigned on a "lock it in"rate anywhere from a couple months to a couple days prior to embarkation. On rare occasions, it can also be changed after it appears on the app. If someone wants to pay them a high price for a particular cabin type, they will move t "lock it in" person. There is no obvious rationale to when the cabins are assigned.

Since there are usually two of us, we sit in The Galley and split the work--one of us makes any changes to dinner reservations needed and the other handles any activity stuff (most of which don't take reservations any more). You don't need to GO anywhere unless you need help. But the bottom line as to being able to get ship wifi in the terminal is "sometimes" of "it depends."

Originally they kept the Beach Club open till after dark and had a bonfire, but the realized that only the crew was there. Most people hit the island early and head back early . In reality, it is impossible to predict how many people will want a tram at what time as that will depend on how many people are on board, weather, etc. We haven't had waiting issues, but we haven't cruised on a nearly full ship either.

yikes

You can make dining reservations for them by linking their reservation to yours. Same for excursions. Not sure how you are planning to "help" them with bar tab--you can allow them to drink the alcohol from your bar in your suite, but you can't take them to the cocktail hour of Richard's Rooftop. Of course, you can get a beverage as the event nears closing and take it to them elsewhere on the ship...that seems a bit of effort to save $10. If they are still within a cancelation period, you can cancel their reservation and move them to your suite, in which case they will get all suite benefits. Paying their bar tab is actually easy--you go to Sailor services and ask that their alcohol charges be moved to your account, which then puts them on your bar tab with your DBE. You can allow them to use your 2 Grounds Club drinks per day per person by doing with them and having it put on your bracelet. But no, you cannot get them the black bracelets to have suite perks unless they are booked in your suite.

Agree with inconsistency. We had one cruise where The Wake was a "one and done" while another it was great. Almost the same with one poor Extra Virgin experience while overall that is a great place.