cantgetin

The problem is that the "lock it in" requires that you will accept any room that is assigned at or above the category you have selected. We can't agree to accept "any room" and VV can't be required to save us a room that they otherwise might have booked at full price. Yes, I am well aware of ADA requirements and issues. We do have an approach on one other cruise line where, once the line advertises "GTY" rates, we can look on line and see whether there are any accessible rooms still showing as available. If so, I can call our travel agent who contacts his "person" at the cruise line and can arrange for us to book at the GTY rate but immediately be assigned to the accessible room. This only works quite late in the booking process, and obviously only when the rooms are available. VV does a good job with the accessible situation. THey have a significantly greater number of accessible cabins than other ships of the same size. They also have "ambulatory" cabins for people who may need bars by the toilet and bars/seat in the shower, but don't require full accessibility. I do appreciate you suggestions...it is what it is, and we are very happy with the on board situation on Virgin.

With MNVV, you get whatever the current special is. Yes, the MNVV gives you $600 in loot, but we also got the $600 in bar tab that was part of the booking special. It isn't a trade off of one or the other. My cruise partner requires an accessible cabin, so a lock it in rate is not a possibility for us (we need the assigned cabin at the time of booking or she can't cruise.). You are totally correct that the MNVV rate requires a Sea Terrace booking or above. And, depending on the cruise, the lock it in rate may be less. You must price them individually each time to see which is the better "deal."

As above, when it is correct, I shoot a screen shot of the website to have proof, but I've never needed it. The app always uploads correctly after boarding. On one cruise, we got a message on the app that it would be uploading correctly during the first night overnight.....and it did.

Thanks for the review--great info. Similarly, we have boarded in Barcelona which we found to be far nicer to do than in Miami. THe terminal appearance in Miami is prettier, but the system in Barcelona was smoother! Shops....we were on Valiant when they did the changeover. All shops were closed for the first 5 or 6 days of our 15 night cruise, and the sunglass shop opened only on the last night. I was seriously not impressed. There were previously 2 logo shops; it had been reduced to one and the other converted to a Louis Vuitton purse shop. There was at least one other purse store, a watch store, jewelry store, sundries store (as you noted, mostly munchies, but a few other things), and the general area that had some clothing, makeup, etc. The resortwear shop that had been upstairs had been moved down near the other shops. Bottom line, I was totally unimpressed. We bought a few things on the last night as we had some loot that needed to be spent, but my opinion was that this new merchandising was NOT an improvement.

The first rule is to always book a cabin where you will be happy. Yes, people do get upgrades from bidding, but getting a suite is very unlikely as they are normally sold out. People typically hear whether their bid was accepted 2-7 days before embarkation. People who did "Lock it in" are sometimes notified that they've been upgraded (free) before those bidding! Step 1--it all depends on availability. Suites are usually sold out, but there is always the possibility of a last minute cancelation. Step 2--they have a weird algorithm that takes into account what you originally paid for your room and what you bid as well as what your current room is. VV's goal is to maximize the revenue they can get on any cruise. THey list only the upgrades that you are eligible to bid for and the minimum bid. These are per cabin, not per person. The reason they care what you are currently assigned to is that they may be able to move someone else to your currently assigned room if you are upgraded. Step 3--how much to bid. This is a mystery, but a general rule is to NOT bid the minimum as a lot of people do that. Go a little higher with a "strange" number. For instance, the minimum bid for the XL is $350. Decide what you max bid is, and then make it "weird." If your max is $400, bit $403 or $407. People tend to pick numbers that end with 0 or 5. Make your bid that little bit different. Step 4--at embarkation, there is a desk on the check in floor that sometimes is selling upgrades at a set price. They have a chart of the type of room you are in and what it would cost to upgrade. You can always check there if you are still interested.

You can have both Splash of Romance (which you pay for) and DBE (which you get with Sea Rover status). THey are not connected in any way, and no, DBE does not come with Splash of Romance.

Thanks, I forgot about Sun Club Cafe even though I've eaten there......

Alternatively you can just buy one in your son's name and avoid the switching hassle. It will work the save either way.

The app is as wonky as it gets. I did my onboard check in weeks ago and today my cruise wouldn't show up. You can either wait (as per the message you got) or call VV and ask for tech support. Based on your message, I'd just wait.

MNVV = My Next Virgin Voyage. The current deal is that you buy the certificate for $300. When you use it to book a cruise, you get the $300 you paid for the certificate deducted plus an additional $300 off the cruise fare. In addition, you get $600 in "Loot," which is onboard credit. And this is on top of whatever the current offer is on the cruise that you choose. The certificate is good for 2 years, and can be transferred to someone else. This means that if you are cruising with friends, you can bring their credit card info and buy one for them in their name...or buy it for yourself and "sell' it to them. There is no difference between buying the certificate vs. doing an onboard booking in terms of benefits. For instance, on my booking I got $300 for rebooking certificate, $300 cost of certificate ($600 deducted from posted cruise fare), $600 Loot (part of MNVV deal), and $600 bar tab (current special being offered). In addition, I paid in full and got 10% off for that.

Take out only to Mega Rockstars....not sure about Rockstars. Not to us normal people. Outdoor dining is served at the aft part of The Galley and at The Dock. You can get pizza, stuff at The Social Club, etc. and take it outdoors yourself. You can take Galley food to the pool deck, or whatever. Ship Eats (room service) is not bad. It has more options than most lines have on their room service. A couple months ago, you could get a burger, steak, soups, etc. This is a bit old but most is the same. https://cruisethewaves.com/room-service-menus/virgin-voyages-room-service-menu/. Ship Eats costs $7 delivery charge, but if you order ANYTHING with a charge, the delivery fee is waived. So you can get a specialty coffee/tea/hot chocolate, alcohol etc and avoid the delivery charge. Yes, a $5 coffee eliminates the $7 delivery fee.

If you would buy the stuff anyhow, then it can be a value. Otherwise, not. Thermal spa pass--$59 each Shake for Champagne-$100. Right there, you have used the $200. IMHO, the rest if "fluff. Do you want the cold pressed juice. If your booking includes the $600 bar tab, you could get it that way. Munchies? The reviews said they were very good. Priority boarding, can't put a dollar value on that; we get it with our Sea Rover status. The down side is that you have to buy it with cash up front and can't swap any of the items. If you bought your spa pass or champagne on board, you could use any Loot associated with your booking, but you wouldn't get the extras.

You can buy up to 4 MNVV certificates/bookings each time you cruise, each good on the booking of one qualifying cabin. The certificates are transferrable meaning that you can buy one in your name and "sell" it to a friend later. As above, if you plan on 2 cabins, book one in your name and one in husband's name--you can shuffle the "who sleeps where" later. You can do the bookings while on board and name your travel agent. This gives them the reservation from the start. Or you can contact them within 30 days and they can take over the booking with your consent. Or buy the certificates and let the TA book it for you when you get home. SOME travel agents purchase the max they are permitted and then resell them to clients; you might ask your agent if he/she has any available. THere is no way to know whether the deal now is better or worse than the deal that might be available in October.

We commented that it was the only ship we'd been on that had a casino that wasn't repulsive due to the smoke. Whatever they've done with the ventilation in that smoking room works! I'm not a smoker, but tried to do a 30 minute "deck walk" each morning. I usually went on deck 16 so my lack of speed didn't hinder those on the track. The smoking area never seemed full; there were occasionally people at a few of the tables, but always lots empty. It seemed to be well looked after with staff regularly emptying ash trays, etc. It is basically tables with umbrellas from what I saw.

I looked yesterday at prices on a Celebrity cruise....I'm waiting for fall 2024 to come out on VV, but at least I know that if VV doesn't have what I'm expecting/want, I do have options. The pricing on Celebrity with their "all included" package (it isn't really all, it is basic wifi, drinks, and tips--not specialty restaurants, etc.), was $5K. So even if VV prices go up, I have wiggle room! I've done similar cruises for under $3K on VV with more included than I'd have on Celebrity.

Not that I'm aware of. Most of the tables are for 6, with a few for 10. I'm not aware of any exceptions.

I'm dreading seeing the costs of the late 2024 sailings. We have what we want for now, but I do have my hopes out for a fall 2024.

As above, people often realize that they won't be attending a show. The nice ones cancel their reservation so someone else can pick it up.

Virgin for us is about the food, crew, atmosphere, etc. A decision to use another line at this point would be based on itinerary. There are too many good things about Virgin to go line hopping. We're doing about 30 days per year right now.

First, your table does not order their protein. Each person at the table can order what they wish for each course. Secondly NO plates are passed around. Your server uses the cooking tongs to place whatever you ordered on your plate. He or she will sometimes ask if you want a single piece of something you didn't order. You can ask your server to cook your food any way you want it. You order whatever sides you want, and they are served in individual portion bowls, Again, no food is passed around or shared unless a family member offers you something from one of their dishes. We ordered the upcharge Waygu beef once (definitely not worth it, the marinated beef on the menu is much better). Again, it was cooked and served just to the two of us; the others at the table were not offered any. Our first time at Gunbae, we went with the servers suggestion of having "the favorite items." We learned that this was WAY too much food, so now we make just a few choices of the things we wish.. This results in far fewer bowls or items on plates being served to us, but it also allows me to walk out of the restaurant.

We liked much of the food on VV, but one disappointment was that there was no real "sit down" lunch on embarkation day. THis is at least in part because boarding starts so much later than on other lines. On other days, you have 2 restaurants open for brunch until 1. The Galley is more than OK, and our most recent cruise was a definite improvement there over our earlier cruises. Frankly, I found a panini and salad to be a great embarkation day lunch there. But I'm not the one who wrote the scathing review above.

That's what Valiant was doing.

Basically, no. The only way you can make that work is to book your excursion in advance. THen, when you board, go to the big red desk and cancel it (they will refund it to your credit card as long as you are more than 24 hours before the excursion) and rebook the excursion on board. The risk, of course, is that someone else will grab it while you are making the changes. Loot is on board credit, which is not officially credited to your account until you are on board (sometimes several hours later).

We always take advantage of the MNVV (future cruise) deal and the 10% off PIF discount. Every little bit counts. I also look for less costly cruises when possible. For my next 2 bookings, I've paid about half of similar cruises on other lines. I don't want to see the fall 2024 rates....thinking that VV knows they have a good product and don't have to discount any more to fill ships. We always book the balcony, and book as near the release date of the sailings as we can...then keep eyes open for any price reductions. Because we need an accessible cabin, we can't do any of the bid for upgrade or other tricks.

All of the DBE benefits are "per cabin," not "per person. THey will get $10 per cabin per day credit at Grounds Club, Premium wifi on 2 devices (they can rotate among devices by logging off of one before logging onto another. We just put the premium on our laptops and kept the standard on our phones.. The laundry is one bag per room, both can go to cocktail party and get priority boarding, etc.