cantgetin

If you apply thru the status match, that can take up to a week to process. If you are already a Sea Rover or already have the status match, it is supposed to show up "automatically." Since the info just came out today, I'd give them about a week. Some people are already saying it has appeared on their account.

These dinner specials are AMAZING. Most of the restaurants are offering at least one special each night...often both an entree and a dessert. Tonight Razzle Dazzle had some sort of chicken entree special which we did not get and a "to die for" chocolate pecan pie which we did. A few nights ago it was a very rich chocolate cake with Chantilly whipped cream. The Galley is having several lunch specials each day as well as at least one dinner special. The dinner special is listed on the daily newsletter; to night is is Indian shrimp curry. The specials are. a nice way so that other than Gumbae, no place feels like the "same old" food each time....unless you want to order off the standard menu.

You have two ways to get DBE now. If you have high enough loyalty status on any other cruise line, you can apply to the status match and you will get DBE on your first cruise and every other cruise in 2023. You'll find status match application on the VV site under Loyalty, then "learn more," then scroll down to the match. If you do not qualify for a status match, you can get DBE by doing two cruises....and you'll get it on your third. Just to make the terminology clear....2 cruises before the end of 2023 OR the status match makes you a "Sea Rover," and Sea Rovers get DBE. They also get a $100 bar tab bonus on each $300 tab purchased thru 2024. And then, just to make life more confusing. both Sea Blazers and Sea Rovers are part of Sailing Club...which is likely to be their name for the overall loyalty program which is yet to be released. Sea Blazers are people who cruised in 2021.

We have had active cruise chats on other platforms.

We've had the 1:30 time with DBE on 2 cruises. In each case, we boarded immediately after the rockstars and with those who had purchased the Romance at Sea package. Those with 1:30 terminal arrival times boarded right after we did.....so "Sailor's Club" (another name for DBE) went before 1:30 peeps. In Miami, Rockstars had a separate line and "holding area" prior to boarding. The same happened on our current cruise where boarding for everyone was delayed until 2:45...the same order was followed.

As Lustate said, yes, provided both are in the same cabin. If not in the same cabin, only the Blazer will get the perks.

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club The list of perks, etc. is basically unchanged other than the dates. The expiration date has now been changed to 12/31/2023.

At least it looks like that's what the new info on the web site means.

We've noticed a fair number of crew dining in restaurants on our current cruise, but not during prime hours. We generally see them beginning a meal as we are leaving. We've been told that their situation is "space available" with hours restricted based on number of sailors on board. We're seeing crew in The Galley about 2pm and 7pm, in the sit down restaurants about 9....and we've never been denied a walk in on this cruise. 1800 on board.

On the 15 night TA now...we've eaten with reservations and with walk ins. We've had great service and quite awful service, but no relationship to whether we had a reservation or not. THe worst was The Wake with.a reservation. We waited 45 minutes after being seated till someone got around to taking our orders. Meanwhile, the table across from us, presumably mega rockstars, had 4 employees hovering around their table, taking photos for them, etc. It took 2 1/2 hours for dinner. We canceled our future Wake reservations as the food was good, but there are better steaks elsewhere on board....and we don't want to spend that amount of time on dinner. We did a walk in at Pink Agave, were seated immediately, and had excellent service including a chocolate cheesecake special for desert.

It looked quite scary, but the seas were not very rough. We received a notification to stay off open decks. Yes, the suites at the front of the ship had furniture on the balconies flipped and shifted, and several had water come into their cabins (they have been moved to new cabins). The balconies are all wet. Furniture on open decks shifted, flipped over, etc. It only lasted a few minutes, and the ship remained relatively stable. We watched it from behind a pane of glass. Bottom line, it looked worse than anything we felt. And despite some reports, the ship was NOT hit by a tornado (as was reported on one site)

When did they turn the ship around?

And on December 28 about January 1.

We are now close enough to Europe that my computer is automatically logging on to Cruise Critic UK, and on other sites all the ads are in Spanish. I have to manually send it back to US sites, and some of those say that I can't reach them from my current location,

Interesting day from a food standpoint. The Galley service was great at lunch. We did dinner at Extra Virgin. Good service, but the pasta was barely warm. It wasn't "refrigerator cold" like it was last time, but certainly not a serving temperature. We told our wonderful server that we were fine (she offered to have it remade, etc) ...then headed to Razzle Dazzle where they were able to let us do a walk in for entrees and sweets. They had an amazing desert special, and everything there was lovely. Major points for RD. We went on the app and canceled our next Extra Virgin night--they only get to mess up twice! Rebooked for elsewhere. FYI, The Galley is posting the evening special in the daily paper listings. For the lunch specials, you still need to walk to the stations and check them out. There are multiple lunch specials each day. So no, it is not 15 days of the same food choices. Scarlet Night has been moved to the Red Room because it is "too cold" on deck. I agree, it is sweater or jacket weather up there, not fancy clothes.

I'm on board right now and they will alter anything we ask.

Lose a bunch of money in the casino. 6-9 months ago, VV wrote that the new loyalty program would be based on what people had spent on cruise fares as well as what they spent while on board...but no one has a clue what they've done since then.

True that if you got a casino rate or free cruise, the benefits do not apply. If you are a Sea Blazer, you get the Sea Rover benefits except on the bar tab---there you get the higher Sea Blazer deal. Botton line, anything we get is so much to the good.

Currently on Valiant. No charge for any of the entertainment except things that include alcohol being served as part of the deal (Grog Walk, the food photography thing, etc.).

But the status match is scheduled to end April 30 and be replaced by VV's loyalty program. I do't expect that my top level loyalty on another line will equal 29 nights on Virgin.

Definitely the above. Crew can have tats, piercings, colored hair, and other personal expressions with relatively few limits. We has a server this morning who addressed this when we asked where she was from and how long she'd been with Virgin (first contract, but 6 years on another line). She gushed about how much better VV was for crew than the previous line. Their satisfaction is reflected in how they treat us.

Haven't had any vaping issues on this cruise or the previous. We had one episode of balcony smoking on the last cruise (come on people, how hard is it to go to a smoking area?). I've experienced 2 episodes of pot smoke, and others on board have reported more on the other side of the ship. There is a lot of security at night time party/entertainment events and they are willing to remove offenders. What happens after removal from the event, I can't address.

Yes, the name he uses on some sites is "Cruising Walter." Sorry. If you go to You Tube and search "Where's Walter Travel Virgin Voyages," and get what I got, there are several videos dealing with VV....one on the cruises in general, one on food, etc.

It isn't that I care what time they do it, it is that they need to be consistent....same time each day and at each station.

The mostly inclusive payment structure, no drink packages, etc. I would strongly suggest you look at some YouTube videos about VV. THe ones by Cruising Walter are among my favorites--they cover all bases fairly and factually without a lot of opinion.