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What would you like to see on Virgin Voyages


crusinthrough
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I love reading everyone’s wish list for VV! Keep all the great ideas flowing. I hope that the higher ups over at VV are reading these as they plan how they will stand out from their competition.

 

Some other things beyond what was already mentioned that would be great to see:

 

Voluntourism - having shore excursions that allow you to immerse yourself with the locals and do activities that really helps make a difference other than just sightseeing/buying souvenirs

 

Tea/komboucha bar/craft beer/cider/wine bars all featuring local companies with tasting events

 

Come as you please (freestyle) dining with no formal (no ties!) dress codes .

Go super high tech on ship like Princess’ Ocean Medallion but even more seamless: checking in online so no long lines at the port to wade through (like Southwest where you can just check in online and just drop off your bags and go thru security), booking excursions, everything

 

Current known entertainment

 

I can’t wait to see what they come up with! :)

Do you really think Sir B is going to make you wear a tie, do you know nothing about him?
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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

Edited by gkbiiii
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22 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

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

I would HATE, HATE, HATE, a rotational dining concept. can I say it again HATE. I want to eat at the restaurant I WANT TO CHOOSE. I don't need the same waiter, not necessary if they all provide excellent service. 

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4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I would HATE, HATE, HATE, a rotational dining concept. can I say it again HATE. I want to eat at the restaurant I WANT TO CHOOSE. I don't need the same waiter, not necessary if they all provide excellent service. 

Well, I HATE having to be a slave to reservations, having waiters who don't know me, and often missing shows due to dining times!

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9 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Well, I HATE having to be a slave to reservations, having waiters who don't know me, and often missing shows due to dining times!

Sounds like Virgin isn't necessarily the best fit for you then. You want the elements of a traditional cruise experience which is the antithesis of what the whole Virgin Voyages concept is. A fixed, rotational dinner experience is something that would NEVER, happen at VV. As you can see it's a concept that only Disney has implemented. Royal tried it and it failed miserably. Celebrity's E-Class ship has four main dining rooms each with it's own personality and specialty menu items but isn't a rotational concept, and it's extremely well received. There's apparently a reason the fixed rotational dining room concept hasn't been adopted on other cruiselines;it's not popular.

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4 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

No, Royal tried to copy NCL's "Freestyle Dining" concept (same as being used on Virgin), they didn't use Disney's "Rotational Dining." 

Not correct. Royal's Dynamic Dining CLASSIC, since discontinued, did indeed rotate BOTH Dining venues AND Service Staff. As I said it was a disaster since NO ONE liked it. No other cruiseline will attempt this since this is an OLD concept of having the same service staff serve you every night. As I said, Virgin will never implement this and would shut down before ever instituting rotational dining. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2007

Edited by kwokpot
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3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Not correct. Royal's Dynamic Dining CLASSIC, since discontinued, did indeed rotate BOTH Dining venues AND Service Staff. As I said it was a disaster since NO ONE liked it. No other cruiseline will attempt this since this is an OLD concept of having the same service staff serve you every night. As I said, Virgin will never implement this and would shut down before ever instituting rotational dining. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2007

Excuse me, I was on the Maiden Transatlantic Voyage, of Quantum of the Seas: this not correct, there was no Rotational Dining aboard, it was a Reservation ONLY experience.  The waiters stayed at their own dining room: "Royal's Dynamic Dining CLASSIC," was a response to the failure of the original dining concept on Quantum.  The "classic," was a dining room for passengers who wanted to opt-out of the NCL like "Freestyle Dining Concept."  Royal has never had "Rotational Dining" and more than likely never will.

Edited by gkbiiii
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After Royal's attempt at NCL's concept failed, the following was attempted on "1" ship: "Royal also introduced a variation on Dynamic Dining, called Dynamic Dining Classic, Available only on Anthem of the Seas."  Why Royal wanted to outdo NCL at being NCL, is beyond me!

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13 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Excuse me, I was on the Maiden Transatlantic Voyage, of Quantum of the Seas: this not correct, there was no Rotational Dining aboard, it was a Reservation ONLY experience.  The waiters stayed at their own dining room: "Royal's Dynamic Dining CLASSIC," was a response to the failure of the original dining concept on Quantum.  The "classic," was a dining room for passengers who wanted to opt-out of the NCL like "Freestyle Dining Concept."  Royal has never had "Rotational Dining" and more than likely never will.

So you're now doubting multiple articles, including an article written by the owners of this forum, that Dynamic Dining Classic on the Anthem didn't rotate dining rooms AND staff like it is on DCL?

What about the wait staff?

Another benefit of Dynamic Dining Classic is that your wait staff move with you through the dining rotation. Our waiter, Manilow, accompanied us through our four restaurant rotation. We did not have an assigned assistant waiter or bar server, but we saw many of the same individuals each night.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/16/everything-you-need-know-about-dynamic-dining-classic

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On 9/14/2022 at 12:38 AM, gkbiiii said:

After Royal's attempt at NCL's concept failed, the following was attempted on "1" ship: "Royal also introduced a variation on Dynamic Dining, called Dynamic Dining Classic, Available only on Anthem of the Seas."  Why Royal wanted to outdo NCL at being NCL, is beyond me!

This was an answer to your main concern, as movable dining was only offered briefly, one "1" Royal ship in the fleet.

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21 minutes ago, Shocker said:

I would like Virgin to increase the sailing to 7 to 9 days. It is not worth flying to Miami for 5 day cruise. In addition I am not ready to get off a ship after 5 days.

Why not try the Valiant sailings? They are 7-8 days starting in November I believe

One nice thing about the 4/5 nighters is it gives people a chance to try the ship/cruise line without making a huge commitment time-wise or financially before they figure out if they like it enough to sail longer. We did a 4 night first and now have 8 and 15 night sailings booked. 

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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.

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On 9/12/2022 at 9:00 PM, kwokpot said:

I would HATE, HATE, HATE, a rotational dining concept. can I say it again HATE. I want to eat at the restaurant I WANT TO CHOOSE. I don't need the same waiter, not necessary if they all provide excellent service. 

 

Have you actually sailed Disney Cruise Line? I ask because I wasn't fond of the concept either until we did it. It was a lovely experience, food was excellent, service was excellent. 

 

As for the original question:

1: I would like to see VV add app based ordering in The Galley via the app or add touchpads at each table as NCL did in Food Republic and now their Indulge Food Hall on Prima. Trying to flag down a waiter was a no-go for us when the Galley was packed for breakfast, hard to get anyone's attention. Just let us place the order, give the table number and the servers can bring to us. NCL really did out-do Virgin with their Food hall that not only includes that touch pad ordering, but also has seating at each of the food stands so you can 'belly up to the bar' and chat with the chefs while you eat. 

 

2: Lose that stupid net on the back of Deck 16, NOBODY used it or all that wasted seating area around it during our cruise other than to take instagram selfies. The first time their ships go into drydock, they need to reconfigure that entire aft section with a pool, maybe a swim up bar, so the space actually gets utilized and takes some of the people out of the two plunge pools in the middle of the deck. The NCL Prima actually shows a nice blueprint for what that aft section could look like with their spectacular infinity pool that actually goes beyond the railings. That's a more spectacular experience than a really bad net that is the most uncomfortable thing to lay down on the ship. 

 

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