Virgin DROPS Pre-Cruise Testing Effective Immediately, U.S. Included.

[rebeccac]

You may want to bring some earplugs.  It can get uncomfortably loud.  I wore them for the indoor part of Scarlet night and I understand from my DH that the poolside part was even louder.  

[AndyUK]

1 minute ago, rebeccac said:

You may want to bring some earplugs.  It can get uncomfortably loud.  I wore them for the indoor part of Scarlet night and I understand from my DH that the poolside part was even louder.  

Ah yes! I always travel with ear plugs! Never know what noises are there when you go to different places. 

[rebeccac]

6 minutes ago, AndyUK said:

Ah yes! I always travel with ear plugs! Never know what noises are there when you go to different places. 

 

I learned that lesson on the NCL Getaway, when it was so loud in the piano bar that it was literally making me feel nauseated.  Admittedly, I may be more sensitive to noise than most.  I went to bed before the pool party on Scarlet night, but DH (who wears hearing aids) could not turn them down enough where he could bear it.  I'm kind of glad I turned in.  

[AndyUK]

5 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

 

I learned that lesson on the NCL Getaway, when it was so loud in the piano bar that it was literally making me feel nauseated.  Admittedly, I may be more sensitive to noise than most.  I went to bed before the pool party on Scarlet night, but DH (who wears hearing aids) could not turn them down enough where he could bear it.  I'm kind of glad I turned in.  

:)! I guess at the end of the day, if it's that bad then just join them with the fun, and make a night of it! I sleep on the deck in the day! Lol! We are allocated cabin 15 299 A, so a few cabins away from the pool. 

[CruisingWalter]

7 hours ago, AndyUK said:

ah ha! Yea we are on Deck 15, same level as the pool for Scarlet night.... we are 4 cabins away from the pool. I suspect it be noisy that night , no problem I'm up for a party, just not 24/7 party! I embrace it and go with the flow!!! 

 

Oh you must be one of the cabins below Richard's Rooftop. Those look sweet. Just bring some ear plugs. Scarlet Night is AWESOME but I could only make it through about 10 minutes of the pool party, I forgot my ear plugs on this cruise. If I had them, I would have stayed much longer, it was so much fun. 

[CruisingWalter]

50 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

 

I learned that lesson on the NCL Getaway, when it was so loud in the piano bar that it was literally making me feel nauseated.  Admittedly, I may be more sensitive to noise than most.  I went to bed before the pool party on Scarlet night, but DH (who wears hearing aids) could not turn them down enough where he could bear it.  I'm kind of glad I turned in.  

 

We had the same experience and that's what prompted us to get ear plugs before our NCL Escape cruise. 🙂 SO MUCH BETTER with the ear plugs. And funny, I wear hearing aids too and I could not turn them down enough to enjoy Scarlet Night. My ear plugs were in the cabin and by the time I walked back, I decided to make a night of it there. 

[CruisingWalter]

14 hours ago, edgar72 said:

This is concerning news for me.  One of the reasons I booked was the vaccine and testing requirements.  

 

 

 

It was certainly a surprise for them to be so quick out of the gate with the news. But it's possible they felt it was a great opportunity to capitalize on the CDC announcement. Their limited itineraries made it easy to be first since it appears none of their Caribbean destinations require visitor testing any longer. The 10% unvaccinated falls right in line with CDC guidelines for a 'highly vaccinated' cruise. Adding the 10% allows VV to exploit that rule for more adults as the 'family friendly' cruise lines tend to fill that allotment with children. You will see many complaints about that on the family friendly boards. 

 

Before this year is out, depending on what BA.5 does, testing will most likely be gone from all cruise lines and countries, and that 10% will be higher. I fully expect Carnival to be first with raising that percentage as they have the most ships and raising that number will allow more adults to sail unvaccinated. Right now Carnival, Royal, Disney and NCL have most, if not all, of that 10% filled by children. 

[AndyUK]

10 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

 

Oh you must be one of the cabins below Richard's Rooftop. Those look sweet. Just bring some ear plugs. Scarlet Night is AWESOME but I could only make it through about 10 minutes of the pool party, I forgot my ear plugs on this cruise. If I had them, I would have stayed much longer, it was so much fun. 

ear plugs at the ready! Wow it must be loud!!!! 

[CruisingWalter]

1 minute ago, AndyUK said:

ear plugs at the ready! Wow it must be loud!!!! 

 

Let's put it this way, the music was so overdriven it was a wash of sound to my ears and really hurt. But when I played it back on my phone, it actually sounded ok. But that pool area was fully designed to be an outdoor entertainment venue with full concert sound system. Nothing like the sound systems you see on other ships. It's spectacular for sure, I didn't make it long enough for the pool dancing, but I understand that's one of the best parts. Next time I'll have the ear plugs in the pocket at the ready so I can really enjoy the show. 🙂

[AndyUK]

11 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

 

Let's put it this way, the music was so overdriven it was a wash of sound to my ears and really hurt. But when I played it back on my phone, it actually sounded ok. But that pool area was fully designed to be an outdoor entertainment venue with full concert sound system. Nothing like the sound systems you see on other ships. It's spectacular for sure, I didn't make it long enough for the pool dancing, but I understand that's one of the best parts. Next time I'll have the ear plugs in the pocket at the ready so I can really enjoy the show. 🙂

great info!! What have I let myself in for!!! Haha 

[Traveler1977]

Thanks for the info. Just ordered some disposable ear plugs from Amazon, just not case. Looking forward to my first cruise with VV.

[scaught]

18 hours ago, mnocket said:

Vaccinated people are now just as likely to contract and pass on Covid as unvaccinated people.

I don't believe this is true. 

>Fully vaccinated individuals had a shorter duration of viable viral shedding and a lower rate of secondary transmission than partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2792598#:~:text=Conclusions and Relevance In this,partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

[britincanada]

3 hours ago, AndyUK said:

:)! I guess at the end of the day, if it's that bad then just join them with the fun, and make a night of it! I sleep on the deck in the day! Lol! We are allocated cabin 15 299 A, so a few cabins away from the pool. 

We were in 15 299A at the end of May, didn't hear any noise. Scarlet Night was rained out though so the party was in the Red Room not the pool deck. It's a fab suite, and we loved the mega rockstar experience. Have fun!

[AndyUK]

17 minutes ago, britincanada said:

We were in 15 299A at the end of May, didn't hear any noise. Scarlet Night was rained out though so the party was in the Red Room not the pool deck. It's a fab suite, and we loved the mega rockstar experience. Have fun!

Oh how exciting!!! I can't wait to try it! Out of interest did the rockstar agents rash our before your trip to see what your Preferences were, like drinks in the mini bar etc? 
 

[edgar72]

3 hours ago, scaught said:

I don't believe this is true. 

>Fully vaccinated individuals had a shorter duration of viable viral shedding and a lower rate of secondary transmission than partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2792598#:~:text=Conclusions and Relevance In this,partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

You are correct.  And this is a terrible public health strategy.  I am an epidemiologist, and I am so very sick and tired of this pandemic (literally!  I am currently dealing with my first bout of COVID!).  There is no one who wants this to be over more than I do.  But vaccination and testing requirements help REDUCE the spread of this cursed  virus. 

I generally have a pretty healthy risk tolerance for myself personally.  I am not so worried about contracting COVID so much as contracting COVID and being stuck in Miami (or god forbid, my cabin) for the duration.  Guess I'd better bring my work computer with me just in case....

 

[_tacocat_]

13 hours ago, AndyUK said:

ah ha! Yea we are on Deck 15, same level as the pool for Scarlet night.... we are 4 cabins away from the pool. I suspect it be noisy that night , no problem I'm up for a party, just not 24/7 party! I embrace it and go with the flow!!! 

We were in 15299A a couple weeks ago and didn't really have any issues with noise.  The pool party wraps up around midnight, then it's pretty quiet up there!

[AndyUK]

11 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

We were in 15299A a couple weeks ago and didn't really have any issues with noise.  The pool party wraps up around midnight, then it's pretty quiet up there!

Amazing feedback!! Thank you!! 

[mnocket]

4 hours ago, scaught said:

I don't believe this is true. 

>Fully vaccinated individuals had a shorter duration of viable viral shedding and a lower rate of secondary transmission than partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2792598#:~:text=Conclusions and Relevance In this,partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

You may be right.  

Fauci said it doesn't offer protection against infection, but I actually don't recall him addressing transmission.  Unfortunately I think your study was conducted before BA.5 became the dominate strain, but it would likely still apply.  You also have to consider that with previous strains vaccinations were  preventing most infections - hence 0% transmission from those who weren't infected.  With BA.5 many of those vaccinated people are getting infected and transmitting, albeit perhaps for a shorter duration.

It would be interesting to see what percentage of the surge in infections are traceable to vaccinated vs unvaccinated, but I haven't seen any data on this.  It may be impossible to determine.

Edited July 22, 2022 by mnocket

[CruisingWalter]

For those looking at ear plugs, these are the ones I use, they're designed for concerts so I can still hear the music and lyrics quite well. Just at a lower volume. They're much better than those foam plugs many people use which are designed to essentially block out all noise. I also wear these to fireworks shows at the theme parks so I can still hear all the music, but the explosions are much quieter. 🙂 

https://a.co/d/9Xjb7l3

[bigdaddyyo]

I changed our reservation to the 8/10 sailing out of Miami.  My party is unvaccinated.  They just added UV to the notes and that was it.  I asked multiple times if we had to do anything else and the rep said no.  At this point they don’t care and neither should anyone else.  It’s not like they actually have to hold to the 90%.  They all make their own rules now.  Time to move on and just go back to normal.

[britincanada]

On 7/22/2022 at 11:37 AM, AndyUK said:

Oh how exciting!!! I can't wait to try it! Out of interest did the rockstar agents rash our before your trip to see what your Preferences were, like drinks in the mini bar etc? 
 

The Red Glove Service called to let us know that our cabin had been changed due to 'inventory' - still a gorgeous suite but a different one. It was further from the pool than the one we had so I was good with that!  They also confirmed our transfers - I had emailed them the info for pick-up / drop-off already.

 

We were not asked about booze - and our in room bar wasn't stocked with the variety it should have had due to inventory issues. We had half size bottles of 2 types of vodka, 2 types of gin, a red, white & rose wine, and some mixers. Our 'roadie' asked if there was anything in particular we wnated, and then brought a full size bottle of rum for hubby & managed to get me a creamer jug filled with Bailey's (there was hardly any Baileys on the ship). We weren't bothered as we didn't drink in the room - as mega rockstars our drinks at the bars were included. I ended up bringing the spirits home with me.

 

From what I have read before the cruise there isn't a lot of contact - but once you are onboard the roadies are there to take care of you and do whatever they can to make your cruise as special as can be. David was our roadie and he was brilliant.

 

Have a great cruise - we have a 'placeholder' deposit paid, can't wait to get booked again!

[AndyUK]

4 hours ago, britincanada said:

The Red Glove Service called to let us know that our cabin had been changed due to 'inventory' - still a gorgeous suite but a different one. It was further from the pool than the one we had so I was good with that!  They also confirmed our transfers - I had emailed them the info for pick-up / drop-off already.

 

We were not asked about booze - and our in room bar wasn't stocked with the variety it should have had due to inventory issues. We had half size bottles of 2 types of vodka, 2 types of gin, a red, white & rose wine, and some mixers. Our 'roadie' asked if there was anything in particular we wnated, and then brought a full size bottle of rum for hubby & managed to get me a creamer jug filled with Bailey's (there was hardly any Baileys on the ship). We weren't bothered as we didn't drink in the room - as mega rockstars our drinks at the bars were included. I ended up bringing the spirits home with me.

 

From what I have read before the cruise there isn't a lot of contact - but once you are onboard the roadies are there to take care of you and do whatever they can to make your cruise as special as can be. David was our roadie and he was brilliant.

 

Have a great cruise - we have a 'placeholder' deposit paid, can't wait to get booked again!

 

Thank you for all the info! Very useful. 
 

[ladybugpug]

On 7/23/2022 at 5:39 PM, WheresWalter said:

For those looking at ear plugs, these are the ones I use, they're designed for concerts so I can still hear the music and lyrics quite well. Just at a lower volume. They're much better than those foam plugs many people use which are designed to essentially block out all noise. I also wear these to fireworks shows at the theme parks so I can still hear all the music, but the explosions are much quieter. 🙂 

https://a.co/d/9Xjb7l3

Thanks for the advice on ear plugs. I am very noise sensitive and overly loud music really bothers me. We booked our Virgin cruise before I read about the loud techno music everywhere. I'm hoping its not as bad as I'm afraid of. I will definitely be ordering ear plugs tho.

 

[rebeccac]

I wouldn't say there was loud music everywhere.  Admittedly, I did not spend a lot of time by the pool (too crowded for my tastes and not enough shade).  I am also sensitive to loud noises and the only time I used the earplugs was during shows/performances and during Scarlet Night (I only went to the part in the roundabout, not the part by the pool).

[CruisingWalter]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:10 PM, ladybugpug said:

Thanks for the advice on ear plugs. I am very noise sensitive and overly loud music really bothers me. We booked our Virgin cruise before I read about the loud techno music everywhere. I'm hoping its not as bad as I'm afraid of. I will definitely be ordering ear plugs tho.

 

 

There's not loud techno music everywhere. In fact most of the ship is rather quiet. The loudest music is when the DJ is at the main pool for their set during the day, inside The Manor when it turns into a night club and on the pool deck during Scarlet Night. Other than that, it's actually a very quiet ship, not at all what we were expecting. The vibe really reminds me of Celebrity which is not surprising given that many of the crew come from Celebrity, Seabourn and Disney.