Brilliant Lady floats out, will Homeport in San Juan

[CruisingWalter]

And then there were four. All four ladyships are now officially in the water as Brilliant Lady was floated out at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. She's scheduled to enter service towards the end of 2023 and will homeport in San Juan. That should give her some really interesting itineraries going further south in the Caribbean. 

https://www.cruisehive.com/fourth-virgin-voyages-cruise-ship-floats-out-at-shipyard/88850

Edited November 26, 2022 by WheresWalter
added photo

[CineGraphic]

We plan on sailing on her first two sailings out of San Juan.

We've never sailed over the holidays, and this looks like a great opportunity.

It looks like we'll have to get off the ship and find a hotel room for one day between sailings.....probably for previews for the press and travel agents.

 

 

[cantgetin]

Having done a cruise that ended in San Juan, will never do that again.  The Customs "service" there was a joke and the line was over 3 hours long.

[Golfergirl1]

I’m very happy to see this! While on the Valiant Lady in August I booked the April 2024 San Juan to Lisbon Transatlantic cruise. I really wasn’t sure this ship would be in the water by then. 

[CineGraphic]

2 hours ago, Golfergirl1 said:

I booked the April 2024 San Juan to Lisbon Transatlantic cruise.

 

That's one we're looking at too!

 

[MoonSurf]

Very exciting to see this news.  We are also on the April24 TA to Lisbon as well as the one right before.  With @cantgetin caution am even more glad not to end in San Juan.  I guess if ever willing to spend the 3 hrs in customs line must remember not to book a flight too early in the day or stay extra days at the end not the beginning.

 

Not knowing much about the beginning days of cruise ships, what goes on over the next year before first official passengers board?

[cantgetin]

23 minutes ago, MoonSurf said:

Very exciting to see this news.  We are also on the April24 TA to Lisbon as well as the one right before.  With @cantgetin caution am even more glad not to end in San Juan.  I guess if ever willing to spend the 3 hrs in customs line must remember not to book a flight too early in the day or stay extra days at the end not the beginning.

 

Not knowing much about the beginning days of cruise ships, what goes on over the next year before first official passengers board?

On our cruise that ended in San Juan, we had a 3pm flight, and I was beginning to worry about making it.  The cruise personnel were aware of the long lines, so we were kept on board till a bit after 10 (they served juice, coffee, pastries, etc.), and then stood in the Customs line till 1pm.  We did make our flight, but that was no way to end a cruise.  There were many unmanned stations standing empty, and the agents were taking regular breaks!  The people on the next cruise wrote all sorts of reports about their late boarding/departure too.

What happens to the ship from now till next year is that they finish building it.  They basically float out a "shell."  They will now do all the pretty, fun stuff.

[c-boy]

Ole San Juan. That's interesting. I'm curious about the logistics such as, resupply, refueling ... 

[CruisingWalter]

@CineGraphic I sincerely hope those cruises happen. We never book nor recommend booking the first cruises on any ship. Even before the pandemic, a ship successfully sailing on her first scheduled date was a 50/50 proposition. Since the pandemic I think the Carnival Celebration might be the first ship to actually sail on her originally scheduled first date. If we want to go early on a ship, we tend to book at least 2-3 months after the scheduled maiden voyage. Usually they won't miss that deadline and it gives the crew some time to shake down the ship and get everything working efficiently. But I really hope it works out for you guys! 

[CruisingWalter]

17 hours ago, c-boy said:

Ole San Juan. That's interesting. I'm curious about the logistics such as, resupply, refueling ... 

 

It was announced in August that San Juan is getting a brand new pier and Terminal along with improvements to the original pier. They will be able to homeport up to 8 cruise ships when the renovations are completed. I would assume this has something to do with VV's decision to homeport there. 

https://cruiseradio.net/puerto-rico-san-juan-cruise-port-receive-425-million-dollar-upgrade/

[CruisingWalter]

23 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Having done a cruise that ended in San Juan, will never do that again.  The Customs "service" there was a joke and the line was over 3 hours long.

 

San Juan is getting a $425M cruise port makeover with a new pier, new terminal and renovation of the original terminal and pier. That should help to solve that issue with a modernization of the operations. 

[CruisingWalter]

18 hours ago, MoonSurf said:

Very exciting to see this news.  We are also on the April24 TA to Lisbon as well as the one right before.  With @cantgetin caution am even more glad not to end in San Juan.  I guess if ever willing to spend the 3 hrs in customs line must remember not to book a flight too early in the day or stay extra days at the end not the beginning.

 

Not knowing much about the beginning days of cruise ships, what goes on over the next year before first official passengers board?

 

Lots and lots of construction. Getting floated out is a major milestone. Now the work shifts to the inside of the ship with all the finishing work. They're basically going to be finishing out a resort hotel for the next year. 

 

Then comes the sea trials. This takes place when the ship is fully maritime operational. The inside is not completed yet, but the ship can fully function in the water. The shipyard will take it out on a series of tests to check the overall operation and stability of the ship. Speed, emergency stop, vibrations and the like. The Captain of the ship is given one hour to do whatever they want with the ship. But for the rest of the time, the Captain and any other VV Officers are merely observers. Captain Kate documented all of this during the build of the Celebrity Beyond. 

 

Once the sea trials are completed successfully, the interior of the ship is completed, including any adjustments necessary to dampen vibrations discovered during the sea trials. Again, Captain Kate has some great behind the scenes TikToks on the team that tests the vibrations, it's pretty cool to see how it's done. 

 

When the ship is officially finished, ownership of the ship is transferred to Virgin Voyages, usually with a big signing ceremony. Prior to that, the ship is owned and controlled by the shipyard. 

 

At that point, VV gets the crew onboard, they get up to speed, more than likely they take the ship out for a 'test drive' and then she proceeds to her first homeport to get ready for the TA crossing. 

[CineGraphic]

35 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

We never book nor recommend booking the first cruises on any ship.

 

Normally, I would tend to agree with you on this point. However, Virgin seems to handle cancellations and delays much better than the other lines. We may not do the Christmas cruise, but we certainly want to be on board for New years Eve.

[cantgetin]

Great explanation, Walter.  In addition, many lines do training cruises for the crew with family and friends posing as guests before heading to the home port.

 

I'm with you--will likely not do a maiden voyage on any ship again, and certainly not the first cruise on a new cruise line.  I did it once....the date was changed twice, although in fairness, the line did give us a price reduction due to the "inconvenience."  That first cruise was a total mess.  The cruise line didn't have a clue what they were doing.  NOTE--this was not Virgin Voyages.  However, the issues of "ship not ready" and "crew not ready" can happen on any line and often do.  IMHO, the "bragging rights" of being on that first sailing are not worth the potential headaches.

[CruisingWalter]

4 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

but we certainly want to be on board for New years Eve.

 

You know, New Year's Eve as an even BIGGER Scarlet Night event would be amazeballs. 🙂 

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, cantgetin said:

IMHO, the "bragging rights" of being on that first sailing are not worth the potential headaches.

 

Our choice to sail has nothing to do with bragging rights. I would never book such a trip with my old go-to line Princess, but I have a lot more faith in Virgin, their attention to details makes all the difference in the world.

[CruisingWalter]

57 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

their attention to details makes all the difference in the world.

 

Well except for the Resilient Lady's 2022 season being cancelled after cruises were already sold.

 

And those three or four weeks of Valiant Lady cruises being cancelled, in some cases just days before sailing so ABC could charter the ship and film The Bachelorette. 

 

Those two things, especially the Valiant Lady fiasco, still resonate with me. It's one thing to charter a ship 6 months or more out from a sailing to bump guests off a ship when there is plenty of time to make alternate arrangements.  But to do it just days before sailing for that first group was pretty cold. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by WheresWalter

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

 

Those two things, especially the Valiant Lady fiasco, still resonate with me. It's one thing to charter a ship 6 months or more out from a sailing to bump guests off a ship when there is plenty of time to make alternate arrangements.  But to do it just days before sailing for that first group was pretty cold. 

Totally agree.  ABC paid enough that VV offered a good deal to passengers already booked, but that was no way to handle customer relations.  I guess they figured that the "free" advertising was worth the irritated passengers.

[beerme1]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:47 AM, cantgetin said:

Having done a cruise that ended in San Juan, will never do that again.  The Customs "service" there was a joke and the line was over 3 hours long.

 

On 11/26/2022 at 2:56 PM, cantgetin said:

On our cruise that ended in San Juan, we had a 3pm flight, and I was beginning to worry about making it.  The cruise personnel were aware of the long lines, so we were kept on board till a bit after 10 (they served juice, coffee, pastries, etc.), and then stood in the Customs line till 1pm.  We did make our flight, but that was no way to end a cruise.  There were many unmanned stations standing empty, and the agents were taking regular breaks!  The people on the next cruise wrote all sorts of reports about their late boarding/departure too.

What happens to the ship from now till next year is that they finish building it.  They basically float out a "shell."  They will now do all the pretty, fun stuff.

 

 

Hi, we cruised out of and returned to San Juan I think in 2018 on Royal and I could see your issues with the lines and such for luggage and customs... An amazing tip I picked up on cruise critic in the Royal forum, was to simply pay for a porter once you get down to the luggage area.

They have separate lines that the porters use for customs and you won't wait more than ten minutes to hit customs and your out. 

 

I don't remember how much the porter cost, not much, but I damn sure know it was worth every penny to get out quickly and not have to suffer what looked like hours long lines. Meanwhile I'm going back to the Celebrity form. Cheers!

[cantgetin]

The porters are always a lovely idea, but on our cruise, we had to clear Immigration before going to the luggage area.  We started out all in one line and at some point (after a long wait), it split off into US citizens vs. non US.  Our non-US guest said that there was only one agent processing the non US line...This seemed accurate as there were only two stations open for US citizens.  After we passed this step, we entered the luggage hall and out.  THere was no problem after we passed the checkpoint.  I know this seems odd and was different than other ports we've used (where there is one check point and you are finished!)  It may have been because at the first station, they were doing fingerprints of non-US.  They did ask if we had anything to declare and then gave us a colored paper which we just handed to the final agent after the luggage pick up.  Again--no problem after that first check point.  Getting luggage and out the door there was no line.

The cost of the porter is a tip based on the amount of luggage.  

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:57 PM, beerme1 said:

An amazing tip I picked up on cruise critic in the Royal forum, was to simply pay for a porter once you get down to the luggage area.

They have separate lines that the porters use for customs and you won't wait more than ten minutes to hit customs and your out. 

 

I don't remember how much the porter cost, not much, but I damn sure know it was worth every penny to get out quickly and not have to suffer what looked like hours long lines. Meanwhile I'm going back to the Celebrity form. Cheers!

 

This is true of ANY cruise port. Always get a porter to help with your luggage on the way out. They will either have a separate line, or if you're in a hurry, they can help mitigate your issue by dropping the ropes and moving you around the rest of the crowd. At the very least, they navigate your luggage through a crowd where necessary. 

[_tacocat_]

10 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

This is true of ANY cruise port. Always get a porter to help with your luggage on the way out. They will either have a separate line, or if you're in a hurry, they can help mitigate your issue by dropping the ropes and moving you around the rest of the crowd. At the very least, they navigate your luggage through a crowd where necessary. 

yep, as we were waiting for over an hour in customs, a couple groups just skated right to the front of the line with porters escorting them.  we were already trapped in the queue, otherwise i would have aaaabbbsolutely done that to gtfo out of there! 

 

off topic, we sometimes do this on amtrak if we're getting on at busy stations even if we have only a carry on suitcase - "red caps" have a heads up which track the train is coming on, so for a few bucks, you can position yourself on the correct platform and have a slight chance of getting a seat next to your travel companion instead of playing the "is this seat taken?" coat/bag game through every train car!

[Fogcityca13]

Thanks for the heads up on long customs lines. Think we’ll probably plan on staying the night on disembarkation day or a late flight with an overnight layover. I really like the itineraries, but those are some long flights the San Juan.

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Thanks for the heads up on long customs lines. Think we’ll probably plan on staying the night on disembarkation day or a late flight with an overnight layover. I really like the itineraries, but those are some long flights the San Juan.

Our next cruise is not ending in San Juan, but that's exactly what I've booked for disembarkation day.  There were plenty of early flights, but very few flights after noon and those were costly.  We booked a mid morning flight the next day and a hotel near the airport.  Yes, I'd rather get home, but it isn't worth the stress and worry of an early flight!

[Lustate]

On 11/27/2022 at 2:36 PM, cantgetin said:

Great explanation, Walter.  In addition, many lines do training cruises for the crew with family and friends posing as guests before heading to the home port.

I would not sweat it with VV. We were on the mermaiden of Valiant in 2022 and had no issues. Really, the mermaiden is the “first public voyage”, rather than the first voyage for the ship. They will have done many a sailor before you step foot on board so enjoy it.