Question for recent VVers

[2wolves]

We did a Dominican Daze cruise in July of this year and the ship was about 1200 out of 2700 for the voyage so there was so much room, so few lines, etc. 

 

We are booked for Dec 23 on the Valiant and I suspect that occupancy is going to be quite high based upon the challenges with reserving dining times.

 

What are the occupancy rates now? If you cruised in the last month, how crowded was the ship? if it was 75+% what was your overall experience?  Were there lines? Challenges finding spots in the various ares of the ship? Bimini beach club packed? 

 

Thanks

[neverendingcruising]

We sailed in Europe in September in a back to back. First week was 1,700 and second was 2,100. That's compared to somewhere around 600 on our first voyage in 2021. It was definitely noticeably busier. I would say everything really held up expect the Galley. Hopefully they have adjusted and learned with the busier sailings, but some of our Galley meals were rough. 

[Cloud9 Bob]

30 minutes ago, neverendingcruising said:

Hopefully they have adjusted and learned with the busier sailings, but some of our Galley meals were rough.

I sailed TSL last June and we were at 1200. Had no lines or problems in any restaurant, but service in the Galley was spotty even then at a low pax count.

[cantgetin]

1400 in October--no problem with lines.  Big problem with people making reservations for shows and then not showing up (I didn't realize there was a standby line at first.)  We also had no problem with walk in brunch or dinner with one exception.

[benjaminnicholas]

For some reason, The Galley has ALWAYS been spotty service and food.

 

They took what could have been a great concept and understaffed it...  And ruined it.

[cantgetin]

10 hours ago, benjaminnicholas said:

For some reason, The Galley has ALWAYS been spotty service and food.

 

They took what could have been a great concept and understaffed it...  And ruined it.

On our 14 night cruise, the only times we had problems getting service in The Galley were the first and the last days.  It is possible that this was due to the cruise being only 50% full (1400 sailors). And the server went "above and beyond" when we finally got her attention.  Specifically, our beverage choices were Diet Coke and iced tea, neither of which were available in The Galley.  She was surprised that there was no tea (the dispenser still had the juices from breakfast), and the coke had been a problem on the previous cruise as well.  She went elsewhere to get both after she put in our food order...then returned with the announcement that there was no iced tea on the ship, but the chef had made me some.  I started making my own after that.

 

Other days, the initial service was prompt, although when the app was down, getting the food took a bit longer.  No crew member every said anything when the app wasn't working, but their faces said what their words couldn't.  THat makes a real mess!

[ConSolo]

My issue in the galley is that VV says all food is fresh and made to order. That is not true! Especially the breakfast burritos and the press station. All of their items are pre made and cannot be ordered as you would like! The scrambled eggs are precooked, the eggs you order take forever and then just add premade sides to it!

[cantgetin]

38 minutes ago, ConSolo said:

My issue in the galley is that VV says all food is fresh and made to order. That is not true! Especially the breakfast burritos and the press station. All of their items are pre made and cannot be ordered as you would like! The scrambled eggs are precooked, the eggs you order take forever and then just add premade sides to it!

In our experience, you CAN do made to order at some of the stations provided they have the ingredients to do it the way you want.  This was possible at The Pizza Place and some of the station in The Galley.  You are correct that you will wait longer for a "made to order" than  one of their pre-made items.  The burgers were...interesting.  I think they were partially cooked and then they finish heating/grilling them when ordered.  They always looked fully cooked, but sometimes were not warm in the center!  

[neverendingcruising]

It's not uncommon in the restaurant industry to pre cook burgers and then leave them in warm water until needed. Not the best experience but it speeds up service. I noticed that if you order the social burger of the day that patty always came out fresh. With the standard burgers it was hit or miss. 

 

Moral of the story - always get today's specialty burger!

[chrisa2711]

I'm on board Scarlet right now and I was there are only 1200 passengers aboard. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/26/2022 at 11:04 PM, benjaminnicholas said:

For some reason, The Galley has ALWAYS been spotty service and food.

 

They took what could have been a great concept and understaffed it...  And ruined it.

 

Actually they just messed up the ordering system. Having to flag down a server is silly for a ship with so much 'tech.' 

 

Place the ordering system in our phones so we can place the orders and the servers just have to bring the food to our table. Just type in the table number (or scan the code at the table), place the order and done. Just like NCL with their Food Republic restaurants, though they have a touchpad at each table. It works brilliantly on NCL. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by WheresWalter
added photo

[rfnc07]

Im on VL right now, and we’re at about half capacity at 1300 sailors. 

[jon81uk]

Also although capacity is 2800 I doubt it ever will be as that assumes every room has the full number of guests. With solo travellers in double rooms I don’t think they will get more than 2500 realistically. So those recent cruises with 2200 is probably about as busy as it will get. 

I was on the Valiant transatlantic and it was about 1200-1300 as some got off early. Was on Scarlet Lady in August and only 900.

 

I agree about the shows issue, they need to find a better way to communicate and fill every seat. Most groups left seats between them so could have fitted a lot more guests in despite it being listed as sold out.

 

The Galley does have issues as many have stated but I’m not sure it’s just when busy. Can be hard getting an order taken when quiet too. Also at times food can sit out going cold waiting to be bussed to tables and there are no heat lamps for plated food as the counters weren’t designed to be used for waited service. I think they need to redesign the space with some counters clearly walk up and get this and then other items order on your phone or go to the specific order location. Then either get a pager to go collect when ready or better waited service. 

[Cloud9 Bob]

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

The Galley does have issues as many have stated but I’m not sure it’s just when busy.

 

I have to agree. All my experiences with the Galley were with a very low volume of cruising pax, as well as when something had to be brought to me. That said, the entire Galley staff could not have been more pleasant to me. They just seemed overwhelmed with the details of the job and not the volume of pax. Is it possible this is where new employees are placed in order to train and test their skills before moving them on to more upmarket venues on the ship? It really wasn't a problem for me, just something I noticed repeatedly that wasn't as "polished" as most everything else on the ship.

[jon81uk]

52 minutes ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

 

I have to agree. All my experiences with the Galley were with a very low volume of cruising pax, as well as when something had to be brought to me. That said, the entire Galley staff could not have been more pleasant to me. They just seemed overwhelmed with the details of the job and not the volume of pax. Is it possible this is where new employees are placed in order to train and test their skills before moving them on to more upmarket venues on the ship? It really wasn't a problem for me, just something I noticed repeatedly that wasn't as "polished" as most everything else on the ship.

All staff work both a restaurant and the Galley. We often saw the same server at Pink Agave in the evening then Galley in the daytime.

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, jon81uk said:

All staff work both a restaurant and the Galley. We often saw the same server at Pink Agave in the evening then Galley in the daytime.

But generally they seemed a lot more "together" when in the restaurants.  I don't think it applies to "all" staff.  Those from restaurants that don't serve lunch or brunch generally work The Galley during those times, then have a break prior to dinner service.  There are crew dedicated to The Galley as they serve dinner while the other locations are serving dinner.  But yes, most crew have different assignments during different times.

The policies aren't even consistent within the same cruise.  One day I was able to walk up and request an omelet; another day I was told to have a seat and order it thru a server.  Then I waited 15 minutes till I flagged down a supervisor!