On the 12-3 Valiant Lady cruise and will be sharing videos and answering questions.

[misguy]

We are currently on the Valiant Lady heading toward Bimini.  We can answer questions about the ports to some extent, about the ship and we will be sharing a lot of what we hope is helpful information.  Tomorrow, we are at Bimini on the way back. 

[conandrob240]

Looking forward to more!

[benjaminnicholas]

I'm curious to see if VV is making improvements to The Galley, late night food offerings and managing

flux in their pax loads.

 

I'll be back on Scarlet mid-next week.

[cantgetin]

Supposedly (per recent reports) the ordering and food delivery system in The Galley has become more consistent.  During our October cruise, several of the stations in The Galley had hours extending till about 10:30...so not really late, but decent.

 

Not sure what you mean about managing flux in passenger loads.  They are trying hard to get all of their sailings booked as much as possible.  Their typical sailings are now around 50% or a bit higher, compared to about 35% during the summer. Special cruises tend to book higher, some over 80% capacity.

 

[misguy]

The Galley is still inconsistent in the food ordering process.  Sometimes you would walk in and sit down and a server would show up immediately, and sometimes no one showed up.  Once they showed up, then things were pretty good.

 

There was one occasion where my wife ordered an omelet and got it, then two or three more servers tried to give her another one.   

 

We had the Deep Blue Extra perks, and found that process required going to customer service the last night to have them take off charges for things that should have been complementary.  

 

It is interesting that for us, on a shorter cruise we found the food variety very good, but by the end of day 8, we had tried all of the dishes that we wanted and some of the meals a couple of times.  So more variety would be helpful.  

 

Two shows that stood our to us weas the the acapella group The Magnets, and the The Ship show were stand outs. They both book up so make your reservations early.

[misguy]

One thing about the food at the ship show - The choices are fish and chicken.  The fish was very good, but the appetizers were two unknown substances, one was fishy smelling, and might have been octopus, the other was a meat cake that seemed to be raw, the lights were down low enough that you couldn't really tell.  Neither my wife or I was a fan of that course.  

[_tacocat_]

5 hours ago, misguy said:

One thing about the food at the ship show - The choices are fish and chicken.  The fish was very good, but the appetizers were two unknown substances, one was fishy smelling, and might have been octopus, the other was a meat cake that seemed to be raw, the lights were down low enough that you couldn't really tell.  Neither my wife or I was a fan of that course.  

I think it was beef tartare and scallop ceviche?  We just got the chicken entree bc we had eaten earlier and it was pretty tasty!

[_tacocat_]

17 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Supposedly (per recent reports) the ordering and food delivery system in The Galley has become more consistent.  During our October cruise, several of the stations in The Galley had hours extending till about 10:30...so not really late, but decent.

 

Not sure what you mean about managing flux in passenger loads.  They are trying hard to get all of their sailings booked as much as possible.  Their typical sailings are now around 50% or a bit higher, compared to about 35% during the summer. Special cruises tend to book higher, some over 80% capacity.

 

This sailing had 2,200 and the galley was kind of a disaster at times.  We opted to do a lot of the ready made/counter options in there vs waiting to be served.  Not the end of the world.

 

Room service was absolutely broken on this sailing.  We had ordered breakfast for 9am on Monday because that was the next available option after 5:30 by the time we ordered.  Our food wasn’t there by 9:30, so we called.  We were told 15 more mins.  That came and went, called again and were told 15 more mins again so we

pressed for more info.

 

Something apparently happened in the galley (printer issue, fire, missing finger, something else? Our imaginations were running wild in our hunger haha) that required them to basically stop for an hour at peak breakfast time. They said they’d waive the delivery fee for our inconvenience, which did nothing for us bc we were in suite so it was already waived.  Finally got our breakfast around 11.  I get stuff happens, but communication would be better than just missing food for 2 hours.

 

I was griping to someone else about this, and they said their “40-60 min” room

service took over 2 hours one night, and they just ended up cancelling the order and going to a restaurant another time once it crossed the 90 min mark.

[conandrob240]

16 hours ago, misguy said:

The Galley is still inconsistent in the food ordering process.  Sometimes you would walk in and sit down and a server would show up immediately, and sometimes no one showed up.  Once they showed up, then things were pretty good.

 

There was one occasion where my wife ordered an omelet and got it, then two or three more servers tried to give her another one.   

 

We had the Deep Blue Extra perks, and found that process required going to customer service the last night to have them take off charges for things that should have been complementary.  

 

It is interesting that for us, on a shorter cruise we found the food variety very good, but by the end of day 8, we had tried all of the dishes that we wanted and some of the meals a couple of times.  So more variety would be helpful.  

 

Two shows that stood our to us weas the the acapella group The Magnets, and the The Ship show were stand outs. They both book up so make your reservations early.

What from Deep Blue had to be adjusted?

[cantgetin]

Interesting...our Deep Blue sometimes took 24 hours to be adjusted, but it always was.  I did make sure to check the account on the app prior to disembarkation.  In every case, the charge showed up and then was adjusted off.

 

Also, likely because it was a 14 night cruise, several outlets in The Galley had special "of the day" dishes on sea days.  There was always something special at the burger place, and often at the taco, salad, and noodle places.  Occasionally some of the sit down restaurants had additional items as well.  THe specials were not on the app; you had to walk around and see the signs on the outlets or ask the server what the specials were.  We got into the habit of taking a stroll around The Galley at lunch time before deciding whether to sit there or do a walk in brunch/lunch at one of the restaurants.  I believe that the specials happen rarely on shorter cruises, but we were aware of them before our long cruise...so they have happened previously.  I totally agree that once you got a server in The galley, things were smooth.  Sometimes you waited 30 seconds for a server, and on one occasion 15 minutes (before I got up and found a supervisor).

We found the Ship Show food to be pretty bad--beef tartare and chicken that you couldn't cut with the knife provided.  We did walk in at a restaurant after the show as we literally didn't eat two bites at the show. With the other food being so good, we couldn't understand how this was so bad....but we joked that "there's always pizza."

[benjaminnicholas]

On 12/11/2022 at 4:15 AM, misguy said:

One thing about the food at the ship show - The choices are fish and chicken.  The fish was very good, but the appetizers were two unknown substances, one was fishy smelling, and might have been octopus, the other was a meat cake that seemed to be raw, the lights were down low enough that you couldn't really tell.  Neither my wife or I was a fan of that course.  

 

Beef tartare.  And it's delicious if done well.

 

I don't know if I'd trust a ship to do it well.

[conandrob240]

This has been a bit of a disappointment! 😂 I guess you’ve been busy?!?

[Rruchty]

Is the ship decorated for the Holidays? We are going on this one next year and my husband was curious??

 

[_tacocat_]

15 minutes ago, Rruchty said:

Is the ship decorated for the Holidays? We are going on this one next year and my husband was curious??

 

it apparently wasn't last year, but this year, valiant had some garland/swag on the stairs of the roundabout, a giant nutcracker and ornaments at the top of those stairs, and a disco ball photo backdrop setup on 7.  there was also a menorah and a kwanzaa light thing (i assume scarlet did something similar but can confirm when i'm on this week).

 

my only complaint is that they were pumping christmas music EVERYWHERE starting the first week of december, and that playlist was super limited.  i worked at macys a couple christmas breaks in college, and it brought terrible flashbacks of the same. damn. songs. for hours and hours every day hahaha.

[misguy]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:33 PM, conandrob240 said:

What from Deep Blue had to be adjusted?

They kept billing me for the coffee and I had a $10.00 per day allowance.  The process is supposed to be automatic where the credit is applied, but at the end of the cruise they were all showing on my account.

[misguy]

On 12/14/2022 at 8:30 AM, conandrob240 said:

This has been a bit of a disappointment! 😂 I guess you’ve been busy?!?

The lack of accessible excursions were my biggest disappointment, but the food was good.  I wouldn't want to do a crossing unless I was sure that there would be new food options.  We just got off of the Prima, and Valiant Lady's internet was so much better than NCL's.

[conandrob240]

11 hours ago, misguy said:

They kept billing me for the coffee and I had a $10.00 per day allowance.  The process is supposed to be automatic where the credit is applied, but at the end of the cruise they were all showing on my account.

Okay, I’ll make sure to watch for it! Thanks

[neverendingcruising]

On 12/16/2022 at 12:55 PM, misguy said:

They kept billing me for the coffee and I had a $10.00 per day allowance.  The process is supposed to be automatic where the credit is applied, but at the end of the cruise they were all showing on my account.

When we sailed in September it was not automatic. Sailor Services told me they remove charges manually as time allows. 

[misguy]

Hey friends! We just created a new video about staying in an accessible sea terrace room on the Valiant Lady and it's a must-see for anyone interested in traveling with mobility issues. The cabin and the ship as a whole are designed with accessibility in mind, and it's so inspiring to see such thoughtfulness in the travel industry. Check out the video and let us know what you think! 

 

https://youtu.be/2o4TitOsNGQ

 

[FFMilesJunkie]

15 hours ago, misguy said:

Hey friends! We just created a new video about staying in an accessible sea terrace room on the Valiant Lady and it's a must-see for anyone interested in traveling with mobility issues. The cabin and the ship as a whole are designed with accessibility in mind, and it's so inspiring to see such thoughtfulness in the travel industry. Check out the video and let us know what you think! 

 

https://youtu.be/2o4TitOsNGQ

 

 

Thank you so much for posting that.  I've had people ask about accessible cabins and there is not a lot of info on the Virgin site, but you have answered all my questions with that quick video. 

[misguy]

I am glad to help.

[misguy]

Here is a 360 degree /VR tour of our accessible Sea Terrace Cabin 12154Z.  You can pause the video, zoom in and zoom out, you can move the view left or right and up or down.

 

 

[wilycoyote76]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:42 AM, _tacocat_ said:

This sailing had 2,200 and the galley was kind of a disaster at times.  We opted to do a lot of the ready made/counter options in there vs waiting to be served.  Not the end of the world.

For you and op as well was the overall service in the dining rooms/activities/feel with that many people on board acceptable in your opinion? I saw a YouTube video of a guy on the same sailing that said the ship was broken with that many people on board. I’m not getting that same impression from you or op, just wanted to confirm. I’m thinking about going on the same sailing this December.

[conandrob240]

1 hour ago, wilycoyote76 said:

For you and op as well was the overall service in the dining rooms/activities/feel with that many people on board acceptable in your opinion? I saw a YouTube video of a guy on the same sailing that said the ship was broken with that many people on board. I’m not getting that same impression from you or op, just wanted to confirm. I’m thinking about going on the same sailing this December.

We are sailing on Valiant Lady with “a bit” over half. Service is impeccable at all restaurants. A few nights we waited maybe 10-15 to get seated (short line) Other than the pool at 2pm on a sea day, nothing feels crowded. I never saw the Galley very crowded and there are tons of servers/ staff up there.

Edited January 3, 2023 by conandrob240

[wilycoyote76]

11 minutes ago, conandrob240 said:

We are sailing on Valiant Lady with “a bit” over half. Service is impeccable at all restaurants. A few nights we waited maybe 10-15 to get seated (short line) Other than the pool at 2pm on a sea day, nothing feels crowded. I never saw the Galley very crowded and there are tons of servers/ staff up there.

Thanks for reassurance that the overall experience is good.