Considering VV & Booking B2B online

[JacknShelby]

Hi,

 

I am a huge Celebrity & RCI fan.  I really don't want to stray from what I know being that I am organising a trip with another friend who is not an avid cruiser.  I don't want her to be disappointed and everything I have read on the forum here does not have me sold going Virgin Voyages is the right thing to do.  I keep coming back to VV because of the southern Caribbean itineraries out of San Juan in 2024.  They are really what I want and not matched by Celebrity or RCI.  Can I please get some feedback on the following concerns:

1. My friend is an alcoholic (no jokes here), she is not a messy one but will drink solid from 11am to bed so I need to consider drinks.  The heavy port days will help here but still, there is no drink package, understand the bar tab deal etc.  Are the drink prices really that reasonable?  How much for a bottle of nice wine or champagne (not the top brands but nice)?  The Cocktail prices I have seen don't really seem that much lower than other lines or perhaps I am out of touch on their pricing?  

2. The pool situation is deplorable, I like to swim or relax in the pool not sunbake around it, however with the itinerary we would be on it's not a deal breaker.  Are they as bad space wise as they look?

3. Can all Rockstar rooms have two singles or are they all standard king?

4. All the photos I have seen have shown little to no people.  Possibly intended to show more of the ships.  What has it been like on board atmostphere & people wise.  

the biggest ponder at the moment is....How do you book yourself a back to back when you can't choose your cabin.  I did a couple of tries and didn't come up with a match so far.  Any secret I am missing?

 

If you want to throw in your opinion of VV versus my faves Celebrity & RCI please do.

 

Thank you 😊

Edited January 8, 2023 by JacknShelby
spelling

[drewdawg199]

Call if you want to do b2b and keep same room, that’s pretty much the only way (or a travel agent 🤮).  
 

rockstar suites only have king beds but the Brilliant Suite and larger have a convertible couch that a second person could sleep on.

[drewdawg199]

Also - check out this video to get an idea of the atmosphere, they just released it yesterday!

 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/l/the-voyage

[Fogcityca13]

I cruised mostly with RCI, haven’t had the chance to try Celebrity yet.

 

1. I’ll link a list of fairly current menus. We sailed as mega, but I did pay attention to drink prices and found them fairly reasonable. What was nice is VV has an excellent selection of spirits and wine. Vintages on RCI has a good selection of wine, but not all of those wines are available in the MDR. I found great selections wine in the restaurants, and a good selection of wine by the glass as well as bottles. https://profcruise.com/virgin-voyages-bar-menus-and-drink-prices/
 

2. The pools are pretty small, but a little bigger than the pictures make it seem. You’ll have room to float, but not really swim. 
 

3. The rockstar beds are a fixed king, so they can’t separate. Some rooms the sofa folds out into a bed.

 

4. We were on with only 1,100 and the felt very comfortable, it could easily hold more without feeling crowded. It’s a very relaxing environment and lots of people willing to mingle and have a laugh. Lots of 40-50s aged folks. Saw a few people that were quite and reserved at the beginning and by Scarlet Night they were jumping in the pool with friends they made.

 

Booking, like drewdawg199 said, you can call and have them move the rooms or you need to use a TA. I will only book VV with a TA, but I had pretty good luck with emailing sailor services to resolve issues. You just need a bit of patience if you manage your own booking.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Fogcityca13

[jon81uk]

I think the drink prices are fairly reasonable, $7 for house spirits and mixer (gin &tonic, vodka & cranberry, rum & coke etc) and no need to add 18% tip on top. Mixed cocktails $12-15 isn’t too bad and beer $6-10.

Bar tab means you get at least $50 added to every $300 prepaid,  but that can only be spent on drinks (including coffee). Water, soda, drip coffee and standard juice are all free everywhere, bars, restaurants, food court.

the pool is big enough to lounge in but not swim. 
 

If you need two singles consider an XL terrace room instead,  beds can be set up in an L shape. I don’t think going rockstar adds a huge amount but the cost is much higher.

[JacknShelby]

5 hours ago, drewdawg199 said:

Call if you want to do b2b and keep same room, that’s pretty much the only way (or a travel agent 🤮).  
 

rockstar suites only have king beds but the Brilliant Suite and larger have a convertible couch that a second person could sleep on.

Thank you for the information!  I will take a better look at those rooms

[JacknShelby]

5 hours ago, Fogcityca13 said:

I cruised mostly with RCI, haven’t had the chance to try Celebrity yet.

 

1. I’ll link a list of fairly current menus. We sailed as mega, but I did pay attention to drink prices and found them fairly reasonable. What was nice is VV has an excellent selection of spirits and wine. Vintages on RCI has a good selection of wine, but not all of those wines are available in the MDR. I found great selections wine in the restaurants, and a good selection of wine by the glass as well as bottles. https://profcruise.com/virgin-voyages-bar-menus-and-drink-prices/
 

2. The pools are pretty small, but a little bigger than the pictures make it seem. You’ll have room to float, but not really swim. 
 

3. The rockstar beds are a fixed king, so they can’t separate. Some rooms the sofa folds out into a bed.

 

4. We were on with only 1,100 and the felt very comfortable, it could easily hold more without feeling crowded. It’s a very relaxing environment and lots of people willing to mingle and have a laugh. Lots of 40-50s aged folks. Saw a few people that were quite and reserved at the beginning and by Scarlet Night they were jumping in the pool with friends they made.

 

Booking, like drewdawg199 said, you can call and have them move the rooms or you need to use a TA. I will only book VV with a TA, but I had pretty good luck with emailing sailor services to resolve issues. You just need a bit of patience if you manage your own booking.

Thank you so much for the reply & info 🙂

 

[JacknShelby]

58 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

I think the drink prices are fairly reasonable, $7 for house spirits and mixer (gin &tonic, vodka & cranberry, rum & coke etc) and no need to add 18% tip on top. Mixed cocktails $12-15 isn’t too bad and beer $6-10.

Bar tab means you get at least $50 added to every $300 prepaid,  but that can only be spent on drinks (including coffee). Water, soda, drip coffee and standard juice are all free everywhere, bars, restaurants, food court.

the pool is big enough to lounge in but not swim. 
 

If you need two singles consider an XL terrace room instead,  beds can be set up in an L shape. I don’t think going rockstar adds a huge amount but the cost is much higher.

Thank you, those prices are quite good for drinks. I will look at the XL terrace room too.  I got a little confused as the size noted on the cabin info appeared to be the same as normal terrace room.  That may be an error.

[JacknShelby]

Thank you everyone, just read further into the current offer for $600 bar tab and the cruises I was looking at are not included so think I will give this one a miss & keep in mind for future cruises.  

[Db85]

13 hours ago, JacknShelby said:

Hi,

 

I am a huge Celebrity & RCI fan.  I really don't want to stray from what I know being that I am organising a trip with another friend who is not an avid cruiser.  I don't want her to be disappointed and everything I have read on the forum here does not have me sold going Virgin Voyages is the right thing to do.  I keep coming back to VV because of the southern Caribbean itineraries out of San Juan in 2024.  They are really what I want and not matched by Celebrity or RCI.  Can I please get some feedback on the following concerns:

1. My friend is an alcoholic (no jokes here), she is not a messy one but will drink solid from 11am to bed so I need to consider drinks.  The heavy port days will help here but still, there is no drink package, understand the bar tab deal etc.  Are the drink prices really that reasonable?  How much for a bottle of nice wine or champagne (not the top brands but nice)?  The Cocktail prices I have seen don't really seem that much lower than other lines or perhaps I am out of touch on their pricing?  

2. The pool situation is deplorable, I like to swim or relax in the pool not sunbake around it, however with the itinerary we would be on it's not a deal breaker.  Are they as bad space wise as they look?

3. Can all Rockstar rooms have two singles or are they all standard king?

4. All the photos I have seen have shown little to no people.  Possibly intended to show more of the ships.  What has it been like on board atmostphere & people wise.  

the biggest ponder at the moment is....How do you book yourself a back to back when you can't choose your cabin.  I did a couple of tries and didn't come up with a match so far.  Any secret I am missing?

 

If you want to throw in your opinion of VV versus my faves Celebrity & RCI please do.

 

Thank you 😊

Hey! 
 

We have done virgin a couple of times and love it. Here’s my opinion on your questions! 
 

1 - MegaRockstar gets unlimited drinks up to $25 plus party’s in the room with unlimited open bar and refills. We love the Mega Rockstar agent that will move mountains to make you happy. It’s expensive yet we drunk $1500 in alcoholic drinks on our first 4 day cruise between two of us and the cost of a regular rockstar plus the booze = price of a MegaRockstar room. With Mega we really get off the boat with a 0 bill. It’s so nice. 
 

2 - The pool is ok. Little tight but nothing crazy. If you are in rockstar you have your own area with 2 Hot Tubs that are not that hot anyway so we hung out in them. 
 

3 - All rockstar rooms are King beds. No splitting them up. 
 

4 - The cruises are getting busier. Last one had 1800 people. My one next week has over 2000. If you book through a travel agent they can select a room. My travel guy is fabulous and sends selections prior to booking. 
 

We went off celebrity after our last cruise with them due to the age demographic getting older and older meaning entertainment wasn’t as focused on a broad audience. We love virgin because of the live music, great shows and even better staff! Love scarlet night (their version of formal night) where you just wear red, even dressed down but it’s so fun. They do shows all over the boat then open the pool up for a late night pool party! What other cruise line let’s you in the pool at 11pm. 
 

RCL is just a noooo because of the volume of children. We love kids but on vacation it’s a kid free time for us. 

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, JacknShelby said:

Thank you, those prices are quite good for drinks. I will look at the XL terrace room too.  I got a little confused as the size noted on the cabin info appeared to be the same as normal terrace room.  That may be an error.

Yep the booking site doesn’t make it clear, the main advantage in an XL is the full size bathroom. 

[cantgetin]

XL Sea Terrace has bigger bathroom, otherwise not a lot of difference.  In October, cocktails were $8-13, lots of wine choices around $10.  Remember that these prices already include the tip; on any other line you'd be adding 18-20%.

 

Book thru a TA or by calling VV to get the room(s) you want.  

We never found pool spaces crowded, but there were people around.  LOVED the atmosphere on the ship.  I liked the "no kid" idea before we cruised, but didn't realize how much I liked it until we were cruising.  No one trashed the drink areas, hit all the buttons on the elevators, knocked you over while you walked down the halls, or ran up and down the halls screaming.  I don't hate kids....I hate the 10% of parents who think their responsibility for their offspring ends when they set foot on a ship!

I was never bored on VV.  But, I'm not interested in rock climbing, ice skating, go kart racing, etc.  If you want those things, choose a line that has them.  Celebrity has some nice features; overall, I prefer Virgin.  It would cost me twice as much to get the same sort of cruise on Celebrity as I have on Virgin. The one thing I missed from Celebrity was the food outlet by the adult pool where they served salads and fresh grilled salmon prepared while you waited.  Overall, food quality was better on VV and is certainly plentiful.  Yeah, VV pool is about the size of a postage stamp...here are pools at Bimini if your cruise stops there. 

[Db85]

They should take out the net at the back of the ship and add a pool! 

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, Db85 said:

They should take out the net at the back of the ship and add a pool! 

Nice idea...they'd need to look at weight/balance issues first.

[neverendingcruising]

If you don't use a travel agent definitely call after booking your B2B cruises. It was a quick call to have the room moved in the second cruise so we could stay in the same place. The agent said he needed to flag us as B2B as well. 

[cantgetin]

We got moved after computer booking as well....easy to do

 

[JacknShelby]

Thanks everyone, I'm swinging back around! 🤣

 

[AtSeaWithChris]

On 1/8/2023 at 5:16 AM, JacknShelby said:

Thank you, those prices are quite good for drinks. I will look at the XL terrace room too.  I got a little confused as the size noted on the cabin info appeared to be the same as normal terrace room.  That may be an error.

The main difference in Sea Terrace and XL Sea Terrace is the bathroom is larger. And the balcony is a tad bigger. 

[FlyingAnchor]

I recently found a YouTube channel that had some GREAT videos on their first VV sailing, and it sounds/appears that the vlogger is also a loyal Celebrity cruiser like we are. Watching through the playlists put our minds at ease for sure as to what to expect and how it would relate to what we know on Celebrity. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention the Channel name? 

Regardless, we have our first VV sailing booked for 2024 and now we are REALLY looking forward to it! 

[AtSeaWithChris]

26 minutes ago, FlyingAnchor said:

I recently found a YouTube channel that had some GREAT videos on their first VV sailing, and it sounds/appears that the vlogger is also a loyal Celebrity cruiser like we are. Watching through the playlists put our minds at ease for sure as to what to expect and how it would relate to what we know on Celebrity. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention the Channel name? 

Regardless, we have our first VV sailing booked for 2024 and now we are REALLY looking forward to it! 

I think as long as they are not selling travel you can mention them. 

[cantgetin]

Celebrity Aqua class is food similar to VV.  There are things we like "better" about both lines, but overall, including price and what is included, we prefer Virgin.

[FlyingAnchor]

18 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Celebrity Aqua class is food similar to VV.

I love hearing that! We stopped sailing in Aqua around the time EDGE debuted because the pricing sky rocketed. We love Blu, but couldn't justify paying for Aqua Class anymore solely to eat in Blu. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 1/7/2023 at 7:31 PM, JacknShelby said:

 

 

2. The pool situation is deplorable, I like to swim or relax in the pool not sunbake around it, however with the itinerary we would be on it's not a deal breaker.  Are they as bad space wise as they look?

3. Can all Rockstar rooms have two singles or are they all standard king?

4. All the photos I have seen have shown little to no people.  Possibly intended to show more of the ships.  What has it been like on board atmostphere & people wise.  

the biggest ponder at the moment is....How do you book yourself a back to back when you can't choose your cabin.  I did a couple of tries and didn't come up with a match so far.  Any secret I am missing?

 

If you want to throw in your opinion of VV versus my faves Celebrity & RCI please do.

 

Thank you 😊

1. My friend is an alcoholic (no jokes here), she is not a messy one but will drink solid from 11am to bed so I need to consider drinks.  The heavy port days will help here but still, there is no drink package, understand the bar tab deal etc.  Are the drink prices really that reasonable?  How much for a bottle of nice wine or champagne (not the top brands but nice)?  The Cocktail prices I have seen don't really seem that much lower than other lines or perhaps I am out of touch on their pricing?  

 

Drink prices are reasonable and if you book through Jan 31 you'll get a $300 or $600 Bar tab included with your cabin. Under 7 days $300, Over 7 days $600. That's per sailing so a back to back will not count as a longer sailing. If you friend really likes to pile on the drinks, pre-purchase additional $300 bar tabs prior to the cruise and VV adds $50 to $100 to each purchased bar tab. It is a 'use it or lose it' proposition so purchase wisely. 

 

2. The pool situation is deplorable, I like to swim or relax in the pool not sunbake around it, however with the itinerary we would be on it's not a deal breaker.  Are they as bad space wise as they look?

 

You're not going to swim that's for sure. The pools are terrible other than for laying about. The only time to use the pools when nobody else is around is early in the morning, in the evening, or during port days. Celebrity (and any other cruise line) wins for the pools but especially Celebrity. Their pools are outstanding, especially the Solarium pool. This is the one aspect of the ship that VV really messed up on, but we forgive it because so much else is right. 

 

3. Can all Rockstar rooms have two singles or are they all standard king?

 

The beds do not split in the suites.

 

4. All the photos I have seen have shown little to no people.  Possibly intended to show more of the ships.  What has it been like on board atmostphere & people wise.  

the biggest ponder at the moment is....How do you book yourself a back to back when you can't choose your cabin.  I did a couple of tries and didn't come up with a match so far.  Any secret I am missing?

 

To select a cabin you need a travel agent or call VV. You cannot select cabins online. As for the vibe onboard, one of the crew members called it "Summer Camp for Adults." I think that's a pretty good description. The vibe is fun and light onboard, surprisingly quiet most of the day. It's very much like a Celebrity vibe. Absolutely lovely, beautiful ships, awesome crew, amazing food. The pools are terrible, the net is an awful idea, but otherwise, the ship is near perfect. 

 

Here's my Scarlet Lady playlist that really covers most everything about the ship. I went into our cruise expecting to be a "one and done" with VV. Now it's my current favorite cruise line, even with the terrible pools. We'll be on Valiant Lady for the 8 night Thanksgiving cruise this year.   https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8wFV2tZMxXq3Lbmd6VbXJdMNQEzc8SqH

 

 

 

[JacknShelby]

Thank you

On 1/11/2023 at 7:48 PM, WheresWalter said:

1. My friend is an alcoholic (no jokes here), she is not a messy one but will drink solid from 11am to bed so I need to consider drinks.  The heavy port days will help here but still, there is no drink package, understand the bar tab deal etc.  Are the drink prices really that reasonable?  How much for a bottle of nice wine or champagne (not the top brands but nice)?  The Cocktail prices I have seen don't really seem that much lower than other lines or perhaps I am out of touch on their pricing?  

 

Drink prices are reasonable and if you book through Jan 31 you'll get a $300 or $600 Bar tab included with your cabin. Under 7 days $300, Over 7 days $600. That's per sailing so a back to back will not count as a longer sailing. If you friend really likes to pile on the drinks, pre-purchase additional $300 bar tabs prior to the cruise and VV adds $50 to $100 to each purchased bar tab. It is a 'use it or lose it' proposition so purchase wisely. 

 

2. The pool situation is deplorable, I like to swim or relax in the pool not sunbake around it, however with the itinerary we would be on it's not a deal breaker.  Are they as bad space wise as they look?

 

You're not going to swim that's for sure. The pools are terrible other than for laying about. The only time to use the pools when nobody else is around is early in the morning, in the evening, or during port days. Celebrity (and any other cruise line) wins for the pools but especially Celebrity. Their pools are outstanding, especially the Solarium pool. This is the one aspect of the ship that VV really messed up on, but we forgive it because so much else is right. 

 

3. Can all Rockstar rooms have two singles or are they all standard king?

 

The beds do not split in the suites.

 

4. All the photos I have seen have shown little to no people.  Possibly intended to show more of the ships.  What has it been like on board atmostphere & people wise.  

the biggest ponder at the moment is....How do you book yourself a back to back when you can't choose your cabin.  I did a couple of tries and didn't come up with a match so far.  Any secret I am missing?

 

To select a cabin you need a travel agent or call VV. You cannot select cabins online. As for the vibe onboard, one of the crew members called it "Summer Camp for Adults." I think that's a pretty good description. The vibe is fun and light onboard, surprisingly quiet most of the day. It's very much like a Celebrity vibe. Absolutely lovely, beautiful ships, awesome crew, amazing food. The pools are terrible, the net is an awful idea, but otherwise, the ship is near perfect. 

 

Here's my Scarlet Lady playlist that really covers most everything about the ship. I went into our cruise expecting to be a "one and done" with VV. Now it's my current favorite cruise line, even with the terrible pools. We'll be on Valiant Lady for the 8 night Thanksgiving cruise this year.   https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8wFV2tZMxXq3Lbmd6VbXJdMNQEzc8SqH

 

 

 

Thank you I love the videos!

[happygolucky62]

My daughter and I were in the Massive Suite, after 3 cancellations, paid same as original May 2020 Cheeky Corner Suite. She slept in the second room which was made up into a Full sized bed and I had the King so there IS a possible 2 bed option but the cost now is probably prohibitive for most. She also had the half bath for everything but showering which made it nice when travelling with someone other than a spouse.