Valiant Lady 8 day cruise 1/28/23

[MLJS]

There are some fantastic reviews that have been done recently, so was not planning on doing a long review. But there are something’s that I can add or if you have a question, I will se if I can answer.  
 

a little about myself. I have been an avid cruiser for a number of years. I’m platinum on carnival. My husband did not cruise at all until we got married 7 years ago. Now he has been on at least 10. This is our second Virgin cruise. We are also traveling with my parents, who have not cruised on Virgin before. 

[MLJS]

We arrived Saturday to the cruise terminal about 1:25pm. Our check-in time was 1:45. We did have to make a second look around the port because we missed the drop off/pickup location. It’s a quick right through a parking lot before the Virgin Building. Not marked real well. But we pulled up next a porter, she made luggage rages for us and our bags were set. We left my parents to get in line for the 1:45 arrival. The arrival times lines started to the right of the main entrance, with a row for 1:30, 1:45 & 2pm separated into separate lines. To the left were additional lines for 2:15 and on. We parked the car in the parking garage with no problems and walked across. We were at the end of our “1:45 check-in group” and promptly at 1:45 they moved us inside to the next queue, where we waited a couples minutes and then were led up the escalators.  Once upstairs, they checked that you had all online check in done and then let you go onto the next queue.  There were at least 30-40 check in stations. They asked for your passport and gave us our Band. We then went through security-which was a breeze. We were on the ship at 2pm. 
 

we went straight to our rooms to drop our bags and freshen up. Within 10 minutes, our other bags were delivered to our cabin. 

[MLJS]

My husband & I booked first mate rates and had my mom in my room and my dad with my husband. They do not offer an extra cabin key like Royal Caribbean or Carnival does, so my husband & mom had to change bands while onboard and then exchanged back when we were in port.  We had to do the same on our previous cruise on the Scarlet Lady we did with our niece & nephew. 

[MLJS]

Time change…..hadn’t seen this discussed previously. Currently eastern standard time in Miami is different than the ports of Puerto Plata, San Juan, an Saint Croix. They did make an announcement about it and left notes in everyone’s cabin.  The ship stays on Miami time….so can be confusing   The original schedule I pulled of their website when we booked, listed the actual time on the island. 
 

so before you leave Miami, I recommend turning off the automatic time set function on  your phone/watch, so that it does not change once you get in the different time zone. 
 

on deck 4 by the elevators, they had two clocks. One with “ships time” and one with “local time”   If in doubt, check here to make sure you are on the right time. 

[MLJS]

On this cruise, there are 831 passengers. About 1/2 as many as when we were on Scarlet Lady last year. But because there are so few people, they have been moving activities and shows around to different dates and times. So what we planned before we got on the cruise and scheduled the first few hours on board changed. So now instead of Dual Reality running Sunday & Monday evening, they are doing the shows on Thursday. But with so few people on board, there is little wait for restaurants and quite easy to find a chair around the decks. This is my third cruise with 50% or less passengers and I think we are getting a little spoiled. 

[MLJS]

When we first got on, the captain announced that we were going to have a lot of wind on our trip. He changed our route to follow the keys down to Cuba and across that way.  For as windy as it is up on the upper decks, you do not feel the ship moving much at all. The stability is so much better than the older ships. 

[MLJS]

Every where on the Virgin site, it says no plastic bottles of water or soda.  There is absolutely nothing about CPAP machines. I called sailor services and asked about bringing a gallon of distilled water on board with me for a CPAP machine. She initially told me yes that was fine but then about 5 minutes later called back and read off the beverage policy. I emailed guest services and they replied say, yes I could bring an unopened gallon jug of distilled water with me.  I included the email. Side note—-didn’t bring the CPAP with me. Have a love/hate relationship with it. So I do not know how hard it would be to get through security. We did get several bottles of water through, which we didn’t realize were in the bag from our overnight stay the night before. they were not checking the wine bottles or really looking through any bags.  We were able to get on with 2 bottles of wine in 3 different bags for a total of 6 bottles. 

[MLJS]

The cabin temperature. We currently have the temperature set all the way low. My husband thinks it’s still hot in here. I’m a little cool, but my ideal Tom is 74 while his is 66. I’m not sure if others around us have balcony doors open and that is why it’s not quite as cold as our cabin on Scarlet Lady last year. The bed has a duvet  and a blanket. The blanket is great for out on the balcony in the hammock-one of my very favorite places.   My husband is still old school and prefers a sheet cover. Our cabin attendant was able to bring just the cover that goes over the duvet to use as a sheet and that made my husband very happy. 

[travelwide]

Following your adventures.

[warmwinds]

I'm sweating just thinking about a blanket and duvet and no plain sheet - so happy you mentioned you could get just a duvet cover.

 

If you don't mind, I don't know your age but I'm sure we're closer to your parents, so if you could include their impressions (if you hadn't planned to already) I'd very much appreciate it.

[brilliantseas]

9 hours ago, MLJS said:

On this cruise, there are 831 passengers. About 1/2 as many as when we were on Scarlet Lady last year. But because there are so few people, they have been moving activities and shows around to different dates and times. So what we planned before we got on the cruise and scheduled the first few hours on board changed. So now instead of Dual Reality running Sunday & Monday evening, they are doing the shows on Thursday. But with so few people on board, there is little wait for restaurants and quite easy to find a chair around the decks. This is my third cruise with 50% or less passengers and I think we are getting a little spoiled. 

 

We had 800 on our sailing on Valiant Lady. It was an amazing experience! I realize that it isn't sustainable, but it is possibly the best cruise I've ever been on in terms of personal service. We loved it and will be back in November!

[_tacocat_]

2 hours ago, brilliantseas said:

We had 800 on our sailing on Valiant Lady. It was an amazing experience! I realize that it isn't sustainable, but it is possibly the best cruise I've ever been on in terms of personal service. We loved it and will be back in November!

i was on valiant with 800 earlier this month and scarlet with about the same number last summer and hated it.  i've been on scarlet with 1,700+ and valiant with 2,200+ and it was so much better with more people on.  they consolidate a lot of events and shows when there are so few passengers, so if you miss a show, too bad.  i didn't notice this on the lower load scarlet voyage bc it was only 4 nights, but on an 8 night, the absence of stuff to do was noticeable.  

[MLJS]

This morning, as we slow down, you can really feel the boat rocking. The wind is at about 17 mph. The pilot boat had a rocky ride in too.  

Edited January 31, 2023 by MLJS

[MLJS]

6 hours ago, warmwinds said:

I'm sweating just thinking about a blanket and duvet and no plain sheet - so happy you mentioned you could get just a duvet cover.

 

If you don't mind, I don't know your age but I'm sure we're closer to your parents, so if you could include their impressions (if you hadn't planned to already) I'd very much appreciate it.

My husband and I are 55 and 57. My parents are 77 and 80. My parents definitely feel like they are on the older side of passengers unlike their Princess cruise. Maybe 10% are over 70. There is a wide range of age in the passengers. 

[april_4_us]

same itinerary I am doing in April, I am excited to see what you do and see. 

April

[MLJS]

For those of you with mobility issues, there is an elevator that runs from deck 16 up to the perch and running track.  It is not on the ship maps. It is almost all the way to the front. 

[MLJS]

Sorry….been enjoying the time onboard. It has been a great trip so far. No lines anywhere. One more thought about embankment day. The muster drill consists of watching a video in your room or on the app on your phone. Then you must go check in to your muster station for a short 5 minute demonstration. They say check in is 4 - 5:30 but we saw stations set up about 3:15.  We were able to checkin after we ate and walked around. 
 

the only time on the entire trip we have had any overhead announcements was embankment day.  They were quite loud in the staterooms. It has been so nice not having a cruise director trying to get you to go do stuff. 
 

at sale-away, they served Champagne on deck 15 & 16 around the pool. 

[AtSeaWithChris]

3 minutes ago, MLJS said:

Sorry….been enjoying the time onboard. It has been a great trip so far. No lines anywhere. One more thought about embankment day. The muster drill consists of watching a video in your room or on the app on your phone. Then you must go check in to your muster station for a short 5 minute demonstration. They say check in is 4 - 5:30 but we saw stations set up about 3:15.  We were able to checkin after we ate and walked around. 
 

the only time on the entire trip we have had any overhead announcements was embankment day.  They were quite loud in the staterooms. It has been so nice not having a cruise director trying to get you to go do stuff. 
 

at sale-away, they served Champagne on deck 15 & 16 around the pool. 

How many passengers on this sailing?  We sail Valiant Lady in 18 days 

[surfone]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:06 PM, MLJS said:

The cabin temperature. We currently have the temperature set all the way low. My husband thinks it’s still hot in here. I’m a little cool, but my ideal Tom is 74 while his is 66. I’m not sure if others around us have balcony doors open and that is why it’s not quite as cold as our cabin on Scarlet Lady last year. The bed has a duvet  and a blanket. The blanket is great for out on the balcony in the hammock-one of my very favorite places.   My husband is still old school and prefers a sheet cover. Our cabin attendant was able to bring just the cover that goes over the duvet to use as a sheet and that made my husband very happy. 

We sailed on VL the week before last and my DH and I both noticed the air conditioning at night did not work properly.  It seemed it would begin to get warmer and stay that way for awhile before the air would kick in again to cool the room.  We had no neighbors, in fact we asked our attendant and he said on our entire hallway there were only 4 rooms occupied. Most people we noticed were on decks 13 and 14. We were on 11...so quiet. We like having a flat cover sheet as well (did not like the sheet connected to the duvet) especially when it did turn warm you could not just use a sheet. 

[MLJS]

On 2/1/2023 at 5:46 PM, AtSeaWithChris said:

How many passengers on this sailing?  We sail Valiant Lady in 18 days 

We were told by crew there was 841 passengers on board. Or taxi driver in St Croix said they were told just over 700. We are seeing as much of the crew as we are other passengers. My parents thought it was a really young crowd on board….but I think it is all the crew we are seeing on board. None of the restaurants are full for dinner. The crew did tell us they are expecting much bigger crowds in February & March. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by MLJS

[MLJS]

I had said last night how nice it was to have no announcements on board. Well tonight, the captain came on telling us that Bimini was expecting 45 mph winds and rain on Saturday and he was canceling the port. Said he would not be able to dock in those conditions. A little disappointed, because we had saved that as our “beach day”. But then he proceeded to tell us they had secured a different port. Turks & Caicos! Not disappointed at all! Now to do some research on what we will do there!

[AtSeaWithChris]

3 minutes ago, MLJS said:

We were told by crew there was 841 passengers on board. Or taxi driver in St Croix said they were told just over 700. We are seeing as much of the crew as we are other passengers. My parents thought it was a really young crowd on board….but I think it is all the crew we are seeing on board. None of the restaurants are full for dinner. 

Thanks. I’m hoping our cruise in 17 days is low as well. I mean I hope Virgin can keep going but it’s magical to not be crowded. 

[MLJS]

It’s Grand Turk we will be docking at. Looks to be gorgeous!

[AtSeaWithChris]

47 minutes ago, MLJS said:

It’s Grand Turk we will be docking at. Looks to be gorgeous!

Love Grand Turk. Check out Jack’s Shack for very good jerk chicken. It’s about10 minute walk down the beach from Margaritaville. 

[johnjovi]

thanks for these posts!  I will be on VL on Feb 25th for the 8 day.

 

Can you tell me about St. Croix?  Does the ship dock there or is there a tender service?