HUGE Improvement in The Galley (The Flags really work?)

[cantgetin]

8 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

post #43 says that it's just not included from any restaurant on the ship - just grounds club (which is how it works in reality).  some people reported last year that they were able to use it via ship eats or at restaurants, but i'm guessing that was actually some combination of... assertive... interactions with sailor services to get them removed, or just general forgetfulness of staff to charge them for the drinks at restaurants.

I'm the bad guy from post #43, and reported what was the printed policy on our cruises (most recently disembarked on 5/7/2023) and also happened in reality.  We got the benefit only at The Grounds Club, not at Ship Eats or other locations on board.  The ad posted in #44 was one I had not seen before the posting here and does not reflect what happened on any of our cruises.

To be fair, things on the ship are not always what is posted on the web.  For instance, we were told by Sailor Services that the free premium internet applied to only 2 items at a time but could be used on multiple items provided you logged off one before logging onto another.  Other users swore it was 3 items.  We didn't test it--we put premium on our computers and kept standard on our phones.

[CruisingWalter]

On 5/22/2023 at 10:03 PM, SeaShark said:

 

Then somebody should tell Virgin so they stop misleading people.

 

 

When we sailed in April DBE included a $10 credit per day for specialty coffee. I picked up 3 coffees per day at the Grounds Club in The Galley and down on Deck 7 and was never charged because they were $9 total.  According to the website they are still included and while I'm seeing conflicting information in this thread, it does appear the $10 per day offer is still there. At the moment we don't sail again until November, though we may run down to Miami at some point and hop back on Scarlet before then. 

[_tacocat_]

24 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

When we sailed in April DBE included a $10 credit per day for specialty coffee. I picked up 3 coffees per day at the Grounds Club in The Galley and down on Deck 7 and was never charged because they were $9 total.  According to the website they are still included and while I'm seeing conflicting information in this thread, it does appear the $10 per day offer is still there. At the moment we don't sail again until November, though we may run down to Miami at some point and hop back on Scarlet before then. 

They’re still included- they apparently used to wipe the charges off from anywhere (like I implied in an earlier post, people were probably being really obnoxious at sailor services until they “got their way” and had coffee charges from restaurants/ship eats removed), but the terms of the offer have always said it needed to be at one of the 2 grounds club locations.  It definitely still exists as a perk.

[ichiban35]

Just off the SL yesterday (May 26) and was pleasantly surprised by the service in the Galley. We weren't sure how it would go after months of reading CC posts. Our morning routine was to be up around 7a and go to the gym, then grab a table on the outside aft deck on 15 which didn't have flags. Shirin (I think that was her name) would come over quickly and get our orders or tell us to let her know when we were ready to order something.

[tbmrt]

7 hours ago, ichiban35 said:

Just off the SL yesterday (May 26) and was pleasantly surprised by the service in the Galley. We weren't sure how it would go after months of reading CC posts. Our morning routine was to be up around 7a and go to the gym, then grab a table on the outside aft deck on 15 which didn't have flags. Shirin (I think that was her name) would come over quickly and get our orders or tell us to let her know when we were ready to order something.

Feel better after reading your post and will head for outside deck!

[cantgetin]

I had great service on the outside deck on Valiant in April also.

[Ekposh]

21 hours ago, ichiban35 said:

Just off the SL yesterday (May 26) and was pleasantly surprised by the service in the Galley. We weren't sure how it would go after months of reading CC posts. Our morning routine was to be up around 7a and go to the gym, then grab a table on the outside aft deck on 15 which didn't have flags. Shirin (I think that was her name) would come over quickly and get our orders or tell us to let her know when we were ready to order something.

 

We did similar and had Shirin (same cruise). Service in Galley was excellent throughout. Only downside was ordering from 2 places (say smoked salmon sandwich and then poached eggs separately), these came at different times.. But that's to be expected. 

 

As a first time cruiser I was impressed. And that sailing was 100% capacity I was told. 2400+.

[tbmrt]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:08 PM, Ekposh said:

 

We did similar and had Shirin (same cruise). Service in Galley was excellent throughout. Only downside was ordering from 2 places (say smoked salmon sandwich and then poached eggs separately), these came at different times.. But that's to be expected. 

 

As a first time cruiser I was impressed. And that sailing was 100% capacity I was told. 2400+.

How was bar service throughout the ship? 

[Ekposh]

18 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

How was bar service throughout the ship? 

Being 100% honest, we mostly stuck to beers, wine and the odd spirit and mixer so the quality was what it was. Service was fast and quick. They did seem to have less stocked than on the menu. A few beer and wine choices were unavailable throughout, which makes me wonder if they ever fully stock.

 

We were Rockstars and can say Richards Rooftop and 1 hour champagne hour was great. The mini bar in the room was totally excessive and we took most of it home. We had $400 bar tab and spent $398 over the 5 days, mostly alcohol and a few coffees. I'd say we drank a fair amount, for reference (though no premium cocktails). 

 

One downside of the ship on this full sailing, as many have said, is the size of the pool. It was mad busy and crazy, couldn't even move. That's where Richards Rooftop came into it's own. 

 

Hope this helps others. Happy to answer any other questions. 

 

[kerota]

On 4/12/2023 at 3:41 PM, CruisingWalter said:

It's also really exciting to see the WIDE diversity of people onboard this time......

To put it politely, it was a very 'white' cruise back in July 2022. 

So what? If the July 2022 cruise that you're referencing had been a very 'asian' cruise or a very 'hispanic' cruise or a very 'black' cruise, would you be on here talking about the lack of "diversity"?

Edited June 21, 2023 by kerota

[sfspider]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:47 AM, Ekposh said:

Being 100% honest, we mostly stuck to beers, wine and the odd spirit and mixer so the quality was what it was. Service was fast and quick. They did seem to have less stocked than on the menu. A few beer and wine choices were unavailable throughout, which makes me wonder if they ever fully stock.

 

We were Rockstars and can say Richards Rooftop and 1 hour champagne hour was great. The mini bar in the room was totally excessive and we took most of it home. We had $400 bar tab and spent $398 over the 5 days, mostly alcohol and a few coffees. I'd say we drank a fair amount, for reference (though no premium cocktails). 

 

One downside of the ship on this full sailing, as many have said, is the size of the pool. It was mad busy and crazy, couldn't even move. That's where Richards Rooftop came into it's own. 

 

Hope this helps others. Happy to answer any other questions. 

 

I'm looking forward to the "excessive" mini-bar in our first cruise as rockstars. How many 375 bottles are included?  Did you try swapping anything or just keep what was provided? Also, what time was the champagne hour on Richards rooftop? Thanks for any help you can give.

[_tacocat_]

1 hour ago, sfspider said:

I'm looking forward to the "excessive" mini-bar in our first cruise as rockstars. How many 375 bottles are included?  Did you try swapping anything or just keep what was provided? Also, what time was the champagne hour on Richards rooftop? Thanks for any help you can give.

5 half bottles of liquor, 3 half bottles of wine (red, white, rose) and a half bottle of moet.

 

you also get some beers and premium mixers like ginger beer.

 

you may be able to swap bottles- some agents are great about this, others have flat out said no, and further, some are super weird about it, almost like they’re going out of their way and will get in trouble 🤷‍♀️ 

 

IIRC, moet hour is 6-7.  In inclement weather, it moves to sip!

[Ekposh]

4 hours ago, sfspider said:

I'm looking forward to the "excessive" mini-bar in our first cruise as rockstars. How many 375 bottles are included?  Did you try swapping anything or just keep what was provided? Also, what time was the champagne hour on Richards rooftop? Thanks for any help you can give.

 

As per previous reply, 5 spirits, 3 wines, 1 Moet and 4 beers. Yes, we don't drink Vodka and it was swapped out for gin after us asking. This was done the day after. From what I understood, they just look at all swap requests from all guests and then just "negotiate" with other Rockstar agents to get it done. 

 

Champagne hour was 5-6 on our cruise.

[sfspider]

Thanks for the info.  Looking forward to seeing it all for myself.  

[lisabucsfan1]

On 6/21/2023 at 4:18 AM, Ekposh said:

 

As per previous reply, 5 spirits, 3 wines, 1 Moet and 4 beers. Yes, we don't drink Vodka and it was swapped out for gin after us asking. This was done the day after. From what I understood, they just look at all swap requests from all guests and then just "negotiate" with other Rockstar agents to get it done. 

 

Champagne hour was 5-6 on our cruise.

 

all of this is correct, plus our last rock star agent brought us extra beer and extra mixers.