Virgin voyages cruise booked. Goodbye celebrity

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, neverendingcruising said:

I know for sure there are 2 gender neutral restrooms that are not single stall - at the very back of the Galley on 15 and by Sun Club Cafe on 16. The vast majority are gendered except for the non-gendered accessible single seaters. 

The one between Sun Club and Richards Rooftop is a single room accessible toilet.

[neverendingcruising]

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

The one between Sun Club and Richards Rooftop is a single room accessible toilet.

That's the outside one, the one in the stairwell is different. 

[Giraffes]

On 5/30/2024 at 4:16 AM, DarrenM said:

I have also bought three 300 dollar blocks of drinks tabs. and they have given me an extra 150 dollars for doing so.

 

After what we drank this last cruise, it might still not be enough........embarrassed to admit this. lol

You can still drink past what your bar tab is. You will just be charged to whatever form of payment you give at check in. Besides the advantage of the bonus, you don't necessarily NEED bar tab to purchase drinks.

[Wildcatllamas]

17 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

That's the outside one, the one in the stairwell is different. 

They all show as handicapped on the deck maps, including that one.

[jon81uk]

17 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

That's the outside one, the one in the stairwell is different. 

Ah yeah that’s a single stall with a floor to ceiling door and the wash basin outside the stall. So yes gender neutral but it just means you are washing your hands where others might be waiting to go in and use the stall.

 

There are also toilets in the Athletic club area near the stairs to the running track which are similar, but that has two stalls to one sink.

Edited June 1 by jon81uk

[DarrenM]

You know this whole simgle gender toilets thing.

 

I honestly thought this was just a media thing tryong to make people angry about it.

 

I didn't realise people actually cared.

[DarrenM]

On 6/1/2024 at 2:05 AM, Giraffes said:

You can still drink past what your bar tab is. You will just be charged to whatever form of payment you give at check in. Besides the advantage of the bonus, you don't necessarily NEED bar tab to purchase drinks.

Oh yes I am aware of that. But I still prefer to ahve the comfort of knowing what I have paid prior to boarding.

 

If there's some left over at the end of the cruise and I lose it then its no big deal.

[DarrenM]

Does anyone know ow if you can use your bar tab to pay for the extras in the restaurants?

[-The-True-North-]

34 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Does anyone know ow if you can use your bar tab to pay for the extras in the restaurants?

Drink items - yes.

Treat yourself items - no.

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

Does anyone know ow if you can use your bar tab to pay for the extras in the restaurants?

As above it can’t be used on the food items, but does work for drink pairings including the Sip and Savour menus. The only exception is that bar tab is reported to work for afternoon tea in Sip.

[cantgetin]

11 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Does anyone know ow if you can use your bar tab to pay for the extras in the restaurants?

Bar tab is good on beverages only--alcoholic or not.  The only other thing it can be used for is the high tea at Sips, and that's because it is billed as a bar item

You can't use it for "treat yourself" items.  Those will come out of Loot though.

 

[Gretchendz]

On 6/2/2024 at 12:42 PM, DarrenM said:

You know this whole simgle gender toilets thing.

 

I honestly thought this was just a media thing tryong to make people angry about it.

 

I didn't realise people actually cared.

 

I care...passionately...when my husband leaves the seat up in our gender neutral bathroom in our home 🙂

[Wildcatllamas]

10 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

 

I care...passionately...when my husband leaves the seat up in our gender neutral bathroom in our home 🙂

Oh @Gretchendz I just about choked on my orange juice. My late husband was bad at that. A friend had suggested mixing hot pepper sauce with Vaseline and smearing it on the underside of the toilet seat. Guess it only took her husband one time to train him correctly.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

On 5/29/2024 at 3:36 PM, DarrenM said:

Well I never thought this would happen but next years cruise is booked on Virgin.

 

A long story but celebrity seem to have reduced their sailings the med for summer 2025 with edge ships only doing 6 night cruises.

 

So it's goodbye celebrity and hello Virgin voyages.

 

Should I be worried?

My last two cruises were on Virgin (Valiant Lady on the Med) and Celebrity (Reflection in the Caribbean). I found Virgin to be over-hyped and underwhelming, despite the pricing much more reasonable than it is now.

Despite the Celebrity ship being a decade or so older, and with Celebrity’s overall product suffering from cutbacks, the onboard experience was nonetheless superior to VV in a great many ways, and it was really only the superb VV itinerary (with two overnights) vs. the cliched and tired Celebrity one that made the VV cruise the more memorable experience overall. 
 

I would not discourage anyone from giving VV a try, but it’s just not “all that”, at least for me. Your priorities and tastes likely differ however.

[DarrenM]

9 hours ago, Shep_Proudfoot said:

My last two cruises were on Virgin (Valiant Lady on the Med) and Celebrity (Reflection in the Caribbean). I found Virgin to be over-hyped and underwhelming, despite the pricing much more reasonable than it is now.

Despite the Celebrity ship being a decade or so older, and with Celebrity’s overall product suffering from cutbacks, the onboard experience was nonetheless superior to VV in a great many ways, and it was really only the superb VV itinerary (with two overnights) vs. the cliched and tired Celebrity one that made the VV cruise the more memorable experience overall. 
 

I would not discourage anyone from giving VV a try, but it’s just not “all that”, at least for me. Your priorities and tastes likely differ however.

Thanks for this. Can I ask what was overhyped and underwhelming?

 

And Celebrity reflection is my favourite Celebrity ship to date, and I have been on Edge and Beyond.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

On 5/31/2024 at 8:30 AM, Wildcatllamas said:

Where did you find a gender neutral restroom? I have seen ones marked "either or" but they are a single room set up with a locking door.

 

From what I hear, they're all over the ship.  Virgin has gone overboard by putting one in each and every cabin!

[Wildcatllamas]

3 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

From what I hear, they're all over the ship.  Virgin has gone overboard by putting one in each and every cabin!

That really brought a chuckle this morning!! Thanks @Stateroom_Sailor

[DT1304]

On 5/30/2024 at 6:36 AM, DarrenM said:

Well I never thought this would happen but next years cruise is booked on Virgin.

 

A long story but celebrity seem to have reduced their sailings the med for summer 2025 with edge ships only doing 6 night cruises.

 

So it's goodbye celebrity and hello Virgin voyages.

 

Should I be worried?

I'd be excited not worried.

 

I've done a single carnival cruise and am a diamond member of Royal, but did my first Virgin Cruise in February, and when looking to book more cruisaes I am not even looking at other cruiselines. Sticking with Virgin. It was by far the best cruise I have been on.

[DarrenM]

3 hours ago, DT1304 said:

I'd be excited not worried.

 

I've done a single carnival cruise and am a diamond member of Royal, but did my first Virgin Cruise in February, and when looking to book more cruisaes I am not even looking at other cruiselines. Sticking with Virgin. It was by far the best cruise I have been on.

Thanks for this

[TripsYouMustDo]

For destination-centric cruise I'd prefer VV, though I've only done one Celebrity cruise (many RCCL cruises though, will be diamond soon). In general I'm not a VV fan boy, but I've been on two cruises with them (Scarlet and Resilient) on points (AmEx MR points transferred to Virgin Red for cruise booking), and have three more booked on points this year (yes, I had too many points). Two are back-to-back Med cruises (last year was a Med cruise on Resilient).

 

During a ship tour with one of their chief (designers? engineers?) while on their their "president's" cruise, he stated that their design philosophy was "ship is not the destination". I have to agree. I hate VV activities and shows. (Exception would be Duel Reality on Scarlet, but newer ships won't have duel reality). I also hate that VV strives to make people do things in groups rather than couples. Also spaces for activities are way too small for 2,800-person ship.

 

Where VV excels IMHO is - nice modern cabins with bells and whistles (some unnecessary for me, such as mood lighting and a tablet to control TV, or convertible bed/sofa - sea bed?, etc.), excellent restaurants, all of which are included into the price, good internet, attempt to maximize time in port (mostly works).

 

So for me, VV is more of a floating hotel with very nice food and rooms. Also fitness classes are nice and included, but so hard to get into (and no, stand-by doesn't always work, e.g. their bungie workout class accommodates 6 people on 2800-person ship). So when I care about the ports (e.g. Greek Isles, Croatia, Montenegro, etc.), Virgin is actually a good choice. If I want more of a mixed experience enjoying both the ship and the ports, VV is absolutely unacceptable to me. They don't come close to RCCL in activities and shows available. I personally would much rather do Celebrity for the shows as well *if* I was going on a cruise where destinations are not important (e.g. on Western Caribbean cruise with Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan, where I've been to each destination a dozen times, I would never to a VV cruise).

 

To me, VV is kind of similar to Holland America (though in many aspects they are opposite). I absolutely loved HAL Alaska cruise we did this May, but only because I spent most of the time enjoying the views from the balcony, looking for wildlife, or enjoying good food in the restaurants. As far as activities and shows go, HAL doesn't have anything to offer to me, and neither does VV. Would I do a Western Caribbean cruise on HAL? NEVER! Would I do another Alaska cruise on HAL? Yes, I'm planning to. Now that Emerald Lady is going to be going to Alaska, I might do an Alaska cruise with them (if they make it available on points, lol, never will I pay cash for a VV cruise).

 

That's just my perspective. Many other people obviously love VV to death and you might easily be one of them. There is enough good stuff about their ships that I'm sure you'll enjoy it at least as a one-time experience. I don't think you should be worried. Focus on the good stuff, but don't have your expectations unrealistically high. I found many of their hyped up stuff very gimmicky, including the Scarlet Night, Pajama Party, etc. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

Oh, and FWIW, having been on two VV cruises (5 nights and 7 nights, Scarlet and Resilient), I didn't even realize they had gender-neutral restroom. I don't understand how the conversation about the cruise line deteriorated into conversation about restrooms, lol. Obviously it wasn't a big deal for me (but I agree restrooms can be hard to find sometimes).

[Keys Kathy]

On 6/26/2024 at 1:12 AM, TripsYouMustDo said:

Oh, and FWIW, having been on two VV cruises (5 nights and 7 nights, Scarlet and Resilient), I didn't even realize they had gender-neutral restroom. I don't understand how the conversation about the cruise line deteriorated into conversation about restrooms, lol. Obviously it wasn't a big deal for me (but I agree restrooms can be hard to find sometimes).

The lack of nearby restrooms is an issue on VV. Often, you have to walk all the way to the other side of the ship. As far as I'm concerned, most restrooms can all be mixed-gender as long as there are stalls.