Virgin Voyages "What were they thinking?"

[jon81uk]

35 minutes ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

I really enjoy the pour overs compared to the free coffee in the Galley. On Valiant Lady in June, they only had one type of bean for Pour Overs…Ethiopian. It was good but a choice would have been stellar. Was expecting a coffee filter over a cup for the pour. Took this video for the next time it was mentioned. Guess VV plans to sell a lot of them. Is this cool or what?

 

 

 

 

 

I used to use the cones that hold the filter paper all the time at home before buying a bean to cup machine.

[jamesboat]

From a trip last week...

 

-Restrooms in public areas were way too small and located in inconvenient places and many have odd designs.

-Sight-lines/seating in the Manor for shows is abysmal

-Non-reservation dinner options are very poor. Tacos and Noodles closing at 3pm is baffling.

-Not enough space to meet sit-down dining breakfast demand

-Deck 16/17 very under-utilized

-Lack of desert options in pizza parlor (and no soda machine)

 

 

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, jamesboat said:

From a trip last week...

 

-Lack of desert options in pizza parlor (and no soda machine)

 

 

You can get soda from the person who takes your pizza order.

 

[Travel-and-See]

2 hours ago, jamesboat said:

From a trip last week...

-Sight-lines/seating in the Manor for shows is abysmal

 

Agreed. 

2 hours ago, jamesboat said:

-Non-reservation dinner options are very poor. Tacos and Noodles closing at 3pm is baffling.

Did you have any options like Razzle Dazzle or was literally everything booked?  I'm wondering if this issue has gotten even worse, it was bad enough when it was slower. 

 

2 hours ago, jamesboat said:

-Not enough space to meet sit-down dining breakfast demand

This is easy for them to solve - they have 3 more restaurants they can open up.  We will see if they do. 

[jamesboat]

13 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

 

Agreed. 

Did you have any options like Razzle Dazzle or was literally everything booked?  I'm wondering if this issue has gotten even worse, it was bad enough when it was slower. 

 

This is easy for them to solve - they have 3 more restaurants they can open up.  We will see if they do. 

 

We recently finished a 5 day sailing

 

Razzle Dazzle did have pretty open availability on the last 3 days, and we did eat there on day 3/5. But the menu is not large enough for repeat visit ( an issue for many of the restaurants, Im curious how a longer voyage would feel)

 

On night 4/5 we simply were not able to get seated anywhere else. Tried standby line as well.

 

Well, Test Kitchen had a 9:30 seating but we had that on night 2 and it was a 2.5 hour experience so we didnt want to try it again so late...

 

Sailing was at 2,650.

[Travel-and-See]

11 hours ago, jamesboat said:

 

We recently finished a 5 day sailing

 

Razzle Dazzle did have pretty open availability on the last 3 days, and we did eat there on day 3/5. But the menu is not large enough for repeat visit ( an issue for many of the restaurants, Im curious how a longer voyage would feel)

 

On night 4/5 we simply were not able to get seated anywhere else. Tried standby line as well.

 

Well, Test Kitchen had a 9:30 seating but we had that on night 2 and it was a 2.5 hour experience so we didnt want to try it again so late...

 

Sailing was at 2,650.

That was pretty much my experience on past sailings. At least with the old menu, I didn't mind repeats at Razzle Dazzle but I was still annoyed with how difficult it is to get reservations at the Wake and Extra Virgin. 

[jame_g]

I agree with a comment I've seen a couple times before, they need an inside Rockstar lounge. The outside area is nice, but there are times its not really usable when it's too windy, rainy, cold, and right after a rain all the seating is wet for a couple hours or more, and sitting on a towel doesn't help much. On one of cruises hardly anyone used it because of the weather conditions many days. A better selection of food wouldn't hurt either, even if it's still small bite "finger food".

 

While the food is great, it would be good to have the menus changed up a bit every several months or so, or at least annually.

 

We enjoyed the food in Gunbae, but we did not enjoy how loud it was or that we had to sit with others. I get that some people love this atmosphere, but it's not great for folks with certain hearing or sensory issues that make it basically intolerable. It would be nice if they could do lunch on sea days or something where the atmosphere was quieter and people were allowed to have their own table. 

 

There are also times for breakfast and lunch where you can't get a seat in the Galley. It would be nice to have another restaurant available at those times, or even grab and go (breakfast) sandwiches, pastries, and coffee/juice at the dockhouse, for example.

[rebeccac]

I wish that the different ships had at least some different restaurants.  A little more variety would be nice.  

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, jame_g said:

It would be nice to have another restaurant available at those times, or even grab and go (breakfast) sandwiches, pastries, and coffee/juice at the dockhouse, for example.

There are pastries at the grounds club of course, but need to pay for coffee there.
 

You can use the seating in Gunbae if The Galley is completely full though. I’ve never had an issue finding space for lunch, but breakfast on some days is harder to get a seat.

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

There are pastries at the grounds club of course, but need to pay for coffee there.
 

You can use the seating in Gunbae if The Galley is completely full though. I’ve never had an issue finding space for lunch, but breakfast on some days is harder to get a seat.

Also, the outdoor part at the back of THe Galley is often pleasant (weather permitting...it is covered, but 95 degrees is not so nice

There are many great ideas on this thread, most of which would not require structural changes to the ships.  I hope someone at VV is paying attention!

[kaysha2004]

If you want Virgin to listen, copy and paste your post and send it to sailorservices@virginvoyages.com.  They say they want to listen to sailor feedback.

 

You can also reach customer service executives by email:

 

Virgin Cruises executive customer service contacts

Primary Contact
Richard Kilman
Vice President
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
richard.kilman@virginvoyages.com

 

Secondary Contact
Brian Crutchfield
Chief of Staff
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
brian.crutchfield@virginvoyages.com

 

Chief Executive
Tom McAlpin
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
tom.mcalpin@virginvoyages.com

[cantgetin]

9 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

If you want Virgin to listen, copy and paste your post and send it to sailorservices@virginvoyages.com.  They say they want to listen to sailor feedback.

 

You can also reach customer service executives by email:

 

Virgin Cruises executive customer service contacts

Primary Contact
Richard Kilman
Vice President
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
richard.kilman@virginvoyages.com

 

Secondary Contact
Brian Crutchfield
Chief of Staff
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
brian.crutchfield@virginvoyages.com

 

Chief Executive
Tom McAlpin
1000 S Pine Island Rd
Plantation, Florida 33324
tom.mcalpin@virginvoyages.com

McAlpin is no longer the CEO, and when he was, he was essentially worthless in responding to issues.  I sent correspondence about a very significant issue with HA boarding, and 4 months later received a ink to a page on their web site which I'd seen prior to our cruise and didn't deal with the issue...sent by one of his minions.

The new CEO is a younger man named Nirmal.

[kaysha2004]

9 hours ago, cantgetin said:

McAlpin is no longer the CEO, and when he was, he was essentially worthless in responding to issues.  I sent correspondence about a very significant issue with HA boarding, and 4 months later received a ink to a page on their web site which I'd seen prior to our cruise and didn't deal with the issue...sent by one of his minions.

The new CEO is a younger man named Nirmal.

Thanks for the correction.  I found a consumer advocate website called www.elliott.org and it stated the info was up to date as of 6/24/24.

[Eric&Pam]

On 8/15/2024 at 10:33 AM, jame_g said:

agree with a comment I've seen a couple times before, they need an inside Rockstar lounge.

 

Starting with Scarlet during her first dry dock, the word is that they will be adding more Rock Star Suites to deck 13 and a Rock Star lounge/concierge.

[Seapals]

The really stupid low box next to the bed.!!!! By now they must realise passengers don’t want the function to change bed to seating .. why not remove it and make space for a second chair or sofa.  Would also remove the big piece of soft furniture from the other side of the bed. 

[CastleCritic]

4 hours ago, Seapals said:

The really stupid low box next to the bed.!!!! By now they must realise passengers don’t want the function to change bed to seating .. why not remove it and make space for a second chair or sofa.  Would also remove the big piece of soft furniture from the other side of the bed. 

 

Unless Im missing your point they would have to completely replace the beds (which is a common idea) since thats also how you get 2 "separate" beds.

[Travel-and-See]

46 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

 

Unless Im missing your point they would have to completely replace the beds (which is a common idea) since thats also how you get 2 "separate" beds.

You could turn that box into a small chair / sofa that moves into the space between the 2 beds maybe?  It is completely wasted space and I agree the rooms need a comfortable place to sit down.  

 

The rooms are really poorly designed to me, they feel cheap and Ikea like, and they are not practical.  But they have everything you need so it gets the job done.  And the lights change colors..... haha. 

[Seapals]

8 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

 

Unless Im missing your point they would have to completely replace the beds (which is a common idea) since thats also how you get 2 "separate" beds.

I thought it was used to turn the double bed into L shaped sofa seating for day use.  Which I have yet to hear someone actually did.  To use the double as two singles surely they could just be separated as other hotels and cruise lines do. A bedside table could go between or at the side of the double.  
How I didn’t break my ankle at night heaven knows.  Can’t imagine what they were thinking!  Are they still keeping the same design for the latest ship?  

[Travel-and-See]

48 minutes ago, Seapals said:

I thought it was used to turn the double bed into L shaped sofa seating for day use.  Which I have yet to hear someone actually did.

That was such a silly idea from the start - there is plenty of room in the cabins for the bed and a a couch just like on other cruise lines.

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, Seapals said:

I thought it was used to turn the double bed into L shaped sofa seating for day use.  Which I have yet to hear someone actually did.  To use the double as two singles surely they could just be separated as other hotels and cruise lines do. A bedside table could go between or at the side of the double.  
How I didn’t break my ankle at night heaven knows.  Can’t imagine what they were thinking!  Are they still keeping the same design for the latest ship?  

You'd think but no thats also how they make it into 2 beds, it doesnt slide over, which yes...would make sense.

 

 

And yes I did convert the bed into a couch...once...that things heavy.

Edited September 2 by CastleCritic