smart_alec

Thanks, yeah, we noticed as well that there were unadvertised specials. I saw eggs benedict as a special at one of the Galley restaurants (I think the Hot Press one) for breakfast which weren't mentioned anywhere and seemed like you had to walk around to find them. Thanks for confirming!

I booked our upcoming 3/26 cruise on Scarlet Lady with Capital One points. Caught one of the 30% transfer bonuses last year, transferred points instantly and got the key pretty quickly (overnight). Haven't cruised yet but so far seems like a great use of the points. It was also a sign-up bonus for me from Capital Venture X (they had the 100,000 sign up bonus), thanks for 30% transfer bonus have quite a few points leftover in my Capital One account. Looking at cash value would've cost us about $2500 to book the same cruise, so it's a great value as far as I'm concerned.

I'm yet to cruise with VV (my cruise is 3/26 on Scarlet Lady), but so far I'm with OP and I hate how VV does this. I was just surprised by this tonight. My cruise is in two weeks. I didn't even realize dining was open for booking. I just noticed it accidentally in the app. I watched several reviews by YouTubers that apparently were sponsored or invited by VV, and none of them mentioned the fact that restaurants get booked up weeks in advance. They just went on and on about how great the food is and how nice the food and restaurant variety is. I wish one of them actually mentioned the fact that you need to rush and book all the reservations as soon as you can. Like OP, I like to book in advance, and I am stressed out to see everything completely booked out (except for Razzle Dazzle I ended up booking at 9:30pm since it was the earliest available). I also think it's condescending to tell people not to worry about it. Different people approach things differently, and being prepared and organized is very important for some while a complete drag for others. While I'm stuck with this cruise, quite possibly VV is not the right cruise line for me. I do appreciate everyone who contributed something significant to this thread (other than idiotic advice "not worry about it") to put OP's and my mind at ease by explaining that more reservations will open up and talking the restaurant hosts is the best way to secure reservations. In general, I'm pretty frustrated with VV so far. I had no clue that I couldn't check in for the cruise via the web site. I kept checking and checking not understanding why there isn't anything in my account about checking in, and why I didn't get the "it's time to check in" email. Finally (thanks to Cruise Critic) I learned I could check in only via the app. And even after that I didn't realize that the restaurants needed to get pre-booked via the app. I got 20 emails from VV about upgrading my room (no, don't want that). I got 50 emails from VV about pre-paying for booze and getting $50 with the $300 booze purchase. No, I don't want that either. I got zero emails about "it's time to check in" and "it's time to book your dining". I'm also tired of their cutesy web site that goes out of their way to be charming and playful and completely lacking any significant info. Rant over. Sorry, had to vent. 100% with the OP. Hate how VV does this. I hope I will feel differently after the cruise. Not so far though. VV, I hope someone is reading this.

FWIW, I submitted a special assistance request with MSC and they were only marginally helpful. They will have wheelchair personnel only inside of the terminal. They said if my wife needed help outside of the terminal, I'd have to go in and find them myself, or talk to MSC staff posted outside of the terminal and have them call wheelchair assistance. This is definitely a lot worse experience than on our cruises with Royal Caribbean earlier this year. I provided that feedback to them. I will update this thread with our actual experience this Sunday.

Hi all, From reading prior threads it appears it would be 9:30am. I was hoping recent cruises could confirm that. Thanks, Alex

Thank you Silver Sweethearts! You are probably right, though we would hate to drag it with us since normally my wife manages to get around the ship with her cane and the railings, so it would probably just take up space in the cabin. We are not planning on going on any shore excursions on this short trip. I contacted MSC and will see what they have to say. We had great experience with Royal Caribbean so far, good experience with Carnival, and horrible experience with NCL. The jury is still out on MSC.

Hello all, My wife needs wheelchair assistance with embarkation, and our last experience at Port Canaveral was less than ideal. Fortunately there was absolutely no line, so she managed, but the main issue was that there was no wheelchair assistance prior to passing through security screening. The wheelchairs were all the way in the middle of the building. She managed, but if there were any sort of lines outside of the building it would've been horrible for her. Short of taking our own wheelchair (we normally avoid doing that because she can walk a little with her cane), is there any way to get wheelchair assistance outside of the building? I've seen pictures and videos of long lines of people waiting to board, and having experienced that last year with NCL (after which we decided not to ever cruise with them again, but that's a separate story), I really want to avoid that at Port Canaveral. I am able-bodied and don't mind either standing in line or pushing my wife's wheelchair, as long as she has one available. Is there any way to ensure that? And if so, should I contact MSC or Port Canaveral cruise terminal staff? Thanks, Alex

We took 4 cruises with Royal Caribbean out of LA this year (I assume you are going on Navigator of the Seas?). My wife needs wheelchair assistance to board and disembark. The info kokopelli-az provided is mostly accurate. You should ask one of the port employees to point out the exact location to you, but basically there are benches in front of the building entrance where you will seat and wait for someone to come and get you with their wheelchair (unless you are coming with your own). That area is by the small white tent in front of the building, close to where you drop off the luggage and where the lines to board form. There will be two people helping you, port employee and then Royal Caribbean employee as kokopelli-az mentioned. Port employees pushing are not allowed to assist you with luggage (labor union issues). They will not even touch your bags. So you need to be able to handle all carry-on. They will help through security and gangway onto the ship. They will not take you to your cabin. Our cabin wasn't ready when we boarded, so it wasn't really an option. In our case they left us at Bolero lounge, close to the rear elevators. After that it was up to us to figure out how to navigate the ship. My wife can walk short distances with her cane, so we managed. For disembarkation definitely let them know you will need assistance so they will put you on the list. We had to go to the same Bolero lounge to wait for the wheelchair assistance. It was reasonably quick. It's also the same process with two people - Royal Caribbean crew member will take you off of the ship to the port and will "hand you off" to the port worker, who, once again, is not allowed to touch any of your bags. They will get you outside of the building. In our case we were catching Uber, so they got us to the island where you wait. There are no benches on the island, but there are benches by the building, Depending how long you need to wait for your transportation, you may want to ask them to leave you by the benches. You'd just have to cross the road to get to the island if needed.