rebeccac

What are the largest size tables in the MDR? We are on the Sun in October with a large group and are trying to figure how many tables we will need to be divided between.

Even if you don't see the lifts, be sure to inquire as on some ships, they are rolled out of the way until needed.

And they are pretty quick about letting the hold on a cruise go once you hit that 24 hrs.

24 hours

The black soap is gone!

Make sure you check the price of the standard interior. Upon occasion, it is cheaper or very closely priced to book the standard interior for 1 person vs. the solo interior.

I would pick the choice with 2 days at Denali because generally when you are only there one day it is much harder to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness tour (which, while it doesn't go as far into the park right now as it used to, still goes farther than the Natural History tour).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even though the renderings showed the coffee machines in all cabins, from the videos I've seen so far of actual cabins, it seems like they are actually only in the full suites????

As far as I know, Viking is the only line that is completely non-smoking.

I just did this recently, but as we have been moving I cannot guarantee that my memory on the process is entirely correct. 🙃 I think I just went to the dining reservations (even though I am on the Sun in October and can't yet make reservations) and picked a random restaurant. Then I hit the button with the pencil and either used the search function or the little person with a plus sign up in the top right corner and added our friend. It does look like when the time comes to make the dining reservations, I will have to hit the button with the pencil and check her name if she will be joining us for that particular meal. Hopefully, I more or less remembered the correct procedure.

From what we were told, the only time O provides any type of children's activities is for the Alaska sailings. And we were on over Christmas/New Year's and there were 50 children (we were told that was a record even for a holiday sailing) and there were still no specific children's activities. Personally, I would never bring a child on O, unless they were the type of kid that can easily amuse themselves.

Just a little side note, we were on the Sirena (sister to the Nautica) over the holidays and were able to lift the bed up a little and fit our full sized luggage under the bed as it was just the frame that was preventing it from going underneath.

I can't speak specifically on the Emerald Princess, but in general on Princess ships if you avoid the outdoor smoking area and the casino (which as far as I know is the only indoor smoking now that they are getting rid of Churchill's), you should be good. I've never known the whole Piazza (atrium) to be smoky, only the area close to the casino should be avoided.

For those who posted the pricing of the Sanctuary cabanas, do you have any idea how many people can be included in that price?

The $100 loot for being gold certified is no longer combinable with the MNVV.

Basically, I think that which cruise line you should look at depends a lot on what you like and don't like about Virgin. Any of the cruise lines mentioned get rid of the stress over dinner reservations and all of them have better pools even the small ships of Oceania. It can also vary somewhat depending on which ship within the cruise line that you are looking at. Personally, I think almost every cruise line has more comfortable beds than the ones in the standard cabins on Virgin, but I know there are others who have no problem with them. And food is so subjective. Two people can eat the exact same thing on the same day on the same ship and have two vastly different opinions. Bottom line is that only you can decide what you like and the only way to know that is to try different lines/ships and form your own opinion. Personally, I have yet to be on a cruise line I would never sail again. Admittedly, I like some more than others, but I truly do not have an absolute favorite.

As far as I know, the time zone that reservations open will be US eastern time no matter where the cruise is sailing. Usually reservations open up somewhere around midnight give or take 1/2 hr.

Celebrity also has much better pools. Princess might be another one to look at. Or Oceania, if you want to step up a bit (although they don't have nearly as much going on due to the ships being smaller - between 650 and 1250 passengers).

On the app, you can skip ahead to the step where you pick your arrival time (it's called "step aboard"). I honestly can't remember if you have to be paid in full or not before you can check in. I've never really paid attention, I just do it as soon as it becomes accessible in the app.

There are a couple of other ways (besides the app to book dining) before you arrive. You can call in to Virgin and they may be able to help you or if you booked through a TA, they can also help you. Some of the restaurants that I find harder to get into at the last minute are Extra Virgin and The Wake. Neither are my personal favorites, but many others love them.

While I am not saying that they are wrong about this necessarily, but VV Insider is not always the most reliable source.

That has never been my experience on any cruise line including NCL. Usually, you must be back on board 1/2 hr. before departure. In tender ports, the important time is whenever the last tender happens which can vary somewhat depending on the port, but even there I have never seen it 2 hrs. before departure.

I second the Flavors of San Juan, they were amazing!

Virgin doesn't require a passport for the closed loop sailings from Miami either.

Gunbae probably does take 2 hours most of the time, but there are many of the meals at the sit down restaurants that take that amount of time or even longer. As far as the drinking game goes, you are not required to actually drink. I get them to fill my shot glass with water. I have also been known to "fail" at the game rather early on, so that I am out quickly. Most of the time the game does not take more than 10 minutes or so.