jon81uk

Also although capacity is 2800 I doubt it ever will be as that assumes every room has the full number of guests. With solo travellers in double rooms I don’t think they will get more than 2500 realistically. So those recent cruises with 2200 is probably about as busy as it will get. I was on the Valiant transatlantic and it was about 1200-1300 as some got off early. Was on Scarlet Lady in August and only 900. I agree about the shows issue, they need to find a better way to communicate and fill every seat. Most groups left seats between them so could have fitted a lot more guests in despite it being listed as sold out. The Galley does have issues as many have stated but I’m not sure it’s just when busy. Can be hard getting an order taken when quiet too. Also at times food can sit out going cold waiting to be bussed to tables and there are no heat lamps for plated food as the counters weren’t designed to be used for waited service. I think they need to redesign the space with some counters clearly walk up and get this and then other items order on your phone or go to the specific order location. Then either get a pager to go collect when ready or better waited service.

Don’t set your expectations too high, I couldn’t tell the banana was roasted. It was about four slices of ripe banana in fairly average French toast with Nutella spread on it with some strawberries on the side.

Yep they OP was surprised you couldn’t get housekeeping twice a day. Whereas you were asking about changing between bed and sofa. I was clarifying that they will enter the room multiple times a day if needed to change the bed configuration. The room attendant will change between bed and sofa if you ask by pushing the button on the tablet. But they won’t do normal housekeeping tasks twice a day unless asked.

I’ve not played myself but some people we met onboard were. You can convert loot to promo credit to play in the machines or promo chips, these cannot be cashed out, only the winnings can. pretty sure the 7% fee only applies to loading new money, not promotional loot.

If you want the bed converted you push the option on the tablet in the room or on the app and the host/attendant is notified to come and do it. They only clean the room once a day but if there is anything else you need you just need to ask. Same as a hotel really. We had the bed converted to sofa and back a few days just by tapping the option in the app. One day we forgot to tap for it to be converted back to bed and it was done anyway.

Pretty sure Razzle Dazzle now just serves one menu straight through breakfast to brunch too.

Walk up or short notice reservations are often possible for brunch at the Wake and Razzle Dazzle but you can book once onboard. Not sure if number of bookings is restricted, but given walk up is often possible you should be okay.

Every room does have a steward you can ask for more water, towels, the bed to change to a sofa etc. It’s not just for suites. Pretty certain that’s a stander thing on all cruise lines not just Virgin? I’m not disputing that they need to run more showings of some shows, but that member of staff that guessed at the room capacity was wrong, just a rough count of seats and the number of rows I got to around 300 when onboard. I think most of the shows should be on 2-3 times a week to ensure everyone has a chance to see them. Realistically the capacity of the ship might be 2800 but there will never that many guests onboard due to solo travellers etc. but they do need to ensure they have capacity for the 1200-2000 range that they are getting.

We were also in one of these rooms too and I didn’t take any pictures in the room. The ottoman took up the same space as the chair would have really. We mainly used it to store clothes to be honest. Main issue is that if you sit on the ottoman it’s just a solid wall on your back. But we sat on the bed, or got the bed converted to sofa and sat there.

there are several indoor bars, Loose Cannon, Draft Haus, The Dock House as well as the Social Club area in addition to Sip, On the Rocks and the Casino bar. Although the Red Room isn’t massive it holds a lot more than 200, I would estimate 400-500. Did you try for walk up at the shows? The Manor holds less for caberet but can be possible to find odd spaces and some shows aren’t ticketed at all. I’ve never experienced robotic service at Test Kitchen, all our servers were friendly and wanted to chat. The B menu (salmon, lamb etc) isn’t as good as A (mushroom, pea, veal) but was worth trying. why do you need fresh towels in the evening? Do you change them twice a day st home? If that’s a big deal there is a button on the tablet and app. But I’m fine in all hotels to just get my room straightened once a day and towels changed every few days.

You might be able to buy bar tab on the website, but we got payment errors a few times. Phone can be more reliable.

Apparently the combination of the medical theme and the small size meant it was inappropriate to open the space due to covid.

I got dessert with Happy Birthday on the plate. I also got a bottle of wine and a card from sailor services, but I think that’s because my husband mentioned my birthday it when complaining about something else!

You know it’s possible to fly into Miami? people come there for the Caribbean weather. What would the reason to sail out of LA be? The wealthy will travel to where they want to vacation, being able to board a few minutes from home is more relevant to those who can’t afford to fly. It’s also obvious you haven’t actually been onboard VV ships. Razzle Dazzle isn’t actually that vegetarian focused, with the “secret” steak and butter chicken dishes there are now more meat main courses than vege. Dont think there are that many of the exclusive experiences either, mostly it is a small magic show. If you can get Korean BBQ at home then having a not quite so great one on a cruise isn’t an exciting experience.

Leave the luggage with the bell services at the hotel and go explore Miami, collect the luggage and go board the ship. I didn’t find it a problem. We checked out early so we could go get breakfast and then explore. I do like the late checkout on the ship though, as if you have a late flight finding luggage storage might be a pain.

I would guess the European ones don’t need people to disembark for passport control as you stay within Europe the whole time. Whereas the cruises out of Miami stop in Mexico or Puerto Rico and the Bahamas therefore as you’ve left the USA passport control probably want to do checks.

In the restaurants yes you order as normal with a server. At the Galley it is layed out like a food court, but servers come to the table to take orders for most things, except pastries, cakes, salads and bento boxes where you either select yourself or point at it and the person behind the counter plates it for you. At the pizza place you order at the counter and get a pager to go back to the counter and collect the pizza.

They have prices for half bottles listed on several menus including The Manor and the Beach Club, I wouldn’t expect them to vary there will be a set price.

Pretty sure anything bought at the duty free alcohol store, or in port will be kept until the last night, you can’t drink it onboard. The Manor menu does have bottle service prices so that might give an indication of prices for bottles to drink onboard. For example Johnnie Walker is $65 for a half bottle. https://profcruise.com/virgin-voyages-bar-menus-and-drink-prices/

From the VV app Eatery Booking RestrictionWe limit Sailors to one dinner reservation per eatery during short voyages (1-5 days) and three dinner reservations per eatery on longer sailings (6+ days). If you loved it, we always reserve some walk-ins, so you can pop by for a chance to return. so on a six night trip you should be able make multiple reservations and not have to try for walk ups.

I’ve noticed security in The Manor and at the pool party before, but nothing significantly more than you’d expect at any other nightclub type situation. Didn’t notice them by the pool in the daytime before. At Bimini Beach Club the security are provided by resorts world and I did see them escorting people out who were staying at a different resort and therefore shouldn’t have been in the beach club.

onboard IT is great, the managed to resolve issues we had on Valiant Lady. only catch I think is some of the customer service before boarding, the wait times are crazy and if something does go wrong it can be hard to speak to someone.

Currently shows as £235 for me. but can only buy online for the next voyage. If you want to purchase for future ones you’ll need to call.

I was just saying this today, I’d be quite happy scanning a code, inputting the table number and ordering from a website. Also I think the Galley should have been designed so that the counters where you walk up are located together and the hot food counters should have been smaller with online ordering.

There are six hot tubs in total, two mid ship next, two near the aft and two in Richard’s Rooftop for suite guests only. Then there is a jacuzzi pool midship. We’ve got about 900 guests and there has always been room in the pools and loungers available. If you want to sunbathe there were loads of loungers on deck 16 above the pools.