Travel-and-See

Are people lining up 30 minutes before doors so 1 hour before showtime? Or 30 minutes before showtime? 
 

there seemed to be such little demand for the red room shows on my previous cruises that it’s hard to believe they are really filling up 

Just now, Chrish2 said:

I'm rather miffed about this change. It feels tacky and does not fit into the positioning of line.

One of the mistakes Virgin made was expecting guests to make reservations for shows and restaurants - nobody wants that.  

but nobody wants to line up for shows either - that’s not something that I have to do on other cruise lines. 
 

I’m not sure what the solution is at this point.  

12 minutes ago, aviators99 said:

When was the last time you went?  When I went last January, I was told that there were cost-cutting changes that had just started.  I also saw some videos that showed these changes and the differences in the food, especially the buffet.  

June - on the Millennium.  I definitely saw cuts to the buffet compared to previous Celebrity cruises but the MDR was very good. 

Woah! My MDR meals on Celebrity were way better than that! No wonder you think Virgin is so much better.  
 

11 hours ago, kiefaber455 said:

Just got off an 8 day Valiant Lady cruise...every show, except for a show the first night, people had to stand in line 30-40 minutes to get in, and then there was no guarantee that they would have enough seating

Did any of the red room shows fill to capacity and turn guests away?

2 hours ago, aviators99 said:

Perhaps taken as a whole, that's true.  But for some people, Virgin is better suited than the other lines (and for some people, the other lines are better suited to them).  It's fine to say that "Virgin is beyond compare to other lines", for *you*.  That doesn't mean it will be true for everyone.  But it certainly can be a true statement for that person.  I've tried 3 different lines (all within the past year), and Virgin is beyond compare to Celebrity and Norweigan for me, at least for my small sample of one each of the other two.

Can I ask why? I find Virgin and Celebrity very comparable with Celebrity having nicer rooms, better over all service and Virgin having better quality food and beverage ingredients, better quality entertainment and a lovely lack of announcements, upsells, and children lol.  

On 3/20/2024 at 4:47 PM, raphael360 said:

I’ve never seen Duel Reality completely full even on fully booked sailings. 

I’ve seen it once and that was on a sailing where it was shown 4 times so plenty of other options to see it.  I also think they didn’t turn anyone away just sent them up to the upper seating where they don’t usually seat for that show. 
 

I see it every time I can!

I don’t think any of the red room shows need reservations- it’s big enough to meet the demand.  

I just think it’s funny that so many people act like Virgin is beyond compare to other lines.  They do some things better, and some things worse but at the end of the day it’s pretty much the same.  

8 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Don't play "VV does this better than Disney" or Celebrity does that better than VV.

I do that constantly. When I’m on VV I miss things about Celebrity and when I’m on Celebrity I miss things about VV lol. 
 

im not sure what comparisons shouldn’t be made.  

Been about a year but they used to have an Intelligensia blend specific for Virgin. 
 

I’ve definitely had better coffee on Virgin than on other cruise lines - and the prices are quite reasonable. Literally half the price of Celebrities coffee bar.  

On 4/6/2024 at 6:41 AM, gumshoe958 said:

But know that VV is a very different experience to other lines.

 

I think it’s pretty comparable- nothing that different from my celebrity experiences - pros and cons to both. 

11 minutes ago, Flafun888 said:

Can you share any insights re: the music? I was so close to booking this past week, but then dove into the reviews and read some that said music volume was pounding loud everywhere on the ship and mostly hip hop, EDM and Latin. Did you find that, as well?

 

Did they offer any other music genres on a daily basis? Traditional rock, 80s-00s Top 40; country, blues, jazz, standards - anything? If I'm stuck hearing nothing but hip hop and EDM for most of the trip, that would be pure torture for me - and a deal-breaker, sadly. 😞

All areas of the ship have different styles of background music playing.  They do play louder dance style music as you board and at the sail away and other parties and of course in the dance club.  
 

live music is lots of variety, there is always a solo guitarist on board as well as a guest band.  The bands vary in styles but I’ve seen some excellent musicians on board.  
 

I’ll also mention that the virgin ships are less open than other like celebrity - this means that noise levels don’t affect all areas of the ship. Always easy to find a quiet area to relax 

20 minutes ago, RNPJN said:

But the DBE perks description on the website has never listed that as a perk

I never said that it did. 

18 hours ago, jon81uk said:

That isn’t “lost” it was only for a set period to get more bookings at a certain time.

A Virgin rep did present it to me as though it were a park of the DBE’s 

11 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I’ve priced Virgin a good bit, always higher for comparable balcony cabins per night with common amenities..enjoy, I’ve seen enough you tube videos to think it’s not for me..

I have gotten really good deals on Celebrity, but those Edge class ships are $$$!  I’m also always shopping for solo deals and virgin has better solo pricing so that might make a difference.  
 

I really like both lines.  Celebrity has very consistent service which I love. 

54 minutes ago, D C said:

 we pay our crew Z, but we charge more 

do they? Celebrity prices are climbing pretty high!  

its all optics. I like how virgin does the lack of tipping, but on my last celebrity cruise all my tips came out of OBC so I still didn’t pay. So both can be a win. 

13 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Actually, I think Virgin’s target market is about 1/4 my age! But I can’t find where Virgin has free drinks or much of anything else “free”. I’m probably missing something. But I would feel like I was on a cruise with my grand kids! 

Oh not at all! Virgin is very comparable to Celebrity.  
 

The drinks aren’t free, but you usually will end up with a “bar tab” included.  And additional drinks are reasonably priced.  I’m more of a coffee drinker than anything else and I can tell you that an iced latte on virgin is about half the price compared to celebrity. 

21 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

I wasn't the OP, but I find Virgin to be too "cutesy". Names like "Sailor Loot" instead of straightforward names like OBC really turn me off. And how is anyone supposed to know if Sea Rover is higher or lower than Sea Blazer?

I mean… the silent disco is one of the cheesiest things I’ve seen on a ship haha.  

24 minutes ago, Liao said:

Well being honest. I've never been on a Virgin ship.  I have though watched quite a few videos and from what I have seen, their shows don't really interest me, don't seem to be my thing.  The decor/design of the ship and the staterooms have not wowed me.  I know they do a lot of things right, at least from reviews I've read.  I have one friend who has sailed them really raved about it, but then again they thought Celebrity was way to stuffy, so I can see why Virgin would appeal to them.

You’re definitely right about the staterooms - Celebrity is way nicer and more luxurious feeling.  Also just better designed to be useful.  I also really like all the unique art on Celebrity ships - virgin has some pretty generic looking spaced in comparison.  
 

entertainment, for me, is way better on Virgin.  The Duel Reality Circus show is the best thing I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship and even the musicians in the bars are way better than a typical cruise.  
 

celebrity, to me, has theme park level production shows and a total gamble on guest entertainers.  

2 minutes ago, Liao said:

I've no interest in sailing Virgin,

Can I ask why? Since this is in the Celebrity section my cruise lines of choice are Celebrity and Virgin and I find them very comparable.

definitely some things that both lines get right and wrong but no tips, no charge for Wi-Fi, no drink packages, etc. are huge wins for me. 

7 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

so,  you PREPAY the gratuities on Virgin.

And if Virgin pays their staff a fair wage, why the gratuities?

No, you aren’t pre-paying anything. No gratuities are added on to your bills.  Virgin pays their staff more than other cruise lines.  They also let staff have visible tattoos, fun hair, and they provide them with free wi-fi. They take better care of their staff.  

If you don’t pre-pay before your cruise they will take tips out of any OBC you may have.  On my last cruise I didn’t pay any tips and still got a couple pairs of socks from the gift shop and a couple of drinks and still had $7 leftover!

2 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

Drinks are not free at the PJ party, however the Grog Walk final stop is there so I could see that as confusing with a group of people being handed a drink. 

It may be inconsistent- my first cruise drinks were free at Untitled and the second cruise they weren’t. 

47 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Omg!  duh… I have no idea why none of us thought to put the carafes in the cooler!

Same! On my first cruise I never thought of it either.
 

On my second cruise I asked for sparkling water and my attendant said “would you like me to put that in the refrigerator for you so it stays cold” and I was like…. Yes. And why didn’t I think of that!? Haha.  

3 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Lots of thumbs up for Celebrity on this thread.  However, we sailed with them recently and it was not so great. 

 

Undoubtedly it depends on which ship you sail on and your cabin category.

 

Looking forward to our first VV cruise coming up soon !

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how you like Virgin. Based on some of your complaints on the equinox, I’m not sure if Virgin will be your style but maybe you’ll love it.