CruisingWalter

We ended up hiring a Lyft to get us back because the shuttle just stopped coming after 1:30p. We waited till 2:30, and when no shuttle came back we called a Lyft that we shared with another couple that was stranded there. VV apologized and gave us onboard credit for the mistake. They said the shuttle is supposed to run until at least 3:00pm if not later. Lyft is super easy, hundreds of them in Miami.

Well then you honestly have to decide if VV is the right cruise line for you. If this is going to cause so much stress and anxiety, perhaps stick to another cruise line with more traditional reservations and dining. For me it's all about the quality of the food. There is no mainstream cruise line that comes close to the quality of the food you're given onboard Virgin Voyages and we've sailed 8 different lines now. Disney is the closest for overall food quality, but not all of the dining is included like VV. Dining and where I'm going to eat is the least of my worries onboard any cruise ship. I'm never going to go hungry. If I can't get into The Wake until 9p I'll grab a little something in The Galley or graze on an amazing pizza. But as others have noted, Walk Up is available each evening, more reservations are available once onboard and you will get to each in the restaurant of your choice. It just may not be at the exact time or day you were planning on. But then that happens to us on every cruise, every cruise lines.

I don't think so, that's a separate purchase to my knowledge. But I cannot find any specifics on the VV website regarding the Bar Tab and pairings.

This is the advice I give to all my friends who go on VV and may have extra bar tab on the last night. Just buy bottles to take home from the bar.

It's not the best champagne. We went to the champagne happy hour one night, but it wasn't really worth it so we skipped it the rest of the cruise.

Go through a Travel Agent, who can select a cabin for you, or call Virgin and book through them. That's the only way to get a specific cabin. We always go through a TA.

When a cruise line excursion is cancelled, it's usually refunded back to your account almost immediately, certainly by the end of the current day. It's an automatic thing in our experience across every cruise line. Not sure why it would take any amount of time in this case. If it's a third party excursion then you're subject to whatever refund rules they have.

We had a great time on the Mardi Gras. Shaq's Chicken is honestly addictive, so freakin' good and BlueIguana is far superior to El Loco Fresh and don't even get me started about the pizza. The pizza on Mardi Gras was miles ahead of Sorrentos. We sailed with 5900 and the ship never really felt that crowded though there were a few bottlenecks. The Oasis class ships definitely spread people around even better. The Carnival App works so much better than Royal's for dining. No need to line up at the MDR or any restaurant. Simply check the app that you're ready to go to dinner and the app will notify you when your table is ready. Then you have 10 minutes to get to the restaurant. So easy, we loved it. With the addition of the Costa ships, Carnival has been adding some really interesting itineraries such as the Australia to Seattle repositioning and some new Pan-Asian itineraries. They're definitely leaning a bit more into longer and more unique itineraries. We've sailed 8 cruise lines, variety is fun!

Well it was TEA. Of COURSE it was meh. 🤣 I do like tea but would not go to a tea tasting. I'm hoping this is better. 🙂

That's a hint that a Group Booking is in play from a Travel Agency, nothing nefarious from Princess. Travel Agents can hold large blocks of cabins for a pre-determined length of time, often 30 days. At the end of that 30 days they can request an extension or simply set up another Group with the same block of cabins. Why would Princess want to block out cabins that can be sold? Makes no sense for Princess or any cruise line to turn away people who are ready to book right now.

Could be a large travel agency has secured a block of cabins. Could be that Princess is considering a Category realignment. What has your Travel Agent said, can they see the cabins you want to book? We've always booked through a TA and have never had an issue booking specific cabins.

Our experience on Sky Princess was the complete opposite last week. We've been cruising near 20 years across 8 different cruise lines and Sky reminded us of everything we love about Princess. Outstanding service, outstanding food and a beautiful ship. The Royal Class was certainly a step above what we're used to from Princess and miles above the other 3 cruise lines with MDRs that we've sailed since the restart. Caribbean Princess is an older ship but she was refurbished in 2019. It should not look bad at all being that recent and with the 2 year lay off. That being said, I've heard multiple complaints about that specific ship from friends recently. Celebrity is a fabulous cruise line with beautiful pools and a similar MDR to Princess. Or consider Virgin Voyages which hands down has the best food at sea right now and one of the most fun crews at sea as well. Beautiful ships too.

This is what made me squeal today... 🙂

Until Final Payment is made, all categories can have cabins reappear due to people cancelling before final payment. After final payment, Sold Out is generally Sold Out.

Just out from Virgin Voyages, their teaser for 2023 Entertainment. https://www.virginvoyages.com/l/entertainment-2023

Nice, standard procedure for an incident like this. We've been on at least one cruise that sailed immediately after an outbreak and this is exactly what they did on that ship as well. The first 3-4 days all service in the buffet is done by the staff. And then it starts to loosen up. That 'outbreak' was quite minor and honestly if folks would just wash their hands and sanitize properly, it would all be good. Personally I would not mind if the buffet switch to full service instead of self serve. The unsanitary practices from people have returned even post pandemic based on what I saw on the Sky Princess last week. Reaching in with their hands to grab food, tasting things with the tongs, etc... You just shake your head and ask the servers to remove items before someone gets sick.

Guaranteed cabins have to be filled. Then they hold some cabins for "upgrade bidding." Once that time has passed, then they may open some of the cabins back up. Not Available generally means there is a possibility the category may open up again. Sold Out generally means that category is now completely closed. They won't be Sold Out until after final payment.

We literally just got off that ship, so incredibly beautiful. If you have not watched Ben and David's tour of the ship yet, you really should. We watched it, and their entire Sky Princess vlog series to get a sense of the ship and the crew. Sky was our 5th Princess cruise, our first Royal Class ship and our first Princess ship since the restart. +1 to the folks above who said to book the MDR in advance. If you can get a restaurant other than Cielo, I would recommend that. Cielo has a very small and congested lobby area outside the restaurant. It's a lovely restaurant and the staff is amazing in all of them, but if you don't want to be in a crowded area before dinner, I would suggest the other two if you can get them. I don't know what your dietary/medical needs are but I can tell you we were absolutely impressed with Princess' labeling of the food, especially in the buffet where meat products, wheat, gluten and other ingredients were clearly labeled on those food items. In the MDR, the service was impeccable as to be expected from Princess and the quality of the MDR food far surpassed that of the other 3 cruise lines we've sailed since the restart who have MDRs. If you can eat pizza, Alfredo's Pizzeria is a must. We've always enjoyed the poolside pizza at Slice, but Alfredo's could easily be an upcharge restaurant, but it's included. The only thing I didn't get to try that week was the calzone, next time! Crown Grill was a much improved dinner over our last dinner there on the Crown Princess. Everything was simply delicious. Our shipmates did Bistro Sur Le Mar and said it was amazeballs. The Cruise Director staff is amazing and if you are a fan of trivia or fun audience participation games, Princess Live! has a slew of events during the day and into the evening that are a blast. And if you fancy a good cocktail, Good Spirits Bar on deck 6 in the Piazza is the best bar on the ship and my second favorite bar at sea. Especially if Eliot is still there, one of the best bartenders I've met in my almost 20 years of cruising, and he's from London. 🙂 Have an amazing time! And here's Ben and David's tour: https://youtu.be/6DIkBuiHcjk

In our case it was in Princess Live! during Trivia or game events each time. Specific venue with specific staff with a specific bar serving. We saw them delivering all around us, but somehow our drinks we 'delivered' to a phantom location. 🙂

Wow, that is a very small selection indeed. You'll run out of options quickly on any cruise line (or any resort for that matter) with someone who has such a limited set of choices.

Uplift allows you make payments over a longer period, even after the travel is completed. This is really nice for folks who want to take longer travel trips or upgrade to higher level cabins but want more time to spread out the payments. As for the OP, you can go through Uplift directly or through a Travel Agent that has a partnership with them.

I've been wondering that for years. P&O has what looks like amazing Indian restaurants but so far, no mainstream U.S. based cruiseline has introduced an Indian restaurant. Celebrity does a specialty Indian dinner on their ships for longer itineraries. But that's just converting one of their restaurants for one night. I would totally welcome a true Indian restaurant onboard.

Food quality in the MDR was on point for the most part. You don't appreciate how good the Princess MDR service and food are until you cruise other lines for comparison. (we've cruised 8 different lines, four since the restart) Medallion is fantastic for entry and purchases. It didn't work for us for drink service as our drinks were 'delivered' to unknown persons meaning we had to go to the bar to actually get our drinks, but otherwise I much prefer this to the cards. +1 on the coffee quality in the buffet vs. the syrup. Still not great, but at least drinkable now. Alfredo's is a welcome addition to the fleet. We always enjoyed the poolside pizza, but Alfredo's could easily be an upcharge and we would still go there. So good. Good Spirits Bar. Awesome to finally have a good, craft cocktail bar in the fleet. When we sailed Crown in 2018 I literally could not get a decent Old Fashioned in any bar. Good Spirits is on par with the World Class Bar on Celebrity. Such a great bar with good staff and amazing drinks. Crown Grill is greatly improved over our last experience. In fact we were not going to visit based on our last experience on Crown Princess, but our friends convinced us to go on Sky Princess and it was delightful. Original Shows are still amazing and probably the most underrated thing about Princess Cruises. They're now incorporating some new tech as well as delving into some more modern and 'younger' storylines such as 5 SKIES leaning into Ready Player One. The Spotlight Bar show that just debuted on Sky Princess is fantastic. I have no idea how the performers memorize the songs and choreography for three original shows. They're great.

Just off the Sky Princess, first Princess cruise since 2018 and 5th cruise since the restart. I honestly forgot how good the MDR is on Princess and you really don't appreciate how good the service and food are until you sail some of the other lines for comparison. We ate in the MDR three nights and most everything we had was good. I appreciate the pared down menu so they can concentrate on making fewer dishes better vs. having an overly large menu. And for those complaining they can't order the 'every day eats' that use to be on the menu, you absolutely can, you just have to ask your server. Honestly, I'd recommend anything you fancy. The souffles were still amazing for dessert. Meats and fish cooked well, sides flavorful. Servers still very helpful and honest, if something is not quite up to par on the menu in their opinion, they will tell you. We were a table of four each evening, usually all four of getting different mains and the only minor complaint was one of my salmon dishes was a touch overcooked.

Nope, you can watch them setting it up. The tower is completely built for each waterfall. Waterfall was present on the Sky Princess last week, first formal night.