brilliantseas

Slam Allen is indeed still onboard Valiant Lady. He's the late night musician at On the Rocks at the bottom of the spiral staircase. We haven't seen him yet, but will make a point to see him tomorrow night based upon your recommendation.

Fast forward to this morning (day 2/sea day) and I had the opportunity to take part in the Plate, Snap, Eat: Foodie Photo Workshop at Test Kitchen at 10:00 am. Hosted by Ryan the Foodie and Joel the Hype, this event was a blast. It also sold out early on embarkation day, but we ended up with only 8 of us in the class, which takes place in the Test Kitchen on Deck 6. This event involves plating and photography tips for two brunch dishes: avocado toast and raspberry macaroons. It also includes two courses that you don't plate; esquites and tuna civiche from the Pink Agave menu. Also included is unlimited champagne and a cocktail made from cherry cocktail base and champagne. They always make sure you have a full glass; I think I had five during the session, plus a bonus glass of champagne which we were encouraged to take with us at the end of the nearly two hour class. The cost of this workshop is $35, but it was well worth it! Ryan and Joel were both amazing, as was the interaction with the rest of the group. Pictured below are a few of my very poor creations.

After spending some time watching SPF5 finish their set, we retreated to our Sea Terrace for a bit to relax. GF enjoyed some more time in the hammock. I think we're both ready to take one of these home, if only it came with an ocean view! At 10:45, it was time to head down to The Manor for Never Sleep Alone. We were fortunate enough to catch some cancellations and be able to book a reservation late in the evening. This allowed us to bypass the very long stand-by line and enter through the main entrance in the casino. The entrance is instagram-worthy. After just a few minutes, we were seated to the right of the stage at a table for two. This show is rated R and involves audience participation. The show is combination musical, sex seminar, and audience participation variety act. It is a little more "adult" than the Love and Marriage Show you might find on one of the mainstream cruise lines, but you'll probably still see less than you might during a game of "The Quest" on Carnival or Royal Caribbean, depending upon who is hosting. It should be noted that reservations for this show fill up fast; it was originally sold out within 45 min of embarkation, although cancellations do create opening later. There is only one showing of Never Sleep Alone on each cruise. If you want to participate on stage, tell the host seating you that you are adventurous and would like to sit close to the stage. It also helps if you "dress the part," which might include being pre-dressed for the PJ Party that follows. If you're fearful that you might get called on stage, rest assured thar Virgin Voyages doesn't pressure anyone to participate and telling the host that you are "less adventurous" when seated will all but guarantee that you won't be called upon during the show.

After dinner, we caught house band SPF5 playing at On the Rocks at the bottom of the spiral staircase.

Out dinner reservations were at 8:00 at Extra Virgin, the ship's Italian restaurant. All of the restaurants on Virgin Voyages are included in the cruise fare. Both the service and the food were excellent. We shared a calimari appetizer along with an Affettati Misti (cured meat) platter with prosciutto, two kinds of salami, three kinds of cheese, mixed nuts, wildflower honey, eggplant caponata, and pear mostarda with grilled bread. GF had the potato gnocchi with hen of the woods mushrooms, spinach, and truffle butter sauce and a spatchcocked chicken with piccata sauce. I had grilled sea bass with yukon potatoes and fennel and the spaghetti with little neck clams in white wine sauce. For dessert, we split an order of bombolini and each had an affogato from the affogato trolley. Shayla had the chocolate hazelnut gelato with chocolate chips and espresso, and I had the whiskey crema gelato with espresso. From the focaccia bread service to the cured meats, the fresh-made pasta, the perfectly cooked sea bass, and the wonderful desserts, I can say that while the dining experience is more casual, the food rivaled only one other restaurant across all of the cruises I've sailed, with that being Palo on the Disney Wonder. Considering that Palo is a $45 upcharge per person on Disney Cruise Line, and Extra Virgin (and all of the dining onboard Virgin Voyages) is included in the fare, I think this meal speaks volumes of the emphasis that Virgin Voyages has placed on the culinary experience onboard. We can't wait to try Razzle Dazzle, Gunbae, and Pink Agave later in the week!

We missed the formal sail-away celebration at the pool, which included red and white streamers and along with the live dancers by the pool. I don't recall seeing this on the daily event line-up, but be aware that it is going on. We opted for a quiet place on deck 15 to watch sail-away. At the conclusion of sail-away, the outdoor bars on deck 15 and 16 had complimentary champagne, with a few roaming cocktail servers on each deck. We each had two complimentary glasses as we exited PortMiami. The entertainment cast gathers on deck 16 for introductions. We passed the MSC, Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean terminals as we exited the channel.

We stopped by The Dock before Sail-Away for some tapas and drinks. They have a grab-and-go cooler with wraps, salads, and snacks/dips. We tried the pomegranate and walnut dip. Outside, they offer made-to-order hot tapas as well as cold tapas from the mezze cart. We ordered two plates of the grilled shrimp skewers and a plate of the grilled octopus. Cocktails included a passion fruit tequila-based cocktail and a gin-based cocktail with lemon juice and honey. I don't recall the names, but both were very good. We enjoyed the views while awaiting sail-away.

The coffee bar is prepared to meet your caffeine needs. They also offer a selection of pastries. The Social Club offers board games, air hockey, and a full arcade of classic 1980s games. They also serve up popcorn, pretzels, and gourmet hotdogs, as well as a case of house-made candies (included) and adult boozy milkshakes (extra charge).

A few more photos from The Galley. We stopped at Lick Me 'Til Ice Cream for a quick treat. Pictured below is they Key Lime Pie ice cream on a regular cone. We enjoyed it while sitting on these comfortable benches which surround the central staircase on deck 6.

Inside The Galley, VV answer to the buffet. Aside from the grab-and-go section, you are welcome to take a seat and a server will come to your table to take your order and bring your food to the table. There is no traditional "buffet" service on Virgin Voyages.

There are only 800 sailors onboard this sailing, or around 30% of the ship's 2,700 capacity. What an incredible experience the first 22 hours have been! Here are a few photos from our first walk around the ship on embarkation day.

Thank you for the great advice!

We are booked in a standard Sea Terrace cabin at the aft of the ship. The "Magic Curtains" did not work for the grand reveal, but the room is still nice enough for a four night sailing. The closet space might be tight for a longer sailing. There are two small baskets behind the curtain. The bathroom is small, however I like the layout. The glass shower door and the rain shower head are much appreciated by someone who is 6'3" and often has to duck in other cruise ship showers. Our favorite feature thus far is the hammock chair. I don't think I'm going to be able to get close to it as GF has already claimed it as her "spot" for the remainder of the cruise. Not pictured, the Sea Terrace also includes two metal chairs and a small cocktail table.

More descriptions of the shows we booked, as well as a few that were already sold out. Update: While browsing to capture screenshots we lucked into more availability for Never Sleep Alone around 3:50 on embarkation day. This show only runs once per cruise. 50 Shades of Play is still sold out.

Once onboard, our first stop was our cabin to drop off bags and immediately jump on wifi to book shows and classes. You can imagine our surprise to find several shows and classes, including the Grog Walk, the Never Sleep Alone show, both bungee fitness classes, the "Tarot and Tea" class, and Dr. A's "Fifty Shades of Play" show already sold out less than 45 minutes after boarding started. And this ship is nowhere near full! It just shows how small the venues are and/or how popular these activities are. We're disappointed that Virgin doesn't recognize this and add more sessions for all of the above. We did score reservations for Duel Reality and It's a Ship Show on Thursday (sea day), and Untitled Dancepartyshowthing on Saturday (Bimini). In addition, we both booked a $35 per person Shot for Shot Mixology Photography class in the Test Kitchen on Thursday afternoon, and I grabbed the last available space in the Plate, Snap, Eat: Foodie Photography class on Thursday morning. The Mixology class sold out by 3:30 on embarkation day.

We made it Miami! We're officially onboard. I had a 1:30 boarding appointment and due to issues with the app, GF wasn't able to get one until 2:15. We arrived at luggage drop off at around 1:50 and were pleased to find very few cars and no wait. We parked on the first level of the garage for $22 per day and were across the street in no time. No wait outside or inside the terminal. Everyone was greeting us and waiving us inside. Boarding supposedly started at 1:30. We stopped for quick photos with the "True Love" anchor. Check-in was a breeze. A quick scan of the passports and activation of our bracelets and we were immediately through security and onto the ship!

Quick update on the app issues. They have still not been able to resolve the dining reservation issues in the app after four calls and they seem to be making things worse rather than better. I can only see a single reservation for Extra Virgin on Wednesday and a reservation for Pink Avave on Saturday in the app, yet Sailor Services now shows a total of 7 reservations across the four days, and they still haven't been able to get my GF onto any of the reservations. Their solution is just to have me show up for my reservation for one and tell them I need a table for two. While this will work for dining, it has me nervous if we run into the same issue with her not being able to reserve shows or be added to my show reservations. I suspect our first stop once onboard will be Sailor Services to get all of our reservations on paper. On a positive note, Sailor Services was able to process my loyalty match while I was on the phone, as well as add the missing sailor loot from referrals. I now have the following: 2x $50 Refer a Friend Sailor Loot credits 1x $200 Sailor Loot credit (assuming this is loyalty bonus, but not sure where it came from?) 1x $300 Free Bar Tab (Most Incredible Offer Ever booking promotion) 1x $100 Bonus Free Bar Tab (assuming this is also loyalty?) In addition, I have Deep Blue Extras for loyalty, which includes free premium wifi, 2 free pressed laundry items, 1 free eco-clean item, a free bag of laundry, and a $10 per day specialty coffee credit, as well as other surprise perks. I'm impressed by all of the perks. Needless to say I don't think I'll be spending much out-of-pocket on this 4-night cruise! We may even get to take home some free souvenirs!

The ships are very similar, with Horizon receiving minor upgrades as the second ship in the class. The aft extended family harbor balconies are only on Horizon; these cabins are Oceanview only on Vista. If you like a large balcony with full sun, these cabins are awesome, even for someone without children. I would take either of these ships over the Panorama, which replaced the IMAX theater with a trampoline park. I wish Carnival would have carried over the movie theaters to the newer ships, but I guess they didn't generate enough revenue relative to the space they take up.

I would imagine CBP dictates which terminals are equipped with the facial recognition hardware, with priority given to the terminals with the largest ships for most efficient processing. The Virgin terminal and ships are some of the smallest at Port Miami. It'll expand everywhere with time. Cruises that stop in certain ports also receive a higher level of screening than others; for example sailings that stop in Belize and Honduras have elevated CBP screening, presumably for drug and cash smuggling. This slows down debarkation. I'm not sure which, if any ports, VV stops at, require the elevated screening, but it may also play into which sailings get facial recognition screening followed by a quick wave through the terminal vs. a full manual screening / questioning by CBP?

Can't wait to board on Wednesday! How full was your sailing? Did it feel crowded for activities (trivia, breakfast in The Galley, etc.)? Which shows would you recommend booking?

Check-in is officially complete! Unlike other cruise lines, it is done exclusively on the app. Speaking of the app, it has proven to be quite "buggy". I've already called Sailor Services Tech Support once and need to call a second time. Here is what we've encountered: 1. App runs quite slow in general. It takes roughly 10 seconds to load a new page despite being on 300mbps wifi. Not a huge issue, just annoying when trying to look for dining reservations. 2. During the check-in process, one of the steps requires you to take a photo of your passport. It then automatically lifts the information from your passport into the app form. This does not work well. It read my date of birth and passport number wrong and couldn't read the date of issuance at all. Perhaps these should remain manual entry fields. 3. Adding a second passenger really messed up the dining reservation tool. Despite being able to see my GF with a "+" icon next to her, it won't let me add her to any dining reservations, new or existing. She also isn't able to make her own dining reservations. I also tried canceling all of my reservations and re-booking them. It allowed me to make a new reservation for myself, but once again gave error messages any time she was added. I called Tech Support and found out that all of the canceled reservations that had disappeared from my "My Agenda" in the app were still showing up as reservations on the back end. He deleted the duplicates and added GF as a second person to each reservation manually. He told me the changes should be reflected in the app if I uninstalled and re-installed the app. 4. The un-install/re-install trick kind of worked. I can now see the new, non-duplicated reservations for three of the four days. The Test Kitchen reservation doesn't show up at all. The other three appear on my agenda, but still only appear as a reservation for one. GF isn't able to see my reservations or make any of her own on the app. All of these error messages and items failing to appear in the "My Agenda" section have me nervous that we'll run into the same issue when trying to reserve shows upon boarding. For anyone not already familiar, many of the shows book up completely in the first 1-2 hours of boarding, even before everyone has had the opportunity to board the ship and sign into wifi. The last thing I want to do is have to wait in line at Sailor Services only to find out that they aren't able to help because the shows are already full. I'll be calling Tech Support again this afternoon to try to resolve the app errors. For a cruise line that relies exclusively on the app to tell you what is going on and schedule reservations for dining and shows, it is frustrating to have it work so poorly. I hope others have a better experience.

We're booked on the "Our Most Inclusive Offer Ever" promotion, which advertises 60% off second sailor and free drinks up to $600. In reality, the only price difference for the Lock-In Rate Ltd. View Sea Terrace category from one passenger to two was the tax and port fees, amounting to around $180. Adding GF as a second passenger only took about six minutes on the phone with Sailor Services. Since this is only a four-night sailing, the free drinks offer is worth $300 in free bar tab, which was added to my (first passenger) onboard account in the app. I also received a $50 "Sailor Loot" onboard credit for linking my reservation with another sailor under the "Sail with Friends" promotion. Be sure to check out that thread on the VV boards for referral links for booking your sailing to receive the free Sailor Loot.

Update: GF decided she couldn't resist the temptation and was approved for the extra three days off of work, so she'll now be flying in Tuesday night and joining me for both the Valiant Lady and Carnival Celebration sailings. This is officially no longer a "solo" sailing, but I'll still try to do my best to document our experience. Don't forget to follow along.