cantgetin

Wifi in the Caribbean is supposedly good. Wifi in the Barcelona area was good, but in Funchal and nearby was so-so, and crossing the Atlantic is pretty minimal. I can get emails but no photos, videos, or such.

45 in regular cabins, 30 in Rockstar suites. We've had no problem with altering reservations on the ship when we've changed our minds about something or found a conflict with various shows. The problem with booking in advance is that you can't see the show schedule that early....so grab the restaurants you want and know you can change. You can book on the app or by calling VV

On the TA on Valiant right now. They are "out" of lots of things. We kept hearing that they'd be restocking at our various ports before we headed out to sea, but there is no evidence that anything changed. It certainly wasn't like "we're out of X" and 2 days later they had it!

True that Virgin's suites don't give you much. There is no "ship within a ship" concept. Basically, you get more space and some complimentary alcohol; how much depends on the level of suite you choose. Best thing about Virgin is no kids.

On Valiant now. What I'd like is consistency in many little things. For example, I like ice tea with lemon and splenda. Some of the sit down restaurants have tea with no "fixings," others have exactly what I want, Razzle Dazzle has tea with lemon but no sweetener, etc. Some restaurants have salt on the tables, others do not. My friend loved the margarita in Pink Agave, so tried to order it at a regular bar. THe response was that it was only available in that restaurant. After the first week's book club, some sailors were allowed to pass on the book to other interested people with a promise that it would be returned to Sailor Services, while others were told that it had to be turned in on that day. It is less that there is a right or wrong answer to any of these little things as much as it is that the response/availability seems to differ based on who or where you ask.

Not to discourage anyone, but this cruise is already quite heavily booked. If you want a choice of cabin type, you might want to jump in quickly.

On the food blackout.....today is the first of our 8 consecutive sea days on the TA crossing. Closing time for all The Galley outlets which normally close at 2 has been extended to 3pm. This was planned in advance as it is in the printed daily schedule as well as in the app. I have no idea whether this time change will continue, but at 2 today, it was quite full.

On Valiant this week--the cruise immediately following OP's. There is NO diet coke on board. Even the bar supplies from the "guns" seem to have run out and we are getting coke zero almost everywhere. They began telling us that they would be restocking at each port, but today was our last port. We did get 2 cans of diet coke early on in the cruise, and initially could get it at most bars. There has never been any in the machines in The Galley. My biggest concern is the inconsistency. I drink ice tea with lemon and splenda. I've taken to carrying splenda in my pocket as some restaurants have none, some have only lime (ok, I can deal with that), and Test Kitchen supposedly doesn't serve tea. Very strange. They've been doing 8 night Med cruises all summer, so I'm hoping that they have sufficient supplies to make it to Miami with all the "essentials." The crew has been lovely and they have added a lot of sea day activities for us. Passenger load is 1400. Per spa manager, 300 new crew boarded in Barcelona--totally new to VV, not returning from vacation between contracts, and another 300 new will board in Miami for the first time. She said she was trying to get people fully trained because Richard Branson will be on the next cruise and the passenger load is 2200. Ouch! Crew member in Pizza Place late night shift told us that she'll be getting off in Miami, but likes VV much better than her previous cruise line because contracts are more reasonable, working conditions are better, and she can keep in touch with family when the wifi is working.

We have it scheduled for next week. It is called "Ship Show." Will follow up. B menu in Test Kitchen tonight. THe seat at the bar type area was terribly uncomfortable....and we went to deck 15 immediately afterward. That probably says it all. While there, the couples seated on either side of us showed up. So....6 of 6 ended up in The Galley after Test Kitchen. The main course was "shrimp pasta." It consisted of 3 noodles rolled up with 3 pieces of shrimp in the middle.. At every other restaurant, I felt the servings were too big for me. At this one, it was more like "where is the food?" The corn course was good, as was the white stuff that came with the asparagus sorbet. We're going back next week to try the A menu (main course choice of venison or beef). I wouldn't do the B menu again--first time a restaurant has disappointed.

I was able to book it on my transatlantic cruise well in advance of embarkation--don't remember the exact date. Don't know why it would be different. Are you trying under the "shore things" tab in the app? That's where I found it. As above, they are not strict about disembarkation times.

We are currently on Valiant Lady with a family member who has mobility issues. The ship is very accessible. Each restaurant has chairs that allow wheelchair transfer and appropriate seating, even when the restaurant's "standard" seating may be more designer oriented. There are either chairs with arms or very sturdy tables for those who need to use those to stand up after meals. Servers will seat her and then take the walker to a holding area near the entrance of the restaurant, then return it to her at the end of the mean. The bar stools are often less accessible, but again, there is other seating in the bar areas. Our ports do not overlap with yours, so I'm not going to be helpful with excursions. Bottom line, my family member is having no problem anywhere on the ship. If the walker is equipped with a drink holder and she has a covered glass (like a stainless insulated one), this would be helpful as one typically needs both hands for the walker, meaning that carrying liquids can be difficult. Consider bringing a lanyard or using pockets for the sea bands that you use for charges, room entrance, etc. We found them less than comfortable to wear continuously. The ship is a lot bigger than a typical living space at home. Do consider whether she can walk the distances involved on board or whether renting a scooter for the cruise might be the way to go. Your travel agent can help with the rental if that's what she decides is best.

I spent over an hour typing a review of the boarding process and first day, and the system "ate"it. Sorry, too much effort to do it again. Short and sweet--LOTS of new activities added, especially on sea days. We are having a great time. I'm happy to answer any specific questions, but it is not worth the effort to lose all my work to list a daily. We were able to do a lot of alterations to our reservations, with no limit on number of times in a given restaurant after boarding. There have been new things added which interfered with some of our dining that was scheduled before the cruise; we've been able to re-adjust all of those. We also had several activities organized by the FB group.

On the ship now. THe app here was totally out for about 4 hours this afternoon after being spotty before that. The servers were NOT happy!

I just started a new topic for my review of current TA cruise....and after spending an hour doing the review, it didn't post. I'm placing this comment here so it isn't deleted. Sorry gang, but if my post doesn't re-appear (there might be some sort of review of new topics), I won't be going to that effort again. Many thanks to scubagal44 who made it work.

Ship: Valiant Lady Cabin # 12154Z Deck # 12 Category Fully Accessible Sea Terrace Sleeps 2 Location Midship Obstructions None Terrace Type Glass Hammock Yes Noise issues--none other than expected minimal ship noises Wind noises--none Advantages/Disadvantages This room meets ALL our HA needs. Much of the info on YouTube showing the same room on Scarlet Lady or from people who claimed to have cruised the room was wrong. When mentioned this to host, he asked if I was sure as he'd worked on Scarlet and room (according to him) was the same there. There is no automatic "use the force" door in the bathroom, it is a standard open and close door. The bed DOES divide into two singles; host did this for us in about 5 minutes. There IS a hammock. Disadvantages--because the desk and bathroom counter are accessible, meaning that a wheelchair can user can pull the chair under them to use the desk/counter, there is no storage shelf under either. The storage drawers that were added to the standard cabins were not added to this one, so there are 4 very shallow drawers. Period. Plenty of floor space to maneuver wheelchair. Shower contains fold down shower seat--it you need this, it is great. If you were assigned this room and don't need it, the seat takes up nearly half the shower, but does fold up so it takes only inches. Emergency call button by bed could be accidentally tripped by a stray arm movement in sleep (no problem with this for us, but.....emergency call in shower can be shortened and placed out of the way with a barrette , alligator clip,, or other small clip. The large floor drain is bigger and works better than the HA floor drains we've seen on other ships. Balcony--We've seen comments from people in wheelchairs who couldn't get the leverage to open the door. Definitely would recommend and automatic door if remodeling is done. The mechanism to extend the ramp is awkward. If door is not fully opened, ramp does not fully move into place and presents a tripping hazard as well as potentially cutting bare feet or those with sandals. The room itself has none of the "WOW" factor if the HA balcony rooms on DCL (you'll know what I mean if you've used them), but it is located right by the midship elevators and absolutely perfect for mobility issues. Would WE use this room again--absolutely. We have already requested it and been assigned on our next 2 cruises. If you don't need the HA features, you will find some of them to be a pain. You will appreciate the larger room and bathroom. If you need the features, the room is great. I'm the non-HA person with a partner who needs them.

Interesting, we boarded Valiant Lady today for the 14 night transatlantic. Like reported above, the only beverages in The Galley were regular coke and Fanta. BUT we asked for diet coke and ice tea, and were served both. Hope they get the dispensers fixed soon. Server was surprised that there was no tea in the dispenser. So far, all else is fine. Love our server, luggage here when we got back from lunch after 1:30 terminal arrival time. We were on the ship by 1:45!

On board Valiant right now. As mentioned, you will get 2 carafes of still or sparkling water delivered to your cabin each day with refills available just for entering the request on your app--unlimited. Bring along an insulated cup and fill it from your carafe! As above, it will stay cold all day. It is heavier to carry than plastic.

Boarded Valiant Lady today. Internet is really good. Can't answer VOIP specifically. So far everything we've tried to do works. No premium service available on this trip....at least not for sale. We all may be getting premium without paying, but the official word is standard service only for this cruise, even for people who qualify for free premium internet.

Booked Valiant Lady this afternoon. We received a ribbon bracelet which indicated we have Deep Blue Extra (the match program). Told we will need to wear or show it for cocktail party admission. The freebies with cash value are essentially "automatic" in the sense that they will be charged and then the charge will be credited back. This includes the champagne and the stuff from Grounds Club as well as laundry.You have to have a cruise booked to see any benefit--you'll see "Deep Blue Extra" added on your account.

There is no bottled water available on the ship. Their focus is to eliminate all single use plastics. You can bring an empty bottle and fill it yourself if you want it for excursions. You will be provided with a carafe of sparkling and one of still water in your cabin daily which will be refilled as often as you wish. There is also a refill area at the soda station. To your other questions....travel agents must have done VV training, which they can do on line, in order to book VV. This also, at least at the beginning, gave them a severely discounted cruise to experience the product for themselves. After the training, they can book VV. Untrained agents cannot book. An agent can select a particular cabin for you, or you can select one by calling VV yourself. Booking that you make on line result in an "assigned" cabin. Again, if you wish, you can call and change your assignment. IMHO, the easiest thing is to use an agent and let them know your cabin specifications. Dining tables are available in any size you want, from one person to ??? The only exception is Gumbae which is cooked at the table and is in tables of 6. When you make reservations thru the app, you indicate how many of you the reservation is for, and when you check in, you tell them the table size you want. VV is my new favorite line. They still have a few bugs to work out, but overall the product is amazing. THe bugs are things like the app and long phone waits to talk to shoreside sailor services (another reason to use a TA!) The app is much better after you arrive at the terminal than it is in advance!

Have they fixed the issue of the servers standing around talking with each other while there are no clean tables and people waiting for service? I'll find out next week, but I sure hope so. It was purely a management problem--there didn't seem to be a supervisor in site and the people working just didn't seem to be able to identify a dirty table or anything else that needed to be done! This was about 6 months ago, so here's hoping!

Never got the email the first time, but they applied 2 "Deep Blue Extras" to the booking, both under my daughter's name. I applied once in each name. So first, check that it doesn't appear in your booking. It will be under "add ons" on the website (go to "My Account" and your next cruise should show up, then to Add Ons" and then use the tab at the top to check each person). Before I knew this, I resubmitted mine and got the email, but nothing ever showed up in my name. I did question it when I called VV about a different issue and was told to not worry about it. THey are crazy...It took weeks for my most recent referral credit to appear on the website; it had never appeared on the app.

The current sailing of Valiant Lady has about 2200 "Sailors" on board, and I'm seeing complaints on multiple boards about slow service, closed venues, etc. This number of passengers is about what the Scarlet Lady had for Richard's Birthday Bash. It seems that the ship has become very comfortable at 50% occupancy, but isn't ready for anything that approaches capacity! No, capacity won't change the venue hours, but it may become obvious to the line that these hours need to be expanded, particularly if service in The Galley is not improved. Waiting 30 minutes for food is not a good thing!

Wow! 2200 is quite a full load compared to other recent cruises....and also compared to what we are expecting based on recent comments from shoreside. Thank you for the info on check in. We have a 1:30 time, so I'm thinking we should show up about 12:45. It can't hurt. No special Sea Rover line as promised in the Deep Blue Extras really stinks--that was one of the specifically mentioned items. It wouldn't be a new concept to them as they have had the special Sea Ranger check in at BCN. As to the rest...I'm sorry and hope they work out their issues quickly....as in before Sunday!

I Love Nice. Question about the delay in luggage drop off (mostly because I'm boarding Valiant next week.) Do you have any idea how full the ship is? Were they taking people based on their assigned time (as they do in Miami) or based on when they show up? In Miami, if you show up prior to your assigned time, you are directed to a holding area and won't be checked in until those who arrive on time are processed. However, luggage is checked in as you arrive. Our hotel check out time is noon, so our logic was to order transportation after we check out...which should get us to the terminal about 1:00. Now I'm rethinking that, even if only by 10-15 minutes. Any thoughts?