cantgetin

I don't know whether VV sells upgrades at the terminal or not. Some other lines have this option available. There is a specific desk or person who has a chart showing what is available and what the cost would be to move from each cabin type to these available cabins. The nice thing about that is that the person will have exact room numbers, so you will know where you are going AND that opens this option to people who need an accessible cabin but might want an upgrade. If you don't get your bid, it may be worth asking at the terminal.

Another point, there are relatively few "big" upgrades on the Virgin ships. They have 1400 cabins total, of these over 1000 are sea terraces and 78 are suites. So there are not a lot of people in oceanview or inside cabins to begin with. With the ships only half full on many sailings, if you bid on an upgrade from one of these, you will probably get it. There is a fair amount of bidding to upgrade from a limited view sea terrace making these bids less likely to happen, but again, on sailings that are not full your chances are good. The XL sea terraces and suites are very popular and are often sold out before the bidding process starts. However, there are always situations where people need to cancel, so nothing is impossible.

It was definitely an hour on Valiant in October.

I consider myself to be pretty conservative, and VV was still great. You know when you book VV that some of the entertainment might be a bit much, but some of it could be on a Disney ship. If seeing crew members with dyed hair, ink, or piercings is going to bother you, find another ship. If you can say, "It isn't for me, but you be you," VV is great. There is a lot of innuendo on VV, but for the most part, that's as far as it goes.

20 years ago, when video cameras were large things, I would tell my daughter that I could film a vacation or I could enjoy the vacation. Obviously filming has become easier with smaller devices, but this has also resulted in increased numbers of people filming and some of those are inconsiderate. No, one shouldn't lump every cruiser with a camera in the same pile, but people who choose to film also need to be aware and respectful of those around them.

THe above info is basically correct. If you cancel a VV cruise, you do not get your deposit back, but your deposit becomes a future cruise credit. Mine was good for 2 years (I know because I applied it to a cruise 17 months out), but policies could have changed. If you purchase a future cruise certificate on board (rebooking on board without choosing a date), that is good for 2 years. And yes, you can change anywhere from one to all the names on a reservation up to 48 hours before the embarkation. This means you could find someone to buy your reservation, or perhaps your travel agent could help with this should it be necessary. And, of course, if you buy private cruise insurance and cancel for a covered reason, the terms of that policy might get you a full refund. If you buy insurance thru the cruise line.....well, think about that decision carefully before you do it!

Yes....you must be a suite guest or have a special status that gets you access. Sail away party on deck 16 and 17 6-7:30 on the first night is open to all.

6 cruise lines (that I remember) and about 45 cruises. The thing I like best about VV is that everything that any member of my family considers a "need" is included in the cruise fare on VV. I may choose to spend extra on alcohol, spa, or excursions, but on VV I can literally not spend another penny and we have a great cruise. On other lines, tips, wifi, and soda are "essential" to members of my family. At the very least, you need enough wifi to do on line check in....I keep reading that VV is "too expensive," but I've done price comparisons with other lines for the closest cruise I can find. VV has come out ahead every time, whether I add just those items that we consider essential or the other line's "package deals." There are many more considerations than cost, and VV comes out ahead on most of them. Best crew anywhere, great food, hammock, etc.

And the moral of the story is "Make your life easier by using a good agent."

I've traveled all over the world and never encountered a problem at any other cruise port. It could have just been the two guys I encountered or they could have been having a rough day or whatever....I do tip, I've never had an issue, but these guys made me not want to do business with them.

Most people just chill at the Beach Club unless they are doing a ship sponsored excursion. There is a tour that will take you into town as well as they typical fishing/scuba/snorkel type excursions. You can see what's available on the VV web site.

VV operates like any other cruise line in terms of getting back from excursions. If you book an excursion thru the cruise line and the excursion is delayed for any reason, the ship will wait. If you book on your own, you are responsible for being back on board by "All aboard" time/before the last excursion booked thru the cruise line gets back. For example, if a road is closed and no traffic is getting thru, you will be OK IF there is a cruise line booked excursion that is in the mess also and you get back before they do. If they have closed the ship's doors and untied the lines, you will be out of luck. There is a SMALL amount of leeway between the "all aboard" time and the time they close the doors, but not much. Some private excursion companies guarantee that they will get you back on time or pay to get you to the next port. Another consideration might be to do a morning excursion when the ship has a late afternoon departure. In any event, we always plan to be back at least an hour before "all aboard" time. Another thing--the name and phone number of the Ship's Agent is on the VV app and also on the paper daily schedule that you can get at Ground's Club, Sailor Services, and a few other locations on board. It is a good idea to always take this number with you when you are off the ship. This is the number you would need to contact if you had an emergency or had to get in touch with the ship for any reason. They will relay the information to the ship and do whatever is necessary in the situation. Whether this is a car accident causing you to be late, a medical emergency, or whatever, this is how you communicate your situation to the ship and elicit their help. Every ship has an agent at each port. But bottom line, the ship is charged for the time it is docked. In general, they will not wait beyond their scheduled time for people who are off on their own or private excursions not thru the cruise line. As Captain John on the Disney Magic said, if 2500 people can be back on board on time, there is no excuse for three who can't.

There is a YouTube video done by someone who did this tour. There were areas of the tour where he was not allowed to film, so he talked about it. I don't remember the guy's on line name, but he used to work for another cruise line and he posts things about how he thinks Virgin Voyages is going to go belly up and NCL will buy them and stuff. I think he as the word "Pants" in his name. Sorry that I don't remember anything more specific.

You make it sound as if they ONLY get tips. They are unionized workers who make salaries of $40K and up per year not counting the tips that they likely don't report and don't pay taxes on! Supervisors can make over $100K. Working for tips does not make them aggressive. Attitudes about how much someone tips or pushing for more makes them aggressive. Literally taking a bag out of my hand from the luggage place at disembarkation, wheeling it out on his dolly, and then commenting about tips is aggressive. Yes, I should have been more forceful and insisted that I'd wheel it myself. That's sort of why my bags have wheels! I honestly prefer the port at Barcelona. There, you can check in your bags with the porters or directly at a VV desk. I feel safer giving them to VV.

Sail away party 6-7:30 on first day.

I think our game plan will be to try to do only a medium sized bag each and carry it on. We'll see how packing goes.

October 2022, most mixed drinks were $8-13, lots of wines for about $10 per glass. If you have money left, buy a bottle of wine or liquor FROM A BAR on the last night. If you buy it in the store, it is charged to loot.

We definitely saw the Foodie at the 10am thing in the Roundabout doing that talk...not sure who the guy was.

CineGraphic said it all. On my first VV cruise, I got off the ship with $8 charged to my credit card. I had a good amount of loot from a booking promotion and some referrals, so basically did whatever I wanted on the cruise. The $8 was because I finished off my loot on a cocktail the last night, knowing there wasn't enough left to cover it. There is almost no "nickel and dime" on VV, and it is the worst of any cruise line on NCL. Most lines are somewhere in between. You seriously could not spend a penny over the cruise fare on VV and have a great cruise. The 6 restaurants are the equivalent of specialty dining on any other line. Best food I've ever had at sea. The closest comparisons are Disney during their "good" periods and Celebrity. Included wifi, gratuities, and "basic bevvies" which means soda, tea, real brewed coffee, and juices from concentrate. Ice cream and pizza are included. I LOVE this plan as the things I would normally pay extra for are included, but I don't have to buy a package that includes things I wouldn't use. Specialty coffees and fresh squeezed juices, as well as smoothies and alcohol have a fee. There are a few activities with a fee, but they are basically the ones that include alcohol. The only promotion I encountered with a sales pitch was the posture thing....just skip it. No sales pitches at the spa, no photographers (although lots of people will be happy to take a photo of you with your phone if desired), minimal overhead announcements (a few on first and last days like essentially "get your rear end to your muster station if you haven't done it yet so we can depart on time" and "It is time to get off the ship now, your cruise is over." Bottom line, none during the cruise. The muster drill is on the app or on your room TV but you do need to check in at your station. The HAMMOCK. Get a Sea Terrace (balcony) That darned hammock was so comfortable that we ordered one from Amazon when we got home (they didn't have any for sale on the ship...not sure if out of stock or they didn't carry them. They gave us a card with the info from the manufacturer). Seriously, the closest lines I've experienced were Disney and Celebrity, but VV is better than either. On our first cruise, we took advantage of the rebooking on board offer and booked 3 more. We did a lot of DCL before their prices went thru the roof and parental control became a thing of the past (and we are all adults now). We did DCL as adults too, but.....again....a small number of the kids are uncontrolled brats. We've done quite a few on Princess because of their itineraries, but after a major financial screw up on the last one that they refused to accept was their responsibility, it would take a lot to get me on them again....and honestly VV is SO much better. We've also done a smattering of other lines, 1-3 cruises on each. But again, VV is so much better Now, if you want race tracks, golf courses, water slides, rock climbing walls, etc. VV is not the line for you. Advice on booking VV--book as soon as you know what you want. In our experience, prices have increased slightly as the sailing date nears (there are early booking specials). Use a TA (First Mate in VV talk) who has been on the ships and done their training. IF a lower price or better deal comes up, they can get it for you but it usually involves cancel and rebooking. VV is for all ages adult ages and all levels of fitness...Our first cruise was a celebration of the end of metastatic cancer treatment. I did a couple of exercise classes, but made a point of a stroll on deck for 30 minutes every morning. I got off the ship feeling the best I'd felt in years, probably due to the good food and exercise as well as sunshine!

It has been quite a while since I've heard anything of a cancelation. And I suspect they are being very conservative about the launches of the new ships after the issues involved in previous launches and needing to cancel. VV supposedly got mega-bucks for canceling cruises to allow the filming on Valiant and they treated the sailors who had to reschedule VERY well. I suspect they'd cancel for a charter if someone wanted to book one, but it hasn't happened recently. And as bookings are gradually increasing, I suspect the cost of a relatively short notice charter would also increase.

Virgin's IT and marketing departments have issues. They lost me for one cruise based on their silly postings when they literally doubled the price by removing discounts on a cruise I was planning (but had not booked), then a week later, after I had canceled my air, put the discounts back on. I'll forgive the early on marketing when the ads made the ship look like it was full of 20 somethings cruising on Daddy's money...I don' think they had a clue as to who would be attracted to this new product and willing/able to pay for it. There have been MANY times when we've been told that something was going to end on X date, and it is then extended, and looking at just my bookings, so many little screw ups with loot, payments, benefits, etc. It is really hard to understand. THey have such a good product once we get on the ship, but are such a mess before that....and you are right that I don't think there is anything other than continuing Deep Blue into my April cruise that will make me happy at this point.

Check the current policy. It could be anything "this week." Yes, I've had VV screw up a couple of financial things. My Loot was a total mess on line and on the app until it mysteriously was fixed when we boarded. My First Mate even sent me screen shots of her records to prove my case had it been needed. When I paid off my next cruise in full, my credit card was billed twice. VV, of course, denied this had happened, but I sent First Mate a screen shot of the bill and she managed it with VV. Bottom line, the excess charge was corrected within 48 hours. She was far more upset that they denied that it could have happened than anything, when we obviously had proof that it DID. Sorry, but it makes me really happy to have someone to fight for me on this crap.....and as one of the top agents, she has more channels available than we have.

In my opinion, yes. Another deck will be quieter, and since most cruises are nowhere near full there are usually lots of cabins available to move to. A usual goal in choosing a cabin is to be surrounded on all sides as well as above and below by other cabins. That avoids noise from things like nightclubs, deck parties, gyms, cleaning pool decks, etc.

Yes.....but policies may have changed. A lot of things have changed from a year ago to now, and some of that explains some of the on line confusion. Obviously if it comes up as loot now, there is no point in making the change. Read the fine print--it used to say it would be returned to the original payment source.

Mine showed up immediately on the web site under "my account." I didn't check the app for a couple months! We moved from the computer assigned room when I booked on line to the room we wanted. Yes, I know I say to use a TA, but at the time my TA was unavailable as he was on another cruise and he told me to either wait till he got back or do it myself on line and he'd deal with it when he got back. If you use a TA or call VV to book, you can get the room you want from the start. Same if you rebook on board.