Gretchendz

The ones I submitted today all went through but none had attachments. You can submit the form without the receipts and stuff and submit them later.

And do not go if you are offended by drag shows....or the fact that they call the free ice cream place Lick Me Till Ice Cream 🙂

I so agree about the aft elevators. I was disappointed when we were assigned very clode to them on 9. Turns out they were very quiet, rarely used and super convenient.

I'm older than you and loved it. Are there drunk 20 year olds? Yes-but I see that on many short cruises. I found that both the crew and other guests were more open and accepting of anyone on VV than on many other traditional cruises. The whole spirit is do your own thing and be who you are.

This is true, not only do many TAs buy the MNVV certificates are discussed by @cantgetin, those who belong to one of the big travel consortia can also add $100 sailor loot on certain sailings. Before you ask further, the rules in Cruise Critic are very tight about TA recommendations so you won't get any recommendations in this forum.

You beat me to the punch 🙂

Good attitude on your part. Grand Turk over Puerto Plata sounds like an upgrade 🙂

As always, food is subjective. We thought the food at Bimini was great. The curry and red snapper were excellent. LOL I can get burgers and hot dogs at home (or on the ship).

Should be fun. Here's the ad text. Scarlet Lady on sailings for two week period. Other ships, events on Oct. 32. _______________________ Skip the pumpkin patch. Forget the haunted house. Aboard our lady ships, Halloween isn’t just on October 31st. Our Halloween celebrations last two whole weeks aboard Scarlet Lady, with fleetwide celebrations on the 31st to send off spooky season in style. Our special Halloween Voyage: No Kids. Just Treats includes shipwide costume parties and contests, special Halloween activations, and a Scarlet Fright Night that’ll leave your spine tingling. And best of all? Halloween at sea means celebrating kid free (no, this is not a trick).

Congrats. For future referance for others, your TA can find the loyalty number you were assigned when you first cruised VV. Then they can make sure you have credit for all cruises sailed.

Thanks @Host Jazzbeau Lovely! Thanks @john the pick I made up the term 🙂 My husband hates eating fish

Hope you caught the new sale that just started 🙂 By the way, depending on when your flight departs Seattle you might want to take advantage of this cool free offer from the city of Seattle: https://www.portseattle.org/page/port-valet-enjoy-seattle-luggage-free

I would not choose based on air, but itinerary. I think a Seattle round trip is inferior to a Vancouver one way. You spend more time sailing, less time seeing the great views with the round trip. Also, make sure the itinerary has Glacier Bay. The Seattle round trips tend not too. You will see MUCH more with a one way. As to air, you can easily search with Google flights to determine your options. You don't need to book through it though. Also plan to arrive one day before. Airline delays and cancellations are too frequent nowadays and you don't want to miss the departure.

For those who prefer the information non-graphically: Thanks to feedback from your clients, Princess guests will now enjoy a more efficient embarkation experience, starting Aug 1. We’ve simplified what it means to be Green, Blue or Accessibility Lane when guests get OceanReady using the Princess App and it centers around whether your clients have their Medallion shipped to their residence. Key highlights are summarized below. Download the OceanReady Flyer ❯ and OceanReady FAQs ❯ for all details, so you can advise your clients on the necessary steps to ensure an effortless embarkation. Green Lane – Guests who have completed all steps of the Travel Check list and have had their Medallion(s) shipped to them (U.S. and Puerto Rico only). With Green Lane, guests enjoy the most streamlined embarkation and board faster. Remember, if your clients book with Princess Plus or Premier, the $10 Medallion shipping fee is waived. Please note that guests who were Green Lane but did not elect to have their Medallion(s) shipped to them, will now become Blue Lane for voyages departing after August 1st. However, if these guests are 13 or more days from their sailing date, they can still elect to have their Medallion(s) shipped to them to remain Green Lane using the Princess app. or the meb-based OceanReady at Princess.com ❯ Blue Lane – Guests who may have completed some, none, or all of the Travel Checklist, but have elected to not have their Medallion(s) ship to them, will still enjoy streamlined check in, but will pick their Medallion(s) at the cruise terminal. Accessibility Lane – Guest with mobility or other accessibility needs will always have a lane available to them for a more streamlined check-in, regardless of OceanReady color designation. No more scheduled arrival times – Guest are no longer required to select an arrival group time as part of these enhancements. Guests can arrive within the published check-in window at a time that works for them. We strongly encourage guests to provide their travel arrangement information via OceanReady. The published check-in window is available in their travel summary. Updated Digital Boarding Pass: We’ve enhanced the boarding pass, available 11 days prior to sailing date in the Princess app. It now includes key guest information (deck, stateroom #, etc). The Arrival Group designation has been removed, per above.

I don't mean to demean your TA but they really should have told you about it. It's why a good TA who knows you and your background/history can make a huge difference for the value you receive versus just getting ads. So glad you got it. The Deep Blue progam is awesome. Priority boarding was a breeze in Miami. The free laundry bag is WAY bigger than other cruise lines, the $10/day specialty coffees are great (just be sure you get them from one of the 3 Grounds spots onboard or they are not free),,,I could go on and on.

Case in point, Cunard, who has used Brooklyn Red Hook for years had to change lots of 2024 itneraries due to scheduling conflicts at Red Hook. The normal Transatlantic Queen Mary 2 crossing is 7 days. A whole bunch of the westbounds became 6 days and the east bounds became 8, Of course, compensation ensued. People who got cut a day got a day cut from their fare. I'm a lucky one who got 8 days for the proce of 7 🙂 Plus everyone got a little OBC. I agree, scheduling must be a nightmare job with all the different countries and ports and rules.

Thank you for this. We are going on the North Cape Express in November--Northern Lights! I had already read about the sad fate of the hot tub. We rarely watch TV on a sailing I load up my Kindle. Very excited for this adventure. Question on behalf of my non-fish eating husband...were the nonpescatorial choices good or should I pack a suitcase with power bars?

Did you have Carlos? Best diva ever...

This is my personal take. I have sailed Princess a lot over the years and Cunard in recent years (mainly Queen Mary 2 transatlantic crossings) .Also Holland, RCCL and other lines. I don't sail Carnival. I do love Cunard, even though it's formality is becoming terribly lax *grins.* I sailed Virgin last week. As you may know, Virgin skews a bit younger. But that can be very itinerary dependent! Guests must be 18 or up which means no kids running around or kids' activities. It is very inclusive. Some people fear it will be a big hook-up cruise. I did not feel that to be the case--and I am old 🙂 Obviously, it less formal than Cunard. Rather than large dining halls you are basically going to a new restaurant every night. The food overall was fantastic. Foodies love VV for this reason. No extra charge for specialty dining. There are a very menu items with an upcharge, which seems to be the norm in the industry nowadays. No buffet (a win in my book) but a food court with everything from sushi to tacos to breakfast all day to panini to burgers to lovely salads. A nice poke eatery up top with great bao. There are over 20 places to eat. As to entertainment, on Virgin there will be drag shows with Divas. If this makes you uncomfortable, it's not the line for you. Also, they encourage staff to be who they are so there are quite a few who are openly LGBTQ+. There are parties and a nightclub but if they are not your thing they are easily avoided. They work hard to make it fun and spontaneous. The crew was terrific. Most cruise line staff are, but on VV they seemed genuinely happier. One told me a story about getting Richard Branson a glass of water on one cruise and three weeks later in ran into Branson who remembered his name (he had no name tag on). He compared that with another high-end cruise line that advertises a lot where he was the personal butler to the CEO for two weeks--who never learned his name at all. Needless to say, he was much happier to be working on VV and it showed. Another difference, we like to play games like trivia. But it can get a bit intense on lines like Princess. Not the cruise line's fault but some people will actively cheat on their phones for a free set of coasters...The games are more light-hearted and silly on VV. You will usually be put together with others to form teams. Usually the winning team gets a round of free drinks. We especially enjoyed a speed round of putting together a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. Oh and my personal favorite, an 80s style video arcade where you can play for free 🙂 Much more is included in the basics. I LOVE the no gratuities policy. Free basic wi-fi. Free group fitness classes. Free soda and non-pressed juice. Free gelato style ice cream and sorbet. The status match benefits are quite nice if you qualify.

So, if many Virgin TAs (First Mates), have a VV mini-co-branded website that allows you to see all the cruises and even book it yourself with the booking then being assigned to that TA. There are filters and one filter allows you to filter for each sailor per night. The lowest rate on that basis showing right now is $162.80 per person per day for and October Dominican Daze sailing. If one interests you can always initiate, but not conclude, a booking on one of these sites to get the full price including taxes. The key is to find a TA with one of these sites. Then it's easy.

So, depending how much VV voyage training they have taken and passed (there are quizzes), TAs earn various tiers..Gold is the highest meaning they have completed and passed all the VV training for TAs. Sometimes VV may make offers that are available only to Gold Tier agents. I certainly agree it is best to use someone who has sailed with them too. You can't beat the knowledge that comes with experience. I agree on the "near me"--it really does not matter nowadays. However, some people like to know their TA is nearby or even meet them. I mentioned it because so many people like that.

Current list is this--but they keep adding so check back if you don't qualify now: Azamara's Circle Explorer, Discoverer, Discover Plus, Discover Platinum Carnival's VIFP Club Platinum, Diamond Celebrity Cruises' Captain's Club Elite, Elite Plus, Zenith Disney's Castaway Silver, Gold, Platinum, Pearl Holland America's Mariner Society 3-Star, 4-Star, 5-Star MSC's Voyagers Club Gold, Black Norwegian Cruise Line's Latitudes Rewards Platinum, Sapphire, Diamond, Ambassador Oceania's Oceania Club Gold, Platinum, Diamond, President's Circle P&O's Peninsular Club Mediterranean Tier, Caribbean Tier, Baltic Tier, Ligurian Tier Princess' Captain's Circle Platinum, Elite Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society Diamond, Diamond Plus, Pinnacle Club Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club Gold Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer Gold, Platinum, Beyond Windstar's Yacht Club One Star, Two Star, Three Star, Four Star

Sailed the SL last week. We had to put it all on the main account and remove cabin mates' credit card so it all went onto mine. She just reimbursed me later (ha! more credit card points for me). Make sure you are sailing with someone you can trust to pay up 🙂 Luckily for me, I know where my sister-in-law lives!

Look for a TA that has Gold tier certification with VV. Also, many will have their own VV booking site available where you can book the cruise if you want and they have the booking to do all the things everyone has been commenting on. A good thing to ask when interviewing one. The Virgin subreddit does not allow TAs to sell directly but many will have Travel Agent as a tag in that subreddit and you can get their contact information in their profile. Another common way is to google travel agent near me. Just like any relationship, it's okay to shop around until you find a good match for what you want.

So true...actually the system I use is always looking for suggestions for improvement...I will put that into the "suggestion box."