On Board Scarlet Lady right now - not impressed so far... Questions welcome.

[TripsYouMustDo]

19 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Just a couple comments on the above...on our Valiant cruise, ALL the restaurants were open every night from 6 till a last seating time of something like 9:30. 

As to cost, I would suggest shopping carefully and repricing when any new specials come out.  We were in a Sea Terrace (balcony) cabin for $96 per person per night, and on top of that had some "loot." (onboard credit).  We took advantage of the special at the time of booking, early booking discount, and paid in full before 6 month discount.  Our upcoming cruise is actually a tiny bit less on a per diem basis as we added a rebooking on board discount!  I do realize that many sailings cost $300 per person per night, and we may never see the low rates we were able to nail again.  We have 2 cruises booked in 2023, and our TA was already able to rebook one of them to get us a lower fare.  There is also a Florida Resident discount which we do not qualify for.

 

Those are great rates! I honestly wasn't re-pricing because I booked on points, but when I was pricing my 5-night cruise originally, the balcony (Sea Terrace) room we got was coming up for around $2500 total for both of us, or $250 per person per night. I thought that was insanely expensive for what we got. As it was, we used 120,000 points for 5 nights (which we transferred from Capital One with 30% bonus, so 90,000 Capital One points).

 

$100 per person per night for a balcony on VV would be a very good deal and I would probably book again at those rates. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

:.Anyway, didn't have a chance to post daily, but here's a quick recap of the rest of the cruise.

 

TL;DR - it did get better, but no, we didn't book another cruise with VV and have no immediate plans to. They are too expensive and too overhyped for what they have to offer. The service was very uneven all the way through disembarkation. Constantly having to book something and not being sure if you can get it without a reservation was annoying through disembarkation.

 

More details - dinners did get better. We were able to book 9pm reservations in the app and then came whenever we needed to and asked if we can be seated, and were accommodated at the Wake (was able to move reservation to earlier time by stopping by ahead of time), Extra Virgin (showed up 45 minutes early and were seated) and  Gunbae (3 hours early and were seated). That doesn't mean it will work for you, but at least we got lucky. The Wake was extremely annoying with long delays for seating even when showed up with a reservation on time - 15-25 minutes wait to get seated after you show up (twice for brunch, once for dinner).

 

Food was very good to great in most venues we ate (thanks for the tip on appetizers at The Dock House whoever gave me that, good call).

 

Service in dining venues was very uneven. It could be excellent. E.g. asked for quick service at the Wake (after waiting for 25 minutes to be seated even though we came on time with a reservation) for dinner. Got appetizers and mains within 20 minutes. Unfortunately had to leave without desert because we were trying to make it to the Scarlet Night (overrated). The main issue was large obnoxious party taking forever placing their order while trying to read the menu, thus tying up our waiter. The next morning we went to The Wake for brunch, and a different waiter forgot about us after bringing us food. Had to chase him down to ask for a coffee refill. After waiting for 15 minutes had to ask another waiter for the same coffee refill (since it never came). After waiting another 15 minutes ended up going to the host and asking to send someone to get us some coffee. Half hour to get a cup of coffee at brunch when they were half empty was ridiculous. That's what I mean about uneven service. It can be incredible and it can be bad.

 

Shows were very uneven as well. Duel Reality is one of the best shows we've seen anywhere. Cirque du Soleil level acrobatics, high intensity for 55 minutes. You get to sit right in the middle of the performers. Crazy good. On the other hand I hated the Untitleddancepartything (or whatevertheycalledit). I guess it's an interesting concept to have several moving stages in a large theater room with all seats removed (so everyone is standing). At the same time in practice it was annoying. Half of the time you couldn't see performers as they transitioned between the moving stages. Having to stand while watching a show is not my idea of fun. To make it worse, when they started moving one of the stages, a crew member was hitting people with the light-up plastic "traffic controller" sticks she had to make us move back. I'm not a dog and I don't want someone hitting me with a stick to get me to move (not that I would hit a dog with a stick). There's got to be a better way. Also since the show was pretty full, the crowd was thick, I couldn't just push in into people behind me stepping on their feet and pushing them back. I was trying to move back slowly, and the crew member kept hitting me with the stick saying "move back, move back" It wasn't painful of course, she was just tapping me and other people in the front, but it was annoying. I was moving as fast as I could. That was enough and I just left. Horrible show idea in practice, plus the whatever the thing they were doing was - (not quite dancing, not quite acting) didn't do it for me. My wife is disabled and couldn't stand in a crowd of people to watch the show so she didn't even try coming.

 

Daytime entertainment wasn't just uneven, it was universally bad IMHO. There were a couple of trivia games my wife and I weren't able to join because they always seemed to have already formed full teams, and they wanted teams of 8, etc.

 

Then there was a thing they did where they had wooden seahorse pieces on a tall stick on top of a base. There were six of them. The host would roll the dice, and whatever dice hit - that number seahorse(s) would move (e.g. if 1 and 4 were rolled, seahorse 1 and seahorse 4 would move). There was a prize for whoever got to the finish line first. I watched it for 10 minutes and left as it was mind-numbingly boring. Only 6 people got to play. The rest got to watch that. 

 

They didn't do Never Sleep Alone thing (show?) I heard so much about on our cruise. Not sure why.

 

They did do a drag queen show "Around the World in 80 Days with a Diva" that crew members highly recommended because it's supposedly #1 voted show on the ship. I watched it for about 20 minutes and left as I was bored. Talking to other people on the ship I got similar reactions. 

 

Scarlet Night was the event I was excited the most about, and honestly I thought it was way overhyped. The initial dance at 9pm lasted about 10 minutes or so. Then it was a lot of running back on forth on the ship watching... I don't know, mostly nothing. Duel Reality cast did come out and did some of their acts in a few spots, and that was cool. There was a charade game in The Dock. There was a fake wedding (a lot less interesting than it sounds). I wasn't one of the lucky few that got pulled in into a secret special place where I don't know who does I don't know what. I thought the description sounded a lot like Sleep No More in a NYC (not to be confused with Never Sleep Alone), and found out that the produces for Sleep No More was also the producer for this event (not surprisingly), Randy Weiner. While we really enjoyed Sleep No More in New York, the Scarlet Night felt like a poor imitation mostly due to the size of the ship and their inability to convert the entire space into a stage like they do with the Sleep No More setting/building.  

 

The Scarlet Night pool dance/afterparty felt more like the main even to me, and I wish I got there earlier. I got there at 10:30pm when the "main" party ended and I was way too late to get a good spot. People were standing around the pool on deck 15 and around the railing above the pool on deck 16 several deep. It was hard to get close to get a good view when the group dance around and in the pool started. It lasted about 10 minutes and was mildly interesting from what I could see of it, and a couple of acrobats from Dual Reality added to it a bit. After the crew dance everyone was invited to the pool, and I guess while it's not something I've seen (a bunch of people dancing in the shallow end of the pool), it was as incredible of a spectacle as I expected it would be. It was one of those "overpromise/underdeliver" things for me. My wife was done for the day and didn't want to brave the crowds being disabled. There wasn't really a safe spot for her to watch the afterparty/pool show. 

 

That's about the gist of the cruise for us. The two main things VV pointed out in the app were Duel Reality and Scarlet Night. Duel Reality was amazing, Scarlet Night was blah. We were glad we didn't spend $2500 on this cruise (which is what it was coming up at originally). We did not book the next cruise. If I ever run across an incredible deal for another VV ship I'd probably book it, but not at anything close to the full retail price of $500/day (for both of us). For that much money (or actually much less, around $200-400) we would fly to a Club Med somewhere and have a blast doing all of the activities (and would have alcohol included as well). 

[Travel-and-See]

41 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

They didn't do Never Sleep Alone thing (show?) I heard so much about on our cruise. Not sure why.

That is no longer offered - I was actually on the last sailing of Scarlet Lady that featured the show... the crew in the "Happenings Cast" was literally begging people to go to it to show support. From what I heard it is not a show I would enjoy, and I'm glad VV is moving to more traditional acts like magicians. (The following cruise had a magician in the manor instead of Never sleep alone). 

 

I think your overall review is accurate and realistic. There are many flaws in VV current product and I think you pointed them out well.  I would only argue that the price really isn't bad when compared to similar products like Celebrity. If you add in a classic drink package, wifi, and tips the cost of a comparable Celebrity cruise is about the same and that's before considering specialty dining. (I found the food on Virgin much better than Celebrity MDR). 

 

How was the "Happenings Cast" on your cruise?  I haven't been overly impressed with them but I think the Scarlet Lady has a new group since my last trip. 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Travel-and-See

[cantgetin]

I have to agree with your assessment of most of the entertainment.  We were on a somewhat strange cruise as much of the entertainment crew was leaving at the end and the new crew was on board "training" with the old, and then taking over the shows at the end.  Not fair to make the comparison, I guess, but the crew that was ending their contract was FAR better than the incoming.  I don't remember if we left "Around the World" or just talked about it.  We did leave "Ship Show" early.  THey did have NSA on our cruise--we couldn't get reservations and found out after the fact that people were not showing up and the place was half empty.  We skipped the dance party thingy and most of Scarlet Night for the same reason you did--my cruise partner has a mobility impairment and the rollator was just going to be in the way.

We had a magician and a memory guy on our cruise, each did 2 different shows.  Those were good.  

Food--best I've had on any line.  A few specialty restaurants on other lines were better, but they were also the top in terms of cost.  Crew--friendliest on any line.  We had a couple minor server mistakes (they tried to give us food that belonged at another table once), but minor.

Cost....I shopped around and layered on some discounts.  We paid under $100 pp per day in a Sea Terrace.  That's about half of what I priced similar cruises at on 3 other lines.  And yes, we are booked again.

The HA assist disembarkation was SO bad that I wrote a snail mail letter addressed to Tom McAlpin.  4 months later, I received an email with a copy of their HA info (as if we didn't read that on line before we booked).  Not only did I point out the problem, but I also suggested a very simple solution.  Yeah...write you policies but don't listen to the people who are trying to live with parts of them!  The "not funny" thing is that NOTHING in the email addressed the concern that we voiced.  One thing I made clear was that we were NOT in the worst situation of many of the people needing assistance as the rollator has a seat which my companion could use.  The ship crew took people off the ship in wheelchairs and literally dumped them at the end of the gangway with no place to sit and we waited 25 minutes for anyone from terminal assistance to show up with a chair.  There was a man literally leaning on his wife for support!  When our turn came, I told them to go first as they were in much worse shape than my friend was as she did have a seat. At one point, there were 5 pairs lined up waiting for a chair from the gangway to terminal exit.   However, HA assist for embarkation was fine as the terminal assist people took her from the entrance, thru the gangway to the ship's entrance, and she can handle it from there with the rollator and braces.  It is the terminal and gangway that need help.

[tinkr2]

On 3/29/2023 at 5:04 PM, Travel-and-See said:

Oh I meant I haven't seen them physically full - there always seem to be open tables even if the restaurant is "fully booked" 

 

The most annoying version of this was Brunch at Razzle Dazzle. The restaurant was half full, the group of employees in front of me were seated, but the restaurant was "fully booked and couldn't accept a walk-up" 

You understand that they're not fully staffed right ? A server can't handle 25 tables, they must have crew. All of the cruise lines are running short . 
it seems all your difficulties are bc you booked nothing in advance. 
The app is not perfect but works just fine . It sends updates when times change . Perhaps you need to delete and reinstall it . Make sure you're not in low power mode. 

[cantgetin]

42 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

You understand that they're not fully staffed right ? A server can't handle 25 tables, they must have crew. All of the cruise lines are running short . 
it seems all your difficulties are bc you booked nothing in advance. 
The app is not perfect but works just fine . It sends updates when times change . Perhaps you need to delete and reinstall it . Make sure you're not in low power mode. 

If true, this is a problem that needs to be managed by not booking more passengers than the crew can handle.  If they can only staff for 1800, then don't book 2000. If true, the blame does not belong with the crew; it belongs with the corporate structure.
 

A crew member on VV told us that she earns three times as much on VV as she did on her previous line where she was tipped by passengers.  If that's true, VV should have no trouble hiring people away from other lines and then training them in the "virgin" way.

[tinkr2]

3 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

If true, this is a problem that needs to be managed by not booking more passengers than the crew can handle.  If they can only staff for 1800, then don't book 2000. If true, the blame does not belong with the crew; it belongs with the corporate structure.
 

A crew member on VV told us that she earns three times as much on VV as she did on her previous line where she was tipped by passengers.  If that's true, VV should have no trouble hiring people away from other lines and then training them in the "virgin" way.

Perhaps so . The problem with staffing is related to immigration issues from Covid . There was a halt  on many types of work visas. It takes a while to catch up on hiring and training . 
Having to wait 15 minutes does not mean they're not staffed enough in my opinion though  . It isn't necessary to have every table in use at all times.  

[mfs2k]

11 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

The Scarlet Night pool dance/afterparty felt more like the main even to me, and I wish I got there earlier. I got there at 10:30pm when the "main" party ended and I was way too late to get a good spot. People were standing around the pool on deck 15 and around the railing above the pool on deck 16 several deep. It was hard to get close to get a good view when the group dance around and in the pool started. It lasted about 10 minutes and was mildly interesting from what I could see of it, and a couple of acrobats from Dual Reality added to it a bit. After the crew dance everyone was invited to the pool, and I guess while it's not something I've seen (a bunch of people dancing in the shallow end of the pool), it was as incredible of a spectacle as I expected it would be. It was one of those "overpromise/underdeliver" things for me. My wife was done for the day and didn't want to brave the crowds being disabled. There wasn't really a safe spot for her to watch the afterparty/pool show. 

 

I found the poolside Scarlet night dance party to be the best part of our Scarlet Lady cruise last week. Because I watched youtube videos ahead of time, and knew what to expect, my wife and I, and the other couple we were with (we're in our 60's) headed up to the pool area before it started.  We sat at the edge of the pool as the crowds filled in.  We got up to dance when the music got lively.  We stood around the pool as 30 dancers and performers circled the pool and got closer to the water.  We got up on the pool edge when the dancers moved into the pool and splashed everyone (including us.)  We danced more when guests filled the pool.  We enjoyed the dance music, lights, and the vibe.  I felt 30 years younger, and it was a fun club-like atmosphere.  I'm glad I participated.  Even if I were unable to dance, I probably would have enjoyed being up close and in the middle of the action.  It was a party in my brain.  Afterwards, we got drinks then late night desserts in the Galley and bed by 2am. 

[Travel-and-See]

11 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

You understand that they're not fully staffed right ? A server can't handle 25 tables, they must have crew. All of the cruise lines are running short . 
it seems all your difficulties are bc you booked nothing in advance. 
The app is not perfect but works just fine . It sends updates when times change . Perhaps you need to delete and reinstall it . Make sure you're not in low power mode. 

I'm really confused by this response.  I'm not sure why I would be aware that the ship is not fully staffed. If the ship is not fully staffed, they should not be sailing with 100% sailors though. 

 

I had been told by a crew member that reservations were not needed for Breakfast / Brunch, it wasn't a difficulty. Just sharing my experience. I think it looks bad when you seat a table of crew members in a half-full restaurant and then tell a customer that he can't be accommodated. If you think that's good customer service than we can agree to disagree 🙂

 

I never said one word about the app? It has worked ok for me on my cruises but I do agree that Virgin relies on them too much. 

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, Travel-and-See said:

I'm really confused by this response.  I'm not sure why I would be aware that the ship is not fully staffed. If the ship is not fully staffed, they should not be sailing with 100% sailors though. 

 

I had been told by a crew member that reservations were not needed for Breakfast / Brunch, it wasn't a difficulty. Just sharing my experience. I think it looks bad when you seat a table of crew members in a half-full restaurant and then tell a customer that he can't be accommodated. If you think that's good customer service than we can agree to disagree 🙂

 

Reservations are not "needed" for breakfast/brunch, but we have been denied seating at brunch when they were "full."  In fairness, it was a few minutes after noon, and the last possible seating is at 1pm.  To guarantee seating, you do need a reservation.  Walk ups are accepted on a space available basis.  

The policy on crew eating in the restaurants has changed.  When the ships were sailing with under 1000 guests, the crew was permitted to eat in the restaurants any time they were not on duty.  Now, as many cruises go out with 1800 or more guests, they are restricted as to when they are allowed in the restaurants, always on a walk up basis where they will be turned away if a venue is more full than anticipated, and usually they can only get in on a port day when sailors are still enjoying land activities (like on overnight stays).  They can eat in The Galley any time.  The person who told me this was not terribly happy about losing their previous dining options, but fully understanding that the guest experience had to take priority.  And she admitted that they have a good crew mess, far better than other lines, but that it gets tiresome after a while.

I agree that  a table of crew members eating at the same time telling customers that there is no availability is wrong, but I think that has largely been corrected as the ships have become more full.

[tbmrt]

On 3/31/2023 at 2:20 PM, TripsYouMustDo said:

Didn't realize Galley had dinner special. It always feel so sad to eat dinner in a buffet though. I think it goes for all cruise lines. The ambience is just not there. We stopped to grab deserts at the Galley at dinner time (7-8pm), and it was feeling pretty dead and quite in there. I would've hated to eat dinners at the Galley. 

I thought Galley closed at 3...Dinner specials?

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, tbmrt said:

I thought Galley closed at 3...Dinner specials?

There is a steak sandwich only available at dinner. Burgers and salads are also available.

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, tbmrt said:

I thought Galley closed at 3...Dinner specials?

Several stations open--noodles, salads, burgers (this is where the specials are served, but many are not burger related, deserts, all day breakfast.  Close at 10:30p.

[Travel-and-See]

4 hours ago, tbmrt said:

I thought Galley closed at 3...Dinner specials?

The Galley is open 24 hours but Tacos, Noodles, and Sandwich shop are only open for lunch and that goes until 3:00.  

 

The Diner is open 24 hours for basic breakfast food. 

The Burgers and Bakery are open the majority of the time (till like midnight?). 

Sushi Bar and Salad Bar are open for dinner. 

 

And yes, there is a dinner special. For example... Carved Turkey with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Vegetables. 

 

And then everything is open for breakfast and there are lots of additional breakfast items like the French Toast Burger. 

[cantgetin]

Noodles was open in the evening on our TA cruise in October, in addition to those mentioned above.

We also had lunch specials on sea days during that cruise.  We got into the habit of checking out the lunch special and then deciding whether to do one of the brunch restaurants or THe Galley..  The specials did not appear anywhere--not on the app, and the servers didn't mention them.  You had to walk around to the various stations and look.  THere was almost always a lunch special at the burger joint, and some days there were special varieties of tacos, noodles, and salads (although you can do a customized salad every day, so not sure why that was so special.)

[smart_alec]

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Noodles was open in the evening on our TA cruise in October, in addition to those mentioned above.

We also had lunch specials on sea days during that cruise.  We got into the habit of checking out the lunch special and then deciding whether to do one of the brunch restaurants or The Galley..  The specials did not appear anywhere--not on the app, and the servers didn't mention them.  You had to walk around to the various stations and look.  THere was almost always a lunch special at the burger joint, and some days there were special varieties of tacos, noodles, and salads (although you can do a customized salad every day, so not sure why that was so special.)

 

Thanks, yeah, we noticed as well that there were unadvertised specials. I saw eggs benedict as a special at one of the Galley restaurants (I think the Hot Press one) for breakfast which weren't mentioned anywhere and seemed like you had to walk around to find them. Thanks for confirming!

Edited April 2, 2023 by smart_alec

[LadyRed253]

On 3/28/2023 at 8:17 AM, TripsYouMustDo said:

Anyone else on Android? Is this really this silly? Or did we not figure out a secret way to enter your date of birth without clicking on the calendar 600-some times? 

I'm on Android and just got off Valiant Lady today. When entering your date of birth you scroll to choose your birth month and day. Then you tap on the year. When you tap it a field opens where you can simply type in the year. I didn't realize the at first myself, but my husband did it and told me that's what to do. 

 

I'm sorry you weren't very happy with your cruise. I do agree that VV is extremely different from the other cruise lines we've sailed on. I found that once I got the hang of things I enjoyed myself more and more. 

[gkbiiii]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:12 AM, tinkr2 said:

Perhaps so . The problem with staffing is related to immigration issues from Covid . There was a halt  on many types of work visas. It takes a while to catch up on hiring and training . 
Having to wait 15 minutes does not mean they're not staffed enough in my opinion though  . It isn't necessary to have every table in use at all times.  

This does not effect VV, as it is a foreign Flagged vessel: the work visa, is for US based foreign workers.  Like tech workers, etc.

[gkbiiii]

Have they stopped allowing crew, to take 3-10 pizzas at a time?

[Lustate]

1 hour ago, gkbiiii said:

Have they stopped allowing crew, to take 3-10 pizzas at a time?

When one crew member is collecting for a below deck meeting, social etc nothing wrong with collecting ten. I mean, the ovens hold plenty, and to wait 10 mins for a fresh baked amazing pizza, its worth it. 

[neverendingcruising]

1 hour ago, gkbiiii said:

This does not effect VV, as it is a foreign Flagged vessel: the work visa, is for US based foreign workers.  Like tech workers, etc.

 

Clearly, you've never heard of a C1/D visa.

[GonzoWCS]

Good read.  Thanks.

 

Cheers

[nimbex1970]

Thanks for your review with the good and bad.  Appreciate it!

[tinkr2]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:52 AM, neverendingcruising said:

 

Clearly, you've never heard of a C1/D visa.

Thank you. I wasn't going to waste my breathe arguing. A friend does staffing for another line and talked about the frustrations.

[Morecruisesplz]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:19 PM, tinkr2 said:

You understand that they're not fully staffed right ? A server can't handle 25 tables, they must have crew. All of the cruise lines are running short . 
it seems all your difficulties are bc you booked nothing in advance. 
The app is not perfect but works just fine . It sends updates when times change . Perhaps you need to delete and reinstall it . Make sure you're not in low power mode. 

Can we get money back when they are understaffed?