Can a Princess Love a Virgin?

[Ellipooh]

Okay, I'm convinced I'd like to try VV.

 

And I'd pay good money to someone who lets me know the next time they offer status matching.

But they probably never will again...

[Steelers0854]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

They have a retro arcade

it took us til day 3 to find us as it was tucked back in the social club. And another 5 min of looking around for the quarter machine til we figured out they were all free!  We had so much fun here. 

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, Ellipooh said:

Okay, I'm convinced I'd like to try VV.

 

And I'd pay good money to someone who lets me know the next time they offer status matching.

But they probably never will again...

dont feel too bad. It’s my understanding that we only got our status matched for the cruise we took. I don’t think we would get the same benefit on our next one having only done the 1 trip in 2024. But I could be wrong. The coffee daily credit and premium WiFi we’re the best parts of the DBE (Deep Blue Extra) benefit for us, oh yea the priority embarkation was great as well. 
 

3 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Read the comments about uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  What cabins would I need to book to avoid these uncomfortable mattresses?

 

we were in a regular sea terrace and thought the beds were great and we love the Princess beds. 

 

2 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

That's the demographic they wanted, but in reality it skews older.

The average age as reported by Virgin is 43.

I would say that’s in line with our experience last week. May even have been older, I didn’t feel like it was a really young crowd but that may also be because it was out of San Juan. 

[mthomp5]

1 minute ago, Steelers0854 said:

we were in a regular sea terrace and thought the beds were great and we love the Princess beds. 

Thank you for your reply! I actually do like the Princess beds too so I'm glad you thought the bed in the regular sea terrace was great. 

[Incognito1]

No children is a negative for me.  Also, we're conscious of where our money is spent - not going to Virgin.

[IndyKid]

22 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

No children is a negative for me.  Also, we're conscious of where our money is spent - not going to Virgin.

What's your beef with Virgin? Because it's all-adult? That's one of it's featured selling points.

[highloyo]

Thank you for your very informative review and comparison to Princess. It definitely makes me want to check it out. As someone mentioned, not sailing from the west coast is an added cost but the new experience may be worth it.

[jon81uk]

16 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

Having previously been chastised for posting something someone else considered political, I'll just say that we make decisions where our money goes based on a lot of different factors.  One is how closely an organization's values align with ours.

I find my values align closer to parts of Virgin (not necessarily VV as it’s only part-owned by the Virgin group) than many of the mega-corporations who run the larger cruise companies. Also there is a significant amount around sustainability and similar that makes Virgin Voyages and its values look much better than competitors.

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, Incognito1 said:

No children is a negative for me.  Also, we're conscious of where our money is spent - not going to Virgin.

That’s the best part about this industry there is something for everyone!

[Steelers0854]

5 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Also there is a significant amount around sustainability

we really saw this everywhere. All the grab and go containers are hard plastic and reused. The coffee is served in reusable cups unless you need a true to go one. I give them a lot of credit for these things (and the added work that goes into having them) that we can see and I’m sure there is a lot more behind the scenes that we can’t. 

[jagoffee]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Terrific post/review and we thank you :).  I will point out that what you describe, about Virgin, also applies to nearly all of the so-called luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, Explora Journeys, Scenic, etc) which is why we prefer the luxury lines (although we still enjoy some cruising on Princess).   Virgin also catches our interest because they allow no children/teens (18 minimum age).

 

We would also mention that the one thing that has kept us away from Virgin are that they are basically a short cruise line without exotic itineraries.  Other than an occasional repositioning cruise they focus on itineraries of 7 days or less.

 

Hank

Hank, why haven’t you tried Oceania?  You might want to try them sometime, especially if food is a priority for you.

[jagoffee]

Steelers8054, excellent and entertaining review and comparison.

Your and effort is very much appreciated.  Thank you very much.

[IndyKid]

We had looked at Virgin previously before we booked with Princess last December for a 7-day trip aboard the Caribbean Princess, there's a lot of things about VV that we find attractive, not least of which is the all-adult feature.

 

We like going to the Caribbean in general, but we've not been to anywhere east of Puerto Rico and would like to see some of the Leeward Islands. Being than I'm still working, I don't like to take more than a week off from my job, so in order to see those places we would have to embark out of San Juan. We would do Princess again in a heartbeat as we really enjoyed our trip aboard the CB but PCL doesn't offer anything from San Juan, but Virgin does so they are on our short list for a trip next year.

[Hlitner]

31 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Hank, why haven’t you tried Oceania?  You might want to try them sometime, especially if food is a priority for you.

Funny you should mention that as we will be on the O Vista, next month, for 35 days.  We are looking forward to finally giving O a try.  In the past, we had no desire to ever, again, set foot on one of the "R" ships (which we cruised when they were with Renaissance).  Once O started building their own new builds we booked the Marina for an 18 day cruise from Miami to Lima.  Less than 3 weeks prior to that voyage, O completely revamped the itinerary, eliminated all the ports in Peru, and moved disembarkation about 1500 miles to Santiago, Chile.  We immediately cancelled that voyage (and got a complete refund).  So now, we try again and hope that the Vista ends in the right port/country.

 

Hank

[jagoffee]

Hank, enjoy your cruise.  
We also cruised on the R class ships starting with Renaissance followed by the ship’s Princess purchased in the French Polynesia.

The newer Oceania ships have amazing Speciality restaurants with no extra charge.  
It will be interesting to see how the experience compares for you.

We enjoyed the overall experience more than Regent experience.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Hank, enjoy your cruise.  
We also cruised on the R class ships starting with Renaissance followed by the ship’s Princess purchased in the French Polynesia.

The newer Oceania ships have amazing Speciality restaurants with no extra charge.  
It will be interesting to see how the experience compares for you.

We enjoyed the overall experience more than Regent experience.

Our cruise is 3 segments, so we were able to book 3 reservations in each of their 4 specialty restaurants.   DW and I have been debating whether we need to buy the drink package ($30 per person/day) but I am thinking it makes sense if one has 3 drinks a day (their new system already includes wine/drinks at lunch and dinner).  Funny thing about Regent is that none of our friends who have tried Regent have not been pleased.  

 

Hank

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Our cruise is 3 segments, so we were able to book 3 reservations in each of their 4 specialty restaurants.   DW and I have been debating whether we need to buy the drink package ($30 per person/day) but I am thinking it makes sense if one has 3 drinks a day (their new system already includes wine/drinks at lunch and dinner).  Funny thing about Regent is that none of our friends who have tried Regent have not been pleased.  

 

Hank

Very fortunate about the 3 reservations in each of the Specialty restaurants. (Nice strategy).  Our Oceania cruise was during the post COVD restart for 14 days.  The cruise was less than 50% capacity, thus our Speciality dining was unlimited.  Make sure to try the informal dinner AFT dining at least once.  Excellent items grilled to enjoy in the moonlight.  
We also loved the breakfast and lunch area near the pool.  

 

The included Select alcohol Drink package was wine and beer only at lunch and dinner.  But Oceania had a pre dinner cocktail time that had free cocktails. (If I remember correctly).  Tough call on the regular upgraded extra cost drink package.  I found it somewhat limiting.

 

My comment about Regent was meant as a complement to Oceania and not a criticism of Regent.  We did enjoy Regent, but enjoyed Oceania more. (I know that is a little unusual)

[Kb55kb]

I took a VV in summer of 22. I am under 30 and surprisingly didn't really like it. Compared to princess I thought the service was not the best. Food in the restaurants was great definitely better than princess but I was sick of the "buffet" by the end since it was 95% the same menu everyday (also had to wait a lot for service). Vv private beach in bimini is light years ahead of princess cay. The "nightly show" on virgin was definitely more entertaining to me than what princess typically does but was shocking our cruise didn't have any comedians(seemed like a miss on an adult only line). However, the lack of different events throughout the day left me bored a lot. Casino was too packed and my sailing was only 60% full can only imagine what it would be like on a full ship. I like the basic balcony room on VV but the beds were not comfortable. I am definitely interested to see what their next gen of ship will look like if that ever happens. They will have some experience under their belts and make some good changes. Overall was a relatively neutral experience didn't love it but didn't hate it. We still stick with princess. We typically cruise when school is in session which gives us an almost kid free experience. 

[voyager1964]

FWIW, I had a booking on Brilliant Lady out of San Juan this March, which was cancelled in ~October 2023. The cancellation was not handled well, to put it mildly.

Also, my impression is that you must reserve all the restaurants and shows prior to cruise (unless you are in a suite), or make the reservations while you are in the waiting area for embarkation (taking advantage of ship's internet). Otherwise, you would have a trouble finding a reservation slot onboard. But then again those are the things I read about, not my own experience.

[ReneeFLL]

On 2/17/2024 at 4:31 PM, CineGraphic said:

During our first Virgin sailing, we called our TA and had her cancel all of our future Princess bookings.  In the past year we've sailed with them 4 times and have 3 more on the books.

No kids. No photographers, No cruise director. No announcements to interfere with your day.

Great music. Great shows. Great crew, and they matched our loyalty status which entitled us to early boarding, free laundry, $10 daily for specialty coffee, $100 bar tab, and a private sail-away party.

The status-match program is currently on-hold, as repeat sales have been very strong.

We were status matched from Pinnacle on Royal Caribbean to get the DBE. Does this allow us to board earlier than our 2:15 boarding time?

[SCX22]

41 minutes ago, Kb55kb said:

However, the lack of different events throughout the day left me bored a lot.

 

You should try VV again.  2022 wasn't a good reflection of the VV.  They were only starting out at the time and the pandemic protocols hampered what they could offer on board their ships.  It affected all cruise lines.

 

Great that you found your niche in Princess, though.

[Steelers0854]

24 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

We were status matched from Pinnacle on Royal Caribbean to get the DBE. Does this allow us to board earlier than our 2:15 boarding time?

Yes. You will be the first group to board, in San Juan it was 1:45. 

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

Having previously been chastised for posting something someone else considered political, I'll just say that we make decisions where our money goes based on a lot of different factors.  One is how closely an organization's values align with ours.

It’s nice to be without rug rats, so sorry, I meant little ones sometimes. Having a cruise line that doesn’t involve misbehaving kids has nothing to do with their values. 🙄

[ReneeFLL]

8 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Yes. You will be the first group to board, in San Juan it was 1:45. 

Thanks, we will be leaving from Miami.

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Looks like this has been moved back to Princess.

Why would they do that? I came looking for info about VV and found it there. I never would have looked at Princess for VV info. So weird.