VV and Celebrity, Princess: Biggest differences?

[Bisous3]

Hi All-

My husband and I will be embarking on the Resilient Lady for the Greek Island Glow cruise next week. We've pretty much stuck to cruising on Celebrity and Princess over the last 25 years or so and were just wondering what the biggest differences are between VV and those 2 lines? (aside from no kids and a more casual dress code).

Interested in hearing the positives and negatives though I will say after researching there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of negatives!

Thanks in advance!

[1025cruise]

All restaurants are "specialty dining" but no charge.

There is no main dining room.

No buffet, but it's more of a food hall.

Entertainment a bit more risque.

[cantgetin]

The ships are almost identical.  This video will give you an excellent idea what to expect.
NO KIDS, tips included, all dining included other than a few specialty upgrade items clearly listed on the menu (don't bother, the included stuff is great)

[-The-True-North-]

Free soda.

No tips.

[BRDLY99]

I was on VV Scarlet Lady last August and Sky Princess in December. One of the biggest differences to me is there are no announcements over the loud speaker on VV (unless absolutely necessary). Also, and this one is huge for me - no side hustles on the ship. No t-shirts sales, no pictures or photos for sale, no jewelry sales, gift shop extravaganzas, etc.  If you want to shop - go shop - there is no one trying to sell you on anything (this was my experience).  There is no buffet on VV - which I like, I also found the food quality to be above any of the cruises I have been on (Carnival/Princess/Celebrity).  The only thing lacking in the food was the dessert - this is something VV can certainly improve upon.

 

Free wifi - good enough to FaceTime home with

Free soda/pop - candy (yes, candy)

No upcharge for the "speciality" restaurants - included with cruise fare

The entertainment was top notch

Staff were very attentive and helpful

No tips

NO KIDS!!! - not yours, not someone else's - no kids to worry about

Awesome parties - you can do as much or as little as you want

Free video games- like the old school arcade kind

Japanese style karaoke booths (also free)

Tattoo Parlor at Sea - not sure I would recommend on those rough sea days

Nice drink menu - many cocktails are specific to those locations so you can try something new everywhere you go on the ship

 

Downside - super small pools

 

VV was the first cruise I went on where I did not walk off with additional stateroom charges. We had a great time and will be going back next year.

[CineGraphic]

No announcements, no cruise director, no art auctions, and no EFFY!

Food in the dining rooms is cooked ala' minute, instead of being cooked hours ahead of time and held in a food warmer.

[jon81uk]

7 hours ago, BRDLY99 said:

there is no one trying to sell you on anything (this was my experience)

There is one exception, they hold some workshops in the gym, such as posture and nutrition, these are sales for insoles and vitamins. I went to the posture workshop and it provided no used information on improvement except to buy the insoles to solve all your issues.

 

There are also a few events held in the shops but it’s more obvious that a talk about Rolex watches and their history will be a sales pitch. 
 

The ones done by the fitness trainers stand out compared to everything else VV does and in my opinion cheapen the overall experience significantly.

[Bisous3]

This was all super helpful. Thank you!

[CruisingWalter]

The biggest negative coming from Celebrity / Princess is the pool.  It's not really a pool, more of a lounging water feature. Celebrity and Princess both have really nice pools and Celebrity has the stunning Solarium pools. VV decided their clientele doesn't care much for a pool but would rather have more sundecks.

 

VV's food will generally compare with the specialty dining on Princess/Celebrity.  But you have to be quick with your dining reservations if you want to score your reservations. VV's dining problem is that there isn't enough seating for everyone who wants to dine at restaurants each evening. They are working on some pop up concepts now to alleviate the crush on the main restaurants. A great reason to use a TA for VV they can score your dining reservations much easier than you will through the app.

 

Love the retro arcade, it's free. Private Karaoke is hilarious, you need to give that try in The Groupie. Pizza is on par with and sometimes better than Princess. Celebrity's crew is super outgoing, Princess' cruise is a little bit more reserved while the VV crew is incredibly laid back. Their not fishing for tips so their service is not 'over the top.' It's really good service and mostly friendly service, but not over the top because nobody is trying to stand out and get your tips.

 

@cantgetin shared my food review and it's still pretty accurate though we don't go to The Wake for dinner any longer. I have found better steaks at Extra Virgin and Pink Agave the last few times we've been on Scarlet and Valiant. The Wake can sometimes be an unnecessarily long meal as well. 

 

If you like Celebrity / Princess you should really enjoy yourself on VV. 🙂  

[The_Big_M]

There's a lot of positives, many of which are covered here.

 

However, the main negatives are insufficient spaces in the speciality restaurants, resulting in many missing out if they didn't get booked in time. 

 

And an overreliance on a bad app, to the extent that there's no backup when it 'lost' reservations, and it told you you had no booking, and it doesn't give any other confirmations (unlike other cruise lines when you've booked).

 

[kaysha2004]

There's not many negatives for Virgin, except one, that's irritating.  Once you put a deposit down on a cruise, usually 20%, your money is nonrefundable after 7 days.  After 7 days, if you cancel or move the ship and sail date, the deposit is converted into FVC (future voyage credit) and expires in 2 years.  This is important to know if you're booking a cruise while onboard.  On a 7-day cruise, it's too late to change your mind for a full cash refund once you get back home.

[pmarrsouth]

12 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

On a 7-day cruise, it's too late to change your mind for a full cash refund once you get back home.

 

If you booked it the moment you stepped on board

[cantgetin]

On 5/8/2024 at 10:24 AM, CruisingWalter said:

 

 

@cantgetin shared my food review and it's still pretty accurate though we don't go to The Wake for dinner any longer. I have found better steaks at Extra Virgin and Pink Agave the last few times we've been on Scarlet and Valiant. The Wake can sometimes be an unnecessarily long meal as well. 

 

If you like Celebrity / Princess you should really enjoy yourself on VV. 🙂  

The Wake was better on the transatlantic just completed.  No more long delays and meals taking forever.  But yes, there are better steaks in other restaurants.

[CrazyTrain2]

There is no way to put this into a spreadsheet, but the vibe is so much better on VV. Everyone from passengers to crew is just there to have a friendly time.  The Halloween party on the Valiant TA last October was epic.

[wolfie11]

I cruise for ports, not the ship.  Mediocre food and lackluster entertainment is something you live with to get to that bucket list exotic port.  Then I took a Virgin cruise.  Damn, but it was fun!  I enjoyed myself on the ship. I went to the shows for the first time in years.  I loved the food.  I loved my hammock.  I loved the diva, and the tattoos on the crew, and fact that the crew was having as much fun as I was.  And now the new ship will be going to places I’m actually interested in going to see.  Thank you Virgin for making me happy to be on the ship itself and not just looking forward to the next port!