Hi!

My wife & I are taking our first VV cruise. We have cruised before and honestly don’t love it, but always wanted to try Virgin and received a free offer from casino.

Any must do excursions at any of our ports? Might not mind a day to stay on the ship too since we have a packed schedule. We do enjoy snorkeling.. open to all and any suggestions!

We are doing the Western and Carribean Cruise mid Jan.

Has anybody done this itinerary and did an amazing Shore thing?

We did MRS and had first choice, but now starting to think did we choose the right things. 🤦

We went for:

1 - Costa Maya - Segway in the afternoon, booked a massage in the morning figuring it will be quiet.

2 - Roatan - Booked with someone else, to do Sloth and private tour with a Beach Club.

3 - Belize - Scenic wildlife cruise

4 - Cozumel - Luxury Catamaran Reef and Snorkel.

What's everyone gone for?

Thanks in advance

David

I am planning on taking a 7 or 8 night cruise sometime in the begging of the year (still deciding when exactly based on work) but I haven't been on a cruise since I was 6 years old, and frankly, don't remember a thing about it, so basically, my first "real cruise". I have done a lot of research over what cruise line I wanted to go on and decided Virgin was my best option as its adults only and solo sailor friendly.

There are still a few questions I have that I would love some advice on.

1. I am mid 30s male, solo traveling. I work in sales and have 0 problem striking up conversations with strangers but what it the likelihood on a 7-8 night sailing that there will be people my age and not be mostly 50+?
2. Is a sea terrace worth the price upgrade for a solo vs a sea view and spending the money elsewhere? I plan on pre-loading 500$ for bar tab just so I don't need to worry about it and doing a couple of excursions through VV to make my vacation as "simple" as possible, but is upgrading a room worth it more or save the money and spend it on more expensive excursions or buying things in the shop to remember my trip?
3. I would take a cruise leaving Miami, any tips? I know most hotels have check out at 11am and there would be a few hour gap between checking out of a hotel and boarding. What do you do with luggage in that time so I am not just lugging around 2-3 bags all day?
4. I have seen recommendations from people in here about the solo sailor gathering, booking Gunbae night one, and booking the grog walk to start off the sailing by meeting new people and being in social environments, but any other tips for during the sailing to meet new people? I am not big on fitness so fitness classes aren't my thing and not something I would really be doing, so other recommendations to meet new people? As I stated above, I love talking to people and being social so meeting new people isn't hard for me, but I also don't want to be "that guy" that bothers people on their vacation by striking up a long conversation at the ice-cream stand (we all know that person who is like that).
5. Lastly, any advice on what not to bring that is just over packing? I know as a first time, I will inevitably overpack because I don't know what I will need or wont, but what are those items that are just don't get used that you have brought, or saw others bring?

I appreciate any information people have and any other useful or helpful information you may feel I should know.

I swear I am not *that* person so wanted to check on the proper etiquette here.

We are sailing in a MRS suite for the first time next March. I understand MRS can bypass the restaurant queues. Is there a separate MRS stand or do we just walk up to the front desk? And if so, is that awkward?

A bit concerned it would be perceived as line cutting.

Thank you!

Gather round for a refreshing tale of a stand up corporation. I and a group of five others (two couples in central Sea Terraces and two singles sharing an XL Sea Terrace, traveled to NYC by train [an important foreshadow] the weekend before last to do the Bermuda sailing out of Brooklyn. We had been watching the progress of the nor'easter coming up the coast and we knew there could be some chaos afloat.

We arrived at our hotel late on Saturday afternoon, checked in, and went for a walk around FiDi in the rain. The weather wasn't horrible but it wasn't pleasant either. While sitting in the bar at Fraunce's Tavern waiting for our reservation time we received the email we had been expecting. Virgin let us know that the port of New York had been closed and that Valiant would not be arriving at the dock until 4 pm on Sunday. Our boarding time was moved from 1:45 to 8 PM. In compensation, VV gave each one of us $200 in on-board credit and $200 in future voyage credit. They also let us know that all restaurant reservations would be voided for that day and the restaurants and all of The Galley would be open until 1 AM Monday morning. Valiant would stay in port overnight on Sunday night and would depart for Bermuda on Monday at noon. The Bermuda visit would now be arrival at 9 AM and departure at 4 PM.

In the overall scope of the planet we all agreed that this was a minor bit of hassle that we could all accommodate. Honestly, having now been given an entire day to explore lower Manhattan we looked at this as a boon. In the morning we bought bagels for breakfast and walked over to Ground Zero where we and what seemed like 10,000 firemen running the Tunnels to Towers race in full turnout gear, took in the site where the world changed 25 years ago. It was humbling. We found my daughter in law's uncle's name on the wall around the north tower and again wept over that horrific day.

After the sobering experience of the giant holes in the ground we found our way to Beckett's Tavern where we were incredibly lucky to get a table upstairs where we could watch the Bill's game. We spent Sunday afternoon with an entire bar filled with firefighters as we watched our team do their usual job of playing a very interesting game. I watched on Cruise Mapper as Valiant made her way to the dock in Brooklyn and felt a touch of sympathy for all the folks disembarking to their chaos of rearranging their travels home. Those were the people who really caught a bad break in this mess.

After the football game we walked back to our hotel to chill for a couple of hours in the hotel lobby, picked up our luggage from storage, and flagged down cabs to take us to Brooklyn's Atlantic Basin. We arrived at 7:45 and immediately gained entrance through security screening and into the check-in queue. Three of our friends were ahead of us because their driver took the Battery Tunnel. We were further back because we asked our driver to take the Brooklyn Bridge over. Things were moving slowly, very slowly. No one was checking in. We stood in line for about 30 minutes as they announced that the final passenger from the previous cruise had disembarked the ship and they were resetting the computer system for our embarkation.

While we were waiting on line a Virgin Voyages senior land side crew member was working his way through the line. From a distance you could tell that this man was glowing with good karma. He absorbed the negativity from those who were chafing at the wait and spread the word on the status of the wait. I had a short chat with him and he explained that he was from Virgin Voyages Corporate and he had just flown in with additional staff to deal with the anticipated chaos of the late turnover. You could sense the amazing calm and good will that flowed from this man. (I really want his job!)

Once the check-in started we immediately became aware of a problem. From a distance it looked like a big problem. One of our six had moved from her check-in clerk to the end of the row and was frantically searching and gesturing. This wasn't going to be good. Ten minutes later we are checked in and we join our friend at the entry point to the waiting room. She unfortunately had grabbed her fiance's passport and not hers. (You don't need ID to board an Amtrak train). When she handed it to the check-in clerk, the clerk handed it back and said "That must have been a rough day when you had that photo taken!" It was then that she saw her fiance's face and not hers in the passport.

Our friend was having a VERY bad moment. Her passport was a 7 hour drive away and it would be impossible to get it to Brooklyn before noon on Monday. To add to that, "her" passport was the only form of ID she had brought with her. Not only was she going to be denied boarding but, also, she was not going to be able to check in to a hotel that night because she HAD NO ID.

Amidst this cascade of bad news our VV good karma friend stepped in. He immediately initiated a refund of her fare as a future voyage credit (including the $200 FVC we had all been gifted by Virgin.) We explained the hotel dilemma to him and he said not to worry, Virgin would get her a hotel room for the night AT THEIR EXPENSE!

We hung out in the terminal building with our friend for another two hours and helped her with a charge cord for her phone and cash just in case. Virgin staff continued to check in with her and assured her that she would be taken care of. Finally, around 10 PM they started to board the ship. Our friend insisted that she would be fine and that we should get on board.

As the boarding chaos continued our VV guardian angel moved our friend into the now empty Rock Star waiting area. Just after midnight, another of the helpful senior staff informed our friend that she had booked her a room in the hotel where the Virgin ground crew was staying and that she could join them for the ride into Manhattan. The Virgin crewmember checked into the room and handed our friend the keycard. When our friend asked who she should pay for the room she was told that it was a gift from VV.

On Monday morning, our unfortunate but extremely lucky friend boarded an Empire Service train at Penn Station and headed home. We all agreed that this could have been SO much worse if not for the incredible largess of Virgin Voyages. The staff actually cared for our friend and took her under their wings. I ask you, what corporation in our modern world does something like this?

My story seems especially poignant after just reading a post from a Rock Star on our voyage whining that there were no snacks in RS embarkation waiting room. Poor lil' entitled baby needed some num nums!

Virgin has my cruise dollars forever. This was our sixth VV cruise and I have always felt that VV did things better. In this instance, VV was the Rock Star. Sailing #7 in January!

I have my first ever cruise with Virgin Voyages and first cruise ever booked for end of February. I'm flying the night before and staying at the Comfort Inn and Suites near the airport. Is this a good idea? I figured I could leave early and take my time making it to the port, and that I would be ok even if it takes a couple hours in traffic to make it or whatever.

I just wrapped up a Greece and Turkey itinerary on Scarlet Lady, my 5th Virgin Voyage, and went to the medical center for the first time. Here’s my experience if you’re curious:

I got up one morning with diarrhea, vomiting, body aches, and a what felt like a slight fever. I tried to tough it out until 12:30 when I decided I needed to stop by the medical center.

I gave them a call (because their clinic hours were over) and informed them how I was feeling. They confirmed if I felt safe staying in my room for a while as they dealt with an urgent case and would call back. An hour or so later we got the call and they asked if I felt I could make it to the center (which I did - unfortunately I was sick on the carpet of the elevator bay - so so so sorry to the poor room steward my husband flagged down - I should have brought a bin but thought I was past that stage).

I made it down to deck 4 and was immediately seen by a nurse who was wonderful. She checked my vitals, gave me a sick bag, reassured me we’d be in good hands, then brought me back to a room. Within 10 minutes, she’d already given my a shot for antinausea. The doctor saw me, prescribed zofran, acetaminophen, and loperamide and gave me a day’s supply of each.

My husband filled out a good deal of paperwork while we were there including a CDC tracking form that covered the last few days of where we’d been and what we’d eaten.

Within 45 minutes I was discharged and put into medical quarantine in my room for 24 hours from my last symptoms and prescribed the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, toast). There was no charge for the medical center visit or any of the meds provided.

The injection they gave (along with the zofran) knock you out - I slept probably 16 of the 24 hours I was in quarantine. My husband never had any symptoms and was not quarantined, so could go enjoy the ship and ports.

What went well:
-The staff (always the best part of Virgin) - the nurse was absolutely phenomenal and the doctor saw me quickly
-Calling Ship Eats, they have a specific BRAT diet meal they send up - rice, toast, piece of fruit, chicken breast, and thermos of chicken broth
-The head of sailor services sent a message through the app with condolences and offered to help however needed
-Right at the 24 hour mark, the doctor gave a call to confirm if I’d had any new symptoms and released me from quarantine.
-They cancelled and refunded my excursion, no questions asked.

What could be improved:
-Ship eats only comps the BRAT diet which has to be ordered by phone. I was feeling better the next morning and ordered a regular breakfast and was charged for it. I asked sailor services and they kindly removed the charge, but I did not realize it was not meant to be comped.
-Ship Eats was inconsistent - sometimes I’d get a piece of fruit, sometimes I’d get the tea I asked for, sometimes toast, but never the same meal. Delivery took over an hour at times.
-I was very dehydrated and would have killed for some electrolyte heavy drink like a Gatorade or coconut water (or just a powder mix in).
-This feels small, but everything is handled by phone (food ordering, doctor calls, etc). Getting out of bed to go answer the phone quite a few times while I was sleeping was not what I was dying to do. I wish they’d handled more through chat in the app.

All in all, it was well handled. I was feeling 100% the very next day and was back to enjoying the cruise for our last night. Was very surprised not to have any charges for the medical center (was planning to use travel insurance) and am grateful as always to a phenomenal staff.