enviroian

I bought the $300 bar tab and now my bar tabs says it has $700 in it. Not good. I hope they will credit my card back directly and not use some bs only a ship credit crap. There was nothing indicating when I bought the $300 bar tab of this promotion and that it would yield $700. Only after I was on hold for 30 minutes did the recording say "if you are holding for the bar tab promotion please email us directly at [email protected] and we'll take care of it". I emailed them.

Cautiously pessimistic here.....

Ugh.

Jaimito Cartero

You can buy everyone drinks! Someone mentioned the $300 promo here, didn’t they? Maybe you should have verified before pulling the trigger.

FFMilesJunkie

Virgin said in the memo sent to travel agents today that if clients paid for Bar tab on a November sailing they can either get a refund or convert it to Sailor Loot which can be spent on things besides booze like spa, excursions or the shops.

I think you’re starting to see why cruise lines still pay travel agents decent commissions. In many cases we know more about the product than the agents you get on the phone direct. Many of them probably have never stepped on a ship. While most decent travel agents have sailed on the ships, toured the cabins first hand and have tools to solve most of these issues. If we don’t have the answers then we are the ones waiting on hold instead of you. For that, we get commissions that in most cases we share with our clients.

onlyairfare

The website CruiseCritic is a cruiseline equivalent to FlyerTalk and has tons of information and personal opinions, but I think you would find that Sid_ATL comments on his cruises with Virgin may be helpful. Since Virgin is new to the cruise business, that forum is not too large and overwhelming.

I've cruised a lot, mostly on theme cruises that use specialized travel agencies. TurnerClassicMovies cruise charters use SixthMan as their travel agent and charter Disney ships, which are quite nice, and on a full charter, you will see very few kids and no sign of any Disney characters unless you choose to visit the kids' area. TCM uses Disney because the theater facilities are better - makes sense when everyone is cruising to see the movies and meet the classic stars. Everyone else on the cruise is there for the same interests - music or film - so if you go more than once (many are annual) you'll see friends from prior cruises.

I once took a "regular" (non-charter) cruise based on an Expedia ad I saw in the newspaper. I was recovering from knee surgery and going nuts staying home, so the cruise was perfect being only steps from dining and entertainment, someone else to do the cooking and cleaning. The agent was based in a Seattle suburb and was good, very helpful in navigating the intricacies and we did all the details online or by phone. Most cruise cabin rates are based on double occupancy, so if you cruise alone you may have to pay "double" for your cabin. A travel agent can find you cruises that have reasonable solo rates or a ship that has solo cabins.

zitsky

Cruise Critic does not allow travel agent recommendations. And the mods do not have a sense of humor even if most of them are nice.

onlyairfare

True, no recommendations on CC of your personal favorite travel agent. Since theme cruises are "use our agency or don't cruise" it's not been much of an issue for me. Then Tina Diaz at the Bellevue office of Expedia (425-442-2838) did a fine job for me on that one cruise, and FT doesn't have those restrictions. However my travel needs are different from yours Ian so YMMV.

And zitsky you are so right about the mods - the one poster I like and follow his "Tribe" has been banned (but now back by popular demand) a couple times for silly things, or at least they seemed silly to me.

zitsky

I posted a question about diet and regularity. I was having a lot of trouble at the time. I called it a “poo” question. It was marked as a nuisance and removed.

Jaimito Cartero

Did they say you were full of it?

enviroian

I finally got a hold of someone and getting the $300 I paid for the bar tab credited back to my credit card. I have now $300 in my bar tab (not $700). If I drink $300 worth of stuff I'll buy as I need.

I asked some other dumb questions as I'm a newbie like what time is check in (not boarding) and are there long check in lines and are there tsa-pre lanes.

They used to mail out the bands beforehand but now I'll get them when I check in.

Boarding is from 2 pm to 4:45 PM.

To maximize the wow factor psychologically I'm staying a Towne Place Suites on the east side of MIA. Hopefully it's not a war zone there. It will make me appreciate the next 4 nights.

I look forward to going to Key West. I think I might bring some travel fishing gear with me upon my visit there. Hell if my room is low enough to the water I might even troll of my balcony.

FFMilesJunkie

Virgin has their own terminal in Miami which is really nice. Their boarding process is pretty civilized. If you get to the terminal before your 2pm boarding time you can wait or drop off your bags and take a free shuttle to a place with lots if shopping and restaurants. Be sure to download the Virgin Voyages app. You can check in a couple months before the cruise which streamlines the process at the terminal. You scan your passport and take a selfie for your ID. You can also start making dinning reservations about 45 days before the cruise. If you are a “foodie” then you definitely want to do the test kitchen. If you like Korean BBQ then book that the first night. You will be sat at a table for 6 which would be a good way to meet a few people. The Italian restaurant is also very good. The Mexican is not TexMex so don’t expect burritos, fajitas, etc. The Wake has some really good steaks and seafood. The salt crusted Dorade is excellent.

Don’t waste money on cabanas at the beach club. There are plenty of chairs around the pools and on the beach. The service and food there is really good. You even get the free ship Wi-Fi at the beach club.

gretchendz

FFMilesJunkie is a great travel agent!

FFMilesJunkie

Blushing! gretchendz is another great travel agent. In fact there are several really good travel agents here. The key is to find someone who is an expert or at least very knowledgeable at what you want to do. Everyone has their own niche. In fact, I don’t always book my own travel. There are instances when I book through another agent here who has insider knowledge at certain properties and can get rates/benefits that are better than what I can do on my own.

seigex

I've just booked my third booking with crown cruise vacations and they have been much better pricing for what I look for and I was even able to use the Amex Cruise Privilege Program when booking to get the $200 onboard credit (balcony room) and a free $45 dinner credit, in addition to the stuff NCL offers. For RCCL they were about $300 cheaper for a solo cruise I booked for a week later and gave me nice sized obc. I also found out about CruisePlum today which shows pricing for cruises and you can filter on things like "low solo supplement fees"

freecia

Cruiseplum also lets you search by solo passenger total and/or cost per day. I look for total price even if paying a 100% supplement though I understand some people are opposed to paying the supplement. The total fare + taxes + tip price is what matters to me.

seigex

Good point, thanks. I'm new to it, so still playing around wiht it to figure it out. I don't mind paying supplements as long as the total is reasonable.