What a lovely informative video ( have come to expect nothing less 🙂). This all sounds rather nice for a treat to yourselves, and to just add a little extra to your experiences. I cant see the band, however, I dont think I need to haha - Linzi , you made it pretty clear it wasn't great haha. It is s such a shame that you didnt get any kind of "recognition" for having the band on - although, perhaps you did, as it allowed you into the special "never to be seen" sail away party hour lol, and I guess it also allowed the juices and spa etc, just by showing the band. Shake for Champagne is always going to be special isnt it, and its a really unique feature of Virgin - I wonder if other cruise lines will adopt the same at some point, I think it would be a real hit. It really does sound like you had another fabulous Virgin Voyage, I have been watching your vlogs and listened to your live early hours this morning, and Marks Favourite cruise line - wow. Anyway my lovelies, I am sipping on a cherry Blossom Negroni ( I decided to add a couple of the cocktail cherries and a little of the cherry juice from the jar - rather nice 🙂, I have to say..hic, hic " ) sat up in bed, catching up on TH-cam, so, I shall wish you a good night and hope you have an awesome week x x
Hi Terry. What a lovely comment as always. Thank you so much, they really do make our day when we see them. You are right on the band. They did use it for us getting into places and for our juices (along with checking our cabin number) but we didn’t get any of the “surprises” they talk about when staff spot it. At least not that we remember 😂 We both would love other cruise lines to have a “shake for champagne” type feature and really wouldn’t as it is such a virgin thing. But we loved it. It was the first time in the three cruises with them we’d done it. It felt like such a massive treat. We really can’t wait to go on our next Virgin cruise but at the moment nothing booked (other than a deposit voucher) but really want to do Brilliant Lady in Panama Canal or Alaska. Those naughty cherrry negronis have been in our live each evening since you shared them. You are a naughty influence 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Take care Terry and our love to Dean and Spencer. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Haha, the naughty cherry Negronis :-) Dean made me one last night, and I said to him, this seems a large Negroni, and he assured me he made it exactly the same as each time before..I woke in the night with a headache, like a hangover lol. He then noticed that he had in actual fact used the double shot measure for each of the spirits - so, ten shots of spirit in one glass!!! I now make my own haha x
@@LowVisionUKTerrysView 🤣🤣🤣 Naughty Dean. Accidentally giving double measures. Hope the headaches cleared up now. To be fair the Long Island Ice Teas we make are like that. One of them and you are done 😂
We found the SOR wristbands a bit of a nuisance too, we were told that they aren't necessary anymore and they didn't issue them to everyone on our cruise. Our juices came from the bar on deck 15 next to the round (whirlpool) pool. The prices have gone up too. We liked the sultry bites (now called Aphrodisiac Bites). Overall we were happy with the SOR package and have booked it for our next cruise. Value is better for 10 days or more cruises.
Love this review. I think you’re the first to show the sail away party with the SOR Package. I got the package a few days ago for my trip, and I’m excited. I’ll definitely utilize it to my advantage. Did they let you get as many drinks as you want during the sail away party for free??? I heard you guys say that you got 3 drinks.
Thank you so much. Glad that it's helped with the SOR package. On the sailaway side it was as many drinks as you wanted from the selection, they didn't limit us at all. You are going to have an amazing time. We would go on a Virgin cruise tomorrow if we could 😂 Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
I think you guys are very generous in your calculations. Many of the benefits in the Romance package are parts of other deals as well. For instance, the Deep Blue Extras include priority boarding (right after the Romance people) and the suites board right before. Most bookings these days include $300-600 beverage package which could cover your cold pressed juices. Your cocktail party was inside--that's a nice touch. Ours were outdoors, the drinks were pre-made and sitting on trays where they were very watered down. I'd place the average cocktail on the ship at $13 with a range on $11-17. The sweet treats? Who knows, but I don't need any more food on the ship! On our cruise, the thermal spa was $39 or $59 depending on the day. My logic is that if you are going to get the champagne and the thermal suite anyhow, the Romance package is a good deal. If you would not use one of those, I can't see the value in the other things. If cocktail and thermal suite prices are continuing to increase, that makes the package even better. I have a question...if you are on a cruise where VAT is charged, do you pay VAT on the package as well or is that not charged as you purchased it in the US? I'm aware that some other cruise lines have gotten into trouble for not charging VAT on their beverage packages. VV does deduct VAT from the bar tab on cocktails purchased when the ship is not in international waters.
Hi Kathryn, You are absolutely right that some of the benefits are covered by other packages or loyalty levels, such as Sea Blazer. We think we mentioned about the boarding priority at the start having little benefit if you were in Rockstar/Mega Rockstar, although we did forget about the Deep Blue Extras. All the different floating benefits are quite hard to keep track of, we also have the Sea Blazers one, which gives us stuff, then the Deep Blue Extras, which to be clear we are not moaning about, gives you loads of stuff, such as the daily coffee allowance, and even more OBC and then the Romance Package on this cruise. We came to the same conclusion as you did, that if you are getting the champagne and a Thermal Suite visit, then it is a decent deal. The cocktails in the party were definitely not watered down on our day, and they didn't hold off giving them out either. The food treats were tasty, but all sweet ones, not things you could get elsewhere, but as you said, there is no shortage of food options onboard. As far as VAT is concerned, we booked it via the US based Sailor Services, and paid in USD $, we didn't get charged anything on top of that such as VAT, which we wouldn't have expected to it being a US purchase. Anytime we've been overseas on a cruise, they have made it clear to us if there was any additional local taxes charged, such as they do in Spain now, so on some cruise lines, even if you had a drinks package, you were charged tax on what the cost would have been. It did get us thinking this question (thank you) and we looked back at our two VV cruises that left the UK (one to nowhere, and one to Zeebrugge) and we could see any examples of where we were charged extra taxes or VAT beyond the advertised prices. We definitely didn't on our Adriatic cruise on Resilient. On P&O as an example of where it is a UK based line, and departing out of the UK, we were not charged any additional VAT on top of the prices, as we would assume they have them calculated to included VAT. Some other lines departing the UK (such as Celebrity), do have a higher drink allowance, which may well be to take into account VAT, but we cannot say for certain. Thanks for getting our brains kick started this morning 😂 Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured Hi Mark and Linzi, this has got me interested. Do you and it ( well, you must do lol ) a better financial deal by booking via US sailor Services and paying in US dollars than booking via. a TA in the uk and paying sterling? Is it a substantial difference do you think? Terry
@@LowVisionUKTerrysView for the Splash Of Romance Package you have to complete the “I want this option” on the website and then they got in touch and when we called them back you get routed to the US and only option for the package is to pay in dollars. Not sure if it was better value or not as we weren’t given any other options 😂 Linzi and Mark
Very interesting breakdown of this - i have not seen it as value before but seeing the numbers you have its harder to say. If we are in Rockstar with the free pour champagne everyday for an hour amd a half i would not bother but i think in a standard cabin its worth considering. Totally agree that are missing a trick with the food offerings though.
Completely agree, if you are in Rockstar then there is even less benefit, you already have priority boarding, and free sparkly stuff each day for an hour.
@@SuiteNatured Anytime! Now my fiancée and I are watching all your videos for the Resilient Lady cruise as we are booked in February for one of the Australian 🇦🇺 ones and we can’t wait 😃 You guys are an awesome couple and very helpful with your videos 😊
I’ve got the package but there has been confusion about priority boarding. I was told I had to board at my regular boarding time 3:15pm but use the dedicated Splash of Romance line. Is that true? Thanks for your videos. They are delightful 😊
Thank you, we are so glad you've been enjoying the videos. On the priority boarding, give sailor services a call. We were told we would be in the first boarding group (1.45 pm) as part of the package and we were. There is a priority boarding area when you go to check in but if it's quiet you just go to any check in counter as we did. There wasn't a dedicated splash of romance queue for us or any signage for one. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured I checked., They will replace with wine but the hubby and I are not big wine drinkers either. Bring on the whiskey! I wish they would change for added bar tab instead.
What a lovely informative video ( have come to expect nothing less 🙂). This all sounds rather nice for a treat to yourselves, and to just add a little extra to your experiences. I cant see the band, however, I dont think I need to haha - Linzi , you made it pretty clear it wasn't great haha. It is s such a shame that you didnt get any kind of "recognition" for having the band on - although, perhaps you did, as it allowed you into the special "never to be seen" sail away party hour lol, and I guess it also allowed the juices and spa etc, just by showing the band.
Shake for Champagne is always going to be special isnt it, and its a really unique feature of Virgin - I wonder if other cruise lines will adopt the same at some point, I think it would be a real hit.
It really does sound like you had another fabulous Virgin Voyage, I have been watching your vlogs and listened to your live early hours this morning, and Marks Favourite cruise line - wow.
Anyway my lovelies, I am sipping on a cherry Blossom Negroni ( I decided to add a couple of the cocktail cherries and a little of the cherry juice from the jar - rather nice 🙂, I have to say..hic, hic " ) sat up in bed, catching up on TH-cam, so, I shall wish you a good night and hope you have an awesome week x x
Hi Terry. What a lovely comment as always. Thank you so much, they really do make our day when we see them.
You are right on the band. They did use it for us getting into places and for our juices (along with checking our cabin number) but we didn’t get any of the “surprises” they talk about when staff spot it. At least not that we remember 😂
We both would love other cruise lines to have a “shake for champagne” type feature and really wouldn’t as it is such a virgin thing. But we loved it. It was the first time in the three cruises with them we’d done it. It felt like such a massive treat.
We really can’t wait to go on our next Virgin cruise but at the moment nothing booked (other than a deposit voucher) but really want to do Brilliant Lady in Panama Canal or Alaska.
Those naughty cherrry negronis have been in our live each evening since you shared them. You are a naughty influence 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Take care Terry and our love to Dean and Spencer.
Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Haha, the naughty cherry Negronis :-) Dean made me one last night, and I said to him, this seems a large Negroni, and he assured me he made it exactly the same as each time before..I woke in the night with a headache, like a hangover lol. He then noticed that he had in actual fact used the double shot measure for each of the spirits - so, ten shots of spirit in one glass!!! I now make my own haha x
@@LowVisionUKTerrysView 🤣🤣🤣 Naughty Dean. Accidentally giving double measures. Hope the headaches cleared up now.
To be fair the Long Island Ice Teas we make are like that. One of them and you are done 😂
We found the SOR wristbands a bit of a nuisance too, we were told that they aren't necessary anymore and they didn't issue them to everyone on our cruise. Our juices came from the bar on deck 15 next to the round (whirlpool) pool. The prices have gone up too. We liked the sultry bites (now called Aphrodisiac Bites). Overall we were happy with the SOR package and have booked it for our next cruise. Value is better for 10 days or more cruises.
Thanks Adrian, great point about it being better value for longer cruises, we might add this on to our Panama cruise now you've said that.
Love this review. I think you’re the first to show the sail away party with the SOR Package. I got the package a few days ago for my trip, and I’m excited. I’ll definitely utilize it to my advantage. Did they let you get as many drinks as you want during the sail away party for free??? I heard you guys say that you got 3 drinks.
Thank you so much. Glad that it's helped with the SOR package. On the sailaway side it was as many drinks as you wanted from the selection, they didn't limit us at all.
You are going to have an amazing time. We would go on a Virgin cruise tomorrow if we could 😂
Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
I think you guys are very generous in your calculations. Many of the benefits in the Romance package are parts of other deals as well. For instance, the Deep Blue Extras include priority boarding (right after the Romance people) and the suites board right before. Most bookings these days include $300-600 beverage package which could cover your cold pressed juices. Your cocktail party was inside--that's a nice touch. Ours were outdoors, the drinks were pre-made and sitting on trays where they were very watered down. I'd place the average cocktail on the ship at $13 with a range on $11-17. The sweet treats? Who knows, but I don't need any more food on the ship! On our cruise, the thermal spa was $39 or $59 depending on the day.
My logic is that if you are going to get the champagne and the thermal suite anyhow, the Romance package is a good deal. If you would not use one of those, I can't see the value in the other things. If cocktail and thermal suite prices are continuing to increase, that makes the package even better. I have a question...if you are on a cruise where VAT is charged, do you pay VAT on the package as well or is that not charged as you purchased it in the US? I'm aware that some other cruise lines have gotten into trouble for not charging VAT on their beverage packages. VV does deduct VAT from the bar tab on cocktails purchased when the ship is not in international waters.
Hi Kathryn,
You are absolutely right that some of the benefits are covered by other packages or loyalty levels, such as Sea Blazer. We think we mentioned about the boarding priority at the start having little benefit if you were in Rockstar/Mega Rockstar, although we did forget about the Deep Blue Extras. All the different floating benefits are quite hard to keep track of, we also have the Sea Blazers one, which gives us stuff, then the Deep Blue Extras, which to be clear we are not moaning about, gives you loads of stuff, such as the daily coffee allowance, and even more OBC and then the Romance Package on this cruise.
We came to the same conclusion as you did, that if you are getting the champagne and a Thermal Suite visit, then it is a decent deal. The cocktails in the party were definitely not watered down on our day, and they didn't hold off giving them out either. The food treats were tasty, but all sweet ones, not things you could get elsewhere, but as you said, there is no shortage of food options onboard.
As far as VAT is concerned, we booked it via the US based Sailor Services, and paid in USD $, we didn't get charged anything on top of that such as VAT, which we wouldn't have expected to it being a US purchase. Anytime we've been overseas on a cruise, they have made it clear to us if there was any additional local taxes charged, such as they do in Spain now, so on some cruise lines, even if you had a drinks package, you were charged tax on what the cost would have been.
It did get us thinking this question (thank you) and we looked back at our two VV cruises that left the UK (one to nowhere, and one to Zeebrugge) and we could see any examples of where we were charged extra taxes or VAT beyond the advertised prices. We definitely didn't on our Adriatic cruise on Resilient.
On P&O as an example of where it is a UK based line, and departing out of the UK, we were not charged any additional VAT on top of the prices, as we would assume they have them calculated to included VAT. Some other lines departing the UK (such as Celebrity), do have a higher drink allowance, which may well be to take into account VAT, but we cannot say for certain.
Thanks for getting our brains kick started this morning 😂
Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured Hi Mark and Linzi, this has got me interested. Do you and it ( well, you must do lol ) a better financial deal by booking via US sailor Services and paying in US dollars than booking via. a TA in the uk and paying sterling? Is it a substantial difference do you think?
Terry
@@LowVisionUKTerrysView for the Splash Of Romance Package you have to complete
the “I want this option” on the website and then they got in touch and when we called them back you get routed to the US and only option for the package is to pay in dollars. Not sure if it was better value or not as we weren’t given any other options 😂
Linzi and Mark
If you have a late embarkation time it's worth it to board early and be able to make all your reservations quickly for shows and classes
@@SuiteNatured I booked it right online and paid online
Very interesting breakdown of this - i have not seen it as value before but seeing the numbers you have its harder to say.
If we are in Rockstar with the free pour champagne everyday for an hour amd a half i would not bother but i think in a standard cabin its worth considering.
Totally agree that are missing a trick with the food offerings though.
Completely agree, if you are in Rockstar then there is even less benefit, you already have priority boarding, and free sparkly stuff each day for an hour.
You have to be quite wealthy to be in the rock star room. At that point, ROI is gonezo anyway.
Very informative video thank you!
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching.
Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Anytime! Now my fiancée and I are watching all your videos for the Resilient Lady cruise as we are booked in February for one of the Australian 🇦🇺 ones and we can’t wait 😃 You guys are an awesome couple and very helpful with your videos 😊
I’ve got the package but there has been confusion about priority boarding. I was told I had to board at my regular boarding time 3:15pm but use the dedicated Splash of Romance line. Is that true? Thanks for your videos. They are delightful 😊
Thank you, we are so glad you've been enjoying the videos.
On the priority boarding, give sailor services a call. We were told we would be in the first boarding group (1.45 pm) as part of the package and we were. There is a priority boarding area when you go to check in but if it's quiet you just go to any check in counter as we did. There wasn't a dedicated splash of romance queue for us or any signage for one.
Linzi and Mark
I wonder if they offer something other than champagne? The hubs and I are not fans.
Hmmm. Not sure they do. Might be worth asking if they could offer and alternative to shake for champagne though.
@@SuiteNatured I checked., They will replace with wine but the hubby and I are not big wine drinkers either. Bring on the whiskey! I wish they would change for added bar tab instead.
$200 ....its cheap..it gets you on fast to book shows and classes...beats RS prices eh?
If you can take advantage of all the benefits it is a bit of a bargain 😀🍾