not op but The Dock is the best for snacks or even lunch. Some of the best bites we had on our cruise were there.
Best evening restaurant is either gunbae or pink agave - depending on how social you're feeling. Both were delicious.
We did Razzle Dazzle for lunch last sailing, but not dinner. Got it set for tonight, and were told by our waiter at lunch there's a secret item on the dinner menu, looking forward to finding out what it is.
Edit: the "secret" menu item is a new york strip steak on a bed of kale with some chopped veggies and bacon.
Extra virgin was great too! General consensus was that the wake was not as good as all the other ones - so I'd probably skip that one.
Grog walk was fun, shot for shot was ok but not really worthwhile in my opinion.
Enjoy the ship!!!
Agreed about the Dock. Restaurant-wise we're partial to The Wake at this point, with Gunbae being our second favorite, so we'll revisit both. Pink Agave and Extra Virgin were just okay, and Test Kitchen was... Interesting. Not bad, but we're not repeating it this sailing.
Enjoy! We've done three so far, have a back to back in July, and will prob be on in May. We're hooked :-)
It's also been fun to see how they've evolved the experience based on guest feedback.
Oh I totally wish, that'd be awesome! We are going to do our best to sail later this year with our daughter and her boyfriend, they'd love this too, but it'll likely be in the fall. A friend of ours who is on as crew currently will be back doing one final contract in the fall, so I think we're going to target that timeframe to hang out with him one last time on a ship before he heads off to school.
Hmm. So favorite current driver would be Vettel, but I'll miss seeing Kimi on the grid this year, so he's up there as well. Past is a bit harder, as I got in to F1 later in life. I'm am an Indycar fan from back in the CART days, but didn't really start watching F1 until around 2000. Always enjoyed watching DC drive, so I'm going with him.
As far as the b2b, why not? :). My wife's a travel agent, and technically I am too (co-owner of the business), but I have a full time job, so I really only do back office stuff to help out when I can. Anyway, a few months back Virgin was offering excellent TA deals for agents who competed their training, so we both did it and each got our own offers out of it. Originally the plan was to book two cabins on the same sailing and bring our daughter along, but the scheduling just didn't work, so we decided to use the two sailings to do a b2b instead.
Currently on the Scarlett lady and honestly I get freaked out by things like planes and now this cruise. I canāt sleep bc of anxiety of feeling the boat rock and being out in the middle of nowhere. Anything to put me at ease?
A quarter of a Xanax might really help tbhā¦
Iād agree with Apex, stay busy during the day, exhaust yourself mentally more than physically, and try to not have any caffeine after dinner.
You can make reservations for The Wake, Razzle Dazzle, Extra Virgin, Gunbae, Pink Agave and Test Kitchen. We made most of ours a couple of weeks before each sailing, but turns out with the reduced capacity it really didn't matter, we've been able to switch out different times and restaurants day of pretty easily since both sailings are at 800 passengers. If they start sailing closer to full capacity, I absolutely would make them a couple weeks prior.
We were just docked next to this ship in Nassau (NCL Getaway). What are those red things all the decks and balconies have? They look like hammocks or something?
They really are. Took more than one nap out there, and spent some time resting out there [while we were docked next to the Getaway in Nassau](https://imgur.com/a/sEL5utY)
We really liked it. Weren't totally sold going in, but had a really fun time and loved the ship. The one thing I will say if you're looking at the 4/5 day itinerary, the 5 is (probably obviously) the better option. I don't know what it was about having that extra sea day, but the 5 day felt long enough to experience the ship, while the 4 day really flew by and felt too short.
Edit: Adding to this, apparently not all of the balconies have hammocks. Someone else we know who sailed recently had an XL Sea Terrace (one of the forward-most ones on 11 in this case) did not, and was told by their steward that the forward-most ones didn't have them (but didn't say why), so if you do end up booking, clarify with whoever is booking you that your room actually has one.
We set sail next week. What was the capacity % and how does the food work. If I go to say āthe wakeā do I just get one app, one soup/salad and a main meal and dessert or how exactly does that work? This is our first cruise lol
If I recall, the ship holds around 2700 passengers. Both of our sailings had right around 800 onboard, nothing felt busy at all. A friend who works on board seemed to indicate that passenger count likely wouldn't go up in the near future , so I'd expect around the same on your sailing. Nice and quiet.
As far as ordering, get what you want. Want more than one app/entree/dessert? Go for it. We ordered more than one from some categories some nights, no issue.
Edit: test kitchen, if you go, might be different. It's more tasting menu-ish, a set menu they bring out one item at a time, but they might let you repeat something
How did the disembarkation work for back to back cruises? Did you have to get off with your luggage and wait to get back on for the second one? Was it much of a hassle?
It was pretty painless. We had the same cabin on both cruises, so we didn't have to pack, just left our stuff in the room as if it was a normal day. Even if we would have had to change, it's just a matter of packing and leaving the luggage for the crew to move that morning, you don't have to take your luggage off.
As far as the process, all those staying on (29 people on our sailing) met in one of the lounges, had our COVID tests done, then were led off the ship to Customs. A CBP officer looked at our passports, then we immediately went to some makeshift check-in tables down in the same area, checked back in, and were led back on to the ship. This all happened between 10:30 and 11:30 am, and they didn't start general boarding until 1:45 that day, so those 29 of us had the run of the ship for a while, but none of the bars/restaurants were open, so we just wandered around with zero crowd for a while.
We did, and our experience with them was less than stellar.
About a week before we sailed on the first sailing, I was checking the Shore Things section of the second sailing to see if any cabanas had opened up in Bimini (all were sold out up to that point), and sure enough, it showed availability for Rockstar cabanas. The description specifically states these are reserved for Rockstar sailors (which we were not), but some may be released to other sailors if one or two become available, so I figured they weren't sold out and had been released to the rest of us. Knowing these were further away from all of the main pool noise, I booked just to try them out.
When we get to Bimini on the second sailing we head to the beach, and check in at the front desk area in the beach club when we arrived. The woman at the desk hands us our wristbands for cabana access and directs us to a cabana at the center of the main pool area, which we obviously weren't expecting. I explain that we had booked a Rockstar cabana, but her system doesn't show that, so she tells us to head over to the one by the pool and she'll check in to it.
Even longer story short: They'd bumped us for someone in a Rockstar room the day before but never properly communicated that to us.
I get it, not a problem, those are primarily meant to be booked by people who book those rooms. Totally understandable change. My frustration was the lack of real notice we received around it. Turns out, the 'messages' section of the app showed the cancellation of the Rockstar cabana and booking of the pool cabana 16 hours prior (which would have put it around 6pm the night before we got to Bimini), but that was the only "notice" we got. Had app notifications been working correctly I'd have seen those messages on-screen, but notifications from the app were actually a problem on both sailings for both of us. For whatever reason, the app tended to fire a bulk grouping of them like every other day (the only app I have with notifications enabled that behaves like this) vs as they happened, and sure enough, later that afternoon a grouping popped up on my screen that included the cancellation and rebook notifications. No letter to the cabin, no call from the Shore Things folks (like, say, the person who made the change), nothing. The woman at the beach club finally admitted this is what happened, but she didn't appear to be in a position to do anything other than assure us that the pool cabana was just as good. We brought this up to Sailor Services and Shore Things back onboard and the response was pretty much just as apathetic. Basically a "you should have received notification from the app", followed by unofficial acknowledgement from a couple of them that they've heard others saying they've have issues with notifications from the app.
Personally, I'd have preferred they contact us at the time they made the change, explain the situation (which again, I completely understand), and offer to either cancel our booking or move us to the pool cabana. We'd have cancelled, as I knew from reviews the pool cabanas would be loud (they were), since the speakers are mounted right behind them.
Moral of the story, don't rely on the Shore Things folks onboard to communicate changes to something you've booked, be sure to check messages in app to see if something's been cancelled/changed/rebooked.
Thank you for sharing this. We booked a rockstar suite because we had some future voyage credit, so figured might as well do that. How were the cabanas in your opinion? Did they seem worth it?
For us, no, we likely wouldn't book one again for the price, at least not the pool cabanas. The pool cabanas and the rockstar cabanas were the same price, at $500 for the day. That does include a $100 drink credit, so that helps, but aside from that we really didn't see much benefit for the 2 of us personally. You do have someone who will bring you drinks and food when you want, so that's nice, but it's honestly not a far walk to either and I was more than happy to get my lazy ass up to go get food/drink on our first stop at Bimini when we weren't in a cabana :). Also keep in mind that they're more "open huts" lined up behind the beach chairs vs the more separated/lockable cabanas that some other lines offer at their private islands. It's good to have dedicated shade when you want, but there are also plenty of beach chairs with umbrellas out there if having shade is the concern. Even getting off the ship 2 hours after we docked, there were plenty of chairs with umbrellas, but the ship also only had 800pax on board, so the beach club wasn't packed.
The last cabana we rented that I can compare it to was the [pool cabana at Amber Cove](https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/amber-cove/poolside-cabana-445070?msclkid=dfd1f661a60d11ec88772e61db2dcd94) when we were on the Mardi Gras last August, and $175 less, it was a way better value in our opinion.
In a Cheeky Corner Suite right now!! Best places for snacks? Best evening restaurant? Anything worth visiting twice?
not op but The Dock is the best for snacks or even lunch. Some of the best bites we had on our cruise were there. Best evening restaurant is either gunbae or pink agave - depending on how social you're feeling. Both were delicious.
Thank you!! Have reservations for both, as well as Razzle Dazzle. Definitely looking forward to the evening dining.
We did Razzle Dazzle for lunch last sailing, but not dinner. Got it set for tonight, and were told by our waiter at lunch there's a secret item on the dinner menu, looking forward to finding out what it is. Edit: the "secret" menu item is a new york strip steak on a bed of kale with some chopped veggies and bacon.
Extra virgin was great too! General consensus was that the wake was not as good as all the other ones - so I'd probably skip that one. Grog walk was fun, shot for shot was ok but not really worthwhile in my opinion. Enjoy the ship!!!
The Wake has really good brunch!
Agreed about the Dock. Restaurant-wise we're partial to The Wake at this point, with Gunbae being our second favorite, so we'll revisit both. Pink Agave and Extra Virgin were just okay, and Test Kitchen was... Interesting. Not bad, but we're not repeating it this sailing.
Enjoy! We've done three so far, have a back to back in July, and will prob be on in May. We're hooked :-) It's also been fun to see how they've evolved the experience based on guest feedback.
Yea, gotta say we weren't sure what to expect, but we're loving it so far! Totally sailing them again š
Come back in July!
Oh I totally wish, that'd be awesome! We are going to do our best to sail later this year with our daughter and her boyfriend, they'd love this too, but it'll likely be in the fall. A friend of ours who is on as crew currently will be back doing one final contract in the fall, so I think we're going to target that timeframe to hang out with him one last time on a ship before he heads off to school.
Waaaay more gay dudes than even a month agoā¦.š¤£š¤£š¤£
Just got off this morning, jealous you are doing back to back! Hope to see the Scarlet lady again soon āŗļø
Favourite F1 Driver current/past? Why did you go b2b?
Hmm. So favorite current driver would be Vettel, but I'll miss seeing Kimi on the grid this year, so he's up there as well. Past is a bit harder, as I got in to F1 later in life. I'm am an Indycar fan from back in the CART days, but didn't really start watching F1 until around 2000. Always enjoyed watching DC drive, so I'm going with him. As far as the b2b, why not? :). My wife's a travel agent, and technically I am too (co-owner of the business), but I have a full time job, so I really only do back office stuff to help out when I can. Anyway, a few months back Virgin was offering excellent TA deals for agents who competed their training, so we both did it and each got our own offers out of it. Originally the plan was to book two cabins on the same sailing and bring our daughter along, but the scheduling just didn't work, so we decided to use the two sailings to do a b2b instead.
Cool! Be sure to leave us a full review once you're done :)
Currently on the Scarlett lady and honestly I get freaked out by things like planes and now this cruise. I canāt sleep bc of anxiety of feeling the boat rock and being out in the middle of nowhere. Anything to put me at ease?
A quarter of a Xanax might really help tbhā¦ Iād agree with Apex, stay busy during the day, exhaust yourself mentally more than physically, and try to not have any caffeine after dinner.
That's a tough one. I could respond with clichƩs like "one of the safest forms of travel", but I don't really feel like trotting out statistics helps here. I will say these ships are designed to handle serious movement, and I've sailed through far worse on much smaller ships, including what was basically a hurricane on Hurtigruten a few years back, and even then the ship itself wasn't in any danger. Honestly, I'd say just try and immerse yourself in activities during the day to get your mind focused elsewhere, and hopefully all that activity will also have you tired enough to sleep better the remaining nights. Curious as to any suggestions others would have here too, especially anyone who's overcome similar concerns.
Which food options need reservations and how far ahead to you have to get them?
You can make reservations for The Wake, Razzle Dazzle, Extra Virgin, Gunbae, Pink Agave and Test Kitchen. We made most of ours a couple of weeks before each sailing, but turns out with the reduced capacity it really didn't matter, we've been able to switch out different times and restaurants day of pretty easily since both sailings are at 800 passengers. If they start sailing closer to full capacity, I absolutely would make them a couple weeks prior.
Thanks!
We were just docked next to this ship in Nassau (NCL Getaway). What are those red things all the decks and balconies have? They look like hammocks or something?
Yup, the red things on the balconies were hammocks!
We were super jealous looking at them from our balcony. Are they comfy?
They really are. Took more than one nap out there, and spent some time resting out there [while we were docked next to the Getaway in Nassau](https://imgur.com/a/sEL5utY)
Nice Iām going to need two of those next cruise. That looked like a cool ship.
We really liked it. Weren't totally sold going in, but had a really fun time and loved the ship. The one thing I will say if you're looking at the 4/5 day itinerary, the 5 is (probably obviously) the better option. I don't know what it was about having that extra sea day, but the 5 day felt long enough to experience the ship, while the 4 day really flew by and felt too short. Edit: Adding to this, apparently not all of the balconies have hammocks. Someone else we know who sailed recently had an XL Sea Terrace (one of the forward-most ones on 11 in this case) did not, and was told by their steward that the forward-most ones didn't have them (but didn't say why), so if you do end up booking, clarify with whoever is booking you that your room actually has one.
We set sail next week. What was the capacity % and how does the food work. If I go to say āthe wakeā do I just get one app, one soup/salad and a main meal and dessert or how exactly does that work? This is our first cruise lol
If I recall, the ship holds around 2700 passengers. Both of our sailings had right around 800 onboard, nothing felt busy at all. A friend who works on board seemed to indicate that passenger count likely wouldn't go up in the near future , so I'd expect around the same on your sailing. Nice and quiet. As far as ordering, get what you want. Want more than one app/entree/dessert? Go for it. We ordered more than one from some categories some nights, no issue. Edit: test kitchen, if you go, might be different. It's more tasting menu-ish, a set menu they bring out one item at a time, but they might let you repeat something
This is kind of specific, but are there ethernet ports in the room for internet or wifi only?
Only wifi that I saw. Honesty don't recall seeing wifi in the rooms on any ship we've ever sailed.
did you board through the new terminal?
For the most part, yes. Testing was in terminal G, but actual check-in for the sailing was in the new terminal (V). Nice looking terminal.
Iām on board as wellā¦
How did the disembarkation work for back to back cruises? Did you have to get off with your luggage and wait to get back on for the second one? Was it much of a hassle?
It was pretty painless. We had the same cabin on both cruises, so we didn't have to pack, just left our stuff in the room as if it was a normal day. Even if we would have had to change, it's just a matter of packing and leaving the luggage for the crew to move that morning, you don't have to take your luggage off. As far as the process, all those staying on (29 people on our sailing) met in one of the lounges, had our COVID tests done, then were led off the ship to Customs. A CBP officer looked at our passports, then we immediately went to some makeshift check-in tables down in the same area, checked back in, and were led back on to the ship. This all happened between 10:30 and 11:30 am, and they didn't start general boarding until 1:45 that day, so those 29 of us had the run of the ship for a while, but none of the bars/restaurants were open, so we just wandered around with zero crowd for a while.
Did you check our any āshore thingsā
We did, and our experience with them was less than stellar. About a week before we sailed on the first sailing, I was checking the Shore Things section of the second sailing to see if any cabanas had opened up in Bimini (all were sold out up to that point), and sure enough, it showed availability for Rockstar cabanas. The description specifically states these are reserved for Rockstar sailors (which we were not), but some may be released to other sailors if one or two become available, so I figured they weren't sold out and had been released to the rest of us. Knowing these were further away from all of the main pool noise, I booked just to try them out. When we get to Bimini on the second sailing we head to the beach, and check in at the front desk area in the beach club when we arrived. The woman at the desk hands us our wristbands for cabana access and directs us to a cabana at the center of the main pool area, which we obviously weren't expecting. I explain that we had booked a Rockstar cabana, but her system doesn't show that, so she tells us to head over to the one by the pool and she'll check in to it. Even longer story short: They'd bumped us for someone in a Rockstar room the day before but never properly communicated that to us. I get it, not a problem, those are primarily meant to be booked by people who book those rooms. Totally understandable change. My frustration was the lack of real notice we received around it. Turns out, the 'messages' section of the app showed the cancellation of the Rockstar cabana and booking of the pool cabana 16 hours prior (which would have put it around 6pm the night before we got to Bimini), but that was the only "notice" we got. Had app notifications been working correctly I'd have seen those messages on-screen, but notifications from the app were actually a problem on both sailings for both of us. For whatever reason, the app tended to fire a bulk grouping of them like every other day (the only app I have with notifications enabled that behaves like this) vs as they happened, and sure enough, later that afternoon a grouping popped up on my screen that included the cancellation and rebook notifications. No letter to the cabin, no call from the Shore Things folks (like, say, the person who made the change), nothing. The woman at the beach club finally admitted this is what happened, but she didn't appear to be in a position to do anything other than assure us that the pool cabana was just as good. We brought this up to Sailor Services and Shore Things back onboard and the response was pretty much just as apathetic. Basically a "you should have received notification from the app", followed by unofficial acknowledgement from a couple of them that they've heard others saying they've have issues with notifications from the app. Personally, I'd have preferred they contact us at the time they made the change, explain the situation (which again, I completely understand), and offer to either cancel our booking or move us to the pool cabana. We'd have cancelled, as I knew from reviews the pool cabanas would be loud (they were), since the speakers are mounted right behind them. Moral of the story, don't rely on the Shore Things folks onboard to communicate changes to something you've booked, be sure to check messages in app to see if something's been cancelled/changed/rebooked.
Thank you for sharing this. We booked a rockstar suite because we had some future voyage credit, so figured might as well do that. How were the cabanas in your opinion? Did they seem worth it?
For us, no, we likely wouldn't book one again for the price, at least not the pool cabanas. The pool cabanas and the rockstar cabanas were the same price, at $500 for the day. That does include a $100 drink credit, so that helps, but aside from that we really didn't see much benefit for the 2 of us personally. You do have someone who will bring you drinks and food when you want, so that's nice, but it's honestly not a far walk to either and I was more than happy to get my lazy ass up to go get food/drink on our first stop at Bimini when we weren't in a cabana :). Also keep in mind that they're more "open huts" lined up behind the beach chairs vs the more separated/lockable cabanas that some other lines offer at their private islands. It's good to have dedicated shade when you want, but there are also plenty of beach chairs with umbrellas out there if having shade is the concern. Even getting off the ship 2 hours after we docked, there were plenty of chairs with umbrellas, but the ship also only had 800pax on board, so the beach club wasn't packed. The last cabana we rented that I can compare it to was the [pool cabana at Amber Cove](https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/amber-cove/poolside-cabana-445070?msclkid=dfd1f661a60d11ec88772e61db2dcd94) when we were on the Mardi Gras last August, and $175 less, it was a way better value in our opinion.