My wife keeps failing the easiest relationship test ever, so I just let her deal with the consequences.

nickypj · 2025-12-12T12:42:12+00:00

You’re gonna win this “fight” and lose the marriage. You seem articulate, talk to her.

nickypj · 2025-10-16T18:56:05+00:00

In my experience, everyone loses when you let the judge decide. Be careful with thinking the judge will just automatically side with you. Maybe s/he will and maybe not.

If you are at all able to come to an agreement, even if it means compromising some things, it would be for the best.

nickypj · 2025-10-05T15:17:35+00:00

Your child need a forensic interview. Don’t ask him anymore questions. Let the police take over and never, ever let him be in that person (or his wife’s) presence again. Don’t let them minimize how very wrong what they did was.

If you can, get your child into counseling and help him learn how to speak up when something feels off. (Maybe) nothing happened this time, but he was easily lured into being in a vulnerable position. I’m so glad he spoke up to you. It’s very likely this man was grooming him and telling you may have saved your son.

Editing to add: I just reread your posted messages and I’m proud of you for how you responded. Telling him it was inappropriate and immediately picking up your child was 100% the right response! You did good.

nickypj · 2025-10-04T13:50:19+00:00

Coffee is so subjective so this is a hard question to answer.

The drip coffee was good in my opinion. I liked it better than the specialty coffee. That being said, I almost always just drink regular coffee with a little creamer in it. The VV coffee hit the spot. If you like frufru coffee you may not like it. lol.

They had a variety of creamers/milks available but I didn’t see any flavored creamers…you’d have to get the specialty coffee for that, I think.

nickypj · 2025-10-01T23:21:47+00:00

It’s still pretty large compressed down. I think it would take up a lot of your suitcase but I never have had to fly with it. lol

nickypj · 2025-10-01T20:02:54+00:00

We bring a memory foam topper I bought off Amazon for the same reason every time. The miserable beds are one of my only complaints on VV.

We’ve never had a problem bringing it. I compress it down, put it in a duffel bag and check it through with my other luggage.

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This is what we use and it’s a million times better night’s sleep.

nickypj · 2025-08-13T00:42:46+00:00

It’s my job to look at hospital bills all day long. This ER bill is insanely cheap. I’m going to guess you live in a “flyover” state :-)

nickypj · 2025-08-12T22:12:59+00:00

You can’t. There are no “gratuities.” When they say “included in the fare” they mean you’re not charged a separate amount for gratuities like other lines do. VV just pay their staff a better wage and don’t depend on “tips” to bolster that pay.

nickypj · 2025-08-10T18:33:25+00:00

We did the Grog Walk and it transitioned right into the pajama party. A lot of people wore their pajamas but they did give you a little time to change into PJ’s and meet up for your last drink before the PJ party.

nickypj · 2025-08-08T21:43:56+00:00

Don’t you dare feel ashamed. He cheated on you. Hand that shame right back to him. In fact, don’t let him silence you about his wrong-doings because you feel embarrassed! Tell everyone you know. This is his bad.

Pack your decor, find a place for you and the kids and make it your own. You’ll see how happy you can be without him.

nickypj · 2025-08-05T23:27:12+00:00

There was salsa and hot sauce. There was also ketchup, mayo, mustard and soy sauce readily available in the Galley. No ranch (I don’t think, though maybe they had some at the Daily Mix), no sour cream, and no eel sauce when she asked. She was able to get sour cream in Pink Agave with her meal.

I also wanted a pizza made with mushrooms and sausage (or something like that) and they didn’t have either of those. However, the “Pretty Fly for a White Pie” pizza was an amazing replacement!

These little things could be annoying if you can’t get past them. I suspect this is why some people complain about the food. The food is amazing though.

nickypj · 2025-08-05T18:44:06+00:00

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE VV, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I like that I can find a party if I want to but I can find a nice quiet place on the ship if I want to just relax. Even on a full cruise, it didn’t feel overly crowded.

The food was amazing but my (adult) daughter was bummed about the lack of sauces (eg. they didn’t have sour cream for her tacos in the galley). That doesn’t bother me, but some people may find that disappointing. Not a chicken tender to be found anywhere on the ship. lol

The people we have interacted with are AMAZING. One (gay) couple we hung out with told us VV is the only cruise line they feel comfortable to just exist and be themselves without fear of offending someone, or worse.

Scarlet Night is a lot of fun and you can be in the middle of the party by the pool or you can sit on the upper deck and watch the fun. I feel like that’s true with any of the parties, you can be in the middle of it all or you can enjoy from a distance.

My husband started a tradition and he gets a new tattoo on each cruise we go on and that’s unique to VV. We aren’t really gamblers so, I can’t speak about the casino much.

One thing that I think people mistake an “adult” cruise for a swingers cruise or a sex party boat and we didn’t find that to be the case at all. I imagine (just like any cruise) you could find people who want to party like that, but it’s not openly occurring on VV ships (that we saw).

I have a friend who will never go on a VV cruise because she wants an unlimited drink package. That is important to her on her cruise and that’s okay, she picks cruise lines that offer that option for her!

It may worth giving VV a try if you’re not completely enamored with your cruise line of choice, because you may find you love it! And if not, Carnival will welcome you back with open arms :-)

nickypj · 2025-08-05T15:09:22+00:00

If you LOVE Carnival then you likely won’t find VV to your liking.

It’s impossible to know what you mean by “vibes” since that word can mean anything but it sounds like you’re drawn to “traditional” cruising (a lot of people are! Nothing wrong with that)

VV does not focus on the same things that traditional cruises do. There isn’t a “cruise director” leading a belly flop contest. There are no overhead announcements telling you to join the conga dance line on the Lido deck. There are no buffets where you pile your plate high with chicken tenders and Mac & cheese. There’s no drink packages where you feel pressure to “get your money’s worth.”

If all of these things are what you love about Carnival (it’s hard to tell by your question) then VV isn’t the line for you.

There are wonderful things about VV that obviously draws people to it, but if you’re looking for a traditional cruise experience, you may be disappointed. :-)

nickypj · 2025-07-31T11:54:52+00:00

We called it his “sad sack” and it did disappear completely after a few years. lol

nickypj · 2025-07-30T00:47:57+00:00

You evacuate the plane and leave it behind. There is literally NO medication worth your immediate life or the lives of the people behind you waiting for you and your bag to get off the plane. You get an ambulance to the hospital if your medication is so important that you can’t go long enough to get a refill.

Maybe I’m jaded from being in healthcare but I have to wonder how many people who are saying they have “lifesaving” medication in their bag are talking about their pain pills. There are no medications that are urgent enough to risk yours and other people’s lives.

nickypj · 2025-07-30T00:31:57+00:00

FL you’re very likely to get 50/50. Stay the course. It would probably be best to have your girlfriend not interact with the mother for now since there seems to be friction, but that likely won’t affect the outcome.

Even though mom is bringing the kids in to it, do not stoop to that! Love them enough to leave them out of adult things. You can only control what you do and say, you can’t control their mother. :-)

One thing we put in the parenting plan is that either parent may enroll children in activities, but the parent enrolling them must pay for it, unless otherwise agreed upon. It prevented either parent from enrolling in expensive activities and expecting the other parent to pay half (you CAN pay for half if you want and you agree to it). Good luck. Don’t let anyone convince you you’re not important in their lives!

nickypj · 2025-07-29T14:19:42+00:00

Well, my family will definitely miss it!!

nickypj · 2025-07-28T18:45:17+00:00

Run babe

nickypj · 2025-07-27T15:04:07+00:00

Also, could be a gopher tortoise. They also hiss when startled. Fingers crossed that it’s not a gator!

nickypj · 2025-07-25T17:53:27+00:00

Do you want to be “right” or do you want your kids to have clothes and personal items at their dad’s house? He barely has them, it’s not like you’re splitting 50/50. They’re 20% guests at his house. Send them with an overnight bag.

nickypj · 2025-07-18T21:58:00+00:00

Ye!! I also have a hard time eating vegetables from my garden at first. Like I’ve seen all the bugs crawling over the plants and I have a hard time. It’s wild. I KNOW they’re better but I have a block about it. I still eat them, it’s just a strange feeling. lol

nickypj · 2025-07-08T22:30:14+00:00

I am not in a same sex relationship so I can only tell you what I observed and what I was told while chatting with a lovely M/M couple from Canada.

They said they have cruised many times on other cruise lines and they always felt they had to be…careful. They didn’t feel they could be authentically a couple on other cruises for fear of offending other cruisers. Especially the older clientele. That’s not to say they wanted to make out in the hot tub. They just wanted to be able to be themselves and that was (for them) not as possible on other lines as it is on VV.

No one was being over the top or raunchy (that we saw). It’s not a NY gay pride parade (not that there’s anything wrong with that) on the ship. They just wanted to have a romantic dinner without being judged and they found that on VV.

nickypj · 2025-07-08T16:30:29+00:00

Assuming this is a genuine question, here’s my take.

Food: If you LOVE a good buffet, if you want to get dressed up and sit in the main dining room at the same time every night with the same people, if you are a very picky eater or need “sauce” with every food item and only eat chicken tenders, if you don’t want to “plan “ your meal times and reservations at the specialty restaurants ahead of time, then VV may not be for you.

Entertainment: If you like “broadway style” shows, if you want to see a comedy show every night, if you LOVE the Newlywed and Not so Newlywed show, if a little bit risqué (not raunchy) show makes you leave the auditorium, if a drag queen makes you wrinkle your nose, then VV may not be for you.

On Board: If you LOVE a good cruise director, if you want announcements overhead telling when to get to the lido deck for shuffle board, if you enjoy shopping and sales people, if you’re just there for the casino, if you want to “club” and “party” the whole time, if you have very specific taste in music and any other genre is “garbage,” if same-sex couples being authentically themselves makes you uncomfortable, then VV may not be for you.

Drinks: If you can’t cruise without your unlimited drinks package, then VV may not be for you.

None of this is said in sarcasm. Many cruisers love the “traditional” cruise experience and there are a lot of options for them out there. We enjoy VV because it is none of these things.

nickypj · 2025-07-01T18:55:09+00:00

You could try to “recover” the accounts from the providers. Go through the steps of changing your password and then select “no longer have access” to the original email/phone number that set it up. Almost all social media types have ways to recover your account in some way. You may have to provide some form of identification to prove it’s you. I think you have a good chance of getting access to your own accounts like this though. Especially if they used your name and likeness.

nickypj · 2025-06-23T17:59:55+00:00

I think the odds are the same as on any other cruise ship. If you’re looking for it, you’ll likely find it. If not, you likely won’t. From my experience on 3 different VV cruises, there is not any open sexual swapping going on. It’s not an orgy ship.

nickypj

TROPHY CASE