Let me start
off by saying, we took this cruise one day after getting off of a Carnival cruise
so I was very relaxed and excited to see what Virgin Voyages had to offer,
being an all adult cruise and having lots of things included in the price that
other cruise lines charge extra for. This was just their fourth sailing from
the US, out of the Port of Miami.
From the time we arrived at port,
until we were boarding the ship, was about one hour total time (that included a
COVID test and waiting for results). We did have a boarding time and were told
to be there one hour early for testing.
We arrived about 1 hour and 10 minutes early and had no issues with the
process at all and feel Virgin did a great job with the embarkation process.
The Scarlet Lady, Virgin’s first
ship, is beautiful inside and out and she is packed full of places to eat, shop
and play. She also has a lot of out of the way places you can go to just get away
from it all and she is full of places to sit, and/or lay, there are chairs and
beds everywhere. The rooms are wonderful too; from the rain shower head, the
mood lighting and the comfy bed, to the hammock on the balcony. The cabin
steward was always asking if we needed anything whenever he saw us, and always
kept fresh water and ice in the room for us both morning and evening.
As for Virgin Cruise’s concept,
there are lots of unique things they include, such as basic Wi-Fi, all
restaurants, tips for the crew members, group workouts and basic beverages at no
additional charge. Once on board, Virgin Voyages does not try to nickel and
dime you everywhere you turn like most cruise lines do which is a very welcome
change. They also have changed the way shows are done with “pop up”
entertainment that you may stumble across anytime, anywhere, to an
entertainment room that allows for a different layout each time you visit thanks
to a moveable stage and portable flooring. One big hit with sailors is that
they also stay longer in each port of call, no more having to be back on board
at 3:00, with Virgin, it’s more like 10 or 11 PM. You also receive a cool wrist
band to wear which takes the place of the room card and also allows you to make
purchases.
But enough about what Virgin is
supposed to be like; let’s talk reality, what were the good and bad things from
our cruise. First the good, the food was amazing. There was a lot of food that I
had no idea even what it was, but I tried anyway and was very happy I did. We
ate at Gunbau (Korean BBQ), which was a big hit, and included round one of a
drinking game called 3-6-9, very funny. We also ate at The Wake steakhouse and
had a delicious filet; at Razzle Dazzle, the Veggie forward restaurant, and had
their famous “Fairy Toast” (toast covered with sprinkles, yum). We tried “Pink
Agave, an elevated Mexican restaurant, loved the chocolate tacos for dessert;
there was also Extra Virgin, a nice Italian restaurant that we really enjoyed.
We tried the Sun Club Café and the Chicken Poke bowls were very, very good. Virgin
even has a place in “The Galley” that served breakfast all day (think of The
Galley like a variety of quick service restaurants all in one area). What
review would be complete without including the “Lick Me Till Ice Cream” shop? The
homemade ice cream was amazing and
by far the best on any ship at sea, there had around 10 different flavors and
they were all very good (yes, we tried each of them), our group of four sailors
felt the key lime pie flavor was the best overall.
Although the shows were a lot
different from what you get on other cruise lines, we really enjoyed most of
them. “The Untitled Danceshowpartything” was just that, a room where dancers
put on a performance, both on stage and throughout the audience, with a stage
that was moved around during the show a couple different times. It was fun and
lasted about one hour, but be aware, you must stand the entire time and it can
be a bit much on your back and legs. The next show, and we can’t give it enough
praise, was “Duel Reality”. The best way to describe it is as a best of “America’s
Got Talent” show; it was full of acrobats, spinning yo-yos and hula hoops.
Remember though that this is an adult oriented show and as part of the fun the
actors interact with audience members and may use curse words and provocative
actions so just be prepared (all in fun). And last but not least, the show “Never
Sleep Alone” where a sex therapist gives advice on how to always have a partner
so you will never sleep alone. As you enter the club, you are asked how daring
you want to be and they may use you in the show if you are open to it. They
will then ask you several questions about your sex life and your sexual preferences
and will hand you a condom as a keepsake, so be forewarned. Again, this is all
in fun and you don’t have to participate.
Virgin also has some informal events
like the PJ party, which is just a party on deck 16 aft with a DJ playing dance
music and anyone who wishes can wear their PJs to the party. I admit I was a
little worried about this when I first heard about it, but everyone was
tastefully clothed and it turned out to be a lot of fun. You don’t have to wear
PJs to attend; several people came in regular clothes as well. We can’t forget
the Scarlet Night party, where everyone is encouraged to wear red and run
around the ship for different events. Some people were really decked out and
some in just a red t-shirts but the best part is, it didn’t matter. It ended
with the Scarlet Night pool party and that was probably our favorite event of
the cruise, music was blasting, people were dancing and the staff jumped into
the pool and then encouraged anyone who wanted to join them. By the time it was
over, I bet over 200 people had jumped in wearing everything from t-shirts to
formal dresses; it was a very fun and entertaining show.
Okay, sounds great so far but, now
for the negative. Remember, Virgin is
new and hopefully some of these things will work out or improve with time but
to be fair, I have to report how things are today. The first negative, and it’s
a big one, is that Virgin really wants to automate everything by having you use
their app on your phone to pull menus, view what’s happening on the ship, order
tickets to workouts or events and make reservations for shore things and
restaurants. I know that doesn’t sound all that bad, in this day an age of
technology, and it would be great if the app worked as it should, IT DOESN’T! Every sailor we talked to and, even
some of the staff as well, told us they were having trouble with the app, often
having to restart it or, worse yet, uninstall it and reinstall, which took time
and also made you have to re-sign in each time. If they want people to use their
technology, the technology needs to work! Another issue was Virgin does not
make any announcements about what events are happening on the ship or give
instructions of any kind. For example, we arrived at port in Bimini and there
was never an announcement saying we are cleared to go ashore or any
instructions as to where and how to do so. Also, and it kind of ties into the
no announcements thing, was we left Bimini early. Our group had spent some time
on the island and went back to the ship for supper with the intent of going
back onto the island for the bonfire lighting and then party for a few hours
before last call at 9:30 so the ship could depart at 10:00 PM. We made it back to
the island at 6:45 and ½ of the bonfires had already been lit. As we were
heading to watch the last one, we stopped by a bar and were told they were
closed and that the only one open was over by the pool. We went over to the
pool bar only to find out they were out of several drinks and were in the
process of closing down as well. Although no one said we had to leave, there
was a feel of being pushed to go back to the ship, no drinks, no partying, just
everything closing down like a retail store at the end of the night. So, at
7:30 we went back to the ship and by 9:30 we had already pushed off and were
headed back to Miami. There was never any announcement as to why any of this
took place; we assumed it may have been weather related as the seas were getting
rougher as the day went on, but no one ever told us anything which was very
frustrating. It was definitely not the relaxing evening beach party we had
envisioned for our final night of the
cruise. When we got back on the ship there were almost no bars open there
either, as the bar staff was all on the island. The app said the bars were open,
but we tried three and all three were closed. Another very common complaint we heard
from sailors is that they were bored, as Virgin does not have a lot of daily entertainment
like other cruise lines do. Short of the things I previously mentioned, most of
the day’s activities were either an exercise class, sitting at the pool or
sitting somewhere on deck to pass the time. They did have a small casino if you
wanted to gamble, but it was closed while at port and since we stayed at port
late, you would often find yourself looking for something to do and not able to
find anything. If you are a night owl, the dance club was usually open from
around midnight until two or three in the morning. A big disappointment for our
group was there were no comedians on board, we thought, finally, we would get
to see a comedian who doesn’t have to hold back because of kids in the audience
and they didn’t have any comedians, no pun intended, they really missed the
boat on that one.
Some others things we did not like
were small items, but, I want to make you aware in case you cruise with Virgin.
There is nothing that tells you where things are on board; no ship maps posted
anywhere. There is also nothing that tells you where you are at sea; we like to
know what islands or countries we are passing when we travel. There were no
port maps available or any port information either, we just disembarked and were
turned loose. Storage on the ship is a little less than most other cruise lines,
but we were able to make it work. Also, and for my wife this was a big thing,
there is almost no storage in the bathroom for anything! Several sailors
complained that the bathroom lighting was not very bright and the bathrooms are
extremely small, although most on a cruise ship are. The wrist bands are great
but, I was having trouble with mine opening the cabin door and the room steward
noticed and told me to turn it over, so if you are having problems, you need to
have the side without the writing facing up, it will save you a lot of hassle. Another
concern was there were almost no food options where you could just walk up and
say, I want …., they wanted you to sit at a table and have a wait staff member
come take your order. Timing was an issue for making plans because a lot of the
activities and events did not start on time or would run over so it made
planning anything difficult. For example, the Scarlet Night pool party, which we
loved so much, was supposed to start at 10:30 and didn’t start until 10:55, leaving
us to wonder if it was just everyone standing around listening to music and
that was all there was to it; we almost decided to go back to the room and that
would have been a shame.
Overall, was this an enjoyable
cruise, yes, could it have been better, yes. If it had been any longer than the
5 days, we would have been bored because of the lack of activities. If you just
want to get away and do nothing, Virgin is great for that; if you like to stay
up late and party, it could be fun to just drink and dance late into the
morning. The final verdict is, the activities they did, they did well, and we
all had a great time. If you are looking for a 4 or 5 day getaway to just relax
and enjoy some good food and good service then Virgin Voyages would be a great
choice and for that, we would all be happy to cruise on Virgin again.
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