Travel-and-See

For me... there were empty seats between me and the 2 other groups at the counter but the server addressed us all together. We certainly conversed a bit. I got the zero proof drink pairing and the couple next to me got the wine pairing so we compared drinks for sure. I would have felt a bit closed in if the seats directly around me were filled.

This may have been something about my phone's settings but when I sailed on the Scarlet Lady - I could not make phone calls over wifi. When on the Valiant Lady I could. But on BOTH cruises I could not when at the beach club at Bimini. Your mileage may vary of course.

I wouldn't say the ship shuts down as much as it feels like a ghost town since most guests are off the ship. The bars are still open, I had a drink and watched all the guests file off the ferry that comes in from Miami I think? It was parked right next to us. Based on my personal experience though I wouldn't recommend Razzle Dazzle when in Bimini- I think the regular staff still goes to the island and they fill in with other staff - it was VERY slow and unorganized for brunch that day and the Churros had been sitting forever and were pretty much not edible. Lunch at the Galley was great though - nice and calm and chill. I like heading over to the beach after lunch and seeing some of the pool party and then just walking along the shore. They also have very nice covered seating areas where it's nice to relax. Plus the tram ride through the island is kinda fun haha. I might walk around the Fisherman's village a bit on my next visit.

It depends on which section you are seated in. The Wake, Razzle Dazzle, and Pink Agave have tables for 2 that are EXTREMELY close together. As far as conversation goes, Test Kitchen is also set up where you are seated close to other groups but in my experience, they leave a seat in between you and other groups which actually separates you MORE than in the other restaurants.

It's not really a loop... I was fine with just getting my iced lattes, bottled water, and club sodas. To charge more for things that I don't want is very annoying and only makes me want to cruise more with Virgin.

It's pretty chill and laid back during the day. I think they do Bingo with the Diva in the Manor sometimes? I don't think they ever use the Red Room during the day. They do have quite a few random "pop up" shows like "Latte I'll Say" - and the SeaHorse race. I feel like there could be more quality entertainment during the day personally but I also don't mind relaxing and taking it easy.

Thanks! The issue that I brought up on that thread was how difficult it is to search for solo prices on the Celebrity site. Very annoying. I don't care if it's a deal or not, but I would like to be able to search and see the prices easily. But you are correct, Cruiseplum is a good resource! To take the topic back to Virgin... I love how easy it is to just put in 1 sailor and I can see the TOTAL prices. On Celebrity I have to look for the solo price... then add in what I will pay for tips and wifi... it's a hassle to do that math. Huge win for Virgin on keeping things simple when searching and pricing cruises. And you get a seahorse race too! (now it's on topic... haha).

Yeah, they gave out free drinks during the game when I saw it as well. That's in addition to the prize money.

Guiseppe is fantastic I agree! He's very active on social media so you can usually see what ship he is currently on if you follow him. I think he's on the Edge right now.

So on my cruise, it was 2 separate events. The auction is where everyone bids on the 6 sea horses. The 6 winners of the auction each get a session with "the artist" where they get to paint and decorate the sea horse - which they get to take home and keep. Then after the 6 sea horses have been decorated - they have a race. It's like a giant board game. The winner of the race gets the auction money - which is usually over $1,000. The people on my cruise were definitely VERY into it and having a great time. I enjoyed watching it. Both occured on Sea Days.

The Galley is open 24 hours but Tacos, Noodles, and Sandwich shop are only open for lunch and that goes until 3:00. The Diner is open 24 hours for basic breakfast food. The Burgers and Bakery are open the majority of the time (till like midnight?). Sushi Bar and Salad Bar are open for dinner. And yes, there is a dinner special. For example... Carved Turkey with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Vegetables. And then everything is open for breakfast and there are lots of additional breakfast items like the French Toast Burger.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks when searching for solo deals on Celebrity? On Virgin for example, I simply put in 1 sailor and the search results show up with the total price. On Celebrity, I have to search for cruises and they show the per person double occupancy rate. The Solo rate can be all over the map - sometimes much more than double the per-person double occupancy rates! (Which doesn't make sense but that's how it is). Naturally, the newer ships that have solo cabins are the best deals, but the only way to see if they are available is to select the sailing, select 1 person, and then see the available cabins. It's a lot of steps to compare prices. Is there an easier way?

Razzle Dazzle has some pretty creative and bold flavors... it can be a bit much for breakfast if you just want a basic breakfast. You can customize the dishes a bit, or order stuff ala carte to get a more plain breakfast there. The Wake is very nice, but really more of a brunch menu than breakfast imho. And that leaves the Galley - they have everything you want. It can just be a little busy at breakfast. I do wish that the Wake or Razzle would serve omelets. (I don't think either of them do?).

For Shows, be sure to catch Duel Reality - it's a modern theatrical circus show that is incredible. I watch every performance of it when I'm on board! Ships in the Night is a good show as well in the main theatre and I would definitely recommend it. Also- be sure to catch the musicians that play each night at the bar under the main staircase. (The bar is called "On the Rocks") - there are usually 3 artists per cruise. The ships band which is usually nothing special, and then a guest band, and a guest solo artist. The solo artist is often a guitarist, I believe Morf is on the Scarlet Lady right now and he's INCREDIBLE. On my last cruise on the Valiant Lady the Oscar Ornelias band was the guest band and they were also incredible and I watched them every night. They will be on Scarlet Lady as well they said. If you like to dance - there are regular themed dance nights in the Manor - it's right next to the casino. Combining Dinner and a show is the Ship Show - it's fun. I'd recommend it for the overall experience. The food is fine, but not as good as the sit-down restaurants. The Wake, Test Kitchen, and Pink Agave are the best overall restaurant experiences in my opinion. Razzle Dazzle has some of my favorite food and is usually pretty fast to get in and out of. I liked the food at Extra Virgin (I ate wayyyy too much) but to me it was the most boring of all of the restaurants decor / theme wise.

I'm really confused by this response. I'm not sure why I would be aware that the ship is not fully staffed. If the ship is not fully staffed, they should not be sailing with 100% sailors though. I had been told by a crew member that reservations were not needed for Breakfast / Brunch, it wasn't a difficulty. Just sharing my experience. I think it looks bad when you seat a table of crew members in a half-full restaurant and then tell a customer that he can't be accommodated. If you think that's good customer service than we can agree to disagree 🙂 I never said one word about the app? It has worked ok for me on my cruises but I do agree that Virgin relies on them too much.

That is no longer offered - I was actually on the last sailing of Scarlet Lady that featured the show... the crew in the "Happenings Cast" was literally begging people to go to it to show support. From what I heard it is not a show I would enjoy, and I'm glad VV is moving to more traditional acts like magicians. (The following cruise had a magician in the manor instead of Never sleep alone). I think your overall review is accurate and realistic. There are many flaws in VV current product and I think you pointed them out well. I would only argue that the price really isn't bad when compared to similar products like Celebrity. If you add in a classic drink package, wifi, and tips the cost of a comparable Celebrity cruise is about the same and that's before considering specialty dining. (I found the food on Virgin much better than Celebrity MDR). How was the "Happenings Cast" on your cruise? I haven't been overly impressed with them but I think the Scarlet Lady has a new group since my last trip.

I take Brightline to the Cruises in Miami as well and so I just wanted to mention that Brightline has a very nice station / waiting area with a bar / snack bar and plenty of comfortable seating with charging ports. It's a great place to hang out while waiting to head to the cruise terminal. On my past Virgin voyages I didn't have DBE (although my next cruise should have it!) - so I just waited for my later boarding time at 3:00 / 3:30. I gotta say... waiting until 3:00 is nice - no crowds and no lines. Just stroll right in! But I'll look forward to the early boarding on my next VV. 🙂

Glad to hear it's extended - the Bar Tab is perfect for me. On other lines when they offer "Free Drinks" it's a package that doesn't include premium drinks. I like how Virgin says "here's $300... spend it how you like!"

They also use the phrase "Always included Luxury" on the homepage. On other cruise lines I've gotten used to eating dinners in the buffet since I don't want to share a MDR table for every meal. (As a solo passenger I don't mind meeting new friends, but the forced conversation is a bit much. I'll usually eat in the MDR 1 or 2 times on a week long cruise). I know what you mean but honestly, it's kind of nice how quiet and relaxing can be. One of the nice things about Virgin is the variety of restaurants - I genuinely wanted to try them all and even now I want to go back to them again! One negative is that it's never communicated to servers the party size. I check in and have reserved as a table for 1, but then each meal time am asked "is anyone else joining you? Or is it just you?" - kind of annoying. For as much as the servers stare at their phones you'd think the phone could tell them the size of the party on the reservation. haha.

There are times when there is a more "party" atmosphere, especially around the pool but there are lots of quiet areas around the ship. Most of the bars and lounges are very quiet unless there is live music... just like any other cruise ship I've been on. And several of the musicians will be more acoustic vibes anyways. With the exception of boarding the ship (Welcome Party) and the pool parties, the Virgin Ship is about the same as Celebrity in my opinion.

For Sit-Down Restaurants, the Wake and Razzle Dazzle are the only ones open for Breakfast / Lunch / Brunch. All of the sit-down restaurants are open for dinner. For the Galley, all of the stations are open for lunch. The Diner, Burgers, Sushi, and Salads as well as the Baked Goods are open for dinner and there is usually a dinner special as well. All of the restaurants are quite good. Your favorites will vary on taste - one of the nice things about Virgin is they have so many great options it's hard to try them all on a single cruise! I hope that helps, if you have more specific questions feel free to ask!

Oh I meant I haven't seen them physically full - there always seem to be open tables even if the restaurant is "fully booked" The most annoying version of this was Brunch at Razzle Dazzle. The restaurant was half full, the group of employees in front of me were seated, but the restaurant was "fully booked and couldn't accept a walk-up"

The flag system didn't really help much in my experience. The issue is not how long it takes to place an order, it's how long it takes for the order to actually get to your table. When it's busy, you will be waiting a while. I've also regularly been served other peoples food.... they food runners don't really check to see if it's your order, they just put it on the table and say "enjoy" and walk away. To be fair.. I ended up trying the noodle place because of this and it was pretty good! haha.

A couple of notes... keep checking for reservations, I was able to get into Extra Virgin on my last cruise when an opening came up. Also.. the Galley DOES have a nightly dinner special which is often very good. My experience is you can always get into one of the restaurants, Razzle Dazzle and Gunbae are the easiest. Razzle Dazzle has some of the best food in my opinion. This is frustrating though and honestly Virgin needs to address this. I've never seen the restaurants actually full, so maybe they are understaffed?

Virgin uses the word Luxury in many of its ads. Forcing guests to wear certain clothes is the opposite of luxury to me. But I do agree, the end product is not really a "Luxury" cruise line.