Alsmez

Couldn't agree more. When we took our first X cruise in 2011 I felt the delineation between them and other mass market lines was clear (I had previously sailed Carnival, so I had a pretty good basis for comparison 🙂). Fewer kids, more upscale without being stuffy, focus on wine, cuisine and culture while still offering some of the "fun" of other lines. Now they seem to be trying to blend in with the others rather than differentiate themselves, which I think is a big mistake if Virgin's success is any indication. Offer a unique experience, market and price it correctly, and you'll find your customer.

E-class will definitely be up next for us, but probably not in the Retreat. We did a suite on Summit a few years ago and enjoyed it, but the prices have shot up since then and I don't think Luminae and the other perks are worth the price they're charging. We'll likely do an aft balcony (DH is opposed to the Infinite Balcony) and a dining upgrade - the specialty restaurants on E-class look really nice.

Same! We were supposed to sail E-class a couple of years ago, but covid interfered. I'm looking at Northern Europe itineraries for 2025 but I have a feeling DH will convince me to do a shorter Caribbean getaway on E-class before then. I'll be sure to keep the board posted! Everything I have seen and read about E-class leads me to believe that we will love it just as much as we do S-class.

Same - we've found maybe two exceptions to that rule over the years. VV's desserts weren't any better than X, maybe not even as good (though to be fair, we didn't try any desserts from the Sweet Side counter in the Galley that jon81uk cited). Lots of them tasted more or less the same despite looking different, too, especially the chocolate desserts. Too-set desserts are an issue on X too, drives me nuts. I know they want beauty and stability, but come on! If they're inedible, at a certain point they just become decorative waste.

I don't mind a few well-behaved children either, but you never know what you are going to get, even on X. It only takes a few non-behavers (or a few non-behaving, entitled parents, which are even worse), to spoil a public venue. It's also frustrating when X compounds the problem by not enforcing rules in adults-only spaces and/or opening them to children. The guarantee that none of those things would be an issue on VV was really great. Also, as I noted, the entire passenger make-up was a bit different - you don't realize how much of an impact a couple of big multi-generational family groups can make on a cruise until they're not there. Of course, Virgin attracts a somewhat different demographic than Celebrity anyway, so it's hard to say how much of a role any given element played in the overall vibe.

After 13 years of sailing Celebrity exclusively, we just returned from our virgin voyage on Virgin Voyages (Scarlet New Years Ahoy to Costa Maya, Roatan and Bimini). Since so many X sailors are eyeing VV as an alternative, I thought I’d do a little comparative review to share with this board. Our most recent cruise on X was in May (Eclipse to AK), so we have very recent experience to go on. Our VV trip was to celebrate my husband’s 50th in early January, which was part of the reason we chose VV – we would normally never cruise during school holidays because we don't enjoy cruising with a lot of children on board, but with no kids on VV to worry about, we were thrilled to be able to do a combined NYE/birthday sailing. ABOUT US: we are younger Gen-Xers (46 and 50), classical musicians and foodies living in NYC. DH has an adult daughter, I am child-free by choice, and we have been big X fans since our early 30s, in large part because of the "modern luxury" focus and few kids on board most sailings. We have sailed in regular balconies, Aqua and a Sky Suite on Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette, Reflection and Summit over the years, but our sweet spot tends to be an aft or hump balcony on the S-Class plus a specialty dining package covering most or all nights of the cruise. We chose an XL sea terrace for our VV trip, as we didn’t feel the price of even the lowest suites (Rockstar cabins) on VV was a good value given that the only real perk was a slightly larger room and a few bottles of liquor until you got into the really big (and REALLY $$$) suites. For this trip, we traveled with one of my besties from college and his husband, both 48, who had been on a couple of VV cruises before. EMBARKATION: VV gets going quite a bit later than Celebrity – suites begin boarding around 1:30pm followed by other priority passengers and then standard. We had early embarkation through VV’s Deep Blue Extras perk (obtained through status match), but I only knew this because of Cruise Critic – communication from VV was non-existent on this point. When we did pre-cruise check-in on the app, it stated we were to arrive at 3:15. While the later check-in can be a benefit on the other end of the trip (later debarkation means you can have a relaxed morning), I found it a little annoying since we had to check out of our hotel at 11am (common time in Miami) and had to kill time until we were meant to arrive at the port. Overall I would give Celebrity the edge here. That said, embarkation itself went smoothly and the VV terminal is very nice. THE CABIN: Our XL Sea Terrace was a few rooms forward of the forward elevators on 12. Great location, very quiet – overall I think the sound protection is better on VV than S-class. Room, bathroom and balcony were comparable in size to a standard S-class balcony, but I preferred the layout of the VV bathroom – the shower was larger than on Eclipse, the toilet had its own stall for privacy, and there was more counter space around the sink. S-class bathrooms have better storage, though, with all the drawers and shelves. Also, you have to upgrade to the XL room to get a decent bathroom – the standard rooms on VV have TINY baths. The shower on VV was FANTASTIC – loved both the rainshower head and the handheld (incredible water pressure). Drawer space was very limited in the room as well, but we got around that by using our suitcases under the bed as pull-out drawers. Husband didn’t like the curtain that covered our closet, but I preferred it to the solid doors on X that tend to get in the way when opened. VV’s balcony was about the same size/depth as X’s regular balconies (and there is no hump/slant to capitalize on for extra depth), so no advantage there, but I loved the hammock. Beds on VV were very firm but comfortable, and I was THRILLED to have both a king-sized and regular-sized pillow on the bed – X only supplied the shorter standard size on our last cruise and I was forever having to adjust. The wall sconce reading lights were also a nice touch – kept the relatively limited bedside table space free for phones, water, glasses, etc. Overall a very thoughtful design on VV. We didn’t spend much time in our room so I didn’t miss having a couch, but I could see that becoming a factor on a longer cruise. Husband missed the navigation channel on the TV, but was otherwise satisfied with the entertainment setup. I’d say this is a toss-up with S-Class rooms that have not been Edgified (well, maybe VV wins by a HAIR), but I would take VV’s room in a heartbeat over the dreadful Sky Suite we had on Summit post-Edgification. Interestingly, our friends’ suite (one of the entry-level ones) was larger, but not as well thought out, IMO, especially the bathroom, which had an idiotic window into the bedroom that could not be shaded fully – reminiscent of one of the many things we hated about Summit’s S2. VV rooms come with a tablet for controlling curtains, TV, etc. – a nice touch. It also allows passengers to leave messages for their room steward, contact Sailor Services, order room service and more. You can use the app for some of this, but their app is a hot mess, so the tablet is usually a better option. I would imagine S-Class ships will be integrating this technology as they are upgraded (and if they’re not, they should). THE SHIP: No contest here – VV’s ships do not hold a candle to the S-Class (or even the M-class, which are not our favorite ships). While she boasts some cool spaces and features, Scarlet Lady’s layout is awful. The only advantage over S-Class I can think of is the three elevator banks, which did eliminate the long walk from the aft and some of the congestion you find on the S-class. VV’s public areas feel very tight and compartmentalized, and there is a marked lack of connection with the ocean. Low ceilings everywhere. There are no large, enclosed viewing spaces like Sky Lounge. The view from the outdoor promenade on the 7th floor is blocked by lifeboats. There are also dead ends everywhere, meaning that you have to know which side of the ship things are on before you leave the elevator bank or you might not be able to get where you want to go without backtracking. Public bathrooms were few and poorly marked. As for décor, where S-class features a world-class art collection, VV has gimmicky, Instagrammable backdrops. Everywhere. No real substance in terms of design or style. Materials were VERY cheap and are already showing major wear and tear even though the ship is only a couple of years old – carpets were dingy and worn in high traffic areas, pleather seats were peeling, etc. Also, there is seating everywhere, but no COMFORTABLE seating ANYWHERE. It was either too low, too high, too hard, at a weird angle, had a weird bar, or required too many knees to fit into too tight a space. We were a fairly tall group, but our one average height (5'7") sailor complained just as much as we tall folks. The whole ship feels much smaller than she is, and not in a good way. SHIPBOARD EXPERIENCE: Much has been made of VV’s unique approach to cruising and how great the lack of announcements, photographers, art auctions, children, etc. is. (More on the no children part in a moment.) While all of that was lovely, I think the difference between VV and other lines is more remarkable for people who regularly sail lines like Carnival and NCL rather than X, since those things are kept to a minimum on X already. DH actually missed X’s once-daily announcement from the Captain! No photographers on VV was nice, but they are generally avoidable on X. Same with the art auction. The officers on VV are much less noticeable than on other lines due to their unobtrusive uniforms – I guess some sailors consider that an advantage? It was completely irrelevant to me, and DH actually said he missed seeing officers around, but I feel like many VV sailors would prefer NOT to know they are on a ship (the lack of water views and connection to the ocean play to this as well). No cruise director, either – fine by me. The Happenings cast did a great job running various events and keeping the party going so no need. Overall, this was a net advantage over X, but not a big one. The other big difference on VV is the no-tipping policy, and I will say this was nice. I have always felt that the crew on X engages in some forced socialization with passengers because their tips often depend on these relationships. There was very little of that on VV. We had one waiter, who clearly had worked for another line previously, give us the standard cruise spiel about where he’s from, his wife and kids at home, etc., but no one else. I am perfectly happy to chat with crew members about their lives, but only if it comes up in an organic way, so it was great not to have force this banter. No one even hinted at extra tips and the only place I saw anyone giving any was at the casino bar. I would love to see X adopt this policy. THE CREW/SERVICE: Rooms are cleaned only once daily on VV, which worked fine for us (though I will take the 2nd daily refresh if I can get it!). The ship overall looked clean and tidy, but the public bathrooms didn’t seem to get as much attention as they do on X. I’d give X the edge on that. The crew on VV, especially the Happenings cast, is more diverse than on other lines and there is a noticeable emphasis on allowing people to do their own thing (pink hair, visible tattoos and piercings, etc.). I don’t understand why anyone would object to this as long as the crew are doing their jobs, but I know some “traditional” cruisers do. Personally I found it refreshing, especially since the service was mostly excellent and unobtrusive. The crew was friendly but not overly so. The no-tipping policy also changes the crew and service vibe as I mentioned above, and IMO, for the better. THE PASSENGER VIBE: As I mentioned, few children on board is one of the reasons we like Celebrity, and one of the main features that attracted us to VV. Well, let me assure you - the SHEER AWESOMENESS of the adults-only policy cannot be overstated. This is a VERY BIG WIN for VV. Even though X is not marketed as a family line and we schedule our X cruises outside of school holidays, it was really striking to notice how much the complete, guaranteed absence of children (which also meant no entitled parent behavior, no rowdy teens, no large multi-generational families, etc.) changed the experience. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I believe X needs to consider adopting this policy for at least part of the fleet, or they are going to start losing market share to VV in a big way. More generally, our VV cruise seemed to attract a more diverse but less international and much younger crowd than we are accustomed to on X – median age seemed to be mid-40s. Very few under 25 or 70+ passengers. There was a strong party vibe, which we expected from VV (and which may or may not have been magnified by the fact that we were on a holiday/New Year's sailing). This was fine with me, although it did mean that there were more people trying to do the same things we like to do at the same time we like to do them. DH prefers to cruise with a more sedate, older demographic that heads to meals and shows earlier so that we can enjoy pools and hot tubs in the early evening without crowds. I think he would call this a win for X outside of school holiday sailings (where VV has the clear advantage), whereas I will take the no-kids policy every day! That said, I’m guessing non-holiday sailings on VV will skew a little more sedate than the one we were on, so we might both get what we want in that regard on a VV different itinerary. POOLS/OUTDOOR AREAS: Clear win for Celebrity, both S-Class and M-class. VV’s pool area on deck 15 is an utter disaster. The pool is tiny and feels very tight and enclosed. There is no indoor option, only a weird fitness pool and an inadequate number of hot tubs. Also, they have a DJ up there all day long that plays music so loudly as to be physically painful – I couldn’t even walk through the area without plugging my ears. VV’s equivalent of the Sunset Bar (aka the Athletic Club Bar on deck 16) also sucks – there is a high wall around it and all of the seats face away from the ocean. Why hang out up there if not to enjoy the sea view? I do like the fact that VV put their walking track on a separate floor from everything else, but given the amount of silly athletic equipment and other junk they have strewn around on deck 16, it’s not any easier to navigate than S-class. We both missed the wide-open expanse of the Lawn, too. The ONLY advantage for VV in outdoor spaces is the Dock House on deck 7 aft – we spent a ton of time there. It was really nice to have an outdoor area with both a nice bar and a food menu available most of the day. FOOD/DRINK: I posted a separate, extensive review of all of the dining venues we patronized onboard Scarlet Lady, which you can find here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2983385-long-ass-dining-review-of-scarlet-lady-122723/ To recap briefly, we ate in every venue except Gunbae, and as a party of four, ended up tasting most of every menu. With just a few exceptions, the food was good to very good and occasionally excellent, although IMO the idea that VV’s cuisine is SO much better than other lines is a lot of smoke and mirrors. The restaurants are certainly better than the MDR on Celebrity, but if you compare them with X’s specialty restaurants or suite-level restaurants, it’s a much closer race. And given VV’s prices, you can likely upgrade to specialty dining on every night of a comparable X sailing and still come out ahead. Beef dishes were consistently weak (low quality beef), and there is a marked absence of higher-end proteins that you typically can find on other lines (albeit for an upcharge), disguised by creative-sounding preparations. Heavy reliance on carbohydrates in most venues as well – we eat low-carb when not vacationing, and if I had tried to stick with an LC diet on this ship I would have been incredibly frustrated. Breads and desserts were mostly mediocre to terrible. The Galley also has a lot of limitations compared with X’s buffet – it worked fine for me, but my husband HATED it given the lack of options and static menu. Having two separate restaurants available for breakfast/lunch helped, but not enough in his view, and I could see getting VERY bored on a longer sailing, especially a TA where you’re not even eating lunches in port. Drinks were relatively expensive if you wanted anything other than well liquor (e.g., a Bloody Mary with Bombay Sapphire gin was $15; a single shot of Angel’s Envy Bourbon was $17). The cheaper wines and champagnes were undrinkably bad and there were few mid-range offerings in most bars (i.e., often you could get the hideous Saint Louis bubbly for $7 a glass or Moet for $25 a glass, nothing in between). We have become accustomed to X’s drink packages and didn’t enjoy having to do the mental calculation of whether a particular drink was worth its price or whether we were spending our Bar Tab too fast (or not fast enough). Their Café al Bacio equivalent was not good – the Intelligentsia brand coffee was horribly acidic no matter how it was prepared (I tried espresso, macchiato, cappuccino and americano). I would say dining is a toss-up with S-class (as long as you upgrade your dining!) on shorter sailings and a win for S-class on longer sailings, especially those with a lot of sea days. Husband would call it a CLEAR win for S-class. For M-class I’d call it a win for VV simply because there are so few specialty venues there, but it isn’t really a fair comparison since M-class ships are smaller. X’s drink packages are the winner for us as well, although if the price climbs much higher they may no longer be worthwhile! ENTERTAINMENT: The shows were a big step up from what we experienced on X in May, but that’s not saying much – X has let its entertainment go to pot. However, after seeing a few of VV’s shows it became clear very quickly that there was a sameness about most of the big production shows – they all have a dance/acrobat/drag queen element in various combinations. The queens, dancers, acrobats and most of the singers were excellent, though! There was a lot of live music in the smaller lounges, but not a ton of variety IMO (mostly rock/pop adjacent – no classical whatsoever, no real jazz). The Arcade and other indoor games in the Social area were lots of fun, and it was nice to be able to enjoy them without kids around. Lots of trivia and other activities available. I’d give VV the edge here outside of the live music options. FITNESS/GYM: For a line that focuses on fitness, VV’s gym is pretty lackluster. Also, free fitness classes are only a value-add if they’re good. And VV’s weren’t. I attended a yoga class with an “instructor” who I seriously doubt has ever so much as watched a yoga video on TikTok, much less had any training. Husband likes to lift free weights and was annoyed at the limited selection and small area devoted to free weights. The random pull up bars, benches, push up bars, etc. near the pool and the deck above did see some use, but mainly by attention-seeking Instagrammers – IMO those public spaces could be better utilized. We aren’t fitness class people anyway and prefer the S-class gym overall. CASINO/SHOPPING: Smaller area devoted to casino than on S-class, but it appeared to be a hit with those who used it. We’re not gamblers and didn’t bother playing so much as a single slot pull on VV so aside from size I can’t really compare the two. Shops on VV were as expected – expensive and not that interesting. I didn’t like the layout of the shopping area on VV nor the selection of merch so I’d give X the win here. PORTS/ITINERARY: Virgin’s Caribbean itineraries are pretty lame in general, and this one was no exception, but we weren’t sailing for the itinerary in this case. They have a lot of catching up to do with more established lines in this regard. The Beach Club at Bimini was nice enough, although mostly because our Rockstar friends were able to get us into the uncrowded, exclusive suites portion of the club. The regular section was TEEMING with people and the pool was hideously loud. Had we been stuck there, we would have gone right back to the ship. We preferred our stop in Coco Cay the one time we sailed there – the DIY snorkeling alone made it a win for X. DISEMBARKATION: As I said, the late embarkation on VV does pay off on the back end. We had a later flight out of Miami this time so we were happy to have an extra hour to lounge on the ship, but it wouldn’t have mattered at all if our flight were earlier. I’d call it a toss up outside of the fact that we were able to have a quiet and civilized breakfast in a restaurant rather than in a crowded buffet. CONCLUSION: There were things we loved and things we didn’t love about VV, but overall, the only compelling reason I can cite for choosing VV over X is the adults-only policy. Entertainment was better on VV and there were a handful of other things we liked more, but nothing that would make me choose VV over X for the same itinerary at the same price. DH feels even more strongly than I do that X is a better product, and if X would go adults-only it would be a slam dunk! That said, there were some negatives on our last X cruise that we hope will be corrected before we sail X again, and we will certainly consider VV as an alternative for future trips as both lines evolve. We’re planning to try the E-Class next so it will be interesting to compare those ships to VV as well. That’s my hot take – thanks for reading!

I have heard very good things about the butter chicken that was eliminated - supposedly it often shows up at the Galley as a special. I thought the absence of Indian food on the ship in general was a bummer - it's one of the things I love most about the buffet on Celebrity. Not only do saucy curries lend themselves to buffet-style service, but the chefs from the region turn out some incredible and authentic food! Good call - we didn't check out the Galley for dinner on this cruise since it was our first one and we wanted to try all the restaurants, but we would definitely adopt this approach for future sailings.

Thanks! We would definitely consider Viking for a very destination-focused cruise, although we tend to prefer somewhat larger ships overall. We sailed Summit to Bermuda and felt the ship was too small for our taste given the amount of time at sea and single destination, but an Iceland or Norway cruise would be a different ball of wax. Interestingly enough, my husband commented many times that Scarlet Lady reminded him more of Summit than of S-class, even though it's much closer in size/passenger load to S-Class ships. I think it was due to the relatively small size of each individual venue and the lack of high-ceilinged, wide-open spaces on board.

Thanks! I keep going back over the cruise and particularly the ship in my mind, thinking about how it might have worked for us in other locations we have been to (we most recently cruised Alaska and Bermuda, thinking about Scotland/Iceland/Norway for our next one). If we had an aft balcony as we did on Eclipse in AK, I think I might enjoy Scarlet Lady on a cooler weather itinerary as well, although of course that would mean booking an expensive suite. Not sure, though. That lack of connection with the ocean and limited indoor or outdoor areas for viewing scenery would be a minus. It may be that we only choose VV if doing a party cruise with friends who prefer VV! As far as pricing goes, I can say without question that I would not be willing to pay a premium for VV over X S-class or E-class unless I wanted to sail during a school holiday. The no-kids policy is really the only thing I value highly that can't be duplicated on X. We paid almost exactly the same amount for our Eclipse 7-day to AK as our VV 6-day Carib once drinks/upgraded dining were figured in, and there was absolutely NO comparison as to which was the better ship and vacation overall (Eclipse!!!!).

DBE board right after Rockstars. In our case, that was right around 1:45. We arrived at the port around 12:45, which worked out well - we had time to get our luggage tagged and checked and then a minimal wait outdoors before we were ushered into the indoor waiting room. Our DBE status showed in the app, and when we went up to the podium to get our ribbons, we were on the check-in lady's list. We didn't know we had to go up to the podium before speaking with our luggage porter, though - there was no sign saying "DBE check-in here" or anything like that.

Thanks! I love a cheesecake that is both creamy AND chilled, LOL. If properly baked, you should be able to have both.

I heard about this - undoubtedly a cost cutting measure. Too bad the replacement burger was so appalling. I really wanted it to be fabulous but UGH!

I just posted my review of our Virgin sailing and a separate, longer dining-only review in the Virgin forum - here are links if anyone is interested. I'll post a Celebrity comparison review soon!

We just returned from our virgin voyage on Virgin Voyages, and I wanted to share my thoughts with my fellow Cruise Critics! This trip was to celebrate my husband’s 50th in early January, which was part of the reason we chose VV – we would normally never cruise during school holidays, but with no kids to worry about, we were thrilled to be able to do a combined NYE/birthday sailing. We’ve been sailing Celebrity exclusively since we got married 13 years ago so we were also just ready to try something new! I’ll try to review VV on its own merits below, but since we were just on Eclipse in May I couldn’t help but draw a few comparisons. ABOUT US: we are younger Gen-Xers (46 and 50), classical musicians and foodies living in NYC. We traveled with one of my besties from college and his husband, both 48, also New Yorkers. We chose an XL sea terrace for this trip, as we didn’t feel the price of even the lowest Rockstar cabins was a good value. Also, our status match with X earned us Deep Blue Extras on this trip, which had a few perks similar to Rockstar. However, our friends were in a suite, so we got a preview of the Rockstar life in any case. Now that I’ve disclosed my potential biases, on to the review! EMBARKATION: We had early embarkation through Deep Blue Extras, but I only knew this because of Cruise Critic. When we checked in and registered for our embarkation on the app, it stated we were to arrive at 3:15. Just one of many app fails we would experience throughout the trip (more on this below). That said, embarkation itself went smoothly. We arrived at the port around 12:45 and the porter directed us to a lady at a podium who had a checklist for DBE and Splash of Romance passengers. We were on the list, so we got our blue wrist ribbons and joined the line. We probably stood outside for about 20 minutes before they ushered us into the indoor waiting room, and from there it was just another 20 minutes or so before they called DBEs to the entrance. We planned to head straight to our room to drop off our hand luggage, but we ran into our friends in Sip so we sat with them (and piggybacked on their free Rockstar champagne!) until they were ready to meet with their Rockstar agent. THE APP/INTERNET: Anyone who has booked a Virgin cruise already knows their tech leaves a lot to be desired, and the app’s performance on our cruise was no exception. We had booked all of our restaurant reservations in advance (and secured prime times thanks to our friends’ Rockstar status), but we encountered issues with the app crashing as soon as we started trying to book shows after embarkation. Our friends didn’t have any better luck. We were eventually able to get bookings through, but there were a lot of errors/crashes/restarts/frustration involved. We had our friends use their Rockstar agents to make any subsequent changes just to avoid issues. Once the initial rush of show bookings died down, the app functioned reasonably well throughout the voyage, although we never had success when trying to order food. Sailor Services was pretty slow to answer texts and the answer was usually “go to the desk.” Our DBE perks included premium internet and it was fast enough for browsing and even streaming sports, so no complaints there! THE CABIN: XL Sea Terrace 12330Z, a few rooms forward of the forward elevators. I really liked the room and especially the bathroom – having taken a peek at the size of the standard balcony bathroom, I think we’d stick with the XL or larger going forward. The shower was FANTASTIC – loved both the rainshower head and the handheld with that incredible water pressure. We are both tall (6’ and 6’3) with long arms and we felt there was plenty of elbow room. Drawer space was very limited in closet and bath, but we got around that by using our suitcases under the bed as pull-out drawers. Husband didn’t like the sheer curtain that covered our closet, but I preferred it to a door that would just have been in the way. Having an opaque curtain would hide any clothing messes a bit better, but that’s a very small nitpick. The balcony was generously sized and I loved the hammock. Beds were very firm but comfortable, and I was THRILLED to have both a king-sized and regular-sized pillow on the bed – most hotels (and X) only supply the shorter standard size. I love the length of a king-sized pillow and find it difficult to sleep without one. The wall sconce reading lights were also a nice touch – kept the relatively limited bedside table space free for phones, water, glasses, etc. Overall a very thoughtful design. One annoyance – the doors on the shower and toilet rooms are not soft-close, and tended to slam shut LOUDLY even when you were trying to close them gently. There was a TON of slamming from neighboring cabins that woke us on our first morning as people were learning how best to navigate their toilette. Fortunately this abated as the cruise wore on, but installing soft-close hinges on these doors would be a nice touch. Our friends’ suite (one of the entry-level ones) was larger, but not as well thought out, IMO, especially the bathroom, which had an idiotic window into the bedroom that could not be shaded fully. THE SHIP: While she boasts some cool spaces and features, overall we did not love the layout of Scarlet Lady. Everything feels very tight and compartmentalized, and there is a marked lack of connection with the ocean. There are also dead ends everywhere, meaning that you have to know which side of the ship things are on before you leave the elevator bank or you might not be able to get where you want to go without backtracking. Public bathrooms were few and poorly marked. As for décor, it leaned heavily on Instagrammable backdrops but no real substance in terms of design or style. Materials were VERY cheap and are already showing major wear and tear even though the ship is only a couple of years old – carpets were dingy and worn in high traffic areas, pleather seats were peeling, etc. Also, there is seating everywhere, but no COMFORTABLE seating ANYWHERE. It was either too low, too high, too hard, at a weird angle, had a weird bar, or required too many knees to fit into too tight a space. We were a fairly tall group, but our one average height (5'7") sailor complained just as much as we tall folks. On the positive side, the three elevator banks made getting from floor to floor a breeze, and the ship rarely felt crowded despite sailing full, so perhaps having all those choppy little venues helps with crowd control! THE PASSENGER VIBE: We always try to avoid children while traveling – it’s one of the main reasons we like Celebrity, and one of the main features that attracted us to VV. Well, let me assure you - the SHEER AWESOMENESS of the adults-only policy cannot be overstated. We always try to schedule cruises during periods when we're unlikely to encounter many children, but it was really striking to notice how much the complete, guaranteed absence of children (which also meant no entitled parent behavior, no rowdy teens, no large multi-generational families, etc.) changed the experience. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Other lines (especially those that already cater more to adults than families, like X) need to consider this policy or they are going to start losing market share to VV in a big way. More generally, our cruise seemed to attract a more diverse but less international and much younger crowd than we are accustomed to on X – median age seemed to be mid-40s. Very few under 25 or 70+ passengers. There was a strong party vibe, which we expected from VV (and which may or may not have been magnified by the fact that we were on a holiday/New Year's sailing). You could avoid it if you wanted to, but there was always a party happening somewhere. POOLS/OUTDOOR AREAS: This was a mixed bag for us. We LOVED the Dock House area and spent a ton of time there. Unfortunately, since this was really the only area where you could enjoy an unadulterated view of the ocean, a lot of our fellow sailors did too, making it hard to find seating at times. The pool area is a complete disaster – not only is the pool itself TINY, the whole area feels very tight and enclosed. Also, the DJ made the area completely intolerable for me due to the noise level (I have very sensitive hearing and it was loud enough to be physically painful). The 16th floor is equally problematic – the Athletic Club in particular could have a been a lovely place to enjoy the sea, but the high walls and seating facing AWAY from the ocean destroyed it. The Sun Club area was just as noisy as the pool deck, and twice as crowded in many cases. Navigation was a problem on 16 too – narrow, single-file passageways and general clutter if you tried to walk from one end to the other. There were a handful of other outdoor areas on deck 7, but who wants to look at lifeboats? We basically spent all of our outdoor time on our balcony or at the Dock House. FOOD/DRINK: I posted a separate, extensive review of all of the dining venues we patronized onboard, which you can find here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2983385-long-ass-dining-review-of-scarlet-lady-122723/ To recap briefly, we ate in every venue except Gunbae, and as a party of four, ended up tasting most of every menu. With just a few exceptions, the food was good to very good and occasionally excellent, although IMO the idea that VV’s cuisine is SO much better than other lines is a lot of smoke and mirrors. The restaurants are certainly better than the MDR on Celebrity, but if you compare them with X’s specialty restaurants or suite-level restaurants, it’s a much closer race. Beef dishes were consistently weak (low quality beef), and there is a marked absence of higher-end proteins that you typically can find on other lines (albeit for an upcharge), disguised by creative-sounding preparations. Heavy reliance on carbohydrates in most venues as well – we eat low-carb when not vacationing, and if I had tried to stick with an LC diet on this ship I would have been incredibly frustrated. Breads and desserts were mostly mediocre to terrible. The Galley also has a lot of limitations – it worked fine for me, but my husband HATED it given the lack of options and static menu. Having Razzle Dazzle and the Wake available for breakfast/lunch helped, but not enough in his view, and I could see getting VERY bored on a longer sailing, especially a TA where you’re not even eating lunches in port. Drinks were relatively expensive if you wanted anything other than well liquor (e.g., a Bloody Mary with Bombay Sapphire gin was $15; a single shot of Angel’s Envy Bourbon was $17). The cheaper wines and champagnes were undrinkably bad and there were few mid-range offerings in most bars (i.e., often you could get the hideous Saint Louis bubbly for $7 a glass or Moet for $25 a glass, nothing in between). Cocktails were mostly well-made but we were served a couple of clunkers. We have become accustomed to X’s drink packages and didn’t enjoy having to do the mental calculation of whether a particular drink was worth its price or whether we were spending our Bar Tab too fast (or not fast enough). DBE gave us $10 of credit at the Grounds Club daily, another nice perk, but neither one of us enjoyed the Intelligentsia coffee no matter how it was prepared (I tried espresso, macchiato, cappuccino and americano) – it was a light roast and horribly acidic. ENTERTAINMENT: The shows were a step up from what we experienced on our last X cruise in May, but that’s not saying much. Our favorite show by far was a solo cabaret by a wonderful musical theatre singer from Scotland, which replaced Around the World in 80 Minutes with the Diva (canceled due to illness, bummer!). We also enjoyed Duel Reality, but it became clear very quickly that there was a sameness about most of the big production shows – It’s a Ship Show, Ships in the Night and Untitled Dance Party Thing all had a dance/acrobat/drag queen element, just presented in a different way. Still fun, and the dancers and acrobats were excellent! The host of Ship Show reminded me of a terrible cruise director, which could have been funny if it hadn’t been so annoying. There was a lot of live music in the smaller lounges, but not a ton of variety IMO (mostly rock/pop adjacent – no classical whatsoever, no real jazz). The Happenings cast did a decent job with trivia, although I felt they took it a bit too seriously (constantly warning people not to use their phones and making people swap papers for checking). The Arcade was a pleasant surprise – as children of the 80s, we had a great time playing some Ms. Pacman and Space Invaders. The table shuffleboard was awesome as well. Plenty of other activities sounded fun but just didn’t fit in with our plans – it was nice to have a variety of things to choose from and we were never, ever bored! FITNESS/GYM: Free fitness classes are only a value-add if they’re good. And VV’s weren’t. I attended a yoga class with an “instructor” who I seriously doubt has ever so much as watched a yoga video on TikTok, much less had any training. The same instructor also led some of the spin and HIIT classes that my friends attended, all of which were so bad that they left halfway through. I did have fun at the VHS cardio class, led by some of the Happenings cast, but aerobics is a different animal from yoga. Anyway, the gym was adequate but not impressive. Husband likes to lift free weights and was annoyed at the limited selection and small area devoted to free weights. The random pull up bars, benches, push up bars, etc. near the pool and up on 16 did see some use, but mainly by attention-seeking Instagrammers – IMO those public spaces could be better utilized. CASINO/SHOPPING: We’re not gamblers and didn’t bother playing so much as a single slot pull. The casino was hopping any time we walked through it, though, and they did offer a good variety of low-ante games for casual players. Shops were as expected – expensive and not that interesting. I bought a travel-exclusive bottle of Scotch at the duty-free just to use up some Sailor Loot, but didn’t find anything else of interest. Oh, except for a $6 roll of 8 Tums for my husband. 😉 PORTS/ITINERARY: To put it bluntly, Virgin’s Caribbean itineraries suck, and this one was no exception. They have a lot of catching up to do in this area. We didn’t care in this case because we were mostly cruising for the ship, but after two visits to Costa Maya we will stay on the ship from here on out. We were excited to snorkel in Honduras but our catamaran tour was canceled due to weather, and a brief walk into town was depressing (and probably a little dangerous). That said, the Beach Club at Bimini was nice enough, although mostly because our Rockstar friends were able to get us into the uncrowded, exclusive suites portion of the club. The regular section was TEEMING with people and the pool was hideously loud. Had we been stuck there, we would have gone right back to the ship. The food at the Beach Club was tasty, but kind of a weird menu for a beach day – we all wanted nachos and other casual, beachy finger foods, not a sit-down meal. It would be nice if they would offer a couple of snacky things to round out the menu. DISEMBARKATION: Fabulous. We went to the Wake for a very civilized breakfast at 8:30 and then relaxed in Sip with our friends (who were doing a B2B) until around 10:15, when the line started dying down. We zipped right down to the luggage claim area and found our bags immediately since most people were already long gone. No line at customs and the facial recognition machines took mere seconds to clear us. While having to wait until 1:30 or later to embark was a little annoying (hotel check outs are typically at 11am, leaving some dead time to fill), you do benefit on the other end, especially if you have a later flight. CONCLUSION: There were things we loved and things we didn’t. Husband enjoyed the trip less than I did overall, but we would both happily sail Virgin again for the right price and the right itinerary, if for no other reason than the adults-only policy. However, I’m still trying to decide what the right price and right itinerary ARE for us on VV. We typically like a more sedate, relaxing cruise rather than a non-stop party, but I would be curious to see how the vibe on VV changes for a non-holiday cruise (or a more port-intensive one). This was also our first time sailing with another couple, which of course led us to party and socialize more than we otherwise might have. We did not love Scarlet Lady herself, but any negatives about the ship are outweighed (or at least balanced) by the absence of children. We might prefer her layout for a cool-weather itinerary, too. We didn’t buy a future cruise certificate while on board because we weren’t sure we’d return within the allotted time frame, but we will consider VV for future trips as the line evolves.

Post-Cruise Thoughts While I enjoyed many of the dishes we sampled and the variety of venues, I came away from our week on Scarlet Lady with the distinct impression that Virgin’s reputation for having the best cuisine of any mass market line is built on a lot of smoke and mirrors. I can only compare it to Celebrity, which we most recently sailed in May (Eclipse), and I will say without a doubt that VV’s restaurants are MILES ahead of Celebrity’s MDR (see my food review of Eclipse’s dining venues for proof!). However, if you compare VV to X’s specialties, Blu and Luminae, the race becomes much tighter. “But VV’s venues are all included!”, you might argue. Well, yes – but for the price of a VV cruise, you can probably afford to upgrade to specialty dining every night of a similar Celebrity sailing, with money leftover. Also, because all of VV’s venues are included, they have to be very careful about offering high-end proteins and other expensive ingredients, and this DEFINITELY shows in their menus. Lobster, scallops, halibut, venison, quail, duck, foie gras, any decent cut of beef, etc. – you’re lucky to find them in one dish on one menu, or they’re only available for an upcharge as part of a “Treat Yourself” dish. Same goes for things like fragile berries in desserts, high-end cheeses (which were completely absent from the ship as far as I could tell), nuts, decent sushi, etc. The number of apple desserts alone shows you just how little REAL variety (and how much reliance on inexpensive ingredients) there is when you drill down. The Galley also demonstrates this clearly – virtually every dish is based on carbohydrates, and the selection is very limited despite the seemingly large number of venues. I mean, if you want a meat sandwich for lunch, you basically have a choice of corned beef, turkey, or shrimp. Every single day, no matter how long your sailing. Really? This is the best cuisine at sea? If they are sailing full and engaging plenty of repeat customers, then maybe VV has no need to strive for improvement. After all, not every cruiser cares this much about food or considers analyzing every dish and menu a fun vacation pastime. 😊 However, their prices have gone way up, and I have a feeling that customers are going to start demanding more for their money – see the furor that Celebrity faced when they made ill-considered cuts to their dining program. The weaknesses in VV’s dining program will become more and more apparent as the shine wears off and cruisers start looking more closely under the hood. We would happily sail VV again for the right price and itinerary, but a long cruise with a lot of sea days? Probably not, and the food would be a major factor in that decision. That’s my two cents - thanks for reading!

Other Venues: The Galley, Dock House, Pizza Place, Grounds Club, Beach Club, Social Club The Galley: This was a point of contention between DH and me as we were planning this trip – he LOVES a buffet, especially at breakfast, and was not particularly interested in the limited options offered by the Galley. We eat relatively low-carb at home and he likes to stick to protein in the morning, especially if he plans to lift weights afterwards. Outside of breakfast standards (eggs, sausage, bacon), the Galley offers very little in the way of low-carb food at any meal. I’m a more adventurous eater and was thrilled to have the opportunity to eat ramen or tacos for breakfast, but even for me, the non-rotating menu did seem a bit limiting – and became even more so when I tried the food. The spicy ramen was delicious (neither the broth nor noodles were up to restaurant standards, but it was several steps up from even high-quality packaged ramen and the soy-marinated jammy egg and chashu pork were both on point), but nearly everything else I tried over the week was mediocre or worse. The maki rolls in the sushi bento boxes were awful – mushy, too-sweet rice with skimpy, flavorless fillings. The innards of the pastrami panino were okay, but the “rye” bread was terrible, bland and dry. Lunch tacos al pastor were a joke – three tiny chunks of pork and some raw onions in a rubbery, cold tortilla, no salsa or anything else to bring the dish together. (See top two pics below - the rest are from the Beach Club.) Diner and Dash did a good job with eggs to order, but toast/potatoes/etc. were pretty lackluster. Also, the half-table service, half-walk up order system really does not serve anyone well, and it’s incredibly annoying when one half of your party gets their food 20 minutes before the other half. I think the Galley concept has promise, but VV needs to find a way to increase selection, improve quality and eliminate service issues or this could easily alienate guests over time. Dock House: Loved this venue overall – it quickly became our favorite public outdoor area on the ship. Snacks were delicious and a welcome change from the Galley. I particularly loved the octopus and sunchoke combination, even though the octopus was always a little overcooked. Nice way to get a dose of protein with a cocktail! Having given the Galley, the Wake and RD a fair shot at lunch on this cruise, I would probably eat lunch here more frequently in the future. Pizza Place: Not bad for cruise pizza. We ordered for takeaway a couple of times and the pies came out quickly, hot and fresh. Crust a bit bland, but I don’t expect them to do a 3-day ferment for flavor development on a cruise ship. They could have been a little more generous with toppings, though. Grounds Club: We had Deep Blue Extras perks on this cruise, which included a $10 credit here daily. If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t have paid for it. The Intelligentsia coffee beans they use are awful – I think it’s a light roast, and all of the espresso drinks were horribly acidic (and maybe over-extracted). The included drip coffee isn’t great either, but at least you’re not paying extra for it. I will say service was very good at both locations. Beach Club at Bimini: We had a nice, if not very beachy, meal here. The menu is just kind of odd for the beach, where people are typically looking for finger foods, not a sit down meal. We liked the jerk chicken (tender and nicely spiced), ceviche, coconut corn and beans and rice. Pork was terribly dry; crispy cassava had promise but were cold and needed a sauce for dipping. Rum cake was lovely and moist. But really, we wanted nachos. Social Club: This place was consistently mobbed, to the point where we didn’t want to be there long enough to order a hot dog or wings. We did grab popcorn occasionally (little light on butter but otherwise fine) and a couple of the sweet treats. The mocha fudge was horrid, almost as chewy as a caramel and stale-tasting. Cake pop and rice Krispie treat were better but too sweet and again, tasted as though they’d been sitting a while. Given the popularity of this area, I think they should rethink the layout and maybe expand the seating/TV viewing area – they could easily rework the Loose Cannon space (probably the most underutilized bar on the ship during our cruise) to make the Social Club bigger and improve traffic flow.

Razzle Dazzle – Brunch 2, Dinner 5 After our dismal brunch at the Wake, we switched our next brunch rezzie to Razzle Dazzle and hoped for the best. In sharp contrast to the Wake, RD offers many more breakfast-y options than lunch-y stuff, with an annoying emphasis on vegetarian dishes and fake meat. Also in contrast to the Wake, service was fantastic here, and the bottomless mimosas flowed freely! The hibiscus-tinged Yaaaaaaaas Queen was a great addition to the bottomless menu. We started with drinks and a nice selection of pastries (apple cruffin and jalapeno croissant, both decent if a little dry) and got down to the business of ordering. That’s where things got a little harry. DH is a devoted protein eater early in the day and wants nothing to do with tofu cream, kimchi hash, acai bowls, juice smoothies, veganaise or any type of Impossible non-meat. And quite honestly, the rest of us really didn’t either. Why does VV hate pork sausage so much? Even in the Galley they push the chicken stuff HARD. But I digress. We opted to split some avocado toast and mushroom tartare (more out of curiosity than anything else), then the boys went for the chicken sandwich and I for the frittata. Sides of bacon for the table. Despite looking like dog food, the mushroom tartare was actually OUTSTANDING – one of my favorite dishes of the cruise. Tangy, earthy, herby, yum. Would have been amazing on a roast beef and swiss sandwich. Avocado toast was underseasoned and served on yet another crappy piece of bread. The chicken sandwich had potential but was poorly executed – the chicken itself was good, but the pieces were small and fell out of the bulky bun if you tried to eat it like an actual sandwich. Beet aioli had little beet flavor and added nothing but its neon pink color. Finally, the bun was too thick, doughy and flavorless. Like so many things on VV, style over substance – Instagrammable but literally and figuratively tasteless. My frittata was edible, but a big letdown after that wonderful mushroom tartare (there was like one mushroom in it). Bacon was good but VERY sweet - they really should indicate on the menu that the “smoked” bacon is also candied. None of the boys ate the buns on their sandwiches, so of course they felt they needed dessert to compensate. One Razzle Cake to split, please. I’m not that into milk chocolate so I wasn’t super impressed with this, but they all loved it – and it was admittedly pretty good for a milk chocolate dessert. It improved as it came up to room temp, too – the ganache was almost solid when cold but became a bit more fudge-like and started releasing its malty, caramelly undertones as it warmed. Our RD dinner was the night after our brunch and DH was ready to cancel and eat pizza. I convinced him to give it one more shot by promising pork belly. 😊 He ended up being VERY glad I insisted, because he had his favorite meal of the entire cruise (lesson learned, always listen to your foodie wife). It was New Year’s Eve, so they were offering a couple of specials in addition to the regular dinner menu – a crab cake appetizer and a roasted pork loin. The regular menu had quite a few interesting dishes, though, so we shared a couple of crab cakes, tuna tartare, mushroom carpaccio, pork belly and chicken wings. The only standouts were the tuna and pork belly, IMO – the crab cakes were mushy, the wings limp with chewy, underdone skin, and the mushroom carpaccio was actually mostly a watercress salad with just a few papery slivers of mushroom underneath. Like most of the raw tuna preparations we enjoyed on the ship, RD’s was fresh and delicious, highlighted by crunchy radishes and a creamy basil sauce. The pork belly was also fabulous, tender and crisped to perfection. The unique crunch of kohlrabi was the ideal counterpoint and the creamy dressing married all of the flavors gorgeously. It was so good, we had to order a second serving! Mains were also a mixed bag, but they knocked it out of the park with my DH’s chosen dish, the lamb shank. WOW. Super tender and flavorful meat on top of an OUTRAGEOUSLY cheesy, silky taleggio and potato puree. Do not miss this dish. I chose the leek mafaldine, which arrived beautifully al dente. Very interesting combination of flavors and textures with the sweet, velvety leeks playing off the ruffly pasta, crunchy hazelnuts and sharp cheese. It was also VERY rich – a few bites was enough to satisfy. Our friends went with the pork loin special (overcooked, dry and boring) and the “secret” burger, which I had been looking forward to trying. What a letdown. It was AWFUL – it arrived DRENCHED in a melted mess of the most horrifically cheap-tasting, pungent blue cheese I have ever encountered. It obliterated any flavor the meat may have had, but not the texture, which was dry and grainy. The bun could have been the greatest thing since sliced bread or complete garbage, no idea, because all you could taste was that hideous cheese. And I LOVE stinky blue cheese. Stilton, St. Agur, gorgonzola picante, you name it, I love it. This was not that. This was wrong. Fortunately we had ordered the (delicious, crispy and tender!) hot cauliflower to share, so my friend filled up on that and helped me with my pasta, and left the burger to rot. We sugared up for the evening’s festivities with the apple cake, brown sugar pears and dark s’mores for dessert. No real hits here. The pear “funnel cake” was actually a couple of undercooked sheets of phyllo dough, crumpled on top of bland pears and yogurt. Meh. Apple cake was a cute but forgettable napoleon, but at least the cinnamon ice cream was good. Also, if you’re keeping track, this was the 6th or 7th dessert we had involving apples. Could it be because apples are, pound for pound, the cheapest fruit you can buy? Hm. The s’more was forgettable too. Or I was drunk. Or both. It was NYE, give me a break, okay?

Extra Virgin – Dinner 4 Having eaten plenty of mediocre Italian at cruise ships’ obligatory, wannabe-upscale Italian restaurants, I didn’t have particularly high expectations for Extra Virgin. My first impressions of the restaurant did nothing to sway me – somehow, formica-topped tables, caned seat backs and a 70s terra cotta and sage color palette don’t scream “authentic Italian cuisine.” The restaurant looks like a roadside HoJo, ffs. However, the food itself proved better than I hoped, and ended up being one of my favorite dinners on the ship. We started with a small service issue – none of us wanted the charcuterie platter and tried instead to order appetizers to start. The server informed us that we couldn’t do that, but didn’t adequately explain whether we just needed to wait a moment to order or were required to accept the charcuterie to pass into the next stage of the ordering process. Weird and confusing. She eventually just took our drink orders and left, then returned and allowed us to order appetizers (no charcuterie required). Anyway, we continued our tradition of ordering most of the appetizers to share, with the tender, succulent meatballs being the clear winner. Chicken liver pate was ultra smooth but a bit light on liver flavor, and didn’t need the drizzle of balsamic vinegar that floated on top. Calamari were average, a little rubbery and greasy. As the lone artichoke fan at the table, I had the crispy artichoke mostly to myself and I was not mad about it – it was excellent, a simple prep but perfectly cooked and seasoned. Everyone else loved the ribollita (which I will admit was delicious and comforting if a bit lacking in beans). Carpaccio was prepared competently, but like all beef on the ship, the meat itself was relatively flavorless. They also brought us a basket of too-dense, bland focaccia (yet another bread fail), which got eaten nonetheless. Next up, pasta! We opted for spaghetti alle vongole, oxtail agnolotti, pappardelle al ragu and bucatini alla carbonara. The bucatini was an absolute travesty, with the pasta cooked practically to mush and drenched in a grainy sauce that tasted strongly of powdered egg. Horrendous. Fortunately, the other three dishes were much better prepared, with al dente pasta and proper saucing. My spaghetti was the clear winner, with just the right amount of a bright and clean-tasting sauce and tender clams. The agnolotti were delicious but very rich and heavy on the anise flavor, so we each ate just a bite or two (this dish works perfectly for sharing since you can easily snag the agnolotti individually with a fork). Ragu was too tomato-y and not meaty enough to be a proper Bolognese, but was delicious in and of itself. We were a bit full for secondi at this point, but powered through to sample the chicken and braised pork cheeks. Both very nice. The pork was ultra tender and succulent and the Israeli couscous underneath was lovely, although a bit unnecessary as we’d already had our pasta courses. Brown sauce somewhat bland. Chicken was nicely cooked and accompanying piccata sauce silky and bright. Loved the gorgeous blue plate it was served on, too! For dessert, affogatos all around and the chestnut castagnaccio, just because it sounded interesting. It was as beautiful as the Wake’s lemon cheesecake, but unfortunately just as disappointing to eat – gummy texture and lacking chestnut flavor, with an incongruent apple filling and stale meringues to garnish. The affogato cart is a silly affectation, but the ice cream (particularly the whiskey crema) was very good (smoother and much more flavorful than what we tried at Lick Me), so no complaints!

The Wake – Brunch 1, Dinner 3, Disembarkation Breakfast Since our whole group loves a bottomless mimosa, sea days were for brunching! DH wasn’t super interested in the Razzle Dazzle brunch menu so we decided to try the Wake first, on our first sea day. We arrived at 12:15pm and discovered that they add two steak dishes to the regular brunch menu starting at noon, a hanger steak and I believe a NY strip. Even so, the brunch menu is pretty limited, especially if you want something that leans more traditionally “breakfast.” No pastries offered, either, which surprised me. Anyway, we all ordered the clam chowder to start, along with the two salads and the poached shrimp for the table. Clam chowder is light on actual clams, but still delicious, with a flavorful, creamy but not-too-thick soup enveloping a few chopped clams, some crispy fried shrimp bits and diced potatoes. The wedge salad was a solid preparation of this classic, but the fennel salad was TERRIBLE – mostly spinach and a few paper-thin shreds of fennel in a watery, flavorless dressing. Pecorino was practically invisible and could not be detected in the flavor (in general, cheese was not featured on this ship and was usually only present in very small quantities even when listed on the menu as a major component of a dish). Shrimp were fine – tender and nicely poached – but mired in a too-sweet cocktail sauce. We moved onto mains – steak and eggs from the regular menu for two of us, the special hanger steak and the pork belly benedict. Mediocre to poor all around. The regular steaks were awful – tough, low quality meat with that briny chemical flavor you find at cheap AYCE steak buffets like Golden Corral. The hanger steak was better, but only marginally so. At least the accompanying fries were good! The pork belly benny was awful, with greasy, tough bits of overcooked, breaded and deep-fried pork belly under a bland bone marrow hollandaise, riding atop one of the worst English muffins I have ever encountered (it had no nooks and crannies – how is that even possible?). Just bad. We ordered dessert hoping for redemption, but none came – the crepe cake was tough (although the strawberry rhubarb compote was very nice, perfect balance of tart and sweet – would have been great with a good runny Camembert!) and the apple tatin was offensively sweet and overspiced with clove. It wasn’t terribly busy, but service was somewhat slow throughout, with a noticeable lag when it came to drink refills. Fortunately only two of us had opted for bottomless due to a bit of overindulgence the previous evening, so no great loss. The meal did not inspire great confidence in our upcoming dinner, however! We returned a day later for dinner following a better brunch at Razzle Dazzle (more about that later). Dinner was hopping but the service was very good, so no idea what was going on at lunch (other than a reluctance to keep the champagne flowing). We avoided things we had tried at lunch, and ended up with the hamachi crudo, bone marrow and shrimp and grits (from the mains menu) for starters. We also enjoyed the Parker House rolls, which were less rich/buttery than a traditional PH roll but still one of the better breads we had on the ship. The hamachi was fresh and tasty enough but less interesting than I hoped given the description – I love rhubarb but I’m pretty sure the three little cubes of vegetation atop my fish were only rhubarb-colored. Bone marrow was prepared competently but served with greasy Texas toast and an oil-based salsa verde, making the whole dish almost inedibly rich. BALANCE, people! Why is this so hard to understand? I enjoyed the shrimp and grits, although the tomato sauce was a bit thick and overwhelmed the other flavors (what bacon and capers?). The grits were tender and fluffy as opposed to creamy, as I prefer for this dish. For mains, two lambs, a hanger steak and a salt-baked dorade, or two winners and two losers. Lamb on this ship was consistently good quality and always seasoned well and cooked correctly – can’t ask for more than that! I asked for a side of the tarragon salsa verde instead of the recommended mint jelly and it was the perfect accompaniment, despite having little to no tarragon flavor (plenty of fresh parsley, however). Loved the head of roasted garlic that came with it, too. DH got the hanger steak and found it barely passable, like all beef on the ship, though the garlic and salsa verde helped there as well. The fish, on the other hand, was awful. Dry as a bone, overcooked beyond salvation. My friend who ordered it was too nice to say anything, but ate very little of it and filled up on sides instead. The waitress insisted on bringing all of them, and all were really quite enjoyable. The creamed spinach was whole leaf rather than puree, giving it a nice toothsome texture. We finished up with the lemon cheesecake, an absolutely adorable presentation that unfortunately did not taste as good as it looked (and was served room temperature, which is just wrong for a cheesecake – it would have been much better chilled), and the Wake, the restaurant’s signature chocolate dessert. It was among the better desserts we had but not spectacular, just a simple (but richly chocolaty and beautifully smooth) mousse in a dry shortbread crust, embellished with some caramel cream and a few candied hazelnuts. Conclusion – dinner at the Wake is better than brunch, but not really that interesting in and of itself. Totally skippable if you are so inclined. We had a second brunch planned here for another sea day but canceled. Our final meal here was disembarkation day breakfast, which was about the same as our brunch, minus mimosas and plus (terrible) coffee. All of us would have been happier with the Galley, but wanted to avoid crowds.

Test Kitchen – Dinner 2 We gambled and lost on our timing for this one – I was hoping that by booking early on in the cruise, we’d get Menu A (Mushroom, Egg, Scallops, Venison/Beef, Blue Cheese, Chocolate), but we ended up with Menu B (Corn, Salmon, Beets, Shrimp/Lamb, Asparagus, Strawberry). Meh. It was not lost on me that Menu A represents basically the only opportunity to get scallops or venison on the entire cruise, and I was already starting to get annoyed by VV’s not-so-subtle menu machinations that limit the use of expensive proteins. Anyway, I’m not the biggest fan of corn or beets, so I asked whether substitutions were available. The waiter offered up two vegan options to replace these two (vegetarian) courses, tofu and tomato. Yawn. But fine, whatever. Overall, this meal was exactly what I anticipated – mediocre food masquerading as edgy haute cuisine. The corn course was just a way to serve bread and butter without calling it bread and butter – a buttery corn mousse molded to look like corn on the cob, served with a corn baguette. Inoffensive (actually, the bread was one of the better breads we had on the ship), but in no way interesting. The smoked tofu and pickles with “buttermilk” sauce I received instead was just a vegan version of the salmon course I received later, so that was kind of a dumb replacement. Oddly enough, I preferred the vegan version of the “buttermilk” sauce (it was richer and had much better mouthfeel, maybe a cashew base?), and it worked better with tofu than with salmon. However, the pickles were just weird, and the smoke under the bell trick has been passé since probably 1997. They served me a tomato salad when everyone else got the salmon, and it was also pretty good once I removed the sugar wafer on top of it – probably the highlight of my meal even though it was just a nicely-dressed tomato salad. The salmon (which I got when everyone else got the beets) was lackluster due to the aforementioned buttermilk sauce, which lacked the viscosity required to cling to the meat and was oddly sweet. Also, pickles and smoke. *****. The salmon itself was fine, although not for those who don’t enjoy raw fish (they torched it on one side and left the other side raw). The beets were very thin, partially dehydrated slices wrapped around a creamy cashew-based filling, a lovely presentation that even I as a beet hater could tolerate and DH absolutely loved. For the meat course, we were informed we could choose one or have both, so we decided to have both. The shrimp, which was simply described to us as “shrimp pasta,” was actually shrimp/fish ground up and extruded into the shape of pappardelle, garnished with a couple of shrimp and lightly roasted tomatoes, then doused in shrimp stock. So, effectively surimi with tomatoes. A VERY one-note dish given the layers of shrimp flavor with only underseasoned, partially raw tomatoes to cut through the sweet fishiness. I adore shrimp (and surimi), but this was just not good – the textures were all wrong and there was nothing to marry the seafood and tomato flavors. DH can only handle so much shellfish and passed his plate over to me after just one bite. I let him have most of my lamb in return – he got lucky, because it was the best dish of the night. Nothing creative, just a very nicely cooked (medium rare as ordered) double loin chop, served with some roasted vegetables and eggplant puree (deconstructed ratatouille). On to the asparagus sorbet, which was actually an enjoyable and refreshing palate cleanser outside of the weird Jello cubes in the underlying cream, but should have been served earlier (maybe between shrimp and lamb, or between beet and meat course if only doing one meat). Strawberry dessert was just a bowlful of randomness – raw berries, a spongy marshmallow, a too-thick gelee, dollops of cream and wasabi-flavored nut granola. I’m all for experimentation, but nothing about this course worked. Overall, a very unsatisfying meal. For drinks, I went with the cocktail pairing and the rest of the table did the wine pairing. Cocktails were mostly okay, although weak. One that leaned heavily on fennel and red vermouth was undrinkable. Wine was probably the better choice – the first red was the best wine I tasted on the ship – but the waiter was unable to clearly tell me the grape, producer or anything else about the wine other than that it was “similar to pinot noir.” Oy. Wine is clearly not a priority on this ship – they are all about pushing that Moët. I could have asked for the wine list to identify it, but by then I had learned that it was unlikely to be available elsewhere, and we were certainly NOT coming back to Test Kitchen, so why bother?

My DH and I just returned from our virgin voyage on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, the 6-night NYE cruise to Costa Maya, Roatan and Bimini. We have cruised Celebrity exclusively for the past 13 years since we got married, but have been curious about Virgin ever since the line debuted, especially given the no-kids policy and all of the buzz about VV’s food. My bestie from college and his husband sailed VV shortly after the post-COVID reopening and LOVED it, so we decided to take the plunge and sail with them this year to celebrate DH’s 50th birthday (the rest of us are late 40s). I’ll share my general review in another thread, but as a certified foodie I wanted to devote this one exclusively to VV’s vaunted cuisine! Our friends had already eaten in all of VV’s restaurants at least once, so between their opinions and the menus we reviewed online, we had a pretty good idea of what we were in for before booking. DH and I had no interest in Test Kitchen (having experienced high-end molecular gastronomy in NYC and elsewhere many times, we knew we would not be impressed), but one of our friends wanted to go, so we agreed knowing that we could always go get pizza later. We opted out of Gunbae after learning that we’d be sharing a table with strangers (DH HATES forced socialization) and that we wouldn’t be cooking our own food. Again, we live in NYC and have been to real-deal Korean BBQ joints many times, so no need. We ended up dining in all venues except Gunbae once for dinner, with Pink Agave getting a repeat, plus one brunch at Razzle Dazzle and two at the Wake. I’ve broken down my dining review by venue below and included pics when available to help tell the tale. Before I dive in, a bit about me: I am an avid cook, occasional food writer, natural yeast baker, sausage maker, and chocolate/sugar art dabbler. We live in NYC, so we are privileged to be surrounded by some of the world’s finest restaurants and every cuisine and ingredient imaginable. I realize that taste is subjective, but ingredient quality and skill of preparation generally are not, so I will try to include both opinions and objective observations here. I know I have high standards, but if Virgin is going to position itself as an industry disruptor due (in part) to its revolutionary dining program, I feel they should be up to the task of meeting (or exceeding) them. And now, the review! Pink Agave – Dinners 1 and 6 Pink Agave was our friends’ favorite on their previous cruise so we were happy to kick off our vacation with a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Our server advised us that with a party of four, we should let him bring us all of the small and medium plates to share for a first course, and then order large plates separately as mains, so that’s what we did. Most of these dishes were winners except for the chayote, which was simultaneously bland and spicy (admittedly, I find chayote to be watery and boring under the best of circumstances). Favorites were the aguachile, strips of fresh raw tuna in a bright lime and avocado dressing, and the papas con chorizo, although I thought the potatoes would have been better served as a side dish to the mains. Honestly, the way the menu is structured with small, medium and large categories is a little confusing, and I’m sure that’s why our server suggested ordering as we did. The chayote, esquites and papas con chorizo really function more like side dishes, whereas the guac, tuna and shrimp felt more like appetizers, and the chicken enchiladas (which were only okay – the chicken was underseasoned and the whole dish could have used a bit more sauce) seemed like they belonged with the mains. Anyway, we moved onto duck, pork and steak for the mains. The steak was the CLEAR winner despite the beef itself being somewhat flavorless and poor quality (this would become a theme for beef in every venue) – the tangy escabeche sauce, salty cheese and rich ancho salsa balanced each other well and covered up the beef’s imperfections. The duck breast was nicely cooked (though the skin wasn’t crispy), but the shredded dark meat was dry and the mole and yam puree were very one-note (both smoky and sweet-ish, no contrast whatsoever). The shredded pork was also very dry and the accompanying tortillas were kind of rubbery (dipping into the tasty sour orange jus helped, but not enough). Finished up with one of each dessert to share. The tamal de chocolate was a bold swing and a miss, IMO – I admired the creativity, and it was actually executed well in that it was not too sweet, had a good balance between masa and filling, and the masa was light and tender, but chocolate and cornmeal together is just a no for me. I liked it more than anyone else in my party, though! The milhojas filling was enjoyable, tart and creamy, but the pastry was a bit tough (probably had been sitting in contact with the cream for too long). Bread pudding was dry. Chocolate tacos were tasty enough but nothing special – the “shell” was a bit too hard/crunchy and the filling was just sweet and one-note. On our second visit, we skipped the chayote and enchiladas, but our waitress talked us into trying the relleno vegano, which was another fail IMO. I am not a fan of mashed potatoes in general, but these were dry, oddly vinegary and particularly unappealing, despite a good dose of spice. Speaking of which, anything that claimed to be spicy on this ship WAS ACTUALLY spicy, which made this chile head a very happy camper – no need to add Tabasco! Anyway, we feasted on aguachile, guacamole, shrimp and esquites, then the whole table went for the steak for our mains with sides of papas con chorizo. Notably, we all ordered it cooked differently (ranging from rare to medium well) and each of us got exactly what we ordered – unusual and impressive for a cruise ship! For dessert we ordered one milhojas for the table and called it a night – the desserts weren't really impressive enough to warrant a repeat.

Yes, there is VV branded gift shop with shirts, coffee mugs, etc., as well as the usual selection of overpriced luxury goods (sunglasses, purses, watches, a few clothing items, makeup, etc.). Plus a sundries shop in case you forgot to bring Tums and want to spend $6 on a roll of eight (ask me how I know the cost of 8 Tums 😉 ).

If you're non-drinkers, you might ask your TA to see if they can get your Bar Tab exchanged for Sailor Loot, since that can be used for anything. Otherwise, I have heard that you can order bottles of champagne/wine to your room that will be delivered unopened - you could take them home and give as gifts. Or you can always buy rounds for others! 🙂

We are the same age and just got back from our first cruise with VV after cruising Celebrity only for many years. We cruised Eclipse to Alaska earlier this year (our first since Covid) so I have a very recent X experience for comparison. I'm still gathering my thoughts to write a comparative review for this board, but I will say there were things I loved and things I didn't. The adults-only thing, however, was AMAZING. We always try to schedule cruises during periods when we're unlikely to encounter many children, and of course X isn't known for having a ton of kids on board in any case, but it was really striking to notice how much the complete absence of children (which also meant no entitled parent behavior, no large multi-generational families, etc.) changed the experience. Other lines need to consider this policy or they are going to start losing to VV in a big way. That said, there was definitely a party vibe (which may or may not have been magnified by the fact that we were on a holiday/New Year's sailing). There are a TON of venues and places to hang out, so you could avoid the parties if you wanted, but there was always a party somewhere. I have extremely sensitive ears and had to avoid the pool deck entirely during the day, as the DJ played music so loudly as to be physically painful for me. Same for the NYE party and several others. Fortunately, we found plenty to do elsewhere and lots of other music played at a more reasonable volume. Food at most of the restaurants blew X's MDR away, but if you compare it with X's specialities, Blu or Luminae it's a lot harder to declare a winner. The Galley concept worked for me but my husband HATED it - he loves a buffet for breakfast and lunch, and thought the Galley was way too limited in terms of selection (and of course it doesn't change day to day, which got repetitive). Another thing to consider is drinks, if you drink alcohol. We are fans of the ease of drink packages and didn't enjoy going back to an a la carte system, nor the use-it-or-lose-it nature of their pre-purchased Bar Tab option. We had quite a bit of Bar Tab left at the end and had to figure out how to use it up (bought some rounds for friends and an expensive bottle of champagne). We also disliked having to present our bracelet each time we ordered a drink. Drinks were relatively expensive, especially for higher-end liquor brands (e.g., a Bloody Mary made with Bombay Sapphire gin was $15; a single pour of Michter's Rye was $17). Things you don't have to think about on an X cruise with a package. This will definitely be a part of any future calculation when we are comparing lines/prices. Finally, the ship itself (we were on Scarlet Lady) is not even in the same league as Celebrity's S-class in terms of design or aesthetics. Where the S-class has a first-rate art collection on every floor, VV has endless Instagram backgrounds. Navigating the ship was an enormous PITA - there were dead ends everywhere, and you frequently had to know which side of the ship you needed to be on before you left the elevator bank or you would have to backtrack to get there. Materials were very cheap and already showing a TON of wear and tear despite the ship only being in service for about two years. Also, there is seating everywhere, but no COMFORTABLE seating ANYWHERE. It was either too low, too high, too hard, at a weird angle, had a weird bar, or required too many knees to fit into too tight a space. We were a fairly tall group, but our one average height (5'7") member complained just as much as we tall folks. Anyway, I've been home for a few days now and I'm still not 100% sure how I felt about it overall! We didn't buy a future cruise certificate (known as My Next Virgin Voyage), but that was partially because they seem to be easily available from travel agents these days. Their itineraries are still relatively limited compared with X and other lines, so we may wait until they catch up in that regard. I would be happy to sail with them again on the right itinerary and at the right price, but it may take some time for me to figure out what I consider a good value for the money given the product.

This is what I was wondering about - thank you! We wouldn't be outside at night but might want to walk out in the morning to grab some breakfast and wine for the cruise. Sounds like we're better off in the Blue Lagoon area if we want to do that.