Rewind

On the April 12 here.

There is a news station reporting that Royal will also use Norfolk for Vision of the Seas: https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/cruise-chaos-royal-caribbean-carnival-cruises-from-baltimore-will-now-port-in-norfolk-ginny-maurer-cruise-planners-talks-travel-insurance-for-cruisers/83-2f8cc024-f92c-4133-9205-bce513f63ef3 I wish Royal would release a statement to those who have cruises booked directly.

Just wanted to drop in - my full review was posted here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=710287 Super condensed summary - we would sail Virgin again as long as the price is right.

Unless it's raining... 🙂 Our first two days were rain so everyone was inside and decks 15 & 16 had nobody there (unless they were working out or in the Galley). Deck 6 has the shops and the Casino and the bar under the stairs, but I'd say most people were on 7 either in the games area, the dock house, or the Sip lounge. But yes, I do think inside spaces are a bit lacking on sea days.

I'm going to write up a summary of thoughts in the next couple days - I've got some notes to sort through but also have a couple last minute gifts to wrap and family events to attend. But the quick highlights: Virgin has amazing food. Entertainment is outstanding. Venues on the ship are great. Not a fan of the overall layout of the ship - I think public space is lacking. There are a LOT of daybeds but not many loungers. More later!

And now that it is X-mas eve day and the next set of cruisers are on-board, here is the surprise that was left in our cabin:

We made it home - but I need to finish up the last day at Bimini. We booked the Cultural Heritage tour of Bimini through Virgin. You meet the tour at the end of the pier right across the street. They want you to be there 15 minutes early but also note that it takes 15 minutes to walk to the end of the pier - possibly more if you stop and look at the sharks in the water. Our first stop was at Joe's Conch Shack. Nice place to learn a bit about Conch, how they get them out of the shell, and a bit of info on how they use it. The next stop was a small craft market, probably the best place we saw to pick up any souvenirs. Next was the Gallant Lady shipwreck from 1997 (the driver kept saying 1993, but all data says 1997 including our guides on our half of the tram). Then was a stop at the Dolphin House built by Sir Ashley Saunders, Poet Laureate. We got to meet him and he loves to show people around the house (he lives on the first floor but tours the 2nd, 3rd, and roof). Quick rest stop with a snack, and then back to the initial meeting point. We walked back to the ship, ate lunch, and then went back out to catch the tram to the Bimini Beach Club. It's maybe a 7 minute ride and they pickup on the dock and drop you at the front door of the club. By the time we arrived around 3pm, they had run out of clean towels but we did find a pile of 5-6 left that were clean. We found some available loungers - there were plenty at that time but we spaced ourselves out from others a bit. Don't expect a real relaxing beach day here as the music from the pool area is quite loud. The music did end around 4pm and we just lazed around for a bit. We dipped our toes in the water but it was a high of 72F that day and the water was cooler so we didn't feel like getting completely in. Around 4:30 we decided to head back and it did seem like the staff were starting to close up. Back on the ship, we got cleaned up and headed to the bar at Razzle Dazzle as that is where my DW had her favorite drink of the trip, "The Old Sport". After chatting with the bar tender a bit, we went to get in line for the Ship Show. Annoying comment - we are ok if you are holding a place in line for one or two people, but when there are two of you and you are holding spots for your party of NINE, let the rest of them get in the back of the line! The show is a variety show with a set dinner menu (you pick chicken or fish). There is a small band, a host, four dancers, and five other performing acts. The food is good but portions are small (head to the galley after if you are still hungry) and the show is a great time. Then it was back to the room to pack. Shark:

Good morning from Bimini:

Went to Extra Virgin for dinner and had meatballs, a couple pasta dishes, and a couple desserts - couldn't actually tell you the names of them without looking them up. The pasta was very fresh and the desserts were good, but nothing really stood out. And I don't know if they were short a server and/or a bar staff person but our service was slower than other venues (not our server's fault, he was working hard). Do give you an idea of timing, we sat down just after 8pm and we're walking out at 9:50pm - just in time to make it to Duel Reality. Duel Reality was a great acrobatic show. It has a bit of a Romeo & Juliet / West Side Story thinly veiled storyline to it but really it is just about the acrobatic performances. We haven't seen a bad show yet.

Not much going on today as it is a sea day. We are just hanging out in our room relaxing, on deck chairs relaxing, and trying not to eat too much. The Galley did have a decent Chicken Tikka Masala at lunch.

I forgot to add these pics last night - we ate at Pink Agave again. The steak was ok (I think it was better the first time we had it) but the Filet at the Wake is much better in our opinion. Chocolate Tacos are still the best dessert at Pink Agave.

We didn't do a whole lot on Scarlet Night - we watched the opening in the Roundabout, went to see the Hostess sing the story in the Red Room, then wandered a bit before going back to briefly check out the dance party back in the Red Room. Our weather conditions had gotten bad enough that they moved the normal pool party into the Red Room. I was kinda looking forward to the dance number at the pool, but as it moved to the Red Room, it got crowded so we didn't stay.

It has been a lazy day. We hung out in our cabin for a good part of the day, relaxed in the hammock, had lunch in the galley, then found some loungers in a quiet spot on deck 7. When we got back to the cabin, we did have a small holiday present (which I won't post a pic until this weekend in case there are readers getting on board this Saturday). Scarlet Night begins in about a half hour.

Not much going on today for us. Today and tomorrow are sea days so we are just hanging around and being lazy. There were a few people hanging out at the pool at 9:00am but it wasn't crowded. We just did a quick breakfast up in the Galley; grabbed sandwiches from Hot Off The Press and a bento box of fruit. More to come later - tonight is Scarlet Night.

Went to the Untitled Dance Show Party Thing - I'll admit I'm not a dancer but I did try a few steps. Who can resist a party train. They do have a limited number of seats upstairs if you can't stand for long periods. They open those up just a couple minutes before the show starts. If you can though, it is a better experience being on the main floor.

We didn't have anything planned for San Juan as we have been here a handful of times already. We do like walking the path along the water next to the fort so we started there. We watched the new Celebrity Ascent pull into port while we were resting at the fort, then walked over to "The Walk of Presidents" in front of the Capital building. We then walked back into the main part of town, swung by Chocobar Cortes to pick up some chocolate for our nieces for X-mas, and then back to the ship. If you haven't been to Chocobar Cortes before, I highly recommend it - chocolate in EVERYTHING. Also if you are looking for a Pina Colada, have to stop by Barachinas. We were back on board by 3:30ish so we hung out on our balcony to watch Sky Princess and Carnival Mardi Gras depart. Then we hung around until sunset and headed back out to see the holiday lights down the Paseo de la Princesa. Walked back to the ship and past to the other side to grab a pick of Virgin's message to all, and then back on board again. We went up to the galley for dinner tonight. The burger place, diner and dash, bento boxes, and salad stations were open. I had the special turkey burger with an onion rings and the DW got a salad with chicken. A couple small desserts and then back to the room to rest before tonight's show.

Good Morning. We are sailing into San Juan today around 11:00am ship time (noon local). Went to Razzle Dazzle again for breakfast and got the Watermelon starter with the Razzle Dazzle breakfast. The main is just eggs, potatoes, an impossible patty, and some mushrooms. Everything was very tasty.

Went and saw the holiday version of the cabaret show in the Manor this evening. It is a non-ticketed event but you need to get there early and wait in line in the casino. Decently funny show with some fun holiday songs and great performances from both the Diva and the Hostess.

Dinner at the Wake tonight. We are not seafood people but the steaks are amazing. They come with a roasted head of garlic which is appreciated. Bread to start, wedge salad, filet with twice baked potatoes, and then we diverged on dessert with a baked Alaska and a chocolate hazelnut "The Wake". I got a bite in before remembering to get pics of the main course.

Back from our excursion - all aboard is in another hour and fifteen minutes. The Cultural Getaway was a great excursion. It was about a 30 minute drive with narration out to our first stop at a cheese making facility. We got to glance at a few of the steps on how it is done and got a quick taste. From there we moved on to see how the people in the country live and how they grow a lot of their own fruits. We stopped by a house to see what living conditions are like and to get a taste of Dominican coffee. From there we went traveled to another community to get a taste of sugar cane juice and a sample of a sugar cane cake (small cookie). Then on to a place where they roll cigars from their tabaco crop. Finally back to the port - it took us close to 4 hours for the entire tour. The tour was on an open air type bus/van thing so if you want to hear the guide, don't sit in the back. We did a bit of quick shopping in the port, got back on board to get some pizza for lunch at the Pizza Place, up to the valley for a quick sweet treat of popsicles and a "Valiant Lady", and then back to the room to freshen up.

Good morning! We have arrived in Puerto Plata. This morning we had breakfast at Razzle Dazzle and had way too much food. Started with a Apple Cruffin, fruit plates, and then a Malted Waffle and the Fried Chicken Sandwich with eggs and bacon on the side. No dessert today but we will go back tomorrow and order less so we can fit dessert in. While we were eating, we pulled upto the pier. After breakfast, we were finally able to walk around the top decks to find it is quite toasty this morning (at least compared to what we are used to from Ohio at the moment). We have booked a Shore Thing today - Cultural Getaway and will be heading out in about a half hour.

We sailed out of Miami yesterday before the worst of it hit. By noon today the seas were pretty calm but we still had rain most of today. We should be in better weather the rest of the week. Went to Pink Agave for dinner tonight (and forgot to take pics (don't worry, we have a second reservation in a few days)). The guacamole needs a couple extra chips (which they will happily provide), the enchilada was super fresh, and then had the Steak and the Pibil as our mains and both were great (although I think the steak takes the win). Bread pudding and chocolate tacos for dessert. Then we went to "Around the World with the Diva" show. Great performance and comedy timing, although we wish the mic was a bit better adjusted as Carlos seems to have an amazing voice and the mic was just a bit to low at times. Also got to see a hint of what the Red Room can do (will see more later at Duel Reality). I will say I was really impressed with the audio system; one song you could feel the bass but it wasn't loud, the perfect balance. Puerto Plata tomorrow!