Scarlett Lady, Xmas Review

[benjaminnicholas]

I'll (try to) keep it short and to bullet points as much as possible.

 

GREAT crew.  Happiest crew members I've ever experienced and I've cruised with all the ultra-premium lines.

 

Eateries weren't terrible, but they weren't great either.  Steak on a ship still tastes like ship steak.  The presentation was interesting, but the tastes they were attempting mostly failed as bland and a little boring.  Gungbae was the only shining beacon of hope for some spice (but not much), as well as a decent selection of bonchon.  The textures were off, but it was admirable to see them attempt K BBQ on a ship with a ton of folks who didn't really understand the concept.  Pink Agave was a sad interpretation of Mexican food.  The Italian place had a decent wine list, but the food was just so heavy.  The Wake (steak) was a farce.

 

Loved the gym facilities.  No one was ever there.

 

The bars were lovely.  We racked up $2k in bartabs and it was worth every penny.  Great service, comfortable spaces, easy peasy.  Loved the Octopus bar near the arcade, as it's the only bar on the ship that you can control the music.

 

Entertainment was hit or miss.  The Romeo & Juliet-meets-Cirque homage was genuinely wonderful.  The rest felt forced.  The two other dance-based shows in the Red Room were ridiculously cringey.  Just overly woke, boring and badly put together.  It felt as if they wanted to transcend and really put out 'something that made a difference,' but it just ended up as social justice drivel.  I hope they either retool it or find a whole new company to produce something better.  There are a ton of talented dance companies who can do MUCH better than this.

 

Pajama Party was DRUNK and FUN.  Bring a onesie.  Everyone will love you.

 

Scarlett Party was meh.  It felt a little silly.  The backstory especially.  The older cruisers used this night as their formal night.  Very few came with fun, creative outfits.  Just a lot of red sequin tops.

 

Puerto Plata:  It's a work in progress.  The DR is beautiful, but not this port.

 

Bimini:  Resorts World created a lovely space.  I've stayed on Bimini on a quieter part of the island and had a blast.  The whole beach club vibe felt a little played out, especially as Vegas does this sort of thing a lot better.  I saw a ton of secretaries living their best life (that was fun).  Everyone seemed pretty blitzed by about 5pm and the place emptied out long before the bonfire later that night.

 

Would I cruise them again?  Sure, if the price remained right.  I wouldn't call VV a super-premium line.  It fits nicely above Celebrity, but nowhere near Viking, Azamara or Crystal.  It's not the kind of ship where the bartenders remember what you had the day before.  The service, while good, is not great.  It's not the feeling of it being almost magical, as some other cruise lines achieve.

 

My biggest grip with VV is the lineup of cruise destinations.  I'm bored by the Caribbean and Bahamas.  When they debut new ships and start doing more interesting itens, I'll be more likely to rebook.

Edited December 31, 2021 by benjaminnicholas

[Back to school]

Thanks for the review.  

[pa-annie]

Appreciate your review, nicely done.  DYK if they were serving free champagne for sale away?  Someone posted here that they did not get on the ship until 5:00, what was your experience? Any Covid issues?   I was told yesterday by Sailor Services they are still sailing at only 60% capacity, and have an entire deck isolated for quarantine, thoughts?

 

Thanks much - BZ

[benjaminnicholas]

I didn't bother with finding the champagne.  After COVID testing was through, I just wanted to get to the room, shower and hit the gym.  I'm a runner.

 

No outward COVID issues.  Meaning, no one said anything and even though the captain asked everyone wear masks, only about 15-20% of pax complied.  

 

Ship felt empty most of the time.  Definitely at 50-60% capacity.

[Back to school]

15 hours ago, benjaminnicholas said:

We racked up $2k in bartabs and it was worth every penny.

Nice!

[xerenthar]

5 hours ago, pa-annie said:

Appreciate your review, nicely done.  DYK if they were serving free champagne for sale away?  Someone posted here that they did not get on the ship until 5:00, what was your experience? Any Covid issues?   I was told yesterday by Sailor Services they are still sailing at only 60% capacity, and have an entire deck isolated for quarantine, thoughts?

 

Thanks much - BZ

you can drink your weight in free champagne. 
 

deck 9 is quarantine- I’ll post more about it in my thread later