Virgin Voyages - repeat customers?

[Mattsudds]

Virgin, as a new brand, is just establishing itself in the cruise market. And there is a lot of available blog material, reviews and other stuff which can help customers decide if this is the right line for them. If you read that the food is good, the ship is different, the staff are friendly and the entertainment is fun and different, its all true. I very much enjoyed Scarlet Lady. And I’ve just enjoyed Valiant Lady. 

 

So this probably makes what I’m about to say a bit odd. I had been seriously considering Resilient Lady for a cruise. But now having done both the first ships, I am changing my mind. The reason being - the products is good. Consistently good. But its too consistent. The restaurant menus were basically almost identical. The entertainment main events like the Duel Reality show and Scarlet Night were identical (they are both great on their own merits). The menu in the Galley is pretty much identical, every day. And so this leave me thinking that if I go on a Virgin Voyage more than once, I’m basically just going to relive the first great trip. I’m not going to experience anything new.  Good, interesting food, and good entertainment  and new experiences are an important part of why I choose a cruise. But just like I wouldn’t go to the same restaurant and same event every weekend night, I don't want to be living through Groundhog Day on holiday/ vacation. 

 

This leaves me wondering, if Virgin want repeat business, aren’t they going to have to change it up a bit? They can still surely offer the same quality, buzz, fun and interest. Just not exactly the same way one each ship and trip. Is consistency to this level more important for repeaters than variety?

 

This interview makes me think that a trip on Resilient Lady will be so similar as to be Groindhog Day - all over again. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/refurb-interiors/valiant-lady-fresh-art-installations-same-alternative-feel

[pl281]

@Mattsudds

Very interesting take - I personally cruise more for the destination / sightseeing than the ship itself.

 

I am assuming that both cruises you did had similar itineraries - I'm wondering if they feeling would be the same if you did the longer trips - I also wonder if they are going to change up the menus from time to time.

 

 

[ociana]

I have wondered how these things will play out over time as well.  We have completed one trip on the Scarlet Lady, but have 4 future ones booked between this year and next on the various ships.  I wouldn't be upset if things were the same (unless the trivia questions were also the same...) but it would be an improvement if there were changes over time.  One exception would be for Test Kitchen.  As much as we loved our meal there, I would sincerely hope we get new test items if we are sailing different ships more than 6 months apart from each other. 

[Chrish2]

I was really surprised when rebooking recently that they decided to make all 3 (and maybe 4) ships with the same public venues and amenities. It's possibly a positive and negative. It simplifies the selection somewhat as you don't need to decide between ships, just which ever itinerary fits you. However it does remove the "collect them all" mentality.

 

My money is on the original plan was to have two sets of twins:

• The first set Scarlet and Valiant as we see them today
• The second set Resilient and "Project Virgin IV" been the same concept as Scarlet and Valiant but with some fresh and modified public spaces and amenities to given them a separate identity.

It would have been a "good balance" of speed, cost and variety. The pandemic might have made them decide on having identical ships with the idea they can swap out venues later.

[CroozFanatic]

Itinerary is always #1. You have an opinion, but you don't represent the majority of cruisers.

[Quacks the Cruiser]

This is an interesting take on the Virgin dilemma! We cruised Scarlet Lady last August. We loved it so much we are scheduled on Valiant Lady next month. We were going to book Resilient Lady for the Greek Islands tour but on the back of all the ships being identical, we decided not to!

 

The question of the restaurants and shows being identical also put us off. We loved Test Kitchen as much for the experience as the food on Scarlet Lady. However as it’s the same on Valiant, we haven’t booked this restaurant on our forthcoming cruise as we feel “we’ve done it”. By the same token we can’t see the point of watching Duel Reality and Never Sleep Alone again which then seriously limits the formal entertainment options.

We have friends who go to the same resort every year and love it but we prefer to shake it up and never go to the same place/hotel more than twice. It will be interesting to see how we feel after our next cruise with Virgin. Certainly the itinerary is a draw but if half the experience is the same, I’m not sure it will appeal.  If we get too much of a deja vu feeling we may leave it a while before returning if at all.
 

Don

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Quacks the Cruiser

[gumshoe958]

@Mattsudds I agree with your summary. I kind of get why the restaurants are the same but it wouldn’t hurt to have at least one different eatery on each ship. And having exactly the same Duel Reality show was very disappointing. By all means stick with the street circus theme but at least put on a new show on each ship.

On the plus side, the quality of the food on Valiant Lady was up there with that on Scarlet Lady last summer, so standards haven’t slipped. Ditto the enthusiasm of the crew. I was told about half have transferred over from Scarlet Lady and half are new to VV.

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by gumshoe958

[genian_travels]

@Mattsudds Interesting debate. We were on Scarlet Lady for a 4nt sailing last August and due to sail on Valiant next week for 3nts. We’ve also booked a transatlantic on Valiant next April. Our reasons for booking the second and third cruises was because of our experience on the first.

 

I know the food offering will be exactly the same and that isn’t a problem for me - mainly because we didn’t get to try everything the first time round and still won’t after the second trip.
 

I think too much is made of the menus being the same. The restaurants are effectively all speciality restaurants - and on every other cruise line, menus in speciality restaurants are the same. Indeed, some people prefer to only eat in speciality restaurants on lines like NCL and forgo the more mass produced food in the MDR or buffet, because they know what they’re going to get - kind of like going to your favourite restaurant on land. And it’s not like the buffet isn’t predictable anyway with the usual stations for salad, burgers, pizza, pasta, Mexican, Asian etc. I’ve been on 30 cruises and there’s been many a time when I’ve looked at the MDR menu and been completely underwhelmed by the offering.

 

I don’t think Virgin cruises would be like Groundhog Day - on the whole they’re relatively short 5-7 day itineraries, so there’s more than enough places to eat without duplication of meals. Similarly, there’ll be more than one show on board - although the appeal of Duel Reality is that it’s a different show every time. Will a performer *spoiler alert* fail to stop sliding down the pole in time…?!

 

Everyone’s different and you can’t please them all - but those who Virgin can please, will be repeat customers for sure. If they introduce good loyalty  benefits, that will undoubtedly help too.

[westguy99]

"But just like I wouldn’t go to the same restaurant and same event every weekend night"

 

That would be a good point if you cruised back to back to back. Would you not go to a good restaurant a few months later and then again a few months later? I do.

 

The other cruse lines have different ships but the same or very similar restaurants and only one is typically free (the MDR and not very good) along with the buffet. With Virgin you get 5 decent included and different restaurants along with the Galley which gives pretty good variety and far and above any other main stream cruise line. You could go on 2 cruises and only go to each restaurant on Virgin 2 or 3 times for dinner which is less than most go to the MDR on a single cruise where many will dine there every breakfast and every dinner which would be 14 times on a 7 day cruise. That is repetitive. 

 

For entertainment the bands and DJs are different on each sailing with Virgin. I expect the shows will change over time. That may be the only thing that would be repetitive if they don't change. Although I think the shows are a small part of the Virgin experience and they would be at the bottom of my list as a reason to go on Virgin

 

Virgin also offers the most unique ports in Europe. Few main stream cruisers offer over nights and ports like Ibiza. 

 

Having said all that I expect there will be new different Virgin ships and new restaurants in the future. In the mean time I can handle going to 5 great restaurants a couple of times a year. I am booked on my second Virgin Cruise at the end of the year.  

[Alushar]

we've mainly sailed Celebrity 6 different ships 2 different classes but they all have the same speciality restaurants though some only have a few and the menus are the same. Th menus seem fairly similar in the various MDRS too. We did last weekends Mermaiden voucher and the food was fantastic better than Celebrity I'd have no problem repeating it or sailing for longer.

 

I did think maybe the entertainment was one act short. I also wondered what happened on the longer trip as the recycling of Dual Reality/Never Sleep alone would get stale

[johnnylikely]

I have no idea on the subject, but one thing which crossed my mind is that they must've spent so much money on the restaurants on the food that to create a whole lot more would cost a fortune, the amount of staff I saw in the test kitchen alone was insane...

I would like some variety in the galley- I do like having diff dishes daily in regular cruises having the same day in and out, albeit great quality is a bit samey...

[jon81uk]

55 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

I have no idea on the subject, but one thing which crossed my mind is that they must've spent so much money on the restaurants on the food that to create a whole lot more would cost a fortune, the amount of staff I saw in the test kitchen alone was insane...

I would like some variety in the galley- I do like having diff dishes daily in regular cruises having the same day in and out, albeit great quality is a bit samey...

For me the variety of dishes in the galley is the biggest issue. The burger bar only offers regular or vegan, no interesting combinations or bacon added or anything special. The diner offers all day breakfast and not much else. Would be quite easy to run out of lunches during long periods at sea. 

[_tacocat_]

2 hours ago, jon81uk said:

For me the variety of dishes in the galley is the biggest issue. The burger bar only offers regular or vegan, no interesting combinations or bacon added or anything special. The diner offers all day breakfast and not much else. Would be quite easy to run out of lunches during long periods at sea. 

for me, it was the weird hours of certain places.  couldn't get tacos at dinner, i think ramen was only lunch, and there were a few others that i can't remember at this point that just plain old didn't make sense to me!

[jon81uk]

23 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

for me, it was the weird hours of certain places.  couldn't get tacos at dinner, i think ramen was only lunch, and there were a few others that i can't remember at this point that just plain old didn't make sense to me!

Ah yeah that was the other issue at the galley, most places were breakfast and lunch only but the lunch service ended at 3pm. 
I get why dinner service was more limited as most people are in the full service restaurants. But at 4pm there was basically nothing in the galley and we had to go down to pizza place. 
 

not sure how it compares to other cruises of course, I’m guessing there would be some hours with no buffet on other lines too.

[gumshoe958]

3 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

for me, it was the weird hours of certain places.  couldn't get tacos at dinner, i think ramen was only lunch, and there were a few others that i can't remember at this point that just plain old didn't make sense to me!

Yes, that puzzled me on Scarlet last summer, but I think I figured out the reason: many of the crew who work in The Galley by day work in the restaurants at night so in the evenings there aren’t enough to open all the stations. 

[JohnScot]

Everyone has different goals for cruising. Previously I would put itinerary first as Celebrity, RCL, Princess, P&O have similar offerings, however after recently cruising on Valiant Lady I now understand that you need to make sure you like the ship first.

Again my preferences are for eating when I want to eat with good choices and then having a variety of entertainment to consider day and night. Unfortunately Virgin didn't meet any of these criteria so my Valiant Lady cruise was not enjoyable.

Everyone to their own but make sure you like the ship before you consider the itinerary. 

[genian_travels]

I’ve just come back from the Valiant Lady this weekend on the sailing that was unfortunately shortened to 2 days from 3. Second time on Virgin and we have a transatlantic on the Valiant booked for next April.

 

After 30 cruises sailing with Celebrity, Princess, RCL and NCL (I’ll conveniently choose to forget the 3 with P&O and Costa…) - the Virgin offering is the one we’ve most enjoyed and fits our style of cruising.

 

We love the food - and even after 2 sailings there are still 2 main restaurants we haven’t tried, as well as 3 Galley options. Even with the Galley options we did try, there are still multiple options within those we could have next time. Looking forward to trying them on the transatlantic.

 

Entertainment-wise, we saw Duel Reality again - but as we last saw it 8 months ago, a significant enough amount of time had passed to not seem too familiar. Plus as the cast is different with different skill sets, it resulted a different show anyway.

 

We’re not really “show people” on cruises - maybe I have high expectations or standards, but watching people sing and dance or play an instrument doesn’t do it for me. On Scarlet last year there was a brilliant guy who had an amazing memory and could solve a Rubik’s Cube in seconds. We were otherwise well entertained - we didn’t need “planned entertainment” to keep us occupied - we were either in the casino, the karaoke booths, arcade, the Social Club, the Gamer’s Lab with endless possibilities… and that’s before just going for a walk round the ship, or relaxing in my balcony hammock.  
 

It’s not the traditional cruise experience and that’s what we love about it. It does skew to a younger cruiser - and I would hazard a guess the majority of people who don’t enjoy Virgin’s offering are regular cruisers who don’t fall into this demographic. 

[ScotBrit17]

This discussion confirms everyone has different requirements and that’s good, means we will be able to book to meet our own requirements.

Reading Virgin reviews and comments it’s clear they are different from most others and it’s clear some people like it.

it remains to be seen if there are enough cruisers that are not bothered about entertainment and the reduced buffet options to keep Virgin honest with their strategy.

Hope so.

[johnnylikely]

19 hours ago, ScotBrit17 said:

This discussion confirms everyone has different requirements and that’s good, means we will be able to book to meet our own requirements.

Reading Virgin reviews and comments it’s clear they are different from most others and it’s clear some people like it.

it remains to be seen if there are enough cruisers that are not bothered about entertainment and the reduced buffet options to keep Virgin honest with their strategy.

Hope so.

It's a tricky one! I'll be on my third in a couple of weeks (so cheap couldn't resist) but with things being samey samey, I'll be interested to see if I'm compelled to go again..

[LibratPDX]

Other cruise lines have the same menus repeated most of the time throughout their entire fleets, so I'm surprised that's being mentioned.  As far as other issues go, IMO they are still tweaking their "product" and changing things based on feedback, but it takes time to make changes.

[johnnylikely]

10 hours ago, LibratPDX said:

Other cruise lines have the same menus repeated most of the time throughout their entire fleets, so I'm surprised that's being mentioned.  As far as other issues go, IMO they are still tweaking their "product" and changing things based on feedback, but it takes time to make changes.

Other lines do have some variety though, in the buffet and MDR, that's part of the excitement, but with Virgin it's exactly the same from ship to ship. The menus I had last summer are pretty much exactly the same as the one last month.

[jon81uk]

11 hours ago, johnnylikely said:

Other lines do have some variety though, in the buffet and MDR, that's part of the excitement, but with Virgin it's exactly the same from ship to ship. The menus I had last summer are pretty much exactly the same as the one last month.

Yeah Virgin need to do a lot of work on the Galley menu I think. Add burger of the day and some variations on the other counters. The other restaurants aren’t so bad as you can order something different, but the Galley lunch/dinner menu feels small.

[UK_Cruiser99]

I highly agree with with what author has written! I was on Scarlet Lady last year and was looking forward to Valiant Lady, it wasn't until after I booked did I realize the term 'sister ship' meant everything was exactly the same...Would be good if they could add slight difference to each ships such as changing the restaurants slightly...as RC do..if you look at the latest oasis class wonder of the seas vs symphony of the seas you will see there are differences.

Edited April 12, 2022 by UK_Cruiser99

[cantgetin]

Most other lines have SLIGHT differences among their ships of any given "class," although often those differences are a bit of decor and one or two different menu items.  Another typical change is in the variety shows as they have different entertainers on board from week to week.  That doesn't apply to Virgin since all their shows are done by their permanent cast members.

I think they are still trying to work out the details.  Between Covid and a war, this can't be an easy time to launch a new product.  Yes, some changes would be nice, but for now, I'm ok with things as they are.

 

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Most other lines have SLIGHT differences among their ships of any given "class," although often those differences are a bit of decor and one or two different menu items.  Another typical change is in the variety shows as they have different entertainers on board from week to week.  That doesn't apply to Virgin since all their shows are done by their permanent cast members.

I think they are still trying to work out the details.  Between Covid and a war, this can't be an easy time to launch a new product.  Yes, some changes would be nice, but for now, I'm ok with things as they are.

 

Virgin have guest bands, singers and DJs. Yes the formal shows are permanent cast but the band and singer will change up.