I've done Carnival and RC - will my fiancé and I like Virgin?

[aimcat]

My fiance and I are wanting to head off on a cruise around mid Feb. One of the ones that has me intrigued is the 5 night Virgin Voyages scarlet lady. I have done Carnival and RC before and he has never cruised. Will we like this? We are very casual and laid back. Like good food and drinks. Will this be something we will enjoy or hate? We are 40 and 41 for reference. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by aimcat

[kwokpot]

23 minutes ago, aimcat said:

My fiance and I are wanting to head off on a cruise around mid Feb. One of the ones that has me intrigued is the 5 night Virgin Voyages scarlet lady. I have done Carnival and RC before and he has never cruised. Will we like this? We are very casual and laid back. Like good food and drinks. Will this be something we will enjoy or hate? 

I definitely think so! You didn't indicate your age range but I liken Virgin Voyages as an upscale version of Carnival without kids or more formal trappings of a traditional cruise. There are ZERO dress codes. IF you want to wear shorts to the Wake, which is probably the 'fanciest' restaurants onboard, go right ahead! The food, especially the Sweets and pastries are head and shoulders over Carnival or Royal. 

 

Just remember the drink situation there's no drink packages, only prepaid bar tabs that give you extra cash is you buy a minimum amount. If you Google the costs of drinks on Virgin you can get a sense of how much you're going to spend and what you should but in advance for your bar tab. Also remember unlike the regular cruiselines the prices of drinks already include the service charge, so the price you see is the final price. Also, you can share your bar tab allotment with anyone, IOW you can pay for drinks for anyone you want, it's not limited just for your drinks. 

 

If you enjoy a good deck party Virgin throws the biggest and best deck parties of any cruiseline. PERIOD.

 

The Beach club is a beautiful, large, and really nice place to hang. No charges for chairs or umbrellas. The sand is sugar fine and waters is crystal clear. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by kwokpot

[aimcat]

Wow sounds great! I was really worried about the dress code. We like to be 100% casual so no fancy dresses or outfits really for us. I was hoping we would fit in. My fiance is on the conservative side of what he thinks is funny and entertaining so will he still appreciate this cruise? Of course he isnt a prude but has more of a "dad" sense of humor, LOL. 

[cantgetin]

We loved it.  If you want to party, (we don't) it is there.  If you want great food--no problem.  Free exercise classes, wifi, tips (not free, but included in cruise fare).  No drink packages, so if you are serious, I'd book now while they are running a $300 bar tab free with booking prior to Jan 1.  No dress code other than basic decency.  You can go to the fanciest restaurant on the ship wearing shorts and a T or formal dress....your choice.

THere are lots of great YouTube videos to give you ideas of what it is like.  Bottom line..we did our first cruise and booked 3 more on board to get the rebooking deal

[kwokpot]

22 minutes ago, aimcat said:

Wow sounds great! I was really worried about the dress code. We like to be 100% casual so no fancy dresses or outfits really for us. I was hoping we would fit in. My fiance is on the conservative side of what he thinks is funny and entertaining so will he still appreciate this cruise? Of course he isnt a prude but has more of a "dad" sense of humor, LOL. 

So about the entertainment. No, it's not your traditional cruiseship entertainment. I will say this, and this isn't meant as a political issue or statement, but a Virgin cruise is very LGBTQ friendly. If someone is very uptight being around Gay people and/or feels very uncomfortable with things associated with the Gay community then I would have to say you might want to just discuss it out before booking. I say this because many of the shows and the employees themselves are part of the LGBTQ community and many of the entertainment revolves around these themes. Not all, but some. For instance on either ship one of the main shows is a Drag Queen show. It's mostly an authentic experience you would find at any Gay Bar around the country. So there's a lot of sexual innuendo, singing, comedic routines, and audience participation. In fact many of the shows on Virgin involve audience participation. On the Valiant Lay there's a show called The Misbehave Game Show. Again, this is an audience participation show that has it's roots in Gay humor. 

There's another show NSA which is AGAIN an audience participation show which revolves around sex. 

Dual Reality is a Cirque du Soleil type show with amazing acrobatics and gymnastics but nothing about sex or Gay themes. 

There's no comedians per se on Virgin. The various acts I describe may have comedy as part of the show, but there are no stand up comedian acts on Virgin.  

The music presented on Virgin is scattered around the ship in small, small venues and can range from folk singers to R&B bands. The settings are like popup performances or in a low-key neighborhood bar. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by kwokpot

[aimcat]

Is there entertainment? Shows? Comedians? If so what did you think?

[cantgetin]

There is a lot of entertainment.  There is only one show that is a bit risque...I've heard that it is being replaced by another show.  Dual Reality is a Cirque du Soleil type show--excellent. Never sleep alone is not for someone very conservative.  There is music all around, the Happenings team has all sorts of stuff going on...Our cruise had a magician, a memory act, and something else that were not on all cruises. There is a house band and several other musicians....different styles .  There is a dinner show; again, I understand that what is on Scarlet is different than what we had on Valiant--similar concept, different show.

 

If you go comparing everything to Carnival or Royal, you'll be disappointed.  If you take it that this is different.....well, we loved it.

[kwokpot]

 

The Scarlet Night Pool Party on the Valiant Lady last week:

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by kwokpot

[dallasdan]

what about having to make reservations before you get on the ship?  I don't like to plan things out ahead of time and stick to a schedule.  How does that work with restaurants?   

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, dallasdan said:

what about having to make reservations before you get on the ship?  I don't like to plan things out ahead of time and stick to a schedule.  How does that work with restaurants?   

We were able to make reservations in advance (can be done either on the app or by calling VV), but we changed a lot of them after we were on the ship.  I hadn't planned to make a reservation for each night, but the sailor services rep highly recommended it, "so I'd have something guaranteed."  Bottom line, we did standby a couple of times, and MANY times changed our times and restaurants (we were on a 14 night cruise).  One night, we went to two restaurants...because we wanted the desert from a different one--no problem.  Our cruise was only about half full with 1400 people on a ship that at full capacity holds 2770.  It might be different if your ship is more crowded.  

I'd go with what we did (and we plan to do the same for our next cruise).  Look at the restaurants and menus and make some dinner reservations in advance.  Remember that The Wake and Razzle Dazzle also serve brunch, so you could try all 6 of the main restaurants in one cruise.  If you want to change them after boarding, you can always check the app to see what has openings and at what time OR you can do the standby line.  Our longest wait without a reservation was under 10 minutes.  I would suggest that if you have a reservation and decide to not use it, cancel it so someone else can use it.  If you do standby and get in, they will automatically cancel any reservation for that night, but that might be too late for someone else to take advantage of it.  I don't like the idea of just not showing up because they are holding a spot for you if you have a reservation.

Brunch and entertainment, as well as spa, tattoo, etc. have to be booked after boarding.  Again, most of the shows have a standby line if the reservations are full when you decide you want to do it.  One hint--if you plan to see Dual Reality, book it as early in the cruise as possible.  This is a gymnastic type show and it has to be canceled if the ship is too rough or if one of the main performers is ill or injured.  By scheduling it early in the cruise, you increase your chances of getting a later booking if the first is canceled or seeing it the first night if it happens.  We saw it without a problem, but we know that one of the repeat nights it was canceled due to rough seas.

 

FWIW, a fellow cruiser defined VV as the line where nobody makes you stand in line or tells you what to do and when to do it.

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by cantgetin

[CruisingWalter]

15 hours ago, aimcat said:

My fiance and I are wanting to head off on a cruise around mid Feb. One of the ones that has me intrigued is the 5 night Virgin Voyages scarlet lady. I have done Carnival and RC before and he has never cruised. Will we like this? We are very casual and laid back. Like good food and drinks. Will this be something we will enjoy or hate? We are 40 and 41 for reference. 

 

If you really like good food, Virgin is the way to go. W'e've sailed 8 cruise lines so far and nobody comes close to the quality across the board for the food. It's like fine dining every evening but it's all included in the meals. The various restaurants would easily be a $25 - $100+ upcharge for dinner on any other cruise ship. But they're all included on VV as is the WiFi, Gratuities, Soft Drinks and Group Exercise. And if you take advantage of their current special, you'll get a $300 Bar Tab added for your 5 night cruise. That special ends on Jan 31. 

 

I have a food review on my YouTube channel if you want to see what the meals are all about.

https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU

 

Entertainment can be a bit 'out there' and it's certainly different than your traditional cruise lines when it comes to the Red Room or the main theater. We enjoyed Duel Reality which is the acrobatics show with a Romeo and Juliet theme. The Ships In The Night show was cancelled on our cruise. We loved the Diva show, so much fun. NSA was trying very hard to be provocative and failed for us, we left after 10 minutes. But the live music throughout the ship was awesome. And there is truly nothing on any other cruise line quite like Scarlet Night. That is the one night the ship really turns into a party. The rest of the voyage the ship is very much like a Celebrity vibe, it's pretty chill and laid back.

 

Dress code is come as you are. But I did notice folks tended to dress up a bit more for dinner just because you're going to a restaurant each evening vs. a massive MDR.  If you are a big pool person, that's the one area you could be disappointed or you may love it. The pool is more of a lounge pool with a very small deep area. The Gym and Tonic pool is an oversized round jetted pool that is like a huge hot tub but with regular temperature water, not heated. 

 

The biggest difference with VV and so many other cruise lines is that they really lean into and encourage the use of travel agents. You'll notice that if you try to book on their website you cannot select a cabin, they will select one for you from the category. To select a specific cabin you either have to call VV or work through a travel agent who can select specific cabins. And as you're new to VV it would probably be good to speak to a TA who has experience with various cruise lines to walk you through the pros and cons of VV against the others. We love Royal Caribbean and recently went on Carnival Mardi Gras. VV is a completely different vibe than either of those two ships. It is much more 'adult' in the sense that it's not flashy or loud. You are pretty much free to make the voyage what you want it to be. As I mentioned earlier, I find VV very much like Celebrity Cruises in terms of the vibe. Adult, casual luxury. 

 

Here's my Review of Scarlet Lady where I do contrast the VV voyage with other cruise lines. You'll also find my Cheeky Corner Suite cabin tour and other episodes in the playlist.

https://youtu.be/-R0imB73ajg

 

[Roel94]

15 hours ago, aimcat said:

Wow sounds great! I was really worried about the dress code. We like to be 100% casual so no fancy dresses or outfits really for us. I was hoping we would fit in. My fiance is on the conservative side of what he thinks is funny and entertaining so will he still appreciate this cruise? Of course he isnt a prude but has more of a "dad" sense of humor, LOL. 

Found for deck party people wore red. Or bathing suits and went into pool.

 

the shows might get him but who knows