Help planning advance restaurant and shows

[scseas]

We will be sailing on a 5 night voyage on Scarlet Lady out of Miami. I would be grateful for any advice on where to reserve (or if not available in advance what to aim for) with restaurants and shows. We ideally would like to eat at 7:30 most nights but can adjust based on your advice. We’d like to make it to the marquee events like the Scarlet Party, PJ party, and whatever of the signature shows they’re doing these days. We obviously can’t get to all restaurants in 5 nights. We’re considering skipping the Korean BBQ. It sounds very fun and social but we don’t eat shellfish or pork which is most of the menu (unless you think it’s still worth it). We are foodies so Test Kitchen seems like a must. The general cadence of our nights on a cruise is usually a pre-dinner drink, meal, show, and then dancing late. 
 

Where should we eat, at what time, and in what order to help us have an amazing time?
 

Thank you in advance!

[cantgetin]

You can reserve restaurants 45 days in advance, shows not till you are on board.  Scarlet Night really doesn't start till about 9pm, so you'll be finishing/finished dinner by then.  PJ party is about 11.  I was on a longer cruise, so can't tell you about times on your cruise....but I'd suggest making 7:30 dinner reservations if that is what you want and then changing them after boarding if they don't fit with the show schedule.  You DO want to see Dual Reality, a Cirque du Soleil type show based on Romeo and Juliet.  Ship Show depends on the entertainers on board--some are always excellent, but the audience participation stuff was just dumb.

As to where to dine, remember that you can do brunch at The Wake and Razzle Dazzle, but can't book brunch in advance.  Thus, you can eat al each of the restaurants.  Some of the places i really thought I'd like were "ok but not great" and places I thought would be "meh" ended up being our favorites.  We'd had Korean BBQ in Tokyo, so sort of knew what to expect.  It was excellent. The marinated beef was excellent.  We ordered the Waygu as a treat; I wouldn't spend the money on it again.  It was OK, but the regular beef was better.  The first time we went, we played the "bring us the favorites" game.  After that, we knew that was way too much food, so we ordered what we knew we would like.  The chicken is good and they will serve it with sauce on the side.  There will be plenty for you to eat without shellfish or pork....but that's your choice.

If I had to skip one, it would be The Wake.  First, I can do brunch there and have their filet for brunch if I wish.  Secondly, I can go to a good steakhouse in any major city.   I'd try the more "different" options on the ship.  Test Kitchen has at least 3 menus, and I've been told 4 (2 different vege menus).  You can substitute the vegan/vegetarian for any course on the main menu that you can't/don't eat.  Again, as a foodie, you might want to try both the A and B menu; if you can only do one, we strongly prefer A.  The vegetarian chocolate/coconut dessert on A night is AMAZING.  I had just one bite of our tablemate's  and that was plenty.  Very rich and unbelievable.

We surprisingly liked Razzle Dazzle and it has plenty on the naughty menu and secret menu for those of us who like meat.  Extra Virgin was great and Pink Agave was a surprise--we really liked it.  IF you do brunch at RD, the buttermilk waffles are very good.

Just my thoughts...everyone has different tastes, You can view most of the menus by googling "virgin voyages menus."  My preferred site is the one by eatsleepcruise.

[singleflyer]

49 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

You can reserve restaurants 45 days in advance, shows not till you are on board.  Scarlet Night really doesn't start till about 9pm, so you'll be finishing/finished dinner by then.  PJ party is about 11.  I was on a longer cruise, so can't tell you about times on your cruise....but I'd suggest making 7:30 dinner reservations if that is what you want and then changing them after boarding if they don't fit with the show schedule.  You DO want to see Dual Reality, a Cirque du Soleil type show based on Romeo and Juliet.  Ship Show depends on the entertainers on board--some are always excellent, but the audience participation stuff was just dumb.

As to where to dine, remember that you can do brunch at The Wake and Razzle Dazzle, but can't book brunch in advance.  Thus, you can eat al each of the restaurants.  Some of the places i really thought I'd like were "ok but not great" and places I thought would be "meh" ended up being our favorites.  We'd had Korean BBQ in Tokyo, so sort of knew what to expect.  It was excellent. The marinated beef was excellent.  We ordered the Waygu as a treat; I wouldn't spend the money on it again.  It was OK, but the regular beef was better.  The first time we went, we played the "bring us the favorites" game.  After that, we knew that was way too much food, so we ordered what we knew we would like.  The chicken is good and they will serve it with sauce on the side.  There will be plenty for you to eat without shellfish or pork....but that's your choice.

If I had to skip one, it would be The Wake.  First, I can do brunch there and have their filet for brunch if I wish.  Secondly, I can go to a good steakhouse in any major city.   I'd try the more "different" options on the ship.  Test Kitchen has at least 3 menus, and I've been told 4 (2 different vege menus).  You can substitute the vegan/vegetarian for any course on the main menu that you can't/don't eat.  Again, as a foodie, you might want to try both the A and B menu; if you can only do one, we strongly prefer A.  The vegetarian chocolate/coconut dessert on A night is AMAZING.  I had just one bite of our tablemate's  and that was plenty.  Very rich and unbelievable.

We surprisingly liked Razzle Dazzle and it has plenty on the naughty menu and secret menu for those of us who like meat.  Extra Virgin was great and Pink Agave was a surprise--we really liked it.  IF you do brunch at RD, the buttermilk waffles are very good.

Just my thoughts...everyone has different tastes, You can view most of the menus by googling "virgin voyages menus."  My preferred site is the one by eatsleepcruise.

 

What's the secret menu and how do you access it?

[cantgetin]

It is meat--secret steak, chicken, etc.  There is a "naughty menu" on the menu but there are additional items available.   Hence "secret."  Just ask your server.

 

[garycarla]

There are a number of threads below that talk about dining.

[jon81uk]

For Gunbae Korean BBQ the marinated beef short rib is excellent and the fried chicken appetiser is good, it’s quite possible to eat there and not have pork or seafood.

Personally I’d rather go to Gunbae than the Wake for dinner, I preferred the marinated beef at Gunbae over the steak at the Wake.

[CruisingWalter]

13 hours ago, scseas said:

Where should we eat, at what time, and in what order to help us have an amazing time?

 

You can start making your reservations 45 days out unless you're a rock star (suite guest) then you can start earlier. 

 

One thing to keep in mind with the dinners is that these are not 'rushed affairs' to get you in and out quickly. You're encouraged to take your time and linger over dinner. Our Test Kitchen dinner was 2 1/2 hours, our Wake dinner was over 2 hours and the like. So if you have an event or a show you'd like to get to, and it's less than 2 hours from the time of your dinner, let your servers know when you sit down. We did that in Extra Virgin which is typically a 4 course meal and they served it in three to speed up the dinner so we could make it to Duel Reality. 

 

As for what order and what to eat, first off, here's my full food review from Scarlet Lady: https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU  There's also a full playlist of our cabin tour, review, secret show and more. 

 

Now for the first thing you should do when you board the ship is head to The Dock and enjoy some nice tapas and a cocktail to kick off your cruise right. 🙂  The tapas are so good. And be sure to check out the Grab and Go items as you walk out to the Dock and in The Galley.

 

If I had to skip one it would be Pink Agave. Not a whole lot different than going to an elevated Mexican restaurant in your area, other than the 125+ Tequila and Mezcal available. It's really good, but I have no problems skipping that one.

 

The Wake was fabulous for both brunch and dinner. Test Kitchen is a lot of fun and our meal was delicious, but know that you might be a little hungry about and hour or two later. We all shared a pizza after that evening show, and the pizza is divine. You could make that dinner one night if you wanted to. I enjoyed Gunbae much more than I thought I would and it was the perfect sail away restaurant. We didn't plan it that way, but it was the perfect place to be as the ship sailed out of Miami. We only did Razzle Dazzle for lunch and LOVED it so when we board again in two weeks we're doing dinner this time.

 

Extra Virgin is another restaurant you could potentially skip if you have a really good Italian restaurant near you. It's a good Italian restaurant and I do enjoy it, but if you have good Italian near you it might be a letdown and there are better Italian restaurants on other cruise lines like Princess. 

 

I'd say for me the order of Must Do to Could Do would be (keep in mind these are all good places to eat)

The Wake

Test Kitchen 

Gunbae

Pizza Place

Razzle Dazzle

Extra Virgin

Pink Agave

 

In The Galley the most ridiculously good thing I ate on our first visit was the French Toast Burger for breakfast from the Burger Bar. It was FILLING but oh so ridiculously good. The salad station is fabulous. The ramen was ok. The Scarlet Lady dessert in The Sweet Spot was divine, rich dark chocolate inside. We did not get a panini or a taco last trip, we we'll be trying those in a few weeks and then we have a full 8 night voyage in November on Valiant Lady. 🙂 

 

Hope that's helpful. Enjoy your first VV Cruise! 

 

 

[rebeccac]

I would also advise scheduling dinner a bit later than normal the first night.  Since boarding starts late and it is hard to resist trying something to eat when you get onboard, we weren't overly hungry at the 6:30p dinner we had scheduled on our first VV cruise.  For our next cruise, we are having dinner at 8p our first night and then it is back to closer to 7p the rest of the trip.  

[scubagal44]

As evidenced by this thread, everyone's tastes and must-do's are so different! I'd encourage you to check out menus and decide from there which look best to you! 

 

I'm a bigtime foodie myself, and plan on giving Test Kitchen a skip on my next sailing. The concept is great, but the food itself is quite hit and miss. I really loved the food from the first menu, and equally disliked the food from the second menu. For me the two experiences, literally just days apart, cancelled each other out and left me feeling meh. 

 

Pink Agave was my next least favorite, but I'll go again and order something different to give it another shot. 

 

Extra Virgin was my favorite. Razzle Dazzle was a surprise, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. The Wake is a steakhouse, not better or worse than other nice steakhouses on land, though I did really love the lemon cheesecake dessert. Also, the steak and eggs on the brunch menu are fab. Pizza was excellent. Not interested in Gunbae, so didn't go there. 

[scseas]

40 minutes ago, scubagal44 said:

As evidenced by this thread, everyone's tastes and must-do's are so different! I'd encourage you to check out menus and decide from there which look best to you! 

 

Yes, I have read every menu. Just like on land, I visit a restaurant's website to examine the menu but that doesn't preclude me from trying to get reviews about the place. Of course, a handful of people is not as helpful as hundreds of people on Yelp, but it's a start. I'm grateful to all of the constructive advice people have given about what they would skip, what time to eat, and how to get the most out of my 5 nights. 

[CruisinShips]

Question about Extra Virgin's menu for those who have been there recently.  The menu seems a little limited for an Italian restaurant.  Can one get basic spaghetti and marinara, or a chicken parm, for example?  Just curious....

[jon81uk]

10 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

Question about Extra Virgin's menu for those who have been there recently.  The menu seems a little limited for an Italian restaurant.  Can one get basic spaghetti and marinara, or a chicken parm, for example?  Just curious....

It’s more authentic Italian than that. Chicken Parm is an American dish not an Italian one. 
They do have simple pasta dishes such as Carbonara and Beef Bolognese (close to marinara with added minced beef) on the menu. Or there is a New York strip steak. 
Also the pasta dishes are fairly small so can be ordered in addition to a secondi main course, or you can try two different pastas. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by jon81uk

[scseas]

Is there an ideal restaurant to eat at for Scarlet Night? I am thinking the Wake because it is the most formal restaurant from what I’ve read, but I’m open to suggestions.
 

Also, do you have a recommendation on when to eat at Test  Kitchen? I was thinking of eating there on the second and fifth nights so we can try both menus. Given the late lunch on the first night, I did not want a six course meal on sale away, but maybe I am wrong here.

 

Also, does anyone know what the latest happy hour schedule is and times? How big are the deals? I’m asking because this will affect whether we pre-pay a bar tab.

[chefchick]

Another foodie chiming in here….further evidence that everyone’s pallet is different, the best meal we had on our Scarlet Lady cruise was at Pink Agave.  We let our server choose for us and she even did a tequila/mezcal pairing with each course.  We also really enjoyed the test kitchen where our server brought us pretty much everything on the menu (we ordered off the regular menu but he also served the vegetarian items so we could try them out). What I’m getting at is the crew seems pretty proud (and rightfully so) of the food onboard, so go with an open mind and an empty stomach to your evening meals.

 

And I absolutely agree with Walter’s suggestion that your first meal on embarkation should be at the Dock House….lovely tapas and cocktails (frankly we ate there most days for lunch we loved it so much)

[cantgetin]

15 minutes ago, scseas said:

Is there an ideal restaurant to eat at for Scarlet Night? I am thinking the Wake because it is the most formal restaurant from what I’ve read, but I’m open to suggestions.
 

Also, do you have a recommendation on when to eat at Test  Kitchen? I was thinking of eating there on the second and fifth nights so we can try both menus. Given the late lunch on the first night, I did not want a six course meal on sale away, but maybe I am wrong here.

 

Also, does anyone know what the latest happy hour schedule is and times? How big are the deals? I’m asking because this will affect whether we pre-pay a bar tab.

The nightly happy hour applies only to people in suites and is complimentary champagne in Richard's Rooftop.  There are a few other deals around the ship.  Or, if you are referring to the healthy options happy hour, that ends on 3/31.

Test Kitchen is not a bad option on the first night.  The serving are very small.  You will leave the restaurant feeling like you've had dinner, but a couple hours later you'll be heading out for pizza (or at least we were).  The party on the first night doesn't start till 11, so you'll have time for test kitchen if you choose that.  Eating a late lunch means you'll be less hungry at dinner....again, the servings are small.

The decor in The Wake is more formal than other restaurants on board, but what you wear is irrelevant.  You can eat there in shorts and a t-shirt or full formal attire.  The scarlet night party request is that you wear something red.  Some people wear a red head band, others a red tux or cocktail dress.  No rules.  I don't think it makes any difference which restaurant you choose for scarlet night; just time it early enough to be out by the time the festivities start.

[jon81uk]

I would suggest eating dinner early enough on Scarlet Night to be finished and at the Roundabout staircase for 9pm. That way you can see some of the pop up shows and entertainment, then relax with a drink or get a snack before the main party at 10.45pm

[LibratPDX]

You can not only book your dining reservations 45 days ahead, but you can VIEW the line-up of shows as well, so you can get an idea of when you might want to book your dining.  More things will be added to the lineup a few days before your sailing.  Keep in mind that some shows include the meal, if it says SUPPER CLUB, take a look at the menu for that show if possible.

[_tacocat_]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:43 AM, scseas said:

Is there an ideal restaurant to eat at for Scarlet Night? I am thinking the Wake because it is the most formal restaurant from what I’ve read, but I’m open to suggestions.
 

Also, do you have a recommendation on when to eat at Test  Kitchen? I was thinking of eating there on the second and fifth nights so we can try both menus. Given the late lunch on the first night, I did not want a six course meal on sale away, but maybe I am wrong here.

 

Also, does anyone know what the latest happy hour schedule is and times? How big are the deals? I’m asking because this will affect whether we pre-pay a bar tab.

Scarlet night, I like to do pink agave or razzle dazzle around 7.  Test kitchen and Gunbae take upwards of 2 hours and extra virgin and wake can be hit or miss with respect to timing.  
 

test kitchen, I’d recommend doing a reservation on the early side (7 or earlier) because it takes so freaking long!

 

happy hour isn’t a real thing onboard.  They currently have a ketel one sponsored happy hour every night at several bars, offering choices of 3 cocktails and 3 mocktails, but that is supposed to end on Friday.  The only other “deals” they have onboard if $25 bottomless brunch drinks at razzle and wake and discounts if you get buckets of cans of beer by the pool.

[_tacocat_]

1 hour ago, LibratPDX said:

You can not only book your dining reservations 45 days ahead, but you can VIEW the line-up of shows as well, so you can get an idea of when you might want to book your dining.  More things will be added to the lineup a few days before your sailing.  Keep in mind that some shows include the meal, if it says SUPPER CLUB, take a look at the menu for that show if possible.

The caveat with that is that it 100% will change as soon as you board.  If you get attached to that lineup and plan all reservations around it, you’re going to have to redo everything as soon as

you get onboard!

[LibratPDX]

38 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

The caveat with that is that it 100% will change as soon as you board.  If you get attached to that lineup and plan all reservations around it, you’re going to have to redo everything as soon as

you get onboard!

Haha, I know, at the very least, even if the show times stay the same, numerous things will be added to the schedule, and you meet people during the cruise you may want to dine with.  I don't get rigidly attached to my plans but I like having an outline to start 🙂  I make up an excel spreadsheet with the my dinner reservations and highlight the things I want to book once on board (IF - big IF - I am able to get the days/times I want).  

[neverendingcruising]

This may be controversial, but I find the beef sando at the Galley (available after 5pm) to be the best kept dinner secret on the ship. I request au jus for dipping the fries in. Delicious and not reservations required!

[_tacocat_]

13 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

This may be controversial, but I find the beef sando at the Galley (available after 5pm) to be the best kept dinner secret on the ship. I request au jus for dipping the fries in. Delicious and not reservations required!

i want to submit a petition to get this as an all-day menu item.. SO tasty!!!

[tbmrt]

How does this first day schedule sound? Too hectic?  

 

After boarding go to cabin to choose events, unpack, muster. Then to the Dock for tapas. Next go to sailaway, dinner at 7:30?, Grog Walk and pj party. 

 

 Or rather than going to dinner, perhaps just relaxing on balcony w/dinner from Ship Eats?

 

Probably schedule will change so I know we'll have to be open, but thinking above plan might be a start.

 

What have you done/intend to do on embarkation day?

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by tbmrt
added info

[jon81uk]

18 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

How does this first day schedule sound? Too hectic?  

 

After boarding go to cabin to choose events, unpack, muster. Then to the Dock for tapas. Next go to sailaway, dinner at 7:30?, Grog Walk and pj party. 

 

 Or rather than going to dinner, perhaps just relaxing on balcony w/dinner from Ship Eats?

 

Probably schedule will change so I know we'll have to be open, but thinking above plan might be a start.

 

What have you done/intend to do on embarkation day?

 

I’ve usually done quite similar, although never done Grog walk. 
Don’t forget you need to go to the muster point around 4pm, but you can watch the video in your cabin before that.

[cantgetin]

I

4 hours ago, tbmrt said:

How does this first day schedule sound? Too hectic?  

 

After boarding go to cabin to choose events, unpack, muster. Then to the Dock for tapas. Next go to sailaway, dinner at 7:30?, Grog Walk and pj party. 

 

 Or rather than going to dinner, perhaps just relaxing on balcony w/dinner from Ship Eats?

 

Probably schedule will change so I know we'll have to be open, but thinking above plan might be a start.

 

What have you done/intend to do on embarkation day?

 

I'd change the order a bit, but generally accurate.  

After boarding, go to cabin to drop bags, meet host if he shows up quickly.  Then go to lunch at your choice of location. While waiting for food to arrive, choose events, make any needed reservations, watch muster video on phone (or return to cabin for this after eating and making reservations).  Return to cabin to unpack and organize while waiting for the time for muster check in. This would vary based on your check in time.  Our port arrival was 1:30, so we had a couple hours between arrival in our room initially and start of muster.  I'd do lunch before unpacking as it will already be 2pm. when you get to your chosen lunch venue and if more than one of you, you'll be comfortably seated and able to confer with each other about reservations...and not have down time while waiting for food.  Making activity reservations is a top priority, watching the muster video is not,

From there, we are pretty much as you have listed.  Sail away briefly, dinner at 7:30 (we'd rather enjoy the real food and save ship eats for another time).  Then evening activities, maybe moderated depending on how much travel we had, general exhaustion level (another good reason to come in a day early, depending on your location).

Edited March 31, 2023 by cantgetin