Photo review of Resilient Lady- Sydney to Burnie, Tasmania

[aussielozzie18]

Boarding time 2.15pm.  Chosen when bookings were available on the Virgin App.  Able to start boarding at 2pm.  The Virgin band that you wear on your wrist  instead of a lanyard, was put on very loosely. Kind staff member of OPT adjusted it properly for a few of us.  Boarding took all of 10mins.  Cabins immediately available.

Sea Terrace Deck 10 AFT.  Very happy with cabin & location and LOVED the red hammock on the balcony.  So comfy. Other cruisers did not realise you could fully stretch out laying the hammock.  
 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Prebooked all restaurants before boarding (they are included in price) when they opened up prior to cruise.  You had to be quick.  They booked out quickly.

 

Shows could only be booked on boarding.  Had issues with app for the first hour or so on board.  So missed out on most of the shows (limited capacity).  Managed to get a booking for a show on the  final night.

 

Headed up to the pool deck

 

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Then explored ship.  It’s beautiful.  Modern, bright, spacious and very clean.   Plenty of seating indoors & out.

 

 

 

 

First drink at the Draught Haus.  Pre-cruise a jellyfish shot was recommended.  Bar lady serves it slowly so you can video it being made to see the jellyfish appear, if you wish.

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by aussielozzie18

[MicCanberra]

Interesting, thanks.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Boarding time 2.15pm.  Chosen when bookings were available on the Virgin App.  Able to start boarding at 2pm.  The Virgin band that you wear on your wrist  instead of a lanyard, was put on very loosely. Kind staff member of OPT adjusted it properly for a few of us.  Boarding took all of 10mins.  Cabins immediately available.

Sea Terrace Deck 10 AFT.  Very happy with cabin & location and LOVED the red hammock on the balcony.  So comfy. Other cruisers did not realise you could fully stretch out laying the hammock.  
 

 

 

When I first saw the ads for Virgin showing the hammocks I thought I'd never be able to get in one of those but the way they have them set up makes it as easy as sitting in a chair. I found it a bit trickier stretching it our to make the footrest though but with a bit of help from Rolf I got there. It was so comfortable!

[OzKiwiJJ]

Every bar has a different cocktail list. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos but we found some very nice cocktails on our four night cruise to Hobart last week.

[cruiser3775]

That drinks list puts me off straight away. 11 kinds of whisky, but no gin at all?  And the wine choice is awful - 4 types, no information and in a can?     I expect there's a proper wine list elsewhere on the ship?

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

That drinks list puts me off straight away. 11 kinds of whisky, but no gin at all?  And the wine choice is awful - 4 types, no information and in a can?     I expect there's a proper wine list elsewhere on the ship?

That's just one bar, and there were plenty of different bars. We didn't look at the wines available in the bars we went to but there were definitely gin-based cocktails in some of them and we had G&Ts at the Dock House. Each restaurant had its own wine list, chosen to complement the food in that restaurant. We were very happy with the wines we chose at two of the restaurants, The Wake and Razzle Dazzle, and the wine matches in the Test Kitchen were excellent. We had a very nice sake at the Korean restaurant and there was a small selection of wines available there.

Edited February 19 by OzKiwiJJ

[Cruisegroover]

3 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Prebooked all restaurants before boarding (they are included in price) when they opened up prior to cruise.  You had to be quick.  They booked out quickly.

 

Shows could only be booked on boarding.  Had issues with app for the first hour or so on board.  So missed out on most of the shows (limited capacity).  Managed to get a booking for a show on the  final night.

 

Headed up to the pool deck

 

 

So if miss out on getting dinner reservations where do you eat? And if you are last to board you may miss out on seeing the shows?

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, Cruisegroover said:

So if miss out on getting dinner reservations where do you eat? And if you are last to board you may miss out on seeing the shows?

20 places to eat.  You will never be wanting for somewhere to eat.  On the last day of a eleven day cruise, I found the pizza place and Italian Restaurant so I had pizza for lunch and was able to book a place for dinner at the Italian Restaurant. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

26 minutes ago, Cruisegroover said:

So if miss out on getting dinner reservations where do you eat? And if you are last to board you may miss out on seeing the shows?

A lot depends on how full the ship is. We didn't manage to get any restaurant bookings before boarding and although they state there will be more bookings available after boarding the only ones we saw were at 5:30pm or 9:30pm. The did say they allowed spaces for walk-ins but in reality you had to be lucky to get a walk-in table. Thankfully we were. On the first night we were having a drink in the Dock House, right next to the entrance to The Wake, so decided to ask there and we were able to get a table immediately which was around 6pm. After dinner we checked a couple more restaurants and was able to book the Test Kitchen for the following night at 6pm (I think this may have been a walk-in slot). 

 

Next day we were having coffee and chatting to a couple of guys sitting next to us. They had managed to get a booking to Another Rose which is a show that includes dinner and therefore had a 7pm booking at Razzle Dazzle the following night (our third night) they were about to cancel. They kindly transferred the booking to us.

 

And then I spotted a 6:15 slot at the Korean restaurant for our last night so booked that.

 

There is always space at The Gallery which is the food court and there are some very interesting choices at the various stands there but it's not the nicest setting at night.  

 

They really need at least one more restaurant on their ships, IMHO, as when the ship is full there is not enough restaurant space for all guests. 

[aussielozzie18]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

. It was so comfortable!

Agree.  I was very tempted to buy one on board to bring home.

[aussielozzie18]

7 hours ago, Cruisegroover said:

So if miss out on getting dinner reservations where do you eat? And if you are last to board you may miss out on seeing the shows?

The staff may offer you a later time.  The cruisers that were turned away at 6.30pm were told a table would be available at 8.30pm.  Each restaurant had their own booking system so there may be availability at another restaurant.  There is the pizza place and The Gallery.  All the food options are listed on the app, as others have said, you won’t starve.
 

 

[aussielozzie18]

The Galley.  Virgin Voyages version of the buffet.  Lots of food options here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there was a small selection of boxed grab & go - wraps, salads & two very nice desserts 

 

And coffee

 

Soft drinks & juice

 

 

 

Edited February 19 by aussielozzie18

[OzKiwiJJ]

I had the spicy ramen one day for lunch. It was very good although the soup wasn't quite as full flavoured as from my regular ramen restaurant. Definitely a big notch above any I've had on other cruises though.

 

Resilient Lady has an excellent pastry chef. The croissants, danishes and pain au chocolates were very, very good.

[aussielozzie18]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I had the spicy ramen one day for lunch. It was very good although the soup wasn't quite as full flavoured as from my regular ramen restaurant. Definitely a big notch above any I've had on other cruises though.

 

Resilient Lady has an excellent pastry chef. The croissants, danishes and pain au chocolates were very, very good.

I needed longer on board.  I had my first pastry as I was disembarking this morning.  Took the pain au chocolate to work and had it with coffee mid morning - yum.

 

The Galley I only went to a couple of times.  First time I asked for French toast with berries (as listed on the menu).  I got two plain slices of white bread and two small ceramic bowls - one with blue berries and one with strawberries.  That was it.  Obviously a breakdown in communication….

Second visit was for a bagel with cream cheese & salmon.  Very nice.

Final afternoon I decided I had to try a couple of items from the sweet place.  The mini meringues were delicious.

[SinbadThePorter]

I still drool over the memory of the pineapple paddle pops. That and the butter pecan ice cream. 🤪

Edited February 19 by SinbadThePorter

[beatleman]

9 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I still drool over the memory of the pineapple paddle pops. That and the butter pecan ice cream. 🤪

Had 2 Ice creams a day double scoops, outstanding😋

[arxcards]

11 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

20 places to eat.  You will never be wanting for somewhere to eat.  On the last day of a eleven day cruise, I found the pizza place and Italian Restaurant so I had pizza for lunch and was able to book a place for dinner at the Italian Restaurant. 

Not so much. You can't have a meal of I Scream, so I don't know why they count that in their numbers. 

As far as restaurants go, is it 7 or 8, all in demand and mostly booked out prior to boarding. A week or two back, a friend spent three nights out of four dining in the buffet/pantry/food court/Galley. She would rather have dined in one of the restaurants but wasn't quick enough. Sure, nobody will starve on a cruise, but you are paying for all of these inclusive "free specialty" restaurants and it is a shame if they are all sold-out already.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I needed longer on board.  I had my first pastry as I was disembarking this morning.  Took the pain au chocolate to work and had it with coffee mid morning - yum.

 

The Galley I only went to a couple of times.  First time I asked for French toast with berries (as listed on the menu).  I got two plain slices of white bread and two small ceramic bowls - one with blue berries and one with strawberries.  That was it.  Obviously a breakdown in communication….

Second visit was for a bagel with cream cheese & salmon.  Very nice.

Final afternoon I decided I had to try a couple of items from the sweet place.  The mini meringues were delicious.

Love the pics. Glad you had a great time.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

The Galley.  Virgin Voyages version of the buffet.  Lots of food options here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there was a small selection of boxed grab & go - wraps, salads & two very nice desserts 

 

And coffee

 

Soft drinks & juice

 

 

 

For all the talk of not having bottled water aboard, due to making a stand on single-use plastics, please tell me those aren't pre-packaged meals being served in single-use plastics.

[aussielozzie18]

8 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I still drool over the memory of the pineapple paddle pops. That and the butter pecan ice cream. 🤪

Drat - I didn’t have either of those!

 

When we were in Noosa for a week last year - we discovered Happy Pops 🤤 DH would have one every night after dinner.

[SinbadThePorter]

9 hours ago, arxcards said:

please tell me those aren't pre-packaged meals being served in single-use plastics.

 

They aren't single use plastics, they are reused just like the crockery.

[OzKiwiJJ]

15 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I needed longer on board.  I had my first pastry as I was disembarking this morning.  Took the pain au chocolate to work and had it with coffee mid morning - yum.

 

The Galley I only went to a couple of times.  First time I asked for French toast with berries (as listed on the menu).  I got two plain slices of white bread and two small ceramic bowls - one with blue berries and one with strawberries.  That was it.  Obviously a breakdown in communication….

Second visit was for a bagel with cream cheese & salmon.  Very nice.

Final afternoon I decided I had to try a couple of items from the sweet place.  The mini meringues were delicious.

We needed longer onboard as well. 

 

Did you ask a waiter for the french toast or go to the station serving it? If the former it may very well have been a misunderstanding. One stand had berries,  other fruit, overnight oats and so on. That one was at the right hand end, to the left was pastries, and and french toast and pancakes were more to the left again. There was also a stand that had bagels and stuff, and which I think did toast, and that might have had berries as well. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I still drool over the memory of the pineapple paddle pops. That and the butter pecan ice cream. 🤪

I never even got around to ice cream. 😪