Comparing the two #1 rated, Adult only, cruise lines

[WanderingBrit]

We just returned from a week aboard Virgin Voyages sailing the West Indies, our last two cruises have been Viking Ocean. Virgin has been voted #1 in the large ship class in the same awards where Viking is voted #1 for small ship, and they are both unusual in having reasonably inclusive pricing, both are adult only, and prices are closer than you might imagine once you take into account Viking's included excursions and drinks with meals. Here are some highly subjective observations:

 

Pre-cruise planning

• Virgin opens dining reservations and excursions earlier to those in higher grade cabins, just like Viking.
• There are no guaranteed reservations to any of the dining venues that require them on Virgin, which is pretty much all of them other than The Galley
• Final payment for Virgin is at 120 days prior to sailing - swoon!
• Gratuities are included on Virgin, as are port fees and taxes. The price is the price.
• Virgin includes soda, tea and coffee, and basic WiFi, and there is no drinks package though there is the concept of a Bar Tab with a bonus added depending on how much you purchased.
• All current Virgin ships are basically the same, much like the Viking Ocean fleet. At full capacity a Lady Ship is ~2,600 guests, almost 3X a Viking Ocean

 

Embarkation

• Virgin Suite guests get to board earlier than others, starting at 1:30pm, followed by those who have paid extra for various packages, and then general passage guests based on the boarding time they were able to select. Guests may stay aboard until 10:30am on disembarkation day.
• Cabins are available immediately on boarding
• Entertainment may only booked when on the ships WiFi, which means those who board earlier have an advantage

 

Ship and Accommodation

• Incredibly subjective, but Viking has a more comfortable and relaxed decor. The Virgin decor is very modern, shiny marble and bright colors, and there is pop/rock music almost everywhere, almost all the time
• Virgin has no library and very little art work. You'll get used to seeing a lot of red and gray when on deck 🙂
• Other than suites, all Virgin beds are convertible couches which means that the mattress isn't actually a mattress but a couch cushion. We're told they're too firm for many people - we were in a Rock Star Suite and so had a real mattress
• The lowest level of balcony on Virgin is the Sea Terrace, and it's quite a bit smaller than a DV - the bathroom being especially cramped by comparison.
• Virgin has various suite grades which offer different sizes of cabin and balcony, many have balconies bigger than Viking Explorer suites. There are only 78 suites out of  ~1,400 cabins
• Virgin suites all include an in-room minibar with 4 half bottles of spirits, white/rose/red wine and champagne, along with 4 beers. It is not refilled unless you're a Mega Rock Star
• There is only one space that spans more than a single floor, The Roundabout, and it's really only open between floors directly over the spiral staircase. The design is deliberately more like a super yacht with a series of small spaces and no large atrium
• There's a "Social Club" with board games, Foosball, a free arcade of 80's classic games, air hockey, etc.
• The Thermal Spa costs extra - I think $59 for a 3 hour visit
• Towels are everywhere with no check in/out including for taking ashore.
• The largest pool has a smaller swimmable section than the main pool on Viking!
• Enormous gym with both cardio and weights, a running track, basketball/pickleball court, punch bags - lots of opportunities for exercise

 

 

Food

• Virgin has no main dining room, and all dining venues are included with no upcharge. There's a small charge for room service delivery, but it's waived if you are in a suite or order anything chargeable (like alcohol or a specialty coffee)
• All venues are very attuned to allergies and food restrictions. Every single meal started with a question about allergies; Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free are called out on the menu and the kitchens are able to answer very specific questions around ingredients.
• The Galley is their version of a buffet and offers a food court experience; you can collect food at a station or raise a flag for table service. There is food available 24x7 from Diner-n-Dash
• Pink Agave is a very sophisticated restaurant with a Mexican themed menu. There's no hint of "traditional American Mexican" decor or color cues anywhere to be seen in what is a very nice venue.
• The Wake is a steak/seafood venue open for brunch/lunch/dinner, with a stylish vibe.
• Extra Virgin is an Italian restaurant, but we found the decor a bit confusing - it felt a little school dining hall.
• Razzle Dazzle is "vegetable forward", open for breakfast/lunch/dinner and where we had more meals than any other location. We found the dishes to be creative and extremely well executed.
• Test Kitchen is a 2 hour experience, with often experimental presentations
• There's a pizza place open until late at night, Tapas available at The Dock, a Poke Bowl place on the top deck, A bar/snack counter in The Social Club, a free Ice Cream bar ...
• The Galley has grab and go boxes of food in chillers - this is probably the single best innovation we found. Salads, smoked turkey sub, charcuterie selection, overnight oats, fruit - all in reusable plastic containers you can take to enjoy anywhere
• There's a Bento Box counter with grab and go Sushi, fruit, Salmon Teriyaki, etc.
• A limited choice version of Coke Freestyle machines provides (included) soda in The Galley, but soda is available at all the bars and is included
• There are no single use plastics anywhere on board - no bottled water but plenty of filtered water stations to refill your own bottle, and carafes in your room.
• We found food to be better than Viking in terms of variety and quality of execution - a foodie paradise. How they achieve this while serving 3 times the passengers I don't know, but we consistently had creative dishes prepared impeccably.

 

Entertainment

• Virgin has two primary venues, one of which has configurable bleacher style seating. Both have a bar
• There are many bars both indoors and out, and a dedicated champagne lounge that is very swanky.
• The shows we saw were exceptional, there's no charge for any of them including the dinner theatre which served a Grilled Sea Bass that was better than any fish I've had on Viking. Music reviews, variety shows, Cirque de Soleil class performances, audience participation game shows ....
• There are musicians and small groups performing around the ship every evening, they tend to rock/pop/soul/jazz/folk
• You'll find pop-up performances by magicians and comedians around the ship, and even "secret" shows in crew areas that are by invite only
• There are loud parties late into the night in the venues and on-deck, but plenty of places to avoid them (as we did)
• Virgin entertainment is adult focused, in terms of language and subject matter - one of the headliners is a Drag Queen after all.
• Trivia, coffee/beer/cocktail tasting classes, food/drink photography classes, lots and lots of organized activities across the day
• A variety of included exercise classes - we did a dawn Yoga Flow session, there are Boy Band Dance classes, VHS Workout, spin classes, many, many to choose from
• The overall entertainment vibe reminded me of Edinburgh during fringe, and I absolutely loved it

 

Crew/Service/Passengers

• You don't have to be Tattooed in order to work or cruise with Virgin, but you'll blend in better if you are 🙂 If you're not, then there's a Tattoo parlor on board to fix you up!
• There is no dress code at all, though some venues ask you to put something over a bathing suit. Dress up or dress down, it's whatever makes you comfortable
• There are no rank insignia on crew, though they all wear variations of a relaxed uniform so you can tell who is crew and who is not.
• The vibe is extremely inclusive: age, gender identity, ethnic origin, economic means, every shape and size of human fits right in
• Virgin service is no match to Viking, but the sheer size of ship and lower crew/passenger ratio means this is hardly surprising. There are many places onboard Virgin where you could sit and never be approached by someone asking if you needed anything.
• Your post-cruise questionnaire asks you point blank if you were ever approached by a member of crew seeking a tip - it really is a gratuities included experience.
• This is not destination focused travel. There are no port talks, no on-board lecturers, and 2 out of 3 excursions we booked weren't what was advertised. There are no crew on shore at excursion time, and certainly none accompanying you on an excursion. It's as if you booked a Viator excursion but did so through the ship, as there's really no tie to Virgin at all once you're off the end of the gangway.

 

Closing thoughts

This clarified for me the understanding that there is a difference between travel facilitated by a cruise ship, and a cruise vacation. For us Viking is a comfortable way to travel and get a taste of destinations, while not having to pack and unpack. We don't see the ship-time as a vacation itself, more a place to regroup between adventures.

 

On Virgin Voyages the cruise is the vacation, whether you call at ports or not. Food, entertainment, and on-board activities are what it's all about. You'll stop at different places, but most guests just go ashore to a beach that's different than the one they visited yesterday.

 

[duquephart]

The price is the price. Imagine that!

[FlyerTalker]

I can just picture getting a tattoo while the ship is crossing the North Sea.

 

 

[mklions]

We were on Virgin Voyages last summer and although we throughly enjoyed our cruise, I felt that their target age group were in the 30-40 ages. It wasn't a problem for us and we had a great time but it was more of a party atmosphere and may not be what a usual Viking cruise passenger would expect.

 

[Jim Avery]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

I can just picture getting a tattoo while the ship is crossing the North Sea.

 

 

And no crossing the line ceremony.... All get special tats to show you crossed the line....😳

[millybess]

@WanderingBrit  Thanks for the extensive report!  

 

Love the idea of a Tapas Bar.  That might work on Viking at the Pool Grill!  🙂

[CDNPolar]

We / I have been researching Virgin lately as a possible future line to cruise with - although we have three future Viking cruises booked now...

 

What I did not come across yet is this:

 

• Other than suites, all Virgin beds are convertible couches which means that the mattress isn't actually a mattress but a couch cushion. We're told they're too firm for many people - we were in a Rock Star Suite and so had a real mattress

 

Not too thrilled about sleeping on a convertible couch, but I guess in some cabin pictures, they are suspiciously missing a bed now that I go and look again.

 

I also don't like that the thermal spa is $59 bucks for a few hours.  This is a mainstay for us on Viking Ocean.  After an excursion we can almost always be found nursing our sore muscles in the thermal spa.  Would not want to have to pay for this.

 

Food for thought.  Thank you for such a detailed account and comparison.

[CDNPolar]

14 hours ago, duquephart said:

The price is the price. Imagine that!

 

Yes, but no included beer and wine with meals.  No included thermal spa.

[duquephart]

Indeed. But at least you know what you're getting - or not getting. With Viking you pay the price and are later informed that there is more to pay ("gratuities").

[SteelCity Cruiser]

That pretty much sums up our experience on Virgin, and, as someone mentioned, their target demographic is much younger than Viking's, although we didn't feel it had a huge impact on our experience. Our cruise had a lot of "friends groups" on it.  The food was outstanding  I found the service a bit more 'wanting', but our cruise was immediately post-pandemic (Feb 2022) and I think all service industries were having service issues at that point anyway.  Very different experience, but I think I'd do another Virgin cruise depending on the itinerary and length (and probably choose it over Oceania if both itineraries were similar).

 

[WanderingBrit]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We / I have been researching Virgin lately as a possible future line to cruise with - although we have three future Viking cruises booked now...

 

What I did not come across yet is this:

 

• Other than suites, all Virgin beds are convertible couches which means that the mattress isn't actually a mattress but a couch cushion. We're told they're too firm for many people - we were in a Rock Star Suite and so had a real mattress

 

Not too thrilled about sleeping on a convertible couch, but I guess in some cabin pictures, they are suspiciously missing a bed now that I go and look again.

 

 

You'll find the topic of mattress toppers comes up quite a bit over on the VV forum

 

[molymoo]

2 hours ago, duquephart said:

Indeed. But at least you know what you're getting - or not getting. With Viking you pay the price and are later informed that there is more to pay ("gratuities").

Gratuities are optional ... you are perfectly free to ask that the charge be removed from your bill if you do not wish to participate in the practice.  There are just as many complaints from those where gratuities are "included" in the price of the cruise ... you're never going to make everyone happy.

 

[CDNPolar]

4 minutes ago, molymoo said:

Gratuities are optional ... you are perfectly free to ask that the charge be removed from your bill if you do not wish to participate in the practice.  There are just as many complaints from those where gratuities are "included" in the price of the cruise ... you're never going to make everyone happy.

 

 

Never, never, and with Viking if you read and understand what you are "buying" it is not a hidden secret for the North American market that gratuities are extra.  But what is not widely known is that you can refuse the entire charge, or reduce it, or increase it.  You will not - in our experience - receive any resistance to remove or adjust the gratuities on Viking.

[CDNPolar]

25 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

You'll find the topic of mattress toppers comes up quite a bit over on the VV forum

 

 

There are people that complain about Viking mattresses, but we love them.

 

We were considering Virgin heavily, but this mattress thing is going to make me rethink our option to try them.  If I have to pay more to get a real mattress and not a pushed together sofa, then they are off my radar.

[duquephart]

54 minutes ago, molymoo said:

Gratuities are optional ... you are perfectly free to ask that the charge be removed from your bill if you do not wish to participate in the practice.  There are just as many complaints from those where gratuities are "included" in the price of the cruise ... you're never going to make everyone happy.

 

 

The point is that they are not mentioned at the time of booking.

[millybess]

17 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

The point is that they are not mentioned at the time of booking.

You might be correct.  This is what's in the T&C:

 

"TIPS
It is customary to give cruise gratuities, subject to your satisfaction of services rendered. Gratuities on board and on land are not included in your full fare."

[duquephart]

Once you know about them you know about them. But they are basically sprung upon first timers - in which case the price is not the price.

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, duquephart said:

Once you know about them you know about them. But they are basically sprung upon first timers - in which case the price is not the price.

 

But you can remove them so there is no obligation to pay them, so the price is the price.  The price does not change after you have booked because you can choose not to pay them.

 

Splitting hairs, but in my opinion, gratuities does not come into the price when they are optional.  Gratuities come into the discussion for countries like the UK where they are part of the price.  The UK has no option but to pay them.  But for them, the price is the price too!

[millybess]

4 hours ago, duquephart said:

Once you know about them you know about them. But they are basically sprung upon first timers - in which case the price is not the price.

I understand what you're saying.  The line up at Guest Services is usually fairly long the day after the gratuities have been added, and I doubt that they're there to increase the amount.

 

After the first Viking cruise, one knows what to expect.

[duquephart]

You need not wait for "gratuities" to be added.

[millybess]

5 minutes ago, duquephart said:

You need not wait for "gratuities" to be added.

Indeed.  If it is not your first Viking cruise.  

[Mich3554]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

Once you know about them you know about them. But they are basically sprung upon first timers - in which case the price is not the price.

When I booked our first Viking cruise, the Viking rep DID inform me what the gratuities were at the very beginning, and that they’d be charged to our account automatically but were optional.  I booked directly with Viking.  

[DrKoob]

9 hours ago, duquephart said:

Indeed. But at least you know what you're getting - or not getting. With Viking you pay the price and are later informed that there is more to pay ("gratuities").

Are you saying you thought gratuities were included until you got onboard and found that they weren't? We just pay them in advance, and then it is all-inclusive. We just automatically remember we need to pay them. Then it truly is one price. 

[DrKoob]

On 2/20/2024 at 10:43 AM, WanderingBrit said:

Ship and Accommodation

• Incredibly subjective, but Viking has a more comfortable and relaxed decor. The Virgin decor is very modern, shiny marble and bright colors, and there is pop/rock music almost everywhere, almost all the time.

 

Why is it that cruise ships, restaurants, hotels and so many other venues think we want music playing all the time? We did Oceania last year and my biggest complaint was that there was nowhere that the seven of us traveling together could go and have a cocktail and talk. Since we come from all over the country and only see each other on cruises, this is important to us. But there was not a single place where we could do have a conversation without yelling at each other over music. 

 

This is the one thing (well there's the beds) that absolutely stops me from ever sailing with Virgin. Give me the piece and quiet of a before dinner cocktail and conversation in the Explorer's Lounge every single day of the week.

[Jim Avery]

Agreed.  This has long been a complaint of ours.  If you want to meet at the atrium bar for happy hour with pals,  you have to yell over the pianist who, while very accomplished, plays so loudly you would think he is playing in a concert hall.  Get a grip, you are playing in a bar.  Tone it down....