Live Trip Report - Celebration Cruise 8/30-9/5 out of Miami on Valiant Lady

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Day 4 - Sea Day with Richard and Boy George

 

The plan was to start the day at 7am with Sunrise Yoga. Unfortunately waking up after late Scarlet Night party was rough, so I chose to sleep in a bit. My wife was really sore from the day before so she slept till 4pm.

 

I had breakfast by myself at Razzle Dazzle. I got Mushrooms Tartar, Wild Mushroom Frittata, and Rainbow Churros. Both Mushrooms Tartar and Rainbow churros were excellent, but frittata was worth than I remember it. It was missing something. Maybe their amazing sweet bacon I forgot to order? Anyway, I still enjoyed breakfast overall.

 

After the breakfast it was time to go to the VHS workout. They moved it from Manor to the Red Room on my last three sailings, at it was a great choice to accommodate 2,700 people ship. It was first come/first serve, no need to register. The Happenings Cast were the instructors (three of them anyway, Amanda the Flare and two more whose names/titles I didn't catch). It was a good fun, shake weights and all. Only one person went all out with a unitard 80s style workout outfit. The workout is pretty light, so should be fun even if you are out of shape. I always try to catch it on a voyage and I was glad I did this time as well.

 

After that I wanted to check out Virgin Atlantic (airline) CEO talk, but I desperately needed a nap since I was still pretty tired from the night before (that ended at 3am). So I crashed until 2pm.

 

Got up in time for the afternoon HIIT workout class at 2:30pm with A.J. The Balancer. The class was great, not too full (surprisingly) and A.J. gave everyone options on modifying excercises to their level of fitness and endurance. I survived the workout and probably burnt 600 out of 6,000 calories I consumed today. 🙂

 

Back to the room at 3:30pm and got my wife to see if she wanted to see the main event of the day - Richard's and Boy George's Poolside Talk. I was kind of dreading having to be outside for 2 hours in horrible heat and humidity, and wasn't sure why it was going to be outside instead of the Red Room. Such a bad choice. (I was planning to show up an hour early to ensure we had a decent spot to see Richard, all events have been pretty packed). Around 4:45pm I saw a message on VV app that the event was being moved from the Pool Deck (Aquatic Club) to The Rocks. If you don't know, it's a very small bar and venue used as a music lounge these days more often than not on Deck 6 by Roundabout (circular stairs). It was better than being outside but a horrible venue for a 2,700-people ship (even if there are only 2,400 this sailing). I was figuring it was going to be packed because of very limited seating and very limited space. We went down at 5pm as soon as my wife was out of the shower. We contemplated brining her wheelchair but figured we'd check first if regular seating was available. Fortunately we were down just in time to grab a couple of round stools in the second row behind several fairly small ladies. We were able to see the talk very well. We did have to sit and wait for almost an hour. My wife was able to leave to take short a break for a bit because she cannot sit that long, and I had to fend off people trying to grab her stool. A bit stressful, but it is what it is. Finally the talk started at 6pm and it was worth the wait. It was an absolute blast. Richard talked about his past, a bit of history on how Virgin (all of Virgin, not just VV) started and how the name was picked, and what he had to go through to get word "Virgin" trademarked, etc. He also read from his new book a bit. After that Boy George came out and they talked about their history together going years back. Very very interesting. By far the the best CEO/exec/celebrity event I've been to so far both on Virgin and most other cruise lines. It was almost an hour but time flew. Absolutely loved it. Highlight of this trip for me so far.

 

The only bummer was the Q&A session at the end of the talk. Only one lady asked an interesting question, and then there were two people promoting/plugging their movies, books, foundations, etc. So tacky and painful. They needed "Oscars music" that they could start playing to stop the embarrassing self-promotion people were trying to plug in the Q&A session. At least that part was brief, and certainly can't blame VV for that, other than maybe prescreen questions? The self-promoters were obscenely long and annoyingly obnoxious. 

 

Also I felt bad for everyone that didn't show up an hour in advance. Sightlines are not just horrible, they are non-existent in On The Rocks. 90% of people that came had to stand, and 85% of them couldn't see the stage.

 

I jokingly told my wife we should ask Richard "when is VV going to return my $1000 dive computer they still have", lol. I didn't of course, if nothing else I didn't want to put all the folks in the audience through that. 

 

We missed our 5:45pm dinner at Gunbae because of that. We stopped at Extra Virgin but they had a long waitlist. At least they still put our name on the waitlist, which was nice. We went up to try Gunbae, and they graciously seated us within10 minutes. You share your table + grill with up to 6 other people (there were 8 spots total at our table). Fortunately the company was great. One lady was particularly interesting to talk to because it was her 15th VV voyage and she had all kinds of great info (and was nice to talk to in general, though everyone was pleasant). We started with the drinking game, and I didn't win this time though I won last cruise. Oh well, I still got to drink my shot, lol. 🙂 The food was great as always. I never remember what we ordered there because it's a bit hectic, and most dishes are typically shared (but don't have to be). I'll post the menus and will try to figure it out. I know the main BBQ was squid, shrimp, kalbi ribs, and octopus. Everything delicious. We wanted more octopus (we love it after our Greece trips) and they got seconds grilled very quickly as well. Excellent service from Ratta. My wife and I had a bottle of plumb soju, which was delish. So great food and lovely company to finish up the day.

 

Excellent sea day. The event with Richard and Boy George was such an unexcepted blast. Loved it. Great exercise classes, and lots of great food as always. 

Edited September 3 by TripsYouMustDo

[TripsYouMustDo]

[TripsYouMustDo]

Breakfast at Razzle Dazzle 

 

 

Note - you can get "regular" (as in "free") orange juice - just make sure you say "regular", otherwise it's $8 for freshly squeezed.

 

Mushrooms Tartar

I was impressed - I asked for Splenda, and got a container of Splenda only, not 2 packets of each of 4 sweeteners, but actually what I asked for. 

 

 

Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Frittata

 

Rainbow Churros (Ube Ice Creem, Strawberry Caramel)

 

 

Edited September 5 by TripsYouMustDo

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Gunbae

 

Seafood Hot Dog

 

 

Forever Crispy Chicken

 

 

BBQ - that was shared so no great individual pics

 

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Mat O'Ree Band (bluegrass) performed at the Manor instead of night club (on the sea day, Day 4)

 

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Day 5 - Bimini Beach Club

 

We woke up close to 8am, which was our arrival time at Bimini, and decided to skip pre-booked breakfast at the Wake in favor of grabbing some food in the Beach Club. BIG MISTAKE! Food doesn't open till 11:30am. Grab some breakfast before you go if you go early. We didn't know though and wanted to go before it got too hot. My wife cannot go into the water and she's heat intolerant, so we wanted to be there as early as we could. I figured I'd go again later in the day by myself for the pool party/cocktail hour (cocktail hour is Celebration Voyage special, pool party is always happens AFAIK). 

 

We caught free shuttle by the ship that Virgin organizes. They were going pretty much non-stop. Had several lined up and the next one would pull up to load as soon as the previous one left. Nicely done VV. It's a short ride to the beach club (like a couple of minutes, maybe 5?). Same shuttle will take you the shore excursions as well (at least some of them) and can stop the Resorts World Casino (not sure about the Casino logistics, some stopped there others didn't). Anyway, we went direct to the beach club in the morning. It was our second time there (first time was our first cruise with VV on Scarlett last year in March). Since it's a beach club, there is a very nice beach of course, sandy and clean. Lost of loungers and umbrellas. I think there is enough space for the entire ship at once! There is also a very large pool where they do pool party/floats/etc/and just lots and lots of drinking in the pool. 🙂 Many bars around, and two food stations - north and south, on two ends. As I mentioned turned out the food doesn't open till 11:30am. Never got to try it, but looked good, and seemed like it was Caribbean-focused menu. If I am ever there again, I'll plan the day better to eat at the beach club. Anyway, there is also Rockstars pavilion of course, their private area where mere mortals aren't allowed. Many restrooms, showers, changing rooms, etc. Very nice, clean, and pretty. 

 

We went straight to the beach. I brought my own masks/fins/snorkel and an underwater camera hoping to see some sea life. My wife doesn't go in the water, so she relaxed in a lounger while I jumped in and swam around. The main beach area is just pretty sand and nothing to see underwater. You need to go to the rock outcroppings on the south end of the beach to see some pretty fish. I saw one about 2 feet long, the rest were much smaller but pretty tropical fish nonetheless. So if you want to snorkel, you can. Just swim to the rocks at the south. Saw a few jellyfish, so be careful. Water was great and I didn't want to get out, but didn't want to be selfish since my wife couldn't join me and it was starting to get hot already. I got out, showered off and we caught a shuttle back to the ship (that stopped at the Casino and Fishermen's Village with some shops, and also that's where the shore excursions depart from (some of them anyway), Kayak Beach, etc. I believe that's where we went scuba diving from last year as well with Neal Watson (hammerhead sharks!). 

 

Back on the ship by about 10am I believe, maybe a few minutes after. Went down to the Wake for brunch. For some reason I thought cocktail hour (Celebration Voyage happy hour with open bar) was going to start at 2:00pm, but turned out it was 1pm. I ate bit too much. I got clam chowder, poached shrimp, The Wake (pork belly benedict), and crepe cake. My wife got poached shrimp, steak-no-eggs, and crepe cake. Excellent service my Muly and perfectly prepared food. Also Anna, the host / manager at the Wake, is probably the friendliest of them, always so nice! We actually stopped by Razzle Dazzle first, but turned out they closed early in Bimini, so don't assume brunch is until 1pm every day. In ports Razzle Dazzle seem to open at 7am, but I guess they shut down a bit early? Always double-check the schedule in the app and/or daily Glance paper. 
 

That's when I realized the cocktail hour and pool party was 1:00pm-2:30pm. As it turned out (and I don't believe it said it anywhere), the cocktail hour was actually until 2pm (which is when the free drinks were cut, as I found out by trying to order one, lol), but the pool party was until 2:30pm. Not sure I saw that distinction anywhere. Get your drinks early. Anyway, my wife didn't go with me as she can't handle the heat, already did too much walking (for her, everything is very close, but out of wheelchair she is very limited in mobility. For able-bodied people the distances are very-very short). So I went by myself with a camera and without swimwear this time. The party was just getting started as I arrived there almost perfectly at 1pm on a shuttle. It was crowded but in a lively as opposed to intolerable way. Still plenty of space to move around. I never really sat down but just walked around and took some pictures and videos of the festivities. The free drinks were available but not quite as easily obtained as on the ship. You had to wait in line in a bar to order one. However, the waiters also walked around with large pitchers providing folks refills. There was a lot of ice in each glass initially, so I guess the recipe was to grab just one glass (with lots of ice and very little actual drink) and then get refills. The cool part was that they actually refilled drinks for folks inside the pool! They didn't even have to get out. That was well done. I had I think three or four drinks (because they were mostly ice with a couple of swallows of the actual cocktail), which was just fine with me - still pretty much sober, which is what I wanted. The drinks were exactly the same as the first cocktail hour (on day 2). Turned out there were only two of them (see recipe card for day 2), they just served them in different size and shape glasses, which confused me. They were limiting people to 1 at a time, but allowed someone to get two drinks (one for their spouse), so they weren't unreasonable. 

 

Anyway, the pool party. I think it started with Giant Float party at noon - the pool already had a ton of giant floats in it. When I arrived I think I heard Michelle say a few words and then she speed walked (literally, almost ran) to the Rockstars tent/pavilion. (I wasn't sure it was her talking initially but saw her speed walking past the pool). She didn't socialize with "regular" guests. (I know, who needs to talk to us, peasants. Rockstars are where the big money is, lol). I was actually going to ask her about the issue with my dive computer not being returned, but that all seems to be mostly resolved now anyway (see the other thread about it). 

After that the Happenings Cast was entertaining us - they danced on the stands, around the pool, blew bubbles, rode floats in the pool, and ended the official pool party at 2:30pm by jumping into the pool. It was good fun, and very amusing (to me anyway). I didn't go into the pool but enjoyed people watching. There was a large group of guests that were dancing by the pool to the same songs/dances and were giving Happenings Cast competition 🙂

I headed back at 2:30pm and was on the ship by 3:00pm after taking a few pictures of the ship (it was in a perfect location for that). 

 

We spent a bit of time packing and doing some stuff on the computer, and we were off to dinner at Extra Virgin at 5:45pm. It's funny but Extra Virgin food seems to be better to me on the US itineraries than European (or maybe it better on Scarlett and Valiant as opposed to Resilient, since Resilient is the only ship I sailed on in Europe). We had Calamari, Beef Carpaccio, Eggplant Parmesan, Steak, and table-side gelato for desert. I also ordered a bottle of Morelli beer to complete Italian experience (my wife stuck with diet coke). You can't have drip/free coffee at Extra Virgin, but they will add espresso to your gelato, which is just as good (if not better), no extra charge. We wanted to try to see 7:30pm Untitled DanceShowPartyThing, I hated it before, but figured we'd give it one more try. So we asked to have our desert while we finishing up our entrees, and they got us out of there by 7:15pm. Shout out to Fatmalyn (yes, I had to take a picture of her name tag! 🙂 ), and Arum for speedy (per our request) but attentive service!

 

I ran to the Red Room ahead of my wife since she can't walk fast, and tried grabbing some of the side ADA seating on the couches that they have on the Resilient on Deck 7 (second level) of the Red Room. That's the ideal ADA seating (if you can get out of the wheelchair) because you can see the entire room (front to back) and you can see over the railing *on the couch* (not in the wheelchair, at least not my wife). However, here on the Valiant the couches were not setup on the sides portions of upper level of the Red Room. I thought it was just an oversight and pushed one of the couches to the side myself (they are light). Unfortunately one of the ushers came out and very very nicely (yes, I mean that) told me that unfortunately I could not do that because they needed the side wings for a part of the show. Ugh. Oh well. I pushed the couch back and grabbed my wife a regular seat at the glass partition in the front row of the upper level tiered seating (hard to explain if you haven't seen it, but basically next best option, kind of like front raw of the balcony). Unfortunately they had most of the front row blocked with the large-screen TVs they were using for the show. There were only a couple of seats left, and they have horrible sightlines. You couldn't quite see the entire showroom from those seats. So basically no good ADA seating options for the Untitled. Thanks VV. It goes along with other things they are doing. It's funny that just the previous day Richard was talking about being inclusive (though he was talking in the context of LGBTQ+ rights). 

 

Anyway, fortunately both my wife and I still thought the show (Untitled DanceShowPartyThing) was, well, not good (not to call it absolutely horrible). We were told it was redone and shortened, but we both found it slow, drawn out, and confusing. SPOILER ALERT! It's a hip-hop based show, and while I do enjoy watching hip-hop dancing, I thought the choreography wasn't very impressive (though the dancers were clearly talented). Also it was sooo slowwwww. I hate to be so negative, but I want to be honest. E.g. beginning of the show. Red Room goes dark. Then the lights come on and dancers come out in their (horrible? boring?) overalls outfits. They start stretching (as a part of the show). FOR FIVE MINUTES! They just walk around and stretch for 5 minutes! From 7pm till 7:05pm! It's an immersive show - four stages (one large stationary, two small stationary, and one large moving platform) and dancers dance on them and jump off and dance in the audience/with the audience. They played some catchy tunes and did some line dances with the audience - wobble, etc. They did some hip-hop dancing on the moving and stationary stages. Video screens with a cat narrating varous little scenes that were being re-enacted by performers are also used. A singer came out at one point and sang two songs. They did a love train thing on the showroom floor with the audience. That's kinda about it. If it sounds incohesive, yes, it didn't make sense. We actually left the 7:30pm show after about 20 minutes. I made myself come back for the 10pm show and watched about 95% of it (left after 50 minutes to go to the Circus Disco show, and they were *still* not quite done doing... whatever it is). I am sorry, I don't get the Untitled thing. I saw many other people leave both 7:30pm and 10pm shows. Though I saw quite a few people stay and even cheer and enjoy the show. Clearly it has its audience. One of the experienced VV cruisers (the lady that has done 15 VV cruises) said that supposedly it's the highest rated show on VV. I so completely don't get it, that I don't think I can ever make VV my primary cruise line. Between the Untitled and the Miss Behave, I find that half of their shows I can't stand. Though others (Duel Reality, Persephone, Lola's Library) I absolutely love. It's such a big division between those shows... I also liked Ships in the Night on Scarlett (modern dance), but it appears to have been replaced by Miss Behave? And Ship Show can be hit or miss depending on guest acts. So, anyway, having seen pretty much all of the Untitled DanceShowPartyThing, nope, not for me. Also, they eliminated the best ADA seating for what turned out about 1 minute of very insignificant (IMHO) scenes that could've easly been skipped or moved elsewhere. That was just bad planning and *not* being inclusive. As well as blocking other best ADA seating with the TV screens. Sorry, rant over. 

 

My wife didn't go with me to the Untitled thing for the second show of course since there is no good ADA seating and she didn't like it. She went to the Disco Circus (or Circus Disco?) show at the Manor a bit early to get us good seats on the second level of the Manor (entrance from the Sips lounge). She actually walked in before they opened the bottom doors, and while they didn't let her quite all the way in, they allowed her at least to sit down and wait instead of kicking her out. That was nice and inclusive for a change. She was able to get us two good seats with a good view of the show. It's not so much a "show" as four circus acts performed by some of the Duel Reality cast prior to the last dance party of the cruise, but they are excellent! During our cruise it was a great lyra (arial hoop) solo, funny (but good) aerial straps duo, excellent standing acro duo, and very funny (yet certainly skilled) juggler with his "assistants". I think it was over in about 15 minutes or so, but it was very worth coming to see it. As a matter of fact I wish they expanded it and just replaced the Untitled thing.

 

We got our suitcases out between the first and the second Untitled showtimes, so when we got to the room we just went to sleep.

 

So for the last day of the cruise - nice beach club with good snorkeling (in the right area), lots of great food (I so want to love VV unconditionally so I can eat only their food!!! Their food is the best!) , nice pool party with some free cocktails (curtesy of the Celebration Voyage), and one great short show. I'll write off the Untitiled thing to expanding my horizons I guess (they are not expanding *that* much). 

[TripsYouMustDo]

Welcome sign and shuttles

 

 

Beach Club pool (way before pool party started)

 

 

Beach Club Beach

 

 

Beach Club Food Menu

 

 

Beach Club Map

 

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Day 5 Glance

 

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The Wake Brunch

 

Pastries - to die for, especially the donut

 

 

The Wake (name of the dish, pork belly benedict)

 

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One of the Cocktail Hour Drinks

 

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Extra Virgin Menu

 

 

Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinigar

 

 

Bread

Calamari

Affettati Misti

Beer

 

 

Porcini-rubbed New York Strip

 

 

Oxtail Agnolotti

 

 

Eggplant Parmesan

 

 

Gelato with Espresso and Pine Nuts

 

Edited September 5 by TripsYouMustDo

[Essiesmom]

I have to totally agree about Untitled.  I found it so disjointed.  I’m sure each dancer had a choreographed routine, but it seemed so random.  And I knew there was supposed to be singing, but I couldn’t stand it and left about halfway through.  I started out down on the floor, but my 80 y/o body doesn’t stand for a whole show.  I made it upstairs but also couldn’t see a third of the performance area.  Total miss for me.  The on,y show I saw was The Hostess Sings the Rules, in the Mansion.  It was okay.  EM

[Bluebury]

Going on our first Virgin cruise in a few weeks. Loving your post as getting ideas for food options which sound and look amazing. Can you please tell me what the drinking game is that you mentioned in Gumbae, how long does it last, how much do you drink and do you have to drink it? Plus how much does it cost? Oh, forgot - what is the actual drink?

 

Thanks for the help

[TripsYouMustDo]

19 minutes ago, Bluebury said:

Going on our first Virgin cruise in a few weeks. Loving your post as getting ideas for food options which sound and look amazing. Can you please tell me what the drinking game is that you mentioned in Gumbae, how long does it last, how much do you drink and do you have to drink it? Plus how much does it cost? Oh, forgot - what is the actual drink?

 

Thanks for the help

Sure, the drinking game is free! Everyone on the table takes turn calling out numbers, starting with some random number chosen by the last person to mess up. If the number contains 3, 6, or 9, you clap instead of saying the number. If it contains two 3, 6, or 9, you clap twice (e.g. 36 or 93). You don't say the number when you clap. That's it. If you forget to clap and say the number out loud when you shouldn't, you lose. If you clap when you shouldn't, you lose. If you say the wrong number, you lose. 🙂 I think that's the basics of it. Nothing complicated. Whoever loses takes a shot of soju. Soju is basically like Korean Sake. I believe it's 16% alcohol only. So it's like taking a swallow of wine. We did have lady at the table that would only take a sip, no biggie. It's super fun. Whenever someone goes out, everyone yells Gunbae! The last person in the game is the winner. Sometimes they will give the winner the rest of the bottle, sometimes they don't. The entire place is very loud with people at different tables playing the game and yelling. It's good party atmosphere as long as people at your table are game. I've gone to Gumbae 6-7 times total, and only once the table was uncomfortably quiet (but it was literally 9pm on the last night of the cruise, I guess everyone was out of energy). In general it's a blast, and I loved people we had to share the table with every time. Even the quiet table was very nice people, just low energy (at least on that particular night).

[TripsYouMustDo]

Last but not least - Day 6 - Debarkation

 

Virgin's debarkation is so nice because you can be in your room until 10:30am. You do have to book your debarkation slot via Shore Things (shore excursions) in the app. This time I was able to book my debarkation time the day before the cruise started. So don't wait too long. Earliest slots and 10:30am slot (latest one) will go quick. Though they are not too bad about kicking you out of the room. 

 

The suitcase procedure is slightly different from other cruise lines. You simply keep on your embarkation tags, and they unload your suitcases in the order of debarkation time (e.g. 10:30am debarkation will be the last ones to get unloaded). You don't have to get debarkation group number and debarkation tags (they don't really exist). So just keep your embarkation tags on and have your suitcases outside of your cabin by 10:00pm. They will magically appear at the terminal at the correct time. 

 

Both branch restaurants (Razzle Dazzle and The Wake) open at 6:30am on debarkation day, super-nice. The Galley is of course 24 hours, which is even better (the breakfast part of it anyway). 

 

We ate at Razzle Dazzle at 6:30am before it got too busy. Excellent service from Cecilia and great food as always. I ordered Watermelon Cream, Razzle Dazzle Breakfast, a side of bacon, and Rainbow Churros for desert. My wife got just the watermelon and the bacon. Bacon was sweet and SPICY on Valiant! We didn't expect that. It was just sweet on Resilient, but on Valiant it was so peppery that my mouth was burning and my eyes were watering. It was too much, though I still liked it. My wife couldn't eat hers at all. On Resilient it was her favorite item at Razzle Dazzle. On the other hand the watermelon was still great, so was the rest of the food. I am ok with vegetarian sausage though it's not my favorite. 

 

After breakfast back to the room to finish packing. My wife was able to relax for a bit before we had to debark. At around 10:15am we walked out of the cabin, well, I walked out and pushed my wife off of the ship in her wheelchair. VV does *not* provide special assistance to people in wheelchairs on the ship. At least that's their official policy. Unofficially, I had mixed success with asking for debarkation assistance with the wheelchair. They promise to help you form the ship's gangway down, but not on the ship itself. I guess the idea is that you should be self-sufficient on the ship, or else don't come? 

 

Anyway, I struggled a bit but I managed our carry-on luggage and the wheelchair up and down the fairly rough gangways. One lady in front of us - younger and not disabled - fell with all her luggage on the gangway. It was that bad. Once again, special assistance on VV is lacking. 

Other than that debarkation was pretty easy. The line moved quick and we were down the elevator and out of the terminal probably in 10-15 minutes. The longest delay was the elevator. They had a line and only one out of two elevators working for some reason. They scanned our face for immigration and we got green light. Didn't even have to show our passports. 

We got porter's help with the luggage (to get it to the curb where I would pick up my wife in our rental). Theoretically the Avis location I rented from has a cruise port shuttle, practically it comes too infrequently to be practical, and Uber was only $11, so I just called Uber. The driver couldn't stop by the terminal door for some reason and just drove through and stopped just passed it. I am not sure if that's because cabby's are still trying to fight Uber or what. Taxies were stopped right there no problem of course. They get to rip people off and yet they get the best spots to park. What a system. I avoid taxies as a plague. Anyway, I got to Avis quickly (5 minutes). My rental was ready, I returned to the port and got my wife. Overall within 20 minutes we both were out of the terminal (after walking out).

 

That was the end of our cruise! Debarkation was smooth overall.

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View of Miami from our balcony when we arrived

 

and later (panorama)

 

 

Watermelon at the Wake - OMG Amazing!

 

 

Razzle Dazzle breakfast

 

 

Sweet & Spicy bacon - TOO SPICY! Much better on Resilient

 

 

and always Rainbow Churros - because Ice Cream and Churros is breakfast of champions!

 

[TripsYouMustDo]

Random Thoughts After The Cruise

 

• Still like VV after the 5th cruise, but they will not be out favorite cruise line. They could've been one of the backups, but not after that embarkation experience on Day 1 on  this cruise. NCL did the same thing to my wife 2 years ago and we haven't sailed with them since. Not sure we are coming back to VV after that. The only reason we went on five cruises with them honestly was because we had credit card reward points and were able to redeem them for VV cruises at great value, but even that will not be enough. My wife goes through enough pain as it is.

 

• However, the food is still to die for. Best food of any cruise line. We've sailed on Celebrity, Princess and Holland America (not to mention MSC, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Carnival), and VV food is by far the best! That makes me want to love VV so much! I wish it were my favorite cruise line.

 

• Service was overall the best out of our 5 VV cruises, especially in the restaurants. Really the only bad service we got was at the terminal and at the Ship Show (from the ushers, starting from not accommodating my disabled wife to trying to give us a bad table even though we were second in line, etc.) Everyone else in every single venue (dining and otherwise) was wonderful.
   
• I interacted with the Happenings Cast more than usual this cruise and found this cast to be the best out of 5 cruises (sadly it was their last week, but they were great actually, not stuck-up or aloof like on some other cruises VV I've done). Sadly it was their last week. Different cast on Valiant next week.

 

• I was glad to see Duel Reality show is just as mind-blowing on Valiant as it was on Scarlett. Still sad it's not on Resilient (though I do think Persephone is great, and so is Lola's Library). VV does have some of the best show on cruise ships.
   
• No kids is really not as great as you may think because some adults behave worse than kids, e.g. the woman that was trying to start a fight with my disabled wife at the Scarlett Night. Not typical, but happens. Though we did meet a lot of absolutely lovely people to be honest, probably more so than any other cruise line
   
• I'm still resistant to VV trying to push people to do things in groups as opposed to couples (from Gunbae dining to making us form dance crews at the Boy Band Dance Club, to team-based trivia, etc.). It's not my thing in general, though overall those experiences work out well more often than not
   
• Getting slightly tired of repetitive nature of things since all three ships are exactly the same. With Royal or MSC or other cruise lines there is always a different *class* of ships to explore, not just a different ship. With VV it's always the same old thing. It's a good old thing 🙂 but I like adventure and unknown (especially when it works out well). Discovering a new ship is a part of cruising for us
   
• Still not enough activities for me. I love RCCL for Flowrider, Climbing Wall, Ice Skating, Roller Skating, Bumper Cars, etc., etc. (Yes, I do many of those daily on every RCCL cruise, even learned stand-up surfing). Virgin's "Ship Is Not The Destination" philosophy doesn't quite work for me. No destinations other than the ship can be guaranteed due to the unpredictable weather, so the ship better be a pretty darn good destination. 
   
• Some of the shows (Miss Behave, The UntitledDancePartyShowThing) rub us so much the wrong way that it makes me think VV is not the right cruise line for us - we just don't get them and never will. Never had such an experience on other cruise lines where I *hated* a show with passion, not just didn't care for it. These two shows make we want to rant and rave (and obviously I do 🙂 ) 
   
• I loved hearing Richard talk this trip and that made we want to love VV, though still can't. He is such a cool and classy man. I will fondly remember his non-poolside 🙂 talk with Boy George for a long time
   
• Bimini is probably one of the coolest private clubs on a non-private island with not as much "class separation" and "extra charge" things as on other private islands (though there is certainly some of that, e.g. Rockstar Pavilion, etc.)
   
• VV has the worst loyalty program (for me) out of any cruise line. Every single other cruise line gave me full cruise loyalty credit (days/points/etc.) even on the promotional cruises I've done with them (MSC, RCCL, Carnival, even NCL). VV has given me zero loyalty points/status after 5 cruises with them. Yes, I got great deals on those cruises, but not giving me loyalty status is not endearing VV to me any - instead other cruise lines are more appealing. I've done 5 free cruises with RCCL and got full credit for them. I paid for 8 cruises as well, and will be Diamond in February. Which cruise line do you think I will prefer because of this reason? (Well, one of the reasons anyway). 
   
• Seems to be more nickel-n-diming on VV than before. Rarely did I get offered free orange juice at the eateries (even though it's available), they seem to push "freshly squeezed" variety for $8. Not having free coffee for dinner in 3 out of 5 of its restaurants (Pink Agave, Extra Virgin, Gunbae) is ridiculous considering the food is supposed to be more "all-inclusive" on VV than any other cruise line. (Actually not sure about Test Kitchen - anyone knows if drip coffee is available?). Anyway, also many activities now have the extra charge.
   
• Charging $50 for Another Rose is annoying. Will never see that (though for a different reason). If it's the best/main show, it should be included and people shouldn't be forced to drink alcohol to justify price of admission (I believe 3 drinks are included?)
   
• Not being able to get ice cream with another desert during dinner is a bummer. Almost no restaurants have ice cream. Yes, I know, we can just go to "Lick Me Till...", but it would be so much nicer to be able to just have it on the side at dinner. It might be a minor thing to many, but my wife lives for ice cream and candy 🙂 
   
• So on the positive side, my wife LOVES free cany at the Social Club and frequents it several times a day 🙂 She always asks me "Is that the cruise line with the candy?" - "Yes dear" - "OK, let's try them again". 🙂 
   
• I noticed VV is becoming more like other "regular" cruise lines with Bingo, Pickleball, etc. Not necessarily something I'd be crazy about either. It was refreshing to me to have a cruise line with *no* bingo, but hey, you can't please all people all the time. I think the next thing will be mini-golf being added on The Perch or something? 🙂 (Hope not, nothing against mini-golf, but yeah, sometimes it's not to be different I guess).
   
• It was disappointed that execs (CEO, COO) did not socialize with "regular", non-rockstar cruisers much on this Celebration voyage. It was done a lot more on the last Celebratoipn cruise out of Athens
   
• A lot fewer cocktail hours / happy hours on this Celebration cruise. Last Celebration cruise had happy hour every single day of the cruise, with CEO Tom hanging out with guests for the entire hour and even serving the drinks
   
• On a positive note - it was refreshing that most shows are now first-come-first serve instead of having one more thing to book! Seems that only "dinner shows" - namely Ship Show and Another Rose need to be booked, all other shows are first-come first-serve
   
• Also a positive change - VHS workout (which I consider signature event for VV) is now in the Red Room with plenty more space for folks to participate
   
• No luggage tags I can pre-print for embarkation is super-annoying. It's just one more thing that delays embarkation and a point of initial stress - I have to make sure I know my cabin number, or hope the app doesn't screw up when I'm checking my cabin number while a porter is waiting for it. Then I have to trust the porter to write down the cabin number correctly and staple the tag security. For the love of god VV, please let people pre-print their luggage tags! Don't *require* it, but at least allow it? Pretty, please?
   
• On the other hand debarkation handling of the luggage is lovely. It always annoyed me with other cruise lines - I already have the embarkation tag on my suitcase. It has all the info you want on the debarkation tag. Why do they make us fill out all of that all over again? VV does debarkation luggage thing well.
   
• Funnily enough, postage stamp pool doesn't bother me at all - I don't swim in the pools, I only swim/snorkel/scuba dive in the ocean. Check out those news reports about pool water test results, you will stay out as well. 
   
• Still not blown away by the Scarlett Night. Seen it 5 times from different spots - upper deck, lower deck, port, starboard, up close, from further away - it's cute. It's gimmicky. It's good fun. It's not mind-blowing as I expected it to be (Duel Reality show is my definition of mind-blowing. Yes, I understand they can't do that in the pool 🙂 )
   
• Pajama Party... Yawn. First cruise we went out and bough red pajamas. And then we were like - "that's it? really?". Now I still check it out for a couple of minutes, but that's it. Really-really not impressed.
   
• But... I *HAVE TO* say it one more time - VV has the BEST FOOD of any cruise line. Period. Sorry other cruise lines, suck it up. Not even close. Not even Princess (that I've heard so much about prior to trying it this year). 🙂 
   
• Anyway, as you can probably tell, VV is a very mixed bag for us after 5 cruises. There are so many things we like, but there are still so many things we dislike... The main point of contention is honestly the ADA/special assistance/help for my disabled wife. VV is not good at it more often than not, and that I cannot forgive, so likely (but not for sure 🙂 ) goodbye VV... Maybe they will tempt us with a great offer on Brilliant Lady out of Seattle (Seattle cruise terminal staff is normally nice and compassionate), but we are not going to seek it out too much. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

Had to add one more random thought (going back to the horrible embarkation experience) - check out these two pictures. 

Huge airconditioned terminal V - empty inside!

 

while people are made to stand in lines outside in Miami heat in August???

 

We are not talking just my disabled wife. We are talking everyone. Why build a huge beautiful air-conditioned terminal, and then allow only Rockstars inside while keeping all other passengers (Sailors, whatever) outside in Miami heat in August? Why treat your customers like that? 

To maintain class separation? To sell more A Touch Of Romance packages that include early embarkation? Doesn't seem reasonable to me, sorry. OK, rant over. 🙂 

 

Edited September 6 by TripsYouMustDo

[ceilidh1]

21 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Had to add one more random thought (going back to the horrible embarkation experience) - check out these two pictures. 

Huge airconditioned terminal V - empty inside!

 

while people are made to stand in lines outside in Miami heat in August???

 

We are not talking just my disabled wife. We are talking everyone. Why build a huge beautiful air-conditioned terminal, and then allow only Rockstars inside while keeping all other passengers (Sailors, whatever) outside in Miami heat in August? Why treat your customers like that? 

To maintain class separation? To sell more A Touch Of Romance packages that include early embarkation? Doesn't seem reasonable to me, sorry. OK, rant over. 🙂 

 

I've said this SO MANY times. Why have that beautiful (huge) terminal building but make everyone stand outside. I honestly don't get it!

 

Thanks for the review - I enjoyed following along. I'm looking forward to another trip on Scarlet in Feb and then also booked for Panama Canal and California coastals on Brilliant in 2026. I'm so stoked VV is coming out West!

[csr10236]

Thank you so much for this review. I am taking my first VV cruise in May. Now I understand the differences in the cruise lines.

You mentioned you've taken 5 cruises using CC points. Which CC were you able to use? Is it one related to VV?

[TripsYouMustDo]

20 hours ago, csr10236 said:

Thank you so much for this review. I am taking my first VV cruise in May. Now I understand the differences in the cruise lines.

You mentioned you've taken 5 cruises using CC points. Which CC were you able to use? Is it one related to VV?

 

You are welcome!

 

I used Capital One points and American Express points. You can transfer points from either one of those to Virgin Red (or Virgin Atlantic and then Virgin Red), and then redeem Virgin Red points for cruises. 

 

To make it better, they both periodically have 30% transfer bonus to Virgin (I hit it all three times), so it becomes even cheaper.

 

Cruises are not available to get on points all the time, they seem to release them once in a while (several times a year?) and redemption rates seem to vary quite a bit. 

 

You can use the new Virgin credit card points/sign-up bonus for that as well, but I personally prefer other cards (as I mentioned Capital One and American Express) that have multiple travel partners instead of being locked in into Virgin only as you would be with Virgin credit cards.

[csr10236]

5 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

 

You are welcome!

 

I used Capital One points and American Express points. You can transfer points from either one of those to Virgin Red (or Virgin Atlantic and then Virgin Red), and then redeem Virgin Red points for cruises. 

 

To make it better, they both periodically have 30% transfer bonus to Virgin (I hit it all three times), so it becomes even cheaper.

 

Cruises are not available to get on points all the time, they seem to release them once in a while (several times a year?) and redemption rates seem to vary quite a bit. 

 

You can use the new Virgin credit card points/sign-up bonus for that as well, but I personally prefer other cards (as I mentioned Capital One and American Express) that have multiple travel partners instead of being locked in into Virgin only as you would be with Virgin credit cards.

Ohhhh I have American Express! Where do I go to see what cruises can be redeemed for points? 

[jon81uk]

34 minutes ago, csr10236 said:

Ohhhh I have American Express! Where do I go to see what cruises can be redeemed for points? 

Starts from 115k points for five nights to 280k for a two week transatlantic 

https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/spend-virgin-points?category=Travel

[denamo]

What a great review!  I contacted our TA today for a quote to consider booking VV.  It would actually be a five day before a Royal 7 day...a side by side.  Your take seems to be probably what ours would be as well.  Guess it's one of those experiences to have at least once.  Thanks again for the all encompassing review!

[TripsYouMustDo]

16 minutes ago, denamo said:

What a great review!  I contacted our TA today for a quote to consider booking VV.  It would actually be a five day before a Royal 7 day...a side by side.  Your take seems to be probably what ours would be as well.  Guess it's one of those experiences to have at least once.  Thanks again for the all encompassing review!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

 

We actually did 5 days on Independences of the Seas just 3 days after - September 7th through 12th. It's definitely very different experiences! 🙂 While in a number of areas Virgin wins (mostly rooms and food), I still ended up booking yet another cruise on Royal but not on VV. I wanted to do live review from Independence as well and compare both, but Royal has *so much to do* on the ship- I was running from ice skating to Flowrider to rock climbing to laser tag (yes, I belong on the ship with the kids I guess, lol 🙂 )

 

But Royal is not for everyone and VV is a great cruise line folks should experience and keep as an option IMHO.

 

For me though - 5 future cruises currently booked on Royal (Oasis, Harmony, Allure, Anthem, and Explorer), 0 on VV, so that's where I stand 🙂 

 

I hope you enjoy your VV cruise, and as always happy to answer questions. The food is to die for, the rooms are much lore luxurious than Royal, and some of the shows on VV are great!

Edited Tuesday at 05:35 AM by TripsYouMustDo