Virgin Voyages, A First Person Review

Virgin Voyages Experience (Check out the Video Review)

Booking: Booking a Virgin Voyages cruise was straightforward. The reservation agent was friendly and efficient, and I received a confirmation email almost immediately. The email included a link to their app, which is standard for cruise lines these days. I found the Virgin app quirky and less reliable than others. I frequently required me to close and reopen the app.

Dining Reservations: Virgin does not have a main dining room or traditional buffet. They offer several specialty restaurants included in the cost of the cruise. Reservations aren’t required for the six premier restaurants, but they’re recommended to secure a time you select. You can only book each restaurant once per trip through the app (this is dependent on the number of nights on the cruise). If you forget to make reservations, some are left available until people board the ship. There are additional non traditional eateries aboard that do not require reservations.

Upgrades Before: About a month before sailing, I received an offer to bid on a room upgrade. You submit a max price, and the cruise line decides whether to accept your bid. This can be a good deal, but be cautious. As the trip approached, I received more upgrade offers, likely due to extra room availability. I also received several "upgrade" emails closer to the sailing date, including offers for spa packages and excursions. I hoped Virgin would avoid this, but like other cruise companies, this is a significant profit source.

The embarkation process was quick and easy. Even though my boarding time was 3:45, there was no line by 3:00 so they invited me to board the ship.The process seemed quicker than other cruise lines with ample personnel on hand to handle the large number of people. I noticed how friendly everyone was in their Virgin Red outfits. Every service rep was friendly. 

Room and Board: This trip was meant to be a familiarization trip which would give me the opportunity to explore and see what Virgin Voyages offers. I reserved a balcony room and it was exactly as I would have expected. Virgin pushes hard about their red hammock on the balcony and it was there. Nothing special about it. I was afraid to get in because I was afraid to get stuck. The room was clean, neat and was cleaned daily. I will not lie. i did miss the traditional towel animals you find on most ships.I met my steward on the second day and she was very nice. I had no special requests and no special needs. The bed was standard cruise bedding and the mattress was rather thin an hard. Nothing new here. The sheets were soft and cozy so the room met my expectations.

Key card no More: Virgin Voyages uses a near field device instead of a traditional key card. Other companies are adapting this technology for their cruises as well. Princess calls it their “medallion class”  The FOB devices connect to a wrist band that is worn or carried with you, including when getting off in port. The device is fitted as a bracelet. Within the first 10 Minutes of having the string around my wrist, I removed it because it was irritating.  Within 5 minutes I lost it.  Luckily guest services easily replaced the band and reprogram it. I would ask Virgin to include optional methods of carrying the device (like a lanyard)  These devices replace the traditional cruise key card. You can make purchases simply by holding your fob near a reader and your transaction is complete.

Tatted Up:  Virgin voyages is one of the few cruise lines that has a tattoo parlor. When I went in there on the first night, there were plenty of people considering a tattoo to commemorate their trip. Prices seemed to be elevated. Most People do not shop tattoos, so pricing is a unknown factor. The tattoo parlor on board is what I would consider, gimmiky.

Eating arrangements: The Italian restaurant named Extra Virgin has been my favorite meal so far. The steak was amazing (i know, steak at an Italian place?). In addition, I had the spaghetti so I could say I ate Italian.. The starter course was a charcuterie board and a caesar salad.  I was full by the time desert was offered.  NOT wanting to be rude, I accepted the vanilla and whiskey gelato. It was ok, nothing to write home bout. Virgin does not have a main dining room and you eat in a different restaurant each evening I wondered about traditional tipping and found out it is not something to be concerned with. I found this interesting, but realized it was a money saver for the passenger 

Dinner at "Extra Virgin" was amazing. The steak and pasta were fresh, cooked perfectly, and very tasty.

Eating and Food Choices: I found that the eating venues have a rather limited choice of foods.  They are tasty, but a little too foodie oriented for me. I ate at five different venues and would rate each 7/10 for food, a 10/10 for service. The options for lunches are somewhat limited, including one restaurant you have to make a reservation for. The other options are the casual eating venues that are located through out the ship. There are indeed many eating venues available. 

Solo Traveler: There is a concerted focus for solo travelers. I ran into many who found the option pleasantly affordable. Virgin provides many scheduled activities and provides plenty of opportunities to mix and mingle. Certain shipboard events are geared towards providing interesting opportunities for solo travelers to interact. Virgin offers solo cabins that allows a traveler the ability to pay for a single room for themselves and not incur the additional passenger charge that other cabins require. Several ships and cruise lines are adopting a friendlier attitude towards this group of people. I would encourage other cruise lines to increase their solo cruiser capacity. Solo cabins do go pretty quickly, so if you are seeking one, look early.

Shipboard Navigation: The way finding on the ship was not as useful as other cruise ships I have been on. It was a comment I heard while interacting with other passengers. Way signs and navigation are key to passengers feeling comfortable on the ship, knowing where everything is located makes people feel comfortable. There are plenty of signs throughout the ship, but they just didn’t seem to be enough. I do consider myself navigationally challenged so that could be a problem.

Pools  and Water: There are two pools on board and by the look of it several times, it was massively packed. I have talked with several passengers who have shared their frustration about the lack of space and people hogging the chairs. This seems to be a common theme on most cruise ships, and it is nothing unusual. I have noticed other cruise lines attempt to be more proactive about people reserving and holding chairs all day. 

Entertainment: The entertainment on board is predominantly music oriented. This makes sense since this company is a “Virgin” Record owned company and embraces music in everything it does. There are other entertainment options but you will not see the live musicals, or broadway ish shows that most ships have. This is not a bad thing, it is just something to be aware of. The entertainment this evening was a magician/mentalist. An excellent show and it was very fun and fun to be a part of. Music was playing all day in all venues. I found it a bit disturbing, but most people enjoyed it.

Captain and Interactions: on the last several cruises I have been on the captain interacted with the passengers with daily and several time announcements including debarkation and just information. On this cruise, there was little to no ship wide captain announcements. I did miss that type of top level interactions.  It was something that was different. After speaking with several other guests, they enjoyed the no announcement over the public address system.

All included? Is everything really included? I guess this is a hard question to really answer. YES, Wi-Fi was included, but I felt it was barely enough for some basic functions, BUT it was included and allowed for basic functionality. Additional capacity is available for an extra charge. Sodas were also included and there were no restrictions as on some other trips. Coffee was included, but only that which was served in the “Galley”. The “specialty coffee” was an extra charge. I bought two specialty coffee. They were ok, nothing extra special about them. The only “extra” I purchased towards the end of the trip was a transfer from the ship to the airport. The cost was $39.00 while I paid $68.00 to get from the airport to the terminal.  

Alcohol not included: Alcohol is offered morning, noon and night. This is apparent on every ship and nothing better or worst on Virgin “In fact, according to an industry publication, alcohol beverages now account for one-third of all onboard revenue. Ten years ago, cruise line passengers might have made the decision of which cruise line to pick based on culinary options. Now, they are making the decision based on onboard beverage options.”  The bar is open from sun up to long after sun down. Every business must make money and the cruise industry does it by upselling many things. Virgin does not offer an “unlimited” option like other companies. It others pre designated sums as a bar tab. You can use this bar tab any way you see fit. Anything left on the tab at the end of the cruise rolls to virgins profit. .

No Ducks (not a bad thing): Since Virgin is an adult only cruise ship, I have not seen nor heard of anyone hiding or finding ducks. I am not a duck fan myself and, quite frankly, never understood the duck phenomenon. I know duck hiding is much like scavenger hunt in on other ships, but as far as I can see, no ducks have landed on this cruise.

Crew Space: It is interesting to see many crew members eating in the common areas. I think this is great and other cruise lines should encourage their team members to eat and socialize in the common area with their travelers. It is a way for travelers and employees to interact and can enhance connections. All the crew members in the common areas always have on their company name plates on to help identify them.

Duty free does not always mean cheaper: the cruise has the obligatory on board shops. I must say the sales people are in no way as aggressive in their sales techniques as I have seen on other cruise lines. There is a more laid back approach which is refreshing to see. The prices were rarely less expensive than what you can get in other places for. The shops were

Final thoughts: Virgin Voyages offers a different type of cruise in that it is 100% children-free. It is one of the main reasons the people I spoke with chose this cruise line. I found the dining options interesting. Specialty dining has become a huge upsell item to most cruise companies. I enjoy getting to know people during dinner and creating relationships, which does not happen when dining in a different venue each evening. Virgin Voyages does its alcohol package differently than most. You pre-purchase a set amount of money and can use it for yourself or buy a drink for a friend. Any money left over at the end of the trip stays with the cruise company.

Trip Pros

• No children

• All-inclusive eating at all specialty restaurants at no additional cost.

• Very consciences of the environment by attempting to reduce waste, including no buffets (buffets waste a lot of food). This is part of Virgins commitment to the environment.

• The shopping area of the ship was very low key. No one pushing the sales of their items

• No art auction. The traditional art auction on most ships tends to be way over priced and of little value. 

• Included Wi-Fi in package price. ALTHOUGH the Wi-Fi that was included is barely enough, it is included. 

• No need to tip the wait staff since you most often will be served by a different person each evening.

• Activities available all over the ship to keep you occupied during sea days.

• Extremely clean. The staff works day and night to ensure a clean environment 

Trip Cons

• Included Wi-Fi not really sufficient. To be able to do anything via the internet, you really need to upgrade to the next level (additional fee)

• Ability to meet new people at dinner service has been eliminated because you are eating at different places each evening.

• I found that the variety of entertainment was limited.  Then again, i enjoy the broadway shows and such. Music was the primary form of entertainment all over the ship.

• Music is everywhere it exists as background noise most places on the ship. For me, this was a negative. For others, they may enjoy it.

• All communications on the ship were done by the app. There were no PA announcements at all. Again, some people may like this.

• I HATED being called a sailor, but it is their marketing. EVERYONE is a sailor.

Congrats to Christina Gomez for winning this months Amazon Gift Card