Virgin Voyages — Attraction in Plantation

Enjoyed one of the best vacations of my life on Virgin Voyages during an 8 day trip from San Juan, PR to Miami. This adults only cruise line is a drastic improvement over traditional cruises. Embarking and disembarking were a breeze and took less than 10 minutes. At ports you walked right on and right off where waits were never more than 30ish seconds. The Sea Terrace balcony room was spotless with a modern flare while the balcony had a hammock on it which made for the perfect spot to read and nap. The shower, while compact, offered a rain shower and wand allowing you to alternate between the two options as needed. The bed was not overly comfortable yet we slept like rocks every night on it as we walked 8 to 12 miles each day. The room offered mood settings that would close or open the curtains, change the lighting, etc. The crew members seemed genuinely happy and were encouraged to be themselves. Tips are included! We were even surveyed after the cruise to ask if any crew members encouraged us to give them a tip which never hapoened. We were encouraged to let Sailor Services know if someone did a great job as it helped the crew member receive promotions and what I assume were spot bonuses. The entertainment on the show was headlined by a girl named Kennedi. If you look up Kennedi and the Groove on youtube you'll hear her cover songs from Mariah, Celine, Whitney, Ariana, and Christina with ease. Kennedi is a star in the making. I constantly found myself saying, "Wow!" as she sang. The shows were fun though we admittedly missed many as we retired to our room early nearly every night. The food....ah...the food. It was incredible. We enjoyed things like soft shell crab eggs bendict, venison tenderloin, the best falafels ever, the best clam chowder ever, strawberry and rhubarb crepe cake, and exotic dishes like blue cheese ice cream which I loved even though I don't like blue cheese. They also make their own pasta. The quality of the food is absolutely outstanding. The activities were endless. They offered sunrise yoga, meditation, 80s workout classes where nearly everyone dressed up in their 80s outfits, they offered pickleball, a boxing ring, soooo much workout equipment, crossfit, spin classes and on and on. Group classes are free. My husband and I had never seen so many fit people on a cruise. The gyms always had people in them yet you could always use whatever you wanted. The vibe was electric on Scarlet night. There are crew members and dj's to get you pumped up and in the mood to raise a glass and bring out your inner woohoo girl. During the cruise I kept telling my husband that the cruise felt like a honeymoon. It was perfect. One last thing to point out is that these ships are 17 decks tall but more narrow than the big ships so you'll feel the ship movement more than bigger ships. While we had perfect skies and temps, the seas had swells coming from different directions. I typically get seasick easily but on the ship we had a nice rocking motion for a few days though on one day we skipped dinner at the aft of the ship as the seas were rolling enough to the point where I wondered about glasses potentially falling over on the table. The crew noted the movement was unusual but no one seemed to be uncomfortable from it. The 3 hour spa session for $69/pp was well worth it as it gave access to a salt room, a steam room, a sauna, a mud room, warm pools (think hot tub but not too hot), cold plunge pools, a traditional indoor pool, and a magical room with warm marble slabs so you could enjoy a quiet nap. Other spa treatments were ridiculously priced. For example, it was $269 for a 50 minute massage. I got a facial which was nice but not worth anywhere near what I paid. For a $300 deposit, they offer a deal where you can get up to $600 off your next cruise, which can be combined with other discounts, if you book the cruise within 60 days and sail within 2 years. If you don't book within 60 days you still get a $300 discount off sailing...

My review of our VV starry nights in Greece and Croatia, May 29-June 8; which is our 3rd VV cruise. First let me list the positives. We love the ship design and modern look. All ships look the same and the Resilient Lady was clean with lots of natural light. We love the restaurants and other food choices in the Galley. But after the 3rd cruise, I was excited to hear 2 restaurants are changing their menus up and I hope the rest will also follow suit and change theirs, as the menu choices after 3 years is getting old. We love the crew and how upbeat and friendly everyone is. The crew really makes the difference and make you feel at home. ( shout out to Tanja in razzle dazzle, Dragon in wake, Felix in Gumbae, Ivanna in pink agave, and Hasan a waiter in On the rocks ).

The negative: 1) garbage cans and tents were treated more important than sailors. In Kotor, we were in line to board the last few tenders to return to ship . VV were using their own 2 tenders and the line of returning sailors was long, slow moving and it was hot. We were stopped from boarding a tender when it was our turn (it was 1/2 full) because the shore staff wanted to load their off shore equipment while the line of sweaty sailors had to wait and watch. The loading of equipment took awhile and it filled the remaining space. Requiring us to wait even longer in the sun until another tender arrived. My thoughts are, why sailors were not prioritized to board first and the equipment to be loaded on the last tender. My friend who had boarded the very tender I was denied, later said the smell inside the ship was pretty bad because the garbage cans were next to him on the tender.

2. the air conditioning worked well during the day but seemed to turn off at night while we slept making for very hot nights. Often times we woke up sweating middle of night and heard other crew members had similar issues. We asked to have someone look at our AC but the problem persisted every night. We did not have this issue on our other VV cruises.

3. the reward system (loyalty program) is not well advertised, confusing and no tracking. I found out towards the end of my 3rd cruise from “my next cruise” crew member that I should have had blue extra rewards but he couldn’t tell me why I was not awarded. So upon returning from last voyage, I called sailor services to ask why I did not receive this perk on my 3 rd cruise, only to be told by her it was my responsibility to ask for the perk when I booed my 3rd cruise. I’m confused how I would know to ask when I received no information on the loyalty levels or their qualifications ( no emails or notifications in the app) I know other loyalty programs have a tracker built into their app that shows your progress. Maybe VV could do a better job in notifying its loyal customers. I still do not know why I didn’t receive the perk.

4. my last negative was a huge let down and I felt I was scammed. For This cruise, VV advertised and offered for purchase 6 special pride cocktails, each with its own card. And if you collected all 6 cards you’d be invited to a secret special party, drinks and special guest. Of course I collected my 6 cards but unfortunately that was where the fun ended. We arrived in the manor and the premade drink offered was horrible and I counted at least 23 drinks not finished by other collectors. The “special guest “ was the diva and she stayed in a huddle with a small group and so I didn’t get a chance to say hello. In the middle of the gathering, The lights went off in our section and the diva left so we did as well. It was a complete letdown and I paid over $80 for 6 drinks for an event that fell short and an unpopular drink amongst the group. So VV why the big build up and then drop the ball? Why not offer some drink choices instead of making everyone drink 1? (We all don’t like pineapple juice) Why turn the lights off in the middle of...

My partner and i went on Virgin Voyages- Scarlet Lady December 5th- December 10th, 2021. We have traveled other cruise lines before. We researched this cruise line to great lengths and watched them build the ship on YouTube. We had a cruise scheduled in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. We honestly thought that this was going to be "our new fave". Wow were we wrong. Here we go: The food was, for the most part, yuck, small portions, vegan this, veggie that, gluten free etc. Lousy service and extremely difficult to get refills on a non alcoholic beverage. It was very apparent that if we had bought alcohol- we would have received our drinks quicker- as we seen others around us get extremely fast service on alcohol. The portions are small. I assume they give small portions so you will spend more on booze. It is definitely the typical stereotype of a "booze cruise". If you're not spending money on alcohol- they give you lower priority and get to you when they feel like it. They only had 1 main show- the communication was ZERO and the signage sucked. Scarlet Lady is a beautiful ship. Tastefully designed although slightly confusing. The room was a very nice "smart room". The live TV streams were only 4 news channels, BBC network and a Virgin Voyages channel that was pretty much useless. It would list things on the ship but you couldn't read many before it changed to the next screen. The Virgin Voyages App didn't seem finished. There were discrepancies-to real life, as it mentions you can have a BLT for lunch, but when we asked for one we were told its not on any of the menus. Really?? Then why on earth would this be in an advertisement? Thankfully our waiter at the Galley (Randy i believe) was extremely helpful and ordered the ingredients (toast, lettuce, tomato and bacon) from different restaurants. Wow what alot of work for a simple sandwich. The 1st visit to The Wake was a lunch visit. We had a fabulous Filet mignon which was cooked perfect to order. The clam chowder was awesome albeit a small portion. All of the food looked beautiful with award winning presentation- but with many dishes of vegan oriented ingredients it did not satisfy our palates. Wow....I don't ever want vegan cheesecake again. Speaking of cheesecake, while at the Wake, i was told they only served that with dinner. Approximately 5 minutes later, a gal behind me was eating the very cheesecakeI had asked for and told I could not have. You can only reserve each restaurant once per cruise, unless you want to be on standby. Really? The hours of the smaller food places were all over the place. No consistency in any of it...excluding the Pizza place open late, (Which was ok) but nothing compared to Royal Caribbeans Sorentos pizza. Iced tea refills and getting ketchup was like pulling teeth. The menu choices didn't leave much. Our 1st night we went to Razzle Dazzle. We were SOOOOO looking forward to that, more than any, and wow- FLOP!!! Only 2 non vegan choices. A fish (that they were out of- on day one i might add) and the other choice was a fried half chicken. A half chicken my entire life means just that- a half chicken including a wing, leg, thigh and a breast. Well guess what- we both got 3 pieces - a leg a thigh and a wing. All the cheap parts. When we asked our waitress why, she claimed its because there is too much food waste. I get that.... but change the menu to "3 piece chicken dinner". To me- thats just false advertising- like the BLT. We had a GREAT time just having each other's undivided attention for a week. We really needed it. So by all means - it wasn't a bad vacation- just a bad cruise line (for some people - namely US) If you're 21 to 50 and vegan and love to drink alcohol - this is the cruise for you. The staff was friendly but not bubbly and "go beyond" like other cruise lines. I feel bad giving a one star but 2 is too much and you can't give...