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The Greek Islands itinerary, called Greek Island Glow, includes stops at Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos, as well as a visit to Bodrum, Turkey. The other two longer Caribbean itineraries that Virgin is offering in 2024 are both out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and operated only by Valiant Lady. What are the best Virgin Voyages destinations you can visit and itineraries you can choose? While the latter voyages aren't starting up until the end of 2023, they're already open for bookings. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.
How Is Virgin Elevating Cruise Dining?
In this case, a banquette is set up in place of the second bed during the day. You'll find these interactions happening everywhere from The Manor and The Red Room -- Resilient Lady's main performance venues -- to The Dock, where awesome tapas and cocktails go along with a great wake view. Last summer, I sailed the Mediterranean Sea for seven days on a luxury Virgin Voyages cruise ship. "I loved my experience with Virgin Voyages. I have previously cruised with many other cruise lines. This cruise had the best entertainment and food." Initially, Virgin Voyages only offered shorter sailings of five or fewer nights to the Bahamas and Caribbean.
Great Experience, Great Service
This late-night haunt was perfect for ordering a pie or two after some dancing and drinks. However, the best by a mile was the white truffle with egg — a pie with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, cracked black pepper and truffle oil topped with a runny egg. The number of activities is dizzying, and they often overlap, which means you'll likely have to pick and choose. Be warned that chances are good you won't be able to see and do everything you want to in a single sailing, but that's by design. Virgin Voyages has a high rate of repeat cruisers, and it's easy to understand why. The line's ships are fantastic, and people want to come back to check out the things they weren't able to do the first time around.
Too hip or just right? Here's what it was really like sailing on Virgin Voyages for the first time
Sometimes bar tab credit is also included with the sailing as part of a promotion. Resilient Lady -- like all Virgin Voyages ships -- includes all specialty restaurants in its fare (though drinks are a different story and there are a few premium dishes that may cost extra, like the Wagyu beef at Gunbae). What you won't find, though, are stuffy dining rooms, forced group seating, mandated dining times, or tuxedo-clad staff. That goes hand-in-hand with the overall vibe of Resilient Lady, which has a natural come-as-you-are ethos.
Scarlet Lady cruise ship review: What to expect on board Virgin Voyages’ 1st ship - The Points Guy
Scarlet Lady cruise ship review: What to expect on board Virgin Voyages’ 1st ship.
Posted: Mon, 19 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The ship’s food court-styled dining, found on Deck 15, was nothing like a traditional food court. Instead of pizza, burgers, French fries, and chicken fingers, the Galley featured Bento Boxes at Bento Baby, made-to-order salads at Daily Mix, and açai bowls at The Sweet Side. We could even find freshly made juices at Juice Sea on Deck 7 and poke bowls at Sun Club Café on Deck 16. When my best friend suggested we needed some one-on-one girl time, we knew we wanted to spend a week in the Caribbean sun and escape winter’s wrath.
More unique pastimes available on board include bar crawls, coffee tastings and mixology classes (all for a fee). Free activities range from board game play, dodgeball and summer camp arts and crafts to karaoke, '90s boy band dance classes and stargazing. Head to Sip, the ship's elegant but highly trafficked Champagne bar, which is also a common spot for nightly live music. It serves up bottles, as well as afternoon tea for an extra cost. There are also more interesting concoctions, such as the Black Cat Fizz — a blend of Black Cat espresso, tonic and orange served over ice.
Carry-on drinks policy
Scarlet Lady Cruise Ship Review First-hand Expert Review - Cruise Critic
Scarlet Lady Cruise Ship Review First-hand Expert Review.
Posted: Wed, 12 Jul 2023 16:14:52 GMT [source]
The most highly sought after reservation on the ship is Gunbae, Scarlet Lady's Korean BBQ restaurant. Be prepared to make friends – all tables seat six, and your smaller party will be seated with strangers. That's OK because the communal dining and drinking games (you don't get the full experience if you don't play) aren't as much fun without a group. Scarlet Lady is peppered with restaurants and bars, and it's possible you won't be able to try them all in one sailing. Do your research in advance because some venues are easy to miss if you're not looking for them.
While I loved the lack of announcements over the intercom system or at the end of shows, I did feel like it was easy to miss out on things on board. Scarlet Lady, Virgin Voyages' original cruise ship, takes all your preconceived notions of a cruise ship and turns them on their head. In addition, a wide array of wellness classes, including spin classes and yoga classes, are included in the fare. But six restaurants for a ship the size of Scarlet Lady still is impressive (at 110,000 tons, Scarlet Lady isn't nearly as big as the biggest ships from some other lines). Virgin Voyages hypes the fact that it has more than 20 eateries on Scarlet Lady. The line gets to the higher number in part by counting all of the many separate food stations at Scarlet Lady's buffet-like food court.
Scarlet Lady is not a "read in your cabin" type of cruise ship. Overall, the service was pretty good, and I was impressed by the options for food choices, activities and entertainment, but I wish the crowd of people were less racist; the Extra Virgin experience threw us off for our last day. We come on vacation to have fun and relax, not to be profiled and made uncomfortable by racist guests. I would also like to say a big Thank you to Maria, who I was on the phone with before I got on the ship because I was running late due to my flight being delayed. She sent an urgent email to the terminal crew and informed them we were running late. She stayed on the phone with me and offered encouragement while I panicked about missing the cruise.
There's onboard entertainment that is innovative and sometimes edgy in a way that you don't normally see on cruise ships. There's staff that are there in part to encourage you to let loose a little -- or a lot. When you choose to apply (and are approved) for a new credit card through our site, we may receive compensation from our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. The rooftop lounge in the forward ship was dotted with shaded loungers and multiple hot tubs with a private bar, panoramic views, and nightly happy hour. We spent every afternoon lounging on the rooftop between excursions and watched the sunset during happy hour with an intimate group of cruisers we befriended.
But if you, like me, are tired of (or turned off by) the same-old cruise ship formula, this ship might just offer the cruise vacation you didn't know you were looking for. The ship does not have a buffet or a cavernous banquet-style dining room. Kids are not welcome, but the adults-only ship gives grownups plenty of opportunities to play in both childlike and mature ways. Cruise fares include all meals, soda, basic Wi-Fi and crew gratuities, but it's not a luxury product filled with opulent decor, sedate travelers and a stuffy vibe. Onboard entertainment will include sexual innuendos, F-bombs and queer themes. But, for the most part, I am impressed by what I am seeing on Scarlet Lady -- and that's coming from someone who has sailed on more than 150 different ships during 20-plus years of writing about cruising.
Resilient Lady puts its own spin on typical cruise ship activities. Trivia is scheduled several times a day, but it goes for more than an hour, and participants spin a wheel to determine the topic. Afternoon tea is offered for a fee and comes with a side of Champagne. Inside The Manor, the ship's den-like nightclub, there's a central bar on the first floor that serves beer, wine and cocktails. It can be crowded on nights when there's an event in the space, but if you head to the upper deck, you'll find a second bar that's often less mobbed. Plenty of seating facing the stage and dance floor area is available on both levels, so you won't miss a minute of the action.
Last year, Tom McAlpin, the president and CEO of Virgin Voyages, told TPG's resident cruise expert Gene Sloan that on early sailings of Scarlet Lady, the average passenger age was in the 50s, with plenty on board in their 60s and 70s. Based on my trip, I'd say that is still a pretty accurate representation. As soon as you step aboard, the Resilient Lady deck plan is recognizably different. The name of the game is intimacy, and the ship's spaces are crafted like social venues in dense, big cities. You won't find any juggernaut theaters, an endless ship-length casino, or even a multi-deck promenade. Resilient Lady isn't going for megamall amusement park sprawl.
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