kwokpot

Oh wow, that's great! I'm jealous! Oh the Drag Queen show was lots of fun and not dumbed down for the masses. And I have to say the Scarlet Night Pool Party was the best deck party given by any mainstream cruiseline (Sorry Carnival). We'll be on the Celebration during Thanksgiving this November and have a Cloud Nine Spa Cabin. Yes the Thermal Suite is a bit small for the size of the ship but it has all the needed facilities and I was always able to get a heated tile lounger on the Mardi Gras on two separate cruises when we had a Cloud Nine Cabin.

Although I haven't sailed Viking it's the same target market. Virgin definitely designed the ship for Millennials. I'm a young 60 and enjoyed the many aspects of the ship but the rooms are definitely NOT UPSCALE. They are too small and the decor is Target Chic and resembles a dorm room. We had an XL SeaTerrace(Best room before a suite) and there's not enough storage for longer cruises and not even a closet door.

We've sailed all those lines and like them all for different reasons. Just got off Virgin this week and it was GREAT. Food was amazing an rivals Celebrity(Our favorite line) and maybe surpasses it. The only negative with Virgin are their cabins. We had an XL Balcony, best cabin before suites, and it's SMALL and not enough storage. The design, although attractive, is cheap Target chic and the room reassembles a dorm room. We love the Mardi Gras and the vast array of food choices is mind boggling. Enjoy your cruises!

You are able to schedule disembarkation at 15 min intervals. I apologize if I don't remember exactly but I think 8am was the earliest. It may have been even earlier. You use the app the day before to pick your disembarkation time. Then you just get off at the roundabout at your chosen time. The easiest disembarkation ever! I was surprised and disappointed that CBP did not include facial recognition. Having said that there were 3 CBP agents and we went through without waiting or delay. You're allowed to stay in your room up to 10:30.

That's good to know. I never bothered to inquire onboard. Besides the cost there a couple of design choices that bother me about this spa. First is the absence of real locker rooms as opposed to unisex changing and shower rooms. The other is the substitution of heated marble slabs instead of individual heated tile loungers.

yes

It's in a great location and if you're interested in using a gym and/or spa the Hyatt Centric shares the gym and spa facilities with the Loews across the street. The rooms are a bit sterile but the beds are very comfortable.

Have you considered bringing proctored self tests and doing it yourself in your hotel room? So much easier and simpler. The hardest part is packing the test boxes so the security seal doesn't get crushed.

Have you checked with what Royal offers and how the price compares?

That's considered 'free'. A Casino comped cruise you still have to pay the port fees and taxes. But you didn't pay the cabin fare, so you got a great deal. Don't knock it. Only MSC doesn't charge the port fees and taxes on casino comped cruises.

As has been mentioned the Cruise Planner for the spa is setup for treatments, thus the need for appointments. You NEVER have to make an appointment to use the thermal suite if you have a pass, you come and go as you please(Yes, I know right at the restart where were a few ships that required appts due to covid restrictions. That is a non-issue now.).

The OP is stating they don't want to sail on a Carnival ship that has the old Vegas vibe and enjoyed the videos about Horizon and Mardi Gras. I was just confirming the OP's thoughts.

If you book Vista class and Excel Class you'll be fine. Definitely don't book the Spirit class.

The times are check-in times, not boarding times.

That's a steal for a 7 day thermal suite pass.

We literally just disembarked from the Scarlet Lady (the easiest disembarkation ever) and at the airport. This was our 98th cruise, so as experienced cruisers this is what I will say. Virgin Voyages is not your typical cruiseline. It is most definitely designed for the 21-45 demographic, OR if you enjoy the more modern, trendy, and current lifestyles. While Celebrity's Edge Class ships would be the closest in comparison there's distinct differences that make comparisons difficult. While we have done only three Princess cruises Virgin is as far away from the Princess experience as you can get. You asked about cabins. You most definitely should get a Rockstar suite if you plan to sail Virgin. We were in a Sea Terrace XL, the highest non suite category, and I would say the cabin was our number 1 DISLIKE of the ship. The cabin, while attractive, is designed like a college dorm room. Seriously. There's not enough storage and why they felt it necessary to replace the closet doors with a sheer curtain is mind boggling since it doesn't make accessing the inside any easier. Another mistake they made was in the recent cabin 'facelift' whereby they added some woodtone design elements to make the cabin less sterile. The problem is one of those design elements, faux wood slats behind the TV, has pushed the TV a couple of inches out. There's honestly no room now to navigate to pass the bed to the balcony door. Mind you, I'm 5'6" tall and 140lbs and I had issues with passing by the TV without doing a limbo dance. What they should have done is left the TV mounted directly on the wall and placed the wooden slats around the TV. For an upscale, modern cabin Celebrity's Edge Class ships has no equal. As others have mentioned the food is Virgin's forte. I love the Galley/food hall concept. There's no comedian shows on Virgin. The closest to would be a drag queen show that's lots of fun. I'm a spa person but didn't try the spa on SL because based on the videos I didn't think it was setup very nicely. They also don't offer a whole cruise spa pass for non suite guests and $70 daypass is way too expensive. Princess, Celebrity and especially NCL do a much better job with their thermal suite offerings. MY personal recommendation,based on your desires, would be on Celebrity's Edge Class ships or even better NCL's new Prima Class ship. The newly released photos of the NCL Prima will make your jaw drop. Having said that I had a blast on the Scarlet Lady. The scarlet night pool party was hands down the best deck party put on by any cruiseline. The Manor nightclub is copy of the original Studio 54 in NYC. I found Virgin put a huge emphasis on the sound quality throughout the ship. Every spot on the ship has nightclub quality speaker systems. I enjoy attending music festivals and the music on the Scarlet Lady didn't disappoint. The entertainment is totally different from a mainstream cruiselines. Dual Reality was an excellent modern dance and gymnastics show without pretending they needed singers to mainstream the show. The previously mentioned drag show was fun, risque and about what you would see at a gay bar, with no changes made for a wider audience. This would be a perfect time to mention that the Scarlet Lady is extremely LGBTQIA friendly. As a 61 yr old Gay Asian male with a husband I found it very surprising and welcoming for a mainstream cruiseline to be so inclusive.

While are agree with some of what you said, especially about doing research, the cruise most certainly was designed with a certain demographic and/or a consumer looking for specific type of vacation experience. If you read about how the cruiseline came about it was specifically targeted for a younger demographic that never previously would have considered taking a cruise vacation. In fact the name of the Cruiseline, Virgin Voyages, was changed from it's original name Virgin Cruises so as not to be identified with a traditional cruiseline company. I'm attaching an article about something entirely different, Marriott Hotel's Moxy brand, but it speaks to exactly what Virgin Voyages is trying to achieve with it's business model. https://globetrender.com/2018/02/09/moxy-hotels-fun-hunters/

I was on the Pride in June for my 25th cruise and my sail and sail card didn't reflect it nor was there any kind of recognition at all.

There's ZERO party atmosphere on Carnival's Europe cruises.

What other information are you looking for that you haven't yet read? I was on three different itineraries for a total of 31consecutive days.

Experienced cruiser here (97 cruises and counting) currently on the Scarlet Lady for the first time. Here are some thoughts. The ship's design and programming is targeted for the 21-40 age group or the young at heart. I'm a very young almost 61 and enjoy the atmosphere. For comparison Celebrity's Edge Class ships are our favorite cruiseship experience. We are enjoying our time in the Scarlet Lady but Celebrity Edge Class still remains our favorite cruiseships. RESIST the urge to when you first get on the ship to continually comment either to yourself or traveling companion about how different it is to all other cruiseships. Cabins are too basic. The decor is reminiscent of a collage dorm room. No excuse not to have real closet doors; there's plenty of room for them and the sheer curtain doesn't make it any easier to access the interior. Bathroom in our XL terrace is the best thing about the cabin. The food is outstanding. Period. Literally every food venue the plating, preparation, and food quality has been outstanding and I might put it ahead of Celebrity's Edge Class ships. The Wake, both inside and out, is the best part of the ship, IMO. If you enjoy going to raves, music festivals, dance clubs etc, you'll enjoy the music programming in many of the venues. The Scarlet Night pool party is the best deck party of any cruiseline. Bimini Beach Club was a very nice place.

That was the reason why I asked if the poster was making a joke or it was something that was actually written somewhere. I realized the statement made no sense.

Actually the way the quote reads you get Retreat access only if you're both Sapphire and above and sailing in a suite category.

Did you just make this up?

I'm sorry but I can't agree with that statement. Royal,Celebrity,NCL, Princess and MSC does a much better job in Europe than Carnival.