Valiant Lady April 8-16 Review

[karmamule]

We've made it a point to try out different cruise lines before (possibly) picking a favorite, and our first Virgin voyage was on April 8-16 on Valiant Lady for the Eastern Antilles itinerary. We'd heard mostly good things about Virgin (other than a couple contrarian YouTube videos that didn't seem very convincing) so had high expectations.

 

Quick tl;dr summary for the impatient: we felt it lived up to the hype with great food, very friendly crew providing excellent service, and a fun cruise ship layout that managed to make a small-to-midsize ship feel much larger than it was with lots of locations appealing to those looking for energy & activity, or peace & quiet, or just some sun and good food/drinks.

 

The details, with some comparisons to other lines we've been on:

 

PRE-CRUISE

 

We originally booked on Resilient Lady for a TA of San Juan to Lisbon in a Posh suite. That got canceled and Virgin gave us a very generous 200% credit, and since we'd prepaid the whole suite to take advantage of a $1000 discount that turned into LOTS of credit, which then turned into a Massive Suite on this 8 day trip. I love it when a bad situation turns into very good luck!

 

We took advantage of the mega-rockstar headstart to book all the restaurants about 60 days before the voyage. A couple weeks later our shore-side concierge got in touch for things like preferred liquor, arrange transportation to/from the ship (a nice perk!), and answer any questions we had. All the things we pre-arranged with them were done as asked so that left a very good first impression too.

 

On the day of the cruise our driver met us and we had a short but fun ride over to the port from the Intercontinental in Miami. He had just gone on his first Virgin cruise recently and happily talked about that for the 15 minute ride.

 

EMBARKATION

 

We got to the port around 1:15 and were whisked right in. We showed passport and app then were sat next to the people in the other massive suite and waited a few minutes until boarding started. They escorted us through a couple back doors so we got on the ship first then met our agent Luke who took us to our cabin and gave us a run through of all the cool stuff. The room and especially balcony were a study in excess and we were in a bit of a daze the next couple hours as we walked around the ship and saw all the things in person we'd seen in YouTube videos so many times before. Such a surreal feeling to FINALLY actually be there. 😄

 

FOOD & DRINK

All the restaurants would be specialty-level quality on any other line, and GOOD ones at that. (As a point of comparison we've been on RCL, NCL, Carnival, MSC, and Celebrity before). My favorite was Razzle Dazzle, and Rich's was Pink Agave. Each of our firsts was the other's second. After that we liked Extra Virgin, Gunbae, Test Kitchen, and the Wake. (Rich would swap TK and the Wake in his list). All were very good, and Razzle Dazzle and Pink Agave were fantastic.

 

Our absolute favorite specialty restaurant is Eden on Celebrity Apex, but other than that all of Virgin's offerings were right at the top.

 

Our voyage was very crowded and it seems they've resolved issues with the Galley. We were always served promptly (often before we even put up the red flag) and (almost always) got our food promptly. A couple items here and there were a bit lukewarm but overall everything was at a good temperature and very tasty. We liked the Galley more than any buffet we've eaten at on any other ship, including the Apex. All the other buffets on the other lines lagged behind.

 

I also have to call out the shrimp available at the Dock. Those were absolutely delicious. The rest of the items there were good, but those really stood out for me.

 

Pizzas were also excellent, though they didn't dethrone MSC for our fave pizzas at sea. I think we might also give an edge to Celebrity's pizzas. We seemed to find excuses to stop there most nights and didn't do that as much for Virgin.

 

Drinks were almost universally tasty and *strong* wherever we got them. Having unlimited bar tab led us to drink more than usual, not just because it was already included but because there lots of fun and different cocktails at each restaurant and we felt compelled to try lots (LOTS) of them. I got the cocktail pairing at Test Kitchen and amused Rich greatly with how tipsy I was by the end of it all. 

 

SERVICE

Service was wonderful, and our agent Luke was fantastic. (And no I'm not saying that because we both had a bit of a crush on him.  :::: cough :::::) He was always checking in to see if we needed anything, and we invited people from our facebook group to check out our suite on a sea day and had about 40 people show up(!). He kept up with the unexpected crowd and also caught someone ordering food and drinks to be delivered to our room without us knowing it and canceled the order. (::::: sigh ::::: some people....) His manager told us to 'abuse him' (yeah, she read us well) and we did pester him with more dining and entertainment additions and changes than we normally do. You didn't feel as ostentatiously pampered as in the MSC Yacht Club (with priority elevator access and butlers eager to escort you to dinner and shows) but Luke made everything we ask for happen. 

 

Our room attendants Anthony and Pasta were quietly hyper efficient, and we always came back to a very clean cabin all mornings and evenings. We didn't see much of them so it almost felt like magic. And, they were quite thorough. No missed details anywhere.

 

Around the ship we consistently had friendly and efficient service with zero exceptions. A few people were looking a bit tired but that didn't stop them from being just as friendly and helpful as anyone else.

 

CASINO

The casino may be small, but as slots players we found enough to keep us happily entertained. Rich had better luck than I did, so he was more entertained than I was, though I did hit for a very minor jackpot on the last night which was great timing. It had less predictable hours than other cruise ships, but that's probably for the best. 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We're not much for shows on cruise ships, preferring to make our own fun. The arcade and social club area and the cabinet full of games was a major hit with us. Rich impressed me with his pacman skills, I annoyed him by winning our street fighter match despite normally being quite bad at it, and we had fun playing bar-room shuffleboard, jenga, and other games. The food there was tasty too!

 

Unfortunately we missed the almost universally praised Duel Reality because of a cast member's injury (here's hoping they recovered well!) and only went to 'Around the World with the Diva' and the Miss Behave show. Rich is petrified by audience participation so he was sweating through 'Around the World' but we still enjoyed it. We liked Miss Behave even more. Both were light fun but since neither of us are into big hollywood-style productions like on NCL or RCL we preferred these to those 'blockbusters' on other lines. We also got to see a magic show that was fun as well. 

 

We had a blast at both the PJ Party the first night (I'm still amazed we stayed up for that) and especially Scarlet Night later in the week. We had more fun at both of those parties than we did on any other ships' similar events. We also appreciated the performances by musicians/singers scattered throughout the ship. All ranged from very good to excellent. They were consistently better than musicians and singers we'd heard on NCL and MSC, but we still think the singers on Celebrity were the best we've heard on any ship.

 

PORTS

There were ports? 😄 We've been to Puerto Plata and San Juan lots of time, so stayed on the ship for Puerto Plata and just wandered around town in San Juan and had a yummy lunch then walked up to the fort for typical touristy pictures.

 

We had never been to St. Croix so booked the 'Scenic Tour to Christiansted' and absolutely hated it. Avoid avoid avoid. Cramped vehicle, the guides mic wasn't working, he didn't talk loudly enough, he kept repeating a handful of tired facts over and over again, and we were rushed at every stop. Even the hour we were supposed to get in Christiansted was only 40 minutes and the included drink was an absolute joke. Just, no.....  We don't do excursions often and this just reinforced that.

 

The beachclub at Bimini was wonderful and we had an excellent time. The food was so-so. I liked it more than Rich but we both agreed the food at MSC's Ocean Cay (on the YC side of the island) was much much better. The beach and water were lovely and we spent most of our time happily paddling about the ocean. I think we would have found the music by the pools annoying if we had stayed in that area. (I liked the music they were playing just fine, it was just too L.O.U.D.)

 

DISEMBARKATION

Having 8 days instead of 7 delayed the inevitable a little, but it had to happen. Luke met us that morning and we were off the ship as fast as we got on it. We had a bit of a delay and sat dejectedly on the curb waiting for our driver to show up because of bad morning traffic, but he got us to the airport in plenty of time and we were home in Boston by late afternoon.

 

SUMMARY

Overall we absolutely LOVED Virgin and will be sailing again. We put down a deposit and are looking forward to something in late 2024, though what exactly is still tbd. Is it our favorite line? That's harder to say. It depends on what mood we're in I suppose. No one pampers you better than MSC's Yacht Club, and Celebrity was so serenely elegant that we'll definitely be sailing with them more. We had already booked an 11 day Canada / New England on Celebrity Summit this fall (right out of Boston, hurray for convenience!) and have a 14 day on MSC Seascape next February. Virgin will definitely stay in the mix and there's a good chance we'll be on them more frequently than any other line in the future. We'll see where the winds take us next.

 

I'll post some pics below in the near future. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer as best I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[karmamule]

Various ship pics 

 

Arriving early morning Saturday: 

 

 

 

Looking back from our balcony at night:

[karmamule]

Cabin and balcony:

 

 

 

 

 

[karmamule]

Test Kitchen showed me I could actually like lamb:

 

Very typical view during our cruise:

 

Loved the brunch at Razzle Dazzle:

 

Absolutely delicious dessert overkill:

 

 

 

[karmamule]

Random other stuff

 

We'll be on Celebrity Summit next, so it was cool we were right next to it in Miami:

 

Our first bridge tour:

 

 

Thanks Siri, that's ever so helpful:

 

Never get tired of Miami sail-aways:

 

Me making my typical "I'm in a photo and have to look stupid" face, Luke, and Rich:

 

Goodbye Valiant Lady, you and your crew were absolutely wonderful:

[wendyam76]

Thank you for your review! We got off the day you embarked - and guess what we walked onto - Celebrity Summit - that’s how close they were. When I told the porter that was where we were heading he walked our luggage over - he got a great tip! 
Wendy 

[karmamule]

3 hours ago, wendyam76 said:

Thank you for your review! We got off the day you embarked - and guess what we walked onto - Celebrity Summit - that’s how close they were. When I told the porter that was where we were heading he walked our luggage over - he got a great tip! 
Wendy 

oh wow! I’d love to hear what you thought of the Summit!

[wendyam76]

6 hours ago, karmamule said:

oh wow! I’d love to hear what you thought of the Summit!

We love Celebrity but this was our first time on Summit. Very different to Virgin but we enjoy both. We were in the Retreat and the service was exceptional from all but the Butler - we ask very little of a butler but we barely saw him. Retreat Lounge nothing like Apex - back on her in July - but the lounge does have some natural light coming in. Retreat sun deck was nice - hot tub but no pool. Unfortunately the lift to access it wasn’t working and my 89 year old mum couldn’t walk up the 16 steep stairs so we didn’t use it much. 
Luminae service was outstanding. But to be honest throughout the ship service was excellent and the crew so friendly. Anything else you can think of please ask!

Wendy

[kwokpot]

Thank you for a great review, concise yet lots of information. I'll agree with your overall assessment and although my husband and I can't say Virgin is our most favorite cruiseline, that would go to Celebrity, it is among the top two. I'm glad the simple but effective flag solution for the Galley service works as intended. 

[scubagal44]

Great review, thanks for posting!

[karmamule]

8 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Thank you for a great review, concise yet lots of information. I'll agree with your overall assessment and although my husband and I can't say Virgin is our most favorite cruiseline, that would go to Celebrity, it is among the top two. I'm glad the simple but effective flag solution for the Galley service works as intended. 

Thanks! I’ve appreciated your posts in the past so that means a lot coming from you. 🙂

 

If you told me I could have a free cruise on any one of the cruise lines we’ve been on I’d have a hard time picking. We have our small ship Celebrity experience coming up later this year then a second Virgin in late 2024 (most likely) so we’ll see how we feel after those.

[kwokpot]

26 minutes ago, karmamule said:

Thanks! I’ve appreciated your posts in the past so that means a lot coming from you. 🙂

 

If you told me I could have a free cruise on any one of the cruise lines we’ve been on I’d have a hard time picking. We have our small ship Celebrity experience coming up later this year then a second Virgin in late 2024 (most likely) so we’ll see how we feel after those.

I'm glad you enjoy what I post. I know I can at times come off as too direct and in your face (a combination of being a native NY'er and Chinese-American ((reference Everything Everywhere All at Once)) 😜) but I try to be helpful in my posts and call out what is incorrect or misleading. 

[karmamule]

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I'm glad you enjoy what I post. I know I can at times come off as too direct and in your face (a combination of being a native NY'er and Chinese-American ((reference Everything Everywhere All at Once)) 😜) but I try to be helpful in my posts and call out what is incorrect or misleading. 

 

Side note: I watched EEAAO on a flight home from one of our cruises and absolutely loved it. I got a kick out of Delta's summary of the movie's plot as "A Chinese woman has trouble finishing her taxes." 😄

Edited April 28, 2023 by karmamule

[jon81uk]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:30 PM, karmamule said:

We originally booked on Resilient Lady for a TA of San Juan to Lisbon in a Posh suite. That got canceled and Virgin gave us a very generous 200% credit,

to check, do you mean Brilliant Lady as that ship was planned to do San Juan to Lisbon in 2024?

 

I thought Resilient Lady was always Greece and Australia.

[periodic itinerant]

3 hours ago, jon81uk said:

to check, do you mean Brilliant Lady as that ship was planned to do San Juan to Lisbon in 2024?

 

I thought Resilient Lady was always Greece and Australia.

Resilient Lady was supposed to do the Lisbon to San Juan TA in October of 2022, but the entire season's launch was delayed.

 

I was also booked on that one, and the 200% refund credit plus a few other promos got me onto a replacement Valiant TA (Barcelona to Miami) for this October instead. The way my refund and promos added up, I feel like I'm practically traveling for free this time!

Edited April 28, 2023 by periodic itinerant