Tell me what you like about Virgin Voyages

[littlemoos]

We have been on several Carnival cruises and a couple of Royal, looking at doing a Virgin cruise in 2025 for our 40th anniversary, but not sure.  Tell us what you like and don't like about Virgin...... Thanks!!!!!!

[jon81uk]

The major likes are fairly obvious, no kids, WiFi included, tips included, soda included, no main dining rooms (instead six unique dinner restaurants). But then no upselling, no announcements, modern cirque style entertainment, unique bars and spaces and modern bright cabins with great showers.

 

Not much I don’t like but there are a few workshops that are actually just sales pitches (like a “posture” workshop that is just to sell insoles), the pools in the spa are too cold, the main pool is a bit weird (but the large jacuzzi is great). Sometimes service (especially in the Wake) is a bit slow or inattentive and occasionally drinks ordered from a server in a busy bar can take a while. 
 

But overall we’ve had a great experience across six voyages.

[littlemoos]

And you can go to any of the dinner restaurants at no cost?  What does cost extra on Virgin?

TIA!

 

[jon81uk]

25 minutes ago, littlemoos said:

And you can go to any of the dinner restaurants at no cost?  What does cost extra on Virgin?

TIA!

 

The only food that is extra cost is things like seafood towers or platters, tomahawk steak or wagyu beef and truffles plus afternoon tea. 

I’ve never bothered though, you can eat very well without spending anything.
 

Drip coffee, tea bags, Coke, Sprite, Fanta and juice from concentrate is included but loose leaf tea, espresso based coffee, hot chocolate, fresh juice, mocktails and all alcoholic drinks are charged for. 
 

Most cruises include some free bar tab in the current promotion though which can be used on any charged for drinks and if you pre-pay more bar tab you get a free bonus.

[cantgetin]

The above kinda nailed it.  Yes, ALL restaurants are included  and most are of the quality of specialty restaurants on other lines.
What does cost extra--alcohol (many bookings include a "bar tab" or you can purchase in advance and get a bonus added to what you pay), cold pressed juices, smoothies, etc.  Your "bar tab" is good on any beverage that has a cost.  Water, soda, and regular brewed coffee and tea are "free" with the voyage.
Premium wifi is extra if you don't qualify under the loyalty program; basic wifi is included and unlimited.

You may be able to book thru a TA who has some "My Next Virgin Voyage" certificates that they can let you use on your booking--this gives you a discount on cost as well as some "Loot" (onboard credit) that can be used for anything  purchased on board that has a cost.

A few restaurants have one or two items that have an additional charge--seafood tower, tomahawk steak. truffles added to pasta, waygu beef (in Gunbae...and this was not worth it--the marinated beef was far better!)

 

All of my bookings have included loot and bar tabs.  We have done whatever we wanted, and the highest credit card bill I had after a cruise was $8 (we had only a small bar tab )

Looks like Jon81 and I were typing at the same time.

Edited January 1 by cantgetin

[cantgetin]

The entertainment is very unique.  If you want Broadway style shows, putt putt golf, climbing walls, a house orchestra....VV is not for you.  

There are tons of YouTube videos about VV.  I would suggest anything by Where's Walter Travels as he is comprehensive, accurate, and not opinionated.  Here is a link to one about his first cruise on Scarlet Lady (all the ships are basically the same).  He has others about food, etc.  There have been some minor changes in menus, entertainment, etc. since day 1 of the line, but really very little.

 

[CineGraphic]

Nobody trying to sell you a drink package, no announcements, no art auctions, no photographers to avoid, no cruise director, no "shopping consultant". It's a true vacation.

[-The-True-North-]

Foods decent and the all in pricing is nice. Plus the ships are new.

 

Holland America however also now has Have It All packages. So look at costs. Specially now that VV has increased prices to be in line with HAL, Princess and Celebrity.

 

Sure VV gives you bar tab, but if you don't drink heavy it's a waste.

 

The Itinerary should be what motivates your choice to use VV I'd say personally. The service onboard is similar to the brands above.

 

We liked and picked them for the itineraries and obviously the price. But that has now changed.

Edited January 2 by -The-True-North-

[Alegeeter]

For me, Virgin is not a gay cruise but it has always felt very open and queer-friendly. I've never felt more comfortable on a cruise than when I first sailed Virgin.

 

I'd also add, and I don't know if this is directly the Virgin product or who it attracts, but passengers have always been  friendly, fun, and outgoing. There are so many spaces to mingle and it's encouraged to strike up conversation with anyone. You don't get that on other lines. Maybe being adult only is a byproduct of that.

 

These may not be a big draws for everyone, but for me it's what keeps me coming back.

Edited January 2 by Alegeeter

[AussieOmni]

No kids. Unique entertainment. Not constantly being sold things. No announcements constantly over the PA (which are usually trying to sell

me things on the other lines). Some cool experiences I’ve got to have with the cast.

[cantgetin]

Price--but that has recently gone up tremendously

Basically all inclusive.  Better than the packages on some lines that include "some" internet or X number of charged casual dining and X number of specialty dining....or 2 exercise classes per person.  What is included is ALL included.  

NO KIDS--I don't hate kids, but not having them around is so nice! No running in the halls screaming, no one pushing all the buttons on the elevators or trashing the drink stations.

Very much a "you be you" atmosphere.  If you want to dress up, you can wear a sparkly ball gown or tux...but I can go to the same restaurant wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  No, I don't choose to go to the nice restaurants in jeans and t-shirt, but I could and no one would say a word. The only "requested" dress code is "something red" for scarlet night.  This can be a red headband, pocket handkerchief, sequined devil costume, or anything you want.

I have never seen any PDA or dress on VV that I haven't seen similar on DCL.  What I have experienced is yelling (as cheering) to the point that it hurt my ears so I left.  The entertainment may or may not be your choice.  The passengers, at least on the cruises I've been on, have been great!

[tbmrt]

Loved our June 5 nighter from Miami so much that we booked another for 1/24/24 - Southern Caribbean. However, the price increases have discouraged us from booking another VV in the near future.

 

 

[Cloud9 Bob]

No kids, decent food, friendly staff, all inclusive. Didn’t like small pool, no quiet area (except cabin), the color red everywhere.

[cantgetin]

We liked our first cruise in Oct 2022 so much that we booked 3 more.  In fairness, we've seen some inconsistencies in quality across the cruises, most recently for the better.

[neverendingcruising]

Since we live in Orlando and one of us has always worked for Disney we have sailed Disney extensively (on employee rates). We always said the only thing better than a Disney cruise would be one without kids and lo and behold, Virgin Voyages came along. We’ve done a few out of Miami plus a back to back out of Barcelona and an Athens sailing. 
 

It’s astonishing how quiet the cabins are compared to a Disney cruise. The lack of high pressure sales is also huge for us. There are some up charge things but no one seems to care if you purchase or not. 

[basenji56]

I liked it but was surprised the sailors were so young.  Median age appeared to be thirty.  Not bad but just unexpected given the premium price.

 

I was disappointed that I could not use my sailor loot to buy excursions BEFORE the sailing. And by the time I got on the ship, most excursions were sold out. (I would have lost much of my sailor loot but for an advantageous visit to the casino on the last night).

 

Bar tab is nice but since I don't drink alcohol, I left the ship with $450 unspent.

 

It was hard to book dining and shows. Most were sold out very early. 

 

Cabin bathroom was the smallest I have ever seen.  Shower was nice though.

 

Pizza was excellent as was the ice cream.  Galley was good and had a lot of fresh fruit.

 

I will sail on VV again but just want to point out some negatives for a fair appraisal.

 

 

 

[CineGraphic]

26 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Bar tab is nice but since I don't drink alcohol, I left the ship with $450 unspent.

 

This is when you start making new friends and buying them drinks!

[basenji56]

30 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

This is when you start making new friends and buying them drinks!

I tried!  They all had big bar tabs too!

 

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, basenji56 said:

I liked it but was surprised the sailors were so young.  Median age appeared to be thirty.  Not bad but just unexpected given the premium price.

 

I was disappointed that I could not use my sailor loot to buy excursions BEFORE the sailing. And by the time I got on the ship, most excursions were sold out. (I would have lost much of my sailor loot but for an advantageous visit to the casino on the last night).

 

Bar tab is nice but since I don't drink alcohol, I left the ship with $450 unspent.

 

It was hard to book dining and shows. Most were sold out very early. 

 

Cabin bathroom was the smallest I have ever seen.  Shower was nice though.

 

Pizza was excellent as was the ice cream.  Galley was good and had a lot of fresh fruit.

 

I will sail on VV again but just want to point out some negatives for a fair appraisal.

 

 

 

I suspect that the shorter cruises attract younger passengers.  The median age on VV in 2022 was 43.
I saw a TA post info, supposedly from VV that the median was 48, but this was about midway thru 2023 and he did not say what time frame that encompassed.  Sailor Services has this info for your cruise--on a transatlantic, we were told that the median age on our cruise was 44.

 

Yes, with the large bar tabs being given as perks, many people do not use all of it,  On the other hand, cruise fares did not increase when this perk was added.  Actually, our first VV sailing was the most expensive (not by much), and included the fewest perks.

The shorter the cruise, the more difficult is is to book shows and restaurants as there are fewer repeat performances.

[CruisingWalter]

There are two things I really don't like about Virgin. 

 

The postage stamp pool, we really do enjoy a nice pool that's deep and has enough room to swim. They wasted so much space in the back with that ridiculous net and all the empty space. They could have put in a beautiful pool, bar, music venue in the back ala NCL Prima class. 

 

The lack of a captain's daily announcement. I get that they want to keep announcements to a minimum, but that daily update from the bridge is something I miss. It's nice to hear from the master of the vessel since you rarely see the officers throughout the ship. On our Christmas / New Year's cruise we just sailed on another cruise line, not only did we have that daily captain's briefing but he was out and about every day throughout the ship. 

 

But what we love?

Food - All inclusive. Razzle Dazzle and Pink Agave are our faves, though Extra Virgin was amazing on Valiant for Thanksgiving.

WiFi - Included

Gratuities - Included

Soft Drinks - Included

No Photographers

No Kids

No sales pressure

Social Club Games

Chill, relaxed vibe

Beautiful and relaxed interior space

Any band playing at On The Rocks in the evening

Private Karaoke Booths

Hammocks on the balcony

Happenings Cast, especially the Diva

A ship that is bigger than it needs to be for 2700 guests. Our Thanksgiving sailing was 100% sold out but the ship never felt sold out, easy to move about and enjoy the venues. 

Some of the better cocktails at sea.

 

We had a group of 30 folks during the Thanksgiving cruise including one very hard-core Carnival couple. They never would have come onboard except their son convinced them to join us. On the last day of the cruise the mom said "I don't think we can go back to Carnival. This has been so much more than we expected." 🙂

 

 

 

 

[Swells1]

19 hours ago, basenji56 said:

 

Bar tab is nice but since I don't drink alcohol, I left the ship with $450 unspent.

 

I don't drink alcohol either, but I plan on drinking my share of virgin Virgin foo-foo drinks. 

[TheDarkestBlue]

I don't drink much and found myself having a hard time spending down my bar tab. On the last night, bought an expensive bottle of champagne and shared it with other folks at the bar. I didn't want to leave money on the table 

 

Had a great time, for all the reasons Walter outlines though I don't miss hearing from the captain, LOL. Thanks Walter for the tip on the corn at pink agave, it was excellent 🙂

Edited January 4 by TheDarkestBlue

[CineGraphic]

8 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

. It's nice to hear from the master of the vessel since you rarely see the officers throughout the ship.

 

The captain doesn't really stand out because he's not wearing the typical captain's uniform.

We saw the captain during the most recent transatlantic at least every other day. One could easily mistake him for a crew member. His boss (commodore/fleet commander?) was also with him on a few occasions.

I was recently on a HAL sailing, and the noon announcements by the captain were more fitting for a resort in the Catskills.

Edited January 4 by CineGraphic

[CrazyTrain2]

VV has figured out that less is more:

 

1. Less Kids (No Kids)

2. Less announcements

3. Less upselling

4. Less nickel and diming

5. Less water in the pool (OK, that one is not a benefit)

6. Less drink packages that encourage people to get black out drunk

7. Less selling of specialty dining, but plenty of choices

8. Less Judgement - You do you and you be you

 

 

 

[cantgetin]

On another line, one of the comedians did a parody of the captain's noon talk.....something along the lines of, "The water is Deep.  The temperature is Warm.  The anticipated temperature is Cooler.  We have traveled A Long Way."   It went on, but the parody was about as meaningful as the daily announcement and far funnier.  There was only one Captain's Announcement that I really miss....anyone who was on the 2005 Disney Magic Panama Canal crossing CA to Port Canaveral will remember that one.  Or again, it was a lot more funny when one of the comedians picked it up.