Should we try Virgin?

[cantgetin]

THe only thing I will say is that you were on the tour rather than the ship...I do get it that the tour was sponsored by VV, but all excursions are operated by outside companies.  The  tour guide  should have shut it down right away

[aeraen]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:34 AM, Crazy planning mom said:

Neither of us have tattoos or are partiers

After sailing 2x on VV, and in our 60s,  I love to hear the images non-VV sailors have of VV.  Don't worry, they will still let you board w/o tattoos.  If you want, though, you can get the fake tattoos on a paper slip that we used as kids to up your ship-cred with the rest of the wildlings. 

[Essiesmom]

Or get a henna tattoo.  EM

[Flafun888]

On 5/18/2024 at 2:59 PM, Gretchendz said:

True, but I use that as a gauge as to whether or not someone would be uncomfortable with the whole vibe of the ship.  Open, accepting, welcoming and fun is not eberyone's thing 🙂

I adore drag shows and pretty open to just about anything! But I will say I'm not one to participate! Not in karoke, nor as volunteer from the audience. I read that Virgin's shows and entertainment heavily involves the audience? Just want to be prepared to sit waaaay in the back or avoid those shows! I prefer to watch vs be pressured to join in.

[Gretchendz]

1 hour ago, Flafun888 said:

I adore drag shows and pretty open to just about anything! But I will say I'm not one to participate! Not in karoke, nor as volunteer from the audience. I read that Virgin's shows and entertainment heavily involves the audience? Just want to be prepared to sit waaaay in the back or avoid those shows! I prefer to watch vs be pressured to join in.

 

Me too. Although the private karaoke rooms are fun 🙂

 

I don't think they require audience participation more than any other cruise ship. Honestly some of the "volunteer" game shows on other lines can make me cringe.

 

Well, one caveat, do not be the person in bingo who calls bingo, then is wrong when they check the card, because the diva will be merciless 🙂

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, Flafun888 said:

 But I will say I'm not one to participate! Not in karoke, nor as volunteer from the audience. I read that Virgin's shows and entertainment heavily involves the audience? Just want to be prepared to sit waaaay in the back or avoid those shows! I prefer to watch vs be pressured to join in.

I've never been pressured to participate.  Yes, there are participation shows, but  there is no force to participate....and I don't sit way back. My experience is that if you are jumping around and waving your hands, you might be called on.  If you are just sitting there, they'll leave you alone.

[Rogueperson]

On 5/19/2024 at 4:58 PM, SueMo said:

I have to agree with 1025cruise.  Virgin is probably not for me.  My husband and I did our first transatlantic/first VV cruise last month on Scarlet Lady.  There were things we really liked:  crew was terrific and happy, internet was excellent, and having a bar tab as opposed to a drink package is a plus for us.  There were things we really didn’t like:  tiny bathroom and space capsule shower in our cabin, having to make reservations for dinner using a subpar app that kept crashing. 

As for food, I feel like I’m in the minority in that we had quite a few meals that we thought were really bad (overdone chicken in Razzle Dazzle and filet in Wake, super salty sauces in Extra Virgin, and weird—I’m talking to you, Test Kitchen—with the smoked peas and raw egg yolk!  Two shows were really good—Dual Reality and a female comic/magician.  The others were meh.  When we docked in Portugal and Spain there was only one X-ray machine for the almost 3000 passengers and crew so a lengthy line formed when boarding after excursions.  The venues were too small for the shows so that lines started forming up to an hour prior.  Trivia was popular, but again, the venue was too small and many people were unable to find a seat and participate.  The music in the lounges was just ok.  We really wanted to love Virgin…we just didn’t.

 

I was on the same cruise with you.  I am with you many of the issues you mentioned.  I HATED the fact that the head was right above you and given the size of it, you really couldn't get out from being directly underneath it.  I solved that my pointing the head away from so it wouldn't fall directly on me as there was no room to really move in there.  The bathroom felt smaller than other ships.

The app was bad.  I actually made reservations before the cruise, but even then, I was pretty much stuck to meals after 8:15.  Fortunately for us, we like eating that late, but it did cut into some show times, and it was not intuitive to know if we totally missed that show for the cruise, or if there were other showings.  Fortunately, I was able to catch later showings, as we have 14 nights, but I feel that shorter cruises would not have that benefit.  Brunch, i thought you needed reservations, but a couple of times I ate there, I just walked in.

 

Show lines was also bad, but I *think* for the same reason no one knew if there were other shows, people tended to crowd around the first showing and then not go to later ones because they'd already seen it.  For example, the 15 minute circus act had a line that stretched all the way passed the stores.  But the 2nd time they had it, the line barely registered.  Again, only works if you have a longer cruise, but totally problematic on shorter ones.

 

But personally, given all these issues, this cruise was one of the best, if not best cruise i've ever been on.  Royal had been my go to cruise line, but I will sail Virgin from here on out if the price is right.  The prices are all over the map and with only 3, soon to be 4 ships, you may not find a price you like at the time you want.

 

And with food opinions, it is subjective.  I thought the food was amazing on the ship.  There were some places i liked better, but I didn't really have a bad meal anywhere.

I did a live thread  and the link is in my signature if you're curious to see how the ship and food are.

 

Bottom line, OP, you should try Virgin, for the sole reason that you've never been on it.  You could be pleasantly surprised like we were.

[notme2012]

23 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

 

And with food opinions, it is subjective.  I thought the food was amazing on the ship.  There were some places i liked better, but I didn't really have a bad meal anywhere.

We did the Resilient Lady Auckland to Sydney for 12 nights. Our food was good the first few nights and then just dropped off into mediocrity. Mainly food temps. Dishes would be served at room temps that should have been hot. We had dinner in Extra Virgin, the first night. The food was very good. We ate there 2 more times as walk-ins. The food was disgusting! Cold, coagulated gloop! That is sub-standard food and IS NOT subjective opinion. We asked at our last meal for a warm up and it came back barely warm. This is a service issue and a kitchen issue and NOT a taste issue!!!  AND, it is a shame because it wastes resources and costs Virgin extra money to re-serve dishes.

[Wildcatllamas]

23 hours ago, rose102798 said:

Unfortunately, this vitriol just sealed the deal for me . . . I will look for a different cruise line for our Greece sail. 

This isn't the true representation of the folks who do cruise VV or are on the Virgin page. Please don't judge all by some. I have found that the folks on the page have been kinder then some of the other lines I have cruised.

 

There are several lines that do cruise Greece. Most of the major lines just hit a couple of stops and others are very intensive. Celestyal Cruises is very Greece port intensive. Just some info for you because most folks don't know about Celestyal.

[Essiesmom]

Back in 2005 I was on a professional group tour of Greece that involved a four day cruise.  The line was Louis Lines, which later changed name to Celestyal.  We visited six islands in 4 days.  The ship was very small and basic, but the food and service were great.  I certain,y would sail them again.  EM

[Keys Kathy]

We have been on 2 VV. Although the food was good, there was no real menu changes. We did 5 days and 4 days and I can't imagine a longer cruise with the same food over and over. The pizza station is not open for lunch, nor is the ice cream. If all stations were open with more reasonable hours, it would have been more enjoyable. We didn't have any problem getting dining reservations. We tried all the restaurants within the 2 sailings. 

 

One thing I can recommend is the Bar at Razzel Dazzel. A hidden gem in the morning and before dinner.

 

We went the second time because we bought the onboard certificate. That was our last VV. It was interesting to try, and I am glad we did but the food is a game stopper.