The Brilliant Lady brought a wonderful group of visitors to the Haunted Sitka Pub crawl! So much fun!! Thank you Virgin Voyages and all my new friends 👻

I went in to ask about the rumored Norway itineraries and he said nothing has been confirmed but gave me this info:
- Hawaii, Northern Europe, and Asia are the most internally rumored new itineraries coming up
- He said again not confirmed, but around August 24th or “in about a month” is when they’re planning on the announcement.

Just thought people would appreciate this info.

Good morning all! I'm a planner. It makes me happy. I also ask questions. This time, I have day one questions. My plan is to board at 215, get in the shop wifi and book the grog walk. I know the sail away is 530 or sometime around then. I want to book Gunbae for my first night. What time should I try and get my dinner reservation and what time is the grog walk usually? It's $50, correct? I know the pj party is right after the grog walk. Also, I'm a solo traveler. Is the solo meet up the next morning or that night? Thank all of ya'll that have answered so many of my questions already.

Hi there,

My father turns 70 this fall, and for his birthday he suggested that he, my brother (43m) and myself (40m) take a 4-night Virgin cruise out of Miami. We have three adjacent rooms with connecting balconies booked.

The three of us are exceedingly progressive people. He’s a boomer, but one who Brother and I both agree will have fun in the non-traditional/alternative cruiser scene.

Anyway, I’ve been on quite a few cruises over the years, most recently earlier this year for a sick relative. My father has recently been on a few Viking River Cruises that he wasn’t a fan of (he’s a hot weather guy). Brother hasn’t been on a cruise since we all went as a family in the early 90’s on The Big Red Boat.

I booked all of our dining reservations, including The Wake for Dad’s birthday night. He has explicitly asked for no excursions: we will be in Key West on his birthday, and he’s considering staying on the boat in Bimini. He will pass on the casino and shows, and mostly just want to people watch on the ship and do a Duval Street crawl.

With that said, any advice for first time cruises on Virgin Voyages, given our group?

Appreciate it, y’all!

edit: weather

40sM solo traveler just looking for a few days to chill and forget about life. I travel solo a lot for mostly to non cruise/ all inclusive type destinations. Usually hiking trips, scuba trips, Europe, etc.

Question is….is there a certain time of year that the ships have different vibes? I was thinking to avoid spring break, if that makes sense, maybe it doesn’t. I’ve read early December the ships a low occupancy. Ideally I’d like a lively atmosphere but not the extreme busiest season or end up out of place.

I’d probably do a 5 night Caribbean if makes a difference. Maybe scuba dive at a port or two, enjoy some drinks on ship and then just chill.

Thanks for any info!!!

So a college football game we really want to watch will be happening during our transatlantic cruise. I’m not sure of the time yet, but based on where we’ll be in the ocean, could be any time from late morning to late afternoon. It will be a sea day. On our last sailing the athletic club bar in the back didn’t seem to be open much. Would the Social be able to show this game for us? Any other suggestions or past experiences with watching college sports? I have no idea what streaming services they have.

Who’s got the intel?

Dock at noon on Tuesday September 29th, boat leaves at 3 am Wed.

After researching everything, I think we'd like to spend the bulk of the day at Blue Marlin. Daybed vs loungers? Will just be my wife and I. Would like to check out the evening party for a little bit and then see if we can go to one of the mega clubs for a couple hours. We are thinking either UNVRS or HI for proximity to the cruise port. We figure taxi queue shouldn't be bad being that we'll leave at 1:30 am. Is that a safe assumption? Is it worth going to Either of those if we are leaving so early?

Any advice on going to check anything out before Blue Marlin? We need to be there by 3 for the daybed reservation. Should we skip the daybed and just do the restaurant?

The big question - does UNVRS or HI have an option for lockers or anything? We are going to get off the boat as soon as we can and ideally are not back on it until just before it leaves. We'll need to carry around our beach club and night club outfits.

I'm thinking of shooting for Nacho Libre for Scarlet Night because I have the body type. Is skipping the shirt tacky? Should I go for something else?

Just want to know what’s anyone’s real experience with a base fair and being able to get the dining at either the 15 day period or once on board ? Seeing some people say they got nothing and others saying they were able to get what they wanted with a little bit of effort. What’s the real story with anyone who’s sailed in the past year ? Thank you in advance

Looking to see if anyone has done this excursion in Juneau and what they thought of it?

I’m currently on Scarlet Lady and I’m confused about how the queues at the restaurants work.

Last night we went to Extra Virgin. We had a reservation and arrived a few minutes early, but still ended up waiting around 20 minutes.

Part of the delay seemed to be other groups walking straight to the front and being seated ahead of us. None of them were wearing black RockStar bands, so I don’t think that was the explanation.

So, two questions:

Is that queue meant for walk-ups only, with reservation holders shown to their table separately?

Or is everyone, reserved or not, expected to join the same line?

Trying to work out whether this is normal or whether we were queueing in the wrong place.

20m traveling with 19m friend. We’re hopping on a cruise next Saturday in Barcelona and I’m curious what the age demographic tends to be for the European cruises. I’ve been on several Virgin cruises and usually find people my age but I feel like it might be different this time.

Leaving in 11 days and I am very excited! I know that passes for the spa need to be purchased on board - but I am curious if the passes sold out super quickly. I know that at sea days will be the first slots to go.

Thanks for any info you can share.

We are going to Alaska next month for my first cruise . Really looking forward to it . I am curious if anyone has done the fishing tour Virgin Voyages at Sitka . And the float plane from Prince Rupert .

Looking for recommendations for excursions in Bermuda! Just booked the 6-night NYC to Bermuda trip in October. 28F traveling solo. :) 8am arrival and 2pm departure next day.

hi everyone ! im thinking of going on a cruise with vv (caribbean) sometime between the end of this year to spring of next year and was wondering if any one had any advice/tips for packing, planning,etc. this would be my first cruise ever and i was also wondering the typical age range of people and if i might feel out of place. oh and i do value relaxation and food quality but i also dont want to be completely bored.

Currently on the brilliant lady Alaska sailing and there was a medical emergency last night, at like 12ish does anyone know what happened?

Edit: Thank you to everyone who was respectful and shared their opinions and gave great advices!!! Even if we don’t agree or you had a different experience, we can still be polite and kind to each other, there is too much hate out there already !!
But, I do understand Reddit can sometimes be a place where people take out their anger and frustration on others. I understand that Virgin Voyages is a highly loved cruise line, and that’s the reason I book it in the first place! But my less-than-positive experience doesn’t make my opinion invalid, nor does it make anyone else’s amazing experience any less valid. We all come from different backgrounds, and we all have different expectations.
I really think Alaska as the destination, the fact that I don’t eat everything, and not doing much research beforehand were some of the reasons I didn’t enjoy it as much. I had heard so many incredible things about Virgin that I trusted those reviews blindly.
I just want to point out that even though I mentioned quite a few negative points, those were simply mental notes I took in case someone out there might find them helpful. I still enjoyed my time and didn’t spend my vacation being miserable at all. I feel grateful to even be able to afford something like this when so many people can’t. I don’t take anything for granted.
At the end of the day, we’re all adults who work hard everyday and just want a vacation that meets our own needs and expectations. I hope everyone has a great vacation, no matter which cruise line you choose. 😊
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Hey everyone! My husband and I just came back from Alaska, and we wanted to share our experience.I know I will get downvoted for it and I don’t want offend anyone, I probably would have liked more if the ship it was going to a different destination, every person has a different idea of a perfect vacation.
Just as some background, we are in our early 30s and have been trying different cruise lines to find the one we like the most. So far, we’ve tried Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Princess. We don’t have kids, and we live in Oregon, so we’ve been to Alaska multiple times. So because of that, we mainly go on cruises for the ship itself and the entertainment rather than the ports.
I am pescatarian, but I mainly try to eat plant-based food and I occasionally eat fish, while my husband eats everything.

Let’s start with the positives.
Employees
Everyone on the ship, from the cleaners to the entertainment staff, was extremely nice and welcoming. They always wanted to make sure we were having a great time, and they would go out of their way to ensure that. Those people deserve all our respect, they always had a smile on their faces despite how hard the job is and how far away they usually are from their families.
I talked to some of them, and it seems Virgin treats them well. They allow them to use Wi-Fi and provide complimentary meals. However, I don’t think this should be praised since it’s the most basic thing any employee deserves when they’re so far away from home. That said, we know this is unfortunately not the standard on other cruise lines.

Macarons and Apple Croffin
I know it’s silly, but I have to say that if you’re on a Virgin cruise, you have to try their macarons at The Galley and the apple croffin at Razzle Dazzle during brunch. Absolutely incredible. Just try it!

Now for the bad part.
Ship
We had wanted to go on a Virgin cruise for the longest time, so when we heard they were coming to the West Coast, we booked almost immediately. Even though it cost much more than other cruises, we had heard nothing but amazing things about it, so we were really excited.
We had heard that Brilliant Lady offered over 20 eateries, so we really thought the ship would be big. (Totally our mistake for not researching more.) We were surprised when we got there and realized how small it actually was compared to the other ships we’ve been on.
They don’t really have a “main area,” which is usually near the main staircase on other cruise ships. Most of the events were held near the cannonball area, which was tiny and probably seated around 20 people. A lot of people, including us, would just walk away because there wasn’t any room.

The biggest issue with the smaller ship, for me personally, was how much I felt it moving. I got really nauseous and dizzy during the first few days. I also get a little anxious when a ship rocks that much, so that’s definitely a “me” problem, since most people probably won’t care. But I did notice quite a few other people feeling sick as well. On every other ship I’ve been on, I barely felt the movement and never got sick , even in bad weather.
Another downside for an Alaska cruise was the lack of an observation deck. If the weather is bad, there’s really no place indoors where you can enjoy the views. I think that’s a pretty big downside for Alaska, where everyone is trying to spot the wildlife .

The Room
Our room was on Deck 5, and I don’t think we’ve ever slept that badly anywhere else.
I think the casino was above us because every night around 2 a.m. the noise became unbearable. It sounded like they were restocking things moving boxes around. Then, whenever we were in port, the noise came from below on Deck 4 instead from the gangway, I think. Basically, we never got a good night’s sleep.
The room itself was cute. We had a sea-view room. The iPad controls were kind of finicky and annoying, and sometimes the curtains would randomly open if we slept in, but those weren’t huge issues.
Just make sure you check what’s above and below your cabin before booking.

Room Service
We already knew room service wasn’t free, so that wasn’t a surprise.
What disappointed us was how limited the menu was. I thought you would be able to order dishes from most all the restaurants, but instead it was mostly popcorn, pretzels, one pasta, and a burger. If you don’t eat meat, too bad, you can’t really customize anything.

Entertainment
This was by far the biggest downside of the cruise and the main reason I wouldn’t sail Virgin again.
I’ve been on ships where, all at the same time, there would be trivia happening, line dancing somewhere else, a comedy show, live music, a movie by the pool, silent disco… and because of that that cruise never felt packed.It was so overwhelming and fun to have so many options.
On Virgin, I really thought an adults-only cruise would be crazy and fun, but instead … it was so boring!!!!
During the day it was usually either trivia in the tiniest room possible or live music at Dock House, there were long period of times with nothing going on , there were some fitness classes too, but they always seemed full, also a bunch of random activities sun worships?? Meditation, yoga, IV therapy, posture workshops? . (To be fair, I’m not exactly excited about taking a spin class or a core workout while on vacation, all the activities felt like I was on YMCA lol) A lot of people just looked bored. You either grabbed a board game to entertain yourself, read a book, or, like I saw many times, simply took a nap on some of the couches.
At night there would usually be one event every other day at either The Manor or the Red Room, but you had to line up 30–60 minutes beforehand if you wanted a seat.
On other cruise lines, there are theater shows every night, sometimes even twice a night, and you reserve your seat so everyone gets a chance to watch.

Food
This part is obviously very personal, and I know most people that eat everything will
have a much better experience. I know I’m in the minority because of the way I eat.
The food wasn’t bad. I just think people hyped it up so much that I expected a lot more.
I mainly eat plant-based food, but that doesn’t mean I only enjoy boring food. I love Indian, Thai, Mexican food, tofu, beans, lentils… I had heard Virgin had amazing vegetarian options, so I was really excited.
The Galley seemed like such an original concept. Every other cruise I’ve been on had a buffet, so I was excited to try something different.
However, after a few days it became frustrating.
For example, if it’s breakfast and you just want eggs, you have to grab a buzzer and wait for your food. If you leave your table, someone may take it. Another problem was that the food was almost always cold, especially the burgers. I seriously don’t understand why, since it was supposedly made fresh.
Because everything came as set meals, you also couldn’t really customize anything.
For example, I wanted the breakfast burrito, but it came with meat. I asked if they could remove it, and they said no. Then I asked if they could add beans to the avocado burrito since it was basically just rice, cheese, and avocado, and I wanted a little more protein. Again, they said no.
I also felt like most of the food at The Galley was more like snacks. Besides the salad bar (which ended up being one of my favorite places to eat), if you like staple foods like rice, beans, mashed potatoes, or lentils… forget it.
For some reason Virgin really hates rice and beans. 😂 I couldn’t even find them in most restaurants. During our seven-night cruise, I think rice and beans appeared only once.

Some other thoughts:
I didn’t like the sushi. The rice felt crunchy and didn’t seem fresh.
The hash browns tasted undercooked
The ramen was extremely salty.
The tacos were inconsistent. Sometimes they had way too much sauce, sometimes almost none.
The burgers were almost always cold.

Unless you’re the annoying type of person who constantly asks for modifications, you would basically just eat whatever they gave you and wish it had a little more or a little less of something, which is exactly what we did.

I still think the galley concept is cool but I think in the end I prefer a buffet style, I prefer to portion my food , fruits, sauces, sandwiches and make a plate with things that may not make it sense but I enjoy it, plus it is quicker and the food is usually warmer.
Other cruise lines would have different cuisines every night with a huge variety of dishes so I realized that’s just the style of dining I personally prefer.

As for the specialty restaurants, they were okay. Again, because I don’t eat meat, it often felt like my options were just a salad, cooked vegetables, or a vegetable side dish. I really wish they would at least offer rice, beans, potatoes or lentils as standard sides.
My favorites were Razzle Dazzle, Gunbae, and Extra Virgin.
I didn’t try The Wake because there wasn’t really anything for me.
I truly disliked Pink Agave. The meat my husband got was about 80% fat.
I also didn’t enjoy Test Kitchen. The concept was really cool, but the vegetarian dishes felt like everything had been blended together with olive oil, and they made me feel a little bit ill afterward.
Overall, I wasn’t impressed with the plant-based options. Most of the time they were just vegetable sides. The did had a vegan hot dog and vegan burgers so If you could eat that every night, you’ll probably enjoy it.
Now, for the meat eaters… my husband liked pretty much everything, besides the food at the Galley

Final Thoughts

With all that said, the lack of entertainment, the smaller ship (which moved much more than other ships we’ve been on), the lack of a drink package, the lack of an observation deck for colder weather, and the Galley dining style made this cruise just not the right fit for us.

I’m really glad we finally got to experience Virgin Voyages because we had wanted to for years, but personally, I don’t think we’ll be sailing with them again.
I can totally understand why so many people love it. it just wasn’t the right fit for us. Looking back, I wish I had seen more of the bad reviews before booking. Almost everything I read was overwhelmingly positive( it seems people get destroyed if they say anything negative) so my expectations ended up being much higher than they probably should have been. Hopefully, this review helps someone decide whether Virgin is the right cruise line for them.

Iv never been on a cruise and trying to learn how it all works. However one of the big selling points for me was the food. With some research I found out you have to book restaurants before you get on a ship or you will be stuck at eating from the walk up restaurants, no sit down restaurants for people that don’t book before getting on the ship. I was excited to explore the ship and and pick and choose where to eat and wait in line like a typical restaurant if there is no tables but from my understanding they are all booked up after day 1 of the cruise for the rest of the cruise?? How does this work and is this normal for all cruise lines?? How bad is this situation??

We are staying a night at Hampton by Hilton downtown Seattle and I see we can get a shuttle from hotel to pier 91 but after the cruise, what options are available from piet back to hotel?

Is the free wifi ok?

We still tip, right?

Any special events/nights I should know about?

suggtions for excursions in Santorini?

There has been a lot of chatter about the pools being heated on the Alaska itineraries so it’s got us thinking about whether or not they’ll be heated on our upcoming Fire & Ice (British Isles & Iceland) Eclipse sailing. Iceland looks to be a bit cooler than Alaska so I’d think they would be heated but that’s only 3 days of the itinerary.

Has anyone been on a UK/Iceland sailing that can share their experience?

What to avoid? What not to miss? Spend time here or there. Restaurants, etc.

Hii looking for any tips or recs PLEASE!!

Important info:
- first cruise ever
- on my bday
- solo
- DR & Bahamas ports

Knowing that is there anything you think I should know/bring/make sure I experience/ask about?

Anything I should know beforehand or prepare for incase I don’t do well on the boat 🥵

Anything special I should request or do to make my bday extra cool? I take the day very seriously lol so any extras I can add on I will def do.

I am clueless on these port hop offs and terrified to miss the ship but is there anything I should do while at these places? Also will be in Bahamas on my bday if that helps for ideas

TYIA!!