Nice experience for my first cruise line, some things to work on though.

The embarkation was great. Pretty easy check in process, just needed our passports and boarding pass. Upon boarding the ship, the staff was very friendly and the ship had an elegant atmosphere.

Each food and drink location was prestige from the looks of it. My guest who accompanied me on the cruise is vegan, and I will have to say the buffets didn't have many options besides an occasional soup which wasn't very tasteful, some humus options, and fruit & veggies. Upon asking the managers to have something made, it normally required a day in advance notice, or it was always a scrambled egg mixture option for breakfast which was prepared and tasted okay, but salty at times. My guest went to the pizza bar and asked to have a custom vegan pizza made and was told they didn't have vegan cheese on the ship at all so he had to eat his pizza with vegetables and sauce which didn't really seem appealing. The specialty restaurants served a delicious vegan meal, he noted La Petite Chef served the most tasty and flavorful vegan meal and had excellent entertainment. Followed by the Eden restaurant which served a variety of dishes. While the Normandie restaurant's food options, vegan or not, were okay as far as taste, the manager and service delivered from other staff were excellent! By far, they had the best customer service and remembered us even while working at other restaurant locations on the ship. I can't remember his name, but the manager from Normandie, an Indian guy I believe, by far treated us the best. He always approached us in a friendly manor, was very attentive to my guest's vegan requirements, and made sure other restaurants were aware of our food requirement. He also made sure pre-ordered foods were taken care of. He truly made our food experience enjoyable! I feel though specialty restaurants should be available to everyone and considered all inclusive when purchasing cruise tickets as they're clearly better tasting and typically have better options. We shouldn't have to pay extra. My guest kept comparing, stating that Virgin Voyage's restaurants are all included which might be a deal breaker when booking my next cruise. As far as the buffet is concerned, I will say the dessert options were tasty and something I looked forward to towards the end of the evening. The breakfast served by the buffet was a bit repetitive and wish the dining restaurants also served breakfast or other options. I also wish that the staff who came by our table asking us if we wanted coffee would clearly state that we would be getting charged for since it came from the "bar", because I could have simply got it myself from the buffet counter without being charge anything. I really only caught on because they kept asking for my room card. Again, something simple like a cup of joe should be included. Did I mention, every restaurant required pants during the night for dinner or else you would be denied entry. My guest had to buy $130 pair of pants at the gift shop. In closing, there were some good memorable moments and some things that need to be worked on.

The fitness center is something me and my guest took part in regularly. The space was a good size and I loved the cucumber and lemon water refreshments. I also enjoyed the cold towelettes provided to help cool us down. I would have like a bit more air conditioning, colder temperature, or fans to help cool down the room. I liked all of the new machines as each had enough space in between. Some of the machines were broken and were only noticeable by the screens not turning on. They should have a sign or something stating that they don't work because it was very distracting when that broken machine is next to yours and someone attempts to use it and you have to tell them "it doesn't work." The pools were very nice and had a great temperature to them. The hot tubs were just as nice and had several spread out on the ship. I enjoyed some of the "guess this song and artist" games played on the pool deck, that was fun!

I do wish that the DJ's had played a better variety of music though. Not going to lie, it really seemed catered to an older crowd which I understand, but some R&B or hip-hop songs that are current or even a little older would have been nice. Not everyone is a pop or Brittney Spears fan. It seemed like only hip-hop music was played in the Club during the night. The best show by far was Awaken! The dancers and singers really put on a great performance and had so much synchronicity, despite the movement of the ship. I also really enjoyed the Eden show as it provided an intimate setting close to the performers and really showcased their talents. We also enjoyed the pianist at the Eden, it provided a nice ambiance while eating dinner. I would definitely love to watch again. I wasn't really impressed by the comedian, Monique Marvez. She seemed to have humor geared towards an older crowd. Again, I know the majority of the audience is older adults, but she should have some more universal jokes that younger adults would laugh at too. For her having an "adult-show", not one curse word came out of her mouth, she just had slight sexual humor. I can't remember the blonde lady who performed in the theatre on the first night of the cruise, but it wasn't a good singing performance. My party actually got up and left it was so bad. Maybe it was first night jitters or something.

no children

Our room steward, Guiti, was phenomenal!! He always went above and beyond to make sure our room was clean and our laundry request were completed and returned in a timely manner. He always had a very pleasant attitude when approached and offered his assistance. Again, the manager and service waiters that worked at Normandie, were awesome and really made our experience enjoyable! Diego, the manager from the buffet, was very attentive to my guest's vegan requirements and had great customer service. We just wish he had more vegan options to offer.

The ship's design was beautiful! Most areas were very clean and the staff made sure of it with their quick service. I wish the shops on the ship had more options and many stores were extremely high fashion (eg. Bvlgari), not a problem if you're into that. My guest needed a pair of pants to attend the restaurants and ended up spending over $200 for one pair of pants and one shirt from the gift shop. Very expensive! These were the cheapest options. I enjoyed the luminous lighting and modern appeal. One thing that me and my guest noticed was near our cabin, 6169, on deck 6, there was a sewage smell each time we walked down the hallway. I understand that sewage has to go somewhere, but it shouldn't be very noticeable, especially near our cabin. That was disheartening and wish the booking agent notified us or disclosed the matter to us.

I loved our cabin! Very beautiful color choices and decoration. The size was good, no feelings of being cramped. I enjoyed the automatic temperature and balcony shade. I really liked the balcony window being on an automatic track, would love if it went down or up automatically with one touch of a button instead of holding it down, but no worries. A nice lounge chair or hammock would have been nice to chill in the balcony area. The balcony chairs weren't that comfortable. The "partial view" didn't bug me one bit, I loved the deal I got! Highly recommend! I do wish the TV had more options as far as shows or movies to watch. Seemed very minimal, but the options that were available were of good quality.

Quick and easy for the most part!