Interesting new ship and concept worth a look

Scarlet Lady Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5
Scarlet Lady

5 Night Riviera Maya (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 07, 2021

Ship: Scarlet Lady

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

Overall a good experience I will try them again in a year to see if they improved.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
very easy with Rockstar embarkation. You get covid tested at the port for free and then get moved up to a special waiting area for "rockstars" Once there you wait for your covid results then checkin with a crew member before boarding.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Restaurant concepts are nice. There were things like Gunbae, Test kitchen and Razzle Dazzle that are different from other offereings. There were a total of 6 "restaurants" open that required reservations. You are allowed 1 reservation per cruise per restaurant and can wait list to go back to one if you want to later. If you choose not to reserve a spot you can go to their version of the cafeteria the "galley" that has about 10 "food stalls" that feature things like 24 hour breakfast, tacos, sushi, ramen and pizza. The food quality was better than most other cruises but some of the specialty restaurants seem like they're "trying" too hard to be different.

Razzle Dazzle Restaurant

3 out of 5

Veggie forward was not our thing. They put a twist on the food that didn't sit well with our taste. Some of the sailors loved it but I'm glad we only went here for lunch and not for one of the dinners. Best thing I had was the mushroom carpaccio

Extra Virgin

4 out of 5

This was one of the specialty restaurants. The best thing here we tried was the waygue carpaccio. WOW. The worst thing we tried was the stripped bass which was so fishy I had to send it back. And I like fish of most kinds. The concept was italian villa

Grounds Club

4 out of 5

Good expresso but we aware this is NOT starbucks. They can make expresso drinks and coffee but not blended drinks or any type of starbucks like things. Think of this like an Italian coffee house. Also; NO blender ANYWHERE onboard so no blended drinks unless it's premixed.

The Pizza Place

4 out of 5

Decent pizza came out very quick; thin crust. Open later so thats always good.

The Test Kitchen

5 out of 5

They tried...but some of the presentation looked like roadkill on a plate. (think big red splatter with a medallion of meat in the middle) They offer alcohol & non-alcohol pairings to go with the 6 courses. I think some of the dishes were successful but some tried too hard. Worth the experience especially cause it's included

The Sweet Side

3 out of 5

The desert place in the galley. Not that great. everything is served on a little platter with a handle you can take with you but the flavors were either overpowering (chocolate ganache) or lacking (not sweet enough)

Bento Baby

4 out of 5

This is the "grab and go" sushi place in the galley. They have about 6 set types of sushi (one of which is fruit) and also "fruit sushi" for breakfast. It's grocery store sushi but convenient. If you want to grab a box and take it to the pool it's very portable

Noodle Around

5 out of 5

Basically a ramen shop with 4 different ramens you can try based on time of day. I stopped here 3 times once for breakfast and once later night. Worth it for quick noodles

Lick Me Till...Ice Cream

5 out of 5

My husband said this was incredible. It's home made, and worth a stop every day.

Gunbae

5 out of 5

Loved this. good selection of meats but the server overcooked it some. There are quite a few soju selections (plum was YUM)They make you play a drinking game to "get in the spirit" which unless you're with a group of your own friends was a bit trying to say the least.The best thing I had here was the waygu platter well worth the extra money

Well Bread

5 out of 5

This is the bread side of the galley. You will also get breads that are found in some of the specialty restaurants here as well (jalapeno croissant)

The Wake

5 out of 5

This was THE best restaurant we tried on board. Its the steakhouse. I had a salt crusted fish they attempted to serve table side but you could tell the waiter didn't have enough experience yet doing it. The fillet was nice and well cooked. What I liked the best about this was the whiskey tasting flight. Lead us to buy $500 worth of whiskey before we got off the ship lol.

The Manor

4 out of 5

This is like a night club. We attended one show here and it was pretty intimate stand up comedy venue. Think old school club-bar; dark and mysterious

The Galley

4 out of 5

Good: selection was well organized and tasted pretty good.Bad: no change to the menu. It's the same every day.Ok: they require you to sit and be served to order seems like later on they will allow you to browse and order but COVID made them do this for now

The Dock House

4 out of 5

We tried the food that was tapas sized. The best octopus I've had on a ship was here but some of the other people loved the shrimp here.

SIP

5 out of 5

One of the higher end bars on board. They had some of the more expensive wines open here. There is also a "high tea" served here you can reserve.

Pink Agave

5 out of 5

The staff were very good. The food was pretty good. Favorite was the pork tacos. The deserts deserve a look as well. They will allow a larger group to dine family style and share the food if you ask

Let's Taco Bout It

4 out of 5

quick taco truck like bar in the galley. It's street food but the menu is set so there are only 4 tacos to choose from based on time of day.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
The pools were small, there was the main pool and a jacuzzi pool. There were 6 hot tubs overall spread out over 3 decks/locations. There were plenty of sunbathing chairs & locations for the 1/2 capacity sailing and bars EVERYWHERE.

Redemption Spa

3 out of 5

We went for a day pass in the thermal suite. It was just ok. There were no heated recliners only heated seats without backs. The best part was the mud treatment room. The salt room was not working so we didn't try it. Most other cruises we will get a day pass for the thermal suites and come back multiple times. This ship it was worth an hour stop and that was it.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
We attended one of the "adult" comedy shows, the topic was of course sex. It was funny and entertaining. Bad thing: every venue is small so you need to book ASAP when you get onboard or you will have to wait in stand by which can be very long.

Voyage Vinyl

3 out of 5

The idea is good but the selection is very lacking. There was no reason to really stop here. I think they wanted this to represent the virgin music side of the business but really it was just about 10 albums in a case you can preview and buy if you wanted.

Children's Programs

No children allowed I think that's the whole reason for this cruiseline LOVE LOVE LOVED it.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
They tried...they are understaffed and pressured in the steward side. We heard one steward tell us they were responsible for the entire port side of the ship on that floor basically by themselves. We had some issues getting ice in the cabins and no turn down service just basic tidying up. Also no towel animals; not a problem but some might miss it.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Easy to navigate and ADA friendly ship. There was plenty of room in the veranda stateroom to store a scooter; ours collapsed so it was really easy. Also the ship is smaller so easier to go from front to back. They did a great job keeping everything clean and it seems like they went overboard with the 20+ bars/clubs/chill areas on the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The size was great. The beds not so much. Some of the furniture gave us ikea vibes and there was some wasted space with large knee level builtin tables. One thing: no drawers of any kind. they had shelves in the "closet" which had a door and a curtain for the hanging clothes. With the lack of drawers I felt like my desk area although it looked cool was messy messy because everything just landed there. There were usb plugs (not c) built in with the power plugs around the room. I didn't need charging blocks which was nice but a longer cord will be helpful to reach your bedside from the oversized "coffee" table thing. One last thing: someone chose to put charcoal soap in the bathroom...it was MESSY. Bring your own if you like to use face soap. Black soap on white sink looked like a murder every time I went in there.

Ship tip

The elevators have spinning lights inside that didn't sit well with me. Also when you get off the boat it took me a while to realize that all the fore venues were listed in the left column and the aft venues on the right column. There was a distinct lack of signage around the ship.

Ports of call

The Beach Club (Virgin Voyages), Bimini Bahamas

5 out of 5
The beach club was excellent. Do NOT bother with a rockstar cabana unless you don't like people. The pools at the beach club was on point and music was loud enough to hear from the ship about 5 miles away (from our balcony) The cabanas best to pick are poolside or just grab one of the many many beach chairs, lounges, mattresses or seats. You don't need a cabana unless you feel rich.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
You pick a time and you leave. That's it. no lines when we picked the late 11:00 disembarkation. At 1/2 capacity the ship emptied fast.
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8 Comments

GerryBCruisin    3 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to share your review.

AuntPinkie    3 years ago

Appreciate your detailed review. Feedback on this new cruise line has been exciting. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

LobsterPot    3 years ago

Your views of the ship in the Caribbean pretty much mirror ours from the short UK cruises during the summer… 👍👍 Food & Cabins excellent, entertainment a bit bizarre and sporadic…

javawoody    3 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your cruise thanks for sharing your experience

natelorip    3 years ago

Thanks for the detailed review. It's fun to learn about new cruise offerings.

purpl    3 years ago

Thanks for your review.

cruising2004    3 years ago

Thank you for sharing your experience

jameeh    3 years ago

Thanks for your detailed review. It will be interesting to see how this cruiseline evolves in the future in order to find (or develop) it's core audience.

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