Virgin was near perfect

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 11

Review summary

Okay so if you aren't interested in cruising you can scroll past this one. Let me start by saying that the Virgin cruise was excellent, superb, and worth it. Now that being said, it was not the most technological ship (RCL Symphony of the Seas) or the most esthetically pleasing ship (Celebrity Edge) but it gave me a new type of cruising experience. To get the most out of the cruise you need to download their app. Meaning you need to download the app to do about 85% of the things on the ship. All the info and communication from the ship is sent thru the app. The biggest difference between Virgin and the other cruise lines is they don't have buffet style dining where you serve yourself. You go sit down and someone comes over and takes your order and brings the food to you. Oh yeah, free soda and juice all day long. For dinner you have to make a reservation in one of their restaurants. I was able to try 4 out of their 5 restaurants. If you are interested in the restaurants I can give you more details. The food was by far the best I have ever had on a cruise. Every day I tried foods and flavors I have never experienced and it was all delicious. The presentation of the food rivals any Michelin starred restaurant. Let me talk about the crew for a minute. Everyone I encountered was friendly and generally happy. And not in the way like "it's my job to smile and greet you" kind of way. The workers I talked to told me that Virgin treats them better than other cruise lines they worked for and make more money. Lots of the staff have tattoos that they are encouraged to show off and not cover up. I give Virgin kudos for their treatment of their staff. FYI, there are gender neutral bathrooms all over the ship. The ship has entertainment every day, everywhere, just check the app. Some of the shows you have to make a reservation to attend. The have a huge "Red" party on the top deck which is rowdy and wet. They have private karaoke rooms to reserve and social spaces to chill, meet people and drink. There is space everywhere on the ship to just lounge, everywhere! The criticisms I have are few but they don't take away from the overall experience, such as the TV. They only have like 6 live TV stations and those were news channels (BBC, FOX, MSNBC, CNN). Oh they had ESPN but that's not entertainment. They had a catalog of movies which I'll describe as the hits from the past decade. There was an important college game on over the weekend and because ESPN didn't show it, I couldn't watch it. Well, I guess I could have paid $40 for the internet package and watched it from my phone. I opted for the free internet which had limited download speeds. I got a balcony cabin which was much smaller than I had experienced before on other cruise lines. The bathroom was just as small (think airplane bathroom with a shower). The room itself lacked extra shelves and storage space for your things. And because I had a balcony it came with a hammock that was for sitting. Yes you can sit and stare at the ocean or read a book. Overall, I would have to say that Virgin did it's job by providing a new cruise experience. My favorite cruise line is still Celebrity but I will definitely sail Virgin again.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

Key West, Florida

The Beach Club (Virgin Voyages), Bimini Bahamas

Disembarkation