I had fun with my best friend. I enjoyed all the ice cream and fresh pizza I could want. We met some cool people. But unlike my other cruise experiences, I wasn't devastatingly sad for the sailing to end lol. It felt like VV just had the Idea to make an adults only cruise, and stopped at that. Like ok we're done. It felt like they just didn't have their stuff together. We went to a couple of activities and the supposed hosting staff weren't even sure that the venue and time was correct. Smh. This sailing kind of felt like we were testing out Scarlet Lady before they opened to the public...but no, this was an actual regular revenue sailing. Oh and the pool was ridiculously too small for that size of a ship!! Who the hell thought that was okay?! And some of the bars closed sooooo early! On an adults only cruise?? Also, the tech...the app was horrendous. Information came thru after the fact. Information was not clear. Half the time it didn't work properly. And this cruise is very app heavy so it NEEDS to properly work. Anyway, I'm undecided on whether I'll do VV again...for the dining and the hammock...maybe lol.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
This was easy and quick. Seamless. We even boarded early...way before our scheduled time. And the terminal (V) at Miami is beautiful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was fooding! Lol. I definitely enjoyed eating thru the week.
Pink Agave
5 out of 5
Service and food here were top notch. That steak...It's been 2 months and I'm still thinking about that steak.
Gunbae
4 out of 5
This experience was a lot of fun. I'm an introvert and was dreading having to sit with strangers...but since it was just me and my best friend in my party, we had no choice. It's a dining experience for at least 6 guests together. But our table and server were a lot of fun. The games were fun. The music in here is loud but the soundtrack is banging! Sitting in here was better than even the nightclub experiences cuz those DJs just played the same songs over and over and over. The food here was fun to watch being prepared for us. A few times we had to turn over our food on the grill because our server disappeared. The taste was okay...not great...could use some seasoning. But overall, fun dining experience.
Razzle Dazzle Restaurant
4 out of 5
We enjoyed Razzle Dazzle but nothing stuck out spectacularly to us. Server was a little pushy with wanting us to try new items they were testing out.
The Wake
4 out of 5
We did brunch here twice and enjoyed each time. The service is good but can take a little long.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
We were bored most of the time. We felt like there wasn't enough variety in activities or enough activities in general. Also, some of the things thst needed to be reserved via the app would show as sold out/closed and then we found out later neither was the case, so we missed out on things we wanted to do. I'm used to Royal Caribbean, which has a million things happening in different parts of the ship all day long so there is always SOMETHING for everyone...
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Poor use of space for some of the venues. One of the shows looked extremely low budget...and like they thought it up that morning...I didn't enjoy the shows.
The DJs need more variety.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Service was very good...attentive...from stateroom to dining venues (mostly). Those working around the ship were always kind and funny and fun...and I liked seeing that they were able to really be themselves and let their hair down and relax too.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Clean? Absolutely!
Beautiful (albeit a bit obnoxious lol) design of a Ship.
Layout however was terrible. We and many other guests were constantly getting lost. There needs to be more signage. If I get off the elevator and the a sign says go left for Pink Agave but going left lands me in a stateroom hallway and there is no other sign to tell me to go left or right...the number of guests that walked that long hall just to make a u-turn...And this was often the case throughout the ship. There's minimalism and then there's just dumb...it is dumb not to have clear and ample signage.
The design, while I understand they chose several designers for the different areas of the ship, it made for a jarring walkthru...Like a designer who makes a collection, all items are different but they have some congruence. Sometimes the ship felt like one of my classroom art projects: a large roll of paper across all the desks and every preK kiddo has their own tools and materials and they all gather around the paper to color/paint/glue/sparkle/etc.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We had a sea terrace cabin. Small but modern and comfy. The hammock on the balcony was EVERYTHING! We each spent a lot of time out there. The movie selection was excellent. Something other cruise lines do NOT have. And it came in handy, since we were bored most of the week on sea days, we spent a lot of time watching movies in the cabin. The bathroom was teeny tiny but not unbearable. We loved the tablet to control the different elements in the room, request room service, etc.
Ship tip
Be open-minded. It's an adults only cruise. You will see a LOT of EVERYTHING lol.
The port is crazy! You really don't HAVE to leave the port but if you want to, they don't make it easy...They want you to stay and spend your $ there. But we left. We booked a day at Maya Chan Beach resort and will probably do that every time we return to Costa Maya...the service, the foooooood (omg), the drinks. It isn't expensive and it is worth every cent. We didn't want to leave to come back to the ship. Excellent experience. I understand why I've read so many rave about it.
I was disappointed in the Beach Club at Bimini. It had been hyped up sooooooo much but past the nice entrance and the pool...much was left to be desired.
The last 2-3 rows of chairs on the beach had no umbrellas. All the other rows did. There were no little tables by the chairs either and so you had to out Your drink cup in the sand...everything someone walked by, sand in your cup. The seats had the cheap rubbery plasticky slats...I literally have seen very similar seats at Walmart! This is your luxury beach club? Food choices were very little and it was NASTY!!! The bar was pure chaos. We stayed maybe 2 hours and went back to the boat. Usually at private beach destinations I'm out there until close to time to get back on board. I couldn't wait to leave here.
This was easy and quick. We did luggage assist. Locating our luggage was as well. However, the app said we needed bag tags, none were given to us in our stateroom...I went to Sailor Services the night before disembarkation to pick them up and then realized they were the ones we initially received when we boarded and dropped our luggage off. That wasn't made clear at any time any where. So a bunch of people were at Sailor Services for tags. And a bunch of people put their luggage out in the hall with no tags at all cuz they'd already removed the tags received at drop-off. Clear cmmunication was lacking tho the entire sailing.
Totally agree. We have been on VV 3 times and all 3 experiences were identical. Never much to do but try to get a spot at the pool and “be seen.” We enjoyed the beach club at Bimini the first time and by the 3rd time, it had really lost its luster. The food is so good compared to other cruise lines, but it’s time for Virgin to update their menus. And yes, the shows are a little cheeky, but seem low-budget with the exception of Duel Reality and as good as it is, it’s a one and done. I did hear on a YouTube vlog that VV is focusing on expanding their entertainment options after a lot of feedback from passengers that there’s just not enough to do. Looking forward to those changes and maybe will sail with them again. Fingers crossed
I agree with you on nearly every one of your comments. I went on Scarlet Lady in April of this year, and I didn't feel post-vacation renewal I have got from other cruises. There is very little to do on Scarlet Lady. I watched multiple movies in my cabin while on board, which is not typical for me. A ship should have enough activities that you'll be entertained by the experience on the ship. Also, yes, the app doesn't update correctly. I ended up showing up at a show that I already attended that didn't clear from my calendar. That caused me to miss the show I wanted to go to at that same time that night. Thanks for your review.
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