Didn’t Meet the Hype

Pink Agave- excellent Dazzle Dazzle- excellent/ good The Wake- good Test Kitchen- good Gumbae- good Extra Virgin- awful The Galley- bad, awful, a little good The dock- good Gumbae- farm raised shrimp were squiggly and tasteless. Fried items were served cold and greasy. You couldn’t get the squid pop without disgusting mayonnaise on it. Beef was good, but overly salty from the sauce that was used. Kimchi rice was inedible being sooooo greasy. Extra Virgin was surprisingly, not Italian. A few pasta dishes with adulterated, greasy sauces that were uninspiring. For instance, gnocchi was ordered. Only 5 gnocchi in a huge bowl, and served cold. Pink Agave was by far our favorite restaurant. Everything, while being far from authentic Mexican, was very good and served hot. Razzle Dazzle was overall very good with some major clunkers on the menu like the hot cauliflower which was basically like Outback’s blooming onion, but this was served as a main. Disgustingly greasy. BTW, greasy was the common thread through almost all of the food onboard. Razzle Dazzle shined for breakfast where the watermelon with tofu cream and the bacon were fantastic. The Wake was just good. Our steak was served cold and they put mayonnaise on the asparagus. Spatchcock chicken was disgusting. I found all of the beef onboard to be overcooked even if ordered rare, the chicken undercooked and mostly dark meat, and all of the shrimp was farmed raised and tasteless. The food in all of the venues onboard is done basically by assembly line. There’s no other way to cook for nearly 3,000 people 3X daily. So, that being said, a lot of times the problem was cold food. But, something that IS in Virgin’s control; the amount of oil and fats used. They want to portray themselves as vegan friendly, but in this case, vegan doesn’t mean healthy. All food, however, was presented with great flair & style. But, Test Kitchen was surprisingly good, but almost everything was served cold and not quite hot enough. The Galley- other than the salad bar during the day & bagel bar in the morning, the Galley was dreadful. Cold food that was repetitive. The burgers were awful, too. French fries were good. No rotation to the desserts. Always the same. Sushi was awful. tuna, salmon, and fake crab in a salad style with mayo rolled up in hard rice that wasn’t completely closed so every piece fell apart when you picked it up. Truly disappointing. The breakfast burritos came premade & couldn’t be accommodated for individual dietary needs. Same with the sandwiches & the Ramen Bar. Want just strawberries with your yogurt? Can’t have it. That’s premade too with other berries and things that I can’t eat. Calling the Galley not a buffet is like calling McDonald’s a steakhouse. The Galley IS a buffet. It’s just served to you. The quality is somewhat better than on most cruises, but the monotony and repetitiveness on a 14-day cruise was painfully apparent. Even MSC changes up the menu a little more. The Pizza Place was very good, if you got your pizza with very little or no cheese. The cheese they use is so wrong for pizza; too gooey & soupy. But, the crust is tasty. Lick me Til I Scream is just awful. It’s not ice cream, it’s non-dairy vegan. Stick with the few sorbets. it just didn’t live up to it in taste

Activities were standing on line, getting shut out of trivia, and trying to get ice for my soft drink at night. I played no games & saw only one (very bad) show. Really bad system Virgin uses to fill their venues. First come first served doesn’t work when your fellow sailors are a bunch of gluttons.

Great staff, except the ones who were standing on line in back of us in Funchal who thought it was OK to smoke online. Yes, 5 Virgin crew members lit up at the same time under the alcove while waiting over an hour and fifteen minutes to get back on board. Rude!

One of the best designed, easy to get around liners there is. A little prone to unsettling movement when turning.

Our cabin was spectacular. Plenty of storage and well designed. Our cabin stewards were also awesome!