Interesting New Experience of Virgin Voyages
Valiant Lady Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe
Contributor Level:
First Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 15
Helpful Votes: 542
3 Night Long Weekender In Zeebrugge (Portsmouth Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 01, 2022
Ship: Valiant Lady
Cabin number: 13310A
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
This review should be prefaced by the fact that we started our cruise a day late due to a person overboard incident on the previous sailing. This meant that instead of embarking on Friday April 1st, weren't able to board until early morning on Saturday April 2nd. As such, we lost one night of our cruise and had one full day in Zeebrugge instead of an overnight stay. We were allowed to stay on the ship late (until 2pm) on debarkation day which we appreciated. We also received $200 per person onboard spending money and £300 per person future cruise credit (to be used within 60 days) which we feel is sufficient compensation. However, we did have to pay ourselves for a hotel in Portsmouth the night before the revised boarding date. We completely understand that these circumstances are out of Virgin Voyages' control and it is not in any way their fault that our cruise started late. However, what was unacceptable was that we received no communication whatsoever about the delay. We only heard late the night before we were supposed to be boarding that something might be wrong from social media, and Virgin's twitter said we had received an email - we had not. Furthermore, there is no way to contact them in UK business hours as their call centre only operates from the US. Having not heard anything official instructing us to the contrary, we proceeded to the terminal as planned on the Friday (albeit expecting some form of delay, just completely in the dark as to the details). In the terminal, there were Virgin representatives who sufficiently explained the situation and gave us all the information we needed/had been missing. From there, Virgin's handling of the unfortunate situation was fine, it is just outrageous that we received no communication before arriving at the terminal. Once onboard, we had a great cruise. Virgin are very different in many ways to other cruise lines, however the fundamental concept of cruising remains the same. The ship is really nice, the food was great (and we liked the alternative dining concept), the entertainment was certainly unique but very good and the crew are fantastic.Embarkation
Embarkation scores lowly not for the delay (beyond Virgin's control) but how they handled it/the lack of communication. Once we were able to embark, the process was actually fairly efficient given the circumstances - about 40 minutes curb to ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We liked the alternative dining concept of smaller, unique and specialty-equivalent restaurants as opposed to a main dining room and extra-cost restaurants. It's great that everything is included in the cruise fare (except for alcohol). In the Galley/foodhall, there was decent selection and the food was good. It was a little unclear whether we were expected to order with a waiter or at the counter, but either way the food came promptly (but obviously not instant like a traditional buffet).
We lost one night's dinner reservation due to the delay, but ate in The Wake and Razzle Dazzle. The Wake was very nice and the steak was excellent, however they were out of some dishes. Razzle Dazzle was also great and the deserts unique. In both restaurants the service was very fast - possibly too quick (under an hour for both 3 course meals). Overall, we were happy with the food offering and quality.
Onboard Activities
There is excellent provision of fitness facilities and exercise classes - the VHS workout was very entertaining. There is also a good array of shops and a highlight was the free ice cream stand! Whilst we did not use the pool (due to the weather), I imagine the fact there is only the one, and fairly small pool may be an issue on busy cruises in the Mediterranean/Caribbean. We didn't get bored, however there was a lack of non-exercise related activities during the day (but plenty in the evening); this may be an issue on longer cruises. Finally, the WiFi quality varied, but considering it was free/included we were happy. Overall, we were happy with the onboard activities, but daytime entertainment may be lacking on a longer cruise.
Entertainment
There was no lack of live music or DJs around the ship. The Manor is a great venue for smaller shows and we enjoyed the drag show and the late-night parties. In the Red Room, we attended both Duel Reality and "UNTITLED-DANCE-SHOW-PARTY-THING". Duel Reality was amazing in terms of the acrobatics and talent on display, but certainly isn't the traditional theatre style cruise entertainment. The latter event's title (or lack of) does it justice - it was crazy and unique and weird, but certainly entertaining. As such, there definitely is good provision of entertainment in the evenings and into the early hours of the morning. We were certainly entertained and content. However, if you prefer the traditional Broadway-style shows, aren't really into partying and perhaps looking for more conventional, PG entertainment, Virgin may not be for you. However, if you like the sound of the above, then it's perfect!
Service and Staff
All the crew were great - attentive, helpful and very friendly. There were plenty of crew around and service was always fast. They were always engaging and wanted to know we were having a good time. Credit to Virgin Voyages for how they treat their crew; they all seemed genuinely happy.
Ship Quality
The ship is brand new, but nevertheless kept in perfect condition by the crew and meticulously clean. All the spaces were well designed and nice to spend time in and the ship was fairly easy to navigate. We also appreciated the extensive use of outdoor deck space for terraces, fitness and the cool catamaran net at the back of the ship. From the exterior, the ship certainly stands out, but not in a bad way - it's just very unique.
Cabin / Stateroom
This cabin is a good size and overall a great balcony cabin. The bathroom is quite small, but the shower is amazing - such high pressure for a ship. The beds are comfortable and whilst we didn't use it, the option to easily move the beds into a sofa layout was nice to have. We had no issues with storage, however the lack of big drawers may be inconvenient on a longer cruise. The balcony was a good size, but the best part was by far the hammock! The tablet device was fairly easy to use to control all the rooms functions - the 'moods' are quite funny and the cabin steward did a great job of keeping everything very clean and tidy.
Ports of call
We spent a lot more time in Portsmouth pre-cruise than planned, but had a great time. There is a really good selection of shops and restaurants in Gunwharf Quays and the Historic Dockyard Museum is great. We also went up the Spinnaker Tower, which had amazing views - especially of the ship.
Thumbs Up
3
In Zeebrugge we took the 'Cruise Express' shuttle bus to Bruges (€20 per person, roundtrip). This worked well to get us there and back from just outside the cruise terminal for a good price. We had a very nice time walking around Bruges, good shops, nice waffles and visited the Groeninge Museum.
Disembarkation
Disembarkation was very easy and efficient, we appreciated being able to stay onboard later, but once we did leave the ship it took less than 15 minutes ship-curb (we carried our own luggage off).