Virgin have admitted their standards on this 11.day cruise were not.met. a free.cruise has been offered ( to be booked in the next few.weeks - codes yet to be sent) for Europe. I will not be taking this offer. .i would prefer compensation back in cash value. The current set up ( entertainment and lack of menu changes) remains the same and noted similar on other ships. There should always be scope to chill/read on a ship but have access to a full.programme of activities for every taste. Regardless.of this cruise line advertising itself as wanting to do cruising different, and I was prepared for excitement and difference with this major brand - I got nothing from it. I cannot hand on heart recommend this ship on a long haul trip. A number of passengers have genuine reasons to complain in the main. There is no clarity what virgins demographic is. .I am not an older person and enjoyed some of the energy but overall this experience was poor and I will not be recommending Virgin as it stands now
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Ramping at.portsmouth was unsafe and at a ridiculous dangerous gradient. People in wheelchairs were being pushed/pulled up as no other alternative embarkation level was being used.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Buffet in the Galley was reasonable at first but over the period of the cruise, more and more food was being delivered ad hoc, undercooked and often just warm. Due to the app ordering, it sometimes came.out at different times. There is an all night pizza place with 6 pizzas to chose from. No other choices. There was also a hit dog and ic cream bar available. Salt water taffe given out when asked which is a nice touch. The main dining restaurants -6 of them- are excellent venues and unique experiences in the first week, but it became apparent for a return visit the.menu was the same. This meant a return visit to Gumbae or The Test Kitchen lost its surprise function. The first night our table of 4 was offered vegetable sides for the whole table which consisted of 1 small side dish of creamed spinach and 6 sticks of asparagus. Really !!! Mid way through the cruise, some food and drink products were unavailable. Very poor stock control management. A let down. An recommend Pink Agave and the Dock.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Shuffleboard outside one day. .would have been useful to gave the rules nearby. Games room indoors. Basketball court but not for me personally. There was a boxing ring/see saw/ swings - bizarre- for the inner child. The swimming pool ( if you call it thay) is extremely small and only 1. Appeared to have a lot of floor space for the gym and classes were advertised. This felt it was heavily leaned towards fitness. On a sea day - very minimal stuff to do unless you are a gym.bunny.
Sailor Services
1 out of 5
Poor attitude towards some.passengers. unhelpful responses at times. Lacked interest.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
The red room is the theatre so to speak. It is great in that it can be moved about to accommodate the night club party/ scarlet night and Duel reality ( acrobatic_gymnasts) The sound and lighting is very good. All the dancers were exceptional and energetic BUT over an 11.night cruise, this becomes repetative. There's the Manor House for smaller acts. Very good for the It's a ship show. Drag act, dj occasionally and Mr memory. There was a jazz bloke central on deck 7 where most people congregated because there wasn't.much else to do once you have done/ seen it. The house band were good when we saw them. Most of the shows appeared to go on for 2 days then finish. One dj set was in The Manor Room and hy 11 when it finished, people were asked to leave as the staff had to get the room ready for the following day !!! This was the only entertainment that night!!! Found myself mostly sitting in my cabin watching films mid way through the cruise. The ship advertised pop up acts - never saw any. Street theatre and acts around the ship each day would have been great.
Children's Programs
Adult only cruise
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff lovely and approachable but at times, orders were incorrectly added in the food venues. Cabin staff lovely and keen to get you what you wanted. All staff said hello. Never saw anyone from the bridge.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Easy layout and access to lifts. Love the lift design. Simple design with the carpet and walls. Personally I never saw any staff cleaning in all the time I was on board. Access to hand sanitiser. Seating appeared clean. The Red room and Manor House was always clean.
Lack.of sunbeds for sea days. Half of the top decks are given over to cabanas ( cost extra) and fixed gym equipment ( see.saw/ boxing ring etc) even younger adults want to lie.on a sunbed surely?
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Reasonable space. Food lighting. Comfortable bed although the pillows a bit soft for me. The bed was always made up as a bed and we never saw the seating arrangement, nor was offered this. This meant there was a solid piece of wood on one side near the top of the new, which meant constant banging of knees to get in/ out of bed. Easy to control hesting/sc. Hammock outsole. 2.metal chairs on the balcony which really need cushions on. Love the remote control curtains and lighting and cinema mode on the TV. Frequent WiFi problems with the tablet and sometimes lacked access to the TV. Great shower area but very small area to the bathroom after that. 4 drawers and rail for clothing safe in the room
Ship tip
Checkout your itinerary for sea days and entertainment as poor currently over 11 days.
This was cancelled prior to the ship setting off. Still awaiting return of.money from shore trip booked. Funchal port authorities confirmed the ship had not been confirmed as stopping over despite the cruise being advertised until March with this port on. Very poor mismanagement
Would have loved to seen it. Due to a significant emergency, the ship did jot dock until 7pm that night so all trips were cancelled. An expected 2nd day as per itinerary was not factual
The ship had anned to leave at 2am and not 5pm as recorded. Poor communication between between Virgin and the travel company. Lisbon looked lovely as well
Appreciate your detailed review. Interesting information. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations, hope you find what you are looking for elsewhere.
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