Virgin Voyages Cruise: What An Awesome Experience

I’m an Australian so was familiar with the Virgin brand. My favorite domestic airline in Australia is Virgin and so when I first met the team at Virgin Voyages, my first question to them was “Are you part of Virgin?”

Might seem like a crazy question to ask, but for me if the answer was ‘Yes’ then I knew exactly what to expect in terms of service and quality from the brand.

And yes, the answer I received was “Yes”, so I was overjoyed and excited to have my first experience.

My First Virgin Cruise

I had never cruised before and so when I got the opportunity to go on my first cruise on a Virgin ship I was doubly excited.

I opted for the short 4 day cruise in the Caribbean as my introduction to cruising. As I said, I had no clue what to expect and was a little concerned that I might spend the entire time feeling seasick.

I had booked a Sea Terrace cabin, one with a balcony, so I could see the sea, and I thought it was a fun idea to have a balcony on a ship.

Living in San Diego I get to see many of the ocean cruisers in port as they depart and return, or stop in for a visit. It’s fun to watch the ships come and go and see how they are all different. Disappointingly Virgin Voyages doesn’t travel out of the West Coast, well at least last year when I cruised they didn’t.

I had to fly to Miami to start the cruise so flew in the day before. The last thing I wanted was to feel stressed about not embarking on the ship before it sailed.

What I Loved About My Virgin Cruise

The Embarkation Process

With Virgin Voyages you get to choose the time you want to embark. I loved this because it meant that when I arrived there was no standing in big long queues, waiting to be helped. My cab got held up in traffic so I was a little later than the timeslot I had chosen, by around 5 minutes, and that was still okay.

There were Virgin team members at the terminal ready to help me, all the way through to me stepping onboard the ship. Everyone was super friendly and helpful, and more to the point welcoming. I felt like I was welcome onboard their ship and not that it was a burden for them to be me to help me get onboard.

No Children. Adults Only

Don’t get me wrong, I love children. I’m a Mother and Grandmother, but these days it is nice to only be in the company of adults when I travel. It was so great not having to think about whether I was stepping on little ones. There were no screaming toddlers, or children running in and out of adults on the cruise.

And sure, I have no other experience cruising, so have nothing to compare it to, but, I have been in large crowded spaces with families before, so have some idea of what having children onboard would be like.

The Peacefulness

You are probably going to think this is strange, but it was peaceful on board. I could spend time in quiet spaces, reading or doing nothing but people watching. Getting up early, I could want the ship and see only a handful of people, so standing up on the top deck watching the ship dock at 6.30am, was a very peaceful experience.

Most of the time it did not feel like there were 2,699 passengers onboard. Yes, the maximum amount of passengers is 2,700. Then there are the crew of course, but for the size of the ship you don’t notice the people onboard.

That was so wonderful. My cabin was quiet. I could sit in my hammock, yes Sea Terrace cabins have their own individual hammocks and read or drink tea. It was relaxing.

Oh, and the other thing that is apparently very different on Virgin Voyages to other cruise lines is that there are no announcements. No bells or total ship messaging. You plan and manage your day, your way.

Is there information on the activities etc that are happening, absolutely. Did I get left behind for my on shore excursion, no, because I used my Virgin Voyages App to track what I had booked.

The Food

Being a picky eater I wasn’t sure how I would go finding food to eat. There are 20 different eateries onboard and I still wasn’t sure I’d find food that I enjoyed.

I didn’t book for the specialty restaurants early enough in the App. That is now being reorganized so I won’t have the same trouble next time I cruise, so it was a matter of me exploring the other onboard food options.

One night I did get a booking at the Test Kitchen. Wow! The experience there was fabulous and I would recommend it to anyone. As I mentioned I’m a picky eater, but that didn’t stop my waiter in the Test Kitchen totally customizing my options to basically give me a “Karen tailored vegetarian menu.”

There are 5-6 courses in the Test Kitchen and unbelievably I ate them all, AND loved every one of them. I came away having had the best experience doing something totally not what I would normally do. So, if you go on a Virgin Voyage, definitely plan to have a meal at the Test Kitchen.

and Drink Options

For most of the cruise I ate up in the Galley. There are a ton of food and drink options up there that are all included in the fare price. That’s something that is different to other cruise lines.

The only thing ‘extra’ I had to pay for on my cruise was specialty coffee that I purchased, just because I could. And, even then, I had On Board Credit (OBC) to use, so it didn’t cost me anything in reality.

I’m not a drinker so I didn’t purchase a Bar Tab. I didn’t need to. My soda, water, juice and tea were all included. I could have had brewed coffee too, but opted for a Latte, which is an added extra.

Fun

I’m an introvert, but the cruise was a ton of fun. Being part of the karaoke crowd on more than one occasion was super fun. I loved that.

Playing trivia with strangers, because I could. Not something I expected to do.

As a solo traveler I got invited to solo traveler events, which means I got to meet up with and see the other solo travelers on board and we would connect up to participate in the activities together as a group, like the Art Scavenger Hunt.

There are board games to play, just fun things to do during the day, that even on our sea day, it wasn’t boring. The days disappeared so that before I knew it, my cruise had ended and I was getting packed up to leave.

Why I Want To Go On Another Virgin Voyages Cruise

• The Virgin Voyages overall experience is welcoming and fun
• I don’t have to worry about what I will eat
• Different itineraries offer me different places to experience, such as the Med, where I’ve never been.
• Being able to chill and enjoy quiet time whilst on a ship with 2699 other people.
• I can be an introvert and not feel out of place