Anyone considering Virgin Cruises? Tom McAlpine who launched DCL left to start up Virgin Voyages. Only 18 and older on that line. I'm intrigued.
This is why we tried VV…figured it must be a good product since he used to be with DCL
I keep looking at it, but it seems a little party/riqsue for my tastes.
Just don’t partake in what you don’t want to partake in, no one cares what you do…in other words, there is no one cruise director telling you to go to this show after dinner or before dinner, now go here and don’t forget to see this! No announcements…just wander, it really is relaxing…there’s no kids running all over the place, so it’s generally quiet everywhere. Also, the no kids thing is great when you just want to use adult language or have adult conversations and not worry about kids hearing you (we don’t use bad language in front of our kids, so we are aware of what we say in front of others’ kids). Don’t have to worry about that…it‘s just a different vibe. And no, people are not running around shouting expletives.
Actually, the only time I have seen an out of control drunk person shouting expletives on a cruise was on a
Disney Cruise lol
I am not going to sugar coat it. Virgin is VERY different from other cruise lines. However, on our sailing, the average age was 47 according to the staff and it is quite a
diverse group.
You will not feel out of place at all (or at least we didn't). Having no kids on board does make a big difference, but it's not just in the ways you think, as yes, they can push the envelope a bit more on shows, etc. It shows in the overall vibe of the ship, hard to explain, but it creates a very relaxed environment. Here are a few things I'd consider after 3 VV sailings (2 Scarlet Lady, 1 Valiant Lady):
- Food is by far the best of any cruise line we have been on. That includes Royal, Carnival, Princess, HAL, or Disney. There is no main dining room. Everything is a set restaurant that is cooked fresh to order.
- The Ice Cream is all gelato-style and is amazing
- Entertainment on this past Valiant Lady cruise has definitely improved over our prior 2 Scarlet Lady cruises. I think that they are still finding their way, but there were many more activities on this cruise than I remember as well as more live music than was on our past cruises. Duel Reality is amazing, and as I stated earlier, the "Miss Behave" show was about as crazy an hour that I've seen...
- I prefer the Beach Club at Bimini over both Castaway Cay and Coco Cay.
- There is a diverse group of people on Virgin. We rather enjoyed it.
- The hammock on the balcony. Why cruise lines don't do this is beyond me. I just wish there were 2 of them out there...
- Everything sans alcohol/specialty coffee is included (including fitness classes). This is especially noticeable with Gratuities. Not only are gratuities included in the fare (Virgin pays on a better wage scale, which makes employees happier), but you don't see them added to things like drink charges. So if I buy a $6 Heineken, it's $6, not $7.08 after 18% gratuity...
- Having said that, there is a $7 delivery fee for room service, which is waived if you order alcohol in your order(found that out after our friends ordered a bucket of beer to the room). You can include cans of cola in that. They will literally bring you enough to fill your fridge. (also, there are freestyle type machines in the Galley and you can get Cokes/Diet Cokes at the bars).
- Sushi rolls (spicy tuna, salmon, prawn, combo, and cucumber avocado) are always available in the Galley (sort of the buffet area) and in the "Social Club" area, there are not only always hot, soft pretzels with green chile cheese dip, it is unlimited gummy bears, twizzlers, and taffy...
- At least as of now, they are matching status with other lines. With our "Deep Blue Extras" that we got from matching our DCL status, we got priority boarding, a $100 "Bar Tab", $10 per day per cabin to spend on specialty coffees, free laundry, a cocktail party, and unlimited premium wifi (basic Wifi is included already).
- If you are a casino person, I will say that the casino seems a bit of an afterthought...
Highlighted everything I agree with in this post, spot-on.
We have been twice on Scarlett, and have another booked in November taking my 70-year-old parents. Now, if they were still showing NSA when we go with my parents, I would not take them to that lol But nobody is going to look at you funny if you don’t go to these things, or get up and leave if you don’t like it.
I am an introvert, I love VV.
I love how when I order a drink and they scan my band, i don’t get a receipt to then feel like i have to put an extra tip like on disney. They just give me my drink.
I loved the Grog Walk, (bar crawl) even though i am an introvert and it was out of my comfort zone, gave it a shot, and so fun! Costs extra, like $45, but included drinks.
I love all the seating areas around the ship, all different.
Food, of course.
Hammocks! Bought one to put on our back deck, we fight over it lol
I love the size of the ships, not too big. Wonder/Magic size.
Dual Reality is just so awesome.
I love the happy crew.
There is a YouTuber that I started watching before we went, it’s Cruising as Crew, her name is Lucy, she is a crew member and does really neat videos mainly focused on people who want to get a job on a cruise ship with what to expect, etc. She does a bunch of interviews with different crew members and how they do their jobs, it’s interesting.