What I Wish I Knew Before I Sailed on Virgin Voyages

even if you don't pay much attention to cruising it's likely that you have heard of Virgin voyages that's because the cruise line made a splash not only with ships that look like nothing else at sea but by offering a completely different way of cruising adults only with things such as tips and Wi-Fi already included no buffet and all the food being free there is a lot to like about sailing virgin that's simply not the same as with other lines now I just got back from my first ever cruise with Virgin voyages and here's what I wish I knew and what you'll want to know before you sail first thing that you might notice is that there's a watt missing from a traditional Cruise when you sail on Virgin voyages personally I love these changes but they will not be for everyone let's start with the cruise director there isn't one so there isn't someone coming over the PA to tell you what's happening around the ship in fact there are almost no announcements at all outside of telling people to check in at their muster station at the start of the cruise some of the fun but frankly sort of tacky events like the world's sexiest man contest by the pool they aren't part of the lineup the buffet is now a food Hall with a number of stations that serve you as you order although many items are pre-made there's not a main dining room but instead a number of different restaurants of which all are included in your cruise Fair art auctions nope you will not see those on Virgin nor do they have the photo stand set up when boarding or photographers around the ship when you hear adults only your first thought might be oh that means I can relax without kids running around that is true but in my experience the advantage of being adults only was something completely different what I found in sailing virgin is that with no kids everything can instead revolve around what adults want instead of having to factor in families or children the performances can be more risque in the restaurants the food can be more unique and cater to adult tastes even the amenities on the ship can cater to adults instead of having to factor in families I'm talking about things like a tattoo parlor on board and the beach club it's able to cater to adult taste rather than having all sorts of kid-friendly things to do so if you sail don't think that having no kids on board just means that you won't have to deal with children cutting up or babies crying the impact is much bigger than that of course virgin's signature color is red and you'll want to match it on your cruise by bringing some Red Clothing of your own during your trip virgin hosts Scarlet Knight now most lines will have a themed event usually on the pool deck during the cruise like a neon party or a 70s disco party virgin voyage's answer is Scarlet Knight here all the passengers dress up in red and the theme runs throughout the entire ship there's an entire fictional backstory to the night that I won't get into but it involves an octopus so you'll find inflatable octopus tentacles and all the lighting is given a red Hue meanwhile performers put on impromptu shows around the ship adding to the atmosphere what you don't want to do is to be like me and not pack anything red and feel a bit left out of the fun one big change you might notice is that there's no formal night on the cruise the closest thing is Scarlet Knight when people seem to dress up a little in their best red but the traditional formal night of a cruise is one thing that virgin has given the ax in fact the dress code on this ship is well it's non-existent as long as you're not wearing a bathing suit into a restaurant you're fine but remember that it is also adults only and given the type of Passenger who sails people still do dress up a bit when headed to dinner it's common to see men wearing a nice shirt and pants and women dressed up in a cute dress Tuxedos and evening gowns though nope they're not there but everyone is still very presentable and dressed nicely now I'll be honest it took me a while to sail a virgin Cruise because the marketing showed lots of hip and trendy people I am I'm not that I don't have a mustache or ironic tattoos I don't eat avocado toast so I just thought I wouldn't really fit in the truth is that's not the case at all there are all sorts of people on the ship young old black white beautiful and not so beautiful gay straight it was a very inclusive crowd but everyone was friendly as you'd expect on a regular cruise I will say that the crowd is a bit different however I've sailed a lot of different lines from Carnival to Royal Caribbean MSC princess Norwegian you name it what I noticed is that the Virgin crowd seemed to Trend a bit younger and a bit more fashionable overall than those other lines but trust me you do not have to have a starring role in Hollywood or be an Instagram model to fit in one major thing I noticed on the cruise line is all the little things that virgin does that make you feel like a guest and an adult instead of a customer or a teenager for instance if you want a beach towel there's no process of checking them out and then having to return them like you do on other cruises or risk being charged you simply grab a beach towel they aren't worried about you stealing them when you enter the cabin there's a carafe of water so you have something to drink in the room and there's another carafe in the fridge you don't have to order bottles of water or drink from the bathroom tap board games aren't just a few cheap decks of cards and a checkerboard there are tons of games available even those that come with a lot of pieces and instead of some soft serve mix there's legit ice cream and waffle cones again it's all small items but they really do add up to make a difference on Virgin the app is going to be a major part of your cruise particularly when it comes to securing your spot at shows and the sit-down restaurants the sit down restaurants and some entertainment they ask for a reservation but one thing I wish I knew was how quickly these spots fill up by the time that I boarded The Cruise reservations at the restaurants were all full for the entire trip and with relatively small theaters on board I had to wait until the second or the third showing of some performances before I could find an open spot so one of the best things you can do is take time before you board and book everything that you want to eat or see however if you don't get a reservation do not despair at least for the restaurants virgin says that they hold some spots for walk-ins in fact I went to two different restaurants during my cruise that had No Reservations available to see if I could even eat anywhere one spot was nearly empty the other was more full but still had plenty of space available so I was seated both times with zero issues let's talk a little bit about space on the ship I sailed Scarlet lady but the ships in the fleet are identical so it should apply across the board overall I found that there was lots of Elbow Room around the ship while the reservation system did fill up quickly there weren't a lot of overly crowded spaces when you sailed there were always spots where you could get away and largely be on your own if you wanted compared to some Mega shifts that can feel frankly cramped when they're full that was not the case here but the one spot that can feel cramped is also pretty important the pool areas during my cruise I figured there were only about 200 spots to sit around the main pool that's less than 10 percent of the ship's capacity on a day at Sea that was cladding overcast the interior spaces the ship were buzzing with activity in people but the pool deck was also full with all the loungers being claimed I can only imagine what it would look like on a typical day at sea when the sun is out and Shining anyone who has Cruz knows that navigating cabin hallways frankly it can be confusing all the rooms look the same and with no windows you can't tell which way you're headed forward or aft on Virgin there are signs showing the forward way that can help you get where you're headed you should know that instead of port and starboard the line uses a for one side of the ship and Z for the other an M for cabins in the middle so if your room is 11334 a that is different than 11334z which is on the other side of the ship so you have to pay attention to the entire cabin number including that letter at the end of it or you'll end up trying to get into someone else's room stairwells can also help you get around each one aft middle and forward they have different color carpet of blue red and purple so that you can know where on the ship you are when walking around inside if you sail from Miami on virgin then one stop you'll have is the beach club unlike mini lines virgin voyages they don't have their own private island instead it has its own private carve out on Bimini you'll take a free shuttle from the ship over to the beach club there you'll find a spot that's a bit more Bohemian and style than some other Cruise Line Islands there's a large pool that runs through the middle and the other side of that are rows of chairs lining a white sand beach with some of the most Electric Blue Water you've ever seen I think you can really consider the day at the beach club to be two different days in the morning it's calm and peaceful almost meditative like there's some music playing but the Crowds Are thinner and it's much more about relaxing after lunch however the place fills in and the party cranks up with the DJ playing Inflatables put into the pool and the staff leading the party as they dance through the music now you can find quieter spots on the other side of the pool or on the beach but if you're wanting the more wild time this is it one way that cruise lines get repeat customers is with their royalty programs that can be a big hurdle for passengers trying a new line like virgin voyages but if you're someone who is interested in sailing the line but you've already got high status with another Cruise Company you are in luck virgin will offer you status on their line based on your status with another line if you were at high enough of a level for example Royal Caribbean Diamond members and above can see a match on Virgin even if it is their first cruise with the line what that can get you is a number of great perks including premium Wi-Fi ten dollars a day in coffee credit and a hundred dollar bar tab credit plus more not many people know about it including me until I actually sailed thank you so much for watching and I hope that you learned a little bit about sailing virgin that frankly I didn't know before I did now if you like this video I hope you'll like And subscribe you can always find more on sailing virgin and any other Cruise Line on cruisley.com until next time happy sailing foreign

Channel: Cruzely.com

Views: 549,505

Keywords: cruise, travel

Id: -dKY5iR1C_c

Length: 11min 47sec (707 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 08 2023