An honest review of Virgin Cruises from an avid cruiser.
We did a 5-day on Scarlet Lady out of Miami going to Puerto Plata and Bimini. I have been posting amazing and fun pics and videos highlighting things we have found exciting the last few days thanks to those posting here on Cruise Critic. The ship is very visual and photographs well. We have had a wonderful trip, we always enjoy our travels. That being said, Virgin is trying so hard to be different that they are making vacation hard work in a lot of ways and losing out on some expectations that many have grown to love about cruises. I have always loved cruises because I don’t have to think. We love a lot of what Virgin offers, and will possibly consider it in the future keeping in mind all of the pitfalls, however they are pretty hard stops.
The ship is super cool, modern and hip. It is a gorgeous design and thoughtfully designed to make you feel special. Similar to walking around a high end department store. It is extremely hard to navigate and signage is minimal and hard to figure out. There are no ship diagrams posted in elevator areas like all of the other lines. People wandered around lost all week. The staircase areas are brightly lit and sterile, constantly making me feel like we wandered into an employee area.
Everything is on the app. When it works. It crashes constantly.
Dining must be reserved. There is no buffet or main dining. I am on top of it and reserved dinner each night at a different restaurant. I did this 30 days prior at 3am when it opened after reading about it in a Facebook group. Thank god I did. We witnessed two women all dressed for dinner while we were in line for our dinner reservation unable to find a spot for dinner. The hostess told them all the restaurants were booked. They could get burgers upstairs or pizza after 9. We saw this repeatedly throughout the week, people turned away for not having a reservation. You do not spend thousands on a cruise to be turned away from having dinner.. Not okay. This ship is only half full. Design flaw. There is no buffet or main restaurant. So if you don’t know to plan you are stuck.
Shows must be reserved. The showroom is tiny (200-ish, and there are 2800 people or so max capacity). Shows are bookable only after you board. We were in group 1, but suites, “rockstars”, board first. We got into one show (that’s all we could find) and it was quite good. That’s all we could get, very disappointed.
Let’s talk air conditioning. This ship is supposed to be eco-friendly. The rooms get cool after some time (if you open your balcony door, give it two hours to cool back down), however most public areas are stuffy. I mean sticky warm. Hallways, staircases and some of the lounge areas are just not comfortable. In the Caribbean this is not welcome after hanging out in the sun all day.
Breakfast in your room is booked through the app. Cool, but we learned the hard way it books up and sells out! Our first morning our choice was 5:30am or 10:30am. Now I watch all morning for booking to open for the next day. You should not have to work so hard for vacation.
Room attendant… we learned the hard way that they service your room once daily. One of my favorite luxuries is coming back after dinner and our bed is all turned down and there are fresh towels and the room is tidy. Not on Virgin. I was quickly scolded by Sailor Services that’s not how they do it. Once daily service.
Dinner in Test Kitchen was a series of 5 tablespoon sized bites. We went for burgers after.
The Wake was super fancy, beautiful dining room and food very good but the server was inefficient and rude. She was only focused on a table of four that upgraded to $125 tomahawk steaks.
Dinner at Extra Virgin (Italian) was off the charts good. Service and all was excellent, and the steak was much better than the Wake.
Dinners in Pink Agave and Razzle Dazzle were both quite good.
There is only one small pool up on top. Also, the area is to lay out and enjoy is small and congested… and no shade to move to.
For evening cocktails before dinner despite all the areas on the ship that at first seem amazing, there are only two lounges and they are relatively small. There is no centrum like most ships. It is overall very strange.
The staff are hit and miss nice or don’t give a darn. Super weird! Since there is no tipping, there is no motivation for the staff to service you. I cannot count how many times we had to seek out our own drinks while staff mill around and are chatting with each other. That is not okay.
The food everywhere is mostly good. And during the day it is everywhere, although it gets stale with no changes or variety. There are lots of fun and quirky places to hang out.
Drinks are good but expensive. $13-$17 each. There are no drink packages. We found that vodka sodas are $7 so that’s better. We loved the shake for champagne where you shake your phone and a few minutes later they show up with a bottle of Moët on ice! For $100. We had a credit for a bottle and enjoyed it thoroughly.
The wifi is very unreliable. We upgraded to the Premium and I was unable to make consistent wifi calls at any point on the cruise. They were all broken up when I could get through. On all other lines this is never an issue. This is a deal breaker for me as I have to work while traveling.
Information, including signage and availability of what is going on is limited. There is no cruise director, no cruise director staff and no daily paper. Info on the app is very limited and it feels like a secret club where people bump around and find their way. There is no daily paper either digital or printed either.
Breakfast… on the last day you cannot order room service, which is fine. So we went to the galley for breakfast (only option). Picture a buffet area where you sit down and wait for a server to get you your food from one of the surrounding buffet areas (you cannot walk up and get your own). We ordered omelettes and they were rubbery and had clearly been sitting on a steam table for a long time. Not a yummy breakfast. This is also your lunch area. It’s not a buffet, it is worse. You have a few options, which don’t change, and while you can see the food sitting out you have to wait for a server to bring it to you.
Ports…
in Puerto Plata they have a nice built area with swimming pools, bars and a restaurant that were all very overpriced. We headed back to the ship after walking around the small town and taking some pics and buying local art. The taxi drivers are very aggressive about taking you to the beach. We finally relented and went for an hour with another couple, it was $20 per couple and a ten minute drive. Very few services at the beach, except for very expensive beach food ($20-$40 sandwiches etc). We took a dip in the ocean and went back to the port and onto the ship to enjoy lunch etc there.
In Bimini they have a private club. Very little to no information… as always with Virgin. They were pushing expensive shore excursions. We took the tram to their beach club and had a lovely day. We swam, ate, and did a Long Beach walk collecting shells. They then took our shells and threw them in the trash upon boarding, saying they “could” have live animals in them.
In summary, the ship is very “trendy”, and we believe it is aimed at people who have not cruised before. They do not know what you should typically expect, so it’s an easy target. Most of those we met onboard who have cruised on other lines seemed to feel like us, not too impressed overall (other than the ship is beautiful) and full of question marks. Those who had not cruised before were mixed, some were impressed and thought this is just how it is, others decided cruising is not for them them, which makes me sad.
This cruise was a lot of “work” and low on the enjoyment and relaxation factor.
We will be sailing on with our favorites… Celebrity and Royal.
