B2B Cruise Review! Symphony of the Seas/ Virgin Valiant Lady Out of Barcelona July 23

[Ilikebigboats]

  

 I have really appreciated all the info on these boards so I thought I would give back and share my thoughts on our Mediterranean cruises. 

Hubby and I traveled with our 4, mid twenties children, and spent 7 nights on Symphony then boarded Virgin’s Valiant lady for 7 additional nights. We love cruising the Mediterranean but it can be exhausting with such port intensive itineraries. 

 First, I am a loyal Royal, diamond/prime and purchased the Key for everyone in our group. We loved Hairspray, looked forward to drinks at the Central Park Trellis Bar, enjoyed our free diamond and casino drinks, and was surprised by how much we liked just the once a day cabin cleaning. 

Key- paid $10 more than internet pkg. price, not worth it. Half of my group are vegetarian and Key lunch waiter literally said we can not accommodate vegetarians, “you can order the Caesar salad”(not vegetarian). This was the start of a bunch of little annoying things that continued to add up throughout the week. 

The food rumors are true, dining was mostly unremarkable to down right bad all week. If you are a steak and potato kinda person then you might be okay with the bland menu, but I guess we were looking for a more healthy, creative dining experience. 

 Besides food, here is a list of things that need to change pronto!

Beds- come on Royal your beds are the worst in the industry! I always have to ask for a mattress pad for my aching back. 

Casino- Make it smoke free! Are Royal casinos the only ones that allow smoking?!

Towels/pool- stop requiring people to check/return towels, it’s a pain in the backside. 

Price- We paid a lot for this cruise and felt like we did not get our money’s worth.  Royal tries to be everyone’s cruise- bring the kids, grandpa, honeymooners etc. maybe this dilutes the experience by trying to make everyone happy?

Virgin cruises, much better fit for my adult group. If you are a “foodie”, like a ship with no kids, socially laidback, and enjoy a smoke free casino then Virgin is the way to go. Prices were similar but it’s like comparing apples to oranges, that’s how much better Virgin’s experience was compared to Royal. To be fair, Virgin only had 900 passengers vs Royals sold out ship so I’m sure our spectacular service would have been quite different with a full ship.

We have always enjoyed our Royal cruises but this last one was just too underwhelming for us. Sorry for the negative post but I needed to vent, Royal’s survey link has already expired🤪. We will enjoy our Prime/casino cruise next February on Jewel of the Seas, but will move on and try other cruise lines in the future. 

If you have any questions, fire away!

[Crazy planning mom]

Have heard good things about Virgin.  How did the 2 cruises compare pricewise?

[Ilikebigboats]

30 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Have heard good things about Virgin.  How did the 2 cruises compare pricewise?

Virgin was a little cheaper.
I didn’t have to pay tips, wifi or specialty dining on Virgin because it’s included, so I figured I spent about $200 more on Royal per balcony cabin. 

[flcruiser05]

I've cruised both lines (not back to back) and agree with all you have said.  

 

The experience on Virgin is just top notch.  Both of our cruises were about 60% full. One of out Miami and one out of Barcelona. They have become our favorite line

[Jetdriver787]

Yes, we did a week on Valiant Lady out of Barcelona last month and thoroughly enjoyed it! Food was excellent, and service was as well! They status matched us and I felt they really wanted our future patronage. We thought we might find the experience adrift from our "age demographic" but that wasn't the case at all. We have 3 weeks worth of cruises on Royal in the next 4 weeks and then 3 more booked beyond that. I am seriously considering dropping the last 3, subject to our overall experience in the next month. 

[Ilikebigboats]

17 hours ago, Jetdriver787 said:

Yes, we did a week on Valiant Lady out of Barcelona last month and thoroughly enjoyed it! Food was excellent, and service was as well! They status matched us and I felt they really wanted our future patronage. We thought we might find the experience adrift from our "age demographic" but that wasn't the case at all. We have 3 weeks worth of cruises on Royal in the next 4 weeks and then 3 more booked beyond that. I am seriously considering dropping the last 3, subject to our overall experience in the next month. 

The status match was so nice!

I agree that that the age demographic was pretty spread out, even thinking that the “middle age” group was the majority. 
 I’m hoping on my next Royal cruise to get a feeling that they are actually happy that I am there, that was missing last cruise. I know Royal is selling out most of their cruises but they better be careful or they will end up like Disney and start losing their most loyal customers. 

[Oceansaway17]

On 8/10/2023 at 2:40 PM, flcruiser05 said:

I've cruised both lines (not back to back) and agree with all you have said.  

 

The experience on Virgin is just top notch.  Both of our cruises were about 60% full. One of out Miami and one out of Barcelona. They have become our favorite line

At any time did Virgin feel uncomfortable or too adult or over the top

[flcruiser05]

No, it never felt uncomfortable or too adult of over the top.  

 

It felt fun and relaxed all at the same time.  

 

[gatordeb]

I've been comparing the two ships and I feel like RC has so much more entertainment than Valiant. Am I right? Besides drinking and going to bars, Valiant doesn't seem to have a ton from what I've found. And with that, there are very few pools and hot tubs on Valiant. But everyone says how amazing Virgin is compared to RC. Thoughts?

[Biker19]

30 minutes ago, gatordeb said:

But everyone says how amazing Virgin is compared to RC. Thoughts?

That's about as subjective as the MDR food. Read some Virgin ship related threads and decide which factors are important to you.