Can a Princess Love a Virgin?

[rebeccac]

For me, while I do like VV and they do a lot of things I really like, the three things that keep it from being the only cruise line I will sail are the lack of interesting itineraries, the ridiculously small pool and the uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  

[Wildcatllamas]

Just now, rebeccac said:

 the uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  

I have to fully agree about the mattresses in the regular cabins. They are worse then awful if you have any joint issues.

[travellingguy]

21 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

I would love to try Virgin, I suspect it is particularly well-suited to me.  But traveling solo and paying a 100% supplement on an already-increased fare puts it out of reach.  I wish they had better options for solo travelers!

They do have a limited supply of solo cabins - I've booked one for March.   They have ones that are interior and ones at the very forward with sea views. They are reasonably priced.   I did book almost a year in advance.  Sailor Services told me they sell out fast.

[Hlitner]

Terrific post/review and we thank you :).  I will point out that what you describe, about Virgin, also applies to nearly all of the so-called luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, Explora Journeys, Scenic, etc) which is why we prefer the luxury lines (although we still enjoy some cruising on Princess).   Virgin also catches our interest because they allow no children/teens (18 minimum age).

 

We would also mention that the one thing that has kept us away from Virgin are that they are basically a short cruise line without exotic itineraries.  Other than an occasional repositioning cruise they focus on itineraries of 7 days or less.

 

Hank

[CineGraphic]

28 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

the uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  

 

26 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

I have to fully agree about the mattresses in the regular cabins. They are worse then awful if you have any joint issues.

 

We've had a Princess mattress in our home for years and had zero complaints about the bedding on Virgin, even during our 14 day transatlantic.

 

It should be noted that the food on Virgin for the most part is cooked "ala minute", and not your typical hotel banquet fodder that's been sitting in warmers. Each chef is only allowed to work on 3 dishes at a time. They are also prepared to handle all sorts of food allergies. The worst dish we had was still better than anything we had on 15 Princess sailings.

[Wildcatllamas]

1 minute ago, CineGraphic said:

 

 

We've had a Princess mattress in our home for years and had zero complaints about the bedding on Virgin, even during our 14 day transatlantic.

 

 

In October of 2022 I sailed in a Club mini-suite on Discovery Princess and it was suppose to have their new fancy beds. It was worse then the Virgin beds. The friend who traveled with me, who is a die-hard Princess fan, said it wasn't as comfortable as she expected. 

[Wildcatllamas]

Looks like this has been moved back to Princess.

[jon81uk]

6 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It would have been nice to have one bar that was a quiet zone with just gentle background music.

I’ve always found Sip (the champagne bar) to be a little quieter than the others. The Dock House in the evening can be pretty quiet too.

[Lady Arwen]

I’m really enjoying this thread, thank you.  We prefer Celebrity, but we do sail with Princess on occasion.  We think it’s time to move on.  May I ask what age groups are represented on VV.  I worry that we’re too old and may feel out of place.  

[CineGraphic]

7 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

May I ask what age groups are represented on VV.  I worry that we’re too old and may feel out of place.

 

18 to Alta-Kaker. It's a judgement-free vibe that might be too much for the closed-minded.

We are in our 60s, and love it. You can have a quiet cruise without feeling left-out, or join the party. There's enough space for everyone, except for the pool which doesn't bother us as the pool has never been our scene.

[voljeep]

PLUS - up to 15 alcohol drinks per day at a total of $44 per day

 

what is that - about 3-4 drinks on Virgin? - which is OK if that is your normal daily consumption

[Lady Arwen]

Just now, CineGraphic said:

 

18 to Alta-Kaker. It's a judgement-free vibe that might be too much for the closed-minded.

We are in our 60s, and love it. You can have a quiet cruise without feeling left-out, or join the party. There's enough space for everyone, except for the pool which doesn't bother us as the pool has never been our scene.

Thank you!  We’re not pool people, either, so no problem.  We do enjoy some fun activities and we also enjoy our quiet time.  We are very much leaning in this direction.

[SCX22]

13 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m really enjoying this thread, thank you.  We prefer Celebrity, but we do sail with Princess on occasion.  We think it’s time to move on.  May I ask what age groups are represented on VV.  I worry that we’re too old and may feel out of place.  

 

Be young at heart and will to accept change and you'll find a way to appreciate what VV has to offer.  The atmosphere on the ship is more lively.

[SCX22]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

PLUS - up to 15 alcohol drinks per day at a total of $44 per day

 

what is that - about 3-4 drinks on Virgin? - which is OK if that is your normal daily consumption

 

Yes, but you're getting top shelf alcohol.  On Princess this would require you to purchase the Premier Package.  With the Plus Package you get the cheap stuff.  On VV brands are listed so you know exactly what you're getting. 

[CineGraphic]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

We do enjoy some fun activities

 

The activities on board are fun and inclusive. They have a retro arcade, a gaming area, an artist on board who will install a giant coloring book canvas for anyone walking by to stop add to it, painting classes, karaoke, tastings, pub crawls, trivia, etc.... The Halloween costume contest during our TA was great, and 1st prize was a free cruise!

 

 

 

 

[mthomp5]

Read the comments about uncomfortable mattresses in the regular cabins.  What cabins would I need to book to avoid these uncomfortable mattresses?

[CineGraphic]

12 minutes ago, voljeep said:

what is that - about 3-4 drinks on Virgin?

 

Virgin does not tack on 18% to the drink prices, and the variety of top-shelf liquors is vast.

https://profcruise.com/virgin-bar-menus-2024/

[SCX22]

I will say this about VV...Given the price point and target audience, there's a reason why VV won't do longer voyages.  First is, their demographic is younger and working and really only take one week or shorter vacations.  Second is, their pricing is higher (but with more included) and longer itineraries would make the price point out of reach for their demographic.  In these aspects, Princess wins.

[c-boy]

45 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

18 to Alta-Kaker. It's a judgement-free vibe that might be too much for the closed-minded.

We are in our 60s, and love it. You can have a quiet cruise without feeling left-out, or join the party. There's enough space for everyone, except for the pool which doesn't bother us as the pool has never been our scene.

we're/ I'm in my 60's and were feelin' thirty 🥰 . In my 20's would be pushin' it 😆

Edited February 18 by c-boy

[Lady Arwen]

Just now, c-boy said:

we're/ I'm in my 60's and were feelin' thirty 🥰 . In my 20'ss would be pushun' it.

If you and Jo enjoy VV that’s a very good recommendation in my book!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@Steelers0854 great review. Thank you taking the time to write it. Like you I’ve decided to branch out and have sailed Oceania and Windstar last year. I like O but fell in love with WS.  Both lines have better food than Princess but WS wins hands down over O.  

 

Both of these lines have the same all included feel as VV with just a few exceptions. Room service menus are quite extensive in both with no room service charges.  

 

They both also include fresh pressed juices and specialty coffees.  

 

Both lines don’t care how much wine, beer or booze you carry on. I don’t know if VV has such a lenient policy or not. That’s something I’d have to look into if I booked them.

 

O has one night where the captain buys all the drinks for a couple of hours  and O has two 2 for 1 happy hours daily.  WS has a captains reception where they serve free drinks and WS had a 5 star white glove dinner in the ruins of Ephesus with all wine included. 

While kids are not excluded on either line I didn’t see any.   I really don’t think WS (O for that matter) is a line that would attract them as there is literally nothing onboard for them to do. Unless they like to do what adults do.

 

WS star has no casino and the sad lonely aft deck smoking area never got used. WS just doesn’t seem like a good fit for smokers. 
Neither of those lines includes gratuities

I have looked at VV but their itineraries didn’t excite me at the time. I’ll keep them on my radar and if they offer something interesting to me I’ll certainly consider it.  I have 3 WS, 2 O and 3 Princess sailings booked thru 2026. 
I think in general folks who have sailed mostly on one line are branching out and trying new lines. It’s a good thing. 

 

Thanks again for a great perspective on VV. 

[CineGraphic]

18 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

First is, their demographic is younger and working and really only take one week or shorter vacations.

 

That's the demographic they wanted, but in reality it skews older.

The average age as reported by Virgin is 43.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Wildcatllamas said:

In October of 2022 I sailed in a Club mini-suite on Discovery Princess and it was suppose to have their new fancy beds. It was worse than the Virgin beds. The friend who traveled with me, who is a die-hard Princess fan, said it wasn't as comfortable as she expected. 

We’ve sailed on over half of the Princess ships in the fleet and must say, the Discovery has the firmest beds of any Princess ship.  I assume it is because she was released during all the post CoVid supply chain issues.  While we got used to them, just asking for an extra duvet so we sleep in on top of the duvet already on the bed makes a world of difference.  
 

[karatemom2]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve sailed on over half of the Princess ships in the fleet and must say, the Discovery has the firmest beds of any Princess ship.  I assume it is because she was released during all the post CoVid supply chain issues.  While we got used to them, just asking for an extra duvet so we sleep in on top of the duvet already on the bed makes a world of difference.  
 

This is a really interesting observation and makes a lot of sense related to supply chain issues as we have also found the beds on Discovery significantly less comfortable then other Princess ships and were seriously baffled as to why we noted such a difference. In general we love the comfort of Princess mattresses!

[Wildcatllamas]

2 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m really enjoying this thread, thank you.  We prefer Celebrity, but we do sail with Princess on occasion.  We think it’s time to move on.  May I ask what age groups are represented on VV.  I worry that we’re too old and may feel out of place.  

I don't think you will feel out of place. I'm 70 and the friend who did a B2B with me is 75 and we both loved it. There were a couple of women who by appearance may have been older, or maybe not, who did nothing but complain about how horrible it was one night. My friend was trying to find out what they didn't like about it and they got in a huff and left.

 

As to drinks - like @CineGraphichas said there is no gratuity added. Prices are pretty reasonable and very close to land based restaurants. I paid $6 for a specialty beer that I like that at the Mexican restaurant that I go to locally is $7. So actually a little cheaper then my favorite restaurant. Right now they are running a promo that would come with a bar tab amount added to the cruise and if you book with a VV Gold travel agent they can usually kick in some onboard credit.