Coffee for early birds - Scarlet Lady ?

[We_like_to_cruise]

Good morning.

 

Where would an early bird go for a hot cup of coffee on Scarlet Lady?

 

And what is the earliest time it might be available?

 

Thanks @

[jon81uk]

free drip coffee is 24/7 in the Galley food court.

 

If you want espresso based coffee then the grounds club locations open at 7am.

[CruisingWalter]

24/7 in The Galley, that drip coffee in the back. It's not the best but it's ok. It's got a weird flavor, I can't quite place it. I've thought about bringing my AeroPress with me the next time I'm on a Ladyship with my own coffee grounds. 

 

Ironically the coffee that's delivered via room service is much better than the stuff in The Galley so perhaps that your 'go-to' for early morning coffee.  The night time coffee spot is Sip Champagne lounge with their amazing hand pulled espresso machines. That's the strongest coffee on the ship. 🙂

[raphael360]

2 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

And what is the earliest time it might be available?

 

I'm an early riser and head to the Galley between 3 and 4 AM to fetch my wake-up cup of coffee.  There was freshly brewed coffee at one of the '2' coffee stations, usually at the coffee station opposite the Grounds Club.  

 

I take my own 12 oz cup, fill it up, and head back to my stateroom to enjoy it in peace and quiet because the Galley gets its daily floor scrubbing in the wee hours.

 

VV was using Intelligentsia's Black Cat brand of coffee on my last 6 cruises. Intelligentsia is a high-end bean that is both expensive and excellent.  I love it so much that I buy these beans directly from Intelligentsia for my morning coffee at home.  FYI: VV brews a full-bodied cup of coffee, unlike most mass-market hotels.  IMHO it's one of the best features on Virgin because I LOVE MY COFFEE 🙂

 

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, raphael360 said:

I'm an early riser and head to the Galley between 3 and 4 AM to fetch my wake-up cup of coffee.  There was freshly brewed coffee at one of the '2' coffee stations, usually at the coffee station opposite the Grounds Club.  

 

I take my own 12 oz cup, fill it up, and head back to my stateroom to enjoy it in peace and quiet because the Galley gets its daily floor scrubbing in the wee hours.

 

VV was using Intelligentsia's Black Cat brand of coffee on my last 6 cruises. Intelligentsia is a high-end bean that is both expensive and excellent.  I love it so much that I buy these beans directly from Intelligentsia for my morning coffee at home.  FYI: VV brews a full-bodied cup of coffee, unlike most mass-market hotels.  IMHO it's one of the best features on Virgin because I LOVE MY COFFEE 🙂

 

From one coffee lover to another: I have tried Black Cat in the past, but it's WAY too bitter for me. I love espresso and make it almost every morning, but I prefer a lighter roast like Illy and Lavazza. (Both of them make various roasts, but generally I do NOT like the dark, oily beans, it's just way too strong and one of the principal reasons I avoid Starbucks). So, would you advise someone like me to get the room service coffee or the drip coffee in The Galley rather than going to Grounds Club? Thanks. (I like coffee, too, BTW, but I don't like darker roasts, French roast, etc.)

[jon81uk]

I like the drip coffee in the Galley, it’s not too strong in my opinion. Didn’t enjoy the Americano so much.

[raphael360]

19 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

So, would you advise someone like me to get the room service coffee or the drip coffee in The Galley rather than going to Grounds Club?

The Grounds was using Black Cat and I'm pretty sure the Gallay drip was Black Cat too. I don't know if VV is using the same coffee beans in all of their venues currently but I'm guessing they do.  But, with that said, CruisngWalter noticed different coffees at different venues so maybe you can test-drive all of them and find a winner for your taste.

 

My last VV cruise was way back in December 2023 so things may be different now.  I'll be onboard Scarlett next week and will report back. (I'm typing this comment while sipping my second cup of Black Cat now as I've been up since 2am:) 

Edited April 12 by raphael360

[jon81uk]

40 minutes ago, raphael360 said:

The Grounds was using Black Cat and I'm pretty sure the Gallay drip was Black Cat too. I don't know if VV is using the same coffee beans in all of their venues currently but I'm guessing they do

It’s all Intelligensia coffee but they only use the Black Cat Espresso beans for espresso based drinks, the drip coffee will use a blend designed for filter coffee.

[Travel-and-See]

Been about a year but they used to have an Intelligensia blend specific for Virgin. 
 

I’ve definitely had better coffee on Virgin than on other cruise lines - and the prices are quite reasonable. Literally half the price of Celebrities coffee bar.  

Edited April 13 by Travel-and-See

[raphael360]

I’m onboard Scarlett now and must say the coffee this morning is much stronger than I remember. It’s freshly made but so bold. Too strong and bold and I can see why several sailors don’t like it.

 

im also reminded it comes out of the carafe only warm and I remember why I always preheat my coffee mug before I draw my first cup of coffee.

 

Note to first time sailors who are early risers, it’s 4:30 am and one set of the mid ship doors are closed to the Galley. 

[raphael360]

I ordered coffee from room service today and can confirm what cruisingwalter said. Room service coffee is better than the Galleys coffee. Not as strong. The only down side is room service delivers coffee in paper cups so it was luke warm by the time it made it to my room 

[jon81uk]

14 hours ago, raphael360 said:

I ordered coffee from room service today and can confirm what cruisingwalter said. Room service coffee is better than the Galleys coffee. Not as strong. The only down side is room service delivers coffee in paper cups so it was luke warm by the time it made it to my room 

Thats unusual as we’ve always had the drip coffee delivered in small flasks and only speciality coffee like americano come in paper cups. How many servings did you order?

[jon81uk]

On 4/21/2024 at 8:07 AM, jon81uk said:

Thats unusual as we’ve always had the drip coffee delivered in small flasks and only speciality coffee like americano come in paper cups. 

Got Ship Eats delivered this morning and our four portions of drip coffee came in flasks with plastic cups to pour it into. The half and half was in paper cups. But also each flask does almost two cups, so the four portions is actually closer to eight coffees with milk!

[Tralfaz1138]

RE: Room service coffee, the examples stated of how it was delivered is definitely different than what we got last year on Resilient Lady.  It was in a stainless steel thermal flask as others mentioned, but had ceramic cups with cream in, I believe, small stainless steel containers (basically the same thing they used for things like syrup for the french toast I ordered).  Certainly nothing disposable like paper or plastic.

[cantgetin]

Currently on Scarlet. As of yesterday, hot beverages from room service were being served in the silver thermos flasks which does keep the liquid warm. No disposable anything related to hot drinks.