r/VirginVoyages

Edit: I got a message accusing me of being a VV corporate shill because I’ve had my Reddit account for 10 years and keep my profile hidden, so I’ve unhidden my profile in case anyone is truly concerned 😅. I’m sorry if this review came off as too positive and seemed fake, I just had a really good time on my honeymoon and I spend a lot of time browsing Reddit, so I thought I would share. I keep my profile hidden because of digital footprints and my participation in local to me subreddits, but you are welcome to go through and enjoy my handful of posts and comments over the past 10 years 🫡.

Hello sailors! I wanted to share my thoughts after our recent cruise because I found it super helpful to read everyone else's reviews while getting ready for our trip! We sailed on Resilient Lady out of Miami from May 2nd to May 7th, so it was a 5-day cruise.

My husband (25M) and I (26F) have cruised twice as a couple on Royal Caribbean before, and absolutely loved it, but this cruise was going to be our honeymoon cruise, so VV's kid-free and included amenities were super appealing. We purchased $300 in bar tab, reserved brunches and dinners, booked a shore excursion in Grand Turk, and purchased A Splash of Romance before sailing.

Boarding: Because of SOR, we had priority boarding, and it was awesome. I would definitely book priority boarding again, whether through SOR or whatever package might include it. From pulling into VV's parking garage to walking onto the boat, it took about 30 minutes. Our room was ready when we boarded, and our luggage arrived around 4:30 PM.

Food: We absolutely loved the food! I thought The Galley was awesome, and the grab-and-go stuff was so convenient. My favorite dish there was the Miso Udon at Noodle Around, and my husband loved the Fried Avocado Taco at Let's Taco Bout It. We did not miss the traditional buffet at all. We had brunch at Razzle Dazzle and The Wake, and we had dinner at Razzle Dazzle, The Test Kitchen, Extra Virgin, and The Wake. I had no trouble getting reservations for everything, but I did reserve everything as soon as it opened, so I can't speak to the experience of making dining reservations onboard. We genuinely enjoyed every single restaurant, and we'll for sure be trying Gunbae on our next VV cruise. I thought the pizza at The Pizza Place was great, and the ice cream at Lick Me Till Ice Cream was spectacular. The only disappointments came from Afternoon Tea and the food at the beach club on Bimini. The little desserts and sandwiches at Afternoon Tea were honestly mediocre and a little stale, although the scones were good. The food on Bimini was good, but I just personally could have used a little more variety. However, my husband was more than happy with it, so I think it really just depends on your personal taste. We also pre-ordered breakfast one night from Ship Eats, and that was phenomenal. Breakfast just tastes better when you eat it on your balcony overlooking the ocean.

Drinks: We were very happy with the drinks on board. We each had 2 to 3 alcoholic drinks per day, and we felt like the $300 in bar tab plus the $50 free was perfect for us. I ordered tea a couple of times and some speciality coffees and juices, and they were delicious. I'm not picky about coffee, and I really enjoyed the speciality and free coffee, so your mileage may vary. Soda being included in the price was super convenient, and we had no issues getting soda from the machines or from bars. The free juices available at Gym and Tonic as part of the SOR package were honestly not our favorites, but I think that's just a personal taste thing as well.

Grand Turk: We really enjoyed Grand Turk. We've been to Cozumel and Nassau on our other cruises, and so far, Grand Turk is our favorite. It was pleasant to walk around, the souvenir shops were decent, and the free beach area and pool were great. We booked the Dune Buggy Island Adventure excursion through VV. After checking in, there was a short walk to the parking lot with the dune buggies, a short safety and driving tutorial, and then you get to dune buggy for most of the 2-hour time slot. It was very, very dusty on some of the roads, so if you book it, make sure to wear clothes and shoes that you're comfy getting dirty. I also recommend bringing a bandana to wear underneath the helmet. The guides leading the excursion were great, and it was a really fun and semi-adventurous way to see the island. It is not a cultural or historical tour, but I did a little bit of research before and after, so I could connect what I saw to what I learned. Getting on and off the boat at this port was very easy.

The Beach Club at Bimini: We really enjoyed the beach club. There was a bit of a wait to get on the tram, but it wasn't too bad. It's a nice little 10-minute drive through Bimini, and then you're right at the beach club. We left the boat at 10 AM, and there was still a lot of seating available when we got there. We snagged one of the soft beds behind the beach chairs, and we thought it was comfy and in a great location to everything. There was no shade, but we just asked a staff member who was putting up umbrellas if we could have one, and it was no problem. By the end of the day, every bed had an umbrella. We spent all of our time in the ocean or lounging. The bar lines were pretty long, but every drink we had was good. As I mentioned earlier, the food was very good, but I would have liked a few more options. The lines for food weren't as bad as the bar lines, but we also ate pretty early, around 11:30. The worst part of the day was the line to get back on the trams. I think a lot of improvements could be made as far as wait times and lines go, especially with very little shade for such a long line. All in all, we had a great time, and didn't have to spend anything extra!

Entertainment: We loved the entertainment on the ship! We're honestly very content with hanging out on our balcony or an upper deck just relaxing, so we didn't go to a ton of shows, but we did see Miss Behave and Persephone, and we loved both of them. We also caught one of the Diva's cabaret shows, and it was so fun. We had every intention to participate in Scarlet Night, but it took place after our dune buggy excursion and dinner at Extra Virgin, so we were a bit sunburnt, drunk, and tired, and hit the hay by 9:30 PM. VV's entertainment offerings fit us as a couple very well, and we preferred pretty much all of it to the entertainment on RC.

The Ship and Everything Else: We loved our sea terrace room on deck 14's aft. It was a convenient location to everything, and our room steward was so sweet. It felt so modern and had plenty of storage. We especially loved the rain shower. I spent so much time in the balcony hammock reading and eating and just enjoying the view. We also really loved the layout of the boat in general, and every single crew member we interacted with was great. The other sailors on board were so fun, and it was so nice to not have groups of 8-year-olds running around! SOR benefits were useful, and getting to use the thermal spa for 3 hours was nice, but I don't know if it was worth the price for us. I'd have to really consider the value before booking again. Debarkation was very simple. The lines onboard were a bit long, but once we were off the boat, getting through customs and then to the parking garage was no issue at all.

Anyway...that was a lot, ha ha. I just wanted to offer the kind of review that I might want to read. We had a phenomenal time, and we're so glad we picked this cruise for our honeymoon. We will be cruising with VV again, and thank you to this sub for all of your insight and advice over the past year!

Edit: I forgot to put this in the original post, but we really enjoyed browsing the High Street shops as well. My husband ended up purchasing a new cologne while on board, and the crew member who helped him pick it out was awesome and genuinely knew his fragrance stuff. In general, the shops felt way more high-end and less sales-people-y than the shops on the Royal boats we’ve been on.

Not much point to this post but to rant about how VV has gone downhill in recent times.

- we had issues with our cabin ac. The engineers came out once and refused to come out again. Even with the deck manager was in agreement that something wasn’t right. We even offered to wait for the engineers so we can show them the issue, but the engineers refused as they “don’t speak to sailors directly and won’t go in the cabin to confirm the issue”. So we have been left with no working AC. We spoke at lengths to a chap at SS who said he’d personally follow up with us and would speak to the engineers. We never heard back from anyone and the engineers never came back.

- Shower drain was blocked/really slow at draining. We reported this to SS. No one attended. It has been blocked for the duration of the voyage. Thankfully it’s usable if you’re quick with having a shower.

- WiFi (premium) has been terrible - remember the days when the basic free WiFi was good enough for streaming?

- We got back and our cabin wouldn’t unlock. Went to SS and a lady came up with us. She tried activating a new wearable to no avail and asked for someone to attend. When someone attended (with the lady from SS present) he stated “it was our fault for trying to unlock the door so many times” erm, no I don’t think so. We each tried it once as asked by the SS rep. He stated that we must of had the door open and tried to unlock it multiple times.

At this point I looked to the SS rep and asked if she could confirm we hadn’t done this. Which she did.

They rebooted the door lock remotely and we were in and left us with the parting message of “don’t try to unlock it multiple times as it locks the cabin”.

Someone else from VV stated it was an issue with the door panels battery but they wouldn’t be able to change it until disembarkation. So we may get locked out again and if we did, to go to SS - great!

- Then we couldn’t purchase anything, so back down to SS to be told “there is nothing wrong with your account/wearables are you sure you can’t purchase anything?” Erm, well yeah, I didn’t come down for a chuckle.

In the end it was sorted by going into pink agave and showing the error message that came up at the bar to SS in which they resolved it by giving us another set of wearables.

- At this point, we were pretty fed up and asked if we could provide some feedback to a manager. We were told that we’d have to come back at 6am tomorrow morning. Yeah right, like I am getting up at 5am to meet a manager for 6am! I’m on vacation!

- we requested a laundry collection at about 15:00 and came back at 23:00 to find it still sat by the cabin door. Called SS and they stated it was collected and it’s too late to collect an additional bag. Despite trying to explain the bag was still here, they couldn’t seem to understand our issue.

- I was sat reading on the balcony and suddenly the light went out. No problem I thought, I will turn it back on via the switch inside. Tried it. Nothing. Called SS who advised it’s now their policy that all external lights are turned off at 22:00 and it might be worth picking up a torch at the next port. This did make me chuckle.

- Qualify for free coffee onboard. Saw that $1.80 had been charged each time. While at SS I mentioned this. After much back and forth they found the system had charged us incorrectly and must be a “bug” in the app, but rest assured it’s all sorted. Unfortunately it hasn’t been sorted but couldn’t be bothered raising it again.

VV has been our favourite to date but the service isn’t what it once was and every small issue seems to be met with either blaming some other team, who in turn refuses to solve the problem as it’s not their teams responsibility or just what feels like no issue with solving the problem for us.

We have another sailing booked with VV in a few weeks time, which we’ve decided will be our last. I am not sure which liner we will try out next. Maybe MSC Yatch Club or Celebrity.

I’d much prefer it if VV jacked the prices up and kept it consistent in terms of service, then trying to cut back in every area. It’s a huge shame and one I find to be absolutely gutting!

We’ve enjoyed the good times while it lasted!

Just a rant…..but my god, the amount of people tipping onboard is insane!

I see people tipping every time they are served a drink, after a meal etc.

I fear the end is in sight. What once made Virgin so great is at stake. We will end up in a situation where you are expected to pay gratuities to VV and then tip the staff onboard.

Don’t get me wrong, the staff are lovely and are at the heart of making VV so special. But please stop tipping. Once upon a time it was frowned upon by the staff, now it seems openly accepted.

Can we just stick to buying the staff a small gift when they go over and above to help you? Like some nice chocolates or something from one of the ports/home town. The survey shoutouts etc.

Not hard cash. 😔

I hope I’m not alone with these views!

I’m traveling in a group of six, I plan on discussing reservations and setting them once they drop 45 days before. But what happens if the whole party doesn’t show up to the reservation? Are you still seated?

Hello,

We are planning on taking a voyage with another couple. We plan on dining together. However, 1 of us has a lock-it-in rate while the other has an essential plan. If the one with the essential rate reserves dining 45 days out, would they be able to also add the other couple? How does this actually work?

I’ve been watching TON of videos to decide and seems a good deal.

Maybe we won’t be purchasing a Bar tab since we don’t usually drink that much (I love champagne but isn’t a must)… so maybe having a few drinks and champagne + the priority boarding could be worth it but have never sailed on VV.

Do you recommend it overall?

Will be going late next year with my husband :)

My last VV cruise on the Resilient Lady was wonderful…except for the drinks! Even my tequila shots didn’t get me drunk. Anybody else feel like the drinks were watered down?

Tell me what you prefer. I am partial to both!

#carnival #ncl #virgin #royal

I’m a 1st time “sailor” and when I booked the cruise I specified that we do not want an “inside cabin” with no windows, but didn’t necessarily need a balcony & hammock- we were fine with a window.

So i got my assignment today. I can’t tell, either on the app, site, or VV insider, what kind of cabin this is. And if it is a balcony, I definitely did not pay for it. Is the ship just not full?

I just got done with my first ever solo cruise and first time on VV. I have to say, as an introvert with crippling social anxiety, I had a great time. I did struggle to make friends could be my age or something else🤷🏻‍♀️

As one does, I researched for weeks before boarding and all I’d say is, take everything you read with a pinch of salt. One person’s experience, likes and dislikes, won’t be the same for another. A lot of the shows got cancelled or changed because of the weather unfortunately.

I went in with a list of “popular food” “not great food” and so on. But let me tell you, the food is amazing. I loved some that people said they hated like the test kitchen. On the other hand, I didn’t think much of some that were popular with some sailors like the lemon cheesecake at the wake (it was okay).

My favorite restaurant was pink agave. Each and every dish I had was really good. I don’t want to say a least favorite because I didn’t dislike any of the restaurants. Maybe the desserts in Roho didn’t hit the mark for me.

The crew was so friendly and kind to me. They also seem very happy which is nice to see. This isn’t everyone’s experience though. I did hear a few sailors had bad experiences with some crew members. I got lucky and met really nice people.

The overall cleanliness is really good especially with no kids and no open buffet. The shows were amazing too. There’s so much to do on the ship especially if you have friends. But if you rather stay in your room time to time, they have so many good movies on demand too!

Something that disappointed me though was the use of AI videos in one of the shows I went to. With so much money, you can easily hire actors to make those videos or make CGI videos which still promote people and their livelihood. If I could give a recommendation, I would recommend using actors or CGI and avoid the use of AI media especially in this economy.

Overall it was a wonderful experience and I will be back soon ❤️🌸

When we took our first VV cruise in 2024, I remember the app was a monstrosity. It crashed about 80% of the time and it was virtually impossible to make reservations on it.

The app worked better this time around for our cruise last month, but it seemed to require an update every single time I opened it. However, dinner reservations and Shore Things bookings all went through smoothly, and I'd get push notification reminders which were convenient. It still had some very frustrating moments of freezing. Their whimsical "Oops" messaging when their app screws up is also grating.

For a company that spent billions of dollars on their ships, it seems like they could afford to hire a small team of UX designers and mobile engineers to maintain a functional app given that is Sailors' primary lifeline whilst on board. They could probably cut down on the amount of onboard inquiries Sailor Services gets too. I've seen the line for SS spilling out into the elevator area at times.

What has your experience been like?

My husband,myself, and some of our best friends decided to venutre on a Virgin Voyages vacation on board the Brilliant Lady.  Our trip left April 26 and returned May 03, 2026 out of Los Angeles and visiting Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.  We booked with one of the top Virgin Travel Agents (which will become important later). 

TLDR:  We had fun, the food was very mid, and the crew were amazing

Overall, we had a good time, but there were some major issues that the glossy reviews by cruise influencers tend to leave out. 

Embarcation was super smooth. We had splash of Romance so we had early boarding. The singage at the Port of Los Angeles needs some work, as there was significant confusion as to where to go for priority boarding.  After an easy security screening and about 10 more minutes we were on board. 

From the start the crew were 100% amazing and did everything to make our experience an enjoyable one - I don’t have a single comment about the crew - they were working hard and still were friendly and efficient.  The service staff seemed to be a bit short staffed, as we had the same person serve us Coffee in the morning, our last drink that night in the Casino, and then coffee again early in the morning.   

The shows were great, if you could get in.  Anything at the manor was near impossible to get into unless you got in line really early.  For the Diva show, we ended up upstairs watching on the screen, but it lost some of its lusture, so we just moved on.  We did get to see Dual Reality, and I saw Red Hot - Dual Reality is not to be missed!  Red Hot, while fun, is not really a must do.  We also did Bingo with the hostess (did not win) and Bingo Blitz, which was super fun - but the crowd wasn’t too into it. 

The Casino was WAY too small. The machines are bunched up together creating a lot of extra heat, so it is quite warm in the space.  If you wanted one of the popular machines (Little Shop of Horrors, Monopoly, or Bomberman) you had to be there late or early .  The Casino Den (aka - high roller room) was usually quieter and smelled like a new car, but most bets there started at $5 for the machines and it was Dragon Link heavy.   PRO-TIP - there are two single stall restrooms in the Casino Den that were usually empty! I had a great time still, and managed to lose only about $400 in total. It helped that on the last night, I turned $100 into $700; cashed out $400 of it to use as our spending money at Universal.

The ports were great, but there were some issues with tendering in Cabo still. There were three ships in total there, so it was a busy day. Or cruise mates had a 2pm tender ticket and didn’t get off until almost 3:30.  We decided to make it a pool day, and enjoyed that.  

The food was the main problematic portion.  Nothing was served at temperature. The hottest meal we got was in Gunbae, because the server cooked it at the table. The steaks, while they were cooked to order, came out cold - and this after a 45 minute wait.  (side note: I have a very specific pet peeve of waiting a long time for food at a eatery, and it comes out cold!). The poached eggs were cold (Brunch 101 is to keep them in a sous vide bath until service). My pork belly and bone marrow hollindase were both served cold. The clam chower, while delicious, was barely room temperature.   One of the Octopus dishes at Rojo was so cold and chewy, I had to excuse myself to the restroom to spit it out.  Our cruise mates had some other issues that exacerbated this issue (not my story to share, but they had a miserable experience with a Scuba excursion booked with the ship) and corresponded with our travel agent who routed us directly to the executive team.  We were assured that this is not how they intended the experience to be and we were well taken care of for the remainder of the cruise, but felt a bit like we were causing more trouble then needed.  My steak at Pink Agave was hot and delicious, and likely one of the best things I had on the cruise. They comped us a large cabana on the last day of the cruise as well as our second Aperol Spritz kit, this especially was welcome because it was windy and cool - so we had a great spot to relax that was mostly sheltered.

The Galley was usually reliable and the bento boxes were a great mid day snack.  The beef wellington on the last day was amazing.  It still doesn’t make sense that a majority of the Galley closes for dinner - especially given the difficulty some experience making dinner reservations. 

That being said, we told our travel agent its not that Virgin is off the table, but if there is a route serviced by a different cruise line we’d probably take that.   For example, we were following a Princess cruise the entire route, and we’d probably book that over VV for a Mexican Riviera cruise.  The experience was nice, and I hope they learn some lessons for their next build rather than copy and paste again.