This past February, as the first Covid Omicron wave began to subside, the hubby and I had the opportunity to take a long-awaited cruise on brand new cruise line Virgin Voyages. We had originally booked the trip for 2020, and after having to delay because of Covid regulations twice, we were eager to see if it was worth the wait.
Overall, we felt it definitely was. In fact, we were very impressed with how Virgin Voyages had seemingly thrown out the cruise playbook established by other lines that catered to the “newlywed and nearly dead.” Virgin Voyages, throughout almost everything they did, had a distinctly and refreshingly millennial feel to the line. It literally felt built for us. So much so they may have very well ruined us for other cruise lines moving forward.
Why, you may ask? Let me break it down. Here are five things that Virgin Voyage does differently — and in our minds a lot better — than their competition.
1. Ship Decor
From the moment you begin the boarding process, you get the sense something different is in store, starting with the giant “AHOY” sign that meets you at the port. Virgin Voyages has co-opted traditional nautical and even pirate terminology across their fleet — passengers are called “sailors”, onboard credit is called “loot”, etc. — and so this greeting felt most on-brand.
But throughout the ship, you also find that they’ve eschewed giant ballrooms and grand atriums for smaller, more personal spaces that encourage hanging out with old or new friends. And around every corner you’ll find selfie-worthy photo ops that are bound to keep your Instagram feed full. (See more on my IG Story from the ship, here.)
All in all, it makes Virgin Voyage just feel more youthful and intimate than their peers, who tend to cater to the masses via shades of beige and boring.
2. The Cabins
Full disclaimer, we were in the base room type in Virgin’s highest category of cabin (which they call “Mega Rockstars” rather than Suites), so this was not a basic inside cabin situation. But we felt Virgin really nailed it with what people want in a suite including an awe-inspiring bathroom, plenty of room on the balcony, and lots of little extras to make the room playful.
But first up, let’s talk about that bathroom.
Yep, that’s head to ceiling white marble, a walk-in rainfall shower (with shower bench) large enough for two, and a separate toilet area. It was by far, hands down, the best cruise ship bathroom I’ve ever seen.
My second favorite space in the room was the balcony, which was large enough to comfortably fit two full-size loungers as well as their signature red, hand-woven hammocks. Again, compared with similar balconies on other cruise lines, even in the Suite category, this was just impeccable.
And finally, there were those fun “Virgin-y” extras in the room. Our room came stocked with a turntable record player and a few vinyl records, for example. And as you can see in the photo below, each room also features custom mood lighting, which you can set using the tablet in your room. It’s just fun.
3. The Crew
The staff on Virgin Voyages are meant to be a continuation of the laid-back, party spirit of the line as a whole. There’s not a Cruise Director waking you up with PA announcements to encourage you to spend more money each day, rather there’s a “Hostess” who will alternate between hosting events, performing in her own shows, or just hanging out with you.
There’s also not the hard and fast rules about not intermixing with the crew that you see on other lines. I started following many of the crew members I encountered on my cruise on Instagram and still follow them today. It’s not unusual to see crew members having a special dinner in the same onboard restaurants you might eat at. And I’ve even heard tell of Sailors being taken down to the crew bar, something that would be TOTALLY taboo on any other cruise line.
And because of this basic respect for their crew as actual humans instead of just labor, you also see a much bigger mix of nationalities represented in the crew, including — gasp — actual Americans (!) many of whom told us how much they loved working there. It turns out the long held belief that Americans won’t work hard enough to survive on a cruise ship only applies if you happen to treat your crew like crap, lol.
4. The Food
Virgin Voyages really put a “steak” in the ground (see what I did there?) from the very beginning that they weren’t going to have the same mediocre, over-salted, out of date cruise ship food as everybody else. First and foremost, they did away entirely with the concept of a “main dining room” in favor of numerous concept-driven eateries and replaced the tried-and-true cruise ship “buffet” with a food hall. And with the rare exceptions of a few “upcharge” items in a couple restaurants, every single restaurant on the ship is included in the base cruise fare — quite a breath of fresh air after being nickel and dimed by the “major” cruise lines for any specialty restaurant.
But the food was also just better: higher quality ingredients that are more in line with current culinary trends than you see on other lines. This isn’t to say that the restaurants were necessarily on par with restaurants on land (I wouldn’t anticipate Virgin Voyages receiving any Michelin stars anytime soon.) But essentially, instead of feeling like you were eating at a chain TGI Fridays or the Olive Garden every day, you at least felt like you were eating at a relatively nice, chef-driven restaurant.
Our favorite meals onboard included dinner at The Wake (steaks/seafood), lunch at The Dock House (Mediterranean mezzes), lunch at the Sun Club Cafe (poké bowls), and dinner at the Test Kitchen (molecular gastronomy).
5. The Entertainment
If you often come home from a cruise raving about how good the “condensed Broadway musicals” or “family safe comedians” were…Virgin Voyages may not be the line for you. If, on the other hand, you’ve always found that stuff super cheesy, then you might much prefer Virgin’s offerings.
Our absolute hands-down favorite entertainer on-board was “The Diva”, a drag queen named Wesley. I would have more than happily paid an upcharge to see that show, but like all of Virgin’s entertainment, it too was included in our cruise fare. But even drag antics aside, we were pleased to find all of Virgin’s entertainment staff to be diverse in terms of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and body size/shape.
Moreover, even the fitness classes were fun and out of the usual. We enjoyed participating in VHS (Video – Hair Bands – Simmons), an 80s themed aerobics class led by the Happenings cast. We also laughed our asses off attempting bungee aerobics, and discovered that Spiderman, we are definitely not.
And then, of course, there’s the all-night party that is Scarlet Night. While not necessarily clubbers ourselves, the other couple we were traveling with reported dancing until well after 2am in the ship’s nightclub during Scarlet Night — making it the first ever occasion in at least 7 total cruises that I have been on to EVER hear that a cruise ship’s nightclub has been bumpin’.
As you can see, we had a pretty great cruise. While we do feel Virgin Voyages still has some minor kinks and growing pains to work out, we’re very excited for this new offering in the cruise space, and hope that it signals even more travel companies beginning to cater specifically towards their millennial clientele. Happy cruising!
