Virgin Voyages is a new and innovative cruise line that was due to set sail on April 1, 2020. Then Covid hit, and, needless to say, the maiden voyage on the line’s first ship, Scarlet Lady, was pushed to fall of 2021. Finally, on October 6, 2021, she set sail on her “mermaiden voyage”, as Virgin calls it.
The Scarlet Lady is an absolutely beautiful ship, which can accommodate over 2,770 passengers and 1,160 crew, although, for our cruise there were only around 700 passengers on board. Virgin Voyages is different than other lines in many ways, but one of the biggest differences is that all of their ships are adults only.
Jerry and I were fortunate enough to book an itinerary in the early days, just as travel was returning – with restrictions, of course (more on that later). Our voyage was a 5 night cruise called Dominican Daze, departing Miami on Dec. 19, 2021.
Back then, Jerry and I were in a long-distance relationship – he was living in Edmonton, Alberta, and I was in Saskatchewan. I flew WestJet from Saskatoon to Calgary, and Jerry drove from Edmonton to pick me up at the airport. We had a few hours to kill, so we went out for a bite to eat. We were so excited!! This was going to be our first trip together, as we had not spent more than a long weekend together up to this point. And we all know that airports, and travel in general, can test even the strongest relationship! 😀
We took the red eye from Calgary to Toronto, leaving just after midnight. We needed to clear US customs in Toronto, and the lines were extremely long. Even though we were moved up in the line by employees a couple of times, we still managed to miss our flight by only a couple of minutes. 🙁 The agent transferred our reservation to the next flight out, but that one ended up being delayed due to a snow storm in Toronto. Oh well, we arrived at Fort Lauderdale on the afternoon of Dec. 18th.
Pro tip #1: When cruising out of the Port of Miami, check flights arriving into Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami International Airport. They are often hundreds of dollars cheaper, and that more than makes up for the $70 USD Uber ride to Miami.
Pro tip #2: Never, and I mean NEVER, fly into a city on the same day as your cruise departs. Flying is so unpredictable these days, with all kinds of delays and cancellations. Save yourself the headache, heartache, and costs of missing your cruise by flying in at least one or two days before cruise embarkation day!
So, as mentioned, we took an Uber to our hotel, the Miami Airport Marriott. This is my favorite hotel to stay at in Miami. It is minutes away from Miami International Airport (with free shuttle service), and only about 15 minutes to the Port of Miami. They do offer a shuttle to the port as well. At that time it was $10 per person and had to be booked in advance. We decided to take an Uber, as we had checked the price and it was only approximately $15 for both of us.
The other bonus of staying at the Miami Airport Marriott, is that it is only a 4 minute walk to Jerry’s favorite seafood restaurant of all time – Catch of the Day.
I’m happy to report that this is now my favorite seafood restaurant of all time as well! The atmosphere is so fun, with live music, cool decor and lively wait staff. Not to mention the huge platters of delicious fresh seafood! Yum!
We woke up the next morning super excited because it was cruise day! It was to be my third cruise and Jerry’s first. To be honest, he was skeptical. He didn’t think he would like cruising at all but decided to be a good sport and hope for the best. 😉
We ordered our Uber and headed to the port. The excitement level rose as we caught our first glimpses of our beautiful home at sea for the next 5 nights! Once we got to the terminal, we had many hoops to jump through. At that time, there were several covid related tasks to perform before boarding. Before flying into the US, we had to have a negative covid test result. At the port, our proof of vaccination was checked, and then it was off to get our covid tests. We were then sent to a large waiting area until the email came with our negative test results. Anyone who got a positive test result was not allowed to board. Luckily, we were negative, so we got to head to the check in desk where we got “The Band” which is what Virgin Voyages gives their sailors, instead of the usual key card. The Band is used to open your stateroom door, buy drinks at the bars, make purchases in the on-board shops, etc.
We were then given a boarding number and sent to the final waiting room to wait until our number was called. While we were waiting, a staff member decided to serenade us all with a couple of songs. So fun! Finally, our number was called and soon we were walking the red carpet onto deck 7 of the beautiful Scarlet Lady. We were welcomed by lots of smiling staff members dancing to upbeat music. It really set the mood and stage for the voyage to come!
We went off to deck 12 to find our Sea Terrace room. It was gorgeously appointed and spacious, with a bed that converts into a couch during the day (if you want), and a super comfortable hammock on the balcony!
By this time, it had been a while since breakfast, so we went to The Galley to grab a bite. This is kind of like a food court, where you can get anything from sandwiches and burgers to ramen and sushi, salads, tacos, delicious desserts and specialty coffee. Virgin Voyages doesn’t have buffets on their ships, so The Galley is where you can go for a quick meal. During our cruise, we tried many delicious food items at The Galley. We really liked everything we tried, but I think the standouts for me were the ramen, sweet potato tots, and the french toast burger. Yum!
For supper that first night, we headed to Pink Agave, the Mexican restaurant on board. Honestly, we were wowed by the food! We had one of the best steaks we’ve ever had (yes, great steak at a Mexican restaurant!), along with a bunch of other tasty items.
Pro tip #3: Make all of your dinner reservations on the Virgin Voyages app before you set sail. You don’t have to pay more for specialty dining, all restaurants on board are included in your cruise fare!! Virgin uses their app for EVERYTHING, so it’s good to familiarize yourself with it before your cruise.
Later that night there was a pajama party at the aft (back) of the ship! Music, dancing and drinks, with everyone in their best PJs. Super fun!
Day 2 was a sea day, and we started out with breakfast at The Wake. As the name suggests, this restaurant is at the very aft of the ship, with beautiful views of the wake that you enjoy while eating. The Wake is the upscale steakhouse on board, but they were open for breakfasts as well. Everything was very good. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, enjoying the music, drinks and sun!
That night we had a reservation for The Test Kitchen. This is like a cross between a laboratory and a restaurant, and the results are very innovative dishes with flavors that you don’t expect will taste good together, but they do! We also added the cocktail pairing for an extra cost. The only thing we didn’t enjoy about this restaurant was that it seemed they were rushing us a little, and we especially noticed it when we didn’t have time to finish the cocktails that went with each dish before they brought out the next one. Otherwise, it was a very cool unique experience!
On day 3 we stopped at our first port of call – Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The port area here called Taino Bay was brand new; I think we were the first or second ship to dock there. Some things were not open yet, but it was a beautiful area with shops, restaurants, a pool, a beach area… basically anything you could want! As we had both already been to the Dominican, we opted to not do any excursions or extra exploring here. We took the opportunity to take some pictures with our gorgeous ship in the background before getting back on the ship to bask in the sun by the pool again.
That night we ate at Gunbae, the Korean BBQ restaurant. This is a fun place where they seat you with other guests at round tables surrounding a grill where you cook your own meats, or the waiter cooks them for you. The waiter also gets you to play fun drinking games with your tablemates (new friends) and it’s a lot of laughs! Given the low capacity on our cruise, we didn’t have anyone sitting with us, so our waiter grabbed a couple more staff members and still played the games with us. We loved how they made the best of the situation so we could enjoy our evening!
After dinner we walked around, exploring the ship, listening to live music, and having some drinks. We stumbled upon what became our favorite area of the ship – The Dock. This is an outdoor bar/lounge area with lots of trees and plants and comfy seating. It’s on deck 7 at the aft of the ship, where you get the most amazing views of the wake while sailing. We just fell in love with having a great cocktail and great conversation while watching the wake at night. This is one of our best memories of the cruise.
Day 4 was another sea day spent by the pool. That evening was Scarlet Night. This is a very special night on board with everyone dressed in red, and the ship lit up and decorated all in red as well. There was even a huge inflatable octopus by the pool! There are special parties, activities, and entertainment all over the ship. We love a good theme, so we donned our red clothes and set out to enjoy the evening. We took a few pictures around the ship. So fun!
That evening we had dinner at Extra Virgin, the Italian restaurant. So delicious… I still think about that fried artichoke appetizer sometimes!
Then it was time for karaoke! Jerry belted out Midnight Special by Creedence Clearwater Revival and had everyone cheering by the end! It was a super fun night.
On day 5 we docked at the island of Bimini, Bahamas. Here Virgin Voyages has their own private beach club, and this is where we spent our day. This is a stunning area with a pristine white sand beach and two beautiful pool areas. There is a buffet at the beach club that is included in your cruise fare, and they even light bonfires on the beach in the evening to enjoy before leaving.
Unfortunately this was our last night on board, so we had a wonderful dinner at The Wake steakhouse and then headed back to our stateroom to pack up. Packing to go home is always the worst part of any vacation!
OOPS! I almost forgot to talk about the shows on board! This is another area where Virgin Voyages differs from other cruise lines. Virgin doesn’t have your typical broadway style stage shows (which we love as well). It has immersive dance and acrobatics shows that get the crowd involved, along with more risqué ones (since it is an adults only ship, after all!). We saw only two shows on our cruise – Duel Reality and Untitled DanceShow PartyThing. They were both amazing and lively shows, featuring super talented dancers and death defying acts! The other shows during our 5 nights on board were unfortunately canceled due to staff illness.
Overall, this was an absolutely amazing cruise and I’m pretty sure Jerry is hooked on cruising now!
Virgin Voyages is different than any other cruise line. It’s not for everyone, but it is definitely for us! If you like adults only vacations with amazing food and drinks, a cool but sophisticated vibe, stylish but not stuffy in the least, then it’s perfect for you as well! If you’d like to take a look at some of the itineraries and ships, click here.
I’m always interested in talking travel, so be sure to ask me any questions you might have!
Thanks for reading and SEA you soon!
Shelly
Jerry’s Corner:
Hello everyone and welcome to our new blog. I thank you very much for taking the time to read about our amazing adventures.
Today I’d like to talk about drink packages on cruises. We are not big drinkers by any means, but on vacation who doesn’t like to let loose a little bit? I had it set in my head that all inclusive resorts were the only way to go to completely relax. Oh how wrong I was. Drink packages are just as good of a deal (in my opinion).
Cruises usually offer 3 packages:
1. Pop/water package
2. Drinks up to X dollars (mid level)
3. Premium package
Now, that being said, Virgin is a bit different. On this cruise line you pre-purchase what they call a Bar Tab. We put $400 each on our bar tab. This being my first cruise, I was so worried at first that it would not last. Again, how wrong I was. I had a drink whenever I wanted and so did Shelly. We kept an eye on our tab (in the app) daily. And don’t worry, we drank our share of premium brands! On the last day of our cruise, we saw we still had a fair bit left on our tabs. (Side note: it’s non-refundable so use it all!) We found out you could use it in the gift shop as well (those were the terms at that time, but this may have changed now). We bought a few souvenirs we had been wanting and it all worked out great in the end.
So usually when Shelly books for you, it will come with some kind of incentive; in other words, you put some money down on your bar tab and Virgin will kick in a certain amount towards it as well. Once you book, you will be able to see menus such as the sample one below from Draught Haus (prices are accurate as of the date of this blog, but are subject to change at any time). As you can see the prices are quite reasonable! From here you can budget how much you’d like to spend on your tab.
I hope this was helpful and I look forward to sharing more insights in the next blog.
Take care & be safe,
Jerry
The Landlocked Travelers 