Obviously, as all reviews , this is subjective but I will try to be as fair as possible.
We recently cruised for 11 days around the Med on Virgin’s Valient Lady.
A new ship, and new concept for cruising.
We must remember that Virgins mantra is “if you think cruising is NOT for you, then THIS IS.
I would fully support that comment.
We have cruised many different cruise ships and lines and have done so since we were in our late 20’s early 30’s now in our late 50’s early 60’s so we think we have enough experience to give an opinion.
We like to try different things, as our mantra in life is “variety is the spice of life” This is why we tried Virgin.
We knew it was new and it would be different from the traditional cruises but gave it a go as there were 80’s bands and singers and expected the entertainment in between those acts would be just as good, as our previous experiences proved.
I have to say though before the cruise, we started receiving information about the app and emails from Virgin and the speech used by Virgin is all very modern calling us sailors, in fact the staff on board always start with ‘ahoy sailor’ when opening an act etc…..
This did give me a little insight into what to expect onboard.
Its no big deal but I find it all rather Americanised, like it or love it, that is up to you.
The ship itself was obviously very new and shiny, with a minimalist, modern theme.
The outdoor heated swimming pool was very nice being new but unfortunately very small where you couldn’t really swim or take more than 3 or 4 strokes.
We were on the ship when mostly the weather wasn’t brilliant, and only 60 or 70% occupancy.
if the weather is hot there would not be enough room or sun beds for a full ship of young adults who would probably, want to hang around the pool all day.
(as it is very instragramable)! I say young adults as this is the demographic that Virgin are clearly aiming for.
Virgin entertainment is different from traditional cruising, as you would expect if their demographics is the younger, woke naughties generation.
The sun loungers, beds, steamers and big settees were all very comfortable but I did notice by the end of this 11 day cruise some of them were already marked and looking a little tired.
Mainly entertainment is provided by the dance troupe who mingle and dance amongst you in the red room on theme night and provide entertainment in the Manor Disco on other nights.
Other entertainment was a “sexologist” whose show consisted of promoting promiscuity, saying no such thing as love, swearing and although I am not a prude and some of it was funny (mainly the audience participation), it really wasn’t up to the entertainment I was expecting and have previously experienced.
I accept some people clearly really enjoyed it.
There was an acrobatic team “duel reality” who were very good and professional with a touching poignant story behind their act.
The memory man/performing nerd was very good and entertaining and educational.
There were 2 bands on board, both very good, the house band and a blues band but to have no choice other than watch the same band in mainly the same location every night left me bored which I can say, I have never ever been on a cruise.
There is a drag queen on board who was brilliant and definitely earning his/her money, with singing shows and being the karaoke compare on many occasions.
A social club provides air hockey games, table football, free electronic games including old game tables such as pac man etc.
A lot of entertainment is provided by yourselves with either karaoke, board games, card games and jigsaws.
There are a couple of DJ’s on board, one who never speaks.
When we first boarded the ship, the vibe was upbeat, lively and loud.
All of which was toned down during the cruise, especially the loud music being played in most public areas.
The staff greeted us with dancing, prancing and the virgin “Ahoy Sailor” which I found to be all very Americanised, you may like that.
There are about 6 restaurants of different themes and we tested them all, all were very good although on many occasion the food was warm not hot which may be an American thing but it was a shame that you felt you had to rush it before it went cold.
If you don’t want your eggs watery then I suggest you ask they are cooked longer as they seems to be cooked like that in most restaurants.
All venues, restaurants and some of the gym classes need to be booked ahead of time on the Virgin App which isn’t quite up to the job yet.
Some people couldn’t get it at all on their phones, some did but it was clunky and slow which resulted in long queues at the ‘sailor support’ desks.
Those poor people certainly earned their money on this cruise.
As the ship was not 100% occupancy it was possible to turn up at some restaurants without a booking and get in if it wasn’t a popular time.
There is no buffet service on board but the galley which is rather like a large canteen, had various food stations you can take a look at what they do, or chose from the menu, sit down and a server will take your order and deliver it to you but you could go and choose your own dessert.
I did hear some people complaining that food was cold by the time they got it.
The only tea stations are on 15th floor in the galley and no kettles in cabins.
If you want drinks in your room there is a $5 room service fee.
There are no tannoy announcements unless there is problem/emergency.
When there were tannoy announcements, they were clear and you could hear and understand them and didn’t have to leave your cabin to hear them as so often you do on other ships.
I thought the cabins were OK in size and plenty of room and hanging space behind a curtain, small bathroom but adequate for what you need to do in them.
Lovely clean, fluffy towels large enough to wrap around you.
Very comfortable beds with quality linen.
If you want twin beds rather than a double the configuration is head to head or toe to toe, or toe to head, in an L shape so not the usual side by side.
I did feel rather bored for the majority of the time as due to some unfortunate circumstances beyond the control of Virgin and some mis management of the itinerary we were at sea far more than we should have been leaving most people sat around playing card or board games in the social club.
If you are a gym bunny and want to spend a lot of your holiday pumping iron, or working out, then you will be in your element.
The gyms and their equipment were very good, they even have bungee classes so if you have never tried that, then this is the time to try it, if you can get a space as all classes were booked up before I even got on the ship but don’t let that put you off as I went to the class in the hope someone who had booked didn’t turn up.
In fact the day I got into the class, nobody who had booked turned up and 5 of us who hadn’t booked in the hope to get in, did manage to do a class.
I personally love traditional cruising and the educational and informative seminars, lectures and talks.
There just wasn’t enough entertainment and what there was, left me cold and bored.
All the staff we spoke to, and that was a lot, were very good and professional but friendly and I have to give them credit as they were dealing with a ship almost full of the wrong demographic who were not having the best cruise experience.
