26/05/2023
In one week we’ll be on a Virgin Voyages cruise for the very first time. Of course we will share photos and insights while on board but I thought I would share this review that was posted in a group that I am in.
“As promised, after taking back 2 back cruises with Virgin and then another major cruise company on a Mega Ship (5800+) these past 2 weeks, we wanted to share the little things that may go unnoticed when sailing Virgin, and why we believe VV is the superior line. We have cruised with every major line over 25 years, and while some of these comparisons may apply across multiple cruise lines, there will of course be examples that may not apply to a specific cruise line and your favorite non-VV. So don't mean to offend anyone else's choices, these are just our own personal opinions.
Terminal Check in - To my knowledge, the employees checking you in at Miami's terminal are VV employees. Not so on other lines. They are contracted 3rd parties wearing Cruise Line attire. What does this mean to you? Good luck getting any information or changes done at check in. They are just there to confirm your ID and give you your access card. We had 2 adults and 2 18 year old teens in 2 cabins. We wanted them to assign the card access differently. Nope, go to guest services once on board. Dining was assigned wrong. Sorry, go to Dining Services once on board. The check in person was pleasant, but she was clearly frustrated too and whispered to us, sorry, we aren't allowed to do anything. We've had issues on VV prior to boarding, and a manager took time, went to her office while we were waiting, changed the info we needed, and all was done PRIOR to boarding.
Guest Services - VV has this one right. One guest service that does everything, and multiple stations during embarkation to assist. On the other cruise line(s), guest services are often compartmentalized. Problem with your access card, go and stand in this line. Problem with dining, sorry, not this line, but go stand in line at Dining reservations. Internet/wifi problem, sorry, that's over in the Web cafe line. Oh wait, you want a wrist band instead of an access card, sorry that's not at guest services, that's at the photo booth line. Also, DON'T put your guest services in the middle of your atrium where the bands are playing and everyone is partying at the bars. You can't hear squat. VV has this right with Guest services tucked away on floor 5 outside of Pink Agave. Quiet and private.
Access Cards - VV has the bracelet and it is so much better. So much so, we paid $10 each for equivalent wrist bands on the competing cruise line. And I'm all about energy savings and green environment, but the design where you have to have your cruise card in the room slot to activate your electricity is stupid. Another reason VV excels here. Their motion technology for determining room presence is leaps and bounds above the key card in the slot method. The motion technology on the other line? Well if you're in the bathroom expect the lights to turn off on you. If you're sleeping, expect the outlets to turn off, along with your phone charger. Also, while this line had the option to purchase a bracelet, we still had to have the card to get on/off the ship. Their island bars didn't always accept the bands. And you still needed the card to turn the lights on.
Phone App - I know early VV had buggy apps and tablets, and still on occasion they require a reboot. But they aren't nearly as buggy as the one we had on the next cruise. My App quit working after the first night, and never worked again. Multiple trips to the INTERNET guest services resulted in not being able to fix, with a canned response, check back tomorrow. So I was reduced to using the TV in the room to book reservations. No nice touchpad, but using a remote which was not intuitive at all.
Room Entertainment - Yes, VV has a limited selection of TV channels. But they have hundreds of FREE movies, current and popular. The other cruise line. About 20 movies, the most recent Fast and Furious 9 from 3 years ago. And all yours to watch EACH time for the low low price of $10. The TV channels weren't much better but they did have Discovery and HGTV which we watched over and over and over.
Muster Drills - Again VV does this better than any other line we've been on. Watch an entertaining video in the room, go for a brief demonstration where you are with maybe 10 other people, and done. 10 minutes, tops. Whoever's bright idea it was to try and collect 5800 passengers in two floors of the atrium, all within 1 hour should have twenty lashes. Elbow to Elbow, 1000 people crammed into a tiny area, it was a claustrophobic nightmare. And to top it off, all the bars were closed until everyone checked in.
Elevators - How can a cruise line screw up an elevator? Should be simple, with up/down call buttons, a display above the doors showing where the elevator is, and buttons inside the elevator to choose your floor. VV has it right. Some cruise lines have a European style, where you call the elevator by selecting the floor before entering. Fancy, but then the elevator doesn't have indicators above doors as to where they are, so you're waiting....and waiting...and wondering. Once on the elevator, no floor selection buttons. So don't change your mind! And if someone calls the elevator and then doesn't board (full or left), well guess what...you're going to their floor without them. Terribly frustrating system. Also on this particular sailing, three of the elevators were permanently out of order. I will say, the large LED displays on VV's elevators showing the pretty fish can get hot, so not a fan of those.
Dinner Service - SO MUCH prefer the intimate dining and variations on VV vs the traditional dining hall of the Mega Ships. First, the lines to get in. If the ship has assigned dining times, expect wrap around lines to get in. Freestyle dining is a little better, but we've been on 3 VV sailings this year, and never had more than 3 couples in front of us, and most times it is a direct walk up. Once in, I forgot how massive the dining halls are. 100's of people in close quarters. Chairs so close you have to squeeze in to not bump your neighbor. And the noise, Noise, NOISE (grinch style). We couldn't hear ourselves talk at a table of 4. Compared to VV, where the dining is intimate. Yes the tables are close, but the chairs positioned opposite and not back to back, so plenty of room to back your chair up to stand up. And the ambience is peaceful. In Wake, we often converse with the adjoining tables at Brunch without so much as having to raise our voice. Lastly, on average it took us 2.5 hours to eat an Entree, Main Course and Dessert at the dining hall. So long that we had to skip dessert or miss the 9:30pm show (our dining time was 730).
Buffet - GROSS. I forgot what absolute cluster buffets are. Rude people, stepping in front of you, browsing and taking forever to make a selection, entering a section from the wrong direction, people bumping you left and right, plates and silverware and food being dropped at every turn. Cold food, the same food, confusing sections (why are the bagels here, the Jam over there on the other side, the butter yet somewhere else). And the odd hours where they close one side of the buffet or the buffet entirely (this ship had 2). The Galley is so much better of a concept, because people sit and order. Only the servers are up and about, so while the rooms could be equally full, so much more peaceful and quiet vs the stampede of people in the buffets. Some cruise lines have varied buffets and at least have a wide selection of food. This particular cruise line had neither. The same pizza, burgers, gristely meats, salad bar, bread bar and deli bar EVERY day. By the end of the week I was subsisting on Boiled eggs and bananas, I was so tired of the food. And Desserts?? On VV, you have the confectioners bar, Grounds (cookies and pastries), the Galley, the ice cream bar, and refrigerated coolers (at the dock). The buffet desserts conversely consisted of some form of Jello, sponge cake, some gross chocolate mousse, and between the hours of 9pm and 10pm only, cookies. And while the line had nice ice cream and gelato bars, they were $6 a scoop. There was one soft serve on the boat, but it was only open between the hours of 2pm and 4pm. VV conversely has real ice cream and it's Free!
Room Amenities - VV gives you a fresh Carafe of water multiple times a day and buckets of ice. We got neither on the second cruise. Most cruise lines use those 'nice' wooden hangers in the closet. Not only are they bulky, but they sound like your 3 year old playing "twinkle twinkle little star" all night on a swaying boat. VV uses the thin metal but plastic coated hangers...they are silent. Makes a difference, especially on cruise lines where they put the closet directly next to the bed. Another bad design that VV does better.
Ship Vibrations - We've been on 3 VV cruises this year, and not once have we experienced ship rocking or vibrations. We have been both forward and aft, upper and lower decks. The 2nd cruise line, had a significant vibration and drone in the room. Not sure if we were just lucky on VV or if there is a significant difference in the hull/engine design that mutes the noise and vibrations.
Staff - VV's staff seems to genuinely enjoy working on the cruise I don't know if it is because they run shorter contracts and don't get burned out, or the freely open encouragement to be individual, or the training, or all of the above, but the staff on VV always seems head and shoulders above other cruise lines. For North American sailings, the staff also seems to speak impeccable English, even though there are many from the Caribbean, Philippines, Baltic states, etc. And the crew openly enjoys conversing with you. They talk about their homelife, and they interact better with passengers both on and off the clock. It is something we enjoy immensely on VV compared to other lines that don't seem so personable. On this past cruise, I literally had a server chase me across the buffet because I took a can of coke from the bar, since I had been waiting 20 minutes, and the bartender was busy. The drinks were on top of the bar, so it wasn't like I reached into the bar. I had the full drink package as did everyone on this sailing (promo), I had to walk back to the bar, only for the bartender to roll his eyes at the server and waive us off. I also believe the staff to passenger ratio is tops on VV. I was told approximately 1400 staff on a VV cruise, and 2800 full passengers. The Mega Ship had 1200 staff and 5800 passengers. You do the math as to who is getting more attentive service and who's staff isn't frazzled and worn out.
We are Adults on an Adult Cruise - I don't think this can be emphasized enough. It's not just the fact that there are no kids on board running amok, but so many of the services change that you may not notice. For example on other cruises with kids, the minibars/fridges in the rooms are locked. The sporting equipment is under lock and key and has to be dispensed to you and signed out. You have to stand in lines to sign release forms and waivers for a water slide. You are constantly reminded and shamed to WASHY WASHY everytime you enter a buffet. There isn't a topless optional section on the boat. You aren't chasing kids out of the ADULT only pools creating a scene. The dining rooms don't have stepped on crackers, spilled drinks and other debris all over the floor because most Adults can eat without making a mess. It's a different vibe entirely.
Smoking - VV has a smoking section on top with natural ventilation and one in the Casino I believe. I have never once smelled offensive smoke on one of their ships. On others, in their infinite wisdom, they put the smoking section under an enclosed veranda near the adult pool. Everything smelled. People were smoking on balconies as it wasn't a policy enforced. Again, maybe we've been lucky, but I've never seen this behavior on a VV cruise.
Bars - Maybe it's the smaller ship, the layout, the number of options, etc, but the bar service on VV seems to be so much more expedient. It was routine to wait 20 minutes or more on the Mega ships to get service. We luckily did find a good bartender at one of the bars, and we exclusively went to him the remainder of the cruise for both quality of drink and speed of service.
Private Island/Beach Club - VV has the private beach club on Bimini. The other cruise line had its own private island. Both were comparable in amenities, beauty and entertainment, but we find the ability to leave the beach club and go exploring the island on our own much more attractive than being contained within a private island with nowhere to go.
Port vs Starboard - Maybe a personal preference, but I much prefer the A and Z designation that VV uses, versus the even/odd room numbers that many others use.
Crowded Ports - I believe that VV has an off schedule routine apart from other cruise lines, that puts it into common ports on the off days. On VV, we are usually the only or maybe 1 of 2 ships in a port. On the other cruise lines that run Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday, they all coincide. We had a shared port of Costa Maya on both cruises. We were there alone on VV and one of 4 ships on the next cruise. Costa Maya was unnavigable with that many people crammed into the tiny port shopping and pool area.
Announcements - VV does a great job of keeping announcements to a minimum. Other cruise lines are in your room bright and early touting the wonderful shopping opportunities or excursions you can buy for that day.
There were many other frustrations with the 2nd cruise that I believe were more particular to that cruise line that I won't go into detail about. From running out of glassware and closing bars early, to full on ant swarms on their private island beaches. Needless to say, the main difference between VV and other lines, is that at the end of a VV cruise we don't want to leave, and we have already put down our deposit for the next one. On the Mega line, we were ready to leave on day 4 with 3 more days left.”
