- Virgin Voyages Evaluation, Half 1: The Idea and the Ship
- Virgin Voyages Evaluation, Half 2: Meals Heaven
- Virgin Voyages Evaluation Half 3: Stunning Meals from The Check Kitchen
I used to be sort of performed with cruising. After I was a youth we went on cruises with our prolonged household and we had some nice instances (we even ended up within the information after our ship’s air con went out in the midst of the Caribbean). When some mates and I have been in our twenties we did a few large group cruises on the Carnival Conquest. The cruises have been high quality however all of them sort of felt the identical:
- Giant eating halls with assigned seating
- A statistically important variety of buffets serving very common meals
- So. many. individuals. and by individuals I imply youngsters operating round vomiting on all the things
- Feeling nickel and dimed at each flip, particularly with the necessary ideas
Now the final cruise I went on was in 2009 so admittedly I hadn’t actually stored up with issues, as an alternative simply casually taking note of headlines like Royal Caribbean Unveils New Ship Bigger Than Island of Manhattan stuffed with theme parks, helipads, lazy rivers, the world’s largest common meals buffet, even lazier rivers, full-size soccer fields, and nonetheless the eating corridor with assigned seating. It was simply misplaced on me, I assumed I had grown out of it till I’ve youngsters sometime and inevitably spend everything of my disposable earnings for them to go on a Disney Cruise and cry whereas Mickey Mouse tries to make them snicker…so long as they’re of their assigned seat within the eating corridor.
However then a pal invited me on a Virgin Voyage final month.
How Virgin Voyages has modified cruising
As normal, when Sir Richard Branson needed to make a cruise line, he needed it to be totally different. He needed it to be edgy, enjoyable, and freed from the eye-rolly issues like Formal Night time. Freed from the nickel-and-diming and roaming photographers taking photos to try to promote you later. A easy, enjoyable, refined expertise.
Oh, and there wanted to be hammocks.
And a dance occasion the place everybody clothes in scarlet in entrance of an infinite octopus.
Oh and NO DINING HALLS WITH ASSIGNED SEATING (thank goodness, that joke was getting previous).
And the way did Sir Richard do?
He could have transformed me again right into a cruiser.
What makes Virgin Voyages totally different than the others
I believe cruise strains typically fall into one in all 4 totally different classes, with a number of examples for every (notice: I’m not the main market skilled on cruise model categorization so give me some rope right here):
- Mass-market large ships: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC
- Upscale larger ships: Princess, Crystal, Azamara
- River Cruises: Viking, Ama Waterways, Avalon Waterways
- Antarctica/Expedition Vessels: Lindblad, Quark, Seabourn
Virgin Voyages, in my view, sits completely between the mass-market and upscale classes.
Right here’s what makes Virgin totally different:
- Facilities are constant: the 4 Virgin Voyages ships are all precisely the identical, not like needing an abacus and/or slide rule to determine the totally different facilities supplied from ship-to-ship on larger cruise strains
- Ships are model new and reasonably-sized: the present 4 Virgin Voyages ships are model new (the primary was solely delivered in 2020) and extra reasonably-sized than the mass-market mega ships. Virgin Voyages ships have a capability for just below 2800 passengers and 1160 crew. Evaluate that to Royal Caribbean’s Marvel of the Seas, the upcoming largest ship on the planet, which has a passenger capability of 6988 and 2300 crew
- A lot is included along with your fare: Ideas are included. Comfortable drinks and drip espresso are included. Fundamental wi-fi is included even!
- The meals is INCREDIBLE: you’ll see in my subsequent put up, however the meals is completely insane on Virgin Voyages. Gone are the ridiculous eating halls, as an alternative there are a number of specialty eating places together with a meals corridor the place you seat your self and may eat from quite a lot of meals “stalls” that includes all the things from American Diner fare all the way in which to a legit Ramen spot
- Adults-by-Design: No youngsters are allowed on Virgin Voyages
- Much less…I don’t know methods to say it…Generic Cruise Stuff: there’s no formal night time. There’s no photographers leaping into your face and taking photos to try to promote you later. There’s no Overly Caffeinated Cruise Director. As an alternative there’s Scarlet Night time, pictures meetups, and the Happenings Crew to offer all kinds of leisure all through the voyage
It simply looks like a extra fashionable evolution of an institutionalized trade.
Let’s get began so I can present you the entire thing.
The Virgin Voyages “Woman Ship” Fleet
Like I stated above, Virgin Voyages at present has 4 ships in its “Woman Ships” fleet (Scarlet Woman, Valiant Woman, Good Woman, Resilient Woman), they usually’re all the very same design.
Ship exterior
The ship’s exterior type and livery have been designed by Magpie Studio in London to imitate a luxurious yacht, sporting a silver-grey hull with splashes of Virgin Pink everywhere in the ship, together with the funnels on the very high of the ship.
86% of Virgin cabins have balconies (Virgin calls them Terraces) and 93% have an ocean view! Virgin really makes use of lights on these terraces to spell out messages in ports once they’re nonetheless docked because the solar units (try the ship spelling “AHOY” under, in Bimini.
It’s only a beautiful ship throughout, not infested with random water slide tubes or go-kart tracks just like the monstrosities from the mass-market ships (though I’m positive these are enjoyable).
My Cabin
I had a Sea Terrace on the thirteenth deck, which is sweet and excessive on the ship however not too near any public areas.
The cabin had loads of cupboard space (my digicam was on a tripod subsequent to the closet space so I didn’t get any good photos of that, sorry).
In-room expertise was performed properly, just like the curtains opening whenever you opened the cabin door and the pill for all in-room controls, together with the TV. That is a kind of issues that makes getting on a brand new or newly-renovated ship value it, the considerate use of tech was nice.
To chop down on plastic bottle utilization and scale back their carbon footprint, Virgin Voyages as an alternative has a water carafe that’s refilled each time wanted so you could have recent water on the ship.
There’s a small desk space and a really cozy chair the place I’d take video requires work (a lot of my clients and inner colleagues didn’t even understand I used to be on a cruise). The mattress was supremely comfy and had shops close to the mattress for charging units.
However let’s be sincere right here. My favourite characteristic of the room was the Sea Terrace itself, that includes the now legendary crimson hammock.
Okay technically it’s a chair hammock. I spent numerous hours in my hammock and even slept in it a number of nights. They’re made by Yellow Leaf Hammocks, who’ve created weaving communities in underserved villages in Thailand to offer steady employment and sources of earnings for ladies and men dwelling under the poverty line. I beloved studying Yellow Leaf’s story, obtainable right here.
There was nothing higher on my journey than watching the solar set from the consolation of my hammock.
The Virgin room numbering conference is a tribute to how the ships have been constructed nevertheless it’s complicated. Let’s take the thirteenth deck, for instance. Room numbers begin with the deck quantity, adopted by the cabin quantity, adopted by a letter. So an instance can be 13210A, which might be a Sea Terrace cabin on the port aspect of the ship. Sounds easy sufficient, proper? Effectively, there may be additionally a 13210Z on the starboard aspect of the ship (there are additionally M cabins for the inside cabins). I ended up doing a back-to-back cruise and was in very related room numbers from one week to the following however moved from a Z to an A and acquired it unsuitable a number of instances. Don’t fear, although, your bracelet won’t allow you to into any cabin aside from the one you’re purported to be in, so that you’re secure there
The Ship Inside
The “Woman Ship” inside was designed by a Inventive Collective of inside designers, well-known the world over for fashionable boutique inns and resorts, however all of them had one factor in widespread – that they had by no means designed for the cruise trade. The general public areas are luxurious, useful, and don’t have the standard overly-vibrant shouty interiors widespread to the mass-market megaships.
(This isn’t meant to be a wholly complete photojournalistic essay of each public house, simply illustrating a number of the design language)
As you got here aboard the ship, you have been within the Roundabout Atrium, one of many central hubs of the ship.
Downstairs was a small leisure venue for ship bands to play and for people to seize a beverage.
If you happen to ever get misplaced on board, there are three elevator banks which have a fast and straightforward information for which venues are on every ground.
Dotted across the higher deck of the Roundabout Atrium have been quite a lot of small eateries and beer-focused bar. Every house had its personal design language to set it other than the primary strolling areas, separating the areas with out being obtrusive.
(and sure, there are many double entendres on board, together with the identify of the ice cream parlor)
Subsequent to the ice cream parlor was an important pizza parlor, the place every pizza was custom-made, and likewise had inside/exterior eating areas.
Elsewhere on the ship, subsequent to the on line casino, was the champagne bar space, with a number of seating and a swanky vibe.
The place I in all probability spent probably the most time was the Grounds Membership for a morning latte or three.
Each space had plentiful seating and nice wifi entry.
Coming Up Subsequent
You higher imagine this will probably be a multi-part assessment. Up subsequent, we’ll get into a number of the unbelievable meals on board at a number of the specialty eating places. Keep tuned!
- Virgin Voyages Evaluation, Half 1: The Idea and the Ship
- Virgin Voyages Evaluation, Half 2: Meals Heaven
- Virgin Voyages Evaluation Half 3: Stunning Meals from The Check Kitchen
Have you ever sailed on a Virgin Voyage? Which ship and route? What did you assume? Inform me within the feedback under!
