It’s now Thursday, Feb 13th as I write this, and Steve (DOS) and I are comfortably relaxing on our aft balcony aboard the Scarlet Lady of Virgin Voyages. This is actually the 6th day of this 8 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise, but it’s been quite a busy and fun-filled voyage so far, I’m only just now pulling out the laptop for a quick post. Sorry for any typos as I’m posting this fairly quickly.
BRIGHTLINE TRAIN: Prior to the cruise we took the Brightline train from Orlando to Miami. While the train takes about 3 1/2 hours vs 4 for driving, it’s a much more enjoyable and stress-free experience. We were in the Premium Cabin which offered a bit more legroom, and complimentary snacks and drinks. They also have a complimentary Premium Lounge you can relax in prior to departure also with complimentary snacks, beer, and wine.
In the Premium cabin each passenger can check one bag complimentary, and carry the others aboard with storage above the seats and at the rear of the cabin. As you can see from our luggage, this was the lightest I think we’ve ever packed for a cruise! No sport coat, formal clothes, etc, just a suitcase and carry-on each. (Well Steve DOS always takes a second carry-on and my wheelchair I need temporarily for long walks.)
On the train we even met up with one of the nurses from my recent hospital stay in Sanford, where I had my ICD implanted. She was with her husband and by chance are on the same cruise as us! We’ve seen them a couple times on the ship already.
We had our snacks and drinks, and enjoyed the ride down to Miami, with quick (i.e. 2 minute stops) in West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Aventura, and ultimately Miami.
A 25ish-looking lady had brought the most adorable puppy aboard the train; (she was told to leave it in its carrying case by the cabin attendant, but we didn’t mind her taking it out for a drink of water, and a quick petting). Really cute dog; we’d love to have a puppy but travel too much so it wouldn’t be fair to him.
MIAMI HOTEL: We stayed overnight at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Miami on Friday night, for our cruise departure on Saturday. Many of the downtown buildings were brightly lit in color, such as this building across the street from us lit up in green.
As it was after 7pm when we arrived to the hotel, we had a light meal in the hotel restaurant.
As we were dining I couldn’t help but notice all these “perfect looking people”; both men and women. Something was off I’m thinking. The next morning as we are checking out, I saw a sign listing the daily meetings and events at the hotel, and it was a convention of Plastic Surgeons and prospective and/or former patients! One lady’s face was stretched so tight I was worried her face would explode if she chewed too hard on her food.🤣 Oh, to each their own I guess; I personally don’t try and fight nature. 😱 Perhaps a little bit of grey hair and balding indicates maturity and wisdom. 😀
EMBARKATION DAY: On Saturday, we took an Uber to the cruise port of Miami around 1pm. We could partially see the cruise port thru the downtown skyscrapers as it was only a couple miles away, however it was a good 15 minute ride due to the traffic. I counted 6 ships in on embarkation day and that’s lots of people coming and going at the cruise port.
Virgin Voyages has a later boarding time than most cruise lines, starting at 1:30pm, however they in turn have a later debarkation time on the last day of the cruise which is nice rather than the crack of dawn like on virtually all other cruise lines.
The boarding process was super quick and simple, and as we have “Rock Star” accommodations there is a separate entrance and lounge waiting area for fellow Rock Star guests. Virgin Voyages utilizes a wrist band which operates both as your room key as well as for charging onboard drinks and purchases. We boarded around 1:45pm and our room was already waiting for us.
Although we’ve sailed on approximately 100 cruises, this is only our second with Virgin Voyages, and that was on a 4 day cruise over a year and a half ago. While we were waiting to board, we actually saw a few people from our last cruise that were sailing again (they sail Virgin frequently) and on this sailing it would be “Captain Ray’s” 80 birthday celebration! I noticed Captain Ray (a passenger, not the real Captain! LOL!) right away as he wears this huge Captain’s hat on boarding that really distinguishes and identifies him. He wore it on the last cruise and it stood out for us to remember him by.
Below is a photo we had taken with Ray and his parter Matt shortly after we boarded.
We also were greeted in the boarding area by Roxanne, who was our “Rock Star” agent (i.e. concierge-type person) on our last cruise. Roxanne actually remembered us and said “Welcome Back Steve’s!” Wow – we thought; what an amazing memory she has, and like all crew members wore a happy and genuine smile! Here’s a photo of Roxanne we took later up in Richard’s Rooftop during the nightly Happy Hour.
CABIN ACCOMMODATIONS: On this sailing we have a “Cheeky Corner Suite” in the very aft of the ship. Aft cabins in general are our favorite cabin locations due to the un-obstructed view of the wake. Plus depending on the ship, the balconies are generally larger than most due to the rear shape of the ship. Our room itself is nice, not huge but perhaps 300 + square feet or so, but the private wrap-around balcony is ENORMOUS! With two lounge chair’s, a sofa, 6 sitting chairs and a dining table, 2 slider doors from the cabin, and a Virgin specialty “red hammock” (actually a swinging type chair) we are sailing in style! The deck is covered too which we really like, as coming from Florida, we actually try to avoid the sun’s rays, and it also shelters the wind and rain.
Our room includes a complimentary full (one time) bar setup, and a retro turntable with a few LP albums. What rock star would be without them! LOL!
One minor pet peeve I have with Virgin, is in an attempt to be environmentally friendly, they don’t allow or sell disposable plastic water bottles onboard. We drink lots of water, and we recycle the bottles at home, but onboard they provide a couple glass carafes of water on their twice daily services, along with the glass water glasses and other glassware in the bar area.
I use a CPAP machine at night, so our cabin crew provides another carafe of distilled water. On the first night I accidentally broke one of the water glasses as it got tangled in my CPAP cord on the nightstand next to the table. Glass shattered everywhere and as it was in the middle of the night when I woke up, I had it cleaned up the next day, careful to get out of bed on the opposite side. Big reason I don’t like glass, and I’m sure dropped glass accidents happen often aboard the ship. After that I started using the hard plastic (washable) glasses they have in the eatery (buffet) area and it works so much better for us. BTW, the carafes they provide contain one still and one sparkling container of water each, but we requested two still waters, which our attendants happily provide to us each day.
THE VIRGIN VIBE: I wrote a very detailed series of revues about our last Virgin Voyages cruises, so I’m not going to re-detail it here, but to suffice it to say, Virgin Voyages has to be the most relaxed, layback, and friendly cruise lines afloat. No one is judgmental and as it’s adults only, there are not kids running around you in the buffet areas, lounges, shows etc.
Virgin has no formal dress code either; you can wear shorts or jeans to dinner if you like, or dress up a bit if you prefer; it’s entirely whatever you feel comfortable with. We usually wear travel type pants, which are lightweight, and are comfortable and a bit dressier than jeans, along with a nice polo or Caribbean/Hawaiian type shirt for dinner. So far we’ve eaten at 4 of the restaurants and repeated the Wake Restaurant once.
SAIL-AWAY! Prior to sail-away, Steve (DOS) and I completed our Muster Drill, which included watching a video, and then going to our Muster Drill station (no life jackets required for the drill) at 4pm. This was quick and easy, and we were soon on our way to Happy Hour in Richard’s Rooftop, a sundeck and bar area on deck 16 forward for suite “rockstar” guests. The Happy Hour is each day and includes free-flowing Moet Chandon Champagne or alternatively liquor, beer, or wine. It’s a fun social activity for sure.
Around 5:45pm we took a glass of Moet down to the main pool deck area (outside of Richard’s Rooftop) for the lively pool-side sail-away party! It was quite an exciting and scenic event sailing off into the sunset with the scenic skyline of Miami fading into the distance, while we sipped on Moet!
Updated: April 7 . . .
Sorry, I’m finally getting around to finishing this post; it’s been a busy Spring for us and I haven’t posted in nearly a month! I’m continuing now with the restaurants, ports, and Scarlet Night aboard the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady.
RESTAURANTS: On Virgin Voyages, there is not one (or two or three) main dining rooms like on many of the other cruise ships. Instead, there are several different and included “specialty type” restaurants from which to choose. Each restaurant has a different cuisine and “vibe” as well. While you generally do need a reservation (can be made prior to the cruise or once aboard via the Virgin app) the restaurants are included in the cruise fare. The Wake is so-named as it is in the very aft of the ship on deck six, although the entrance and check-in is on deck seven, up the grand staircase. (I take the elevator down to deck six, while Steve (DOS) checks us in.
Our Rock Star agent this cruise is A.G. (abbreviated) and she always finds us before dinner and escorts us to the dining room. One night especially she was very helpful as the line was quite long, and she discretely bypassed the line for us.
The Wake is the fanciest restaurant aboard and is Virgin’s version of a steakhouse, although they do have seafood items as well. The restaurant is located in the aft of the ship, and some of the seats face the aft “wake” of the ship directly, however they were occupied both nights we went there. Still, we had a nice booth booth times and had excellent service, food and drink, served from The Wake’s service team.
Pink Agave is the Mexican themed restaurant that features a spin on Mexican food, with enchiladas and other appetizers, and a delicious cheese covered ribeye coated with a light barbecue sauce. The Chocolate dessert tacos are a real treat as well! The seating in Pink Agave and several of the restaurants is close to your fellow diner’s tables, so it makes for a very social atmosphere.
Gumbae is the Korean restaurant with seating in the round facing the cooking service and your fellow six diners. There’s also a drinking game that involves counting up numbers one at a time and saying out loud, but clapping any time there is a 3, 6, or 9. I.e. 1, 2, Clap, 4, 5, Clap, 7, 8, Clap, 10 etc. It sounds simple but as it gets faster (and with a pre-dinner drink or two) gets more difficult. If you make a mistake, you are eliminated from the game and have to do a shot! Like our last Virgin Cruise I was eliminated first once again! I guess I’m not good at counting when I run out of fingers! LOL! Or blame it on the brewskis! Anyway, it’s a fun game and DOS finished next to last!
The Ancient Olive is an Italian restaurant which we really enjoyed, but the best piece of advice is not to order everything you see! We definitely over-ordered, and the small portion of pasta we requested was huge, especially on top of the charcuteries platter!
Lotus (formerly Razzle Dazzle) is a Chinese restaurant and was modified during the recent dry dock from Razzle Dazzle. I believe they still call the Brunch service there under the “Razzle/Dazzle” name and menu, although we didn’t have brunch there, and only once for dinner at Lotus on the last night.
As far as activities, the first night of the cruise was the iconic Virgin Voyages Pajama Party which is held outdoors up on deck. With music and dancing, or just watching others. It’s a lot of fun!
SCARLET PARTY! The second to last Sea Day is the Scarlet Party where everyone is supposed to wear RED for the evening, and literally everybody does! I remember how lively it was on the last Virgin Voyages cruise, which was a 4 day cruise, so that’s to be expected, however even or especially on this 8 day cruise it was actually a bit more lively if that’s possible! People did seem to dress up a bit more on Scarlet night, with literally every passenger wearing RED of some sorts; usually the gents with red shirts; some even have fancy red jackets! Many of the women dressed up a notch two, with red and white or black accessories, slacks, etc.
Even the hallways, balconies, and the ship’s wake were decorated in a vibrant RED color!
We even saw one of our shipboard friends dressed to the nines in red drag!
The Scarlet (RED) theme carried on thru the night, and later out to the pool with a huge dance party!
Port Calls: And yes, the ship even stops for ports of calls! I say that in jest, as just being on the ship is a vacation in itself. We had had 3 ports in row: Puerto Plata, San Juan, and St. Croix. Due to my limited walking right now (my left knee replacement is schedule for April 17) I’m not as mobile as I like and on long city walks Steve (DOS) pushes me in our transit wheelchair which really helps. We have been to all of these ports before, so we just walked or “rode” around a bit, with DOS pushing me way to fast, and the poor pigeons scattering for safety, especially in old-town San Juan!
Our first stop was in Puerto Plata, which has been updated with a modern pre-town, meaning it’s like a newer “private island” of sorts, gated off from the real city of Puerto Plata. From our balcony on the ship you could see the “real” city of Puerto Plata in the distance, with the “new” port of Puerto Plata in the foreground when you get off the ship.
I remember seeing Puerto Plata for the first time on an old Commodore Cruise Lines ship back in 1988 or so, and the Cruise Director was giving us tips the day prior at the shore talk. She was talking about the Custom’s Allowance among other things, which at that time was $400 a person. She then said “Ladies and Gentlemen, if you spend $400 in Puerto Plata, you will own it!” 🤣. Not the type of politically correct thing one would say today, but back then, she got her point across. I took a tour of some sorts, which wasn’t terribly memorable for me today, some 37 years later.
Perhaps that’s why the nice “new” town of pre-Puerto Plata (meaning before you get to the real city) has been built, and in fact many other cruise ports are doing similar such as Falmouth Jamaica, and soon to be Nassau among others. I think cruisers feel safer that in something with a safe vibe, plus with the shops, bars, restaurants, mega pools and beaches, both the port and cruise line benefit as well with revenue and satisfied passengers. There are still excursions of course too.
After a day at sea, we arrived at the old-town of San Juan. Steve DOS and I have been to San Juan quite a few times, and on a few cruises even flew to San Juan with the cruise departing from there, so we didn’t take a tour or any of the excursions. From the ship we could see the old San Juan Fortress, although it was way to steep with many steps, which was out of my league right now with my upcoming knee surgery. We have been there a couple times, and it is worth seeing though.
I especially liked St. Croix as it was quiet, beautiful, and as we were the only ship in port, made for a very relaxing port stop, without the hurry and hustle of other ports.
Some of the scenery and buildings reminded me of the British TV show “Death in Paradise”, and the town of Honore they use for locations shots. The TV show is actually filmed in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, but the colors and character of the island resembled some of the scenery.
We had a nice stroll thru town, but didn’t head to the other more scenic side of the island with its beautiful beaches and golf courses, before heading back to the ship.
The final port of call, Bimini, was on the last day after having had 2 days at sea. Bimini is Virgin’s “private island” of sorts, and is actually a resort area they own or lease in the Bahamas. The ship docks in Bimini (no tender port is needed which is nice,) and then you take a golf cart shuttle to Virgin’s Private Beach Club resort, making a quick stop in town should you want to shop, take a tour of the island, or even rent a golf cart to tour on your own.
The Bimini stop is quite nice and there is plenty of space for everyone with a large pool (some people played volleyball at one end of the pool), plenty of beach chairs, bar service (of course), wifi, and a lunch served as well. The “Rock Stars” have a separate area a bit back from the beach with their own pavilion for lunch and drinks as well. The menu (at least the Rock Star’s menu) was not the traditional burgers and hotdogs, although actually I would have preferred that rather than the fancy menu that they had.
The food was complimentary, and was served via a waiter, but Steve (DOS) and I just opted for a Coke Zero, and headed back in the early afternoon for lunch aboard the ship. We would have stayed longer and gotten in the water probably, but my knee was acting up quite a bit, and my walking was not very good that day. Poor DOS did his best pushing me in the wheelchair along the long pathway (marked with wood planks, but covered a bit in sand), but we made it there and back. By next trip I should have had my knee replacement and can enjoy Bimini and the other ports more. We still had a relaxing time, before heading back to the ship to pack for debarkation the next morning. Ideally it would be nice to have Bimini on the first day, and a Sea Day on the last day, but we can’t control the schedule.
Packing to go home was quick and easy, and we had ample time to relax and take a nap after going ashore in Bimini. Dinner the last night was at Lotus, the re-purposed Asian Restaurant formerly known as Razzle Dazzle.
Shows: We only went to one production show onboard, which was “Duel Reality“, an athletic type competition show featuring two teams in a modern day type Romeo and Juliet show, complete with fighting, tumbling, juggling, amazing acrobatic acts in a fast paced show quite different than performed on other cruise lines. The highly choreographed action takes place in the center of the venue, with two sides of raised bleachers to view the action. As I had my wheelchair, we were seated in the very front row section, and watched the action unfold literally right in front of us! We had seen this show on our previous cruise, but this was better, perhaps as we had an idea of what the show was about, and our front row seats really provided a super-closeup view of the action.
Friends: Just a few photos of some of our friends and staff and crew we met onboard and socialized with a bit. We met a couple guys from Ireland, a couple from Brisbane Australia, a couple from New Jersey, the Deputy Captain (wearing a regular Virgin Polo shirt! – no traditional white suite with stripes and a hat), and a server at Bimini, a favorite Bar Tender from India, a group of frequent Virgin guest we hung out with to name a few (shown below from 70’s night), plus countless people not pictured from meals, bars, Richard’s Club etc. Virgin has to be the friendliest ship afloat!
The final day was debarkation day, and unlike most cruises, Virgin Voyages has a slightly later departure time than other cruise lines. We could vacate our cabin as late at 10am, and were asked to debark the ship by 10:30am. Lots of people chose the walk-off option ahead of us, and we skipped breakfast aboard the last day and debarked the ship around 10:15am.
We quickly found our luggage in the large terminal, and were amazed how few bags were left to claim. I guess most people must have used the “walk off” option or got off the ship earlier, perhaps due to a flight or travel.
Debarkation was quite easy, although the only bad part was waiting for an Uber as there were so many other people doing that as well. The Uber/Lift area is down a short pathway to the left (facing away from the terminal), while the yellow taxi area was right in front of the terminal and seemed to have a much shorter line. In the future, I would pay more an opt for the taxi as it seemed much quicker, and we only had a short way to go to the train station.
After Uber’ing to the train station, DOS and I has an hour and a half wait for our train, but took advantage of the nice pre-departure lounge in the train station for Premium guests. Compared to the Orlando Brightline Lounge, the Miami lounge had much better snacks!
Once we were aboard the train, we had a nice and quick 3 1/2 hour train ride back to the Orlando Airport, and then Uber’ing home from there. We had a wonderful trip on the Virgin Cruise and getting there and back on the train was part of the fun! Until next time! Cheers!