Dual Reality Had Me On The Edge Of My Seat
Another thing thats pretty different from other cruise lines is the main entertainment. We watched a show called Dual Reality which was an incredible death-defying display of acrobatics and dancing.
They would have people swinging around from chains on their necks, jumping on big bouncy boards. Everything!
It was definitely the kind of entertainment that has you sat on the edge of your seat.
Im pretty sure that theyve made a change to the show since the first time I was onboard. The show is designed so that there is a red team and a blue team and they battle it out kind of Romeo and Juliet style.
The seating in the red room for this show is set up with the audience on both sides.
At the end they take off their red and blue clothes. When I originally saw this show the dancers striped down to their underwear but this time they all had vests and shorts on.
When I shared my photos from the original show I did have a LOT of comments asking me if the people in the photos were naked, so maybe they decided to leave a few more clothes on. Either way it was really interesting to watch and I love the different design of the show area.
Stubble And Groom Barbershop Deck 6
The liberation shave For a face as smooth as the waves $119.
The emancipation shave A deep cleansing shave that exfoliates hydrates and protects your skin 45 minutes $95.
The soothing express shave An express shave that relaxes buffs and smooths your skin 30 minutes $59.
The rescue pedicure A pedicure that restores nails and feet through soaking, cuticle sprucing, buffing and shaping 45 minutes $59
Another Virgin Voyages Cruise Ship Heads For The Us
Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady is heading across the Atlantic to become the second ship in the fleet to offer cruises from the US.
After her inaugural season in the Mediterranean, Virgin Voyages second cruise ship, Valiant Lady, has set a course towards the United States. The vessel is scheduled to arrive in Miami at the end of the month, in time for her first Halloween cruise.
Valiant Lady, part of the popular Virgin Voyages, will be based out of PortMiami, Florida, sailing on a series of cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
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The Virgin Voyages App Was Frustrating
Our cruise experience got off to a bit of a frustrating start trying to use the Virgin Voyages app.
It worked well for the embarkation info but when it came to booking dining reservations all kinds of weird things would happen. I would book a table and only half the people would go through, it would book for other people and not for me, then I didnt have permission to delete them or add myself, I never managed to get it to work.
The customer services people called sailor services did book the restaurants for me in the end and Im glad I preserved because a lot of the restaurants were fully booked by the time we got onboard.
I knew I had to try Razzle Dazzle and we ate a LOT of food on this cruise, I would have been so annoyed if I missed out because it was already fully booked.
Virgin dont have the traditional main dining room, speciality dining kinda of set up. All of the restaurants are included which is awesome and its all about the kinda small intimate spaces.
Virgin are very tech-focused so hopefully, theyll iron out the problems with the app, they are a very new cruise line so some little kinks are to be expected but it was very frustrating. It has 1.9*s in the app store so its not just me that struggled with the app and Ive seen newspapers mention how frustrating it was too.
The Food Rivals Popular Big
With no main dining area other than the food court-style Galley that offers everything from street tacos to ramen noodles, burgers, and a variety of grab-and-go meal boxes, there are multiple smaller dining venues that have dedicated chefs and staff to deliver dining experiences that truthfully rival those of popular big-city restaurants. Theres homemade pasta at Extra Virgin, authentic cooked-at-your table Korean barbecue at Gunbae . Vegans and their nonvegan friends can eat together at Razzle Dazzle, which has a naughty menu of nonvegan options that includes a fried chicken sandwich. Tastings and wine-pairing menus are offered at the Test Kitchen, traditional steaks and seafood at the Wake, and Mexican-inspired dishes with a host of mezcal and tequila-based drinks at Pink Agave. My favorites were Pink Agave and Gunbae, although I didnt have a chance to try Extra Virgin, a venue that really caught my eye.
The Mexican-inspired cuisine at the Pink Agave restaurant is a culinary highlight of the food-rich ship.
Courtesy of Virgin Voyages
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It’s A Ship For Adults Like No Other
It’s taken me a few days to fully appreciate what a difference it makes that this is an adults-only cruise vessel — one where nobody under the age of 18 is allowed on board.
The fact that there are no kids on board means Virgin Voyages can offer a far more adult array of entertainment from one end of Scarlet Lady to the other than you’ll find on the ships of Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and other big cruise brands, even during the daytime, and even in public areas such as around the pool. The line even can be a little naughty.
A couple of days ago, during an impromptu wedding event at the base of the swirling staircase in the center of the ship, an emcee loudly quizzed one of the two women getting married about their favorite sexual positions, much to the delight of the crowd of passengers looking on. You probably wouldn’t see that on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas.
Naughty sex talk also was the theme of a one-woman cabaret show called Never Sleep Alone that took place last night in the ship’s The Manor nightclub . Raunchy and heavy on audience participation, it involved “resident sexologist” Alex Schiller, who claimed to have slept with more than 4,000 people, offering up tips on how to make sure you’re never lacking for a partner in bed at night.
As you can see from the image above, Virgin Voyages is offering a whole new type of adult cruise.
Second Virgin Voyages Cruise Ship Underway To Miami
Cruise fans will have two Virgin Voyages ships to choose from this winter. The second ship of the Richard Branson-owned cruise line, Valiant Lady, has set sail from her summer homeport Barcelona and is underway to Miami. The sister ship to Valiant Lady, Scarlet Lady, is already sailing from the worlds cruise capital.
Valiant Lady has spent the summer sailing in Europe after her maiden voyage in March of this year. She sailed a series of cruises out of Barcelona, visiting popular destinations on the French Riviera, Italy, and Spain.
From Barcelona, Valiant Lady sailed to Ibiza, Spain, where guests spent the day today, October 17. The 110,000 gross tonnes cruise ship will be heading to Malaga on October 18 and Madeira on October 21. After another eight days at sea, Valiant Lady will arrive in PortMiami on October 30.
Virgin Voyages built a brand new terminal for the two ships sailing from Miami this winter Terminal V. Scarlet Lady will use the 132,000 square feet state-of-the-art cruise terminal year-round, while Valiant Lady will use the terminal during the winter. In the summer, Valiant Lady will return to the Mediterranean.
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I Paid 166 Per Night For The Cruise
I paid £499 for 3 nights in a mid-ship sea terrace. Id usually book an inside cabin but they were all sold out and that price included all gratuities, WiFi and soft drinks so I didnt think it was too bad.
Every cabin had $100 onboard credit too.
The cabins were one of the main bits of Scarlet Lady that I didnt like when I first visited so I was interested to see if anything had changed.
Virgin really went all out when designing the cabins to do something that no other cruise line does and they did succeed with that, Ive never been in a cabin quite like it. The cabin had a get it on mode that turned everything pink and shut the curtains, Ive never seen that one before!
The Virtual Muster Drill Was Easy Peasy
As soon as we got onboard there were announcements saying that we had to do the muster drill and we should go to watch the video in our cabin and then go to our muster station.
I really dont like being late for things so I was thinking ahh, we have to go. We very quickly popped into our room, and were greeted with the curtains opening for us and the lights coming on. It was very cool, we didnt have any of that last time I was onboard!
I really wanted to try the hammock on the balcony and to see if the bathroom was as small as I remembered but after watching a very strange musical safety video we had to go to check into our muster station. Ours was in a venue called The Manor.
We only had to be at our muster station for about 10 minutes as they showed us how to put on a lifejacket and scanned our sea bands so they knew that we attended the drill.
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Check Out The One Of A Kind Entertainment
Virgin Voyages has also bucked the trend when it comes to cruise ship entertainment. The entertainment on Scarlet Lady is certainly unlike anything you have ever seen before at sea. This might be a good thing or a bad thing for you. Nonetheless, you will need to check out this one of a kind entertainment to decide for yourself.
The Red Room is Virgin Voyages transformational theater. This venue adapts for each of the performances to keep sailors close to the action. Currently, Scarlet Lady hosts three main theater shows, Duel Reality, Untitled DanceShowPartyThing, and Ships in the Night. Each of these shows is very different, but Duel Reality is the clear winner for us.
Not to mention, the Manor also hosts a variety of entertainment. From the signature show Never Sleep Alone, to late-night dance parties, to the new drag show, you wont find these offerings on other cruise lines. We particularly enjoyed the newly added drag show featuring the Diva from the Happenings Cast.
Of course, there is also more traditional live music during the cruise from performers in the Happenings Cast, an acoustic guitarist, and a house band.
The Virgin Voyages Record Store
We thought that the record store would hold a big variety of items but nah. Theres only a small rock section, very little pop, and less than 30 titles onboard. You can listen to some of the records while onboard.
The hours vary but if theres a DJ playing, chances are, the store is open. Located in Deck 7, near the Roundabout area of the ship. This is one of the first stores you will see when you embark on the ship for the first time from Miami.
There is a special edition vinyl which is only available on the Scarlet Lady. The vinyl itself is red, compared to black on most vinyls, and costs $70! Forgot which band and album its about but I found it really expensive!
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Drinks On Virgin Voyages
One of the most common questions among those planning a cruise is, Are drinks included? Virgin Voyages has gone the extra mile with its inclusions and offers a range of free basic beverages that include branded sodas to all passengers. This is a notch above the standard water-tea-coffee offerings in most other lines.
Alcoholic drinks are to be purchased separately and drink and beverage packages are not offered. Virgin Voyages drink costs are comparable to other cruise lines, however, and the prices include tips, so there are no surprises when settling the bill.
Scarlet Lady onboard credit plans offer upwards of $150 per cabin, depending on cabin type and travel dates.
The Entertainment Sets A New Bar
Virgin Voyages promised to shake things up when it comes to cruise ship entertainment, and — in my opinion, at least — it has delivered. Big time. The entertainment that you’ll see on Scarlet Lady is edgy and experimental and really pushes the boundaries of what entertainment at sea can be — and not just because it includes a sex-themed show with a “resident sexologist.”
For starters, the line has done away with the traditional, Broadway-style theater with rows of fixed seats that you’ll find on most big cruise vessels as well as the traditional, Broadway-style shows and Las Vegas-style musical reviews that you’ll typically find playing in them. In its place is a soaring, box-like entertainment space called the Red Room that can transform into all sorts of configurations to allow for different types of unusual performances.
The line has described the show as “a hype music video disguised as an absurdist style dance party,” and that pretty much sums it up. I absolutely loved it.
Reconfigured to have two rows of stadium seating with a performance area in the middle, the Red Room hosts another wowzer of a show called Duel Reality that is a modern take on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” told through highly choreographed, music-infused acrobatics.
Madison and I were both so stunned by this odd intrusion into our otherwise quiet conversation that neither of us really caught what he was talking about. But in retrospect, it was kind of delightful .
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Scarlet Lady Doesnt Have A Buffet
Virgin Voyages were very firm on the idea that they dont have a buffet, and technically thats true. They do have a space that takes that place of the buffet though and when walking around the ship you would always hear everybody asking what time should I meet you in the buffet?.
The difference between Scarlet Ladys buffet, or galley as its called and a usual cruise ship buffet is that all of the food is made to order.
Usually, in a buffet the food will be there, being kept warm ready for somebody to take it, but in the Virgin Voyages galley, everything is only cooked when its ordered.
Its kind of like a food hall with lots of different sections that specialise in different things. Most of the food was ordered on the app, the avocado tacos from the taco stand are my personal recommendation, that and the breakfast pancakes.
I was really impressed with how fast the food came and how many crew members were around to get you a drink and take your order. There are self-serve soda and water/tea/coffee machines in the buffet and guests were free to use these whenever they liked.
There Really Is Something For Everyone
Want a wellness escape? There is essentially a full-size health club on board with boxing rings, basketball courts, and a full menu of fitness classes throughout the day and evening that include 80s-style Richard Simmonsinspired aerobic workouts, the latest in interval training, and aerial yoga. A variety of wellness workshops cover posture, skincare, and balancing mind and meditation. The spa has a huge thermal area with cold and hot tubs, mud and salt rooms, plus a steam room and sauna.
You can also party to your hearts content at the more than half dozen indoor and outdoor bars that encourage partying until the wee hours of the morning. For fun minus the partying, guests can join board game competitions, book karaoke rooms, participate in trivia contests, take mixology classes, head to the Craft Room for great beers, taste champagne, and enjoy high tea at the bar Sip. At the relaxed, Mediterranean-inspired Dock House, quieter acoustic and folk song performances are held both indoors and out.
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All About The Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady
The Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady is a fairly new ship, being built in 2021. It’s considered a medium size ship. Coming in at 909 ft long and 125 ft wide, it’s roughly the length of 2.5 football fields, as wide as 2.4 tractor trailers, and the same height as a 13-story building. Scarlet Lady is Virgin Voyages first ship. To make the ship feel fresh and innovative, they brought in renowned designers who haven’t worked on cruise ships before. It’s an adults-only ship all guests must be 18 or older.
The Scarlet Lady can hold 2,700 based on double occupancy and more when you take into account 3rd and 4th passengers. When you compare the total tonnage of the ship to the number of passengers, the Scarlet Lady has a space ratio of 41. Depending on the ship, this number can range from 30 to 52 so this ship’s space-to-person ratio is about average.
| Virgin Voyages | |
|---|---|
| Space Ratio | 41 |
The Scarlet Lady is one of four Lady-class ships currently sailing with Virgin Voyages. Virgin Voyages currently has only one class of ships. These ships are meant to appeal to guests who are new to cruising. One of the big differences is that Lady-class ships don’t have any main dining rooms or a traditional buffet. Instead, there are numerous restaurants for guests to choose from, all at no additional cost. The Scarlet Lady is very similar to its sister-ships Valiant Lady, Resilent Lady and Brilliant Lady, although each ship may have some differences.
