Resilient is my middle name - Christmas with Virgin Voyages

[love_the_life]

This looks like such a fun cruise for a short break. Not sure I'd do a grand cruise but up to a week would be fab.

looking at you @love_the_life

Looks fun, but I am not sure about the cabin size even as a solo

Thanks for the TR, learned lots - the food looks great (and that is a big thing with me) LOL.

 

[Major]

That was fun. A great way to spend Christmas.

I don't think I would be happy with the cabin size

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for the TR. As always some great photos. You sure know how to enjoy yourself and that is good to see.

 

[bPeteb]

@SYD and @luxury-lizard l hope you both enjoy your cruises.

We talked to a couple of couples who were in RS. Both loved the space but both questioned the value. One said their RS host was trying to be helpful but was hamstrung by the high capacity of the ship.

When they'd boarded the host told them to get back to him with preferred restaurant bookings and said they had a couple of hours to do this. They left it 24 hours and by then the restaurants were pretty much all booked out, even for RS passengers. If capacity is low you shouldn't have an issue.

The comments by the other couple were about the provided in room bar and Richard's Rooftop. They weren't spirit drinkers so that was all going home with them. It also sounded like they weren't using Richard's Rooftop except for the daily champagne hour as they were traveling with friends in standard rooms.

 

[bPeteb]

This link provides 3-D views of every cabin and suite Our Cabins

Deck plans of public areas. Decks 8-14 are cabins and suites only



Mega Rockstar

These include replenished bars, as they bloody should for the price!!

 

[bPeteb]

Below mega there's rockstar. One time bar. Brilliant, Cheeky Corner, Sweet Aft and Seriously Suites

 

[jase05]

What a fantastic TR.
We aren’t cruise people but this seems like the type of cruise I would enjoy and the food looks superb. Definitely keen to try VV out

 

[bPeteb]

Final pick from me. Comparison between sea terrace and xl. The difference is the bathroom. XL had a longer, bigger shower and a bigger vanity

 

[SYD]

Final pick from me. Comparison between sea terrace and xl. The difference is the bathroom. XL had a longer, bigger shower and a bigger vanityView attachment 364483

Which probably explains why the price difference was going to be something like US$2000 pp over a 19 night sailing later in the year!

 

[bPeteb]

Which probably explains why the price difference was going to be something like US$2000 pp over a 19 night sailing later in the year!

That's a lot of dosh for a bigger shower!

 

[SYD]

That's a lot of dosh for a bigger shower!

Most ships I’ve been on (always book a Balcony Stateroom category) have those curved shower stalls that look like a teleport thing. So anything bigger is a bonus.

We recently sailed on a refurbed NCL ship that had a decent size shower. The rest of the ship was pretty coughpy.

The RL will be a step up from that I expect. But we’ll see how we go in a floating Ibis balcony room for 19 nights.

 

[Seat0B]

I raced out and filmed them for ages before realising I hadn't pressed record.

OMG, you are my tribe @bPeteb! I do this all the time. All.the.time.

 

[Seat0B]

Many thanks for the very informative TR - we're booked on the 4-day SYD-Burnie-SYD in mid Feb - so this has been very helpful. We went whole hog and booked one of the Rockstar suites.

Ooh we need a TR from that for sure please.

 

[Seat0B]

Thanks for this TR. I’m in the “considering my first ever cruise” category and it was really helpful to hear what you liked and didn’t like, and to really get the point about understanding the vibe of the boat before booking.

 

[jase05]

and to really get the point about understanding the vibe of the boat before booking.

This seems to be the key. As Virgin cruisers pardon the pun we have taken a huge leap and booked a cruise in Norway during March and I honestly don’t know what to expect. Spent many hours of research before settling on this one and hopefully a steeping stone to future cruises. I can’t ever see us doing the ultra long cruises but the VV looks like fun and no children is always a bonus so it’s the type of cruise I’d consider next. Was a great TR that was insightful and looking forward to seeing other TR of VV going forward

 

[antycbr]

Thanks for your review!

I had the misfortune to join the Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady Facebook group. The constant negativity made me regret joining. Whinging about boarding, disembarking, power points, the shows, the app, the prices, the cabins, you name it. I ended up leaving the group so it’s good to get a balanced review.

Given that I used points for the booking I’m not going to complain too much about the experience when I sail in Feb.

 

[Seat0B]

booked a cruise in Norway during March

Which line and vessel please? And your itinerary? This is the sort of thing that interests me to do.

 

[mx838383]

Excellent trip report! I am leaving in a few weeks time. I will definitely try to get on to the app early and book for a later time on disembarkation day. Thanks for all the photos and insights.

 

[daft009]

thanks for this TR.
My mum was on this exact cruise with some friends .. she too really enjoyed it

she loved the mexican place the best for the food she said

 

[jase05]

Which line and vessel please? And your itinerary? This is the sort of thing that interests me to do.

After much deliberation we booked with Havila on the MS Polaris. As it was our first cruise we booked the 6 night Northbound cruise from Bergen and arriving at Kirkenes. You can join the ship at several points along the way and as such there was no Balcony rooms available when we booked as they were taken by those who are starting a few days before us. Managed to snare a Seaview room but don’t plan in spending a lot of time in the room. Only a fairly new setup and the ship is operated by a mixture of battery power and LNG.
We have paid for a number of excursions along the way but I’ll go through my invoices and dig up the itinerary if you want