Virgin Voyages Review: Two Sailings, One Honest Take From a Travel Agent Who Books Them
Trip at a glance: Jess and Joe, two sailings out of PortMiami on the Brilliant Lady and Resilient Lady, 4 to 5 nights each, Caribbean itineraries, adults only (18+).
I did not grow up as a cruise person. My image of cruising involved a buffet line that never ended, a towel folded into a swan on the bed, and someone's kid screaming at the pool at 7 a.m. Joe felt the same way. We are a travel-planning family. We like cities, walking tours, weird restaurants down alleys. Cruises felt like giving up.
Then we booked Virgin Voyages. And I have to be honest. It kind of ruined us for regular cruising forever.
This is my Virgin Voyages review after two separate sailings. Not a press trip. Not a sponsored post. Just a real take from someone who went in skeptical, came back a repeat customer, and eventually became a certified Virgin Voyages travel agent because I could not stop telling people about it.
Is Virgin Voyages actually worth it compared to a traditional cruise?
This is the question I get more than any other from clients. And the answer is yes, but with a caveat. It depends on what you want out of a cruise.
If you want a floating theme park with waterslides, character breakfasts, and a kids' club, Virgin is not your ship. It is adults only. Every sailing, every ship, no exceptions. That is not a bug. It is the entire point. There is a reason this Virgin cruise line has won Travel + Leisure's World's Best award for mega-ship ocean cruise line three years running.
Joe and I left our boys at home with grandparents for both trips. And I will not lie to you. This was a couple's trip both times, and it made a real difference in how we experienced it.
Now, when I say Virgin Voyages vs a traditional cruise, I do not mean one is objectively better. I mean they are different products. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are theme parks at sea. Virgin is more like a boutique hotel that happens to float. The vibe is younger, louder in the right ways, and quieter in the ways that matter. Nobody is doing the Macarena by the pool at 2 p.m. unless they genuinely want to.
The big financial difference is what is included. Your fare on Virgin covers Wi-Fi, all gratuities, group fitness classes, and basic beverages like water, soda, and drip coffee. On most other lines, those are all add-ons. I have watched clients get their final bill on a Royal Caribbean sailing and nearly pass out. That does not happen on a Virgin cruise because the nickel-and-diming is just not there.
What we loved (and what surprised us) on Brilliant Lady and Resilient Lady
Our first sailing was on the Resilient Lady. I went in expecting it to be fine. A nice break. Maybe decent food. I was not prepared for how much personality the ship had.
The dining alone is worth the fare. There are over 20 restaurants on board, all included, and none of them are buffets. Not a single one. You will not find a sneeze guard anywhere on this ship. Instead, you get places like The Wake, which is a gorgeous steakhouse at the stern with floor-to-ceiling windows over the ocean. Test Kitchen is this experimental, multi-course thing where you do not even get a menu. You just show up and trust the chef. Gunbae is a Korean BBQ spot where you cook at your table and things get loud and fun fast.
On our second sailing, the Brilliant Lady, we made it a point to try every restaurant we missed the first time. We hit Extra Virgin for Italian. We went back to Gunbae because we could not stay away. I think we ate at The Wake three times total across both trips.
No more buffet food
Here is one of my best Virgin Voyages tips. Book your dining reservations the second the app opens. The popular spots fill up fast, and if you are traveling with a group, getting a table for six at Gunbae is a competitive sport. This is actually one of the things I handle for my clients as a Virgin cruise travel agent and certified First Mate (that is Virgin's official title for their authorized travel advisors). I know the timing tricks, the app workarounds, and which restaurants are worth fighting for versus which ones always have availability.
Scarlet Night is the other thing nobody warns you about properly. Every voyage has one night where the entire ship turns red. There are pop-up performances, aerial acts, and eventually a massive pool deck party that goes late. Pack something red. I am not kidding. I wore a red dress the first time and jeans the second time, and the red dress night was objectively more fun. You feel like part of something.
The Band (their wearable wristband) replaces your room key, your wallet, and your boarding pass. It is waterproof. You tap it to open your cabin, to charge drinks, to do basically everything. At one point, a crew member brought us champagne on the pool deck because The Band told them roughly where we were on the ship. That was a first for us.
The stuff nobody talks about in a typical Virgin Voyages review
I want to be honest here because most reviews either love everything or hate everything. The truth is messier.
The app can be frustrating. It is how you book dining, check your schedule, and manage your Bar Tab. But it glitches. It logs you out. On our first sailing, Joe lost a dinner reservation because the app crashed mid-booking. They have improved it since, but it is still not as smooth as it should be for a tech-forward brand. This is honestly one of the main reasons I tell people to use a Virgin Voyages travel agent instead of trying to manage everything through the app solo. I have workarounds for most of the app headaches. You should not have to figure them out on vacation.
The Bar Tab system is different from what most cruise people expect. There is no unlimited drink package. Instead, you pre-purchase credit in set amounts and drink against it. On both of our trips, we got a promotional Bar Tab added to our booking for free, which covered us completely. But if you are a heavy drinker and you do not get a promo, the costs can add up. This is another area where working with a Virgin cruise travel planner helps because I usually have access to Bar Tab promotions that are not listed on the public booking site.
The cabins are well-designed but compact. Even the Sea Terrace rooms (their version of a balcony cabin) feel smaller than what you might get on Celebrity or Holland America. But the design is smart. There is a hammock on every balcony, which is an absurdly good touch. Joe spent about four hours in that hammock on our second sailing, just reading and watching the water. I had to physically get him out of it for dinner.
I will be honest about the shore excursions (they call them Shore Things). We did not really do any. The one thing we did do was the Beach Club at Bimini, which is Virgin's private resort on the island. The pool party there was genuinely great. Good music, good drinks, the whole vibe matched the ship. Yes, there were a lot of dudes dry humping to the beat. Joe calls it “air boofing,” and that’s just the “fabulous (jazz hands)” vibe of this brand. But beyond that, we mostly stayed on board. That is actually one of the things I help my clients with, because I think the on-land experience is where Virgin leaves the most room for improvement. For the ports where you do want to explore, I usually recommend skipping the ship-organized options and letting us plan something private instead. You are on the anti-cruise. Your time on land should match that energy.
Beach club at Bimini
Do you need a travel agent to book a Virgin Voyages cruise?
You do not need one. Virgin has a "Go Book Yourself" button right on their website and you are welcome to use it. But here is what I have learned after booking these sailings for dozens of clients: the people who book direct almost always leave something on the table.
When you book through a certified Virgin Voyages travel agent (Virgin calls us "First Mates," which is their term for authorized advisors), you pay the exact same fare. Virgin pays the agent's commission, not you. But you also get onboard Loot (which is credit for the spa, tattoos, the shops, or excursions) that you would not get booking through the main site. On most bookings, that is $50 to $100 per cabin just for using a different link.
That is the easy part. The harder part is the stuff that happens after you book. Dining reservations are a land grab on the app, and if you are in a group larger than two, getting everyone seated together at Gunbae or The Wake takes behind-the-scenes coordination. I handle that. I also track Bar Tab promotions and make sure your booking gets the best available offer, even if a better deal comes along after you have already paid. And if you want a pre-cruise night in Miami or a custom city itinerary before you board, that is exactly what we build at jess.travel.
The first time I sailed Virgin, I told Joe it was the first cruise that did not make me feel like I was on a cruise. The second time, I told him I wanted to help other people feel that same surprise. That is why I do this.
Jess is your captain now
FAQ
Should I use a travel agent to book Virgin Voyages or just book it myself on the website? You can book either way. The fare is identical. But when you book through a Virgin Voyages travel agent, you get perks the main site does not offer, like onboard Loot (spending credit), promotional Bar Tabs, and someone who handles your dining reservations so you do not have to fight the app. There is no fee for using a travel agent because Virgin pays the commission directly. Same price. More included. The only reason to book direct is if you genuinely enjoy managing all the logistics yourself.
What does a Virgin Voyages travel agent actually do that I cannot do myself? A Virgin cruise travel agent who is certified as a First Mate has been trained specifically on Virgin's ships, cabins, dining systems, and promotions. What I do goes beyond pressing the "book" button. I secure dining reservations at hard-to-get restaurants, monitor for promotional Bar Tab offers after your booking is made, advise on cabin placement (deck and location matter more than you think on these ships), and coordinate pre-cruise logistics like hotels and transfers. I also link group bookings behind the scenes so your whole party gets seated together. The app was not really built for groups, so having someone manage that saves a lot of frustration.
Is Virgin Voyages good for couples who do not usually like cruises? This is exactly who it is built for. Joe and I are not cruise people. We are city-trip, hole-in-the-wall-restaurant, walk-until-our-feet-hurt people. Virgin felt like our kind of travel on water. The adults-only atmosphere, the food quality, and the lack of forced fun (no bingo, no towel animals, no formal nights) made it feel more like a boutique hotel experience than a traditional cruise. If your idea of vacation does not include a conga line, you will probably love it.
Can I bring my kids on a Virgin Voyages cruise? No. Virgin Voyages is strictly 18 and older on every ship, every sailing. There are no exceptions. If you are planning a family trip, this is not the right fit. But if you can swing a parents-only getaway, it is one of the best reasons to book it. Joe and I have two boys and we love traveling with them. But we also love traveling without them sometimes. Virgin is built for that second version.
If you are still on the fence about Virgin Voyages, I get it. I was too. Then I stepped onto the Resilient Lady and realized I had been wrong about cruises for 20 years. If you want a Virgin Voyages travel agent who has actually sailed these ships and will not just send you a booking link, head to jess.travel and let's figure it out together.
