May 23, 2025 • 22 mins
Sun, sangria, and a brand-new adults-only cruise line—what more could you ask for? 🎙️ In this special balcony-suite edition of The Know Before You Go Travel Show, the Penyak Travel crew records live from Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady as she hugs the stunning coastline of Spain.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up everybody? Hey everyone, welcome back to another
edition of the Note Before Go Travel. So we've got
a show for you today without an intro, because we
are live in the mobile studio here off the coast
of Abiza, Abiza, Spain, or I think they pronounced it
Abiza here.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Well, someone told us that, but then I've heard everybody
say Abiza, so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, it's like that song I Took a Pill in
a Biza, right, yeah, yeah, so yeah, we're in Abiza. Anyways,
we are here, We are live off the coast. We
are sitting in our suite.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
If this is this a sweet No, this is a
sea terrace, gotcha?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Sea terrace?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, we have to say what we're on. We're on
Virgin Voyage, just Scarlet Lady cruise ship doing a seven
night sailing ground trip from Barcelona.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, we have a nice balcony here. So we're sitting
here looking out at the at the Spanish coastline, the
beautiful coastline of Abiza, and I think we're pretty much
a day at sea right now. It's about what two
o'clock ish two o'clock, and we're going to land or
we're gonna dock here at seven and then we have
all day tomorrow and a vizus so we have some
tour set up. But it's been a fun trip. We
(01:05):
are across the globe. We are globe trotting in Europe,
which is a little different than our normal, normally scheduled
Caribbean content. But I think it'd be good stuff to
go through on the podcast with you guys. Because this
is our first time on Version Voyages. We did a
little preview episode of what this is going to be like.
I think some of our opinions have changed on things
now that we've actually experienced it, because this is a
(01:25):
very different cruise line. But it's fun. We're having a
great time. We're drinking good wine. I did okay on
the flight. The sleep hasn't been the best for me
because I can't sleep on planes and then the jet
lag is brutal. But I'm here and Jannet, you're doing
a lot better.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Than me, yes, So real quick on how a new
way that we kind of have found last year that
we like to travel to Europe. So if the jet
lag does get to you really bad, if you can't
sleep on planes, there are day flights to London from
the New York area, So we flew into JFK the
night before, then took a day flight over to London
(02:02):
and then on British Airways, which I absolutely loved British Airways.
And then we stayed at the Sofa Tel at the
London Airport. That was our second time staying there. Always
recommend that if you're stopping over in London, it's a
great hotel connected to terminal five. And then we flew
into Barcelona. I went against my own usual advice. And
(02:23):
then we flew into Barcelona on the day of the cruise.
But the cruise left late in the evening and so
we took an early morning flight so in case there
were delays, we were going to be fine. So the
airline that we flew into Barcelona on was Viewling, which
is a low cost Spanish carrier. It's kind of like
(02:44):
the Spirit of Spain. It was okay, it was solid.
I mean, the tickets were cheap. I think we paid
like one hundred and fifty bucks apiece, so for a
two hour flight, it was not bad.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, but then they got us for luggage, right, so
we had to pay for a luggage, So eventually it
went up there, just like all the discount airlines do
in America. But no, that day flight is the best
way to do it if you're gonna come to Europe.
I mean, we've done it a couple different ways. We've
done it, you know. Obviously, the way a lot of
people do is do the overnight flight, and it's really
tough sleep on a plane. But the day flight really
(03:15):
wasn't bad. It helps you adjust. So I think that's now.
I think you if you don't live in the New
York area, you're gonna have to go in a day
early to do that, right.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
But anyways, we'll go through some of our thoughts here
on you know, Virgin Voyages as a whole, what it
was like to get here, the boarding process, because a
lot of the things did surprise us a little bit.
There's there's some things we like, there's some things I
wish they would change. We're a little bit over halfway
through our trip and so we'll dive into the details here.
But overall we've had a great time on the trip
so far. We did get away somehow doing carry on,
(03:48):
so we did not check a bag for this trip,
which is pretty amazing. One of the things I do
like about Virgin is they do have laundry bags, so
you can it's pretty big. You can fill a huge
bag up of lune and they'll do it for you
for what fifty.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Bucks it was fifty five dollars and then they pick
it up and then you get it back the next
day after five thirty pm, or you can do an
express delivery for same day return and then it's twenty
extra dollars, So fifty five dollars total, and we did
a ton of laundry. I mean, we probably could have
fit everything we packed in that laundry bag for fifty
(04:22):
five dollars, which I do think when you're traveling is
a very good deal.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, absolutely, because like that does make I mean, I
think I overpacked now looking at it, even with the
carry on. Having the ability to do laundry on board
and getting it back in and no longer than a
day is super nice. Is super nice.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, And getting laundry done on board for a reasonable price,
because a lot of other cruise lines it's expensive. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So either way, but we're here, we're gonna get early
thoughts on the whole process here, So let's dive into it,
so we starting off with the onboarding process. So we've
done this is our thirteenth cruise. We've been on a
lot of cruises, a lot of different cruise lines, and
and this is the first one. Now I don't want
to say this is a Virgin thing because I really
don't know. It could have been a port thing. The
(05:08):
port was smaller. But right off the bat one of
the things I wish they would change is I did
not like the onboarding experience. Do you want to go
through what that was like? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So I mean generally with all the cruise lines, you know,
you do have a specific boarding time that you select
when you check in. Now, so Virgin, we don't really
have a disembarkation time. I'm assuming we can just kind
of get off, you know, when we want, but you
just have to be off by a certain point. But
(05:38):
we'll let you guys know that when we do a
future episode on like a full deep dive. So since
I think they do that and people are getting off
a little bit later than normal, then that kind of
created like a late boarding and they stick to those
boarding times to a t. You could not get on
early at all, And with every other cruise that we've
(05:59):
ever been. We've always just been able to walk right
up to the port, get checked in, and walk immediately
onto the ship. Here there was thousands of people waiting
outside of the terminal to board, and honestly, it was
quite chaotic, and I didn't really like it.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, it was a little catoch like. I just don't
like waiting, especially like after a long day of travel.
Most of the I'm assuming most people on board are
from American. They're American, they're English, and I can imagine
if they flew in that day, they're tired, they're ready
to get on the boat. We didn't even fly in
same day, and we were tired and ready to get
(06:37):
on the boat, and the thought of just waiting was
kind of a bummer. But first and press once we
got through the whole line and on boarding time and
all that first impressions of the boat, everything's brand new.
This is obviously the outside of this boat is something
to see. It stands out the it's got the red colors,
it's got the huge gray side panels to the boat.
(06:58):
I mean, it's a beautiful stuff ship. Larger than I
thought it was. It's bigger when you're up close to it.
Than you see pictures. And then obviously it's new ship,
so everything on board's new. This this boat came out
what three years ago, three or four years ago, twenty twenty, Yeah,
so everything on board is really super new, super fresh,
super clean, which was really that was a huge plus.
Our room was available as soon as we got on board,
(07:20):
so we did like that. And then getting into our room,
first impressions, I don't know. So we have a unique
room here because we are like hucked in the corner
of a hallway at the very front of the ship
and we are on deck twelve, so we most people
if you looked at the cruise ship from Afar, you'd
see a lot of glass balconies. Where you have the
actual balcony is glass, you can see through it. We're
(07:43):
on the part of the ship that has a metal balcony,
so we don't have that glass paneling that you can
see through, and we're kind of on a corner, so
we have a really big balcony. This is one of
the biggest balconies we've ever had, but it makes because
the balcony is so big, and maybe because of how
the ship's oriented. We have a very very small room
it's one of the smallest rooms that we've ever had.
(08:05):
The thing about this cruise too, is that, you know,
it's summertime. It's it's hot back home on the water.
Here when it gets down in the sixties, it's kind
of chilly out there. And I underpacked as far. I
didn't underpack as far as the amount of clothes. I
underpacked the type of clothes I need warmer clothes for
this trip. Would you agree, Yeah, I mean we brought.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
A few pullovers, but this time of year in Europe,
so we The cruise left on May eighteenth. It's a
seven night sailing. It's very pleasant when you're in court.
You know, it's been like seventy seventy two degrees every day,
but on the water it's definitely a little bit more chilly.
But I would say I like this better than our
(08:47):
last European cruise, which was two years ago, when it
was like one hundred and twenty degrees in every port
every day.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Yeah, it's definitely better than having the heat wave that's
coming through. But the room's a little small, and now
we have so because we're at the very corner of
the ship, we have to walk past like a bunch
of rooms to get here, and so you see the
cleaning staff cleaning rooms, you get a little sneak peak
with the other rooms look like the other rooms are huge.
And then we we did tour a Rockstar suite, which
the Rockstar Suite was massive with a huge balcony and
(09:17):
really and a huge walk in shower. Right they had
a tub. I mean it was super nice. The rocks
Aar suitees with which I believe were one level below that,
uh the quality of the room or we one level below.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
No, because we are just in like the standard Sea terrace,
whereas they have a central Sea terrace. And then they
go up to Rockstar suites and they have some that
say like a slightly bigger terrace, you know, some that
are just huge, like full sweets. Some one we toured
last night was full sweet. Uh. So I definitely if
(09:53):
you are looking at doing this, I would not recommend
the very last room that is the forward of the
ship on scart lady.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, I would request maybe one of the middle one
of the middle balconies, because we could tell just by
walking by them that they're a decent bit bigger. And
you know, sometimes the room size does matter you know,
you want a little bigger and you want a little
elbow room, you know. Even recording the podcast here, it's
just a little tight. But everything other than that, the
room's super clean. Another thing they do differently here that
we're kind of getting used to and it's growing on me,
(10:25):
is they don't do bottled water, so we like, we're
big water drinkers, and they give you as part of
their room service. They give you like a big glass
container of water that they refresh every day. It starts
with two they probably it's probably like out there's probably
forty fifty ounces of water each and then we requested
a third, so we have a third and they give
(10:46):
you two glasses, which is nice. They have a fridge
down there, small little desk. If you want to sit
down and get work done or do your hair, you can.
They have a closet that has a curtain on it.
The bathroom does have a decent sized rain shower head,
So I do like that smaller bathroom because the room
is smaller, but not really a sitting area. Now we're
a little spoiled because the last crews went on we
(11:06):
had a mini suite on Princess, and that was really nice,
just being a little schooled coming right off the Princess
in the mini suite, but good way, Like I mean,
it's a new room. It's fine, it's adequate, the bed's
fairly comfortable. I do love that everything's new here. The
staff has been really pleasant, really nice, and we've learned
that they kind of compensate their staff a little differently
in other cruise ships, so I think that helps with
(11:27):
like staff engagement, you know, how they are day to day.
But it's really we're really gonna have to sit down
and digest this one to see kind of where this
would rank on our cruise ship or cruise brand, you know, hierarchy.
So we really can't give you that level of detail
on this podcast because we're literally in it right now live.
But I'm enjoying this. I really some of the things
(11:49):
that have surprised me the I like all the different
restaurant offerings. They don't really have. One thing I really
like is they don't have one big dining room. I
don't love that massive dining room that some of the
traditional cruise lines have. I love that they have all
these little restaurants, so that's a huge plus for me.
What are your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, I know overall the food's been good, but I
do wish that there was more selections of I don't
want to say, like basic food, but I am a
very picky eater. I don't like adventurous things at all,
So I kind of wish that, you know, they everything
wasn't so like cork heavy and stuff like that. But
(12:29):
I do like, you know, in lieu of like the buffet,
it's just basically like individual It's almost like you're at
a food court in the mall and you just walk
up and then you know they have a small menu
and then you know, you just order and they hand
it to you. But so I like that and that
they have a lot of different options for that, but
I wish they had more like chicken and beef options.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, if you're a foodie, you would love this because
the options are very unique. But to kind of put
an example to way Chance talking about, is they have
a they have a place at the food court area
that you can get a burger, but they don't have
grilled chicken sandwiches, but like it's either a burger. And
then they also had a duck burger, so instead of
having a grilled chicken like a chicken option or something else.
They just had burger and then duck was the next option.
(13:16):
They do have a pizza place that's really good, so
you can get pizza there. It does open at too.
I wish it was open more for lunch hours. What
opens at two? So, but if you're food and you
like trying a lot of new things, you're gonna have
a lot of options on this, on this on this brand,
and on this ship. If you're more of a traditional eater,
options might be limited if you're not adventuress Janet, we
all know if you're a lockdown listener, furthest thing from
(13:37):
adventurous as when it comes to eating, I'm more adventurous.
A couple of things I love. They have the sushi
where up in the food court area because it's not
a buffet. They don't have a face here. It's like
a food court. You go up and you know, request something,
they make it for you. They do, though, have like
the pre made sushi rolls you can just grab and go,
and I do love that because I love sushi and
(13:58):
the sushi is really good. I'm a picky sushi. It's
really good sushi. Another unique thing that they do that
I really like is at the entryway of almost anywhere
that you can get food, they have grab and go
items that are like prepackaged salads. They have prepackaged arcouterie boards,
things that you can grab and go and just take
outside of the food court and take back to your room.
(14:19):
And they also have room service here right that we
haven't even utilize.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Right, Yes, yeah, I think it's ten dollars to deliver,
but then it's free I think if you order a drink.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, And so overall I would say that the food's
been solid. A couple of meals have wowed us, Like
I thought last night the Italian restaurant was really really,
really good. A couple of meals, maybe I don't want
to say underwhelmed, but like more like more average. But overall,
I think the food's unique. I think it's high quality.
It's it's good. It's just if you're if you're a
(14:48):
very plain eater, your options may be more limited than not.
If you're adventurous and you want to go wild, this
is the perfect ship for you.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yes, And speaking of going wild, so this isn't adults
only KRS. So in my opinion, I do think that
the overall like atmosphere. I mean, you can definitely find
like quietness, you know, if you want it, but you know,
it is a little bit more of a unique atmosphere,
a little more lively. Like they had the Scarlet party,
(15:18):
Scarlet night party last night, and we went up on
the deck for that, which we don't usually stay up
late at all, and we stayed up way too late
last night, but that was nuts. They had like a
whole DJ and I mean it was just like wall
to wall people dancing. So you know, if that's kind
of your vibe, then you know, I think that you
(15:39):
would really like this sailing. As far as like, you know,
other entertainment and everything, we haven't seen too much, but
they have you know, a variety of things going on
throughout the day and at night. We did go to
a magician show. They have different mumusic venues and then
they do like it's called reality where someone's like acrobatic show,
(16:03):
they drag show, they do bingo. So it's just it's,
you know, it's very fun atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, fun lively atmosphere. It's a good way to describe it.
It's not you know, Princess is a little more laid back,
which is probably more our vibe, just our personal vibe
is a little more laid back. Yeah, you can find
quiet places to chill and relax. One of the things
I do miss that our last cruise had that this
cruise does not have is like a wine bar, like
I really like. I love a great wine bar, a
(16:30):
great wine selection. And because this cruise line they say
they millennials drink a lot of wine. They say it's
more millennial catered. The wine options are kind of limited,
you know, there's not there's like not a good place
to get an epic glass of wine or do like
a wine flight or a wine tasting. The liquor drinks
look awesome though the espressor martinis were good. Some of
(16:52):
the mixology looks really good. Wines liking. So these are
probably more personal things that we like that we personally
feel might be missing, but you guys, might I really
like definitely different the whole It's a different cruising style,
I would put it. There's all these little nuanced things
that are different that other that they've kind of pivoted
away from the industry, and I think for us personally,
(17:14):
some we like and then some I would go back
to the traditional way of cruising, don't you think.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Yes, I would absolutely agree with that, and we'll give
you like a full deep dive podcast on you know,
those kind of nitpicky things you know, and areas in
my opinion of improvement and things that we like on
a future deep dive episode of this. But you know, overall,
it's really been a great trip. The ports have been awesome.
(17:40):
We did Cans Corsica day at sea and then Mari
york Is Spain. I forgot where we were going, and
then we have the overnight in Abiza which is really nice,
and then it goes back to Barcelona and then we're
staying at night in Barcelona. So overall, great trip. Love it.
The ship is amazing, it's beautiful. Like George said, everything's
(18:03):
news so and when I said it, it was built
in twenty twenty, so that's when I was supposed to open.
Their first sailing was supposed to be in April twenty twenty.
We all know what awful time that was, and so
it did not actually set sail until like a year later.
So it's definitely, you know, the new kid on the
block in terms of you know, big ships, the big megaships,
(18:25):
but definitely a great experience.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, i'd agree, I'd agree, and I'm ready to I'm
still I still feel like i'm a little jet lacked.
I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yes, I'm definitely getting an espresso martini after this podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
One hundred percent. Yeah, I'm a little jet lag. But
I think once we get back and we like look
at our notes, all the videos, I think we're going
to try to do avog on this one. Guys, I'm
doing my best. Time difference has gotten me a little bit.
And then we've also had these European cruises, you know,
in contrast to like going to a Cribban all inclusive
or even a Caribbean cruise, these are a little more busy.
(18:58):
You know, there's a lot of on off the shift ship,
the you know, there's a lot of you know, transportation
time to get to excursions. So it's a busier style
of travel. So we're gonna have to really get our
notes together, sit down, look at all the pictures and videos,
and if I can get a great vlog, you know,
I'm going to. I think at a minimum, I can
do like a little cruise ship tour something to get
on the YouTube channel. But anways, if you're loving the
(19:20):
content content, subscribe to podcast check out our YouTube channel.
I can't wait to do a deeper dive on this
when we get back to the state side and get
back into our podcast studio. Hopefully the audio on this
sounds okay. I've tried to do a lot of testing.
Uh my assistant chat GBT has helped me with my
audio settings here because we do have a new laptop
that we're broadcasting from here. So hopefully the audio is good.
(19:42):
If not, back in the studio and it'll be really
Chris Boudio. But anyways, anything else you wanna say about
the ship before we wrap up here with our live
in studio, Live Studio, Live out of Studio podcasts.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I'll just say, you know, Virgin definitely brands himself as
different from other cruise lines and in overvariety of ways,
and so we're on the next episode we'll kind of
go through on how they've branded themselves different differently and
what we kind of think about that some of it,
you know, where I think it's just like a marketing thing.
(20:16):
One of the things that is a big difference is
they don't have a drink package offering. They just have
where you can buy a bar tab and then they'll
give you a little bit of bonus. And that's been fine,
But I definitely prefer the drink package, wouldn't you say?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah? I think it's like it's just like a convenience thing,
like you don't if you like to have, you know,
drinks at dinner or pre dinner cocktail or after inner cocktail.
One thing I don't like is like constant you know,
people w then just like check the check the balance
of what you're going to owe at the end and
all that stuff. I just like to just prepay everything,
maybe because we used the all inclusive resort experience prep everything,
(20:52):
let me have a great time. If there's something I
want to upgrade to, so be it, let me choose,
but have all the generalities that I love already included.
And I think all inclusives kind of spoiled us in
that sense, don't your thing?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yes, I would agree with that, And just several of
the last cruises. You know, when you think about getting
a drink package, it's not just for alcohol. You can
get the specialty coffees that are included, which I really like.
And because I love having icelatches every morning, and I
will see Virgin does have sodas included already, which that's
nice and different from every other cruise line. But the
(21:25):
specially coffee thing, I'm like, every morning I have to
pay for a coffee and I wish that it was included.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, first world problems over here. Anyways, we'll call it
a show on that, guys. Check out the links in
the description and the show notes if you guys want
more information. By the way, we are at zero fee traveling,
and see, we don't charge a dime for our service,
and you work directly with us, and we don't charge
a dime, and you're gonna get chan. It's expert advice
whether you want to do a cruise to Europe or
an all inclusive on the beaches of Cancune and the Caribbean.
We've got you and I can't wait to get back Stateside,
(21:54):
get back in the studio and give you guys some
great in depth content on the rest of this experience.
And who knows, maybe the second half of the trip
will change our whole perspective on Virgin and we may
have a whole new opinion on a lot of these
things So anyways, we love you guys, thanks for tuning in,
have a great rest of the weekend. We'll see you
next time, See you next time.
What is up everybody? Hey everyone, welcome back to another
edition of the Note Before Go Travel. So we've got
a show for you today without an intro, because we
are live in the mobile studio here off the coast
of Abiza, Abiza, Spain, or I think they pronounced it
Abiza here.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Well, someone told us that, but then I've heard everybody
say Abiza, so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, it's like that song I Took a Pill in
a Biza, right, yeah, yeah, so yeah, we're in Abiza. Anyways,
we are here, We are live off the coast. We
are sitting in our suite.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
If this is this a sweet No, this is a
sea terrace, gotcha?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Sea terrace?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, we have to say what we're on. We're on
Virgin Voyage, just Scarlet Lady cruise ship doing a seven
night sailing ground trip from Barcelona.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, we have a nice balcony here. So we're sitting
here looking out at the at the Spanish coastline, the
beautiful coastline of Abiza, and I think we're pretty much
a day at sea right now. It's about what two
o'clock ish two o'clock, and we're going to land or
we're gonna dock here at seven and then we have
all day tomorrow and a vizus so we have some
tour set up. But it's been a fun trip. We
(01:05):
are across the globe. We are globe trotting in Europe,
which is a little different than our normal, normally scheduled
Caribbean content. But I think it'd be good stuff to
go through on the podcast with you guys. Because this
is our first time on Version Voyages. We did a
little preview episode of what this is going to be like.
I think some of our opinions have changed on things
now that we've actually experienced it, because this is a
(01:25):
very different cruise line. But it's fun. We're having a
great time. We're drinking good wine. I did okay on
the flight. The sleep hasn't been the best for me
because I can't sleep on planes and then the jet
lag is brutal. But I'm here and Jannet, you're doing
a lot better.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Than me, yes, So real quick on how a new
way that we kind of have found last year that
we like to travel to Europe. So if the jet
lag does get to you really bad, if you can't
sleep on planes, there are day flights to London from
the New York area, So we flew into JFK the
night before, then took a day flight over to London
(02:02):
and then on British Airways, which I absolutely loved British Airways.
And then we stayed at the Sofa Tel at the
London Airport. That was our second time staying there. Always
recommend that if you're stopping over in London, it's a
great hotel connected to terminal five. And then we flew
into Barcelona. I went against my own usual advice. And
(02:23):
then we flew into Barcelona on the day of the cruise.
But the cruise left late in the evening and so
we took an early morning flight so in case there
were delays, we were going to be fine. So the
airline that we flew into Barcelona on was Viewling, which
is a low cost Spanish carrier. It's kind of like
(02:44):
the Spirit of Spain. It was okay, it was solid.
I mean, the tickets were cheap. I think we paid
like one hundred and fifty bucks apiece, so for a
two hour flight, it was not bad.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, but then they got us for luggage, right, so
we had to pay for a luggage, So eventually it
went up there, just like all the discount airlines do
in America. But no, that day flight is the best
way to do it if you're gonna come to Europe.
I mean, we've done it a couple different ways. We've
done it, you know. Obviously, the way a lot of
people do is do the overnight flight, and it's really
tough sleep on a plane. But the day flight really
(03:15):
wasn't bad. It helps you adjust. So I think that's now.
I think you if you don't live in the New
York area, you're gonna have to go in a day
early to do that, right.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
But anyways, we'll go through some of our thoughts here
on you know, Virgin Voyages as a whole, what it
was like to get here, the boarding process, because a
lot of the things did surprise us a little bit.
There's there's some things we like, there's some things I
wish they would change. We're a little bit over halfway
through our trip and so we'll dive into the details here.
But overall we've had a great time on the trip
so far. We did get away somehow doing carry on,
(03:48):
so we did not check a bag for this trip,
which is pretty amazing. One of the things I do
like about Virgin is they do have laundry bags, so
you can it's pretty big. You can fill a huge
bag up of lune and they'll do it for you
for what fifty.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Bucks it was fifty five dollars and then they pick
it up and then you get it back the next
day after five thirty pm, or you can do an
express delivery for same day return and then it's twenty
extra dollars, So fifty five dollars total, and we did
a ton of laundry. I mean, we probably could have
fit everything we packed in that laundry bag for fifty
(04:22):
five dollars, which I do think when you're traveling is
a very good deal.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, absolutely, because like that does make I mean, I
think I overpacked now looking at it, even with the
carry on. Having the ability to do laundry on board
and getting it back in and no longer than a
day is super nice. Is super nice.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, And getting laundry done on board for a reasonable price,
because a lot of other cruise lines it's expensive. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So either way, but we're here, we're gonna get early
thoughts on the whole process here, So let's dive into it,
so we starting off with the onboarding process. So we've
done this is our thirteenth cruise. We've been on a
lot of cruises, a lot of different cruise lines, and
and this is the first one. Now I don't want
to say this is a Virgin thing because I really
don't know. It could have been a port thing. The
(05:08):
port was smaller. But right off the bat one of
the things I wish they would change is I did
not like the onboarding experience. Do you want to go
through what that was like? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So I mean generally with all the cruise lines, you know,
you do have a specific boarding time that you select
when you check in. Now, so Virgin, we don't really
have a disembarkation time. I'm assuming we can just kind
of get off, you know, when we want, but you
just have to be off by a certain point. But
(05:38):
we'll let you guys know that when we do a
future episode on like a full deep dive. So since
I think they do that and people are getting off
a little bit later than normal, then that kind of
created like a late boarding and they stick to those
boarding times to a t. You could not get on
early at all, And with every other cruise that we've
(05:59):
ever been. We've always just been able to walk right
up to the port, get checked in, and walk immediately
onto the ship. Here there was thousands of people waiting
outside of the terminal to board, and honestly, it was
quite chaotic, and I didn't really like it.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, it was a little catoch like. I just don't
like waiting, especially like after a long day of travel.
Most of the I'm assuming most people on board are
from American. They're American, they're English, and I can imagine
if they flew in that day, they're tired, they're ready
to get on the boat. We didn't even fly in
same day, and we were tired and ready to get
(06:37):
on the boat, and the thought of just waiting was
kind of a bummer. But first and press once we
got through the whole line and on boarding time and
all that first impressions of the boat, everything's brand new.
This is obviously the outside of this boat is something
to see. It stands out the it's got the red colors,
it's got the huge gray side panels to the boat.
(06:58):
I mean, it's a beautiful stuff ship. Larger than I
thought it was. It's bigger when you're up close to it.
Than you see pictures. And then obviously it's new ship,
so everything on board's new. This this boat came out
what three years ago, three or four years ago, twenty twenty, Yeah,
so everything on board is really super new, super fresh,
super clean, which was really that was a huge plus.
Our room was available as soon as we got on board,
(07:20):
so we did like that. And then getting into our room,
first impressions, I don't know. So we have a unique
room here because we are like hucked in the corner
of a hallway at the very front of the ship
and we are on deck twelve, so we most people
if you looked at the cruise ship from Afar, you'd
see a lot of glass balconies. Where you have the
actual balcony is glass, you can see through it. We're
(07:43):
on the part of the ship that has a metal balcony,
so we don't have that glass paneling that you can
see through, and we're kind of on a corner, so
we have a really big balcony. This is one of
the biggest balconies we've ever had, but it makes because
the balcony is so big, and maybe because of how
the ship's oriented. We have a very very small room
it's one of the smallest rooms that we've ever had.
(08:05):
The thing about this cruise too, is that, you know,
it's summertime. It's it's hot back home on the water.
Here when it gets down in the sixties, it's kind
of chilly out there. And I underpacked as far. I
didn't underpack as far as the amount of clothes. I
underpacked the type of clothes I need warmer clothes for
this trip. Would you agree, Yeah, I mean we brought.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
A few pullovers, but this time of year in Europe,
so we The cruise left on May eighteenth. It's a
seven night sailing. It's very pleasant when you're in court.
You know, it's been like seventy seventy two degrees every day,
but on the water it's definitely a little bit more chilly.
But I would say I like this better than our
(08:47):
last European cruise, which was two years ago, when it
was like one hundred and twenty degrees in every port
every day.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Yeah, it's definitely better than having the heat wave that's
coming through. But the room's a little small, and now
we have so because we're at the very corner of
the ship, we have to walk past like a bunch
of rooms to get here, and so you see the
cleaning staff cleaning rooms, you get a little sneak peak
with the other rooms look like the other rooms are huge.
And then we we did tour a Rockstar suite, which
the Rockstar Suite was massive with a huge balcony and
(09:17):
really and a huge walk in shower. Right they had
a tub. I mean it was super nice. The rocks
Aar suitees with which I believe were one level below that,
uh the quality of the room or we one level below.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
No, because we are just in like the standard Sea terrace,
whereas they have a central Sea terrace. And then they
go up to Rockstar suites and they have some that
say like a slightly bigger terrace, you know, some that
are just huge, like full sweets. Some one we toured
last night was full sweet. Uh. So I definitely if
(09:53):
you are looking at doing this, I would not recommend
the very last room that is the forward of the
ship on scart lady.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, I would request maybe one of the middle one
of the middle balconies, because we could tell just by
walking by them that they're a decent bit bigger. And
you know, sometimes the room size does matter you know,
you want a little bigger and you want a little
elbow room, you know. Even recording the podcast here, it's
just a little tight. But everything other than that, the
room's super clean. Another thing they do differently here that
we're kind of getting used to and it's growing on me,
(10:25):
is they don't do bottled water, so we like, we're
big water drinkers, and they give you as part of
their room service. They give you like a big glass
container of water that they refresh every day. It starts
with two they probably it's probably like out there's probably
forty fifty ounces of water each and then we requested
a third, so we have a third and they give
(10:46):
you two glasses, which is nice. They have a fridge
down there, small little desk. If you want to sit
down and get work done or do your hair, you can.
They have a closet that has a curtain on it.
The bathroom does have a decent sized rain shower head,
So I do like that smaller bathroom because the room
is smaller, but not really a sitting area. Now we're
a little spoiled because the last crews went on we
(11:06):
had a mini suite on Princess, and that was really nice,
just being a little schooled coming right off the Princess
in the mini suite, but good way, Like I mean,
it's a new room. It's fine, it's adequate, the bed's
fairly comfortable. I do love that everything's new here. The
staff has been really pleasant, really nice, and we've learned
that they kind of compensate their staff a little differently
in other cruise ships, so I think that helps with
(11:27):
like staff engagement, you know, how they are day to day.
But it's really we're really gonna have to sit down
and digest this one to see kind of where this
would rank on our cruise ship or cruise brand, you know, hierarchy.
So we really can't give you that level of detail
on this podcast because we're literally in it right now live.
But I'm enjoying this. I really some of the things
(11:49):
that have surprised me the I like all the different
restaurant offerings. They don't really have. One thing I really
like is they don't have one big dining room. I
don't love that massive dining room that some of the
traditional cruise lines have. I love that they have all
these little restaurants, so that's a huge plus for me.
What are your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, I know overall the food's been good, but I
do wish that there was more selections of I don't
want to say, like basic food, but I am a
very picky eater. I don't like adventurous things at all,
So I kind of wish that, you know, they everything
wasn't so like cork heavy and stuff like that. But
(12:29):
I do like, you know, in lieu of like the buffet,
it's just basically like individual It's almost like you're at
a food court in the mall and you just walk
up and then you know they have a small menu
and then you know, you just order and they hand
it to you. But so I like that and that
they have a lot of different options for that, but
I wish they had more like chicken and beef options.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, if you're a foodie, you would love this because
the options are very unique. But to kind of put
an example to way Chance talking about, is they have
a they have a place at the food court area
that you can get a burger, but they don't have
grilled chicken sandwiches, but like it's either a burger. And
then they also had a duck burger, so instead of
having a grilled chicken like a chicken option or something else.
They just had burger and then duck was the next option.
(13:16):
They do have a pizza place that's really good, so
you can get pizza there. It does open at too.
I wish it was open more for lunch hours. What
opens at two? So, but if you're food and you
like trying a lot of new things, you're gonna have
a lot of options on this, on this on this brand,
and on this ship. If you're more of a traditional eater,
options might be limited if you're not adventuress Janet, we
all know if you're a lockdown listener, furthest thing from
(13:37):
adventurous as when it comes to eating, I'm more adventurous.
A couple of things I love. They have the sushi
where up in the food court area because it's not
a buffet. They don't have a face here. It's like
a food court. You go up and you know, request something,
they make it for you. They do, though, have like
the pre made sushi rolls you can just grab and go,
and I do love that because I love sushi and
(13:58):
the sushi is really good. I'm a picky sushi. It's
really good sushi. Another unique thing that they do that
I really like is at the entryway of almost anywhere
that you can get food, they have grab and go
items that are like prepackaged salads. They have prepackaged arcouterie boards,
things that you can grab and go and just take
outside of the food court and take back to your room.
(14:19):
And they also have room service here right that we
haven't even utilize.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Right, Yes, yeah, I think it's ten dollars to deliver,
but then it's free I think if you order a drink.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, And so overall I would say that the food's
been solid. A couple of meals have wowed us, Like
I thought last night the Italian restaurant was really really,
really good. A couple of meals, maybe I don't want
to say underwhelmed, but like more like more average. But overall,
I think the food's unique. I think it's high quality.
It's it's good. It's just if you're if you're a
(14:48):
very plain eater, your options may be more limited than not.
If you're adventurous and you want to go wild, this
is the perfect ship for you.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yes, And speaking of going wild, so this isn't adults
only KRS. So in my opinion, I do think that
the overall like atmosphere. I mean, you can definitely find
like quietness, you know, if you want it, but you know,
it is a little bit more of a unique atmosphere,
a little more lively. Like they had the Scarlet party,
(15:18):
Scarlet night party last night, and we went up on
the deck for that, which we don't usually stay up
late at all, and we stayed up way too late
last night, but that was nuts. They had like a
whole DJ and I mean it was just like wall
to wall people dancing. So you know, if that's kind
of your vibe, then you know, I think that you
(15:39):
would really like this sailing. As far as like, you know,
other entertainment and everything, we haven't seen too much, but
they have you know, a variety of things going on
throughout the day and at night. We did go to
a magician show. They have different mumusic venues and then
they do like it's called reality where someone's like acrobatic show,
(16:03):
they drag show, they do bingo. So it's just it's,
you know, it's very fun atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, fun lively atmosphere. It's a good way to describe it.
It's not you know, Princess is a little more laid back,
which is probably more our vibe, just our personal vibe
is a little more laid back. Yeah, you can find
quiet places to chill and relax. One of the things
I do miss that our last cruise had that this
cruise does not have is like a wine bar, like
I really like. I love a great wine bar, a
(16:30):
great wine selection. And because this cruise line they say
they millennials drink a lot of wine. They say it's
more millennial catered. The wine options are kind of limited,
you know, there's not there's like not a good place
to get an epic glass of wine or do like
a wine flight or a wine tasting. The liquor drinks
look awesome though the espressor martinis were good. Some of
(16:52):
the mixology looks really good. Wines liking. So these are
probably more personal things that we like that we personally
feel might be missing, but you guys, might I really
like definitely different the whole It's a different cruising style,
I would put it. There's all these little nuanced things
that are different that other that they've kind of pivoted
away from the industry, and I think for us personally,
(17:14):
some we like and then some I would go back
to the traditional way of cruising, don't you think.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Yes, I would absolutely agree with that, and we'll give
you like a full deep dive podcast on you know,
those kind of nitpicky things you know, and areas in
my opinion of improvement and things that we like on
a future deep dive episode of this. But you know, overall,
it's really been a great trip. The ports have been awesome.
(17:40):
We did Cans Corsica day at sea and then Mari
york Is Spain. I forgot where we were going, and
then we have the overnight in Abiza which is really nice,
and then it goes back to Barcelona and then we're
staying at night in Barcelona. So overall, great trip. Love it.
The ship is amazing, it's beautiful. Like George said, everything's
(18:03):
news so and when I said it, it was built
in twenty twenty, so that's when I was supposed to open.
Their first sailing was supposed to be in April twenty twenty.
We all know what awful time that was, and so
it did not actually set sail until like a year later.
So it's definitely, you know, the new kid on the
block in terms of you know, big ships, the big megaships,
(18:25):
but definitely a great experience.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, i'd agree, I'd agree, and I'm ready to I'm
still I still feel like i'm a little jet lacked.
I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yes, I'm definitely getting an espresso martini after this podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
One hundred percent. Yeah, I'm a little jet lag. But
I think once we get back and we like look
at our notes, all the videos, I think we're going
to try to do avog on this one. Guys, I'm
doing my best. Time difference has gotten me a little bit.
And then we've also had these European cruises, you know,
in contrast to like going to a Cribban all inclusive
or even a Caribbean cruise, these are a little more busy.
(18:58):
You know, there's a lot of on off the shift ship,
the you know, there's a lot of you know, transportation
time to get to excursions. So it's a busier style
of travel. So we're gonna have to really get our
notes together, sit down, look at all the pictures and videos,
and if I can get a great vlog, you know,
I'm going to. I think at a minimum, I can
do like a little cruise ship tour something to get
on the YouTube channel. But anways, if you're loving the
(19:20):
content content, subscribe to podcast check out our YouTube channel.
I can't wait to do a deeper dive on this
when we get back to the state side and get
back into our podcast studio. Hopefully the audio on this
sounds okay. I've tried to do a lot of testing.
Uh my assistant chat GBT has helped me with my
audio settings here because we do have a new laptop
that we're broadcasting from here. So hopefully the audio is good.
(19:42):
If not, back in the studio and it'll be really
Chris Boudio. But anyways, anything else you wanna say about
the ship before we wrap up here with our live
in studio, Live Studio, Live out of Studio podcasts.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I'll just say, you know, Virgin definitely brands himself as
different from other cruise lines and in overvariety of ways,
and so we're on the next episode we'll kind of
go through on how they've branded themselves different differently and
what we kind of think about that some of it,
you know, where I think it's just like a marketing thing.
(20:16):
One of the things that is a big difference is
they don't have a drink package offering. They just have
where you can buy a bar tab and then they'll
give you a little bit of bonus. And that's been fine,
But I definitely prefer the drink package, wouldn't you say?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah? I think it's like it's just like a convenience thing,
like you don't if you like to have, you know,
drinks at dinner or pre dinner cocktail or after inner cocktail.
One thing I don't like is like constant you know,
people w then just like check the check the balance
of what you're going to owe at the end and
all that stuff. I just like to just prepay everything,
maybe because we used the all inclusive resort experience prep everything,
(20:52):
let me have a great time. If there's something I
want to upgrade to, so be it, let me choose,
but have all the generalities that I love already included.
And I think all inclusives kind of spoiled us in
that sense, don't your thing?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yes, I would agree with that, And just several of
the last cruises. You know, when you think about getting
a drink package, it's not just for alcohol. You can
get the specialty coffees that are included, which I really like.
And because I love having icelatches every morning, and I
will see Virgin does have sodas included already, which that's
nice and different from every other cruise line. But the
(21:25):
specially coffee thing, I'm like, every morning I have to
pay for a coffee and I wish that it was included.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, first world problems over here. Anyways, we'll call it
a show on that, guys. Check out the links in
the description and the show notes if you guys want
more information. By the way, we are at zero fee traveling,
and see, we don't charge a dime for our service,
and you work directly with us, and we don't charge
a dime, and you're gonna get chan. It's expert advice
whether you want to do a cruise to Europe or
an all inclusive on the beaches of Cancune and the Caribbean.
We've got you and I can't wait to get back Stateside,
(21:54):
get back in the studio and give you guys some
great in depth content on the rest of this experience.
And who knows, maybe the second half of the trip
will change our whole perspective on Virgin and we may
have a whole new opinion on a lot of these
things So anyways, we love you guys, thanks for tuning in,
have a great rest of the weekend. We'll see you
next time, See you next time.
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