Our First Ever Cruise

We love travelling, but were always skeptical of cruising. The idea of being trapped on a boat with a lot of people and maybe getting sea sick kind of turned us off. I decided though that it wasn't fair to have an opinion until we actually tried one out, so we booked one for our 11 year anniversary. We went with Virgin Voyages Sunset Soiree out of Miami, because they are an adults only cruise line, and if we were leaving our kids behind I didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of other kids lol. Well, turns out we picked one of the best cruise lines, and had a better experience than we ever could have imagined. Things that stood out to me? The amazing staff, the food, the workout classes, the big rooms and balcony and the cleanliness of the ship. Seriously, at one point I saw someone cleaning the carpet with a toothbrush! All the details below and I answered all of the questions you asked!

Questions

How much was it/how long was the cruise?

At full price our cruise would have cost us $1750USD per person for a sea terrace room for a 4 night cruise. They always have sales though, like 70% off your second cruiser, so keep an eye out for that. That does not include our flights or excursions. The jet skiing and parasailing in Key West were $199USD total for both of us, and the Bahamas snorkeling/swimming with sharks was $400USD total.

What's included?

All food and restaurants, tips, wifi, workout classes, soda, tea and coffee. You just pay extra for alcohol and specialty coffee. We don't drink either of those so no extra cost for us!

Did you see people on the cruise alone?

Yes! We met a few of them. The first night on the cruise there's a solo cruiser meet-up so you can make friends. I believe there's dinners/events also throughout the cruise where you can meet up with other solo cruisers

Did you get sea sick?

Nope! We definitely felt the boat the first night, but then we got out "sea legs" and didn't feel anything after that. I saw a lot of people have these little round patches behind their ear that I think help with motion sickness. So there are options if you're nervous about it.

Dietary Needs?

They always asked us at every restaurant if we had any dietary restrictions, so I think they would accommodate if you do. A girl at one of our dinners was vegetarian and they reworked the whole menu for her! She didn't end up liking the food (she seemed SUPER picky) and they felt bad, so they rebooked her at another restaurant on the boat. The staff was very accommodating.

Is this a cruise line for all ages?

YES, as long as your 18+. It's an adults only cruise line. We saw 20 somethings all the way up to 80 year olds. You can party all day/night or find places that are quiet/chill. You can literally make it whatever you want it to be.

Why did we choose this cruise line?

We were leaving our kids and we heard this was adults only so it felt like the vibe we wanted with just us! We also heard it was one of the higher end cruise lines and almost everything is included, and the ships are newer! It's also been rated one of the top cruise lines for the past few years.

How much time do you have when getting off the ship at a port/is it an easy process?

We usually could get off around 7 or 8am, and then one day we had to be back at 4pm and in the Bahamas we had to be back on by 6pm. It was lots of time! The disembarkation process was SO easy. You literally just scan your bracelet and walk off the boat. Coming back on we had to wait in line for about 4 minutes, also super quick and easy. I think this is a benefit to a smaller ship. You get a bracelet when you get on which is your credit card, room key and ID, so you don't need to carry any of that around on the boat, which was super nice!

What can you do off the boat/excursions?

You can decide! You could just walk around on your own and explore, or you could book an excursion. They give you a few options ahead of time to book, or you can wait and see once you get there how you feel. We didn't book anything ahead of time for Key West, but then ended up booking jet skiing and parasailing once we got off the ship (there are little kiosks with lots of activity options). For Bahamas we booked the excursion ahead of time through Virgin Voyages and it was great!

How many decks is the cruise ship?

There were 17! We stayed on the 10th deck.

Do you have a site or app that alerts you to travel deals?

I'm always searching lol. You could sign up for Virgin Voyages email list, or Expedia, or Plannin or Air Canada or anywhere you book your trips!

Our Room

We stayed in a Sea Terrace room with a balcony and we were pleasantly surprised. There was so much room for our clothes, the bed was SO comfortable, there was a small desk and mini fridge and a gorgeous balcony with two chairs and a hammock. We always loved relaxing in here at the end of the day. The two ladies who cleaned our room were super nice and I feel like we became friends by the end of the week. Just such a good experience all around! Everything was also super modern and felt very new.

The Food

This is what surprised me the most. I was used to all-inclusive food, which is okay, but nothing to write home about. This cruise had the BEST food. Lots of their dishes are created by Michelin star chefs, and it's all included. There are 5 restaurants that you need a reservation for, from a Steakhouse, to a Test Kitchen to Korean BBQ, they have it all. Jason had the best steak of his life at the steakhouse, and every single one of our dinners was incredible. The reservations for these can fill up fast though, so the minute you get the go ahead to book restaurant reservations you have to be on top of it. They only let you do a few upfront, and then you can sometimes get more once you're on board. We waited in line when we first got on board and were able to get a reservation for every dinner at the restaurants we wanted! We tried The Wake, Gunbae, the Test Kitchen and Pink Agave. The Wake and Pink Agave were our favourite.

Besides the restaurants there is a place called the Galley that has lots of fast food options. A noodle place, all day breakfast, salad bar, burgers & fries, tacos, pizza, desserts and so much more. Make sure you get the pistachio and raspberry macarons if you go, they were my favorite!

Entertainment/Activities

I think this is the one spot that might not live up to other cruise ships. It's a smaller ship compared to some so there aren't any big venues for shows. It's a bunch of smaller shows, like comedy, dance shows, live music, trivia shows, etc. We saw a magician who was AMAZING, and then went to the dance show which was fun. We were honestly so tired by the end of the night we didn't want to do a ton anyways. There are a few party nights, like the pajama party night and Scarlet night (Where everyone on the ship wears red). Both are super fun, lots of dancing, and gets everyone out together. I could have danced all night, but I was with Jason, so he humored me for an hour or so and then we just went to hang out on our own. There were so many quiet spots on the ship at night where you could grab a snack and just relax, which was so nice.

There were two pools on the ship that were pretty small. I guess this is kind of normal for cruise ships, I guess they're meant more to hang around and just cool off in. They did get pretty crowded on the day at sea, but we were still able to find a spot no problem. There are also a handful of hot tubs around the ship if the weather was cooler, and a few showers if you need to cool off. They also had a casino, barbershop, lots of shops, karaoke, board games and lots of things to keep you busy on the ship! We almost didn't even have enough time to do everything. We found an arcade on our last morning on the ship, so we played some quick pacman.

Fitness Classes

Okay this was another pleasant surprise! I figured there would be a gym, but this ship had spin classes, yoga, hiit classes, bungee classes, personal training and two huge gyms. It was amazing! There was even a track at the top to walk/run. We love to workout so this was a huge highlight for us. They have super qualified trainers and we learned so much. They even put on classes to learn about gut health and posture, which were super interesting. The classes can also fill up fast, so as soon as you get on the ship make sure to book in your workouts! Some classes were full but I showed up sometimes and there was still room for me. They also had a sport court where you could play basketball and pickleball which we used and was a lot of fun.

Days at Port

We stopped at Key West, Florida and Bimini, Bahamas. Both were really cute and pretty, but I'm glad we just visited them for a day because I probably wouldn't plan a whole vacation there. Key West was a lot of marinas and cute shops, so we booked jet skiing and parasailing once we got off the ship. We didn't book these in advance and there was no issue finding a time. We got a really good deal because we bundled the two. It was $199 total for both of us for both activities. The Jet skiing was SO fun. I think it was an hour and a half and we went top speed through the ocean. We stopped and jumped off at one point, and even went by the southern most tip of the USA! The water was crystal clear, and it's right by an air base so we saw lots of fighter jets which was cool. Parasailing we had done before on our honeymoon, it's always so fun, and we got a good view of Key West!

In Bimini Virgin Voyages has a beach club where you can go spend the day by the pool and the ocean, but we saw that you could book an excursion to swim with sharks, so we booked that instead. While we were waiting for our excursion to start, we walked around a marina and saw two bull sharks in the water, it was so cool! Then we took a boat out to an old shipwreck that we got to snorkel around, and then we went a bit further out and got to swim with a ton of nurse sharks. It wasn't scary at all surprisingly, and was so much fun. This was for sure a highlight of our trip!

Overall

I would 100% recommend this cruise to friends and family. It would be perfect as a couple like we did, or a girls trip, birthday trip, bachelorette trip, etc. I will definitely book another one in the future, maybe a girls trip next time!

*This was a gifted cruise from Virgin Voyages, but all views are my own. This blog post wasn't even a part of our agreement, but I wanted to share our full experience so that you could learn from our experience! I hope this helps you when booking your next trip