Review of Virgin Voyages’ Sun and Fire Soirée
My boyfriend and I spent the past four days aboard Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady on the Fire & Sunset Soirees cruise with stops in Key West and their private Beach Club on Bimini in the Bahamas. I have been on other cruises but Virgin Voyages definitely differentiates itself from your average cruise line. The Lady was a food lovers paradise! Any type of cuisine you could imagine was available for you to try. With enough activities to fill your day and then some, I left this cruise wanting more. There is a workspace, live music, drag queens, sex seminars, a tattoo parlor, and you never have to worry about finding a lounge. The list goes on; keep reading to get a taste of just how sweet life on The Lady can be.
Day 1
And so our adventure begins. We started our adventure at 3:30 am and were in our room on the Scarlet Lady by 3:45 pm. I’ve been on several cruises before and this one has a very swift check-in process. After waiting in a short line, a very sweet lady at the check-in counter asked what bracelet we would like.
This bracelet is our all-in-one access to everything on the ship: our room key, credit card, and ID throughout the length of the trip. After this, we walked to the “airport security” section where they make sure you aren’t bringing any weapons or alcohol except for “two (2) 750mL bottles of wine per cabin” onto the ship.
We entered the ship to a celebration. This cruise line is 18+ so there are no children running around and leaves room to have a more suggestive cruise. Music was playing and most passengers already had a drink in hand. We arrived at the room, put away our things, and went to grab a bite to eat at The Galley. This is the Scarlett Lady’s take on a food court. We then made our way to the Social Club to grab a drink and for me to get my butt kicked in air hockey.
After taking care of some work items, we prepared for our first dinner on the ship. I had reserved our dinners far in advance (reservations available 45 days before departure), and it’s a good thing I did. Both restaurants and entertainment on the ship were fully booked. For our first meal, we chose Razzle Dazzle, a trendy take on a 50’s diner.
Something to note that I really appreciate about the Lady and unlike most other cruise operators; all the signature restaurants are all-inclusive! Danny was pleasantly surprised that we were able to order 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, 2 sides, AND 2 desserts for absolutely NO CHARGE. And boy, the servers do not hesitate to encourage you to order extra sides and desserts.
On Virgin Voyages, even the gratuities are included in your initial fee. Sure, it may not be Michelin Star-grade food but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and presentation of the food. One of our desserts-cookies came out in a cookie jar!
Day 2
Equipped with blackout curtains, our cabin gave us no problems in getting a good’s night rest (in fact, it can be very difficult not to sleep in!). Every room aboard the ship has a private terrace with a hammock, which I loved never having stayed in a terrace room before. I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in the signature red hammock watching the waves and the journey go by.
We woke up around 11 and headed to breakfast at The Wake This was a luxurious-styled restaurant equipped with an elegant staircase, a grand piano, and a 5-foot chandelier that I would like to steal for my house when I’m rich and famous. It reminded me of an expensive seafood restaurant you would find on the Seattle pier. I had some Banana French toast brioche and Danny had one of the three eggs Benedict options. They have bottomless mimosa/bloody marys for $25! We had some work to do so we didn’t opt in for this option… yet. I went to lay on the pool deck on one of the many lounge areas the boat has available to work.
Something you should know is Virgin Voyages cruises are advertised as having free WiFi throughout your cruise. However, if you intend on using the internet for anything other than checking your emails, I suggest buying the high-speed internet option.
After getting a little work done, I left the ship to explore Key West a bit. We had to be back on the boat for departure before 4:30 so I didn’t get a WHOLE LOT of time off the boat but the Key West port is only a 5-minute walk from Duval Street (Key West’s main tourist road.) I really enjoyed this because I have been to a number of ports where it takes you a while to get to any sort of tourist area after departing the ship. There were a plethora of fun tourist shops and dive bars to explore. I bought a couple of shirts and a patch to sew onto my travel jacket, and by then, it was time to re-board the ship. I found Danny and we made our way to The Loose Cannon, which is a classic pub-style bar, for some free trivia.
The theme of the night was “Scarlet Night”, so the ship was flooded with passengers wearing different shades of red. We revisited The Wake for their dinner experience. After refraining from eating much after breakfast, I was ready to try the many appealing menu options. We started with some delicious clam chowder as an appetizer. For main course time, Danny ordered a boneless fish that had been baked into a pastry (which featured a special table-side presentation) and I went for the lamb chops. We also tasted pretty much every side that they offered. Danny’s favorite was the twice-baked potatoes with caramelized onions… are you drooling just thinking about it? Because I sure am!
Day 3
On Friday, we started early. Danny had a meeting already scheduled so I went down to Razzle Dazzle to have a meal for 1. I tried the mushroom frittata and bacon. To be completely honest, I wasn’t super impressed but the Bloody Mary was DELICIOUS! After working for a bit in the coffee shop, Grounds, with great views of the water, it was time to explore Bimini!
This stop unfortunately was not like the five-minute walk to Duval Street. There is an option at the dock to wait for a shuttle to take us to the beach club, but we (incorrectly) figured it wouldn’t take us long to get there by foot. It ended up taking us about 25 minutes but man was it worth the wait. The beach club was an incredibly trendy area right on the beach jam-packed with day beds, a pool, free food, a killer DJ, and multiple bars. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and the fact that this is a private beach club just for Virgin Voyages was a nice exclusive perk.
Our last day aboard the Scarlet Lady was a day at sea and I think my favorite day on board. For first-time cruisers, my personal opinion is that the best cruises are ones that start with a day at sea. I feel that it’s a chance to get familiar with the ship before spending a whole day in an exotic location. It also helps to make friends aboard the ship!
For dinner tonight we ate at GUMBAE, the Korean BBQ restaurant on the ship. This is supposed to be a shared experience with other guests on the ship with the tables being circular and able to fit about 10. None of the other guests showed up to the reservation though, so we had the table to ourselves. Throughout the restaurant, you’ll hear Gumbae! shouted in unison as eaters take shots with their company. The food was delicious and the energy was high! After, we enjoyed some live entertainment, called Never Sleep Alone, which was hilarious and very risqué. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say if you don’t want to be called on stage to participate, DO NOT sit in the front row. We ended the evening by making friends and playing a few rounds of blackjack at the onboard casino.
All in all, we had an amazing time. I’ve always had a slight bias against these shorter cruises but a lot of the people we met on the boat were from different areas of Florida. When you don’t have to also buy a plane ticket across the country, I can see it would make for a nice short, long weekend escape. For my Washington friends, I would recommend a slightly longer trip, we definitely left wanting more but maybe that’s the best way to be when it comes to vacation!
I am ALWAYS getting promotional emails from Virgin Voyages on deals they are running so click below in my bio to reach out to me today and book your first trip on a Virgin Voyages cruise!
