This is a guest post, contributed by Becky Starnes, a travel advisor at Life Is Short – Travel.

As a travel advisor, my favorite vacations have been at all-inclusive resorts where we can settle into our destination and have a home base to explore from, without feeling like someone else is setting our schedule.  I was curious about cruising, though, and thought that Virgin Voyages might offer a good fit for us on a 4-night cruise out of Miami to the Bahamas, so we (the husband got to come!) took the plunge into cruising.

cabin

We opted for a Sea Terrace cabin (approx. 200 sf) with a fantastic hammock on the terrace. Our cabin made a nice hideaway when we weren’t enjoying the ships’ activities.

itinerary

Our cruise made two port calls: one at Key West, Florida, and at The Beach Club at Bimini in the Bahamas.  There was one day at sea. 
We were fortunate to have amazing weather and explored Key West on the Hop-on-Hop-off bus (Viator). We thought this was a great option for our first time in Key West. We loved the live music on Duval Street and of course, the key lime pie.

The Beach Club at Bimini, Virgin’s private beach club experience, mostly lived up to the hype.  

The Beach Club offered lots of active options, including swimming with stingrays, jet skiing, sea kayaking, or a dolphin safari. We opted for pool time and relaxation.  We got there around 9:30 – just before it opens at 10 – and easily claimed our loungers next to the pool. The food was pretty basic, but the beach was gorgeous. The DJ played the music at a pretty loud volume, so you might consider that when picking a place to land for the day.

Dining / Food

Virgin Voyages approaches dining differently from traditional cruise lines, and dining in all the ship’s “eateries” is included.  There is no “main dining” room where you have an assigned table.  There is also not one large buffet, but instead you can choose from the offerings in a food court. You can read more about dining choices here. We enjoyed dinners at Razzle Dazzle, Pink Agave & Gunbae.  Gunbae featured Korean BBQ and offered group seating similar to hibachi. It was really fun. We thought the food choices and quality were great, and we were happy that there wasn’t an upcharge.

Drinks and Bar Tab

Unlike other cruise lines, there is not a set price for beverage packages. Instead, Virgin uses a “bar tab” system where you prepay a set dollar amount, and your drinks are deducted from the tab.  It worked pretty well for us.  We enjoyed many of the fun cocktails. I can recommend the mimosa flight at Razzle Dazzle!

ENTERTAINMENT

This is another place where Virgin is known to do things differently. The entertainment might be described as “edgy” – but one person’s “edgy” is just another person’s good fun! Virgin emphasizes a very welcoming, inclusive atmosphere, and that felt right to us. Scarlet night on the pool deck was a lot of fun!

We enjoyed the cruise, and I look forward to hearing from you about your cruise experiences or plans. If you are looking for a professional travel advisor, I would be happy to help make your vacations a success! Do not hesitate to contact me at Life is Short – Travel.