Brilliant Lady Review: 4.5/5
Virgin Voyages just launched their newest ship and that means that it’s time for our Brilliant Lady review.
- Differences include a brand-new restaurant, Rojo.
- There were a few rough edges that’ll need to be sorted.
- Small touches and redesigns make a big difference.
Is the Virgin Voyages experience just as good?
That question is what many Virgin Voyages fans wondered about. Lots of speculation went into the online discourse. Fortunately, the answer is a very simple, yes. The experience on the Brilliant Lady is just as good as the other ships in Virgin’s fleet, which is to say it’s wonderful.
This Brilliant Lady review will be brilliant! (Sorry!)
There are very thoughtful redesigns to some common areas of the ship as well as the cabins. Staff are just as friendly and helpful as always. The food is delicious, as are the drinks. Entertainment is top notch. Trust me when I say that Virgin Voyages hasn’t lost their touch.
Common Area Differences
Starting with the biggest changes, we go to the Draught Haus and Shore Things areas.
Draught Haus, on the other ships, has a decent seating area with some dividers between seats. There’s also a vinyl record shop along one wall. Overall it’s a nice area but perhaps a bit bland.
On the Brilliant Lady this space has been refreshed to upgrade the seating with plush, lounging couches and tables. The vinyl shop has been replaced with more seating, including cozy cubbies set into the wall. It’s far more inviting, at least by my taste, and I saw more people using it.
The Shore Things area has also received a glow up by introducing more cubby style seating and good chairs. While the Shore Things space has never been much of a social gathering area, this made it a place people could lounge, and they did just that.
The Draught Haus got some big improvements to decor.
Less dramatic public area changes can be found in The Social Club. They’ve reduced the number of public gaming tables to increase the number of regular tables that can be set up. There’s only one indoor shuffleboard table set up on the Brilliant. No air hockey tables either. Personally, this is probably a good thing because the number of people that L-O-V-E trivia is quite large and fitting more of them in to play is nice.
The Brilliant Lady’s stairwells are decorated with rope knot tying messages, similar to the semaphore messages on the Valiant Lady. Decoding what they say is more fun if you do it yourself though, so don’t come looking for help from me with that.
On deck 16, the Athletic Club has had a big update to the bar lounging areas. The large bed style loungers around the ship’s outer edge now face outward, rather than inward. I know it’s small, but it’s also big. Facing out makes the whole bed so much better. Additionally, while speaking of seating, the chairs at The Dock have been updated. They’ve replaced the very heavy wooden seats with more movable loungers.
The glass wall and facing outward make the Athletic Club updates a major positive point in this Brilliant Lady review.
Among other small changes, there’s more signage around the ship. It’s not plastered everywhere, but there’s certainly more than there was. Simple things like restaurant and bar names on some doors along with direction arrows. It’s not a lot, but it might help a lost sailor here or there.
Changes in the Cabins
Inside the cabins there are several small changes that both Nichole and I really liked.
I think the lamp shade is a small but important update to the rooms on the Brilliant Lady.
The least significant of these updates is the lamp shade to the desk lamp. On the other ships, the desk lamp is a sort of saucer shaped object. On the Brilliant Lady, it’s a directional lamp with a swivel head and a lamp shade that allows for a bit of ambient light. It’s a subtle change, but it made the room feel homier.
The tray by the bed was also changed and, we think, massively improved. The new tray is larger, rectangular, and has an edge with handles to hold things inside. It’s far more practical and helpful than before.
Very important part of our Brilliant Lady review is the USB-C charging ports in the cabin. Really! We get asked all the time if the wall outlets have USB-C and the Brilliant Lady does.
Last, there is an important update to the outlets in the room. They have added in wall, USB-C charging ports. These ports will do fast charging, if your cable and device allow for it. For a lot of people, this is going to be quite a relief by easing the number of cords or connectors you need to bring.
Slightly Smaller Sea Terrace
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to look inside one of these new rooms. When Virgin announced the Slightly Smaller Sea Terraces, they said that they would have two – TWO – hammocks. This led to overwhelming joy among many sailors because there is near universal love for Virgin’s hammocks.
The reality of these rooms has damped the excitement somewhat…
The reason that these rooms have two hammocks instead of the single hammock and chairs is because the chairs would not fit in the space. The standard Sea Terrace balcony is around 40 sq ft. The Slightly Smaller Sea Terrace balcony is around 10 sq ft, going by the published figures. That’s tiny.
Here’s a side by side comparison of a standard Sea Terrace (right side) against the Slightly Smaller Sea Terrace (left side). It’s a lot smaller.
I’m not sure that I would like that sort of space. It’s basically enough to shimmy through and that’s it. These cabins are also obstructed view cabins. That’s because the life boats needed to be taken further in so that the Brilliant Lady can go through the Panama Canal. That, in turn, made the balconies smaller than the other ships. The end result is a smaller balcony with a limited view.
Yes, these rooms are priced lower than a standard Sea Terrace, but keep the downsides in mind. If you don’t really care about balcony space or an obstructed view, then this might be the room for you.
Rough Edges
Not everything is perfect yet. This is still very early life of this ship and there’s a bit of shakedown going on.
We noticed that there was a scratch on our balcony sliding door. It wasn’t a big deal and I’m guessing it happened during installation. There were several fittings that hadn’t been set in quite right around the ship as well, things like two railings joining together and they don’t line up perfectly. These all seem fairly normal to deal with for a new ship but they were also very innocuous.
The more noticeable bumps happened with the crew but I want to be very clear about this, the crew is fantastic and it is 100% acceptable to make small mistakes and correct them. That being said, we found that in several restaurants and quick bite areas, the staff didn’t always seem completely at ease with the menu and flow of service. We had a brunch where our order was doubled by a mix-up between the kitchen and servers, for example.
I worked in food service for years and I speak with experience; these sorts of things are normal when you have new staff. It takes time to train them up and get them used to the culture and process of your restaurant. In a couple of months it’ll feel like clockwork, and everything will be running smoothly.
Rojo
I’m working on a full write up of Rojo, just like I did with Lucky Lotus, but I should probably say a few things here.
When we were privately speculating on what type of restaurant Virgin would add to the Brilliant Lady, Spanish wasn’t one that we guessed. I’m glad they did choose Spanish, though, since they nailed it!
Ibérico is so good!
Real Jamón ibérico, croquettes, and oxtail are just a small part of a fantastic menu. We ate there three times and did not get tired!
Cold Weather
Perhaps the most important part of any Brilliant Lady review is talking about the cold weather.
If you haven’t heard, the Brilliant Lady is Virgin Voyage’s first ship capable to sailing through the Panama Canal. Virgin intends to do just that and take her northward for the cruising season in Alaska. That’s why talking about cold weather and the Brilliant Lady is pretty crucial.
Many sailors have raised concerns about how comfortable Virgin’s ships would be in an environment like Alaska. Virgin’s ships are built mostly for warm weather. Lots of open areas on deck, no covered pool, I get it. On our sailing, the weather turned cool for several days, between 40-60 F (4.5-15.5 C), and windy. It was not pleasant on the running track nor was it comfortable poolside.
The Athletic Club was fairly sheltered from the wind, but it too was fairly chilly. It’s the same story at The Dock, sheltered but cold. This meant that most people stayed inside the ship. The increased number of people indoors meant that the changes I mentioned to the Social Club were very helpful. The Roundabout, On The Rocks, and the Draught Haus were all quite busy with people these days, much more than in warm weather.
The extra seating in The Social Club is really nice to have.
Virgin also seemed to really pack in the activities on the ship. There’s always been a lot to do onboard, but there was even more than usual. The Happenings cast stayed very busy, there was always a musical performance somewhere, and all sorts of trivia and speed puzzle games.
There were definitely parts of the ship that the cold made undesirable. Virgin seemed to prepare for that with some smart changes to the interior spaces and filling the schedule up, though. The reality is that every cruise ship that sails colder places faces these challenges as well. When I sailed on the Seven Seas Explorer, there were parts of that ship that no one used in the Alaskan weather.
Entertainment
The entertainment on the ship is, frankly, hard to get into right now. I don’t mean that it’s hard to connect with or enjoy, no. I mean, it’s hard to get a seat in the venues.
With the musicians that play at the various stages or DJs at the parties, it’s easy to get a seat or find a spot to dance. The stage performances, on the other hand, were packed. The shows are mostly new and people are clamoring to see them (Duel Reality is part of the lineup and appears on the other ships).
It is true that lines to get into the shows in the Red Room or Manor started as early as two hours before the show. It is also true that quite a few people couldn’t get into the shows, including ourselves. The comments we heard from everyone who saw the shows praised the performers and loved what they saw.
Our advice to sailors on the Brilliant Lady, for now, is to plan accordingly for the shows. If you really want to see them, be prepared to wait.
I’m very glad that we got to see Up With A Twist for our Brilliant Lady review. I think it’s well worth the money.
We did get to see the new paid show, Up With a Twist. It was $50 a seat and came with a four-course meal and five cocktails. The drinks all met the standard of Virgin’s bars, which is to say they were very well crafted. Further, the meal included a choice of grilled swordfish or tenderloin for the entrée. Clearly, they provide good value for the money.
The show itself was an exuberant, Cabaret inspired, interactive performance. Yes, the audience plays a part in the show, even determining how some of it goes.
I was mostly amazed at how smoothly it was all timed. The drinks and plates came out just as you want some more. Of course, that makes sense. It’s not like the idea of a dinner show is new, but this one is very well executed.
Conclusion
The newest ship in Virgin Voyages fleet doesn’t mess with the formula, but that’s a good thing. All the best parts that you expect from Virgin are there – the food, the crew, the entertainment. Wherever there was room for improvement from the other Lady Ships, the Brilliant found it.
Small changes to venues and seating make the spaces much better. It shows that Virgin is paying attention to how their guests use the ship. I especially appreciated the updates to the cabins. A more usable tray and a better desk lamp offered an improved guest experience. Virgin clearly keeps learning as they go and the Brilliant Lady is another excellent ship.
