Hotel room coffee makers are kinda gross, is there a good travel kettle and, if so, what is the best travel kettle?

Wait, what’s the problem?

Hear me out. Hotel room coffee makers are indeed disgusting. Coffee makers are meant to be things that simply heat water and dispense it over coffee. Some of them use pods, some use little discs that go in a tray, and others are just a good ole’ drip coffee maker.

There are videos of people “cooking” chicken in the coffee makers of hotel rooms.

Do. Not. Do. That.

I also like tea, especially in the evenings when I have a little peppermint tea before I go to bed. It’s my ritual. The in-room coffee makers always make the tea taste like coffee and that ruins the tea. Since I’m in the U.S. we don’t typically have kettles in our hotel rooms like many European places do.

It would be nice to get rid of the coffee taste and not worry about the cleanliness of the coffee maker. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of coq au coffee…

What is available?

My search proved that there were only a small number of what I think of as portable kettles. To be qualified as portable, I wanted them to be about the size of a tumbler mug, easily fit in a carry on bag or backpack, and able to boil water. The kettles also had to be made with a stainless steel heating chamber (some models had plastic walls and that is unacceptable).

Those qualities ruled out all but a few “portable” or “travel” kettles and left me with three to trial.

The first kettle is from a company called Nicewell. It was the smallest of the bunch, but the most pleasing to the eye. The next was from balbali (yes, it’s lower case) which was the largest of them but also the most utilitarian. Last is the Conyee which came in the middle of the sizes and also had a small cloth bag to protect it, which was a nice touch.

Here’s a few stated specs and features comparing them.

* The model changes, but it does have color options.

As you can see, these kettles are all pretty straightforward and don’t come with a lot of extra features. I also will take a moment to explain the grades of stainless steel. All processed metals have different grades to them with each grade being for a different application. These grades are not necessarily indicative of quality, they are to indicate the intended use case. Stainless steel grades 304 and 316 are both food safe and used in cooking products but 316 is more resistant to corrosion, specifically the type of corrosion from salt water.

Testing Parameters

To find the best travel kettle I needed to test these three candidates and see how they performed in the task of heating water. To do so, I devised a testing environment that gave consistent conditions to observe performance. I also used my personal electric kettle to create a standard to compare against.

Here are the conditions:

• Time how long it takes to heat cold tap water at two different temperatures. First at 175°F setting, then at the boil/212°F.
• Each timed test will use 300ml of water.
• Temperature accuracy will also be measured by temping the water once it is poured into the mug. Temperature is taken using a food grade thermometer and the water will be poured into a warm mug.
• The test at each temperature will performed twice, chilling the kettle with cold water in between.

To answer questions that I anticipate some of you may ask, here are my answers.

Why use a warmed up mug? Because warming a cup is common practice for both coffee and tea drinkers. I recommend that you try warming your mug at home. Just fill your mug with hot tap water and let it sit to absorb the heat while the coffee finishes.

What is the rationale for 300ml? That is a volume the all the kettles could hold and it is slightly more than one U.S. cup and about the right volume for a large ceramic mug or small tumbler mug.

Could the Conyee be the best travel kettle?

Why measure the temperature after pouring? Because the tea or coffee brewed with the water should be made in a separate mug or another vessel. You should not brew the tea or coffee in the kettle as that will stain and corrode the material.

Did you temp the tap water? No, because you cannot precisely control the temp of the tap water in the real world and I wanted to replicate that fact.

Is there a reason for the use of Fahrenheit? Yes, because that is what the kettles are programmed with. 175°F becomes 79.5°C and 212°F is, you guessed it, 100°C.

Are 175°F and 212°F chosen for a particular reason? Absolutely, those are two of the most common brewing temps for hot beverages and will likely be used most often.

Did you actually have a food grade thermometer already? Yes.

Why? I have my own espresso machine after spending years as a barista and I use the thermometer for steaming milk and occasional candy making.

Being a barista didn’t cause you hate making lattes? Weirdly, no.

Results

The baseline of my tests from the home kettle was made with a Cuisinart model, specifically this one. I quite like it and have been using it for years. It may not be as stylish as some other electric kettles, and more expensive, but the performance and simple to use features make it superior to anything else I’ve had. Here is how it performed:

Here is how the travel kettles performed:

* The thermos never achieved the target temperature in this run and I ended it at 4:45. In the second test I let it continue and it did, finally, arrive at the temperature after 9 minutes.

Conclusions

Right out of the gate I want to make clear that I never expected the Cuisinart and the various travel kettles to perform at the same level. That shouldn’t surprise anyone that a dedicated countertop kettle outperforms the small travel ones. I included it so that people could have a baseline when comparing these travel kettles to kettles that you might be used to.

There’s another element that I expected, which is the measured temperatures being less than the target temp. Most kettles like this have a thermostat that is designed to turn the heat plate off once it detects the target temp. Most of the thermostats are on the bottom of the kettle since that is the part that will always have water on it, no matter the volume of water being heated. The water nearest the heat plate will always be hotter than the water higher up in the chamber, meaning that the water isn’t evenly heated when it turns off. Some models continue to run for a few seconds after the target temp is reached to make sure all the water is that temperature, but these models here do not seem to do that.

That isn’t the only reason the measured temp will be lower. There are other factors, such as the mug absorbing some of the heat as well as energy loss to the air. These things cannot be accounted for with a thermostat. However, poorly calibrated thermostats could also play a part, which is what I am suspecting happened with some of these.

The balbali didn’t quite measure up to be the best travel kettle.

The results made clear that there is a problem with the balbali at 175°F. The components seem to be poorly calibrated for that temperature. During testing it appeared as though the heating element would turn off prematurely. I actually ran the test 5 times and only once did it heat up the 175°F at the time I expected, which was around 5 minutes. Every other time it took 9 minutes or longer.

What’s bizarre is that the balbali heated to boiling the fastest of the three travel kettles. Obviously the fact that it has the largest heating element helps with that and it makes the 175°F issue all the more frustrating.

Nicewell, conversely, was very consistent with the temperature. Job well done to whoever calibrated that kettle! It did, however take a while to reach 175°F, which doesn’t surprise me much because it had the smallest heating element.

The Conyee heated faster than the other two models to 175°F, but it also didn’t come anywhere near 175°F in the actual temp. I suspect that is because the thermostat being used is poorly calibrated. It also didn’t even break 200°F when set to boil/212, which furthers my suspicion regarding calibration.

Something else that isn’t conveyed with the data is that the Conyee seems to be a model that any seller can purchase. I saw many listings with nearly identical models to this one on Amazon. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it likely didn’t have the same thought put into it as the other two models, particularly the Nicewell which I cannot find any similar models to online.

The Winner?

I’m picking the Nicewell and here’s why. There’s a level of design and engineering that went into this that I simply don’t see in the other two. It’s stylish, very portable, and consistent to an extreme. These are all things that matter to me. I’m willing to take the slightly longer heating times in exchange for reliability.

The Nicewell is the best travel kettle!

The balbali clearly had calibration issues, but it did heat quickly to boil. It also has the largest volume so if you have a larger mug or tumbler, or perhaps if you are making tea for two, it will out perform the others. The increased size may turn some people off given that it will be more of a hassle to carry around. The Nicewell fits easily into a backpack or side pocket, the balbali… not so much. That means that you’ll have to give it more consideration in your packing. Between the size and the calibration, it’s just not quite what I have in mind, but it still could perform quite well for your needs and, I’ll be completely honest, when I travel with Nichole, I’ll probably bring the balbali because of the volume.

The Conyee, I would pick last. It never reached the target temps, by large margins, and it seems to be something that you can buy from dozens of different sellers. Does it work? Yes, but that’s about it. The one advantage it has is that it’s the cheapest, after that it’s getting beat in every regard.

If you’re interested in other travel gear reviews, check out my article on The Best Travel Humidifier.

The post The Best Travel Kettles appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

The Problem

Winter air brings a drop in humidity. The reason is simple, cold temperatures reduce the amount of water the air can hold. When you heat that air up, like we do in our homes and offices, it can now hold more water because it is warmer but it still had the water squeezed out by the cold temps and is now dryer. This makes all the water in your body want to leave through your skin and dry you out.

To combat this, I place a small humidifier in my bedroom – and the rest the house for that matter. Without it, the dry indoor air causes my sinus to clog and skin to crack. My dryer complexion doesn’t play nicely in these conditions, no matter how much I love the snow. Of course, the humidity problem isn’t isolated to my home, it also rears its ugly head most when I’m traveling.

Earlier this year, I was on a cruise through Alaska in May. It’s still cold up there during that part of the year and my cabin got very dry. Now, the Regent Seven Seas crew was so amazing that they provided a humidifier for me, but that’s not something that I expect of cruise lines. Without that humidifier, the cabins were dry enough that it was starting to cause problems.

Enter the solution – travel humidifiers.

The Search For The Best Travel Humidifier

It’s been more than a year since the first travel humidifier article was published. The intervening months did not bring much innovation in the product field, but it did bring some – and it was very welcome. Though most travel humidifiers use a wick, some new ones use a water bottle that drains into a basin. A neat idea that I decided to test with two new products in addition to the ones I already had. Here’s the lineup:

Pure Enrichment PureSpa XL
Pure Enrichment – MistAire
Homdis Portable Humidifier
Homedics Portable Humidifier
SmartDevil Portable Mini Humidifier

I need to be clear about the testing below. Two of the products I tested for this are no longer available to purchase in the versions that I own. However, nearly identical models are available for purchase on each, so I have tested the older versions because no meaningful updates to the mechanics of the humidifier were shown.

• The previous SmartDevil humidifier has received a refresh and the original version that I own is no longer available. However, the renewed product seems identical in every specification and the updates seem to be to the appearance and it has an essential oil pad.
• A similar refresh has happened with the Homedics humidifier. The product is still being made and available through many retailers (Amazon is not one of them), but it appears a mostly cosmetic update took place. The listings for the new model show a glossier finish and it now includes an essential oil aroma pad on the side. Aside from that, the model seems identical, it even comes in the same box.

Specs and Initial Thoughts

In my previous testing, the Pure Enrichment – PureSpa was the only device that really moved the needle on humidity. Its capacity and output far outperformed the other two devices. To be fair, the SmartDevil and Homedics didn’t claim to perform the same way as the Pure Enrichment but the results were clear.

This time around, a new idea of using a water bottle as the tank really changed the game. It meant that the devices could be much smaller because that didn’t include their own tanks. Packing both the Pure Enrichment MistAire and the Homedis was a breeze, far easier than any of the others. In addition, having the water bottle be to tank means that they are replaceable should the bottle break or need to be disposed of.

Pure Enrichtment PureSpa

Still, the Pure Enrichment PureSpa has a much larger in capacity and size than the other of the others and should be able to humidify a room much longer periods. The downside is that it’s not exactly luggage friendly, but it’s still feasible to fit it in a carry-on. Right out of the box it feels very nice and looks well made. Turning it on reveals an ambient light that’s nicer than I expected – frankly I didn’t think I would care about it at all, but it’s pretty enough where it adds to the overall value.

Meanwhile, the Pure Enrichment Mist Aire seems to have an ultrasonic plate similar in size to its larger sister product, which could mean that the output is similar. The build quality is just as good as Pure Enrichment’s other product, which is also a good sign. No ambient light with this unit, but I’m not sure most people care about that.

The SmartDevil is quite compact and easy to pack in any luggage, but with the smaller size comes no claims about coverage. It too has a light as part of its features, although it doesn’t change color like the PureSpa. But if you like having a small light to guide you in a dark room, then it’s perfect. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that the SmartDevil feels sturdy. Yes, a hard fall onto tile or cement floors would likely crack it, but I think this thing can take few hits.

SmartDevil Humidifier

Homedics made an even smaller unit than the SmartDevil, capable of fitting in a cupholder. It’s also battery powered, unlike the SmartDevil, so the Homedics is the ultimate in portability. While its coverage and humidifying power is likely to be the weakest, that portability gives it an edge that the others don’t have. The battery also allows it to be put in places that don’t have easy access to an outlet. That might not seem like a concern, but if you’re a frequent traveler, you know how often hotel rooms or cruise cabins don’t have convenient power outlets.

Last in our list is the Homdis, not to be confused with Homedics. It easily wins most portable, it’s not even close. The flat design can fit into a purse or briefcase without any issues or need to make room. It is seriously small and that’s not something to scoff at when portability is an issue. Like the Pure Enrichment MistAire, it uses generic water bottles that you would buy in any convenience store.

It’s not all rosy with these three though. The Homedics and the SmartDevil come with USB-C cords included, but not a wall connection. To use either you’ll have to provide USB power, meaning bringing a separate charger or USB hub. Surprisingly, the Homdis does include a wall connection, so good on them.

All included USB-C cables were of decent quality, but they weren’t very long. I’d recommend that you purchase a 6ft / 2m long USB-C cable – I’ve got several and they are a worthy investment. Here’s the exact one I use.

Homdis Humidifier

More downsides with both the SmartDevil and Homedics, their construction uess a wick style water basin. This means that a cotton wick draws water up from a basin into the aerosolizing chamber. These wicks will need to be changed from time to time and it is an ongoing cost.

Further, the SmartDevil, Homedics, and Homdis all have internal components exposed to water that are impossible to clean without breaking the device apart. In my experience with humidifiers, you need to clean things out and these designs makes it very hard to do. You could possibly disinfect the device by running a dilution of white vinegar through it while it’s running, but I couldn’t find that recommended by the manufacturer. It will also make everything smell like vinegar while running, so only do so when prepared.

Similar cleaning concerns also come up with the Pure Enrichment PureSpa, this time with the tank. I’ve owned several different ultrasonic basin humidifiers. One of the things that is essential to do with these is disinfect the tank and basin. Doing so with the basin is easy, but the tank is much harder. The fill cap for the tank is the size of a quarter, which means manually cleaning it and rinsing the disinfectant out is very difficult. Not impossible, but a serious pain. I’m sure that they could have fitted a larger fill cap to this if they wanted.

Note: I purchased a Smart Water bottle from the store for the tests with the Homdis and the MistAire. I chose this because I see these everywhere when I travel, but it isn’t the only bottle that would fit. Indeed both devices come with multiple adapters to use with different bottle heads and screws.

Testing

I ran each of these humidifiers through the same test. They were placed on the floor of a bedroom that’s just slightly larger than 150 sq. ft. The humidifier ran in the room over a period of 3 hours and the humidity was monitored at 2 feet and 6 feet away over that time, measured on the floor. During the 4^th hour of testing, I moved the hygrometers to table height and took a reading at the same distance from the humidifier.

In my opinion, the 4^th hour reading is the most consequential and informative, but there is a reason for testing at floor height. All of these models show their use as being directly next to your while using it. They are referred to as desk or personal space humidifiers. Because of that, I wanted to understand what the humidity is when used in the most favorable conditions for them.

The PurSpa has a nice glow to it, but will it retain the title of best travel humidifier? Oooohhhh… (dramatic noises)

In between each test I gave 24 hours for the room to return to a baseline humidity level and temperature. This will vary between each test as the ambient humidity and temperature changes somewhat from day to day, but the conditions are very close for each one.

It’s important to note that we are employing two hygrometers (that’s a device that measures humidity). Every hygrometer, even of them same model isn’t perfectly calibrated, unless you shell out for laboratory grade ones, which I haven’t. I know there to be differences in the baseline readings between the two that I used, but the change in humidity is still valid.

Results

After running all the tests, here are the results.

Conclusions

The Pure Enrichment PureSpa performing quite well is not a surprise, it did so last year and it’s a compact but effective humidifier. The Pure Enrichment MistAire performing on par with the PureSpa, however, is surprising. It’s compact size lead me to think it would be less powerful, but it is not.

The Homdis performing similar to the SmartDevil and Homedics is to be expected. They all use similar aerosolizing techniques, even if the Homdis does not have a wick, which I think is an improvement. Although the humidity did improve, it wasn’t by as much as the Pure Enrichment models. Close by, as in next to your face, they seem to do a bit more and perhaps in a smaller room they would be able to move the needle further.

Clear Winner

There should be no doubt that the Pure Enrichment MistAire is the new champ. It put out similar moves in humidity to the larger version and is an order of magnitude easier to pack. Additionally, the design using a generic water bottle means that it is easier to clean and/or replace the tank than the PureSpa. The MistAire basin is also easy to clean and feels sturdy.

The Pure Enrichment MistAire is the best travel humidifier.

This one is already in my bag for a trip I have in a few weeks, and I will likely never travel without it. Until I see something from a different maker in a similar form factor, I won’t go searching for anything else. This unit is cleanable, compact, sturdy, and powerful. It is the full package.

Runner Up

The Pure Enrichment PureSpa is now the second best travel humidifier. It combines a large tank capacity, serious humidifying power, and the capability to fit inside carry-on luggage in one device. Yes, it is much larger than the others and will take up a lot of space in your bags. I’ve traveled a lot in winter and been so terribly miserable that this is a tradeoff I’d be willing to make if we didn’t have MistAire. Still, there’s one thing that the PureSpa has – tank capacity. Being able to let this thing run for 8+ hours is a big deal that none of the others can tackle.

The Rest?

The other three devices all offer something unique that may matter to you. The SmartDevil has a night light and is more potent than the Homdis and Homedics. The Homdis is ultra compact, so it’s a major space saver and it works with generic water bottles. Finally, the Homedics has a battery and could be used in a car with ease. If any of those features matter to you, they’re worth considering. Still, for my money, the MistAire wins hands down.

The post The Best Travel Humidifier for 2026 appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

A Wonderful Surprise

Virgin had made it clear that the Brilliant Lady would have a new and unique, to the ship, dining option. Months of speculation by Virgin Voyages fans followed, all wondering what sort of cuisine would be featured. My personal bet was on an Indian restaurant. None of us in Far Far Away guessed Spanish, though.

Fortunately, Virgin Voyages Rojo puts its best foot forward and mostly nails it. Nichole and I had three dinners for our Rojo review on our voyage (that way, we could space out the dishes we ate) and we never tired of it.

Just like my article on Lucky Lotus, I’ll take you through the menu one course and one dish at a time and share my thoughts.

Jamon, Quesos, Pintxos (pincho)

Pintxos are small, snack size plates served in bars, especially in northern Spain. They are often served with a skewer or toothpick in them.

Having genuine Jamon Iberico on a cruise ship was amazing. I did not expect that when I went to do my Rojo review.

Jamon Iberico – Iberico ham is a mainstay in Spain and easily one of the most famous foods from the country. It’s also expensive to get in the U.S. If you’ve never had it, you really should try it while on the ship. They have real Iberico ham and it’s just so good. I encourage you to overorder this dish.

Chorizo Seco – A tasty mix of sweet and spicy (only slightly spicy) by combining dates and chorizo.

The conservas was the best surprise of the menu. I loved it!

Conservas – The description on the menu is exactly what you are going to get and it’s my personal favorite from this section of the menu. I’m not even much of a fan of olives, but I just ate this up.

Gambas en Escabeche – Since Nichole does not like shrimp, but I do, I was the only one to try this dish. The shrimp are delicious, as they have consistently been on Virgin’s ships, but not quite as good as the shrimp served at The Dock.

Jamon Croquettes – If you’ve never had a croquette, you absolutely must give them a try. A breaded, fried mix of cheese and ham. Do I really need to say more? Word of warning, it is possible to eat too many of these.

Get the oxtail, you won’t regret it.

Oxtail Montadito – These were a major standout and Nichole’s favorite of the pintxos. Amazingly tender, slightly sweet with the caramelized onions, served atop a crunchy crostini. We ordered this dish each meal, because they were just that good.

Tapas

If you missed the tapas craze from about a decade ago here in the U.S., you might not be familiar with the style. Tapas are small dishes meant to be appetizers or snacks and can be served hot or cold.

To answer the question that many of you are likely asking, yes, tapas and pintxos are similar and are related. Together they do make up two important parts of traditional Spanish cuisine.

Roasted Cauliflower Catalan – In Razzle Dazzle, they serve a deep-fried cauliflower, which I love. This is a, arguably, healthier alternative to the deep-fried dish. It is also very tasty. Like many of the options on the menu, it has a bit of sweet and savory in it. The biggest surprise is how much I liked the golden raisins, which I usually don’t.

A highlight of our Rojo review, the Patatas Bravas.

Patatas Bravas Ahumadas – Seasoned potatoes with a pimenton aioli drizzled on top. The snappy skin of the spuds cracking as you bite in. These were Nichole’s favorite tapas plate and another dish we ordered each time we were dining for our Rojo review. You cannot order enough of this in our opinion.

Beef Tartare – The second-best beef tartare I’ve had on a cruise ship. The only one better came from Chartreuse on Regent Seven Seas. Rojo still delivered a truly great tartare, and we heard many other patrons raving about it. If you like tartare, this will be a must order.

Pimenton Cheese – A lighter dish than you might think it is. The pimenton cheese is served with crostini, but I would recommend that you ask for some extra crostini. The plating is very pretty, but it leaves the ratio of cheese to bread tilted slightly too far toward cheese.

I was so happy to find that they knew how to cook octopus well during our Rojo review.

Pulpo a la Grill – I love octopus, and I’m used to being disappointed when I order it. More often than not, it’s grilled to rubbery, chewy imperfection. Not here, though, no. At Rojo, they know how to prepare octopus, and I loved having it readily available. I would encourage you to give this a try as it was my favorite tapas.

Platos Grandes

The large plates are the entrees of Virgin Voyages’ Rojo.

Calabaza Asada – A lighter dish that doesn’t sacrifice any flavor as it dances on your palette. Squash is sort of my veggie GOAT, so I’m slightly biased here. The combination of everything here makes for a deeply savory dish, taking butternut squash away from more common and sweet preparations. I am going to figure out how to make this at home because I loved it so much. It does have cilantro in it, so if you are someone that doesn’t like cilantro, just skip this dish.

Char Artico Asado a la Plancha – Arctic char has become quite a popular fish lately. I’m seeing it pop up on lots of menus. I don’t know exactly why that is, perhaps it’s just a trend. Regardless, I like arctic char, and this is a nice preparation. The salsa verde, though, is what really makes this seared fish sing. It’s a simple serving that you can’t go wrong with.

The arrox con pitu de caleya. Nichole’s favorite dish during our Rojo review.

Arroz con Pitu de Caleya – Perhaps the heartiest of the dishes served, it will fill you up. A creamy rice serves as a bed to a roasted cut of chicken. Straightforward and simple. Each element done well. Nichole ordered this twice and it’s definitely her favorite of the entrées.

Costillas de la Matanza is a must try and it’s something that I wish was on the brunch menu.

Costillas de la Matanza – Not as heavy an order as you might think baby back ribs would be, which is good in my opinion. If you want more, you can always order another helping and they’ll be happy to bring it to you. The meat fell right off the bone, just like it should, and the harissa honey sauce combined with za’atar is divine. Funny enough, I’ve been making a similar sauce to this at home for several years.

Chuleton a la Parrilla – Ribeye steak prepared with Spanish flavor. The steak itself was nicely marbled, neither too fat nor too lean for the cut for a ribeye. It was very well prepared and certainly tasty, but both Nichole and I couldn’t help but feel that you’re shorting yourself by skipping the other options for this entrée.

Desserts

Sorbete de Maracuya – It’s not surprising that the passionfruit sorbet was smooth and refreshing. Afterall, Virgin makes their own ice cream and sorbets, and we all know those are delicious.

Arroz con Leche is not my usual favorite dessert but Rojo absolutely perfected this! I ate it at every dinner for our Rojo review.

Arroz con Leche – My personal favorite, which was surprising. It’s a rice pudding, which is a dessert I don’t usually care for, with coconut, which I also don’t usually care for. However, it’s topped with a brulee style cap of cinnamon sugar. That little addition made all the difference. I know that there are people who just can’t with rice pudding, but I would encourage you to give this one a shot. It really is different.

Basque Cheesecake – This was the most popular dessert we saw being served, so it’s obviously a crowd pleaser. This is not a New York style cheesecake, so it’s more fluffy and less creamy. Nichole and I both agreed that this was our second favorite option.

Flan de Queso de Cabra – I like goat cheese, but not everyone does. I’ve had a few flans made with goat milk over the years and they’ve never been as popular with others as they are with me. If you like goat cheese, it really comes through in this dessert and you’ll be enjoying yourself. However, if you are not a fan, I wouldn’t recommend.

Churros are a dessert that everyone sort of loves.

Churros – These were Nichole’s favorite dessert choice. Razzle Dazzle has done churros since they started, and their version has often been a divisive take on the dessert. At Rojo, though, the churros are a classic churro. Served in a tall cup with a hazelnut chocolate fondue at the bottom of the vessel. They are simple, delicious, and easy to order way too many of. This option will NEVER disappoint.

The One Failing

After Lucky Lotus, I was eager to try the brunch menu for this Rojo review. The new options on the Razzle Dazzle brunch menu made it really pop. I loved having the Lucky Lotus pan roasted vegetable dumpling in the morning. Savory dishes in the morning are frequently underappreciated in the U.S., so having some available in the mornings brightened up my day.

That’s why the choices on Rojo’s Razzle Dazzle brunch menu left me feeling like we were missing out on some better possibilities. The additions to brunch menu were; the jamon croquettes, which are always welcome; the roasted cauliflower Catalan, which also seems to fit the theme of Razzle Dazzle (a vegetarian focused menu); and the calabaza asada roasted butternut, which also fits the vegie theme.

At a glance, this seems like a good choice to go in the morning, but the flavors of all three dishes are largely the same. Mellow, smooth, and rich without going deep into savory notes. They’re not bad dishes, but it felt like they removed more diverse choices and put three similar plates in their stead.

A real waiting area for diners at Rojo. It’s a nice upgrade over every other restaurant on the ship.

What isn’t there from Razzle Dazzle, the avocado toast, the mushroom tartare, and the impossible burger all catered to different desires. They hit the palette in varied ways. The three choices for Rojo replacing them really limited what the menu can cater toward as far as diner choices. We didn’t find ourselves craving to go back each morning and opted to go to other breakfast spots. I hope that they tweak this menu a bit over time to bring some diversity back to the tastes.

A split conclusion

Virgin has also made small adjustments to the design of the restaurant to improve its function. There’s a small seating area for people to use while they wait for a table if there’s a backup. That’s an excellent change for walk-ins especially. No more waiting, awkwardly, in the hall.

The floor is a smoother surface than other Razzle Dazzles, so chairs slide in and out from the table quite nicely. I know that’s a small thing, but it’s nice to be able to easily adjust how close you are to the table.

Service was busy and quick. They don’t rush you at Rojo, but you won’t be waiting either.

The lighting is the nicest of any Razzle Dazzle version. Neither too dark in the evening nor too bright in the morning.

Rojo offers an amazing dinner. Even after eating there three times in just over a week, we hadn’t tired of it. Numerous choices and small plates, a signature of Spanish cuisine, is a perfect way to dine on a cruise. This goes double for groups because everyone can easily get things they like.

All that is why the disappointing brunch is a letdown. The good news is that it’s something that can easily be improved over time and, if it isn’t, there are other options. Still, I would not sleep on Rojo if you’re sailing the Brilliant Lady, it’s too good to miss. Maybe, sleep in though.

The post Rojo Review – Virgin Voyages New Restaurant appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

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.

The post Brilliant Lady Review: Virgin’s Newest Ship appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

Each time I’ve sailed I’ve booked a sea terrace cabin. They are lovely rooms, very comfortable, and don’t even get me started on the hammock! Yes… the legendary hammock. It’s so good, I’ve watched it convert hammock haters to lovers, right in front of me. My only complaint, which isn’t much of one, is that the beds could be more comfortable.

On my most recent sailing, however, we got lucky with our upgrade bid. We were upgraded to a Gorgeous Suite, part of Virgin’s Mega Rockstar class of cabins. We’ve had a fair number of questions about what it’s like to sail as a Mega Rockstar and now I can describe it from personal experience.

What’s the Mega RockStar difference?

Before we begin, let’s give a simple breakdown of benefits by comparing standard bookings, like a Sea View or Sea Terrace, the “basic” Rockstar cabins, and the Mega Rockstar – Virgin’s highest category of cabins, literally.

That’s a quick breakdown of the perks you get, but reading some bullet points doesn’t really get the point across, so let’s dive in.

The Perks Start Before the Cruise

To adequately describe the experience, we have to start before we even board the ship. Everyone in Mega RockStar and RockStar suites gets early access to dining reservations and excursions (Virgin calls them Shore Things) and priority boarding to the ship.

Those perks never seemed all that special to me personally. The priority boarding is okay, but I’ve always been able to find a way to enjoy a city or hotel before a cruise. Early booking to excursions and restaurant reservations is also not that exciting. I mean it’s nice, but I’ve never had a problem booking a dining time or excursions with standard access times. But everyone’s got their own priorities, so these may be a big deal to you.

What was a big deal to me, though, was the private transfer. You see, when you sail as a Mega Rockstar, you get a complimentary transfer to and from the port. That means that they arrange for a luxury car to pick you up, both before and after the cruise. Most folks use it to go from their hotel to the ship and then from the ship to the airport. The only limitation is that the pickup/drop-off point must be within 50 miles of the port. By the way, Virgin has announced that beginning May 4, 2025, regular Rockstars will also have this perk.

Now, yes, they also cover parking if you’d rather have that, but let’s be honest, most people will take the transfer service.

This is what a Red Glove email to Mega RockStars looks like, with some information removed for my privacy.

Before your sailing, Virgin Red Glove service will reach out to you to arrange for the parking or transfer service. Red Glove is Virgin’s dedicated customer support reserved for those sailing in RockStar and Mega RockStar cabins. You’ll share when you are flying in or where you would like to be picked up from and Red Glove handles the rest. Our transfer driver came to our hotel and found us easily, then loaded the SUV with our bags.

It was only a short drive of around 2 miles to the port for us, but it was still nice. If we’d had a longer drive I imagine that it would have been… a longer drive in a nice car. Regardless, the pickup and driving isn’t the cool part. The cool part is when you get to the port.

When we arrived at San Juan terminal 4, our driver drove right up to the security gate and was waved through. Then, we were dropped off mere feet from the terminal doors and met by someone who directed us up to the boarding area. Our luggage was handled by a special team member for RockStar sailors. Once we’d checked in, we were directed to a designated seating area for Mega RockStar quarters and several Mega RockStar agents came down to greet us personally.

Even in the terminal seating you’re not just a RockStar, no, you’re a Mega RockStar! We had a special seating are just for Mega RockStars. See the nylon divider, it means I’m special.

Whether your specific agent comes to greet guests in the terminal is just up to chance, but everyone is greeted by the agents. As it happened, the agent that greeted us was our personal agent for the trip and he explained all the benefits of the Mega RockStar suites. He asked if we needed any help getting our bags on the ship, which we didn’t and he said he would meet us in the room after he helped some other guests with their bags.

The Mega RockStar Gorgeous Suite

Every cruise line has suites on their ships. I’ve never gotten to sail in them personally, but others here at Far Far Away have. They’re always nice, of course. A little more room, often a table and a sofa, sometimes more balcony or lounge chairs. But these Gorgeous Suites on Virgin’s Lady Ships are something else. Let’s give a detailed breakdown starting with the biggest difference, the bathroom.

Oh the bathroom!

The picture doesn’t really do the size justice. It does accurately show that the lights around the mirror are nice and bright for makeup!

It’s as large as my bathroom at home and nicer too. Marble covers the floors and walls, no plastic pan beneath your pampered feet here. The toilet has a separate room, all to its own, allowing for privacy even if your suite mate needs to use the sink.

The sink and counter are massive. Often times, on a cruise, you need to condense your toiletries and neatly organize them. Not here! I spread my things all over the counter! But even with my makeup – and I brought a lot of makeup – it was barely noticeable. There’s this little shelf that runs the length of the counter and it let me place all my things on it very neatly. Tiny (or not so tiny in this case) organizational pieces like that just make me happy.

The best part is the shower, no question. I like Virgin’s standard showers, especially the glass door that is normally a flimsy curtain on other lines. The Gorgeous Suite shower is something else though. I’d say it’s a new goal, actually. I want one at home now. I mean look at it!

Those control knobs are at the entrance to the shower and control the rain showerhead.

Just like the standard showers, there’s both a wand and a rain shower head. However, with the extra space afforded to the suites, the shower controls are divided. Immediately next to the door, there’s two control knobs. They manage the rain shower head. That means you can let the water warm up before you step into it. It only takes about 1.5 seconds to warm up, but that’s 1.5 seconds of not standing in cold water raining on you.

Further inside, you’ll find two more control knobs that manage the wand. Unlike the standard showers on the ship, the suites can use both the rain head and the wand simultaneously. The bench seat is also marble. It gets warmed up with the water splashing on it, so it doesn’t have to be cold.

Separate controls for the wand head, which was amazing, but I still wasn’t in love with the bottles.

The shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are, as far as I could tell, the same as the rest of the ship. That’s good news because I really like the amenities Virgin provides. However, the suites have the liquids in separate bottles as opposed to push button dispensers. I rather prefer the dispensers over bottles. The dispensers are easier to use and simpler to get the right amount of shampoo or whatever out. I suppose the dispensers are less “elegant”, but I would honestly still prefer them.

The Bar

A big perk of the Mega RockStar status on Virgin is the bottomless bar. Your Mega RockStar agent will fill the bar as often as you request and will work with you to stock it with your preferred alcohol. It comes with mixing soft drinks, like Coke, Sprite, and ginger ales in addition to whatever liquors you choose. I’m sure that there are some reasonable restrictions on what the line is willing to put in your room, but they certainly accommodated me.

To be clear, I don’t drink very much and Nichole doesn’t drink at all, so we didn’t ask for many additions or changes to the stocked supply. In fact, our Mega RockStar agent even remarked that it’s unusual to have guests to hardly consume the alcohol. I think that means we’re a bit of an outlier here. That being said, I did ask for the addition of a reposado tequila in the room. It’s my favorite sipping alcohol and I do enjoy a small pour in the evenings while I watch a movie or read. To accommodate that request, our agent brought a full bottle of Patron reposado to our room. So, I have no idea what the upper limit on complimentary bar stocking is.

This is the standard bar stocking that we arrived to. If you want to make any changes, they are happy to help.

Look, this perk wasn’t a big deal for us, it’s just not what we do, but it is a big deal for many people. If you like to host parties with some friends on the ship, you could very much do that with this benefit – and I know people do. As far as I could tell, the staff want you to enjoy yourself and will work to provide you with the libations to do just that.

There’s also a touch of class to the in room bars that I really appreciated. There’s a whole drawer of glasses, neatly stored in bespoke foam cutouts. A glass for every occasion. I think that’s just one touch of sophistication that might have been overlooked elsewhere.

Bed, Couch, and Room Conditions

Straight away, let’s make this clear. I see conflicting information online about this point, so here’s the facts:

The king size beds in the RockStar and Mega RockStar suites cannot be split.

Yes, that is different from the other, non-suite rooms. The only suites that accommodate separate beds are the Mega RockStar suites and the Brilliant Suite in the RockStar category. These each provide a pullout sofa to sleep on.

The pillow is blocking them, but there were outlets on both sides of the bed.

Now, are these beds comfortable? Yes, but not like you’d probably hope. They aren’t as soft or supportive as many would like. I’ve made my feelings on Virgin’s beds clear, saying, “They are like the most comfortable futon you’ve ever slept on.” I didn’t find much difference in the suites for bed quality. It’s not bad, but neither is it what I’d hope.

I also didn’t have any trouble sleeping on them. I’ve got scoliosis so I’m sensitive to bed quality, but these don’t bother me.

We didn’t use the pullout bed, because there was no need, but I doubt the mattress improves from being in a foldout. The sofa that it’s stored in was quite nice however. The position in the room made for a lovely place to dine and watch TV or look out the windows.

I took a picture with the laptop in it so you can get a sense of scale for the table and couch.

I also found that these rooms stayed quite cool if you wanted them that way. Often, balcony rooms on cruise ships get warm and the AC has a hard time keeping up. Not in the Mega RockStar suites it seems. I like a chilly bedroom, and I sleep much better when I’m a bit cold and I had no problem here. I even had a nightstand with an outlet that I could set up my favorite travel fan on.

Storage

Cruise ships are well practiced in the art of storage. They must take a small space and figure out how to allow for the maximum amount of luggage in it while not impeding anyone moving in the room. Virgin is pretty good at that, with well designed closets that treat the space as the limited commodity it is. In the Mega RockStar suites, though, space is not a problem.

Mega RockStars get a nice closet!

The closet had drawers in it, about the size of a small dresser. You also get a dresser next to the door. Then more drawers in the bar. And even more drawers in your nightstands. Then, somehow, there’s even more drawers to be found under the bed on one side. On the other side of the bed there is storage space for luggage, and there’s a lot of it. I had no problem fitting my full size luggage in it along with my rolling carry-on laptop bag.

Scale is hard to get in this picture, but in that dark area I fit a fullsize suitcase and two carry-on rollerboard bags in. There’s tons of room for luggage.

If you need more storage than they provide in the room, I’m not sure what to tell you. I went overboard and brought three bags of clothes with me. Because, of course I wanted an outfit for each night, plus my makeup, and a lot of exercise clothes as well. Still, I couldn’t fill everything up.

The Balcony

There’s THE hammock, obviously. People love the hammocks, I love the hammocks, and Mega RockStars are no exception. I’m honestly surprised that there’s only one of them here, but oh well. The loungers are quite nice. They have a pad on them to make them soft and I spent a number of afternoons simply napping on them. It was like relaxing at the pool, but private and covered. It rained several times on the cruise, and it didn’t bother us on the balcony at all. It’s completely roofed by the deck above and it creates a shelter.

It’s also much, much, larger than a standard balcony. It also has a table on it. Okay, most of the balconies have tables, but this is a full table. If we’d wanted to, we could have had breakfast on it. Just look at the difference.

The chairs themselves are also different, being mesh back, as opposed to metal ones on the standard Sea Terrace balcony.

An outdoor shower is also available, but there’s a couple of caveats to that. One, it’s only available on sea days. Technically it’s only available when 14 miles away from land, but in practical terms that means sea days. If I you’re curious why that rule exists, it’s because it’s a shower that’s outdoors and people might forget that you are still visible to the people in port…

The second caveat is that it doesn’t have much temperature control, which is to say that it has no temperature control.

The balcony is huge! You can also see the outdoor shower that’s only available in Mega RockStar suites.

We used the shower on the cruise because it sounded fun. To enable the shower, you’ll need to let your Mega RockStar agent know that you want to use it. The agent will then have to water turned on, so long as the first caveat is met. Once you turn the water on, it’s on and that’s it. During the day, the water was warm, but during the night it was cold. Honestly, this seems like more of a gimmick than anything. It was alright when it was warm, but without temperature control it wasn’t exactly luxurious. Although I wouldn’t book the room for outdoor showering, it was still amusing.

Mega RockStar Quality of Life Improvements

When cruising in warm climates, there’s rarely anything more pressing than planning your wardrobe out. When days are hot and humid, you tend to go through laundry quickly. Most cruise lines charge you an arm and a leg for their laundry service. Some, like Hurtigruten, have self service laundry that you can use at your discretion and pay a small amount for the machine use and detergent, just like a laundromat on land.

Virgin opts to have a laundry bag system with no self-service option. They really set themselves apart on value though. One bag costs $55 to do, but the bag holds a lot of clothes. Practically a whole suitcase worth can fit in one. It’s a flat rate to do it by the bag and it’s a steal when comparing the cost to other lines. In the Mega RockStar suites though, laundry is on Virgin.

The bag is picked up at least once per day, and sometimes returned by that same evening. Obviously, I took advantage of that perk. No smelly gym clothes for this gal!

As a Mega RockStar, you can get dishes from the ship’s restaurants brought to their room. They are not limited to the typical Ship Eats menu. We ordered some things from Extra Virgin.

Another perk that only Mega RockStars have is the ability to order food from Extra Virgin, Razzle Dazzle, Pink Agave, and The Wake to their rooms. Your Mega RockStar agent will arrange it for you, there’s no way to do it in the app. That means that you can get dinner from most of the restaurants on the ship delivered to your room. We took advantage of this on Scarlet Night, opting to forgo dinner out and instead have it brought to our room while we got ourselves done up for the evening. It’s not just the restaurants that can be delivered as Mega RockStars also get the normal Ship Eats service, Virgin’s room service, complimentary.

Upgraded Wi-Fi also is part of the Mega RockStar perks. You’ll get the top tier “Work From Sea” package for the voyage. We actually had a lot of work to attend to on our trip – such is life – and we tested the capabilities of the internet fully. We had Zoom calls, cloud uploads and downloads, emailing, and instant messaging. The speeds were slower than land, which is to be expected. But we accomplished everything we needed to, even if some downloads took a little longer than at home.

Around the Ship Perks

Arguably, the most coveted benefits of Mega RockStar status are the perks that apply outside the room. The biggest one, for now, is that Mega RockStar guests also are comped drinks up to $25. You simply order the beverage you want, have the crew scan your band, and the drink is now paid for. The benefit can be used to buy some drinks for other patrons, but only up to two drinks at a time.

Readers, let me be blunt about that last point. If you sail Mega RockStar, do not abuse that perk. It’s meant to be a luxurious way to cruise and make you feel like a true VIP. It’s not there to buy the whole bar a round of drinks.

This benefit applies to coffees, teas, smoothies, juices, cocktails, beers, anything that would charge to your Bar Tab is covered by that. However, if the drinks are more than $25, then the whole drink is on you, though you do get a 20% discount on it. Virgin doesn’t do anything like covering costs up to $25 and then letting you make up the difference if you go over. If you see something that’s over the maximum, just be ready to pay for it. That said, there’s not much over the maximum on the ship’s drink menus.

I bought people drinks from time to time, but I didn’t abuse it or flash it around like a jerk.

Another perk that many people love is unlimited access to the Thermal Spa. I wrote about the Thermal Spa in our Splash of Romance review, if you want to read more about it. For here, suffice to say, the spa is quite nice. It has hot and cold plunges, a Nordic style sauna, steam room, mud room, warm marble benches and beds, and a salt room. It’s a very nice place to spend an hour or two. Mega RockStars get to go whenever (so long as the spa is open) and however often they want. They do not need to make an appointment ahead of time either.

Of course, Mega RockStars also have access to Richard’s Rooftop, the suite-only area of the ship. It’s quite easy to get to for Mega RockStars as well, since it’s directly above your cabin. There are day beds, loungers, chairs, and hot tubs exclusively for the RockStar and Mega RockStar guests. There’s also a bar with exclusive food and drinks.

All RockStar and Mega RockStar sailors on Virgin Voyages get access to Richard’s Rooftop.

RockStars and Mega RockStars also have access to special lines for the shows. That means that you’ll get priority entry to all the shows Virgin offers, like Persephone and Miss Behave. There’s a special queue right next to the doors, indicated by a sign that says RockStars. You simply line up there and wait till the doors open. While this may not seem like such an amazing perk, I think it is. Virgin offers stunning entertainment, and the shows are often quite full. This gets your near guaranteed access to whatever seats you like.

If we’d sailed to Bimini, we also would have gotten access to the special RockStar only area of The Beach Club. Sadly, Bimini wasn’t on our itinerary, but the drink benefits do carry over to the Beach Club.

Mega RockStar Agent

I’ve touched on this throughout the article, but the most impactful and important part of sailing as a Mega RockStar is the Agent.

RockStars also get an agent, but their agent covers more cabins. In Mega RockStar, your agent typically covers two cabins – that’s it. Their job is take care of your needs and help arrange your schedule. When we wanted to adjust our dining reservations, he took care of it. If we wanted dinner in the room, he took care of it. We wanted something different to drink in our bar, he took care of it.

But that’s not quite illustrative of what they will do for you while onboard. When we first sat down with him in our room, he asked if there’s anything we want during the day, like coffee in the morning. We asked if he could bring two lattes from Grounds Club to the room each morning at 9AM. He said no problem and asked what else we would like.

We came back to this arrangement of fruits, cheeses, and meats (and champagne!) one afternoon. Our Mega RockStar agent noticed we were working in the room a lot and wanted to try and make it special for us.

We also asked if he could arrange for a carafe of hot water and two mugs to be left in our room each night at around 9:30. At first he was confused, but we explained that we liked tea before we went to bed (that’s our idea of a party) but that we would pick up the peppermint tea bags from the galley, because it’s just on the other side of the pool deck. He had never been asked for a carafe of hot water and thought that it was quite novel, but he wouldn’t hear of us grabbing the tea bags. Instead, he got loose leaf tea from Grounds Club and arranged tea pots and hot water for us, as well as some honey.

That was going beyond what we hoped for. Typically, I fill up a thermos in The Galley and make tea with the bags in the cups back at the room. All I really wanted was to not carry the hot water, but that’s not really the point of the class.

I’ve never stayed anywhere like that. I’m from the Midwest, where cleaning up after yourself and not being a bother are part of the culture. Mega RockStar is a way of cruising that eschews modesty and your Mega RockStar agent is there to help you do that. His version of the tea service was 1,000,000 times better than mine and I loved every night when I got back to the room.

Are you Treated Differently?

There’s been plenty of debate online about whether sailing as a RockStar or Mega RockStar changes your experience on the ship. Of course there are changes, you’re paying for them after all, but the focus of these debates is often on whether the staff treats you differently or not.

We are well aware of these discussions, and we tried to pay active attention to anything that changed. We’ve sailed Virgin a lot already, so we’re accustomed to how the staff interacts with you. And, while we did observe some changes, we also noticed that it didn’t change the staff’s approach with guests. Here’s what we did see change:

When we arrived at a restaurant for dinner or brunch, the host or manager would often seat us immediately, even before other guests. Now, yes, we had a reservation each time we went, so they were expecting us, but I’ve never been pulled out of the queue for seating before and I’ve always dined with a reservation. But that is the only difference we experienced.

This is from our first sailing on Virgin. We got to know Rupert and Rey and we keep in touch every time we sail. I was lucky enough to see Rupert on this last sailing and we caught up on the year since we last saw each other. They didn’t care if we were Mega RockStars, they are amazing to everyone.

Virgin’s staff is amazing. They are what make the line amazing – full stop. I don’t care how nice the rooms are, how many pools the ship has, or how good the food is. If the staff isn’t good, the cruise isn’t good. Virgin’s staff are spectacular, and they treat everyone with kindness and fun. They are both relaxed and attentive. Being a Mega RockStar or RockStar doesn’t change their behavior.

I got to know the staff at our favorite restaurants, just like I do every time I sail. I even saw some old friends on the staff that I made on other sailings. We shared updates about our families and friends. They introduced us to new people, and we all hugged each other at the end of the trip. That wasn’t because we sailed in Mega RockStar quarters, it’s because they are amazing, and we don’t take them for granted.

It’s not exactly a definitive end to the debate, but I can say, with a great deal of confidence, staff treat you as well as you treat them, no matter the cabin you booked.

Does it Feel Special?

Absolutely. No doubts there.

I mean, you’ve got a massive suite, a private balcony, a huge bathroom, a cool black wrist band, and drinks (under $25) are on the house. How could it not feel special?

My feet barely touched the ground the whole trip, I was just floating on a cloud… and boy does reality suck when you leave…

Oh boy do I miss it!

Honestly, this is sailing EXTRA! RockStar quarters get some nice amenities, but the Mega RockStar experience sets it apart. If you tell me that your 9AM latte, brought to you by your Mega RockStar agent, without you lifting a finger, doesn’t feel special, I will call you a liar. To your face if possible. Either that or you have lived a truly charmed life and could probably do with a reality check.

The whole cruise was divine and there’s no other word for it.

Are There Downsides?

Virgin made the decision to place all the Mega RockStars on deck 15 at the front of the ship or fore. They likely did this because the Mega RockStars would be very close to Richard’s Rooftop and to keep all the Mega RockStar suites together, because trying to fit the massive suite anywhere else on the ship would be nearly impossible. That positioning, though, does bring a few effects worth mentioning.

It’s well known that the fore of the ship usually feels effects of movement more than the aft. That means that when waves crash against the hull, you’re more likely to feel the jolt from it and other things like that. I’ve sailed fore, mid, and aft on Virgin and other lines and I have consistently felt more of the ocean’s effects at the fore.

More problematic for some people will be the amplification of movement when on higher decks. It’s simple geometry, when the ship sways from side to side, you’re going to feel it more the higher up you go. Sea sickness may become a problem for people who are prone to it during rougher seas because of this, so be prepared if that’s you.

I’ve also heard complaints that Scarlet Night is very loud because the pool is right next to the Mega RockStar suites. I didn’t find that to be true, but our suite was farther back than others. Suites closer to the pool may have a loud evening.

On Scarlet Night, a valid direction to the Mega RockStar suites can be, “Directly behind the octopus.”

What did turn out to be true is that when the staff is setting up and taking down chairs on Richard’s Rooftop, you can hear it in your suite. It’s louder than I expected, but it’s not some huge issue either. It’s about 10 minutes maximum for some moving of chairs above you. The only way I can see it being an issue is if you are dealing with a significant hangover. Hmmm……

Upon further reflection, I can see how that might be an issue for people in Mega RockStar.

The only other downside, which I don’t have confirmation of, is that I’ve read complaints that suites on the starboard side of the ship (cabins that end in Z) may get some smoke wafting toward their balconies from the smoking area on deck 16. The smoking area sits directly above several suites on that side, so I can imagine how this would be possible, but I can’t confirm it. In any case, maybe pick the port side suites (cabins that end in A) if they are available.

Is it worth it?

For us, yes. But here’s the catch that I haven’t mentioned yet. We were on a special rate sailing that made it significantly cheaper for us to sail this way. What this suite was listing for before we won our upgrade bid was just over $20,000. Meanwhile, a Sea Terrace on the same cruise was listing for around $5,000. To be clear, we didn’t pay anywhere near $20,000.

The robes are a nice touch.

Over a 10-night cruise that’s a difference of $2,000 per night for the suite and $500 per night for the Sea Terrace.

That’s a lot more money each day. A difference of $15,000 is significant. Like, that’s a used car worth of money.

However, if you don’t blink at $20,000 for a vacation, then this is absolutely worth it. If you are the type of person that likes to entertain, this is made for you. If you are taking a big family cruise and want to splash out and have a place for everyone to gather during the day, this is for you. Or perhaps, you just want to be pampered, and if that’s the case, beleive me, this is for you.

Sailing in Mega RockStar quarters is overdoing it, but that’s the definition of luxury, and if you want luxury, Virgin’s Mega RockStar quarters has it in spades.

The post Mega RockStar on Virgin Voyages – Review appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

Going for it

• The staff was amazing and extremely attentive.
• Beds were the most comfortable we’ve had at a hotel.
• A nice continental breakfast is included.
• The location was wonderful.

Going against it

• Storage space was limited in the room.
• Old plumbing forces an unexpected compromise.

What’s the place like?

The Don Rafa Boutique Hotel is in an older building and that imparts quirky design elements that may subvert our modern expectations. For example, the elevator is quite small and can only hold 1-2 with luggage. While that may be a more common experience for Europeans, it’s unusual for those in the US. Yet the differences the structure’s age create, offer far more character and charm than they cause in inconveniences.

Your room will be on appointed with modern, elegant furniture and equipped with a refrigerator, ice maker, and capsule-based coffee machine. The bathroom we had was comfortable, with enough counter space to comfortably place toiletries. Our shower was quite spacious, with a highly effective rain shower head.

The bed was divine. I slept perfectly. I’m rather sensitive to beds as I have scoliosis, and this caused me no troubles at all. It was easily as comfortable as my bed at home, where I’ve spent good money on a mattress. I know everyone has their own preferences for sleeping accommodation, but I really can’t imagine how someone could complain about these beds.

Yes, the bed at the Don Rafa Boutique Hotel really is THAT good!

Most importantly, the staff was remarkable. As everyone knows, there’s nothing that makes a place special quite like the staff. Here too the Don Rafa excels. Whenever we had a difficulty or need, they helped us address it. They got us towels for the beach, they fixed the safe in the room, made sure fresh coffee was always ready in the morning breakfast. Of course, these are things we expect to be done, but there was a relaxed yet prompt approach that put us, not only, at ease, but made sure that we didn’t wait.

Unique is Chic

There are a few things that really set the Don Rafa apart from much of the competition. The most notable is the rooftop restaurant, Canvas. We dined there the night we arrived. Tuesday nights in mid-March are not the busiest for them, so it was quiet while we were there. It’s a pricier menu, but hardly unreasonable or out of the ordinary for hotel dining. In fact, I would say, given the quality of food, it was a far better deal than most hotels that I’ve dined at.

For my money, there’s hardly a better way to while away an evening than a great cocktail and a stunning view. Canvas is worth the money.

Canvas’ menu and ambiance caters to a refined experience. Dining a number of stories above the street gives a romantic nighttime view. With both indoor and outdoor seating, you can choose your preferred atmosphere. The restaurant isn’t the only thing that sets this establishment apart, though.

On Wednesdays, there is a live piano player who will serenade the lobby in the evenings. You can sit at the bar or relax on a sofa and take in the music and enjoy a drink before you head out for the evening. It’s gentle and sophisticated, like something out of film noir. Martinis and piano go together so nicely after all.

We were even fortunate enough to be staying at the hotel when their monthly Flamenco demonstration was scheduled. Flamenco is a style of dance and music entertainment popular in the southern regions of Spain. It’s often a ticketed event in that country, which we know because we’ve booked it for others. At this demonstration, it’s a shorter time, but it’s just part of the stay. I’d never seen flamenco performed before and it was highly enjoyable.

The lobby is very classy.

Obviously, those sorts of things are just down to luck. You might not being staying the night when those are scheduled, but just knowing they happen may entice you to book.

It’s Not All Roses

As the saying goes, nothing is perfect, and that holds true for the Don Rafa Boutique Hotel. Although there wasn’t much worthy of criticism, we did find some fault in the furniture, specifically the storage space.

For a place like this, it surprised me that all our room had in the way of clothes storage was around eight hangers and one drawer beneath them. The drawer was a small one at that. If you wanted to include the even slimmer drawers in the nightstands, we had a total of three small drawers. When I’ve stayed at places like this before, they typically provide more storage than that, especially closet space.

That’s the sum total of actual storage space…

Our stay lasted several days and the reality of it was that we had to live out of the suitcases for that time. It’s not exactly a dealbreaker, but it was slightly irritating. Especially because there was plenty of room to have a dresser without impacting the flow of the room at all.

I did raise this issue with the establishment in my Google review and I received a response that said they will look into it. Perhaps they will, and by the time you stay there it may be different. I sincerely hope that they do add something to the room, since it may have just been ours, because this feels like an easy thing to solve. There was plenty of space, it just needs to be used.

The more difficult (nearly impossible) problem to solve is their plumbing. We had a sign in our bathroom, right in front of the toilet, that indicated that, to protect the plumbing, we should not flush any paper down the toilet. Any paper. It’s commonplace to see a sign reminding people to not flush hygiene products down the toilet, like tampons, but this was all paper.

We followed the directions, but it was an odd habit to take up, even temporarily. I understand that plumbing in old buildings, which this is, can be a bit of a struggle to maintain. We’ve heard of this same requirement from other establishments in Europe, so Europeans may be more used to this. Once again, this quirk wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but I can see why it might be for some people, which is why I mention it.

Who Is This For?

If you are the type of person that seeks out the more culturally enriching places when you travel, The Don Rafa is for you. That’s the first type of person that comes to mind for me. When you travel, you like to stay at places that get written about in magazines or perhaps you love to have a good story about this incredible thing you got to do.

Romantic getaways or long vacations are another type of trip that comes to mind as the target guests. The refinement and elegance of the Don Rafa are clearly inspired by that sort of traveler.

You better beleive that I would eat at Canvas again. Just look at it!

I wouldn’t recommend this place for a simple overnight stay. We happened to fly into San Juan several days early because it saved us money, similar to this other post I wrote. We were there for a Virgin cruise and I feel like an overnight would be wasted on such a short visit – not to mention they don’t allow one night bookings. Taking young kids here is also not something I recommend. It didn’t appear to be disallowed, there was a couple with a baby in the room next to us, but I’m not sure that a child would really like it here.

This is a place for you to take your time and get to know the city a little bit. Stay for a few days and explore. That’s the type of journey that belongs here and it’s wonderful. I hope you get the chance to experience San Juan like this.

The post The Don Rafa Boutique Hotel – San Juan Review appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

I’ve been to almost every theme park in the Orlando area and maybe the best one is also the smallest. Discovery Cove is a tiny dot in a city of massive attractions, but that’s what makes it work. I hadn’t been to the park in nearly two decades, but it was such a unique experience I have spent much of the intervening years wishing to go back. Well, when I finally got the chance, I was glad to see that the park had lost none of its charm and wonder.

What is Discovery Cove?

There are a lot of things at Discovery Cove that make it hard to slap a common label on, but most famously it is a place where you can swim with dolphins. Their dolphins work with trainers to build skills and are taught to interact with humans. They are the most famous attraction at the park, but not the only one.

A massive saltwater snorkel pool allows guests to try snorkeling in a controlled environment. You can swim with stingrays and even go watch sharks (from behind a think glass barrier). Discovery Cove provides the snorkel gear, so there’s no need to bring your own.

The snorkeling pool, taken at the end of the day at my Discovery Cove review.

If, however, you fancy a more supine experience, a top-notch lazy river, complete with waterfalls, flows through the park. Park supplied pool noodles give you plenty of floatation as you wend your way through the afternoon sun.

Guests can also experience a free flight aviary where birds fly all around you. The park provides a specially prepared food mix and allows guests to politely and carefully feed them. Staff are always watching and paying close attention to guest behavior to ensure the safety of the birds. However, if a bird chooses to land on you, that is perfectly fine – so contact isn’t discouraged, it just has to be on the animal’s terms.

That last part is something that was emphasized over and over again by staff – interactions are on the animal’s terms, not yours. If an animal does not want to interact, they do not have to, including the dolphins. Which was reassuring to see in action.

What is a day at Discovery Cove like?

The park opens at 8AM but check-in beings at around 7AM, which is in line with other parks in the area. Unlike other parks in the area, food and even some alcohol is included. That means you and your family can get breakfast and lunch at the park and you don’t have to fork over any more money.

Having traveled with my much younger siblings, I know how stressful it can be to order food. You need to get them to line up, say what they want (hope they actually want it), pay for everything, and keep it all together while you find a table. Discovery Cove’s all-inclusive approach eliminates much of that stress.

After you grab a bit, you can change make your way to the aviary, which is most active in the morning, and feed some birds. The caretakers will teach you about the various species and you might even have them grace your shoulder.

There are lots of lovely areas to relax in the park.

As the water warms up a bit, you’ll likely make your way to the lockers to change into some swimwear. Then you can float down the lazy river, watch some adorable river otters, or snorkel in the saltwater pool.

If you choose to pay extra for the dolphin encounter or a number of other adventures at the park, those events are scheduled throughout the day, and you will be told when your event is when you enter the park.

The park, though, also recognizes that many people don’t love the water, but they may love people who do. There are lots of comfortable areas to relax in for the day, from lounge chairs and a bar, there are even private cabanas that you can reserve for an extra fee. That means that if a day in the sun, or shade, is more your speed, you can still find something nice for you.

Because the park limits the number of guests, it never feels crowded. I never once waited in line or was pushed in a crowd. This is done not only for guest comfort, but animal safety as well.

By 5PM the park closes for the night and it’s time to head home. It’s a shorter day for a theme park, but the upside is that it’s typically a very active one and you’ll be ready for dinner by the time it’s done.

What, exactly, comes with admission and how much is it?

First, admission prices range from around $180 – $500 per person. Like other parks in the area, demand for tickets goes up in the summer and so does the price. The same holds true over common times off from schools, like spring break or Christmas. The park even suggests buying tickets up to two months in advance.

As I mentioned, food and some alcohols are included. There are no limits on the food, so don’t worry there, eat as much as you want. Soft drinks and water are also included in the admission. Knowing the food and drinks are included in the admission does take some of the sting out of the price.

The bar area in the park was not something I made much use of in my Discovery Cove review., but it was well stocked and well staffed.

You are also provided with swimwear for the day if you want it, but it is advisable to bring your own as well to ensure you have swimwear that fits. Personally, I sunburn as easily as I breathe, so I took them up on their offer of a full, short sleave wetsuit. There are other choices, including a vest and long sleave full coverage wet suits.

The park doesn’t require you to wear their gear unless you are doing an animal encounter, like swimming with the Dolphins. I encourage people to take them up on it though, that way you don’t have wet swimwear back at your hotel or in your bags. Everyone can get lockers for the day and towels are provided as well.

All guests have access to the aviary, the lazy river and other freshwater pools, flamingo point, and the saltwater snorkeling pool. You are also provided with specially formulated sunscreen that is safe for the animals. Dispensers are placed all around the park and you simply take what you need, so reapply often.

What are the addons then?

• Dolphin Encounter – This is the big draw for the park, the dolphin encounter. It cost around $40 per person extra when we purchased our tickets.
• Various Animal Encounters – There are multiple other animal interactions to add on, from feeding sharks to hanging out with flamingos. Each one has its own price and different animals you interact with.
• Cabanas, day beds, premium drinks package – The cabanas looked lovely and are semiprivate, the day beds are just nice to lay out on and have a dedicated space to call your own. If you want more premium alcoholic drinks, they have a package, but unless you aren’t driving later, just purchasing drinks a la carte is probably a better option.

I didn’t get a private cabana for my Discovery Cove review, but they looked quite nice if you wanted to day of relaxation.

• SeaVenture – This looked like a fun option, but I didn’t have time to try it because we had an abbreviated day at the park. The idea is that you put on a dive helmet, with air pumping into it, and you walk underwater and see animals in a unique way.

Photo Packages

Separating this out from other addons was important to me. Although the park encourages guests to bring cameras to capture the special moments of your day, there is one very important restriction.

For the safety of guests and animals, bringing your own phone or camera with you on any of the animal encounters – including the dolphin swim – is prohibited.

That doesn’t mean that someone can’t take pictures of you, they just have to do so from the beach. Which means that someone must sit out the animal encounter if you want your own pictures.

While that may work for some people who aren’t interested in doing the animal encounters, it won’t work for everyone. Children 6-12 are required to have an adult accompany them on several encounters. That means taking pictures of your kid may not be an option for some parents.

The photographers at Discovery Cove know their subjects well. You probably won’t get a shot as good as this one on your own. Trust the experts.

Discovery Cove does have a photographer at these events: Dolphin Swim, Shark Snorkel, Shark Interaction, Flamingo Mingle, Ray Feeding, and Ultimate Animal Experience. They will take pictures of you and the animals.

There are multiple choices for what type of package you want to purchase. They range in price from $109.00 to $299.00. They also go on sale from time to time.

In my opinion getting one is worth it and here’s why. You only get to do this a few times in your life at best, often it’s just once. The photographers are talented and get great results. Buy a digital pack and share it with your family and friends who want to see them.

We purchased a package to see if it was easy to use and quality work. The picture downloads were simple and quick, giving fast access to them. We also received a thumb drive with the photos on it, complete with Discovery Cove labeling. That drive had high-resolution photos, which the downloads didn’t.

You can pay for the park to make prints of photos, but get the digital package instead. If you do, then you can print them as many times as you want.

If you’ve read some of my other work, you may know that I’m a photographer. I can say, with a lot of experience, that your time is better spent engaging in the encounters, being present with your family, and living the moment rather than focusing on getting a good shot with your phone.

Are they a tad pricey? Yes. But really, just get a package.

Who is this for?

If nothing above sounds good to you, then don’t go. This is a place for animal lovers. If you’re a person who likes a little adventure and trying something you haven’t ever done, you’ll love Discovery Cove.

Was it worth the trip?

Absolutely! I loved my day in the park! Nichole and I had a blast swimming with the dolphin, letting birds perch on our shoulders, and snorkeling with sting rays. If you are within two hours of the Orlando area, take a day and spend it here. You’ll be glad you did.

The post Discovery Cove Review: The Best Theme Park in Orlando appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

• Celebrity’s reputation in the travel industry is that of a premium line. They are known for offering excellent food and a sophisticated experience.
• Between all of us at Far Far Away Travels, we sailed Celebrity twice recently. Once on the Constellation, one of the older ships in the fleet, and once on the Silhouette, which is closer to the middle of the age range.
• Everything I’d heard about the line was such a mismatch with my experience, I thought that I’d entered an alternate universe.

Growing up, I had a lot of truly wonderful influences in my life. My parents and grandparents gave me some early lessons that I still follow. Two of them guide me every day.

The first is to, “Just try it.” I was always told to try new dishes or new activities to see if I like it. I never had to finish anything I didn’t like, but I did have to try it. It’s made me an adventurous person with an open palette – something that I cherish.

The second is, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Now I admit, this one is oppressively midwestern. I may as well have thrown a “don’t cha know” in to cap it off. That said, I do try to avoid saying something is bad if it simply isn’t to my tastes, which is really the spirit of the lesson.

The elegance presented to us.

This time, though, I must eschew the rule of nicety, because after I tried Celebrity, I have genuine concerns. Especially regarding their famed food.

As with all my reviews, I try to be as transparent as possible. I am not a travel agent, but my wife Nichole is. When Nichole and I sailed the Constellation, we did not reveal that fact to any staff onboard the ship, nor did we receive any additional benefits because of it. When Gretchen and Karen, who are travel agents here at Far Far Away, sailed on the Silhouette, it was on a special travel agent familiarization and education cruise. Most of what will be discussed is from my perspective and experience on the Constellation, since I’m the one writing this.

During the voyage on the Constellation, Nichole and I sailed in Concierge class, which we paid full price for. When Gretchen and Karen sailed the Silhouette, they were given an upgrade to Aqua class because there was an issue with their original room, what that issue was is unknown. In both cases, the itineraries sailed were not unique and were part of their typical sailing routine.

First Impressions

My seven night cruise on the Constellation, known as “Conny” by the Celebrity afficionados, left from Tampa Bay. Having not sailed from Tampa previously, I was happily impressed by the navigability of the city – at least near the port. There are plenty of hotels within walking distance to the port, and nice places at that. I know that’s not strictly a Celebrity feature, but sailing out of Tampa did prove to be better than Miami, something that some people may appreciate.

It was a cloudy day in Tampa, but the city is nice. Traffic was WAY better than Miami.

The terminal we were docked at didn’t appear to be bespoke with Celebrity, but the staff seemed to have things in hand. The baggage handoff to the porters went smoothly, although we did print the cabin information and already had the bags tagged, so that helps. The terminal isn’t large, so we didn’t have a hard time finding anything and easily made our way up to the staging area for boarding.

This is where we run into our first problem with the line. There are multiple ways to attain early boarding on Celebrity and they have a tiered system that comes along with it. First on board are the suites, which is typical across lines. Then there are the guests who have purchased Premiere Access, which is a package that affords you premium Wi-Fi, unlimited room service delivery at no charge, an exclusive boarding day lunch, and early boarding. Last is the Concierge rooms, which get the early boarding as part of their cabin class.

We purchased Premiere Access and we booked a Concierge cabin. In their boarding group process, Premiere Access guests board before Concierge and even have their own carve out area in the boarding “holding pens.” We stated multiple times and showed evidence that we had Premiere Access, yet we were pushed to the Concierge waiting area. I can’t say it really bothers me, since there’s hardly anything to do on the ship at a boarding time of 10:30 (most stations aren’t ready for guests yet), and the rooms aren’t usually prepared either, but the fact remains that we paid for something that we did not receive, and the staff actively turned us away from it.

The suite guests got a small breakfast offering with some pastries. Staff actually told us that it wasn’t good food though.

Being unfamiliar with Celebrity’s boarding process, I have nothing to compare with, but other guests were complaining about, what they viewed as, disorganization. To my eyes, it seemed like the staff were mostly prepared, but somewhat flustered. I am well aware that many guests on cruise ships see complaining as an Olympic sport, so I’m not sure how much weight to give to their protestations. It wasn’t a complete mess, but within 10 minutes of stepping into Celebrity’s world, I had been denied a feature I paid for.

Other than those points of contention, the boarding process went rather smoothly. We were all given clear instructions, and the staff wrangled pushy guests with aplomb. No one was allowed to line jump or push their way ahead, which I think deserves praise. I know that my English and German friends can appreciate line (queue) cutters being put back in place.

Once on the ship, we made our way to the room to drop our bags off. When we arrived, our cabin steward was still preparing the space, so we just dropped our carry-on onto the small desk and let him get back to it. For the purpose of clarity, I didn’t expect the room to be ready and our steward didn’t mind when we set our things down and out of his way. Now unburdened with bags, we toured the ship, and I took the opportunity to photograph the public spaces with minimal guests.

There were lots of spaces like this on the ship. They were quite nice to sit in and chat for a bit.

Overall, the public spaces on the ship were quite nice. The Constellation had recently been refurbished, with a focus on common areas. The décor is one of rich, warm tones. Dark stained wood is the theme, and throughout the ship it creates many cozy spaces that a group could spend hours playing games or chatting. The various lounges are best described as a mix of martini and cigar bars in their feel, but there’s no cigar smoking outside of designated areas.

A small, but pleasant, library with a well-equipped computer area, if you needed a computer but didn’t have internet on your own, sits in the middle of the ship. The spa and gym are on the second highest deck at the fore. A full basketball court takes up an odd area on top deck and I’m not sure that guests knew it was there because I only saw people using it once. At the rear of the ship there is a gathering area around a massive television – in the late 90s when these ships were commissioned, this would have been impressive, but it’s rather sad looking now.

The two pool areas looked quite nice, especially the Solarium space, but the outdoor “running track” was a low point. It is nothing more than a painted path, weaving through lounge chairs and, in a design twist that I assume David Lynch would have found amusing, goes right through the smoking area. It’s worth noting that the al fresco cancer lounge was a space heavily used by the guests, which is to say, I wouldn’t recommend a jog.

This image is taken from the smoking area, I’m surrounded by it.

Back inside the ship, we found lovely artwork peppered throughout. Sculptures in the stairways, paintings on the walls, and statues in the foyer made for an elegant feel. This art was no commercialized imitation either, we spotted a Lichtenstein print in the lobby/atrium. Genuinely, I enjoyed seeing a wide variety of artistic talents. It wasn’t quite like visiting MOMA, but it was a step above the typical décor on a cruise.

All said and done, for a ship nearly a quarter century old, she was looking quite nice. However, that veneer of elegance and culture would soon wear away.

Endless Upselling/Nickel and Diming

I need to roll the clock back a bit here. Although the review started with getting on board, the communications marketing emails before sailing were ludicrous. I wrote this in my Princess review as well; I understand most cruises are very interested in selling you packages because that is where they make most of their money. However, I have never witnessed such an aggressive marketing campaign as what they sent us.

Many lines have drinks packages, Wi-Fi packages, gratuity packages, dining packages, etc., I get it. There’s a price tag to everything. But Celebrity, they take it a step further. We were sent an email about purchasing a package nearly every day since booking the cruise almost a year ago. Not only that, but the packages themselves go “on sale” and they have variable pricing. Over that time, we observed the base price of various packages change. It’s the classic, mark it up before you mark it down tactic, now infamous on Black Friday. There are whole threads on cruise forums about getting the best deal and if the packages are really “on sale” or if the promotion is nothing more than a marketing mirage.

To illustrate the idea, here’s a scenario. A company might offer a product for $100. That product may go on sale for 10% off, making it $90. However, the company’s marketing department decides it wants to advertise a big sale but doesn’t want to lose any potential revenue. To accomplish that, it marks the price up to $150 but then runs a 33% sale, reducing the price to $100. Technically, it’s “on sale” but it isn’t a discount from the typical price. It’s deceptive practices like these that make it a nightmare for consumers.

A sculpture from the aft stairwell. In my opinion, this is an apt image when discussing these packages…

Marketing campaigns like this hit our inboxes frequently from Celebrity, even more so the closer the cruise got. We also received push notifications from the cruise line’s app, trying to get us to buy addons.

The upselling and addons don’t end there though. Once you’re on the ship, now the staff has a captive audience. I’ve been upsold on cruises before, most of the time it’s a pretty soft sell these days. In the past, I’m told, the upselling was much harder on many lines, but now it doesn’t seem quite so bad. Not on Celebrity, they’re as hard as I could imagine about selling you “upgrades.”

At every single meal in the dining room, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, save for the last 36 hours on the voyage, we were pressured to make a reservation at one of the paid restaurants. First it was for Le Petite Chef, an interesting concept of an animated dinner table geared for kids (at least it looks like it’s geared for kids). Then it was the Tuscan Grill, their onboard steakhouse. After that it was for Sushi on 5, a sushi bar on deck 5. Specifically, they really wanted us to go to their sushi restaurant on a special lunch where they were serving Indian cuisine. I really must give Celebrity credit here because, somehow, they just knew that whenever I want sushi, I actually want Indian…

This is Indian on 5, I mean Sushi on 5. It’s so confusing.

We were going to try Sushi on 5, we planned for it beforehand, but after two days of unending pressure to make a reservation, we didn’t want to go. I’ve worked in sales. I was good at it too. I outsold everyone in the region, after being there only a month. My point is, I know how to sell something to a person. I’ve never used hard sales tactics, and I never will. It doesn’t work on most people and on the people it does work on, they’re just too embarrassed to tell you, “No, I don’t want that.”

The shops were less pushy about buying something than the people at restaurants were about getting you to eat anywhere other than where you were. I don’t blame the staff; I know that management is likely pushing them for quotas or something. Nevertheless, it made for a deeply uncomfortable dining experience every time. When between 1-4 people try to sell you something while you are eating, it isn’t pleasant.

Now, let’s talk some more about those packages…

Package Comparison

I cannot find publicly available pricing for any packages offered. Celebrity does not seem to list them on their site and will only list them after you’ve selected a cruise date. There’s no easy way to compare how much one person is paying for a package to what another person is paying. And mark my words, it will be different from one cabin or sailing to the next.

Drinks Packages

Celebrity doesn’t make it very easy to compare because of their variable pricing, but here’s the basics.

Classic Drinks Package

• You can get a variety of beers, spirits, cocktails, liqueurs, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass. You also get 15% off all wines by the bottle.
• Price is somewhere in the neighborhood of $90/person/day.

Premium Drinks Package

• Specialty coffees and teas, craft and artisanal beers, spirits, cocktails, frozen drinks, Coca Cola products, premium bottled water, and wines by the glass. You’ll also receive a 20% discount off all bottles of wine.
• Price is somewhere in the neighborhood of $110/person/day.

Zero Proof Package

• You get juices, premium coffees and teas, and bottled water.
• Price is somewhere in the neighborhood of $35/person/day.

Which should you choose? That all depends on what you want to drink. If you love to drink a basic light beer while you relax, then the Classic is the way to go. However, if you want cocktails or decent wine, then the Premium is the best bet (I looked at the cocktails and mixing liquor available to the Classic package and it wasn’t impressive). If you don’t drink much, like one or two drinks a day, then just get the Zero Proof and pay for alcohol as you go – you’ll save money.

The Tuscan Grille. An additional fee allows you to dine here.

There are some catches, though, because of course there are.

If you like a sparkling water or Red Bull, those aren’t included in the Classic package. Nor are premium coffees or teas. Same goes for the juices and smoothies available in the Solarium (which were quite good). So, don’t be caught off guard by that. The Classic package does not include everything from the Zero Proof. If it did, I might have picked it up, but I didn’t and saved a lot of money by just ordering a drink when I felt like it. Even at the outrageous prices of a ship, ordering two or three cocktails a day would still be cheaper than getting the package. If that’s closer to how you drink, just do that.

Internet Packages

No Wi-Fi is included in the base fare, in case you were wondering. If you want internet on the ship, you gotta give.

There’s the Basic Wi-Fi package. Celebrity says it’s good for browsing, messaging and email. Apparently, this cannot be purchased individually, it can only be purchased as part of the All Included package.

After that is the Premium Wi-fi package, which says it’s good for streaming, social media posting, and video calls. I can confirm that these claims were true for our cruise on the Constellation.

Pricing is variable, obviously, for these plans, but I’ve seen anywhere from $15 to $25/day

Then there are overlapping packages that cover multiple areas.

The Premiere Access package gets you early boarding, covers room services fees, and includes the Premium Wi-Fi. It costs, somewhere in the neighborhood of, $25/day.

This was a nice touch when we stopped at Key West. These were dropped in my room complimentary. I don’t know if that’s a Concierge exclusive or not.

The All Included Package gets you basic Wi-Fi and the premium drinks package for somewhere in the neighborhood of $85/day.

Either of those may represent value to you if were purchasing certain things anyway.

Here’s the takeaway though, Celebrity obfuscates the packages because they want to be able to get the most money from you. Transparent pricing and structures are nowhere to be found. When I look at other lines, I can see what things cost. Princess, for example, has clear and consistent pricing on their Plus and Premiere packages. Virgin has no drinks packages and offers consistent bonuses for Bar Tab purchases. Celebrity does its best to remove any ability to compare package pricing and value.

Further, there’s no way to see pricing on any package, other than the All Included Package, until AFTER you have booked your cruise. That means that you might not even know what your cruise will cost until after you’ve handed over money. It is impossible to give you the price of a package until you’ve already you booked the cruise.

I really dislike… no, I hate this practice. I can entertain an argument that if you are willing to pay for something, then that is what it’s worth. However, hidden pricing structures and FOMO (fear of missing out) lead to deceptive practices that prey on customers. I’ve never been a fan of any nickel and dime strategy, but this is a whole new level. Move over Uber “surge” pricing, there’s a new (old) champ in town.

Dining and Food

The most lauded part of Celebrity, going off everything that I’ve heard, is the food. For years now, I’ve heard tale of the legendary cuisine on their ships. Dazzling bars, glittering restaurants, exciting verandas. But I didn’t find any of that on the Constellation. I know that she’s an older ship and wasn’t designed to have everything that Celebrity’s modern marketing shows off, yet what was there just wasn’t good.

I’ll cop to the fact that I didn’t try the additional paid dining experiences, but after you read what the food was like, I believe that you would skip them as well.

Main Dining Hall

Our first chance to experience what Celebrity’s kitchens had to offer was at the exclusive lunch available to the Concierge cabins and to anyone who purchased the Premiere Access package. It included a butternut squash soup or Caesar salad to start, then a choice of salmon, chicken, short ribs, or whole wheat pasta.

The whole wheat pasta from the welcoming lunch.

We tried everything but the salmon, I’m the only one who liked fish in our group, and I wasn’t in the mood for it. The soup was decent, nothing to write home about, but it was enjoyable if small. To the kitchen’s credit, the soups throughout the journey were always adequate to pretty good, never fantastic, but never bad either.

The Caesar, as it turns out, was a menu staple, available at every meal. Unfortunately, its flavor was very muted. The tangy yet savory nature of a Caesar dressing was, at best, a subtle whisper of itself. As though someone waved an anchovy over some egg yolks and then said to them, “There, I think you all have an idea of that flavor.”

Main dishes were the first deep disappointment. The fries with the chicken were, as described by one of us in the moment, more akin to mashed potatoes than French fries. The penne was somewhat gummy, one might call it mealy. It was something that I chalked up to the whole wheat element, but that, as I learned later, wasn’t the problem. Last, the short ribs were the closest thing to enjoyable we had. The couscous was well handled, and the carrots weren’t overdone. The ribs themselves were muted in flavor but were well cooked.

The chocolate cake and apple pie were pretty sad. The cake was fine for cake, neither good nor bad. It was about the same quality you get at an office birthday party when someone picked the cake up from your local supermarket. The apple pie was just bad though. Flavorless apples, very watery inside, soggy crust. There wasn’t even any of that wonderful, caramelized filling that you get when you make a proper apple pie – it tasted like thinned applesauce.

The apple pie. There’s no gooeyness like there should be.

We all figured that it was the first meal, a lunch for early boarding groups, it couldn’t possibly be the best they had to offer. Oh, how naïve we were.

When we got around to dinner that night, we were looking forward to a proper meal from the renowned Celebrity chefs. We had a jerk chicken, linguine with clam sauce, and a ravioli. I wanted both the ravioli and the clams but couldn’t decide, so my table mates all agreed to share in the clams. This is where things started to go completely wrong.

I ordered the ravioli and received four of them. That’s it. That’s the whole dish. Four ravioli.

For a fleeting moment I thought, “Ah, Celebrity has more modest portions.” But I could not possibly imagine how wrong I was. Because, just a moment later, the jerk chicken was set down in front of one of our dinner mates and it was half a chicken. Half a chicken.

Half. A. Chicken.

Just for one dish.

I would use half a chicken to make dinner for four people, not one plate. Most of the dish went to waste because it was too much. Meanwhile, I’m across the table happy that I had ordered two entrees. But my relief quickly faded as I tried the pasta and once again found my mouth filled with playdough. The clam sauce was just water and the clams were… fine. I guess.

Lest you think it stops there, later that night our dinner mate threw up, quite a lot, and was feeling ill since dinner. I can’t pinpoint the cause, but vomiting up one’s dinner is rarely a compliment to the chef.

This is a main course? How is four ravioli a serving?

Neither dinners nor lunch got better. The breads were borderline stale. Nothing had flavor, ever. We so dreaded going to dinner at night, that we skipped the final meal and ordered room service – which was better because I didn’t have to get dressed up for it.

Which brings me to the staff in the dining room. As I’ve already recounted, multiple times per meal, between 2-4 staff would try to sell us on going to another restaurant. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather not have dinner interrupted by a poorly rehearsed sales pitch. The staff weren’t into it either. You could watch the life drain from their eyes as they started in on it.

The blank, passionless faces as server or manager tried to get us to spend more money just reeked of desperation. They hated it. We hated it. It made us all uncomfortable. We would be having a nice chat about something as we drank our beverages when, out of nowhere, someone would approach the table and ask us, “Do you like Indian food?”

We would blink back at them, wondering where on Earth this question had come from, and inevitably reply, “What?”

They would repeat, “Do you like Indian food?”

“Yes, we do. Why?” our response went.

They then confidently stated, “You should go to our Sushi restaurant. Let me book you a table.”

We weren’t interested at making that reservation right then so we would say, “No, thank you.”

But the pitch would continue, each time, until we gave a hard “No, we don’t want that.”

How is half a chicken a serving?

It didn’t help that we encountered more managers trying to sell us something than we did checking on our meal. In fact, at one point, a group of 4 managers stood next to our table, talking away about something, looking at one another’s phones. While they stood there, we had been brought our food, but the assistant waiter had taken all our silverware, which meant we had nothing to eat with. So, we sat there for nearly ten minutes before an assistant server from another table checked on us and discovered the problem. The entire time, the managers just stood there, not noticing an entire table not eating, right next to them. We had even been waving at them.

At other times staff behaved oddly about the menu and dishes. Once, our waiter brought us a shrimp scampi plate to share. We hadn’t ordered it because none of us really cares for shrimp. He simply set it down and told us to try it. When it wasn’t eaten, he glowered at us and said, “I guess you didn’t like the shrimp.”

Another waiter forced me to order a side of lobster, which I do like from time to time but wasn’t really in the mood for. He just became so pushy I eventually acquiesced to his demand that I consume a crustacean.

That same waiter tried to tell me that I shouldn’t order a dish, but not by telling me that it wasn’t good. Rather he asked me 5 times if I was sure I wanted the dish, which was a butternut squash and farro dish. When I ate it, he approached me and asked, if I liked it and I said, “Yes, it was the best dish I’ve had here,” which was true.

I wish they’d cautioned me against this one. The clam sauce is just water…

“Oh, well most guests hate it,” was his odd and curt reply. I suppose I can appreciate a waiter trying to stop me from making a mistake, but I would rather a waiter trust my taste to guide me in choosing a dish, rather than trying to “fix” it for me before I’ve tasted it. Yes, I may send a dish back, but it’s just a better experience for the guest that way. Not to mention, why are you putting a dish on the menu that the servers know most guests to hate?

Multiple times staff tried to assure us that things weren’t going to be spicy, and they never were to our mouths. We were told the butter chicken had a little heat, but not too much. It was the mildest butter chicken I ever had. The same was true of the jerk chicken from the first night.

Weirdly, the dishes were even short of salt, desperately short. Nothing came salted. Not the butter. Nor the fries. Not even the sauces or soups. None of it.

Save for one, single, red potato half served with salmon one night. That potato had enough sodium in it to make jerky from the fish. I could have mummified the dinner with nothing but one, starchy, hemisphere.

Perhaps the worst sin of all is that dinner was long. Agonizingly long. When the food is excellent and the service attentive, a long meal is something to be savored. Why, a dinner itself can be the evening’s entertainment. But, when the cuisine is poor and the service more concerned with selling you a different meal than ensuring you have silverware, it’s another matter entirely.

The blandest fries ever.

Each meal was typically 2 and a half hours. That’s long for a dinner by almost any measure. And, when all you have to look forward to is another bland dish and a roulette wheel of which person will ask you about booking specialty dining, 2.5 hours drags on, ad nauseum, rather literally as happened that one night…

Major Problem

This part is so concerning that I need to point it out separately. One night, at dinner, we ordered our usual round of mocktails. We ordered the same mocktail from the menu each night. The listed drink, a Strawberry Fizz, never changed so it was easy to keep ordering it. Typically, we ordered three rounds over the course of the 2.5-hour meal. However, there was one time when our non-alcoholic drinks were alcoholic. They had been made with vodka in them.

Before you start thinking, “Well, that’s kind of a freebie then, isn’t it?”, no, it isn’t. If you order a non-alcoholic beverage, that’s what you expect. There are many reasons a person might order something without alcohol. They may be a recovering alcoholic, it could be for religious reasons, medical reasons, even personal taste.

That drink could have been served to a child and a child would not have known that it was spiked because they wouldn’t know what that tastes like. It would taste funny to them, but perhaps not funny enough to stop drinking.

Serving alcohol in a non-alcoholic drink is, perhaps, the worst sin a bartender can make. It’s potentially quite dangerous and it may even break the law. I know it’s unintentional, but it’s completely unacceptable. This event alone gave me deep fears about sailing this line and the attention they pay to their food and drink preparation.

A Strawberry Fizz.

Buffet

Before you ask, no, the buffet wasn’t better.

One morning, when trying to get some cereal, a staff member picked up the dispenser and carried it away, never to return. Some stations were served by staff, others were self-serve. Whichever it was, it was never clearly indicated because every station had open fronts to the buffet, indicating self-service. That’s not to mention the apparent understaffing by the line. Often, I would see no more than 2 people working at any given half of the buffet. Their duties seemed to cover everything from restocking, to serving, to cooking. It was a mess.

At another moment, I watched a staff member put a pizza out for the buffet and, in doing so, knocked the serving tongs onto the floor, in front of a guest. Rather than being bothered, the guest simply picked them up and used them. The diner behind the first guest gladly took the same tongs and used them again, even after watching the whole thing unfold. Nothing says food safety like “floor-tongs.”

While I recognize that I could have just been unlucky with the time of my visits, it isn’t a good look. No other line I’ve sailed delivered that sort of experience.

The buffet also has a made-to-order pasta bar and here is an example of the quality:

This is, allegedly, alfredo. It came from their made to order pasta bar.

I’ve dubbed this dish, alfredo noodle soup.

Looks more like soup to me.

There was simply nothing that tasted good here. Every meat was dry. The eggs were always runny AND dry. The bread was often stale. I witnessed unsanitary practices and, based on my experience as the ServSafe certified staff for a restaurant I worked at for 3 years, I saw many things that, in my opinion, a health inspector would have issues with, were this a restaurant in my area.

Given this recent report, I can’t say I’m surprised. Yes, that is about a Royal Caribbean ship, but Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean. As a capstone, here is what I wrote in my Princess Cruises review about buffets:

• They’re wasteful. Much of the food that gets made for a buffet gets thrown away during service turnover from one meal to the next.
• Buffets encourage people to mill about, looking at what food there is before they take any. They slowly and aimlessly wander between one island of food to another, all the while unaware of their surroundings. I can’t even blame the people for this, it’s the unintentional result of the basic design of buffets.
• They’re dirty and unsanitary. You are constantly touching the same serving utensils that hundreds of other people have been touching without washing the utensil in between each person.
  
  Norovirus is the most common disease spread on cruise ships, and it often is spread by feces (that’s poop).
  
  I’ll let you make the connection between those two statements.
  

For these reasons and many more besides, I immediately hate all buffets, and I discourage people from going to them if it can be avoided.

Remember, I go so you don’t have to.

Café Al Bacio and Gelateria

I was so disappointed in both locations.

The treats from the Cafe look good, but aren’t.

The Café was run abysmally. My first job as a college student was as a barista. I learned how to time espresso shots, how to maintain the machines, and the correct amount of espresso to put in the portafilter. I was steeped in the refined practices of procuring caffeine. This café violated everything I learned. I won’t bother enumerating all the various violations, rather I will simply state the most consistent and egregious violation.

Multiple times, I watched the staff pull shots of espresso and let them sit, waiting until someone ordered a drink. The shots would just sit there, getting cold, until someone ordered a latte or something else. Not only does a hot food item increase the risk of foodborne illness as it cools, but cold espresso loses all its flavor.

This means that not only was it dangerous, but it also made for bad drinks. Made even more offensive by the fact that they were using good espresso! All of this was done to save seconds, SECONDS, for an order. This wasn’t a drive through, it was a cruise ship. People are on vacation. Waiting for a well-made latte should be a high point of the day. I don’t want my drink to be rushed out slop that not even Tim Horton’s would serve.

As for the Gelateria, it was somehow even more poorly run. Everyone who is part of the Captain’s Club, Celebrity’s loyalty program, is given one complimentary scoop of gelato each voyage. It isn’t much, but it’s still gelato. When we tried to take Celebrity up on the benefit, we almost couldn’t.

The gelato was good, I just wish it didn’t take 20 minutes before a staff member showed up.

We went to the Gelateria and there was no one behind the counter. We then checked the hours of operation, and it was indeed open. Five minutes passed, then ten. At about fifteen minutes we figured that, at this point, it’s now a curiosity – how long will we have to wait. Near the twenty-minute mark, a young woman, in a Celebrity uniform, came over and asked if we were waiting for the gelato. We said yes and she then told us something that stunned me.

“I don’t work in this area, but sometimes the person who works the gelato station just disappears. I don’t know where they go but they go away for long stretches. I’m going to help you though.”

I really appreciate this staff member. She was going beyond her job to make something right. But that shouldn’t be necessary, and it really made me question what, exactly, was going on with this ship?

Poolside Grill

What can I say about a grill that serves nothing but hotdogs, burgers, and fries? I should love it. Despite what you might think based on my snarky remarks, there are few things I love more than a nice burger and fries. That’s why it’s sad that I didn’t even like this place. The quality aspires to McDonalds. The ole’ Golden Arches laughs, mockingly, at the pitiful state of this grill.

That’s where the Poolside Grill is. You can tell, because it’s at the side of the pool.

If you read the above, you already know the fries were unsalted and mushy. You will find no crispy refuge of salty delight here.

The burgers were the finest that your local middle school cafeteria has to offer. If that appeals to you, wonderful. Bon voyage!

The hot dogs were the best thing here, but the bar was quite low. I can’t say anything else about them. It’s a hot dog.

Both the hot dogs and burgers were cooked en masse and then stored in warming pans. Unless you got lucky and timed it right, you would never get a fresh one. That means that they were all rubbery.

AquaSpa Cafe

This is in the solarium, which is a nice space, I just wish the food was. We tried a bowl of udon noodles and they were paste as well. It’s clear that no one on the Constellation has any idea about how to cook noodles of any variety.

They also had some cut fruit there, which was… fine. It’s cut fruit.

The smoothies from here were quite good though!

Blu and Luminae

These two are exclusive restaurants on the ship. Blu is for guests in Aqua class, while Luminae is for guests in suites. While I was onboard, I didn’t qualify for either restaurant because we were in Concierge class. However, as I mentioned at the start of the article, Gretchen and Karen were upgraded into an Aqua Class room and they did eat at Blu.

Although we couldn’t eat here, Luminae looked quite nice.

According to them, they recount a similar experience with foods around their ship, the Silhouette. Bland, unsalted food everywhere. Poor service, with pushy sales from servers and managers. They, too, did not enjoy the main dining room.

Blu, however, was excellent by their standards. They recalled the food there would hold up as a restaurant in any major city in the US. Further, the staff in the restaurant did not push them to buy another meal somewhere else on the ship.

By their reckoning, if you are sailing a Celebrity ship, it’s worth paying for Aqua class just to have good food. They even commented that the food at Blu was better than the other paid, premium restaurants. 

Rooms

The room that we had was a Concierge class balcony room. There were three of us traveling, so two were in the bed and one was in the pullout bed from the couch. All of us are adults.

Beds

I do not know if the beds on a Celebrity ship are standard across the fleet, but in our cabin on the Constellation, the bed was neither good nor bad. It was comfortable enough to last a week on. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the bed I had on Princess, in an inside cabin. Nor was it any more comfortable than a bed on Virgin, which I described as, “the most comfortable futon.” The pillows that came with the cabin were natural down pillows. If you have an allergy to down, you will want to talk with your cabin attendant.

Concierge Class rooms do come with a “pillow menu,” which has three choices for pillows that will be provided in addition to the down pillows. Since sleep is one of those things that we firmly believe you should not mess around with too much, we all opted for the type of pillow that suited us best for sleep, rather than choose a different one for review purposes. As it happens, we all chose the “Swedish Isotonic” pillow, Celebrity’s equivalent of a Tempur-Pedic pillow. Aside from being a tad small for my taste, it was comfortable. I’m not sure it’s that much of a selling point by the end of the day, literally, but it did enhance my experience.

The view into the room from the entry area.

As for the linens, they were pleasant. I found them to be comfortably heavy but breathable. Now, I was sleeping directly under the AC vent, which may have colored my perception. Our cabin mate, who slept on the fold out bed from the sofa, said he was overheating most nights. Everyone is different though, so your milage may vary.

Celebrity may not have the nicest beds I’ve ever had on a ship, but I slept well, and my scoliosis wasn’t bothered by the mattress.

TVs, Stateroom Entertainment, Room Service

Something that’s become a standard in recent years are onboard entertainment systems. If you’ve flown on a plane since about 2015, you’ve likely had some sort of seatback screen or streaming video available on your phone. It’s also become a standard on cruise ships. Many of them have in-room streaming movies and series that you can call up with your remote. Not on the Constellation.

The TV in the room was small. I didn’t measure it but I’m guessing it was around 24”. It was an old LG with a fairly low picture quality. Not that the quality mattered much. All the TV had was 4 news channels, a few sports channels, and a strange channel that showed a smattering of different movies and TV series. It didn’t really bother me much, but I know how some families look forward to these sorts of entertainment services, so be aware. For the sake of clarity, I don’t know if the internal systems of the Constellation could even be upgraded to handle that, since it is nearly 25 years old, or if Celebrity has chosen not to make those upgrades.

It was a very small TV.

If you’re the type of person that likes to relax in their room and watch some movies, I strongly recommend getting the premium Wi-Fi.

Room service was better than expected. While some lines have upgraded to have room service on the app, that wasn’t the case with the Constellation. Orders to room service had to be made with the phone in the room. Not really a big deal, but it lacks the convenience of the app system. Surprisingly, the room service food was often better than other places on the ship. I don’t know why, but it was.

We took advantage of the breakfast several times, since we had early excursions. Orders were placed using a card that you placed on the door by 2AM each night. Deliveries were prompt and they would even follow directions for small extras; we asked for extra cream with the coffee, and we got that.

It wasn’t just breakfast that we tried, we also did dinner with it. Although the menu was limited, what we received was better than the main dining room or buffet. I’m going to chalk it up to the possibility of the food being made closer to the time of serving. Now, don’t misunderstand, the food still wasn’t good. The fries were mushy and unsalted, the burgers were rubbery, but the pasta was less starchy and pasty.

The service was also prompt. We rarely waited more than 30 minutes for food. When we pre-booked our breakfast deliveries they were always on time. Because we had the Premiere Access package, our costs for using room service were covered, so I found a lot of value there. I would say that using the room service is a high point for Celebrity and a must do on days with early excursions.

Bathroom

Fairly basic toilet

The bathroom was roomier than I was expecting, which was a nice surprise. Overall, though, it wasn’t the most pleasant space; the light inside wasn’t inviting to say the least. The panel that hid the lightbulbs above the mirror had several small black dots on the inside. These were either dead bugs or some sort of mold spot growing on the other side. The color temperature, a fluorescent blue, made it feel like a dank highway rest stop in the 90s. The fixtures were in decent shape, but I found the trash to be odd. It was a pullout bin that was never given a liner by the attendant. In videos I’ve seen, these are supposed to be given a liner bag, but our attendant apparently missed that memo.

The shower was supplied with Celebrity’s premium line of shower amenities. I thought they were fine. Not bad, better than most hotels, but not as good as some other lines. It was certainly better than what I found in Princess’ standard bathroom amenities, but not as good as Virgin’s.

More importantly, the shower was roomy, I had lots of space to move around. The shower head was adjustable, both in the type of stream made and it was on a slider to control height. It could also be used as a wand. However, the curtain did almost nothing to keep the water in. It was a cloth curtain, so water running through it was commonplace. We also noticed that the tiles in the shower floor were loose and several even came up during our time on the ship. It doesn’t bode well for the quality of the shower, especially in the long run of a year or two.

The adjustable shower head was actually quite nice.

Cabin Layout, Surfaces, and Outlets

We had a typical balcony stateroom layout. As far as I could tell, there was no additional space for booking in Concierge. When you enter the cabin, the bathroom will either be on your left or right and the closet and drawers opposite.

The bed comes next as you walk through the room. Queen size and, I believe, it is made of two separate mattresses so you can arrange it as one bed or two smaller beds. Each side is flanked by a nightstand and lamp. The drawers in the nightstand proved to be necessary for three adults when it came to clothes storage. The TV was near the bed, not that we used it much, and it sat on top of a cupboard that contained the cabin’s mini fridge. It’s worth noting that the door to the mini fridge was falling off its hinges, which isn’t a good look.

Past the bed there was a series of little storage shelves that we put some odds and ends in. Then comes the sofa directly across from the desk with a chair. The desk was the only flat surface in the room, and it saw a lot of use. On either side of it there was a storage cabinet, which couldn’t be accessed if the sofa bed was out. Make sure that you get anything you want out of them before putting the sofa bed out if you are using it.

The desk for the room and the only, practical, flat surface.

The only outlets in the room are one behind the TV and two on the desk. There’s nothing by the bed, so don’t go looking. I’ve covered how this is a pain before and indeed it was a pain for us. Trying to keep devices charged was a struggle, even though I have a 80w USB hub that I quite like. Between smart watches, phones, a camera, and laptops, we were always swapping stuff in and out.

The balcony was nothing special, two chairs and a small table, but they were well kept up. I saw only a few rust spots, which is impressive for a ship this old, which spends its life on the ocean. If you like spending time on your balcony, you’ll be happy with this.

Onboard Entertainment and Facilities

Celebrity focuses on musical performances, at least that’s what I saw the most of. The majority of the shows on our ship were musical in nature and there was one standup comic. The theater space is lovely. The seats are comfortable and there’s lots of them. However, we had a hard time actually seeing the shows.

What I’m about to write is so odd, I’m still not sure that I believe it myself. We found that the printed itineraries, placed in our room by Celebrity staff, had the wrong times on them. We tried to go see a show and there was nothing in the theater. It wasn’t just us either, several other people we ran into had the same problem.

This is the theater.

I suppose that something could have been printed wrong, it’s the most likely explanation after all. I can only imagine that several rooms received old information or perhaps incorrect information. But we did find that on several days of our trip, the printed itineraries did not match up with the actual time of events.

The performances that we did catch were the ones in the wine bars, directly outside the main dining room. Each night, there would be a performing group set up in the lounges to perform music for the bar. A dance floor invited guests to dance, which they did. To be frank, this is one of the highlights from Celebrity. The music was always covers, but that’s what people want. There was a wide variety and the musicians were quite talented. I enjoyed having a drink before dinner, listening to some music, watching people happily twirl their night away.

Celebrity clearly put their energy into the public spaces. The tables, chairs, and decorations were all quite nice. They have a blend of modern sophistication mixed with the rich wood motifs of the late 90s. There were lots of corners to lose an afternoon in, especially in the wine bars and the café at midship.

The Rendezvous Lounge and Cellar Masters

Both of these bars have a cozy sort of feel to them. The Rendezvous Lounge on Deck 4 would feature nightly performers and a dance floor, as I mentioned above. Cellar Masters, which focused on wine, was a bit cramped in its floorspace since Sushi on 5 was also contained there. I found the wine list on the Constellation to be lacking. If you are a wine drinker, I know that you are often disappointed when dining out, and this would have been no exception.

The Rendezvous Lounge was a nice place to wait for your dinner reservations.

I don’t believe that either of these places is worth spending much time in during the day, but at night they make for a refreshing refuge from an otherwise dull experience on the ship. Not many places have a lounge feel these days. Live music from jazz quartets or simple duos are few and far between, but they are still alive here. My only wish is that I had a decent malbec to pair it with.

Pools

There are two pool areas on the ship. One of them is open to children and the other is not, but both were lovely. The pool area that was open to everyone was right next to the Poolside Grill, hence the name. It features two larger pools and several hot tubs, all open air and in the sun. It was always very popular with guests and they typically had a DJ playing music or a cruise staff member directing a number of fun games.

The all guest pool, which was a very nice place to be.

If you are an adult you will be allowed to spend time in the other pool area. Celebrity maintains a space called the Solarium with a large and very relaxing pool in it as well as several hot tubs. I liked this area a great deal, especially on the last day of the cruise when it was raining. Since the Solarium is fully enclosed, the rain bothered no one. Of everything on the ship, this is the ONLY idea that I wish other lines would borrow from. I know that some of them do have similar spaces, but I’d like to see more.

It wasn’t really about the adults only space, although that was nice, so much as it was being enclosed. As someone who sunburns easily, being able to enjoy a pool without worrying about sun screen was wonderful! The Aqua Café was also located in the Solarium and, although the food from it was inedible, the smoothies and juices were very tasty.

The Solarium Pool, which was very nice indeed.

As a point of clarity, kids can access the Solarium, since it’s a throughway to other parts of the ship, and to access the Aqua Café. Children cannot, however, use the pool.

Trivia Games and Other Activities

One design element that just didn’t work for me was the very large Reflections Lounge at the front of the ship. They held several events there, including trivia, that we just didn’t go to because by the time we remembered it was happening it was already over. The issue is that it’s just so far removed from everything else, there’s no way that you would organically join in.

To get to the Reflections Lounge, you must go up to deck 11 and enter the fore stairwell. Then, on the starboard side, you will find it. The only other things in the area are the spa and gym, which are both one deck below, and the kid’s area on the port side of deck 11. Neither of which really beckons people to participate in things like trivia.

Speaking of the kid’s area, it includes a teen club, an arcade room, and a younger kids play area called the Fun Factory. I can’t say if they were good or not, but it’s such a small area of the ship I can’t imagine there’s much to do there. I only saw a few kids on the ship, which shouldn’t be surprising since it was mid-February and every school was likely in session. Not to mention that it’s a weeklong sailing, which always skews older anyways.

It was a nice basketball court.

Near midship, on deck 11, you will find a basketball court. It wasn’t exactly a visually appealing place, but it was rather fun to see a full basketball court on a cruise ship. Although, as I mentioned, it never seemed very popular. If you really like to shoot hoops, this is actually much better than many other cruises.

At the very aft of the ship, there is an area with cabanas and a large screen where they show movies. The movies are shown throughout the day and you simply get a seat and settle in. If you’ve gone on any other line that does movies like this though, you will be disappointed. The screen is dated, and the viewing angles are very narrow. There are also very few seats, so capacity is limited. It seemed as though you would have to camp out in the morning if you wanted a seat for the day. By comparison to other lines that do this, the experience was subpar.

The Gym and Spa

Everything’s good here. I was glad to have a nice gym to use.

There’s not much to say about the gym onboard other than it was well equipped, well maintained, and clean. I used it almost every day on the cruise and never had a bad experience. The staff is actively cleaning the machines and there are lots of signs to remind the guests that they are to do the same after AND before they use it. This is excellent gym hygiene protocol.

The cleanliness of this gym gave me no concerns. It was also kept quite cool, which every gym rat can appreciate. Although the gym wasn’t exactly a feature to book a cruise for, Celebrity earns a perfect score here, nonetheless.

The spa, which I didn’t spring for, seemed nice. From what I saw it looked comparable to any other cruise line. I rather wish I had paid for some services just so I could make a comment here, but I didn’t. This is one area that you’ll have to try yourself.

Who Is Celebrity For?

I’ve tried to answer this question, and I can’t. It doesn’t seem aimed at families, there simply weren’t enough things for kids to do. It doesn’t seem aimed at those interested in fine dining, the food and service just weren’t good enough. From my time on the Constellation, it seems aimed at people who have never cruised and won’t know that there’s something better available.

The whole ship seemed like it was playing fancy. The décor, the dress codes, the dishes, they all were playing at sophistication while offering none of it. You can’t find flavor; nothing salty, nothing sweet, nothing savory. My best guess is that a large number of clientele have sodium intake restrictions for blood pressure. If that’s the case, then I applaud the line for taking such good care of their guests – and perhaps that’s the reality.

Conclusion

Is Celebrity Cruises worth taking?

No, not in my opinion. Not from what I experienced.

I’ve heard the argument that to really experience Celebrity, you have to sail the newer ships. To that, I say, “What!?”

Why should I expect a better experience on a newer ship? Yes, I understand, time is linear, and the newer ships will have newer things and more modern features. That’s not what I’m focusing on.

What killed my experience was the food and the staff. I’m okay paying more for some better food, but Celebrity is more expensive than most lines. Therefore, I am paying more and should expect better food, but it wasn’t there. The cuisine was pathetic and the service nearly as bad.

This should be full of dark, rich notes. It looks amazing, but was tragically bland.

Anecdotally, I made some cruise friends on the ship, and they all echoed, unprompted, that the food was terrible, and the service matched it.

I’ve never been upsold, ignored, dismissed, and rushed so often as I was on the ship. Crew were downright rude to us. I realize that this may sound entitled, but this is the hospitality business. The whole point is to allow guests to relax and take care of their needs and wants. That’s why you pay the money to do this.

This was my first time on Celebrity and I won’t be going back and I cannot recommend that anyone else go either. I don’t care if the newer ships have more things to do and updated restaurants. No matter the ship in the fleet, food and service should be just as good on the flagship as anywhere else, even if there may be less variety.

I sailed on an older ship of Princess’ fleet, and I had an amazing time. The staff was remarkable, and the food was the stuff of dreams. I’d happily sail with that company again and it would likely cost me less for a better time.

Here’s a cost comparison between two similar itineraries with Princess and Celebrity.

The cruises leave on the same day from the same city and have similar stops. Both are booked for two people, in the lowest cost balcony category. I chose the All Included package on Celebrity and pre-paid the gratuities, and I chose the Princess Plus package on Princess. It’s as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as you can get. The Princess cruise is also one day shorter, so I have calculated the price on a per-person per day basis.

Let’s compare prices from two lines, Princess and Celebrity.

On Princess, it comes out to $251.17/person/day. Celebrity comes out to $298.40/person/day.

That’s just shy of $50/person/day more for a line that just showed me it cares more about getting me to buy Indian by way of sushi, than it does making sure I have utensils to eat.

I’m not going to try and talk about the value of one line over another here because value is subjective. If you really like whatever Celebrity is offering, then perhaps that price difference is worth it to you. And, if so, please, book it, enjoy yourself. But what I saw from the line didn’t make me want to sail it again.

The most frustrating part of all this is that there are things that could be great but aren’t. Celebrity’s Solarium is a wonderful space, the gym is very well kept up, the art has a touch of class. The rooms were older, yet comfortable, and the small size of the ship meant it never felt crowded. But the staff was unpleasant and pushy, and only occasionally helpful. Sometimes they were simply not there. Knowing that I’m paying a premium for this line and getting worse food and service than anything else I’ve been on leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

My best advice is, if you are thinking about Celebrity, think about something else.

The post Celebrity Cruises Review: What In The World Happened? appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

Originally named after the high contrast, black and white camouflage paint experiments on wartime ships, Razzle Dazzle, the restaurant, aimed to serve up amazing vegetarian and vegan dishes. Unfortunately, much like the attempts at stealth it’s named after, the concept didn’t work as well as initially hoped.

However, like all good companies, when something doesn’t work, you pivot. Virgin has done exactly that by changing the concept to serve Chinese cuisine and renamed it Lucky Lotus.

The more relaxed, but still dynamic decor of Lucky Lotus.

Why the change?

I want to be clear; I like Razzle Dazzle and it’s still around on the Valiant Lady and the Resilient Lady. Scarlet Lady, though, now has Lucky Lotus by Razzle Dazzle.

Virgin takes customer feedback seriously and customers said they wanted a Chinese restaurant. The same customers also had lukewarm reactions to the Razzle Dazzle dishes. And so, Virgin called an audible and changed the evening menu.

Ah, yes, it’s important to note that the brunch menu for Razzle Dazzle is still mostly the same. That’s because the same customers that said they weren’t thrilled about dinner, were also very clear that they really liked the brunch.

The lightly updated brunch menu at Razzle Dazzle, which it’s called in the morning.

Still, the brunch menu did receive a few updates. Now you can order fried rice, dumplings, and wonton soup. All of them are delectable options and add more savory breakfast choices. Rest assured, though, that the favorites of fried chicken, buckwheat waffle, and the ever-divisive bacon are all still there, as are the rainbow churros.

Is Lucky Lotus any good, though?

In short, yes. Very much, yes!

As research for this article, I ordered, almost, everything on the menu over a series of meals. I had a companion with me (my mom!), so I got her thoughts on it as well. We have different palettes, but we enjoy many of the same foods.

Lucky Lotus Menu.

Here are my thoughts by course:

Starters

The apps are so tasty in Lucky Lotus that it’s not even fair. Truly, you can’t go wrong here and trying to pick a favorite is painful! I can confidently recommend just getting all the apps as an option for your dinner. Lots of folks do that on the ship, just order appetizers and eat small portions until you’re full.

Peking Duck Bao Buns – 11/10 no notes! If you like duck, these are an instant success, and they took my top spot.

Those bao buns are something else!

Honey Sriracha Sticky Ribs – A very close second and they have some heat, but not a lot by my standard so don’t be scared by that.

Pan Roasted Vegetable Dumplings – These are a little different than other dumplings, they come with a crispy wafer on top and that truffle soy sauce is excellent! They serve these on the brunch menu, and I had them each day I had breakfast at Razzle Dazzle.

The dumplings are very easy to love, especially at brunch – which is when this was taken,

Trio of Lengcai – Pickled vegetables are a staple in starters and a perfect and refreshing way to start a meal. The lotus root was not something that I’d had before and it was really delicious. These took my mom’s top spot!

Kabocha & Chicken Wonton Soup – I love a good wonton soup and this certainly delivered. The portion on this was much larger than a starter typically is, it really could be a main course for many people. Like the dumplings, this soup is on the breakfast menu as well and it’s a great way to start the day.

Crispy Walnut Prawns – Another larger starter than you might expect, definitely a good one to share. Obviously, if you don’t like shrimp, this one might not be for you. I don’t like shrimp, but I was surprised to like it quite a bit. My mom, who does like shrimp, said it was excellent.

Mains

The entrees at Lucky Lotus are varied and quite different from any other restaurant on the ship. Two of them we didn’t try, the Blossoming Sweet & Sour Fish and the Grilled Ribeye, we simply didn’t have enough time to. The other four were all good enough to make a reservation there a must do on any voyage.

Stir Fried Rice Noodles – This is the final dish that is available on both the dinner and brunch menus. I admit, there’s nothing really special about fried rice, but it’s a reliable favorite for a reason. The inclusion of noodles adds a little something special to it, and if you turn to stir fried rice as your comfort food or your typical breakfast, you’ll find just what you’re looking for.

The Stir Fried Rice Noodles are a hearty start to the day (notice the Razzle Dazzle bacon).

Buddha’s Delight – Ya know, tofu gets a bad rap and it’s completely undeserved. When handled correctly it’s amazing and this dished nails it! I also love the inclusion of asparagus into any meal – just sayin. Not to mention, this was my mom’s favorite.

Szechuan Hot & Sour Noodles – This is a standout! I always love a good hot and sour soup, but this steps it up to a whole other level. Look at those peanuts! The whole dish just pops and was my personal favorite.

Hot and sour soups are a staple of Chinese restaurants and you will love this one – I promise.

Five Spice Pork Chop – Another dish that brought some heat, but only just enough, not too much. Although the portion looks small, the dish is quite filling. We split one and it had both of us stuffed. If you like a breaded and fried meat, you can’t go wrong here.

Conclusion

Virgin Voyages took a gamble here and it paid off in a big way. When you’ve invested all the time Virgin has into figuring out their food suppliers, menus, chefs, process, and everything else that goes into a restaurant, changing all that isn’t your first instinct. I’ve worked in food service, starting anything is scary in that world, there’s so much that goes into it. Retooling your whole concept is almost as scary. It’s a big investment of time and money. Everyone gets retrained, a new menu is created, and new supplies are sourced. Not to mention that the entire space needs to be redecorated!

Razzle Dazzle is often listed as the most skippable restaurant and, even though it works for my tastes, I understand the sentiment. Lucky Lotus, on the other hand, I don’t think will be listed as “skippable.” These are quality dishes, made well, with wide appeal.

What this tells me is that Virgin is in for the long haul on this. They listened to feedback and changed course. They didn’t pull their punches in retooling but they also didn’t overcorrect by scraping the entire concept. That’s the sort of approach that’s keeping them as my favorite line to sail.

Well done!

The post Virgin Voyages Menu Changes – Lucky Lotus Review appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.

What can you do at Virgin Beach Club at Bimini?

Before we talk about the cabana specifically, let’s go over what’s available to do at Bimini. The main draw is, obviously, the beach. Its long, sandy, and warm, everything you want in a Caribbean beach. Even if you come from a place without miles long, sand strewn coastlines at the ready, the Virgin Beach Club at Bimini fits into the mental image of paradise.

The warm ocean water awaits, just feet away from you, but there’s also a pool for those less inclined to partake in anything that has a tide. There’s beach chairs everywhere you look, so there’s no shortage of seating. At one of the two pools there’s a DJ and at the other there’s a net set up to play pool volleyball. The bars (did you really think there wouldn’t be bars?) have a set cocktail and beer list and there’s lots of supply. Conveniently, any drinks that you order are charged to your cabin through your Virgin Voyages wristband, exactly like it would be on the ship.

There’s nothing quite like a warm sandy beach, and the Virgin Beach Club at Bimini certainly offers that.

Perhaps best of all, the Beach Club is included on Virgin. Other lines stop at Bimini and go to this resort. When they do, though, it is not included – it costs extra. When you are at the Virgin Beach Club at Bimini, the food is included as are soft drinks. Other lines stopping there can’t claim the same.

Besides drinking and lounging, guests can also choose to go on an excursion at Bimini. They offer snorkeling, kayaking, cultural tours, jet ski tours, even painting! Some of the most talked about are the stingray and dolphin tours though. Not all of those are, strictly speaking, at the beach club, but they are all available through Virgin at Bimini.

What’s the Virgin Voyages The Beach Club at Bimini like?

These pictures should give you a pretty good idea of what the Bimini facilities are like.

Everyone will have access to seating, but getting there earlier would get you more choice. The pools and beach are lovely. The music is loud, for good or for ill is up to you, but you can find seating far away from it if you aren’t in love with the beats – a travel agent can you help figure out which areas are the quietest or loudest if you care.

Bars and bathrooms are located throughout the club, but mostly toward the edges. Keep that in mind with your seat selection. Whether you want to party or nap in the sun, there’s a place for you here. As I’ve said many times before with Virgin, it’s rep as a fun party line is well earned, but it’s also a very chill relaxing line, where you can leave socialization to others. Bimini is no exception to that experience.

What’s it Like to Have a Private Cabana at Virgin Beach Club at Bimini

The cabana itself can hold a maximum of 6 people. There are two chaise lounge seats inside the cabana itself. Then there are two beanbag chairs just outside the cabana. Finally, two more chaise lounge beach chairs sit out in the bright light for those who want to sunbathe or dry off from the water.

You’ll also have access to some small and medium-sized tables where drinks and food will be set. Towels are provided at the cabana to lay on or dry off with. Everything we touched or sat on was very comfortable. I even took a brief nap in the shade on the chaise inside the cabana. I’ve got scoliosis and it makes getting comfortable enough to fall asleep a bit of a fussy affair, so being able to enjoy a nap on something says volumes about its comfort.

There’s not much that can beat that view. The sea breeze was lovely frome the shaded cabana.

If I wanted to, I could have stayed in that chair all day because the private cabanas also come with a dedicated attendant who will bring you food and drinks. I never needed to get up for anything. Our attendant simply asked what we wanted and then brought us that. Our attendant checked in frequently, at least once every 15 minutes.  By the way, for those of us who like blue flavored things, I do recommend the blue flavored drink.

There were some real delights on the menu, like the fried cassava root (front and center).

Now, I know that this will sound like I’m a hopeless technology addict (not an entirely unfair accusation), but my favorite feature was having access to a power outlet. Every private cabana has its own dedicated power outlet. You can charge your phone or tablet while at the beach! Look, I know, people often deride others for refusing to “unplug” on their vacation, but we’re all allowed to have fun in our own way. If you want to share pictures or just play some mobile games, you’re covered. They even have wi-fi at the beach, and it matches the ship wi-fi, so you don’t even have to do anything extra to connect. There’s no need to worry about a data plan here! Feel free to call your friends on Whatsapp and make them jealous.

Was it worth it?

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, value is subjective. Only you can make that determination, but here’s a breakdown to help illuminate the differences.

You don’t need a private cabana to enjoy the pool, which was very popular by the end of the day. This picture was almost right at opening, so there weren’t many people there yet.

Right now, it’s $650 to reserve a private cabana on the beach. I won’t mince words, that’s a fairly hefty sum of money for roughly 6-8 hours of time on the sand. That’s especially true, if you consider that you already have access to the Virgin Beach Club at Bimini as part of your cruise. When you compare that cost against the total cost of a 5-day cruise in a sea terrace cabin, averaging around $2300, the price of that cabana is like adding an additional 25% to the cost. Now, yes, there’s $100 of bar tab included at Bimini, but even then the cost is still high at $550.

Further, if you find any of the excursions on Bimini interesting, then you’ll be allowing yourself even less time to enjoy your private cabana. I do not recommend that you book both an excursion and a cabana, it’s one or the other in my opinion.

In fairness to Virgin, the Beach Club at Bimini is an excellent value for their customers. Other lines have similar private beaches to Virgin and the costs on other lines are similar, or more, for an equivalent experience. They also have similar conflicts with excursions, all because of that pesky linear time thing…

Now it may sound like I’m rather down on these private cabanas, but I’m not. I don’t think that they’re valuable to a solo traveler or even a couple, but I do think they are valuable for a group.

Get the party started

If you’re getting together with a bunch of people, a private cabana is the perfect way to get yourself a little space of your own. Celebrating a birthday, meeting up with some friends you haven’t seen in a while, getting together with your siblings because you don’t get to see each other as much these days. Those are all perfect gatherings for a private cabana.

We had 6 folks in the cabana next to us, but there was more than enough room for us all and we hardly heard them. You can have a very relaxing time as a group in the cabanas like the ones on the left.

The Virgin Beach Club at Bimini is a great place for groups like that to meet up, but you’re left a little bit at lady luck’s mercy for space. Remember, seating is first come, first served, and if there’s 5 or 6 of you in a group, that’s harder to find a cluster of chairs for. And someone is always getting up to get a drink or grab some food, which interrupts doing the thing you probably want to be doing – talking with each other!

Split the cost of a private cabana, set your stuff down, and let an attendant handle all the rest. It’s what you really want to do anyway. But if it’s just a couple of you, grab some chairs and enjoy the sun, there’s better ways to spend the money on your vacation.

The post What’s a Private Cabana Like at Virgin Beach Club at Bimini appeared first on Far Far Away Travels.