BINGO AND HIGH-END
CLUBBING AS VIRGIN REIMAGINES CRUISES FOR A YOUNGER TARGET MARKET
WITH my heart pounding and knees trembling, I throw my hands up in the air and scream, “Diva, I’m close!”
The glamorous figure on stage gasps and turns towards me but before she can sashay over, someone across the room yells out “Yaaasss, bingo!”, and it’s game over.
As all bad losers will tell you, it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts. And although I narrowly missed out on the $900 top prize, spending an hour with the Diva was well worth getting out of bed for.
It’s not every day you get to play bingo with a drag queen, but when you join a Virgin Voyages cruise, most days are far from ordinary.
Drag bingo is just one of the many activities you can enjoy on board, alongside morning meditation, karaoke, bungee workouts and bottomless brunches. Then there are the live DJs, supper clubs and West End-style shows as well as Virgin’s signature “Scarlet Night” where everyone is encouraged to wear red as they party by the pool.
It’s no secret that Sir Richard Branson is trying to bring cruising to a younger market and, at 40, my husband Nick and I are bang on target. We’re no strangers to cruising, but I did wonder whether we would be booking on to a party boat full of influencers.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and we loved our week on the Valiant Lady with passengers aged from 18 to 80.
We joined the ship in Barcelona for its French Daze & Ibiza Nights sailing, calling at Marseille, Cannes, Palma and Ibiza. And while Nick and I are not party people, preferring nice bottles of wine to nightclubs and early nights to late ones, we fitted right in.
That’s probably because the Virgin experience is whatever you make it: you come as you are, wear what you want and do what you like. No annoying announcements
I loved the handwoven hammock on the balcony and the enormous comfy bed
piped into your cabin at 6am, no one trying to pap you while you’re having dinner, no being loaded up like a packhorse for a day of exploring, and no screaming kids – because the cruises are adultsonly.
The week-long Mediterranean itinerary had a good mix of time onboard and overnight stays in ports.
In Marseille we hiked up to the Notre-Dame de la Garde then rewarded ourselves with some craft beer. From Cannes, we ventured to Nice and hopped over the border to Monaco, and in Palma we sampled wine at the Jose L Ferrer vineyard before sailing on to Ibiza. There, we saw Calvin Harris at Ushuaia and, while it was good to tick a superclub off the bucket list, it confirmed to me that my party days are over.
We had a much better experience in the Old Town, where we shared a litre of sangria and a huge plate of cheese for the same price as a bottle of Heineken at Ushuaia.
But it was always a pleasure to get back to the ship and relax with a margarita and some ambient beats.
With Virgin, you’re not a passenger, you’re a Sailor. You don’t book excursions – they’re “Shore Things”. An app allows you to control almost every aspect of your cruise, whether you want to book a table for dinner, reserve a spot in the spa, find out about the next destination or check your account balance.
You can even use the app to “Shake for Champagne”, and a smiling staff member will turn up wherever you are with a lovely chilled bottle of Moet.
It’s all very slick and stylish – much like the super cool ship itself, which has a superyacht-inspired design. Some of the bars and restaurants wouldn’t be out of place in swanky parts of London.
There’s a dizzying array of accommodation to choose from, from inside cabins to Rockstar suites, but our Sea Terrace had everything we needed, and more.
I loved the handwoven hammock on the balcony and the enormous comfy bed but, as our cruise coincided with a scorching heatwave, the standout features for us were the excellent air-con and powerful shower.
One of Virgin’s main focuses is food – and just like its staff, it is fabulous. There are more than 20 places to grab a bite and all restaurants are included in the price.
Some are more formal than others but our favourites included the labstyle Test Kitchen, where you can eat a six-course tasting menu, and upscale
Mexican, Pink Agave, which is home to the largest selection of tequila at sea. We were also frequent visitors to The Pizza Place, which cooks handmade pizzas to order and is open until 2am. Most of the restaurants are in The Galley – Virgin’s answer to a traditional buffet restaurant – but you won’t get any bunfights over the last burger here as it’s all table service.
Whether you want to create a salad, enjoy sushi or tuck in to breakfast at the 24-hour diner, you can. Food and drink can be ordered to your cabin at any time via the app.
Many things that other cruise lines skimp on are included, such as superfast wi-fi, filtered water, soft drinks and gym classes.
If you’re a seasoned cruiser who likes formal nights and Baked Alaska Parades, it might not be the line for you. But we booked our next cruise before we left the ship – and that should tell you all you need to know. Branson is definitely on to something.