Dominican Daze on Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady

Pre & Post-Cruise Stays: Information about hotels or accommodations before and after the cruise. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Miami the night before the cruise. It was a convenient 10-min Uber ride to the Cruise Port (you could even see the ships from our 19th floor suite at the hotel).

Essentials to Bring: Dress code on board was pretty casual. We dressed up a little in the evenings for dinner in the restaurants, but we saw plenty of people in shorts, so obviously that wasn’t a problem. Of course, bring your red shirt or other attire for Scarlet Night! I knew this in advance, didn’t come prepared and ended up buying a red Virgin Voyages t-shirt on board to completely get into the spirit of the party. Note you don’t have to do that, though, we did see plenty of people blissfully unaware that red was the color to be dressed in that night, so no worries if you don’t want to participate.

The Ship: Detailed description of the ship, including dining options, layout and amenities like spas or casinos. Virgin designed the interior of their ships as a collection of smaller spaces that have a more ‘intimate' feeling. But the downside being that spaces can feel crowded at times without anywhere to sit. However, I found this to be an upside for the dining venues where it felt like you were going to a restaurant every night vs. the traditional cruise ship main dining rooms. Speaking of dining, the rumors are true — Virgin has some of the best food at sea! We had an opportunity to dine at most of their restaurants, and across the board, the food was delicious and elevated. Cocktails and wine were also much better than I’ve had on other cruise lines. And never mind the traditional cruise ship buffet — Virgin has devised more of a food hall option called The Galley, where you can place your order up at the counter or at your table and be served, as well as some delicious grab-and-go options. For example, we really enjoyed grabbing options like sushi and freshly made sandwiches on the go when we didn’t feel like having a big to-do. In terms of other venues, we didn’t get a chance to partake in the spa or casino. opting instead for whiling the time away in some of our favorite on-board venues like the Sip Lounge, The Grounds Club, The Dock House and Dock and the outdoors portion of The Galley.

Entertainment and Activities: Overview of onboard entertainment and kid-friendly activities if applicable. Entertainment on board was seriously top-notch. From simple Karaoke with Diva (resident drag queen) to the Duel Reality acrobat show to Scarlet Night, which was so beautifully choreographed for several hours leading up the pool party itself, the vibe and slow-burn ramp-up and ‘seeding’ of the main event from every area of the ship was truly impressive.

In terms of activities, one of my absolute favorite activities on board and sort of a hidden gem was the Groupies karaoke rooms. You can sign up for every day and just show up at your appointed time slot for 30 mins of unabashed fun in your own little room (shout out to everyone belting it out in there without a care in the world, lol).

Another favorite activity of mine was my pre-dinner ritual of enjoying a glass of bubbly at the Sip Lounge. The lounge had large windows for sea-viewing, small nibbles to accompany your drink and the sweetest servers I looked forward to chatting with every night (oh, and there was some fantastic people watching to be had from there too!).

Finally, this may go against the grain a little, but I also enjoyed working out in the gym a few times during my sailing. Not surprisingly, there were never many people in there, so it was usually just me and various members of the Happenings Crew getting in a workout.

Port Calls: Insights into what to do and see at each stop. The sailing was called Dominican Daze because Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, was the main port of call on our 5-day sailing. Sailing in September, it was seriously hot, hot hot. Didn’t do a beach excursion or anything and instead chose to walk around the port a bit before retreating to the coolness of the ship to enjoy it half empty :) The next port of call was Bimini Beach Club, which has so much potential but we found it to be way too small to accommodate over 2000 guests and by the time we got there at around noon, there was literally no where to sit, no shaded lounge chairs in sight and just absolute chaos trying to find somewhere to chill out for a minute. Sadly, we had to turn around and head back to the ship as there was just no way to enjoy ourselves there and vowed next time to try and be there by 10 am latest to secure a lounger or skip it entirely. It wasn’t just us who were soured by the experience. We heard several others complaining about it too, so hopefully this is an area of improvement that Virgin will focus on in the future.

Additional Costs: Clarify what is included in the cruise fare and what is extra. Virgin Voyages is an all-exclusive experience, so unlike other cruises, we didn’t have to pay anything extra for basic wifi, gratuities or specialty dining. There are a few caveats here. Basic wifi is included and free in the cruise fare. I ended up upgrading to the premium wifi to have better connectivity since I had to be able to stream video and do video zoom calls from the ship. The upgrade was $100 for the entire 5-night sailing or $50 on Day three, which is when I took advantage of it.

Also, while the included drip coffee is complimentary and serviceable, as coffee snobs, we ended up purchasing one specialty coffee each per day (at about $4-$5 a pop) to get our caffeine fix. Alcoholic beverages are extra and we didn’t pre-purchase a bar tab but since we only consume 1–2 drinks each per day. Instead, purchased them a la carte in the $11-$14/drink price range.

Here’s what I would say — if you’re looking for unadulterated kids-free FUN, then run don’t walk to a Virgin Voyages cruise. If you’re looking for a more relaxing and serene experience this time around, it may not be the cruise for you. Either way, I found it to be great value for money, and having everything all-inclusive was a refreshing change — especially the restaurant-quality dining included in the cruise fare, which would typically be charged as specialty dining on other cruise lines.

We are more experienced cruisers, but I would absolutely recommend Virgin to first-time cruisers who fit the profile of Virgin’s core demographic. They have truly innovated on the ‘traditional' cruising experience that frankly feels outdated in this day and age.

In terms of must-do activities, I would say don’t miss out on the nightly entertainment and even smaller pop-up events (like Diva hosted Karaoke) and late-night dance parties at the Manor. By contrast, if you’re in the mood to chill out one evening, we loved hanging out on the Dock on the Aft of the ship. Nighttime was magical, whether lounging and enjoying a drink or just stargazing or staring at the wake. It was one of my favorite parts of the ship at night, and we made it a point to stop by every night for a bit of a hang.

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel to Dominican Republic. In need of further inspiration? Check out Taylor's French's guide, Dominican Republic Uncovered: Culture Beyond the Tourism Capital.