Virgin Voyages, the adults-only, buffet-free, non-cruise-y cruise line, offers more than 40 Caribbean itineraries. It’s the world’s biggest cruise market, but the Caribbean is often thought of as too tricky for Australian travellers. What happens when you sail there with a rule-breaking cruise line? It depends, says Zoe Macfarlane. After an 11-night Caribbean sailing, she reports why you shouldn’t go with Virgin Voyages if you don’t like these six ‘problems’.
I’ve travelled to the Caribbean independently several times, so when the invitation to sail to Aruba, Colombia, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands aboard Brilliant Lady with Pam Nielsen, Virgin Voyages’ AU & NZ Sales Manager, plus four Australian agents (and their plus ones), I jumped at the chance.
If you read my Brilliant Lady review, you’ll know I had the most fun I’ve had in a decade. But is everyone suited to sailing the Caribbean with Virgin Voyages?
Six reasons why Virgin Voyages may not be for you
Don’t sail the Caribbean with Virgin Voyages if:
1. You don’t like convenience
If piecemealing every part of your trip is a badge of honour, Virgin Voyages won’t work for you.
Caribbean cruising with Virgin Voyages is convenience perfected. Sailing removes the headache of expensive flights (often not direct), airport transfers, delays, and the yawnfest of waiting, waiting, waiting – all familiar from my Bahamas, Cuba, and Puerto Rico trips.
Even before boarding Brilliant Lady, things were friction-free, with luggage drop-off ahead of allocated boarding and two lounges sans lines. With RockStar status, we met in the swanky VIP lounge for priority boarding, excitement humming to the DJ’s beats.
Once onboard, the conveniences kept stacking up: consistent, stylish accommodation, unpack once, eat well 24/7, and Shore Things (excursions) sorted. It beats the time I got scammed (and nearly scammed again) in Cuba.
For the impatient among us, the real flex is this: there’s no dead time. Instead of airports, plastic chairs, and power-point-hunting, our time between Miami, Aruba, Colombia, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman became spa time, trivia time, nap time, eat-your-way-through-20-eateries time.
2. You only want to see one destination
If you’d rather fly all that way for only one island, you’re not going to rate seeing the Caribbean with Virgin Voyages.
I’ve travelled there four times: island-hopping in the Bahamas, a cobbled-together Cuba trip, 10 days exploring Puerto Rico, and a week around Colombia’s Caribbean coast. I love the region’s culture and diversity, but each trip came with the fiddliest of logistics and issues.
It felt wild that with Virgin Voyages, I was leaping into blue holes in Jamaica one day, then swimming with stingrays in Grand Cayman the next. Add dancing, feasting, and making friends at sea and suddenly the ‘tricky’ Caribbean feels wildly easy.
3. You love paying more
If you’re on a mission to pay maximum bucks on your vacay, give up two days to airport life, and keep paying once you arrive, Virgin Voyages will truly irk you.
Last October, I priced flights from Miami to our Caribbean ports. The US $3,000 price tag to get around wasn’t pretty. Miami to Aruba and Aruba to Cartagena were each $300 one-way. Cartagena to Jamaica? A crazy $1,646, and Jamaica to Grand Cayman would have taken a whopping 20 hours!
With 36 hours of flying, plus the usual airport wait-fest, you’ve burned at least two days of your holiday just moving around.
Virgin Voyages flips this. Once you’re onboard, you’re set. Dining is included, specialty restaurants, too. The only thing holding you back from how much you eat is your waistband.
There’s also the stacked activity lineup: fun classes, fitness sessions, games, shows, and themed nights like the PJ Party. Sea days felt like the fun part, not the filler.
There are paid extras if you go looking – shopping, casino, tattoos – but the baseline is very generous. Not a drinker nor coffee snob, my splurges were two want-not-need boutique buys and a Redemption Spa sesh.
4. You enjoy playing day tour Russian roulette
Cuba offers world-class diving. Tour operators, not so much. Diving with bull sharks made me question my sanity with equipment older than Castro and no safety briefing. Gulp.
Booking tours independently is a game of chance. Is your safety their priority? Are the reviews legit? Will they get you back to the port on time?
With Virgin Voyages, you can do your own thing or a Shore Thing; the latter gave me peace of mind. With a focus on showcasing authentic moments, tours are categorised, such as Energetic, Cultural, and Relaxing.
The Volcano Retreat in Cartagena, Colombia, was a tour I’d have hesitated to book solo. Knowing the tour operator had been vetted meant I could relax during the bizarre-yet-effective mud volcano massage, not worry about my belongings while in the sweat lodge ceremony, and have zero stress about Brilliant Lady leaving without me.
5. You don’t mind who you vacay with
After a non-stop screaming kid on a Puerto Rican beach, I’m deeply loyal to the absence of petulant noise. Of course, if you love family resorts, kids’ clubs, and pool chaos, you may not vibe with Virgin Voyages’ 18+ energy.
It’s not only the lack of children: Virgin Voyages attracts happy Sailors from preppy twenty-somethings to still-got-it silver foxes. By Day 10, I felt like a minor celebrity as I walked the ship, bumping into all my new best friends.
And the crew? Virgin Voyages has built a reputation for treating them like equals, and it shows in every interaction. There’s pride, ease, and warmth everywhere, from my can-do cabin attendant to the restaurant teams and Happenings Cast.
6. You prefer your bland travel stories
If you like to say, “it was great”, then return to report writing, Virgin Voyages is not going to be the Caribbean host for you.
Expect to leave the Caribbean with capital S Stories – both from shore and ship. I’m home over a month, and I’m still talking about floating upright in a mud volcano, the stingray that brushed against my leg, and the bravery I felt leaping into the Blue Hole with a wiry Jamaican guide at my back.
I loved hopping between cultures, from the laidback Aruban guide to the quick-witted legend en route to Ocho Rios river tubing, to the bubbly skipper on my Grand Cayman boat trip.
Then there are the ship stories. Like the travel trivia I won, the bestie I met in a ‘90s boy band dance class, the rubber chicken I snatched in a game show.
The best bit? Our group meet-ups were a riot of stories, everyone enjoying their version of ‘living your best life’.
The verdict
Sailing the Caribbean with Virgin Voyages is like getting a vacation with your vacation. You get the ports and culture, and you get non-stop fun in between. With so much included, you’re bolder at attempting new things, too.
Of course, travelling friction-free and value-laden is not for everyone. But would I go back to seeing the Caribbean independently? Not now I know this way of life exists. It’s the travel upgrade I – and now you – didn’t know we needed.
Zoe was a guest of Virgin Voyages and the Voyage Store.
