Our Virgin Cruise

[RB]

I really appreciated the trip report by @bPeteb (1) Resilient is my middle name - Christmas with Virgin Voyages | Australian Frequent Flyer. We were due to travel on the same ship so it was educational and very entertaining.

We are usually independent travellers and have never seriously considered a cruise-as regional NSW residents even to take a 3 night to nowhere is very expensive exercise just to see if is something you would enjoy.
Our mates are seasoned cruisers and contacted us in Aug last year to say they had accepted a great deal on a Virgin Voyages cruise. Despite some reservations we were soon booking the same trip.
The deal was through My Cruises and the rough details were Aust $2,590 each got us a Sea Terrace on the Resilient Lady for 12 nights sailing from Auckland to Sydney, positioning flight SYD-AKL in Y, 2 nights at the Crowne Plaza in Auckland and a shared $US900 ($1,375 Aust) bar/onboard credit-We thought this was a pretty sharp deal. When I last looked the flight (retail) was around the $300 mark each and the hotel room around the $190 a night mark
We did pay $50 each to get exit row seats and the drinks/food/works package-wise choices

 

[RB]

PQQ-SYD on Qantas QF2163
We haven’t done this flight for a few years and the waiting around PQQ departures is now certainly more comfortable. The flight was pretty on time but we did the long hold over the ocean off southern Sydney that seems to be a usual thing. Bags were quickly on the carousel. Being a fine, warm day and with time to kill, we decided to walk to the Meriton Central at Mascot. This is a very easy, flat walk but road traffic is a priority so there are a few longish stops for pedestrians to get the green light to proceed- all up less than 30 minutes with our roller bags & backpacks.







It was a great viewing day

 

[RB]

Meriton Mascot Central-One Bedroom King
We have stayed here previously (also at quite a few other Meritons) and we find they meet our requirements. Our early arrival was fine but room choice was limited- we accepted a lower level room. An excellent corner room with a good shaded balcony early in the afternoon. Much noisier than our previous stay so next time I will be picking a room away from Kent Road.
We walked the couple of minutes towards Mascot station and enjoyed a cheap, light lunch at Renegades then waited until our mates arrived via train from Thirroul. I had read some good reviews of the Western Legend BBQ at Mascot- a couple of minues walk from the Meriton & we enjoyed the evening dining experience there.

Meriton Mascot Central $153 is excellent value in Sydney










An easy lunch


Not my car


Dinner


Has to try the sweet & sour pork


Asahi on tap

 

[RooFlyer]

The deal was through My Cruises and the rough details were Aust $2,590 each got us a Sea Terrace on the Resilient Lady for 12 nights sailing from Auckland to Sydney, positioning flight SYD-AKL in Y, 2 nights at the Crowne Plaza in Auckland and a shared $US900 ($1,375 Aust) bar/onboard credit-We thought this was a pretty sharp deal.

Sounds like it!

 

[RB]

NZ 102 17C & D
An early start with some misty rain & cool. Decided on an uber instead of the short walk at either end for the train. $21.70 for a ride on the new “circuit” near the terminals. Self tag of bags & then a short wait to drop-seems a clumsy experience. Very quick through the airport checks then to the Amex Lounge. First visit & a good experience. An adequate breakfast choice & then moved to the “tarmac end” for a toast to our 1st cruise. Not a huge lounge but coping fine with numbers while we were there. Incoming flight had been delayed by low cloud/air traffic so we were about 45 min late departing. Well organised loading via seat segments & good room up top for our backpacks. Plane very full with mainly cruise passengers. Only just over 2.5hrs & served a nice lamb shoulder meals & multiple beers. Found enough music on the system to keep me entertained. Flight attendant did the lolly hand out as we descended- last time we were on NZ they gave the job to a child passenger. Pretty organised processes through the airport with our passports reading properly & our bags were out quickly. Hadn’t bothered getting data so relied on the airport wi-fi to get an uber- the signal didn't extend beyond the door. Very quick pick-up then a 50 minute drive though slow traffic to the hotel at Albert St. Had a great conversation with our driver who had a lot of tips for Auckland & cruising
Our travel mates beat us there via a Qantas flight they specifically opted for ( we were randomly allocated the Air NZ flight).

Amex Lounge Syd




Quick flight once we got going


Welcome to Auckland

 

[RB]

Crowne Plaza Auckland.
Full to the brim with cruisers. We were allocated a room with 2 queen beds ( one bed uncomfortably too soft) and it was very comfortable & quiet. No noise from the roadworks that have apparently been going on for 7 yrs. Lifts a bit slow at peak times (great views from one glass lift), wifi was excellent & staff we encountered great. We didn’t use the onsite bar & dining room but big numbers did. Thought the hotel location was excellent for wandering on foot. On the last day some paid around $8 for a Uber to the cruise terminal. Bit of a zoo with everyone checking out.
Our room had 2 queen beds-one so soft it was uncomfortable. Our mates had a single queen but did score a nice view of Sky Tower

Room 1715-very quiet & comfortable








View from mates room

 

[RB]

Around Auckland
All 4 of us had been in the city before so we had no must do activities & just wandered by foot. Our Uber driver had suggested Raviz for an Indian meal- a short walk from the hotel & we enjoyed an excellent meal of different curries. A bit confused by the off-set knife that we encountered. Beer & wine available to suit our needs.
Caught some great views of the tower on the way back to the hotel for an early night.
A bit dull, drizzle & cool for our full day wandering downtown Auckland. No shopping done but noted everything seemed expensive compared to OZ. We did strike a bargain with our 4 bottles of Oyster Bay wine to take on the cruise being on special. Had dinner at the Elliott Stables- just a bit of a food court type set-up so we could all pick our cuisine & drinks under the one roof-apparently a competitive dining location when first started but now all outlets centrally owned and quality has dropped off according to a local.

Uber driver recommendation




The "offset" knife




Sky Tower reflecting on a nearby building

 

[RB]

More of Auckland


Bluebells Bakery-good coffee too










Wanted to hear a Kiwi pronounce this

 

[RB]

Boarding
Allocated a 2.30pm slot-. Able to drop main bags in the morning with a bit of a line but maybe 10 minutes or so. Apparently Auckland has 2 terminals & one is a bit slower but we thought a 1hr 15min gap from joining the line until boarding the ship was a bit excessive. Our experienced mates thought it was their slowest boarding




Your Cruise Itinerary
Date Depature / Arrival Times Port of Call
15/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: 18:00 Auckland
16/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea
17/03/2024 Arrive: 08:00 / Depart: Wellington
18/03/2024 Arrive: 09:00 / Depart: Timaru
19/03/2024 Arrive: 07:00 / Depart: Dunedin
20/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea-Dusky/Doubtful/Milford Sounds
21/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea
22/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea
23/03/2024 Arrive: 08:00 / Depart: Hobart, Tasmania
24/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea
25/03/2024 Arrive: 08:00 / Depart: Melbourne
26/03/2024 Arrive: / Depart: At Sea
27/03/2024 Arrive: 09:30 / Depart: Sydney

Originally we were due to visit Christchurch but Timaru was substituted. As previously reported by others the app booking process for the dining was a shambles despite/because of us getting on there as soon as it opened.

Main bag drop-worked ok but there was an extra bag waiting outside our cabin when we arrived (bag was on wrong side of ship)




Bag drop was at red gazebos-line was longer when we left


About turn 5 you get to enter main terminal-good to see another Dragons supporter


Made it

 

[RB]

Cabin
11090Z, roughly mid ship, a Sea Terrace with a hammock that Mrs RB did make use of. We had no comparison points but were were comfortable. Our mates thought the bathroom was amongst the smallest they had experienced. Our allocated cabin attendants were excellent, cheerful, prompt & thorough. I was pleasantly surprised by the stability in our cabin & the general noise level was better than many hotel rooms I have been in.

We left the bed in place all day-could convert to sofa












Choice of rainshower or wand

 

[Coathanger]

I did a similar itinerary in reverse in December and found Auckland to be a bit quiet in the days leading up to Christmas.

Stayed at the Voco, a new build and also part of IHG, and thought it was quality.

Looking forward to your review of the onboard experience with Virgin Voyages.

 

[SYD]

Sailing on the same ship through the Med in a few months time.

 

[RB]

Sail Away Auckland
Bit of a wet affair out around the main pool. Very enthusiastic staff & generous amounts of free sparkling on offer. A few snaps taken with staff.

Internet
The Virgin app is the main communication tool & generally worked pretty well. We had no interest in paying $300 US for enhanced speeds. The general speed was very pedestrian at times with speeds around 0.5Mpbs. I did manage a Skype call & was able to do some general browsing but photos were very slow/refused to load. Plenty of other things to do anyway. We noted they are pitching a Med Cruise to "Work from Home " people with the "enhanced" internet included as part of a package.

General Observations
Passengers were a mixed lot of ages/nationalities/preparedness to acknowledge others presence/ walk on left or right etc. The staff were also a mixed lot but all seemed happy to be there (some were doing 160 odd days of work straight). It was obvious that there had been a lot of training, particularly for the main waiters. The attention to spills, slip hazards, breakages was excellent. Some staff were cruise veterans, some were on their 1st season, some their 1st time in the Pacific. I guess it is the nature of the work but more often than not, during longer conversations, family always got a mention. Sadly I thought some passengers had poor attitude to staff & their expectations of them

Ready to go

 

[RB]

Food- pretty happy with the offerings. Certainly very generous servings and I thought a lot of variety. Only put on a bit over a kilo ( I don’t usually partake in full cooked breakfasts, sweets, cokes and ice cream but I did while onboard). Perhaps it could be said some main deck outlets approached stodge as they catered towards the bit American population. This is an article we read before boarding Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady Dining Guide 2024 | Restaurants |Sample Menus — Cruise Lowdown We are no food connoisseurs but enjoy good food & we tried a variety of outlets.
Razzle Dazzle-really enjoyed a couple of breakfasts/brunches with the sweets a highlight.
Test Kitchen-tried both menus. Excellent staff who created a great atmosphere. Thought the meat dishes were a let down while the rest were excellent. . The beef & venison seemed to both cooked by some high heat style that appeared to totally remove the natural textures & taste of the serving. Was certainly cooked to order as was most of our meals and no problems for our mate that doesn’t eat seafood. The laminated potatoes, blue cheese and egg dish were certainly different to what I was expecting
Pink Agave-Mexican that was a step up from a lot of Mexican I have tried. Enjoyed the steak here although the melted cheese on top was very heavy. First waiter greeted us & said "we don't do beans"
Gunbae- the Korean restaurant wasn’t our favourite. Really enjoyed the company of our server but not taken by the meat cuts and thought the prawns were a disappointment although plentiful. To my eye things were overcooked. We had the company of a honeymooning American couple but didn’t get the drinking games started.
The Wake-scored the prize table here with an excellent view out the back of the ship. A classy feel and enjoyed all the food with
the New York strip with american-style steak sauce excellent excellent. Clam chowder was very tasty
Extra Virgin-the Italian. Excellent gnocchi, spatchcock, steak & calamari, affogato (ice cream drowned in expresso)
Daily Mix- excellent salads of your choice
Dinner & Dash- a few big breakfasts of nice omelettes and reasonable bacon & eggs. Scored a very good butter chicken one day
Burger Bar-did the job but not outstanding but the hot chips were excellent. Think this press photo was flatering

Hot off the Press- found the paninis very heavy going. Thought it deteorated after the first couple of days
The Pizza Place-think they were more designed for the Americans but ok. Was very handy for us to grab a late lunch after the drawn-out initial boarding
Social Club Diner- grabbed a couple of serves of pretty spicy chicken wings that were good. Gave the spiked milkshakes & popcorn a miss
Ice Cream-enjoyed the flavours available, choice of cone or cup with flavours rotated

Could choose quantity & extras from Galley


Butter chicken from Galley


Extra Virgin


Razzle Dazzle






Sweets in the Galley


Boxes always available in the Galley


Pizza Offerings

 

[RB]

More of Food
Believe these were Pink Agave




Test Kitchen- excellent greeter Andrei & fantastic staff looking after us
Our first menu




Unveiling egg




Scallops

Venison


Blue Cheese


Chocolate

 

[bPeteb]

Always great to read the reviews of another set of eyes

 

[RB]

More Food
Extra Virgin


Beaut steak


Mrs RB rated the gnocchi highly


Spatchcock


Back to Test Kitchen & different menu


Salmon



Beetroot


Lamb


I think asparagus

 

[RB]

Deserts at the Wake






Trying to be healthy






Gunbae




Pink Agave

 

[RB]

Washing
We just did light washing in our room so cannot pass comment on the laundry. There was a small line that could be set up in the shower & we also dried things on the balcony furniture

Drinks- priced in US dollars. A 12 oz tap Heinekin was $7 and $8 for a basic sparkling (St Louis). Plenty of different outlets (not all with tap beer!) but the bars seems to have been designed by an interior decorator rather than experienced bar staff- no close dishwasher, no glass chiller close, basically all made it difficult for staff to serve people well. We didn’t get through our combined $1,375 Aust at the bar/onboard credit but scored some well priced duty free scotch to cut it out. The mens aftershave I use was selling for twice what I pay at Chemist Warehouse.

Weather- much colder than we were expecting & we understand it was the end of the sailing season. The outdoor decks didn’t see much activity on multiple days but indoor lounging areas were pretty abundant.

A few weather shots
On the way to Wellington


Morning at Timaru



Morning view on the way to the Sounds


Sunrise on a sea day


Morning arrival at Hobart


Melb sunrise


Melb sunset


Late arvo between Melb & Syd


Moonrise on last night

 

[RB]

Always great to read the reviews of another set of eyes

Picked up heaps of tips off your report so I hope this stirs some nice memories for you