Resilient is my middle name - Christmas with Virgin Voyages

[Muppet501st]

Thanks for your review!

I had the misfortune to join the Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady Facebook group. The constant negativity made me regret joining. Whinging about boarding, disembarking, power points, the shows, the app, the prices, the cabins, you name it. I ended up leaving the group so it’s good to get a balanced review.

Given that I used points for the booking I’m not going to complain too much about the experience when I sail in Feb.

im in the same boat
I cant wait for the cruise to be over so i can leave that group ! bring on Feb11!

 

[Seat0B]

After much deliberation we booked with Havila on the MS Polaris. As it was our first cruise we booked the 6 night Northbound cruise from Bergen and arriving at Kirkenes. You can join the ship at several points along the way and as such there was no Balcony rooms available when we booked as they were taken by those who are starting a few days before us. Managed to snare a Seaview room but don’t plan in spending a lot of time in the room. Only a fairly new setup and the ship is operated by a mixture of battery power and LNG.
We have paid for a number of excursions along the way but I’ll go through my invoices and dig up the itinerary if you want

thanks for this info. Don’t go to any trouble looking for more details - I’m sure with what you’ve told me I can google the itinerary and save you the effort.

 

[mel-world]

A fabulous TR thanks. So much effort taken with the photos and constructing the report. Just what I would use AFF for before booking any cruise. I don't think VV is for me, despite no kids and some excellent dining options.

 

[VPS]

thanks for this info. Don’t go to any trouble looking for more details - I’m sure with what you’ve told me I can google the itinerary and save you the effort.

slightly OT but @Daver6 did this on Hurtigruten Norwegian cruise, London, Bavaria and the Maldives I was supposed to do it January last year and got sick and had to cancel

 

[Daver6]

After much deliberation we booked with Havila on the MS Polaris. As it was our first cruise we booked the 6 night Northbound cruise from Bergen and arriving at Kirkenes. You can join the ship at several points along the way and as such there was no Balcony rooms available when we booked as they were taken by those who are starting a few days before us. Managed to snare a Seaview room but don’t plan in spending a lot of time in the room. Only a fairly new setup and the ship is operated by a mixture of battery power and LNG.
We have paid for a number of excursions along the way but I’ll go through my invoices and dig up the itinerary if you want

Same ship was we went on. We had an el cheapo room and really didn't spend much time in it.

thanks for this info. Don’t go to any trouble looking for more details - I’m sure with what you’ve told me I can google the itinerary and save you the effort.

If you have questions, fire away

slightly OT but @Daver6 did this on Hurtigruten Norwegian cruise, London, Bavaria and the Maldives I was supposed to do it January last year and got sick and had to cancel

Hello....David here on the courtesy phone....I was paged

 

[Kerrodt]

What is there to do on the VV cruises during the day/night apart from eat and go to the shows?

 

[bPeteb]

What is there to do on the VV cruises during the day/night apart from eat and go to the shows?

During the day they have trivia of various types, I saw people at painting classes, VV is quite fitness oriented so lots going on in the gym, and on deck - lots of different yoga. They had a game show that we didn't attend. They have a hilarious 80's exercise class.

If you're a gambler various stuff in the casino like poker tournaments.

There's an arcade with video games (free). An area near the coffee shop that has dozens of games that there were always heaps of people playing. Weird (in a good way) stuff like speed jigsaw.

You can get a tattoo, go to the barbers/hairdressers, sit and watch the sea go by.

In an evening it's standard cruise ship - bars with live music, restaurants and shows

 

[jase05]

If you have questions, fire away

How did you find it?
Decent enough food and beverages?
We have a few excursions to do along the way and this was a factor in choosing what directions we would book.

 

[Daver6]

How did you find it?
Decent enough food and beverages?
We have a few excursions to do along the way and this was a factor in choosing what directions we would book.

I really cant recall what I did and didn't cover here Norwegian cruise, London, Bavaria and the Maldives, so here's a few high level things.

I loved it! I'd never been on a cruise or had much desire to either. From everything I've seen about cruises, this is much less like a cruise and more an adventure (in a positive sense).

Food was pretty impressive. Breakfast and lunch was an ever changing buffet with something local to the area you're in. Dinner was a set menu that you were shown at lunch time. So if something isn't to your liking, just let them know (after lunch) and they can accommodate. You can also dine in the separate a la carte restaurant for an additional cost at dinner time. We did that a couple of times. Additional cost was reasonable.

Like Norway, drinks are expensive. Even more so onboard. We didn't bother with a drinks package and bought a bottle at the a la carte restaurant a couple of times. Drinking less was actually a blessing in disguise to keep us fresh. They actually had a good wine selection (at the mid to high end stuff with ok pricing).

My excursions were covered in the TR. They were all well done and thoroughly enjoyed them. We made a point of getting off the ship at any stop that was more than 30 minutes. At the shorter ones, we'd just go for a short walk. Often just consulting Google maps prior to arriving at the port to see if there was anything in particular we'd want to see.

I thought the entire operation was well run and all staff onboard were very friendly and knowledgeable.

 

[jase05]

I really cant recall what I did and didn't cover here Norwegian cruise, London, Bavaria and the Maldives, so here's a few high level things.

I loved it! I'd never been on a cruise or had much desire to either. From everything I've seen about cruises, this is much less like a cruise and more an adventure (in a positive sense).

Food was pretty impressive. Breakfast and lunch was an ever changing buffet with something local to the area you're in. Dinner was a set menu that you were shown at lunch time. So if something isn't to your liking, just let them know (after lunch) and they can accommodate. You can also dine in the separate a la carte restaurant for an additional cost at dinner time. We did that a couple of times. Additional cost was reasonable.

Like Norway, drinks are expensive. Even more so onboard. We didn't bother with a drinks package and bought a bottle at the a la carte restaurant a couple of times. Drinking less was actually a blessing in disguise to keep us fresh. They actually had a good wine selection (at the mid to high end stuff with ok pricing).

My excursions were covered in the TR. They were all well done and thoroughly enjoyed them. We made a point of getting off the ship at any stop that was more than 30 minutes. At the shorter ones, we'd just go for a short walk. Often just consulting Google maps prior to arriving at the port to see if there was anything in particular we'd want to see.

I thought the entire operation was well run and all staff onboard were very friendly and knowledgeable.

Thanks for that.
I think our ships are different. The Polaris is under a year old and one of only 4 ships in the Havila fleet.

 

[Daver6]

Thanks for that.
I think our ships are different. The Polaris is under a year old and one of only 4 ships in the Havila fleet.

Ahhh....yes. Mine was a Hurtigruten ship. Enjoy Norway though...it's spectacular!

 

[FishFood]

As someone currently on board the boat in question I appreciate the effort you put in to create a TR that resonates with my experience. As a first time 'sailor' I think this was one of the best ways to be introduced to the travel category

 

[IrishPete]

Very interesting and entertaining report, killed a bit of spare time at work!

A few times you've quoted currency amounts as just $ not US$. I'm guessing all on board pricing was actually US$?

What about the cost of the cruise itself? There was no US in front of it, and you didn't specify if that was the cost per person or for both of you. If it was Au$ and both of you, I don't think it was expensive!

 

[bPeteb]

Very interesting and entertaining report, killed a bit of spare time at work!

A few times you've quoted currency amounts as just $ not US$. I'm guessing all on board pricing was actually US$?

What about the cost of the cruise itself? There was no US in front of it, and you didn't specify if that was the cost per person or for both of you. If it was Au$ and both of you, I don't think it was expensive!

Onboard all USD.

Cruise was bought through Qantas Cruises and in AUD.

$3478.60 for obstructed view sea terrace + $340 for upgrade.

For us, $640/night is an expensive cruise.

 

[p--and--t]

For us, $640/night is an expensive cruise.

….not just for you.

My last cruise was $100pd for a cabin (but not all the extra inclusions of your cruise).

 

[henleybeach]

Thanks for the report! Great to see something a bit different on a cruise line

 

[antycbr]

….not just for you.

My last cruise was $100pd for a cabin (but not all the extra inclusions of your cruise).

Given some of the prices we are seeing for Sea Terrace I think the 80K I burnt in Velocity points wasn’t too bad.

 

[Trekky1]

Thanks for the TR - interesting read. I would like to try VV, but as a solo cruiser (usually), it's out of my price range.

 

[SYD]

Thanks for the TR - interesting read. I would like to try VV, but as a solo cruiser (usually), it's out of my price range.

Looking at the VV website, the cruise prices booking direct for four night cruises vary wildly! Some very expensive some much more reasonable…

 

[IrishPete]

Onboard all USD.

Cruise was bought through Qantas Cruises and in AUD.

$3478.60 for obstructed view sea terrace + $340 for upgrade.

For us, $640/night is an expensive cruise.

Okay, I have not cruised since I was 15 years old, on the SS Uganda in the Mediterranean, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. A decent hotel is $200 a night minimum just about anywhere, without any meals, and you wake up where you went to sleep.

I could easily eat a few hundred dollars worth of good food a day, so double that for me and my partner (and you did get something like US$400 of free stuff - bar tab and "sailor loot" - didn't you?)

I've done the Indian Pacific twice, in the late 1990s, and your cruise was a lot lot cheaper than they charge for it (I get it's a completely different experience). Imagine if someone did a Sydney-Perth cruise for that kind of money...