We last left our travel adventures disembarking the beautiful Celebrity Xcel in mid-November in Fort Lauderdale. We had a late flight from FLL to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for cruise #2 on the Virgin Valiant Lady, but we had about six hours to kill before being at the airport.

We pre-arranged a ride to a nearby coffee bar that also is a Bounce location. Bounce is a luggage storage service that partners with local businesses to offer secure, short-term storage for bags. Bounce has an app where you can pre-arrange to have your luggage stored while you explore the destination. The staff at the coffee bar take a picture of your luggage, lock it in a storage area, and provide you a bag receipt. Then off we went to explore Fort Lauderdale and shop for a few other items we needed for the next cruise.

Both Port Everglades and San Juan are very easy ports to navigate—from airport, to overnight hotel stays, to getting to the port the next day.

Virgin Voyages does everything a bit differently, and it starts before you even board the ship. At several ports, on the day of embarkation, they allow you to drop your luggage at the ship, and then offer free round trip shuttles into the city. They did the same for us on our summer cruise out of Reykjavik, Iceland, and did so again in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We took advantage of this and explored the beautiful Old Town San Juan.

Once back at port for our 3:00 pm boarding time, we walked right onto the ship. Our traveling party of three other couples remarked how easy they felt the boarding process was as well. After a quick check-in with the safety crew to prove you watched the muster video, we were ready to explore this gorgeous lady ship.

The first night’s dinner at The Test Kitchen was such a unique meal, and our party of eight had an amazing dining experience. If you don’t know, Virgin Voyages doesn’t have a main dining room; instead all of their dining is included specialty dining restaurants AND all of Virgin’s on-board restaurants are included in their pricing. The cruise line has won Best Cruise food from several sources for numerous years, and there is little doubt why! It’s absolutely delicious.

The staterooms on Virgin Voyages are clean and a bit reminiscent of Ikea! There’s plenty of storage and bright lighting, and nearly every balcony (or Sea Terrace in Virgin Voyages lingo) has this amazing red hammock!

One unique experience on Virgin Voyages is Scarlet Night or Red Night. This is Virgin Voyages' signature, ship-wide immersive party where the entire vessel transforms into a sea of red with themed events and live music. It is a fun part of their cruise experience with a variety of entertainment including a main event in a transformed Red Room and culminating in a high-energy pool party with a DJ and performances. Everyone is encouraged to wear red, but if you forget, just go anyway!

We chose this particular sailing because of the amazing ports. We ported in Saint Maarten, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts, and Martinique with only one full day at sea. Virgin tends to get some of the longest times in port, and we took advantage of that by exploring all these beautiful islands have to offer. Our parties had a mix of Virgin Voyages organized tours and 3rd party tours through Viator and Shore Excursion Group.

With us being experienced Virgin Voyage sailors, we really were excited to see what the other three couples thought of the cruise line. The highlights they each mentioned (besides the food, of course) was the staff on the ship. Each couple mentioned their encounters with the on-board crew was so pleasant, and they all seemed genuinely happy to be working there. Another consensus is the cleanliness of the ship overall and the general lay out of the ship—how easy it is to navigate around.

We had another later flight home and arranged for a transport for six of us to another Bounce location and were able to arrange a private tour of Old Town with a local historian right next to the Bounce location. Then we took the short 15 minute rideshare to the airport. This extra time getting to explore a destination is what sets our Upon A Star Agents apart—we have first hand experience and know how to arrange this for our guests because we have done this first hand.

Upon a Star Travel agent Eric Pruitt and wife, Delaina, enjoying another gorgeous sunset on Virgin Voyages.

In comparing Celebrity Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages, the cruise lines are quite different, and both were very fun in their own unique ways. Let us help you decide what is the right cruise line and destination for you and your family.

Ready to plan your next cruise vacation? We’re here to help you create a fantastic cruise experience from Virgin Voyages to Celebrity Cruise Line and everything in between! Reach out to your favorite Upon a Star Travel advisor or contact us for more information.