Travel and Leisure
Well, we're doing it again. That's right, taking another ocean cruise; two in fact. See, after the Alaskan cruise with Celebrity, we found that:
- I didn't actually mind the onboard experience, and
- She didn't get seasick
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| Virgin Voyages' Resilient Lady |
Now, that said, not all ocean cruises and itineraries will yield the same results. With respect to the onboard experience, I think this has to do with the fact that we didn't have a large portion of "sea days", where you are literally stuck on the ship. Additionally, as we had chosen a mid-September date, there were virtually no children on board. And as far as the motion of the ocean goes, you can kind of pick itineraries that might not be as rocky as others. e.g. avoid going on long stretches of open ocean. Picking the right cabin location can help, but if you're in 10-metre waves going across the Atlantic, I think everyone is going to experience some nausea.
Anyhow, she received an email with what seemed like a pretty good deal for Virgin Voyages in the Caribbean. It wasn't an area that was on my radar, as I had spent a fair bit of time in the region as part of my sales territory before I retired. However, this itinerary goes to Cartagena and a number of islands that I have not been to. While there are four sea days, most notably two getting from San Juan to Cartagena, we are not spending days crossing from Miami as well.
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| Virgin has more inclusions |
The next bonus, is that Virgin Voyages is not like other major cruise lines. First, they are an adult-only line... that's right, no kids. And then they are an "almost all-inclusive" line, where virtually all dining, tips and Wi-Fi are included. Yes you pay for drinks, but prices are reasonable, and you can buy a "bar tab" where they give you a bonus for upfront purchase. This is especially relevant for us, as she doesn't drink, and on other lines, I would be forced to pay for a drinks package for both of us regardless. The current sale actually gives a US$300 drink credit, so that's an even better deal.
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| Virgin's "not-a-buffet" buffet |
One of the things I didn't like on the Celebrity cruise, was the buffet. Sure there were plenty of options to eat, but it was chaos, with people going in all different directions, and sometimes a challenge to find an open table once you gathered your meal together. Of course, there was the main dining room that you could go to for breakfast and lunch, and we ate most of our dinners there. But on Virgin, there isn't a buffet or a main dining room. Instead they have
The Galley, which is more like a Time Out Market, if you've ever been to one of those (there's one coming for Vancouver). And all of their "specialty" restaurants are included with your fare, except some that are specifically paired with alcohol, where an additional fee is involved. I'll write a follow-up on this cruise in February on our return.
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| Scandinavian itinerary |
But she also recently came across a Scandinavian cruise that was on our list primarily due to the relatively high cost of travel in that region. Sure the Baltic Sea can act up, but since this itinerary departs/returns from Copenhagen, you don't have long stretches of open sea to cross. Most Baltic cruises will have you in and out of either Southampton or Amsterdam, both of which require extra sea days to get across the North Sea. This Princess route only has two sea days out of 12, so seemed like a good itinerary for us.
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| Costco Travel gives back store credit |
We're not normally ones to use a travel agency, but after finding out that others got a better deal on their Alaska cruise through an agent, I did a quick google search. It turned out that Costco Travel offers good deals, as they either match or beat the direct booking price, but also include a Costco Card as part of your booking bonus. Actually, I found out from my ex-TA wife (not ex-wife) that often travel agencies are allocated blocks of rooms that are only released back to the cruise line closer to the sail date. In this case, we were able to book decent mid-ship oceanview rooms, where Princess direct only had fore or aft rooms (this factors into potential for seasickness). Ironically, one of the guys in my Background group on
Tracker the other day said that his son works for Costco Travel. Because their agents are salaried employees, the commissions that are paid by the cruise lines mostly gets reimbursed back to the traveller via the Costco Card. And we got a small US$85 on-board credit too... woot!
This cruise with Princess isn't until 2026, and of course is a traditional cruise operator, not like Virgin Voyages. But stay tuned for an update on how that went as well.
