My husband and I were so excited to set sail on our first adult cruise for 6 nights visiting 3 ports of call! We were scheduled to have 2 days at sea with several fun holiday events on those days including Scarlet Night, Roatan, Honduras, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Bimini, Bahamas. We had only previously been on a Carnival Cruise for 3 nights over 18 years ago and we really enjoyed it! My husband grew up on the water and boating is in his blood. I on the other hand, would get seasick on boats, but due to the sheer size of the ship and being fine on the shorter cruise, I thought I would be fine! Plus, hurricane season was over, so in theory the seas should be great.
We boarded the Valiant Lady in Miami, FL for some much-needed adult husband and wife time. I had made all the dining reservations at the best restaurants and bought adult drink packages prior to boarding. Virgin Voyages include all their restaurants, whereas other cruise lines charge extra for the top tier restaurants. We only had to book our shows once on board. We go to the cruise terminal to check in. Everything goes smoothly and we are given our bracelets that will be the access key for our room and charging privileges while on the ship. Once on board, we grab a drink and head to check out the ship and our room. We had a Sea Terrace room, which was surprisingly spacious! The bathroom was tight but functional. We had a hammock on the balcony, which we both loved and spent many hours in, especially when the seas started rocking. We met our fabulous room attendants that kept us with 2 full carafes of water and our room tidy daily. You choose still or sparkling water. We went up to the top deck to set sail and wave goodbye to Miami. There was music playing, entertainers everywhere, and even a sunset toast as we embarked on our journey at sea. It was so much fun! After that, we went exploring and tried the Dock House for some much-needed appetizers, which were delicious! We had shrimp and steak skewers. So far, we are thoroughly impressed. We then went to get changed for our dinner at The Wake. As you arrive to check-in, you see a grand staircase with a beautiful chandelier. Our dinner and service was AMAZING!! My husband had the Hangar Steak with mashed potatoes, and I had the Filet Mignon with asparagus. We both started with a wedge Caesar salad. We didn’t have room for dessert, and they do not allow you to take leftovers to the room due to some regulation. After dinner, we went to the comedy show & were supposed to go to the PJ Party, which didn’t start until 11, but we were too tired. We had the next day at sea to explore and go to many special events and shows.
Day 2 we were at sea and had some wind and showers, so we went to brunch at Razzle Dazzle. The whole ship was rocking and even some of the crew were seasick. The boat was already out of Dramamine and walking was a challenge as the boat was shifting side to side. I had to put a prescription seasick patch on to help me feel better, so I didn’t eat much, and the menu was mostly vegetarian, although I was told later, they have a secret menu you are supposed to ask for. I don’t have pictures from that as I felt terrible, and the food didn’t come out looking photo worthy. I was told to try it again for dinner but canceled our dinner there later that night. I was finally feeling better by dinner but spent some time in the hammock on our balcony. That for some reason really helped with the queasiness. We had dinner at Pink Agave. I cannot express enough how great the food and server Jess was!! We loved dinner and Jess so much, we canceled our Razzle Dazzle dinner and booked again at Pink Agave instead! The food was so delicious! We had chicken enchiladas, house made guacamole, which I don’t even like guacamole, but I ate all of it! My husband had pork and I had a ribeye smothered in cheese! For dessert we had a passionfruit crisp and the chocolate tacos! After dinner, we were again so full we went and watched a movie in our room.
The next morning, we would wake up in Roatan, Honduras where we have an ATV and beach excursion. The weather was raining, cloudy and terrible, but luckily our ATV excursion was not canceled. We kept hearing of other guest excursions being cancelled due to weather. We wore our worst clothes because we knew we would be covered in mud, but we had a beach stop after as part of the excursion. We had a blast on the ATV as we climbed and explored the jungle mountain. We were indeed covered in mud! We went to the beach but decided not to get in as the water was cold and it was raining. We returned to the ship to clean up and go to dinner at Extra Virgin, their Italian restaurant. However, the seas were very angry that night and this restaurant was in the front of the boat, so my queasiness was back, even with the patch. The food here was alright, but not my favorite. It could’ve been my tummy, so I would try it again. We went back to our room after dinner and watched another movie as I was not feeling good. I was looking forward to being on land tomorrow in Costa Maya, Mexico.
In my next blog, I will tell you about the 2nd half of our trip including Virgin Voyages infamous Scarlet night!
Your Bibbidi Bobbidi Bestie,
-Jamie
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