A look at the restaurants on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady:
Virgin Voyages is a pretty new cruise line to the scene, but it’s honestly been my favorite cruise I’ve done. It’s adults only, there are lots of unique activities and great entertainment, and the food was fantastic.
If you’re accustomed to cruise lines with set dining times and seatings for dinner, you’ll have a different experience here. There is a variety of restaurants on Virgin Voyages and they are booked by reservations before your cruise. You can also see if there’s a walk-up available once you’re on board. Outside of the restaurants they have a large quick service location and several other small dining spots.
The Scarlet Lady has 6 main restaurants. Since we had a 5-night cruise we only got to try 5 out of the 6 (we missed out on Gunbae, the Korean Barbecue location). Almost all of the food is already included in the cost of your cruise, with a few exceptions or upcharges for things like lobster. You can order as much food as you’d like. Drinks cost extra.
Below we’ll take a look at all of the restaurants on Virgin Voyages, as well as the bars, lounges, quick service locations, and places to get snacks!
Main restaurants on Virgin Voyages
Extra Virgin
This is an Italian restaurant and was probably my favorite out of all the ones we tried. A crew member we met earlier mentioned how good the meatballs were when we said we were going there, and our server also emphasized them so we ordered those. Although I’m not normally huge on meatballs these were definitely the best ones I’ve ever had. They were just delicious and the sauce was excellent. We also got the charcuterie board with meats and cheeses to start which was very good as well.
They have a number of entrees as well as pasta options. All of the pasta sounded really good to me, so our server mentioned that we could get half size portions of the pasta if we wanted to try a few. Jason decided to get the chicken entree and sample some of the pastas I was ordering, and I got 3 pasta dishes. We shared the gnocchi, spaghetti carbonara, and black seafood pasta. All of the pastas are handmade and they were honestly incredible. I’m a huge pasta fan and I was in heaven. I kept changing my mind about which one I liked best – they were all that good!
We also got dessert – Jason had the fried doughnuts, which were very good but about what you’d expect if you’ve had this sort of things before. They were covered in cinnamon and sugar, and came with some dipping sauces. I went for the gelato station, which was served tableside. It was really neat and you had a number of choices for what you could add to your gelato! I have to say, I think my creation was really excellent.
Pink Agave
This is the Mexican/Tequila bar location and I have to say it was another favorite. The margarita I had here was very good and there’s a pretty impressive tequila selection. I say this not only from my own very meager knowledge of tequila, but because another guest on the cruise who we talked to was a huge aficionado and knew a ton about tequila also thought they had some great options. I have been calling him “Tequila Doug” since then but he actually has a podcast all about tequila which I listen to sometimes when I get the chance – it’s called the Agave Social Club so check it out when you get a chance!
They have a lot of small plate options, which I really liked because we could try many things. Of course we had to have the guacamole, as well as a shrimp dish, a pork dish, and some enchiladas. However, the real star of the show was the corn. This was had so much great flavor to it and impressed me so much we ended up ordering a second bowl of it despite all the other things we had. We did get dessert and while it was good, it didn’t really impress me as much as the other stuff.
Test Kitchen
This place is certainly a bit different, and you might have to be a bit of an adventurous eater here, but we loved it. They call it their “experimental” eatery, and it’s a place where the chefs try new combinations of things or cook in different ways. There’s one set menu they serve with a bunch of courses rather than you choosing off a menu. I wouldn’t necessarily order everything again that I had here, but there were some things that were delicious and it was very cool to try some things I never would have otherwise.
It might not be the best choice if you’re a picky eater, but if you’re willing to try things it’s a lot of fun! And nothing was outrageous – it was more in how the dishes were prepared that was unusual, rather than what you were actually eating. They also have a vegetarian menu.
I did the wine pairing at this location, which was very good. They picked out the wines to go with each dish and I thought they worked well.
There were a few things which were definite highlights. The second course was a dish of egg and peas, which was served under a smoky dome – very dramatic! The flavor was great. Even though it sounded like a weird dish I absolutely loved it. The other thing that stood out to me was the meat course, which was a filet that came with a red wine/berry sauce. The meat was well cooked, but that sauce was absolutely incredible.
Of course, there were a few things I didn’t really care for, but that’s kind of the nature with this sort of place. The first dish was a mushroom pate, and I just really do not like mushrooms. There was also a dish later in the evening which was a bleu cheese semifreddo. It was basically like a bleu cheese ice cream. I really like bleu cheese, but that much of it in ice cream form did not work for me. But the good news is this meal had 6 courses, so it didn’t matter if I didn’t like everything – I was more than full by the time we left!
Razzle Dazzle
I’m going to start my section about Razzle Dazzle with a caveat, which is to say that they made some major changes to the menu here at the beginning of this year – so I’ve not experienced this new menu yet. My understanding is that it is now a more “American comfort food” menu, which is a bit different than the original concept.
Prior to the menu change, Razzle Dazzle had a “fun twist” to it. It’s was vegan restaurant but with a “naughty” menu. I liked that because it really had a lot of appeal for everyone, I think. I would say about half of the menuwas vegan, and the other half was more traditional comfort foods made to be a little fancier.
Now they’ve transitioned to more of the naughty side and the comfort foods. Unfortunately it means most (all) of the dishes we particularly enjoyed here are not on the menu. I’ve still included my reviews in case future changes mean anything comes back!
I had a black and white truffle pasta dish here, and it was reallllly good. I am a huge pasta lover, and this was definitely a stand-out pasta dish. It wasn’t quite as good as what we had at Extra Virgin, but I still very much enjoyed it.
Jason went was a steak and this was excellent. It was cooked exactly as he asked, and it actually seemed like a better steak than what we got the following night at the steakhouse.
We also had some starters, sides, and desserts. I particularly enjoyed the melon salad. The sides were excellent – we had smoked bacon and cheesy tater tots, and they were definitely indulgent. And the desserts were so fun. They really made you feel like a kid. We had the churros (which were served with ube ice cream) and the milk and cookies.
The good news is I’ve heard the new menu is excellent – but sadly the truffle pasta is not on the menu!
The Wake
We ate here on our last night on the ship. This is the steakhouse on board, so one nice thing to note is that they don’t charge anything extra for it like many of the ships (though there are options on the menu that are an additional fee if you wish). I don’t know that it felt fancier than some of the other places or anything, but the focus is on steak so we know that can be expensive.
Unfortunately, this was the only place where service was a bit slow or off. Our servers at all the other restaurants were fantastic, but here it was a bit lackluster. It was incredibly slow to get our food. I’m pretty understanding about that, but he rarely even came by to check in or anything. If I’m hoping for another drink and I haven’t seen my server in 15-20 minutes, that’s not ideal.
But on to the food! The bread was delicious and the potatoes were absolutely amazing. However, when you’re at a steakhouse you probably shouldn’t be commenting that the bread and potatoes were the highlight of the meal.
I started with the clam chowder, which was nice, and Jason had the bone marrow – he really enjoyed that. For mains I had the filet mignon and it was very good, I just wasn’t blown away or anything. Jason felt similarly about his steak. It was cooked as requested which I do appreciate.
We ended up leaving before dessert because the whole meal was taking so much longer than we anticipated. I think we were at about two hours when we finished our steak, and there were just too many other exciting things to do on board the ship!
Gunbae
This is the only one of the restaurants on Virgin Voyages that we didn’t get the chance to visit, which is a shame because I’ve heard a few people say it’s the best one. It’s a Korean BBQ place, and the menu looks pretty excellent. I’m fortunate to have some friends at home who make us authentic Korean BBQ, but if I get back on board a Virgin Voyages ship it will be a priority to visit Gunbae!
Quick serve locations
While there are some great restaurants on Virgin Voyages for a nice, sit-down meal, if you’re looking for something more casual and easy there are still plenty of options.
The Galley
This is a large area with a number of different food choices at different stations. There are lots of options in terms of cuisine and type of food, and each station had a number of choices. They included Bento Baby (sushi), Diner & Dash (all day breakfast), Let’s Taco Bout It (Tacos, of course), Noodle Around (ramen and udon noodle bowls), and a dessert station.
I loved the variety here, and the food was actually pretty good. Certain select areas were open pretty much 24/7 so that was great for us crazy late night people (I do know you could grab a burger and fries at 2 in the morning!).
The tacos were probably my favorite, as they had some variety and they were delicious. Hot Pressed, which did paninis and grilled cheese, was a great option too. And of course most of these places served breakfast in the morning as well, and I enjoyed some great avocado toast and fresh fruit.
The Dock / The Dock House
This is a sort of casual eatery with a Mediterranean menu. There is an outdoor seating area and an inside area, and in the evenings they often had live music happening here. The atmosphere is really nice and the food was quite good, but we did have some rough service here.
We had ordered drinks and some small plates, and then waited. After almost half an hour had gone by we finally decided to see if we could figure out what was going on and had to search out a server. Apparently the person who originally took our order had then clocked out and didn’t pass it along to anyone else. So at that point they had to basically start all over again.
I’m willing to chalk it up to a fluke, but that was our experience. I would try it again though because the option to have some small plates and light bites during the day is nice, especially when it’s more creative fare than your typical pizza or french fries.
The Pizza Place
If you do want pizza though, you can get that too! And it’s open pretty late, which is great for late night snacking. The pizza here was honestly a lot better than I expected it to be, and they had some interesting toppings and choices – so not just cheese and pepperoni.
Sun Club Cafe
This is a spot on the deck for a smaller meal or light bite. They do bowls, like a poke bowl or salads. I didn’t get a chance to eat here, but it looked pretty good!
Ship Eats
Ship Eats is the room service option, if you don’t want to leave the room and head out to any of the Restaurants on Virgin Voyages. We didn’t really do much of this since there were so many great spots to go out and grab something to eat, but we did have some basic breakfast delivered once or twice. It was nothing to write home about, but it’s always nice to have such a convenient option!
Snacks
Lick Me Til Ice Cream
I’m a huge ice cream lover, so of course I was going to have to check out the ice cream options available! Here they had a pretty good selection. You’d find a few basics, but also a lot more creative and unique flavors. Some of the flavors rotate out, so you may find different choices each day.
And the ice cream was so good! It’s great quality – very rich and creamy. You also could choose from different kinds of cones (or a bowl). I loved the chocolate, but the key lime pie was a really good one too!
The Social Club
This is a really fun bar/lounge area that looks like a retro diner. They have some snacks, such as popcorn, hot dogs, and desserts. I didn’t actually try any of the food here, but I did grab a couple of drinks.
It’s a neat spot to hang out, and they did a number of events here as well such as trivia nights. But even if there’s not an organized event going on, you have a retro arcade, air hockey, foosball, and usually some various board games available.
Grounds Club
Here’s where you can go if you want a “fancy” coffee or tea, aside from the standard stuff you’ll find at the Galley. These premium coffee and tea drinks do cost a little bit extra, but if you’re looking for your latte or cold brew you can find it here.
Bars/Lounges
Overall I have to admit that while they had some cool bars to hang out in, I found the drinks to be somewhat hit or miss on Virgin Voyages – at least when it came to cocktails. The specialty cocktails at the main restaurants were good, but at the pool bars or more casual locations they were a bit mediocre. Many of them were just pre-mixed. By the second half of the trip I found myself defaulting to beer or wine, or going with the trusted Old Fashioned.
Gym & Tonic
Outside by the gym, they had some really interesting and tasty mixed drinks. I particularly loved the “Cleanse Away,” which was very unique to me. It was made with vodka, activated charcoal, mint, and grapefruit. It might sound a bit unusual but it was awesome and like nothing else I’ve tried before!
The Loose Cannon
This is a nautical themed bar, and you’ll find a lot of beers here as well as cocktails. Some activities and events were held here, and it was somewhat removed from the crowds and the hustle and bustle, so it felt like a pretty chill place if you needed a little down time.
Sip
Sip is the champagne lounge on board, and they do love a good champagne at Virgin Voyages! The menu has a variety of champagnes and sparkling wines that you can order by the glass or by the bottle, plus some champagne-based cocktails.
I also found that the bubbly was flowing at a number of events, and they would be giving out a house sparkling wine for free at times.
Draught Haus
This is the place for beer lovers, as they have quite a variety! You’ll find 6-7 beers available on tap, and a wide selection of cans and bottles. I appreciated that they had a range of styles and lots of craft brews.
Other bars
There are a few other bars and places to get drinks around the ship (don’t worry, there’s no shortage!). Here are a few of the other locations which I didn’t find to be particular standouts. You’ll basically find your typical selection at these places.
- The Manor – located inside the Manor, where some of the smaller shows happen & a nightclub in the evenings
- Juice Bar – for fresh-pressed juices and smoothies
- Casino bar – hopefully self-explanatory
- On the Rocks – cocktail bar, often with live music
- Acquatic Club – pool bar
- Athletic Club – another outdoor bar
- Sun Club – outdoor bar on the deck above the pool
Overall, although there might have been some places that could be improved, we were really impressed with the restaurants on Virgin Voyages. The variety of restaurants and food options was great, and the quality was better than most other cruise lines I’ve been on. I love Disney, and I do think Disney Cruise Line has some great food, but the restaurants on Virgin Voyages definitely wins here. I can’t wait to sail again someday and try even more of the food and drink!
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Which of the restaurants on Virgin Voyages sounds best to you?
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