I recently embarked on my first personal cruise. I’ve been cruising for 10 years for work, but this was my first personal cruise where I could truly enjoy what most travelers experience while on vacation. Side note: I’m not complaining that my work has included cruises that I work a conference on, but this is just my first for fun! It was my husband’s first cruise ever, so it felt appropriate that we chose Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady.
To prepare for the cruise, we downloaded the Virgin Voyages app and checked it here and there for an exciting countdown to the cruise and other features that assisted in our preparations. The most important of which were the check-in steps that you can take to make your embarkation experience even more expedited. This was the most low-pressure process for any cruise I’ve boarded, and the app takes you through all the necessities, a photo, your payment on board, emergency contacts and more. You also get to choose your boarding time, for us it was as early as 1:30 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. departure. The quick check-in process allows for much more time aboard the ship and a quicker arrival to that red hammock! It’s also worth mentioning that you can schedule your meals prior to boarding on the app, but you cannot schedule entertainment or spas (note that meals are available preceding the cruise).
When you arrive at the V Terminal, there are stewards to take your bags, but you can absolutely walk on with your baggage as well. We both had a carry-on bag and a backpack, so we forged ahead on our own. Before entering we showed our vaccination records and passport. We then went through security and up the escalators to the check-in. We were scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. arrival but I had purchased the Splash of Romance package which allows you to arrive whenever you wish. There’s even a separate line for expedited processing, however on this day it really wouldn’t have made much difference with our 1:50 p.m. arrival. It was moving quite quickly no matter which line you were in.
We received our Splash of Romance wristbands as well as our room key wristband that had a dongle that removed the need for any keys. We moved on to the desk that checked all our items. My husband’s card didn’t go in correctly when he entered it, so that took an extra minute or two. From there we moved on toward the lounge for boarding group A. We arrived in a full lounge with many comfortably waiting for permission to board and as soon as we got there they told us to board. We scanned our room keys and proceeded up the walkway to the ship. We were greeted in a unique Virgin Voyages’ style with folks on blow horns to welcome us, quickly going into a pose for a picture when I pulled out my camera! Once onboard, we found our room and began the enjoyment of vacation commencing.
To prepare for the sad day of leaving the ship, you can choose your disembarkation time in the days before you depart. In the app under “On Shore Things”, you can choose what time you wish to leave. We chose 10:15 a.m. as our flight was at 1 p.m. We met in the Roundabout and were able to walk off at our leisure. You do have the option to put your bags out the night before to walk off without them, but we chose to walk off just as we had waked on with them. I would offer a word of caution that it did take about 45 minutes to get through customs. It was very easy to use ride share to get to MIA with the ride at that time of day taking around 20 minutes.
Watch for more upcoming Buzzes featuring the Scarlet Lady.
About the Author
comments