Just did a cruise in the Med See with Virgin on the Scarlet Lady. This is not to say if Disney or Virgin is better overall, just some info for anyone looking at alternative cruise lines.
Keep in mind, Virgin is adults only so if you have kids to take with you, nothing to see here.
Cruise fare includes basic wifi, soft drinks, tea, coffee, etc... alcohol and specialty coffee/teas was extra. Specialty restaurants also included but they did have some items that were extra.
Food was better on Virgin. They had a food court with lots of options during the day and multiple specialty restaurants for dinner. The food court had all day breakfast, burgers, fries, sushi, ramen noodles, salads, soups, etc.. the variety was very refreshing. There was also a pizza place that did made to order pizzas (very good!). The specialty restaurants were Mexican, Italian, Steak, Korean BBQ and a few others. You had to make reservations ahead of time for each one. They did accept walk-ins but sure there was a wait for that. Restaurants served the same menu each night. The food court had a dinner option every night as well. Some restaurants were open for breakfast, too but we found the Galley (food court) to be very good for breakfast so we didn't try them. Most of the Galley food stations closed late at night but there was one that was open 24 hours. Drink stations were also open 24 hours. Room service was available but it cost $7 unless you ordered something that cost much then it was free. We didn't try it.
I did miss not having the same wait staff every night, mainly because I find it fun getting to know your waiters.
Disney shows are much better. Virgin shows were quite amateurish compared to Disney, though we did enjoy a couple of them. Also no movie theaters so if you like to watch movies, you are out of luck except for on your room TV.
Disney had a lot more options for activities during the day, but there was enough to keep us busy if we wanted.
Rooms were interesting... you used a tablet to control everything, TV, lights, curtains, etc... you also used the tablet to request laundry, towels, and room cleaning. Rooms were a bit smaller and did not have enough storage space in our opinion. We used the tablet to request laundry service and towels one day and they literally knocked on our door within 2 minutes(!). There was a hammock on our terrace that my wife loved.
Disney pool area is better. You cannot swim at all in Virgin pools. The "deep" area of the pool is so small all you can do is bob up and down.
There were a lot more places to lounge around, especially on the back of the boat.
Service was very good overall, maybe not quite as over the top as Disney but we had no complaints.
Unlike Disney, you could order soft drinks in the bars/nightclubs at no additional cost. That always annoyed me with Disney.
Much more of a party atmosphere on Virgin but it wasn't crazy either. You didn't have drunk people running through the halls. There was a casino but it was small and tucked away. We only walked through it to get to a couple of shows.
I wouldn't say it was better or worse than Disney. There were some things we liked better on Virgin and vice versa on Disney. But we did like it enough that we booked a 16 day Panama Canal cruise for 2026, right before we found out that Disney was also doing one in 2026.
I will try to answer any questions.
Phil
Keep in mind, Virgin is adults only so if you have kids to take with you, nothing to see here.
Cruise fare includes basic wifi, soft drinks, tea, coffee, etc... alcohol and specialty coffee/teas was extra. Specialty restaurants also included but they did have some items that were extra.
Food was better on Virgin. They had a food court with lots of options during the day and multiple specialty restaurants for dinner. The food court had all day breakfast, burgers, fries, sushi, ramen noodles, salads, soups, etc.. the variety was very refreshing. There was also a pizza place that did made to order pizzas (very good!). The specialty restaurants were Mexican, Italian, Steak, Korean BBQ and a few others. You had to make reservations ahead of time for each one. They did accept walk-ins but sure there was a wait for that. Restaurants served the same menu each night. The food court had a dinner option every night as well. Some restaurants were open for breakfast, too but we found the Galley (food court) to be very good for breakfast so we didn't try them. Most of the Galley food stations closed late at night but there was one that was open 24 hours. Drink stations were also open 24 hours. Room service was available but it cost $7 unless you ordered something that cost much then it was free. We didn't try it.
I did miss not having the same wait staff every night, mainly because I find it fun getting to know your waiters.
Disney shows are much better. Virgin shows were quite amateurish compared to Disney, though we did enjoy a couple of them. Also no movie theaters so if you like to watch movies, you are out of luck except for on your room TV.
Disney had a lot more options for activities during the day, but there was enough to keep us busy if we wanted.
Rooms were interesting... you used a tablet to control everything, TV, lights, curtains, etc... you also used the tablet to request laundry, towels, and room cleaning. Rooms were a bit smaller and did not have enough storage space in our opinion. We used the tablet to request laundry service and towels one day and they literally knocked on our door within 2 minutes(!). There was a hammock on our terrace that my wife loved.
Disney pool area is better. You cannot swim at all in Virgin pools. The "deep" area of the pool is so small all you can do is bob up and down.
There were a lot more places to lounge around, especially on the back of the boat.
Service was very good overall, maybe not quite as over the top as Disney but we had no complaints.
Unlike Disney, you could order soft drinks in the bars/nightclubs at no additional cost. That always annoyed me with Disney.
Much more of a party atmosphere on Virgin but it wasn't crazy either. You didn't have drunk people running through the halls. There was a casino but it was small and tucked away. We only walked through it to get to a couple of shows.
I wouldn't say it was better or worse than Disney. There were some things we liked better on Virgin and vice versa on Disney. But we did like it enough that we booked a 16 day Panama Canal cruise for 2026, right before we found out that Disney was also doing one in 2026.
I will try to answer any questions.
Phil
)
