Confessions of a Virgin Cruiser Part One: Cruising with Virgin to Hobart

Virgin Voyages prides itself on being the number one cruise line and it is easy to see why. The Resilient Lady offers an incredible selection of Michelin Star restaurants, excellent entertainment, fabulous parties and warm hospitality to make your cruising experience memorable.

With the added bonus of being adults only.

Price: $$$$/5

Service 4.5 out of 5

Food and Drink: 4.5 out of 5

Package included $350 USD bar tab per room

All prices in USD

Sydney to Hobart on Virgin Voyager’s Resilient Lady

When I think of cruises, it evokes an image of sunburnt retirees wearing Hawaiian shirts, drinking pina coladas garnished with tiny umbrellas while playing endless rounds of bingo. I also imagine hordes of children wrecking absolute havoc on the onboard pool, hyped up with endless cordial and ice cream. To my mind, cruising seemed like my idea of veritable hell with the option of drowning.

Enter stage left – the award winning Virgin Voyages, which prides itself of being luxuriously designed and more importantly, exclusively adult, cruises.

My dad, evidently yearning for some kind of holiday, very kindly offered to take my Aunt Michel and I on a cruise to Hobart. Dad, who I love dearly, is not a well man and he initially boldly expressed a desire for us to travel with him to England. As someone relatively fit and only (ha!) in their mid thirties, the idea of flying for 20+ hours in seats not intended for human use made by lower back violently spasm. So I tempered his suggestion with a short cruise instead.

Suffice to say, he was onboard.

In the lead up to the trip however, he was nervous about exactly what he had signed up for. An adults only cruise? With a complimentary bar tab and the possibility for drag bingo? Over Valentines day? With some kind of wild scarlet party? With hisdaughter? Well that’s just ludicrous.

He needn’t have worried, well too much anyway.

Day One: Ahoy Sailor

Bag packed and stomach filled with a suspiciously liquid lunch of the finest local brews, we set off to the Sydney Terminal to board the Resilient lady. As part of your pre-onboarding check in, you need to set your onboarding time using the Virgin Voyages app, which worked reliably for 20% of the time. A not particularly solid first impression.

On arrival at the terminal, you are warmly greeted by Virgin staff with an “Ahoy Sailor”, a phrase you develop a bit of a difficult relationship with. You drop off your bags only to join one of the many confusing queues based on start times.

After some misdirection and line hopping, we made it through one of the many check points until at long last, the promised land was before us. Dad, understandably tired from being on his feet for over an hour, needed some reprieve. Evidently, my aunt and I needed a drink.

Just as well there were complimentary glasses of bubbles awaiting consumption on the top deck as you slowly depart from Circular Quay. While there was a slight delay in disembarkation, this only meant more time to appreciate how phenomenal Sydney Harbour looks at dusk.

We finished off the afternoon snacking on freshly made pizza overlooking the sunset.

We also vicariously enjoyed the sunset celebrations, featuring DJs and people substantially younger than us on the deck below.

For dinner, we feasted on complimentary wings and hotdogs at the Social Club, accompanied with an alcoholic milkshake.

Adulting.

Day Two: On the Sea

After indulging in a few too many drinks the night before, it was time for an early start to watch the sunrise. I’m not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something quite wonderful about seeing the sun peak through the horizon, and even more so on a boat surrounded by ocean.

I spent some time exploring the facilities, from the running track on deck 17, the outdoor lounges, the basketball courts and the gym. I ended up picking up a barista made latte ($3 USD) and enjoyed a moment of solitude in the morning rays.

After a much needed pick me up, I took advantage of the continued quiet and explored the various interiors of the Resillient Lady. The decor is fun, colourful and ultramodern, with little nooks to enjoy a quiet book or boardgame. There is also of course, onboard shopping, with a suite of things I will never afford in this lifetime. Still, nice to look.

Breakfast at the Galley

We decided it was eventually time to eat an actual meal so the three of us meandered onto Deck 15 of the ship to The Galley, which features an array of breakfast options.

From fruit salads, cereal, chia puddings and freshly made pastries, through to a pancake bar, usual hot break options and some international flavours in the mix, there is something for everyone. I decided to continue the healthy theme and opted for a freshly made vegetable omelet, with a side of fresh fruit and (free) filter coffee.

The vibe in The Galley is bustling, but efficient. Be sure to avoid the late morning breakfast rush to make sure you get a seat. Apparently, unlike other cruises, Virgin veered away from the buffet option, rather an all inclusive order as you go. You go up to a particular counter and order your chosen breakfast items, usually served if not immediately, within minutes. Free filtered coffee, tea, juice and soft drink is also readily available, but you can also order a barista made coffee for about $3-5 USD.

If it is all too much, you can also get table service where they bring your requested order to you. The available menu options are provided on a QR Code. You can even order morning cocktails such as mimosas or bloody mary’s if you are keen to maintain the carnival spirit (around $10 USD).

Morning Spin Class

Not satisfied with just a morning walk, I thought it was time to raise the stakes and go to the gym. Virgin offers a 24 hour gym, featuring limited free weights, weight machines and a range of cardio equipment to offset all of the eating and drinking.

I decided to book a well needed spin session. Spots can be booked on the Virgin Voyages app and any no shows are subject to a $10 USD fee to be donated to charity. The spin class was great, with fantastic new bikes with huge windows looking out to sea, with the added bonus of an energetic, latino instructor to lead the exercise.

The Dock: 4.5 out of 5

After sweating out the damage from last night, I wandered down to Deck 7 to the Dock, an outdoor bar at the rear of the vessel. The health kick ended at 11:30am sharp when I accidentally ordered a scotch and soda, with my aunt joining me with a cocktail. The three of us were able to find seats in the shade, so we could still enjoy some much needed sunshine. The sun was glorious, and people quite rightly took advantage of the deck lounges while we gently passed Melbourne’s coastline.

The Dock not only features great seating and prime view of the sun and sea, but also a small but approachable cocktail list with an assortment of tapas. It is the ideal spot to cruise your day away

The remainder of the afternoon was spent enjoying some tasty pastries paired with sparkling wine.

Gunbae: 5 out out of 5

For dinner, again using the Virgin Voyages app, we were able to book into Gambae, a Korean barbeque restaurant. Despite never having Korean BBQ or knowing what sochu was, my dad was adamant we go.

Gambae is a wonderful introduction to Korean BBQ. You start off with the usual banchan (curiously enough they treated this as a starter, and not something to accompany the main meals) of some bean sprouts, potato salad and of course kim chi.Then, as you are sitting with several strangers, the host takes you through a drinking game. It was a quick way to get everyone involved, talking and laughing.

On to the mains, and you are provided with an incredibly generous assortment of chili chicken, prawns, pork and bulgogi beef. Unlike my mother, the beef was wonderfully tender. It was however, hard to get through all of the meat, to the point where even the men on our table were breaking out in a sweat. We were rolled out of the joint with a light sorbet and the warmest goodbye from our exceptionally friendly host.

Gunbae proved to be something of the highlight of the trip honestly, and I would recommend the experience highly.

After retiring to the tap room, my aunt and I indulged in some jellyfish shots and had a good chat over a few beers to wrap up day 2 of the cruise.

Day Three: Hobart and Land Ahoy

Another early morning start and walk around the boat to see the first sighting of Tasmania’s gorgeous coast line. The air immediately became cooler, and I was glad to have packed my leather jacket.

After a sturdy breakfast at the Galley it was time to disembark to Hobart. While we were limited in terms of time and options to explore, we did end up doing a bus tour of the entire town. Unfortunately much of lunch options we had scoped out weren’t even open (or were outside of my budget) so we ventured back on the boat.