After a brief stop at Hobart, it’s time to get red-dy for some fantastic food, imbibe delicious cocktails and join some fabulous Virgin parties.
The theme of the last three days were parties. From the infamous Scarlet Party, Valentines Day, up until the final last hurrah, the good times were coming in like waves.
If you want to know if the trip back to Sydney was smooth sailing, keep on reading.
Day Three: Scarlet Party
Hobart to Sydney on Virgin Voyager’s Resilient Lady
After a day enjoying the sights and sounds of Hobart, it was time to return to the Resilient Lady. Just as well we returned to the ship, mere moments after an afternoon snack it absolutely poured down with rain.
Alas, nothing could dampen our spirits as this was the night for the Scarlet Party, where the Resilient Lady fully activates to create a large scale party filled with intrigue, mystery and dance. According to the Virgin Voyages website, it’s “as if Panaorama Bar and Moma PS1 were all rolled into one with drops of Met Gala and elements of Burning Man swirled for effect. It’s indoor, outdoor, luxe, grit, passive and active all at one … the epic just keeps coming, until you forget where the time has gone.”
Which all sounds very well and good, but one simply cannot party on an empty stomach.
Dinner and Extra Virgin: 4.5 out of Five
Located on deck six of the ship, Extra Virgin describes itself as being elevated Italian food serving fresh homemade pasta. I’ll be honest, I’m a hard sell when it comes to Italian food, especially when you’re lucky enough to be married to someone who can make pasta from scratch. But it is undeniable, Italian food is a crowd pleaser and fortunately enough the Virgin App lasted long enough to allow us to secure a table for dinner.
We started with some fresh bread, an antipasto board paired with an Aperol Spritz (of course). As it was the night of the Scarlet Party, the restaurant was shrouded in red light and there was a real buzz about the place.
We moved onto the mains or ‘Secondo’, and I must give a very honorable mention to the Potato Gnocchi. It was incredibly light and fluffy, with the truffle butter sauce tying the dish together beautifully. I was honestly surprised by the quality and simplicity the dish.
The Grilled Mediterranean Seabass, paired with roasted fennel and yukon gold potato was also perfectly cooked, however the Spatchcock Grililed Young chicken was slightly on the dry side. That being said, Extra Virgin offered solid options of mains, and the modest sizes of the dishes meant you could realistically try them all in a part of 3-4.
We then moved onto the desserts and after much contemplation and consternation, we ended up just getting all of the available options. To start, the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake was a welcome treat, with the poached pears and candied almonds providing balance and texture to the dish. The Bomboloni, which came highly recommended by the staff, were light and fluffy, paired with vanilla mascarpone and black current compote. Finally, the Chestnut Castagnaccio was just beautifully presented and surprisingly light in flavour.
Extra Virgin was a lovely experience, with a modern twist on art deco design coupled with nice drinks, delicious food and friendly service. My only minor criticism was the lack of seated, as opposed to tables with bar stools in the venue and one or two of the dishes just missing the mark ever so slightly. Otherwise, highly recommended.
Filled to the brim with an assortment of delicious carbs, it was time to really get the party started with some drinks. The energy of the boat completed changes on Scarlet night, from the veritable sea of red lighting, eruptions of parties, spontaneous dancers and world class music. Even my dad was into it, which was endearing.
After watching something of a show in the centre of the ship, we decided to mosy down to the Casino for a cocktail. As someone who is absolutely not a gambler, the real joy of being in the Casino was the people watching and seeing bartenders in flight who were just up for a good time. The casino was filled with people flirting with lady luck, drinks in hand, donned in red apparel.
After Dad called it a night, we ended up meandering to the Manor for the real party to begin. It was a great night, albeit the sea wasn’t that friendly so dancing was quite a fun challenge at times. The music, delivered fresh from the desk of World Class DJs, provided a range of music to suit everyone’s taste. Are you a boomer reminiscing the 70s? They got you. Are you a Gen x-er who lives for the 80s? Sorted. How about a millennial with a soft spot for dirty Hip Hop club tunes? Say less fam. The music was also accompanied by a range of dancers and entertainers to ensure you had a magical night.
Overall, an unexpectedly great experience from Scarlet Night. The stumble backdown a set of stairs as opposed to waiting for your uber (or weird smelling taxi) was also a huge additional bonus.
Day Four: Valentines Day
If there is anything more romantic than spending quality time with your Dad and Aunt on Valentines Day, I don’t want to know about it.
We ended up getting breakfast at the Gallery, with many a sailor nursing a blood mary or mimosa. This time, the vibe of the ship was much more demure.
We returned back to our rooms only to find a small Valentine’s Day package. This included a love heart cookie, some adorable red sunglasses and a little card. After overindulging in all of the sweetness, it was well and truly time to hit the gym! Romance
Around the World in 80 Minutes with the Diva
The well intended health kick didn’t last long, as it was time to head down to the Manor to watch a drag show, Around the World in 80 minutes with the Diva.
The show featured a very talented Scottish drag queen who went by the name the Diva, and shared her story of how she traveled around the world to escape being marooned on a deserted island.
It was a great show, but as someone who adores drag, has worked in LGBT bars and has watched an unhealthy amount of RuPaul’s Drag Race, it was funny seeing this artform be conveyed to a (mostly) heterosexual audience. A lot of the gags, jokes and audience participation are far from new and fresh to me personally, but everyone had a good time.
The Diva was especially charming when she was off the cuff, and I would have loved to have seen more of that type of banter. That being said, it was a well produced show, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Dinner at Razzle Dazzle: 5 out of five
After a wholly undeserved nap, it was time to head down to deck level 5 to Razzle Dazzle.
The interior is undeniably loud but not garish, featuring intricate geometric patterns and neon lights. It brought back unwelcome flashbacks to when I worked at a cocktail bar with a similar design aesthetic. The design supposedly reflects a trend during World War One, where Allied warships, trying to secure safe passage from German U-boats, decided – why blend in when you can stand out? Inspired by zebras, the British navy developed dazzle camouflage, based in disruption and confusion.
The restaurant, Razzle Dazzle was previously a vegetarian forward venue which has pleasingly shifted toward American comfort food with a fine dining twist. The real Razzle Dazzle isn’t just the interior design, but also the culinary offerings.
For starters, we had the old bay chicken wings, with king trumpet carpaccio and yellowfin tuna tartare. All of the dishes were excellent.
For the mains, we had the carrot dish, which featured this wonderful foam with parmesan sauce. I can’t quite describe it, but I loved it. We also had the Nashvile Hot cauliflower, with the slow cooked short lamb shank. Like my emotional wellbeing, the lamb shank fell apart with ease.
To finish it off, we had the vanilla bean creme brulee, dark s’mores and rum apple cake. Our server also very kindly facilitated a photo shoot by the Razzle Dazzle sign.
Overall, a great experience.
Day Five: Time to Jump Ship!
With that, a charming few days on the Resilient Lady comes to an end. You can select your disembarkment time on the Voyages Ap, and we elected a leisurely 10:30 departure.
All packed and ready to go, we had tried to secure breakfast at Razzle Dazzle, but unfortunately they were completely booked out. That was completely fine, as breakfast on the Galley beckoned, with views of the harbour.
The disembarkation process was incredibly straightforward, and by splitting up the times made everything very manageable.
Final Thoughts
In terms of pros, and there are many, it would undeniably be the incredible food and drink offerings onboard. The service was also remarkably friendly, and everyone from the cleaning staff, servers and entertainers genuinely looked really happy to be there. The ship itself was also wonderfully new and modern, with fantastic facilities, including ample deck space, sun lounges, gyms, pools and running track.
The other aspect that genuinely impressed me was the diversity of clientele. Everyone from their mid to late 20s, through to seasoned cruisers in their 70s had a space to call their own. Plus some of the golden oldies knew a thing or two about partying on a ship and put some of us in our mid thirties to shame. Virgin Voyages also offer a range of options for single travelers, including special events and a welcoming party. The larger parties, including the final night and Scarlet Party were incredibly safe and inclusive, with excellent music and performances to spice up the mix.
In terms of cons, the main one would be the Virgin Voyages ap, which was very much on the unreliable side. It is also very timely to remind Australian travelers that all prices are in US Dollars, which when the AUD is sitting at about 60 cents to the dollar, can hurt a bit.
Does that make me a cruiser? While my cherry has well and truly popped, and I am very grateful for the experience, I’m not really sure if the sea life is for me.
We would hear about your cruising experiences!
