Background
I recently had the privilege to try out a Virgin Voyages Sea Terrace Cabin. On my 4-night voyage called “Fire & Sunset Soirees”, I stayed in a Sea Terrace Cabin, which is equivalent to a Balcony Cabin on other cruise lines. It’s the cabin type that’s most commonly found on the Scarlet Lady with 86% of the 1,404 Cabins being a Sea Terrace Cabin which is nice that most guests onboard will have a balcony.
Virgin Voyages Cruise Report
Check out my other reviews onboard Virgin Voyages below
- Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady: Sea Terrace Cabin Review
- Virgin Voyages Dining Review Onboard Scarlet Lady
- Virgin Voyages Embarkation & Ports Review: Key West, Beach Club at Bimini
- Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady: Ship & Entertainment Review
Sea Terrace Cabin Takeoff Points
Cabin: 12 206 Z
Deck: 12
Location: Central (Midship), Starboard Side
Pros: Modern, clean cabin with a hammock on the Sea Terrace
Cons: I wish there was a small sofa rather than a chair offered, tight bathroom
Takeoff Tip: As a Gold tier First Mate travel agent with Virgin Voyages, I’m happy to help make your cruise booking as seamless as possible. From helping you secure a restaurant to gaining you priority boarding, I’m here to assist. Simply use my booking link to discover your next Virgin Voyage and I’ll assist you on your journey!
Sea Terrace Cabin
Location
Our Central Sea Terrace Cabin was located on Deck 12, which was convenient as the Galley Food Hall and Pool Deck were located on Deck 15, while most of the other dining & entertainment options were located on Deck 6 & 7. The vast majority of cabins are located on Decks 8-14, so I’d probably recommend anything in the middle of those (9-13) for convenience and quiet.
The A designation means it is located on the portside (left) of the ship, while a Z designation is starboard (right).
Upon arriving at the cabin, you’ll see the cabin placard that also features a doorbell and you scan your band against the placard to unlock your door. It also lights up Blue to indicate housekeeping service, or red for do not disturb. Near the door are buttons to switch the settings. Instead of traditional keycards, Virgin Voyages uses The Band to open and close cabin doors and also acts as your sea pass for making onboard purchases. I loved the band concept as it was lightweight and an easy-to-wear bracelet.
Closet Space
For our cabin, as you entered the room the closet space was on the left and the bathroom was on the right.
The closet featured a curtain to close this area that featured hangers for clothes and shelves where you could put your luggage. Additionally, the bottom had some baskets.
To the right side was the enclosed part of the closet which had four drawers, three shelves (one with life jackets) plus a safe. There was more than enough space for my travel companion and me, but we also only brought 2 carry-on bags.
Across from the closet on the wall are AC controls, and they worked really well as I like my rooms cold.
Desk Area
Next up is the desk area that contains a phone, two cubbies, a small stool, a mini fridge, and two carafes of water. I appreciated that housekeeping always refilled the carafes of water, and left one at room temperature and one in the fridge for us. I liked the decor, and while some parts felt a bit Ikea-esque, it was definitely on the nicer side, and I would say to the level of a 4-star hotel.
Virgin Voyages allows you to bring two (2) 750mL bottles of wine per cabin in carry-on bags, so we did and conveniently placed them in the mini-fridge.
A cute touch is that they provide a bottle opener & corkscrew in the shape of a sextant, which is perfect for the travel theme. You can also have one to take home for $25.
They also left an Octopus Toy on the desk, which could be yours for $12. It was super cute, but I wish they would give away one per cabin, kind of like how the Conrad Hotels in Asia give out rubber ducks.
The Tablet
Above the desk outlets, there is a tablet and its charger stand. The tablet is used to control the TV, curtains, lights, and housekeeping requests. They have different light settings which is nice, and mood lighting to go with the Virgin theme. I remember when I was younger and loved flying on Virgin America because of the cool mood lighting.
They had some fun pre-set lighting settings such as Cinema, Zen, Hangover, Photoshoot, and even a “Get it On” setting.
In terms of TV offerings, they have a few news channels, but they do have a lot of movies which is nice. We didn’t spend that much time watching television or movies, but it could be a nice touch for longer voyages.
One thing missing in the room is a Bluetooth speaker. They really should have one, but thankfully that’s an easy fix, and I brought my portable one so I could listen to music in the room.
The Bed & Special Sofa
The double bed was quite firm, and at first, I was a bit worried. But, after 4 nights of sleeping, I woke up having good sleep every night, so I was fine with it. If you’d like, you could have housekeeping make the beds into two singles. I also want to point out that the linens and pillow were of very high quality, which was appreciated.
There was a power outlet on the left side of the bed, but the power outlet on the right side was a bit far away, so you may want to bring a long wire if you like to charge your phone next to you while sleeping.
There is a large drawer on the right side of the bed for additional storage, and the left side of the bed has a tall side table from the sofa arm. You may be asking why there is a sofa arm on one side.
Well, a cool/unique feature of the room is that the bed can be converted to a full-sized couch. It’s meant for lounging or having friends over throughout the day. We didn’t utilize this function, but tried it on our last night.
I think it’s a cute, yet quirky feature. I personally don’t think it was that useful for my trip, but maybe if I was traveling with more friends it would come in handy. Overall, I think I would still prefer it if they replaced that small chair with a small sofa instead.
Sea Terrace (Balcony)
The Sea Terrace was a solid size, and it featured 2 metal chairs, a small table, and a red hammock. I can’t tell you how much I loved the hammock. Virgin came to spice up the cruise industry, and who would have thought that an item as simple as a hammock would be so cool?
The only quirk that I found with the balcony is that there is no controllable light. Some nights the ship would spell out words using the balcony lights. such as the word Ahoy. One night we were included, and it provided a nice red glow to hang out on the balcony. But other nights, our neighbors would have lighted balconies and we wouldn’t, and it was too dark to see anything in these instances at night.
It would be nice to perhaps have some sort of light (even a dim one) to enjoy the balcony at night.
Bathroom
The bathroom in the Sea Terrace cabin is definitely on the small side. And as with most cruise ships, the light switch is on the outside.
The toilet is not a typical shape, but longer. This did not help given the tight space. The sink takes up half of the counter, and hand & makeup cloths were provided. Counter space was limited, but it was fine for two. There is also storage under the counter and in the small cubby.
The best part of the bathroom was definitely the shower. It was spacious and had a glass door. Both an overhead rain shower head as well as a handheld wand were featured. The water pressure was great and was very relaxing. In terms of the bath towels, they were nice and plush.
Toiletries were provided by Red Flower and are wall-mounted with refillable containers. Body wash, conditioner, and shampoo were provided, and a bar of soap was provided for the sink. The only thing missing was body lotion, but thankfully I brought some of my own.
I find the bathroom size to be the con of the room as it is tight. I’ve read that the XL Sea Terrace solves this bathroom issue, so perhaps next time I’d try that cabin out. But, also some XL Sea Terraces don’t have a hammock, so I’d have to make sure to have both!
Service
Housekeeping is offered once daily automatically, and you can request additional items/services via the tablet or mobile app.
There is a 24-hour room service offered called “Ship Eats”, and it has a $7 delivery fee. But, you can get that fee waived with the addition of any chargeable item – like alcohol or specialty coffee, so you might as well get one of those and then get the fee waived. We didn’t find an opportunity to try Ship Eats on our voyage, but it was good to know that it was an option.
Pricing
As of this posting, the lowest-priced 4-night sailing out of Miami is around $2,400 total with taxes and fees for two sailors in a similar Sea Terrace Cabin.
Other Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Cabin Types
The other room categories include Insider (no view) and Sea View (sea view with window but no balcony).
The Sea Terrace has a larger sibling called Sea Terrace XL, which is 40 more square feet than the Sea Terrace. It has a different bathroom layout and is more spacious, but some of the XL’s towards the front of the ship don’t have the popular hammock.
For the suites, there are the RockStar Quarters which feature the Brilliant Suite, Cheeky Corner, Seriously Suite & Sweet Aft.
And, the Mega RockStar Quarters consist of the Massive, Fab, Posh & Gorgeous.
Overall, 93% of cabins on the Scarlet Lady have an Ocean View, so most guests will be seeing the ocean from their cabins. Currently, all of the Virgin Voyages ships (Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, and Brilliant Lady) are nearly identical, with minor differences in touches like art pieces and color palate.
The Verdict:
Overall I enjoyed my stay in the Virgin Voyages Sea Terrace cabin. It was nicer than all of the cabins I’ve been in with Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America. Virgin Voyages is definitely a premium cruise line, a welcome addition to the cruise industry. I enjoyed the modern design, technological features, and high-quality bedding. Some quirks are the tight bathroom, and the small chair provided.
Have you sailed on Virgin Voyages before? How was your experience? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
As a Gold tier First Mate travel agent with Virgin Voyages, I’m happy to help make your cruise booking as seamless as possible. From helping you secure a restaurant reservation to gaining you priority boarding, I’m here to assist. Simply use my booking link to discover your next Virgin Voyage and I’ll assist you on your journey! Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
