Today whilst onboard Virgin Voyages Cagliari was our port today onboard Valiant Lady sailing the Irresistible Med itinerary. A beautiful port in Sardina, and a vast improvement to Olbia, which we visited on our last Virgin Voyages sailing French Daze and Ibiza Nights Itinerary.
That said, we decided to once again stay on the ship, which I promise is something we hardly ever do, but that was part of the appeal of sailing with Virgin Voyages, staying on the ship to relax and enjoy the ship as we had it relatively to ourselves.
I can’t say for sure why we didn’t make much effort to get off the ship this sailing; this was our third sailing on Virgin Voyages this year, and we realised we were always rushing around and rarely stopped to relax on the ship, so this time we went more with the flow than ever and tried to silence the guilt monster telling us we HAVE to get off, even if just for an hour.
One thing that persuaded us to stay on the ship was that this time we had the Splash of Romance Package, which included a spa pass for four hours, but it had to be used on a port day. This is fine on this itinerary, as there’s only really one half-sea day, but more on that in the next post when we arrive in Ibiza.
Click the images to view them larger
After a lazy morning in the cabin, we went for breakfast in our usual spot, the outdoor space aft of The Galley ship. I had the peanut butter and jelly toasted sandwich, which, I’ll be honest, wasn’t the best, but I think this is a preference thing, nothing wrong with the product quality. The filling was on the light side for my tastes, and the bread was a chunky brioche slice; I tend to prefer a liberal spread of peanut butter and jelly on my sandwiches when I make them, so I found this a little on the dry side, and too much bread to filling ratio. I perhaps could have asked for more filling when I ordered, one for next time, I guess, to find out.
We enjoyed sitting in the light shade for a while, enjoying our coffee; the immediate port area wasn’t the best to look at, being mainly a shipping port, so plenty of containers nearby, but the side facing the city was beautiful. When you look up and beyond the port, the views make for a beautiful backdrop.
We decided to take a walk across the ship and take in the views in the gorgeous med sun; if we weren’t going to explore the nearby city, we could at the least make the most of the view from the ship.
We then returned to our room for a bit; Phil slept for around an hour and spent an hour on the balcony in the hammock catching up on customer emails. However, I was totally distracted by the lifeboat drill we had a perfect view of. Being the absolute ship nerd I am, I spent the best part of an hour watching the lifeboats circling and being lifted up and down from the water.
Redemption Spa onboard Valiant Lady
We then headed to the spa to use our half-day spa pass. I will firstly say we’re not really spa people, we rarely make use of thermal suites and were not one to drop a lot of money on treatments, so whilst this was a nice-to-have feature, it wasn’t the main appeal for us when we booked the Splash of Romance Package, and our opinion on the value and quality of the spa will not come from a place of someone with lots of experience.
That said, we had a lovely afternoon relaxing in the spa facilities. It was clean and bright, with each of the treatment rooms having windows facing outside, so wonderful and bright, which I like in my spa rooms.
I don’t have many images as other guests were in the spa whilst we were enjoying the facilities, and I wanted to respect their privacy. However, there are several plunge pools, one large lukewarm, then smaller hot and cold relaxing tubs.
There is no hot tub, which is odd and a shame, but the other facilities more than made up for it. There are multiple areas and rooms for you to relax and rejuvenate. Including; A salt room, Sauna, Steam room and heated marble hammam benches, which were terrific, and had Phil snoring within about 20 minutes.
The highlight has to be the mud room, however. You are given a small pot of mud to cover yourself in, and then let it dry and draw out the skin’s impurities, after which you wash them off, leaving your skin feeling refreshed and soft. This was worth the entry alone.
You can see some stock images and the price for treatments on this post here.
We spent around 3 hours in the spa, but afterwards, we were hungry, so we headed to The Galley for something to eat. However, they were between meal services, so they only had the all-day breakfast and grab-and-go options open.
Book your Virgin Voyages Cruise Today
If you would like to book your Virgin Voyages Cruise today, you can use the below link to see the latest offers and self-service your booking. Any bookings made using this link will be linked to Magical Traveller (it will say Sold and Serviced by Kieran Miller at the top); you will have complete control over your booking and can pay Virgin Voyages directly.
If you book using our Book and Go link by clicking the image below, we will add bonus sailor loot to your account as a thank you, $25-$200, depending on cruise duration and cabin purchased. Sea Terrace cabins receive $100 on sailings four nights or more as a guide. An email will be sent within 24 hours from Magical Traveller confirming the loot will be added within 30 days before you sail.
If you would like to add hotels and accommodation, don’t hesitate to contact us, and we can make your cruise a fully ATOL-protected holiday.
Valiant Lady Food Crawl
With every cloud and all that, we decided to have a ship food crawl! Sun Club is usually open when The Galley is between services, so we headed there for a Poke bowl, or in my case, two; I really could eat these all day; they are incredible, and the view was gorgeous from this high up on the ship
Then we headed to The Social; Phil grabbed some sweet treats from the sweet counter and finally tried the pretzel. It was okay, a great bar snack, but nothing to shout about. Then next door for to the Dock for some mezze plates.
We killed some time here just relaxing before deciding to skip our Gunbae reservation for the evening. Phil’s not keen on sitting with people we don’t know and then having to make everyone wait for his food to be cooked on a separate grill. He said it makes him feel awkward and that he’s holding everyone up, so he prefers to eat in Gunbae when we have friends sailing with us as they won’t mind eating without him, which annoys me as I love the wings; maybe next sailing I’ll ask if I can get the wings to go?
So we decided to eat in The Galley tonight, which is fine with me as I could eat a mountain of Sushi, and I love that it’s so freely available.
It was then time for sail away from Cagliari, so we relaxed in the shaded area in our favourite spot in the outdoor area of The Galley and enjoyed the view as we left port.
What is Scarlet Night onboard Virgin Voyages?
It was then time for the highlight of every Virgin Voyage’s sailing, Scarlet Night. Every sailing onboard Virgin Voyages includes Scarlet Night, which is often hard to explain. In its simplest of terms, it’s a pool party. But Virgin being Virgin, they take it to a whole other level.
The whole ship transforms; even the cabin corridors and balconies are lit in red to see the tone. Then around 7 pm, things kick off in the roundabout, the very centre of the ship.
There’s far too much to share in this post, this was our third Scarlet Night, and I know we have yet to see everything. I can only share that it’s more than just a pool or deck party you may find on other lines. Scarlet Night takes over the whole ship, from the lights in the cabin corridors and balconies turning red, decorations across the main ship areas, and entertainment across the whole ship.
Things tend to start around 7 pm in the Roundabout, the heart of the ship. The ship’s entertainment casts all come together to kick the evening off with an extensive production and dance number, culminating with the Scarlet Night theme song, which you will hear a number of times tonight sung in different ways.
Then across the public spaces, there are a number of pop-up activities, game shows, and performances, some listed in the schedule, some you have to happen upon. Which may worry some of you if you want to ensure you see everything. You can’t, but please don’t panic; that’s very much the spirit of Virgin Voyages and Scarlet Night.
Whitney The Hostess, explained it to me herself; the ship is like a choose-your-own adventure. There’s always something to explore, see and do, but the ship and the way the activities are scheduled are more self-exploration and discovery than force-feeding you. My tip, however if you are lost and can’t find anything, and I can’t stress this enough, MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE HAPPENINGS CAST!
We have made friends with many of the cast, who have always guided us through the events onboard; they will also be how you get invited to the secret happenings onboard. Yes, there are a number of events hidden on the ship that aren’t listed in the daily schedule, and you can only see and do them if you get invited. Asking for an invite is the surefire way not to get invited.
One event that I highly recommend you attend on Scarlet Night is the Octopus Goddess event in the Red Room. Not only is it an incredible show performed but The Hostess, but it also gives you the back story for Scarlet Night and why we salute the sailors and the moon on this extraordinary night onboard.
The finale then takes place on the pool deck with the best pool party at sea. The entertainment crew come together for a big dance performance, the Octopus Goddess makes another appearance with an absolute belter of a song. In most cases, everyone ends up in the pool, or if you are near the pool you will at the least end up getting wet, so be sure to wear something you are happy to get wet if you want to be in the heart of the action.
The pool party carries on for a good while, with more and more people falling for the call of pool and jumping in; I can’t say I recall the time when the pool party ends; I have a drunk video of me getting a Fanta from The Galley at 0:30 (no, I won’t be sharing it ๐คฃ), before heading to The Manor for the after party.
Scarlet Night is a highlight of a Virgin Voyages cruise, so make sure you are ready for it, but it can be as amped up or low-key as you want it to be. You can sit in one of the bars and enjoy the atmosphere or get up close and jump in the pool; like much else on the ship, it really is up to you to decide how you want to enjoy yourself.
You can book these cruises by contacting us via our Enquiry form on our website or by filling in the form below. Remember, we offer $100 bonus Sailor Loot when you book a Sea Terrace or above on your Virgin Voyages Cruise with us.
You can also view all our Virgin Voyages offers and cruise planning tips in our dedicated group on Facebook.
Join our Virgin Voyage Groups:-