Party Time At Sea On The Scarlet Lady

Growing up in California, getting to South Florida for a week-long cruise was always an absolute ordeal. It took a full, exhausting travel day just to reach the starting line. Now that we’re living our roving retirement, I finally understand why Midwesterners treat cruising like a casual weekend hobby.

For us, it was a blissfully uneventful flight. Less than two hours from Cancun to Miami, a couple of days before our departure date. Getting to Miami Beach early allowed us to get situated, shake off any minor travel dust, and relax before we embarked on the real journey: a two-week transatlantic voyage.

It did, however, take a healthy amount of arm-twisting to get Diana on board. Transatlantic crossings mean a lot of consecutive days at sea, and our last long-haul cruises left her a bit skeptical. But I had a secret weapon. This trip was organized by our Nomad Facebook group, a community we’ve been active in for five years now. The promise of sharing stories, talking shop, and swapping travel hacks with fellow digital nomads was the leverage I needed to convince her to pack her bags. Frankly, we’re both glad I did.

Miami Beach (Minus the Beach Prices)

For our pre-cruise digs, we chose the Kimpton Palomar Hotel. It’s located in Miami Beach but tucked away from the actual sand. That allowed us to stay close to the action without paying those silly by-the-beach prices.

In a rare move for us, we went entirely without a rental car. Between the hotel’s free shuttle running down to the main strip every half hour and the ease of Uber, skipping the rental was cheaper, easier, and saved us from the unique mental torture of Miami parking.

Naturally, we had to do a little pre-trip shopping. Wine onboard can be incredibly expensive, and the selection is often a gamble. So, we set out to procure some quality bottles to sneak, “legally bring,” onboard. We picked up a bottle of champagne and a nice red. Then, thanks to a little insider knowledge, I used the secret “Kimpton social password” at front desk check-in and was gifted a third bottle (a white) for free. We now had three bottles ready for the ship. We weren’t entirely sure how the security guards would react to us rolling up with three bottles, but we figured we’d push our luck and see what happened.

Cuban Fare and Credit Card Alchemy

Thanks to the card’s $150 credit, we walked away with a fantastic, high-end meal at Blue Collar (now closed) that cost us absolutely nothing. There is a special kind of satisfaction that comes from eating delicious food on a credit card company’s dime, and it set a highly victorious tone for the start of the trip. We grabbed some yummy Cuban food at Casa Cubana the next night to round out our dining experience.

A Tight Squeeze and a Wine Casualty

Our assigned port check-in window was 2:15 to 2:30 PM. It sounded incredibly tight, but when our Uber pulled up to the terminal, we realized the schedule was more of a polite suggestion. There was a pile of people from the 2:00 PM slot, another pile for 2:15, and a third for 2:30. We joined our designated line and actually moved through the terminal pretty quickly.

During check-in, they handed us our room keys: lightweight, unobtrusive electric fobs built into wristbands. You use them to open your door, pay for drinks, and scan into venues. Honestly, I wish every cruise line would adopt these. Not having to fish a plastic card out of your pocket every time you want a espresso martini is a game-changer.

Boarding Glitches

Unfortunately, our boarding process wasn’t entirely seamless. The Mexican shopping bag I’d used to carry our three bottles of wine decided that maximum capacity was a suggestion. Just as we were shuffling through the final security line, the bag tore. The bottles fell, and we heard the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.

Thankfully, the wine gods were smiling on us in a very specific way: the bottle that shattered was the cheap white wine we got for free from the hotel. It made a spectacular mess, and the shopping bag was suddenly a biohazard of wet glass shards. I carefully fished out the two survivor bottles (the red and the champagne), shoved them into a spare bag, tossed the glass-filled wreckage in the bin, and kept moving. A minor tragedy, but it could have been much worse.

FOMO and the Rockstar Reality

On Virgin Voyages, the high-rollers book what they call “Rockstar Suites.” These come with a built-in bar setup (some bottles of liquor or wine), priority boarding, early access to highly competitive dinner reservations, and entry to a private rooftop lounge called the Rockstar Terrace.

Our travel agent had advised us that the upgrade wasn’t worth the steep price tag, claiming the exclusive terrace was actually pretty underwhelming and uncomfortable. So, we skipped it. But as departure drew closer, the inevitable upgrade bid emails started arriving. Diana, fueled by a healthy dose of FOMO regarding what might be happening on that exclusive terrace, convinced me to place a bid.

Our bid failed. Interestingly enough, a friend in our nomad group, who has sailed with Virgin multiple times, placed a bare-minimum bid for the exact same suite category and got it. It seems Virgin rewards brand loyalty over cold, hard upgrade cash, which is worth keeping in mind for next time.

Getting a Look at the Rockstar Suite

We did get to visit our friend’s suite (a “Cheeky Corner Suite”), and it was admittedly very cool. The layout was a bit quirky, but it had a massive terrace. There was also more alcohol than he could ever hope to drink, which he generously shared during a couple of group get-togethers. Next time around, we’ll probably bid for a Rockstar suite just to get a room with a wider layout and a terrace double the size of a standard cabin. Though I’ll probably skip the Cheeky Corner Suite, it was a bit more space than we actually need, IMHO.

For this trip, we stayed in an upgraded balcony suite. It was slightly larger than the standard cabins and featured a small extra bed, which we promptly used as a shelf to spread out our gear so we weren’t tripping over each other. The room was compact, but the bathroom was surprisingly spacious compared to other cruise ships I’ve endured. Overall, it was a perfectly comfortable place to call home for two weeks.

120 Nomads Walk Onto a Boat…

Having 120 members of our Nomad Facebook group on board completely transformed the transatlantic experience. Instead of staring at the flat blue horizon for six straight days at sea, we had an instant community of like-minded travelers.

Our group organizer set up three large group dinners, which spun off into informal, daily meetups. These weren’t your typical, dry networking events. We gathered in various corners of the ship to trade hard-earned secrets on:

• Ultra-efficient travel packing
• Slick connectivity setups for working on the move
• Expat finance and tax structures
• The best spots for solo travelers
• Travel hacking (earning and burning points to travel for cheap)
• The latest developments in using AI to streamline our nomadic lifestyle

Having these brainstorming sessions to look forward to made those endless ocean days fly by.

Branson’s Adults-Only Playground

The vibe on Virgin Voyages is entirely the brainchild of Richard Branson, which means it is unashamedly centered around music, design, and partying. Crucially, there are absolutely no children allowed.

Because of the adults-only rule, the demographic was fascinating. The age range spanned from the early 20s to well into the 70s, and everyone mixed together effortlessly. There was also a very lively LGBTQ+ community on board who kept the energy by the pool incredibly fun. It was a massive step up from the somewhat staid, quiet atmosphere on Celebrity, and a million times better than the flat-out dead, lifeless vibe we experienced on MSC.

Our departure from Miami set the tone perfectly. As the ship pulled away from the coast, everyone was handed a complimentary glass of bubbly. A rainbow appeared ahead. We went up to the pool deck, the music kicked in, people started dancing, and the vacation officially began.

Playing with Your Food

The physical layout of the ship is clever, offering dozens of different venues to explore, including small, specialized bars dedicated to champagne, craft beer, or bespoke cocktails.

Instead of a massive, depressing trough-style buffet, the main casual dining area is styled like a high-end food court. There was always something fresh, interesting, and quick to grab, no matter the hour. And if we got lazy in the middle of the night, room service was just a tap away.

But the real culinary highlights were the four specialty restaurants. Getting reservations at these spots is a blood sport. The moment slots opened up on the app, people in our group were frantically tapping their screens. Pro tip: if you don’t have a booking, just show up around 5:30 PM when they open. You’ll almost always get a table. If you roll up at 7:00 PM, you’re entirely at the mercy of the seating gods.

Dining Options

We cycled through the options, eating at most of them twice:

• Gunbae: A high-energy Korean BBQ place where the staff guides you through drinking games at the table. This was easily our favorite.
• The Italian, Chinese & Mexican spots: Solid, respectable, and generally good.
• The Steakhouse: Excellent cuts of meat. While almost all the food on the ship is included in your cruise fare, they did have a massive Tomahawk steak available for an extra $80 if you felt like splashing out.
• The Test Kitchen: This was a molecular gastronomy concept. It was certainly an interesting culinary experience, but some of the dishes were needlessly complicated.

Octopus Love and Hypnotic Skepticism

The entertainment on board was surprisingly polished. The main theater hosted high-quality productions heavy on acrobatics, impressive vocals, and contemporary choreography. There was also a smaller, two-story, House of Blues-style venue called The Manor where we caught some decent stand-up comedians and a talented musician.

The only real miss was the comedy hypnotist. We had seen a hypnotism show back in Playa del Carmen a few months ago, so I went in highly skeptical. It was free, but honestly, it was just okay. I wouldn’t waste an evening on it again unless I was thoroughly bored and had literally nothing else to do.

The absolute pinnacle of the onboard entertainment, however, was Scarlet Night.

For this signature event, the entire ship dresses in red. The night starts in the main lobby, where actors, singers, and acrobats wind through the crowd, performing an elaborate myth about a sailor who fell in love with an octopus. The production eventually spills out onto the pool deck around 9:00 PM and rages on as a massive pool party until 3:00 in the morning. The energy was incredible.

The Six-Day Stretch (and Gibraltar’s Cameo)

Our itinerary began with six straight days of open ocean before we were scheduled to make land in the Canary Islands. As it turned out, we never actually made it to the Canary Islands, but more on that dramatic detour in the next post about the ports we visited.

Because of those long stretches at sea, keeping yourself entertained is key. While the ship’s Wi-Fi was significantly better than the dead zones of cruises past, the basic package only allowed one connected device at a time, and the speeds weren’t up for streaming Netflix. You could pay a hefty premium to upgrade the speed, but IMHO, you’re in the middle of the ocean, put the phone down.

The in-room TV options were pretty sparse, too. My advice to anyone planning a long-haul cruise: load up your tablet with books, offline music, and downloaded movies before you leave land. You’ll thank me on day four.

One beautiful highlight of our ocean crossing was sailing right past the Rock of Gibraltar during the day. We spent a solid 40 minutes out on the deck, getting incredible, close-up views of the sheer cliffs and the historic water catchments on the eastern side as we slipped into the Mediterranean.

Drowning in the Bar Tab (and the EU Tax Trap)

Because of a booking promotion, we started the cruise with a very generous bar tab, which we then topped up with that extra discounted tab Diana bought during boarding.

It turned out we drastically underestimated our drinking limits, or perhaps overestimated our stamina. As the cruise wound down, we realized we hadn’t even burned through our original tab. On the final night, the lounges were filled with cruise-goers desperately trying to buy drinks for strangers to empty their accounts.

To save our unspent dough, we huddled with the ship’s wine stewards. They were more than happy to sell off their inventory to help us run down our balance. We walked away with three very nice, albeit highly marked-up, bottles of wine. It was a bit expensive, but it allowed us to recover our initial investment and gave us some excellent souvenirs to enjoy later.

One critical piece of financial logistics they neglected to tell us beforehand: while we were sailing the open ocean between Miami and Africa, all purchases were completely tax-free. However, the moment we crossed into EU waters, a steep European VAT was tacked onto every single transaction, including our drinks. Had we known, we would have finished our souvenir wine shopping a day earlier. Consider yourselves warned, future transatlantic cruisers.

Screaming the Beatles and Navigating Barcelona

If you enjoy making a fool of yourself in relative privacy, Virgin has several private karaoke rooms that you can book for free. One evening, a group of us piled into a room, dragged in a round of drinks, and spent an hour belt-singing Beatles tunes at the top of our lungs. The rooms are completely soundproofed, meaning no innocent bystanders had to suffer through our rendition of “Hey Jude.” Highly recommended.

Another pleasant surprise was the tipping policy. When we booked, gratuities were fully wrapped into the base cruise fare, which made the final bill blissfully simple. Word is that Virgin is moving away from this all-inclusive model for newer bookings, so you’ll want to double-check the fine print on extra service charges when budgeting your own trip.

Getting Off the Ship

When we finally docked in Barcelona, the disembarkation was seamless, a massive relief compared to the logistical cluster we endured on MSC a couple years ago. While our nomad group had chartered buses to rush people to the train station, we were planning to spend a few nights in Barcelona, so we casually arranged our own transport and walked off the ship on our own schedule.

We also chose to carry our own bags off the ship. In hindsight, we probably didn’t need to struggle with them. Because we had a later departure time, the luggage was already organized and waiting in the terminal anyway, and walking through customs would have been much easier empty-handed.

There was a lot of pre-trip panic in the nomad group about the EU’s new biometric visa and tracking requirements. Rumors were flying that Spain and Italy’s border control stations weren’t properly equipped for the fingerprint and facial recognition checks, causing two-hour bottlenecks at other ports. Virgin went out of their way to bring extra customs officials on board, and for us, the entire process was a complete non-event. Still, it’s a good reminder: never book an onward flight or train too close to your ship’s docking time. It’s simply not worth the stress.

The Verdict

After our prior mediocre attempts at a transatlantic crossing, Virgin Voyages completely redeemed the concept for us. The service, food quality, and energetic atmosphere were outstanding. Even Diana was impressed enough to put down a deposit on a future voyage before we even left the ship.

If we can align our schedule to sail with our nomad friends again, we’ll jump at the chance. But even on our own, we’d highly recommend Virgin for a transatlantic crossing. We’re glad we went.

Which cruise lines do you enjoy?