Virgin Valiant – January 2026 sailing from San Juan 🚢 🏝️🌊

Ports: St. Kitts, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua, Saint Martin

Sailed: Double, Balcony Cabin 14290Z

Booked via: Casino Match free cruise deal from HAL (Casino Merry Go Round)

Karaoke: 🎤🎤 Venue is not ideal, too narrow

Pros:

CHILDFREE!! I really wish more lines would start offering sailings that were childfree. Maybe 1-2 a month. Charge a bit more. I’m pretty sure you’d sell them out. There is really an untapped market for this. I know people with kids that would also choose these cruises. UPDATE: As of Summer 2026, Carnival has started this!

The hammocks on the balconies! 🙂

Stewards are not in your face all the time. Very efficient and prompt with requests but not hovering in the halls like in most other lines. 

Limited obnoxious announcements. They figure since you’re adults, you’re capable of adulting. All relevant info is in the app. I never realized how annoying the announcements were until they weren’t. LOL

Free soda, including coke zero in most bars/eateries. 

Ship is fairly easy to navigate. It sounded confusing at first that cabins had same numbers, with just A or Z after, depending on side of ship. But the letters made it so much quicker to get your bearings. Also, different sections of the ship are color coded – fore is purple, aft is blue, mid is red.

We loved the later shore excursion times. Not everyone wants to be up at the crack of dawn.

The quality and variety of the food. This is probably my favorite cruise line for food out of the 8 I’ve sailed, apart from a couple of things. Actually, this is probably my favorite cruise line overall.

The quality and variety of entertainment in the evenings was also fun. Probably not my favorite line for shows overall, but it’s high.

Cons: 

Not enough storage in the cabin, needs some shelves in the bathroom, as well as more in the cabin itself. 

The App is confusing to navigate in places. For instance, it’s not obvious that you can book brunch reservations in the app. App had wrong time for ship time. Hard to find opening times of eateries. 

The pizza place does not serve slices; you have to order and wait. I much prefer the grab and go approach. I appreciate that they cater to people who have food allergies, which I respect, but make them order the whole pizzas. The rest of us don’t want to wait.

Limited late night dining options, and too many places are only open for lunch (when I’m on excursions). So many places in the food hall were closed by 3pm. I go on cruises to explore ports, so I’m seldom on the ship for lunch. I would much prefer that they had some of these places open for late night dining instead, if I’m not in the mood for a sit-down restaurant. Rotate them, so maybe one open every night. The Noodle Bar would’ve been great at night, as would the taco bar.

No water stations on return to the ship at the ports like other lines. For an upscale line, I found this odd. And yet another cruise line who uses the small water and ice dispensers. 🤦

Need for smart elevators. Of all the lines, the clientele on this line would have benefitted from the new smart elevators.

Restaurants – I’m going to start by saying that I am a foodie, an appreciator of all types, but I am not a food snob. 

Pink Agave – Probably the best meal on a ship I have ever had. Mexican is my favorite cuisine. This was definitely higher end Mexican. They had three moles on the menu! That is extremely rare (outside of the Red Iguana in SLC). The camarones Amarillo mole was amazing. The esquites, guacamole, and tuna aguachile were all fantastic and super flavorful. Next time I sail VV, I will likely book this restaurant twice.

Test Kitchen – Menu C was very good. The cheese tart was our fave, and the onion rolls that came with the tart were to die for (probably our favorite individual thing of the whole meal). The eel with soy was surprisingly delicious. I didn’t find the study of chicken to be exceptional. It was very one note compared to the other dishes. The mashed potatoes needed more flavor/depth. 

We liked this place so much, we booked a second time. Menu B was equally great, the standout on this one was the strawberry dessert with wasabi cream! Many of us asked for seconds.

Razzle Dazzle – We did brunch here first, then a dinner later in the cruise. I’d say we preferred the brunch. The dinner options were ok, although my friend said the steak was one of the best she’d ever eaten. The desserts at dinner were bad. Cake was dry, creme brulee had no crunch.

Extra Virgin – I’m not sure I’d book here again, despite this being a lot of cruisers’ favorite. We have fantastic Italian restaurants in Vegas, and the offerings here were not thrilling to me.

Gunbae – We were pleasantly surprised by this Korean BBQ restaurant. It’s communal dining and very interactive (introverts would probably dislike this one). The food was very flavorful and much more filling than I expected. My only critique here is the seating was terribly uncomfortable. This is a must-do when I cruise again.

The Wake – We visited for both brunch and dinner. Both were good, but nothing to write home about, despite many cruisers saying this is their fave restaurant. I’d go for brunch again just for the French crullers though. They were exceptional.

Summary: Probably my favorite cruise line overall, with Holland America and NCL rounding out my top 3. I would definitely cruise with them again, especially since they are expanding their locations and itineraries. “Adults Only” scores a lot of points, but the elevated food and clientele scored high for me as well. It was higher end, without being pretentious. Classy but not snobby. Great vibe. I’ve not found any cruise line/ship that I’d give a 10 out of 10, since there are always some improvements needed, but this one is a solid 9. Foodies should try this line.