My Virgin Voyages Experience

Written June 7, 2025

As indicated, I went on a Virgin Voyages cruise aboard the Valiant Lady, and I was pleseantly surprised in ways I did not anticipate.  Here is my story!

On April 24, 2025, I boarded an airplane bound for Miami, Florida.  I was flying in a day ahead of my cruise on Valiant.  I have never been INSIDE Miami International Airport before, so this was a new experience.  I landed in terminal D, and I was at the very end of the terminal which essentially unloaded at the last possible gate for this terminal.  After a 20 minute walk, I found my luggage and proceded to head upstairs to the departure area to find my hotel shuttle.  That took much longer than expected, but it did evenually make it's way around.  My home for the night?  The Comfort In and Suites, Miami International Airport at 665 Mokena Drive, Miami Springs, Florida.  Sure it's not the Ritz, but I am not a Ritzy kind of person.  

The hotel was clean, convenient, and provided a few extra services that you may want to take advantage of on your next cruise!

With a good sized, clean room, Free Breakfast, and free shuttle service to/from the airport, as well as free shuttle service to/from PortMiami.  This hotel more than met my needs at a very reasonable cost.

Leaving the hotel via the shuttle about 12:20pm, I arrived at PortMiami Terminal V at about 1:15pm.  After handing my bags to a porter, who promptly tagged them for my cabin and instructed me where to go, I lined up in the 2:30pm arrival queue.  There were a bunch of people waiting to board by this time, and some had already begun.  I notice the lines on the far side from me were moving, and rather quickly.  To my surprise, at about 1:50pm, I was invited to enter the embarkation lobby.  After checking my documents, and verifying who I was, I was given a wearable (see picture below), and I went aboard The Valiant Lady!

As stated in an earlier post, this was my first cruise in about 35 years.  And even though Vaiiant is considered small by today's standards, I found her to be beautiful and spacious.  

With such a quick embarakation process, I was surprised to find myself in Cabin 8 334 A, port side, forward.  A roomy XL Sea Terrace cabin with a larger bathroom, and an amazing balcony by 2:15pm.  Fifteen minutes before I was slated to board the ship.  So, if you have later boarding times, do not be surprised if you are aboard by then.  This seems to be a frequent occurance.

I got settled into my cabin, got a few picturess, and went off to The Galley on Deck 15 to find something to eat, as I was a bit hungry.

While the Sail Away was taking place on the top deck, I was in my cabin enjoying the sound of the surf, and the movement of the ship as we left PortMiami, On Time.

I took some time to just enjoy my cabin and took advantage of the Ship Eats availability (think DoorDash at sea), and relaxed either on my balcony, or just inside with the balcony door opened and enjoying the sea air.

Up next...Day 2 at Sea and Day 3 at Taino Bay, Dominican Republic!

See you, next time!