If you are considering a cruise with Virgin Voyages you may be wondering what the cabins are like, I’ve just returned from a cruise onboard Scarlet Lady staying in a Sea Terrace (balcony) cabin.
Most elements are almost identical to that of an ocean view and inside cabin so this post is also relevant to those cabin categories.
In this article, we will look at if the bed is comfortable, what the storage is like, the bathroom, the minibar, the balcony hammock, and lots more.
This is the cabin that I stayed in on the Virgin Voyages website: Sea Terrace (affiliate link).
Virgin Voyage’s Converting ‘Sea Bed’
The cabin features a bed that converts from the day layout shown below into a full-sized bed. This converting bed design definitely was a divisive subject when the ship was launched.
When I first heard about the bed I have to admit I didn’t really understand why Virgin would make such a strange choice. Royal Caribbean did try something similar in the early 1990s, it was a more basic version and the idea was scrapped.
The original idea was that the bed would be converted each day but Virgin have changed this and the bed now starts in bed mode and is only converted when guests request it.
I personally didn’t feel the need to have the bed converted. I worry too much about the extra work for the room stewards and I’m also a fan of an afternoon nap. During my cruise I never had the bed converted.
Virgin Voyages Converting Bed by Day:
When the bed is in day mode the bedding is taken off the bed and the edge piece is swung around into the position shown below. The bedding is stored inside the bed/sofa in the white space you can see at the end.
Virgin Voyages Converting Bed by Night:
When the bed is in night mode the white box where the sofa part would go is visible. I used this area to store a few things such as my purchases in the Virgin Voyages gift shop that can be seen below.
The table is designed so that it can be used with the bed and sofa designs. I didn’t really use this table, instead just putting my drink/photo on the white box area.
Almost all cruise ships which have double/queen/king-sized beds are made up of two single beds pushed together. You may be able to feel where the beds join together but I don’t think you’d be able to feel it on this bed as much as you might on some other cruise lines.
When the bed is in bed form you wouldn’t ever know that it wasn’t a permanent part of the room. The cabin looks like most other cruise ship cabins when the bed is like this.
The Sea Bed Was Susprisingly Comfortable
I have to admit before my cruise I was concerned about how comfortable the bed could realistically be. I am happy to report that it is very comfortable and is also full length.
The bed is approximately 2metres long which is the average length of beds sold in Europe.
If you’re over about 6’2 your feet will probably hang off the end (but you’re probably used to that)!
I was a little worried that the bed would feel like a camping bed but that couldn’t be further from the truth, the mattress is full thickness and a mattress topper is laid at night.
You wouldn’t know that the bed converts when you are in it. The below photo shows how our cabin would look on a typical day. I usually wouldn’t share photos of my cabin looking so messy but there were no drawers in the cabin to tidy away things like hairdryers or hairbrushes.
Does The Bed Have to Convert?
The bed can be left as a bed throughout the entire cruise if that is what the guest would like. I was a bit worried that I’d have to miss out on my afternoon naps because the bed would have been put away but the passengers are in control of when/if the bed is made into a day bed.
I was only on Scarlet Lady for a weekend so had very little time for napping, but I still appreciated the bed being left as a bed. I don’t mind sitting on the bed if I am in the cabin during the day.
At the moment the bed starts in bed mode and will only be changed to the daybed mode if requested.
Do Suitcases Fit Under The Bed?
You could possibly put your suitcase under the part of the bed that is fixed but you would be able to see it all of the time. The bed is also quite low so if you have a large suitcase it might not be high enough.
I’d suggest putting your suitcase in the bottom of the closet if you are cruising on Scarlet Lady. Alternatively, there is a lot of floor space at the end of the cabin by the chair and desk where I’m sure the suitcases could go.
I did fit my suitcase under the bed, just to try it but usually kept my suitcase in the bottom of the closet. My suitcase is a size small and it JUST fit.
There Aren’t any Bedside Tables
There aren’t any kinds of bedside tables for the bed. If you are on the side closest to the bathroom you can use the big white box to rest your phone/drinks on but if you’re on the other side you’ll have to rest it on the floor.
Sometimes it is nice to have a glass of water by the bed and I did worry a little that I would knock it over. It was okay but definitely could have been improved with some form of bedside tables.
At The Other End of The Cabin (A Little Surprise!)
At the other end of the cabin, you’ll find a desk, a chair/stool, and a bigger chair in the corner. The cabin feels very spacious because of the lack of extra things in the room. I personally really like this style as I’m not generally a person who likes much too ‘stuff’.
Other cabins would usually have a sofa/couch or big chair in this part of the room.
Under the desk is a minibar and inside the minibar is a ‘time to play kit’ available to buy for $30. I’ve never seen anything like that in a cruise ship cabin before!
How Many Plug Sockets are There on Scarlet Lady?
On the desk, there is 1 European socket, 1 US socket, and 2 USB sockets. By the side of the bed, there are 2 USB sockets and 1 US socket on both sides. Bringing the total to 10! Amazing.
The plug sockets behind the chair are a meter or so away from the bed so unless you have a long arm you would need a long charger to lay in bed and browse on your phone. Arguably you’d be out enjoying yourself rather than doing this anyway!
If you are ever curious about which plug sockets a cabin will have, check out our full list here, featuring a searchable table (it might be an idea to favorite this one for the next time you need it): Complete Cruise Ship Plug Socket Guide: Search by Ship
No Drawers – At All
I think it’s important to note that there are no other drawers or shelves in the cabin apart from those found in the wardrobe/closet area by the door.
I pack very light so this isn’t a problem for me but I do imagine that it’ll be a problem for people who like to pack more than I do.
We only cruised for the weekend so living out of our suitcases without any problem. If I was cruising for longer I would find this to be more of a problem.
I really missed having a drawer for chargers and items like my camera or sunglasses. Usually, on a cruise, there will be a drawer under the desk where all of these things will go but because of the cabin’s minimalistic design, there are no drawers at all.
This meant that the cabin often looked messy, which I didn’t like.
I loved the number of mirrors in the cabin, it’s definitely a very photogenic room. The entire room has mood lighting which is controlled by the tablet you can see on the desk in the photo above.
The tablet also controls the TV and curtains in the cabin.
A word of warning: The way that the curtains work is that they are opened/closed by the tablet. You can manually open them but as soon as you open the curtains an inch the entire curtain will be opened. Make sure you’re adequately dressed before you decide to peak at what the weather is like outside!
A Good Sized Closet/Wardrobe
The closet area is a pretty good size with 7 shelves on top of each other inside a cupboard and a place for hanging clothes. There isn’t a door on the hanging section but it does have a curtain.
There is enough space in the bottom of the wardrobe for a suitcase to go and I ended up with my shoes down here too. There’s also a shelf at the top where you can put a few things. I’d recommend putting things here that you don’t need all the time like the pool towels.
I talk more about this area of the cabin in my video review below. I always look at if Virgin have made any changes since I was first on board:
The Balcony Hammock Was AMAZING!
The balcony was a decent size but the hammock was my favorite part.
The balcony also has two seats and a table and I’d recommend you move these to the side if you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the hammock, I enjoyed swinging on it and you’d bang into the chairs if you didn’t move them.
Each hammock is handwoven and it was SO MUCH FUN. I have to admit I definitely thought it was a gimmick before I sat in the hammock, I thought I’d just sit in it to have a photo taken but I ended up spending about an hour sat here.
The hammock was a lot easier to get into than it might look. The fabric bunches together so you just have to sit down then stretch out, you aren’t climbing onto it like how it looks above. That would be nearly impossible.
The Virgin Voyages’ Cruise Ships Have Tiny Bathrooms
The cabin bathroom was clean and functional, but tiny. The view below was taken from inside the shower with the main door to the cabin being behind the towels on the right.
It’s by far the smallest cruise ship cabin bathroom I’ve had but I did like how Virgin have made the toilet seat a different shape from all of the other cruise lines, nobody else has even tried that one!
The actual shower was a great waterfall design and the actual shower space was a good size.
The tricky part came when getting out of the shower as the door takes up most of the main room. I usually get out of the shower and flip my head over to put a towel on my head, if I did this in this cabin I would probably hit my head on the toilet. So I didn’t…
Again there are no drawers or storage space in the bathroom.
In the rest of the world, soap is white but on a Virgin Voyages cruise, it’s black! Black soap!
Would I Recommend This Cabin?
I love the design of the cabin and the way that technology is used with the tablet controlling the mood lighting. I also really enjoyed the hammock on the balcony and the number of plug sockets in the cabin was a real plus. That said, the cabin isn’t one of my favorites. I think I’d struggle with the lack of storage for a cruise longer than a weekend and the tiny bathroom was a disappointment for me.
I’ve just returned from a cruise onboard Scarlet Lady, I had an amazing time but it wasn’t what I expected AT ALL. To find out what the cruise was like, and if I’d recommend it, check out this post:
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