Virgin Voyages, Valiant Lady, Mediterranean Review

Valiant Lady, Mediterranean

We booked onto the cruise via Imagine Cruising. We were promised "80's Extravaganza". Having been on an 80s themed cruise a couple of years ago with Royal Caribbean we were really excited.
The cruise was mis sold to us as there were only 3 80s concerts on an 11 day cruise and a few DJ sets. Although the acts were brilliant there was no other eighties themed entertainment leaving passengers to organise their own.
The port of Madeira was cancelled a month before we went. We found later that Virgin had never even booked that port. An extra day in Lisbon was advertised but that was changed too.
Prior to travel the information about Covid testing was confused. We had to do a test recommended by VV. The code did not work and the cruise Facebook group had to work it out between them. It would have been easy to cheat the test. Covid measures on board were practically non existent and many people caught covid on-board.
Both embarkation and disembarkation were chaotic. For the safety drill you watch a pop video style safety advice video in your cabin. Then you meet at a muster station which was also chaotic. No real checks taken.
The Valiant Lady is a new ship. Our room was comfortable but not a lot of storage. Everything works on an app which often does not work.You have to book meals in restaurants and shows via the app. Restaurant bookings and shows were frequently cancelled. If you use VV book everything asap.
Although ship was just over half full it was often difficult to get restaurant times or shows you wanted. Lounge and deck space was limited. Pool was tiny. I don't know what it would be like at full capacity.
The speciality restaurants are free and were excellent. However the Galley was not. We used it for most breakfast and lunch. Although it looks good in theory with noodle bar, taco stand etc., everything is pre-made so you can't customise your sandwich and there are the 3 same choices everyday. Staff were lovely but service was disorganised in The Galley and it took up to 40 minutes for them to bring your order. They ran out of breakfast tea, orange juice, certain wines and beers ( then offering more expensive choices)
Daytime entertainment is mainly gym based or crafting. Evening entertainment is lacking and there were long periods with nothing going on such as bands or shows. The VV show we did see was good but we had our booking cancelled several times. We did not manage to get bookings for other shows.
It was so bad and there were so many complaints that captain offered a free cruise. The downside is that we would have to pay for air fair and port taxes, plus we can't take any more time off this year.
Valiant Lady style over substance. Some good ideas but not well executed. VV do want to offer something different to a traditional cruise but they are confused as to who their target market is. I believe it is aimed at 20 to 35 year olds but how many of them could afford their prices. Imagine Cruising had taken over most of the cabins as VV had not managed to fill them. The passengers on 80s cruise were mostly late forties to early sixties. No liaison regarding entertainment between IMC and VV
There were so many disappointed passengers that we are now working together to get some money back.
This was my 29th cruise and I would rank it as 29th in my favourite cruise list