After spending the first couple of days of our trip in Puerto Rico it’s finally embarkation day! If you want to get right to the ship check-in, click here. Otherwise, read on to what we did during the day leading up to embarkation!

We woke up on our third day in Puerto Rico practically already packed up and ready to go.

We were able to get breakfast at the hotel this time around. They had French toast cut in strips (like French toast sticks), eggs, pork sausage, potatoes, cereals, yogurt/cottage cheese, and an omelet station. Mom said the omelet was thin but hey, it’s free.

Shortly after breakfast we checked out and headed to the port.

Getting to the Ship (Sort of…)

Virgin Voyages check-ins don’t start until 1:45pm but you can drop off your bags starting at 10AM and use the rest of the time to see the city you’re in.

We got an Uber from the hotel and when we got to the pier it was a mess. There were people still getting off the ship trying to get rides along with people dropping off their bags. It caused major traffic. Our driver had gotten us to the side to drop us off but the police monitoring the traffic instructed him to go back around.

I couldn’t understand all of what the driver was mumbling but I interpreted, “Disaster, disaster, disaster!” Clearly, he was frustrated. Mom swore he was cussing us out, but I like to think he was cussing at the situation and not us specifically. He gave me a five-star rating, so I stood by what I said.

Tip: Not to jump to the end of the cruise, but it’s probably best to get off earlier in the morning to avoid the traffic. The Virgin Voyages app will tell you that too, though you can stay in until 10. We got off around 7:30am and avoided the traffic.

After we were turned around again, the Uber driver was able to drop us off across the street. We had to walk back over with our suitcases.

Luggage Drop-Off

I was worried there’d be a line to drop off our luggage, but we checked our bags without any issues in less than 5 minutes. We gave them our stateroom number to tag our bags with and handed them our bags along with a tip.

Tip: Virgin Voyages doesn’t send a luggage tag ahead of time, so don’t worry if you didn’t get one. It will be there for you when you get there.  Make sure the carry-on bag(s) you take with you on the ship has your passport and any medications you might need at least.

Once we checked our bags, we took a few pictures with the “I heart Puerto Rico” sign in front of the cruise terminal.

Getting a Second Chance in Old San Juan

I wanted to go to at least one place we couldn’t go to the day before. Since the day was so beautiful and hot, I decided to go to La Mamma del Gelato (A.K.A. Anita’s Gelato). According to Google, it was about a 14 minute-walk from the pier. During the walk it felt more like 20-25 minutes. Might’ve been because of the heat or the slight incline. Whatever the reason, it made arriving at the shop that much more rewarding. 

Gelato

A line was at the door when we came in. Mom instantly went to sit down at a table while I stood to place our order. The aesthetic is very cute in there with pink, gold, and mint displayed throughout the shop. There were a ton of flavors to choose from. You can sample the ones you want to try before committing and buying.

I ended up getting the coquito flavor and pineapple in a cup. You can have up to two flavors for a regular size which is $7.90. Trust me; a regular size is more than enough. I got my mom a medium cone by accident when I should’ve just stuck with a regular. I though the cone had three sizes like the cups but there were only two. She got pineapple and Madagascar vanilla, but she didn’t taste them first. She ended up not liking the vanilla at all but really liked the pineapple. I enjoyed both of my flavors because it ended up tasting like a Piña Colada.

Walking Back to the Terminal

On our way back to the cruise terminal, we passed by the pigeon park and some historical sites took pictures. We stopped way more often on the way back, but it still felt like the walk was much shorter.

Even with our stopping, we were back at the pier an hour before check-in.  Because we had deep blue extras, Virgin Voyages loyalty perks through their loyalty match program, Mom and I were able to go in early. We sat with others who either had deep blue extras or VIP status. It wasn’t time to let us on the ship yet so we had to wait in the warehouse type area.

They had boxed water in the seats for each guest. The woman next to me said the water “tasted like a box” but I thought she was just being nitpicky. It really did taste like cardboard.

After some time had passed, we were able to complete our check-in. They checked our passports, asked for our room number, and gave us our wrists bands for the room/paying for things and a secondary blue band the represented that we had deep blue extras.

Those who were staying a suite or had packages like Splash of Romance or Splash for Your Bash, they had different color secondary bands.

Finally on the Ship!

We went through security and then we were in! We were the first people on the Valiant Lady!

They had music playing and the crew dancing, getting us excited for our cruise as we walked on the ship. That’s how you’re supposed to do it. Royal Caribbean, take notes Virgin Voyages and Disney Cruise Line please.

We entered the ship on deck 6 where the bottom of the roundabout was. After first stopping by Sailor Services on Deck 5 by mistake, we immediately booked our night entertainment in the app. I thought you could do it at Sailor Services but actually you can book it at the Red Room.

The Red Room is the live entertainment space where the majority of the night performances are held. In our rush, we completely forgot about day entertainment like workout classes that needed to be reserved.

Tip: When booking your entertainment, make sure to look at all things to book, not just the night events.

Mom and I were able to get a reserved spot for all the night shows. This was the benefit of getting on early: less people on the ship means more spots available.

The Stateroom

When you get on the ship earlier in the day for other cruise lines, you must wait to enter the room. The stateroom attendants are still turning over the ship, so we have to give them time. Since the earliest check-in for Virgin starts later in the day, the stateroom is already ready when come aboard.

We’d been running around most of the day, I was tired, and my phone needed to charge so, we went to the room to collect ourselves.

The stateroom was a decent size for two people, but I think three would’ve been tight. They had gradient curtains that could be opened or closed with a tablet. You could also turn on the TV, lights, and music from this tablet. This is how we watched our safety video. Make sure to mark that you watched it in the app or on the TV for your muster station.

We got our luggage shortly after watching the video and met our room attendant, Rezzy.

Spa Tour 

After taking a brief rest, we went to the spa for a tour and to book our thermal suite time. The services they offer are massages, wraps, facials, and a thermal suite that include a sauna, steam room, salt room, mud room, mineral pool, and cold plunge tub.

Couples who get the Splash of Romance package get a couples massage and thermal suite included.

For the thermal suite, you can book three hours to use it. If you book for a sea day, it’s $89 per person. If you book for a port day, it’s $49 per person. I was treating my mom to the spa for her birthday and we agreed to do the thermal suite on a port day.

“Don’t Tell Me You Lost It Already!”

After the spa tour, it was time to check-in for muster drill. A muster drill is a safety routine to know what to do and where to go in case of an emergency. Think of it as a mandatory fire drill.

Different cruise lines handle this differently, especially after the pandemic. Royal Caribbean let’s you watch the safety video in the app before you get on the ship so you can just mark it complete as you walk on. Disney still has the traditional muster drill where everyone gets their life jackets, meet at the muster station at a certain time, and are told verbally what to do.

Virgin Voyages does a slight combination of the two. You can’t access the safety video until you’re actually on the ship (either in your room or in the app once you’re connected to the ships Wi-Fi). After you watch the video, you can’t immediately go to your muster station to get checked off. You have a specific time (usually between 4-6pm) and you’ll tap your wristbands to show it’s complete.

Mom and I went to our muster station when it was time, to get marked off. This is when I noticed my wrist band wasn’t on my wrist.

“Don’t tell me you lost it already,” the crew member joked. I went in an immediate panic. How could I have lost it already? I didn’t even take it off. I used it to get into the room after the spa (or at least I thought I did), so how could I lose it!?

It must’ve unhooked or slipped off with all our running around. I started stressing about it, thinking I’d have to pay for a new one but the person at Sailor Services was able to replace it; no issues, no charge.

Time to Eat

With that resolved we finally got something to eat but at this point it was 4:30pm and our dinner reservation was in less than 2 hours. We decided to go to the Pizza Place instead of the Galley which was probably packed with people at this point.

Mom got classic pepperoni and I got “Pretty Fly for a White Pie”. It had mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, garlic, and oregano. It was really good! Mom said she liked Royal Caribbean’s pizza better, surprisingly.

At this point my phone was nearly dead so we went back to the room. I left my phone there to charge while we went up to the sail away party. We couldn’t stay long because we had to get to dinner, but we did get free champagne!  

Tip: All sail away parties for Virgin Voyages include free champagne and start around 6:30pm. Champagne is served a little bit before the party gets started. Try to make a dinner reservation after 7pm on the first night if you can or just eat in the Galley.

Extra Virgin

Our dinner that night was Extra Virgin, the Italian restaurant. They handmake all their pasta. For appetizers I got fried calamari and a charcuterie board. I should’ve just stuck with the calamari if I’m being honest. Mom can’t eat seafood so she couldn’t eat the calamari and she didn’t want anything on the charcuteries board.

For dinner, I originally wanted the oxtail pasta, but I wanted to try sea bass.  I didn’t think sea bass paired well with oxtail pasta, so I switched up and got the spaghetti alle vongole pasta with clams (another first) at the suggestion of our waitress, Kim. Both were delicious!

Mom got the New York strip with oxtail pasta and let me try hers. It was also delicious. I’m still not sure which one I liked more.

Towards the end of dinner, I couldn’t finish all my food because I was stuffed! I hate wasting food, but I couldn’t do it anymore.

Kim explained that two of her tables didn’t have dessert (probably because they were also stuffed). We weren’t going to either because we were full. However, because she was so friendly and nice, I felt bad, so I got a limoncello sorbet (I only ate half a scoop).

First Night on Virgin

After dinner I tried to book my tattoo appointment (all Virgin Voyages ship have a tattoo shop onboard) but the line was long, and we had a show/game to get to. We met some fellow Georgians in line before we took off to the show.

By this time both my and my mom’s phone died. My phone was still in the room and we kind of needed it for this show.

We went to the “Miss Behave Show” which was a game show, one side of the audience against another. I definitely recommend going if you want to have fun and are okay with some cheeky humor. Our side lost but that’s okay.

I went back to make my tattoo appointment after the show, where the line was non-existent now. All tattoo appointments have a non-refundable $200 deposit. Tattoos start out at $200 for Virgin Voyages basic tattoos and if you want a custom one or one the actual artist on board designs, it starts at $250 and can go up depending on the size and complexity of the tattoo. My tattoo artist was Marco who is from Italy (Instagram: @magrisma). He was friendly and chill. We’ll see him again on the last day of the cruise.

PJ Party

After booking my tattoo appointment, we finally went back to the room to rest up for the pajama party that happens on the first night of every Virgin cruise.

I’m normally asleep by 10 but I was going to try and stay up since the party started at 11pm. Mom and I started The Color Purple (2023) before heading to the party. We came a little after 11 just when the Hostess (like a cruise director) came down. There was a best pajama contest and then peanut butter cookies were passed around. I was one of the lucky few who got one and they were so good! I tried going to the Galley at 10pm for the supposed chocolate chip cookies but I didn’t see any. Later, I’ll realize that’s because a bunch of people line up before 10 and take the small batch immediately.

As I ate my cookie, I thought, “If they use the same dough for the chocolate chip cookies, I know why it’s such a big deal.” I don’t even like peanut butter like that, but these cookies were 10/10.

We stayed for a few more songs at the party before going back to the room to sleep. It had been a long day.

This embarkation day was the smoothest I’d had so far as an adult paying for her own cruises. So far, so good, Virgin! Let’s see what cruise day two at sea has in store next week.

Have you been on a Virgin Voyages cruise? Did this make you want to do all of the embarkation day things? Let me know in the comments!