Virgin Voyages gluten-free dining –is it any good? Lest I wonder forever, I decided to find out for myself!
The quest to discover how good Virgin Voyages is at gluten-free
My husband and I test-sailed Virgin Voyages’ insanely Instagrammable Scarlet Lady in February 2024 for a five-day “trial” cruise to see if we’d like this line. Having previously sailed with Crystal and Oceania, we know that Celiac food care and gluten-free options can be excellent on cruise ships.
Additionally, I don’t eat red (a.k.a. mammal) meat, but birds and swims are on my menu, which you’ll see mainly in this post. I’d heard that Virgin had good food and was specifically interested in how they legitimately stacked up against the more luxurious cruises with this in mind.
Spoiler alert: they stacked up really well.
How Virgin Voyages gluten-free (and regular) dining works
Given that Virgin does everything a little differently than most cruise ships, it stands to reason that their dining experiences would be a little different too. You cannot buy an unlimited drinks package but instead, you’ll use your purchased Bar Tab toward all chargeable bevies. (You can top it up at any time with an extra few bucks kicked in by Virgin.)This includes not only alcohol but, correspondingly, specialty coffees, smoothies, and juice shots.
Everyone wants delicious cruise food, and of course, that includes Celiacs. Luckily, Virgin Voyages’ gluten-free options do not disappoint! (While I managed to eat at most of their many restaurants, I missed The Wake and did not get to sample The Sun Club as it was miserable and pouring during our at-sea days.) All the restaurants are included in your cruise fare. (There are a few premium items for an additional fee, but they are few.)
BTW, a PSA from moi to you:
You MUST use your Virgin Voyages phone app to book/reserve any of the Specialty Restaurants (along with the shows and activities). Let me say that again louder for the people at the back:
YOU MUST USE YOUR VIRGIN VOYAGES APP TO BOOK YOUR SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE!
I’ll be the horrible warning poster child to you: I knew to do the restaurants but missed out on the cool ribbon fitness classes, all the yoga classes, and a bunch of other activities because they were completely filled up when I figured it out. Anyhow, I digress. Back to food.
Here are the onboard eateries and what I ordered from Virgin Voyages gluten-free options:
Super Casual Bites
There’s no dress code anywhere, but more people were at their most casual at these places.
The Galley is a shopping mall-style food court with an incredible variety of yummy kiosks. You can order food at your table instead of grabbing it yourself by raising the flag on the table menu. It offers lots of choices in so many styles! When I let one of the servers know about my Celiac disease, they immediately brought a dining manager to meet with me to help. Virgin Voyages takes our condition seriously!
The breakfast and salad kiosk has a separate oven for toasting gluten-free bagels. I dove into it before remembering to take a pic, which is why you got my half-eaten one. Oops. The camera always eats first!
The Impossible Burger on a lettuce wrap was terrific as well. Sadly, we cannot eat the fries. They’re glutenous. Do better, Virgin! 😀 Maybe you should hook up with Sysco and order their fries in the future!
Good to know about The Galley…
The Galley’s always open, and has got your back when you’re feeling eventually peckish after dancing at The Manor nightclub. Significantly, they also offer 24-hour room service should you be too hungover tired to drag your sorry ass up to Deck 15 the next morning.
The Social Club: soda shop food with sweet and salty treats mid-ship by the games and arcade area. I only ate the popcorn here since I don’t eat hotdogs, hamburgers, floats, or ice cream drinks, and the baked goods were gluten. So no images to share.
The Dock House: a Mediterranean cocktail and skewers small plates lounge in front of The Wake. So delicious.
The Dock: an outdoor lounging area behind The Dock House with the same menu as The Dock House
Pizza Place: the name says it all, and Virgin Voyages’ gluten-free pizza options were surprisingly plentiful! Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy the awesomely named “Pretty Fly for a White Pie” as it contained gluten. But the chicken pesto was a very good consolation prize! Sooooo YUM!
Lick Me Til Ice Cream: this hilariously-named little nook beside the Pizza Place received visits from my husband on a semi-daily basis. Admittedly, I had a few tastes!
The Beach Club at Bimini’s Grill
The Beach Club at Bimini is a rockin’ party with fab Caribbean grilled food! Instead of those cruise-owned “private islands” (if you like those, it’s all good. I’m not a fan), Virgin Voyages has an agreement with the Hilton at Resorts World Bimini to use their Beach Club on port days exclusively. This means getting to explore an island where people actually live and work plus enjoy the beach club. I also ate lightly here in the hope that some of the cruise calories could be reversed! FYI: you’ll use your Bar Tab from onboard here for drinks.
Specialty Dining – American Cuisine
Razzle Dazzle is a modern eatery with elevated diner food. It used to be primarily vegetarian/vegan but is no longer that way focused.
Test Kitchen: a Michelin-star style tasting menu with avantgarde small dishes. Loved this place! I really enjoyed the flavors, textures, and plating. (Apparently the menu IS created by Michelin-starred chefs.)
Specialty Dining – Regional Cuisine
Extra Virgin: a classic Italian neighborhood restaurant with elegant versions of your favorite Italian comfort foods. Fantastic.
Gunbae: a Korean BBQ shared cooking table drinking game venue. Virgin Voyages gluten-free options included jumbo shrimp and chicken on the grill. (The beef has a gluten marinade and goes on the grill last). On the negative side, I could not fit in any. On the positive side, I was so stuffed from the generous portion of gluten-free, hand-battered, separately fried tempura chicken nuggets! Accordingly, I was almost finished when I remembered to take a photo!
Pink Agave: This restaurant elevates Mexican/Latin cuisine and is probably the favorite of most people. In fact, most of the menu is gluten-free! By this point on the cruise, I was so DONE with eating that I only ordered lightly for dinner. My husband, of course, ordered our sharing apps plus a complete entree!
The Wake: a chic fine-dining place for brunch, martinis, and steaks at the back of the ship.
Accordingly, we’ll have to wait to examine Virgin Voyages’ gluten-free dining at The Wake until next time!
Virgin Voyages gluten-free scorecard
I just gave you a spoiler by saying “next time,” didn’t I? There will unquestionably be a next time, as we have already booked another Virgin Voyages cruise for 2025! I had two favorite restaurants onboard, and undoubtedly, they would be Test Kitchen and Extra Virgin. But we did not have any bad meals at any of the eateries, and look forward to eating at them all again!
We both can’t wait to sample more of their terrific regular and gluten-free meals and treats next time. If you’re getting the itch to travel, Virgin Voyages is getting an enthusiastic two forks up from me for their amazing gluten-free food service, and they have deals going on right now! So happy sailing and…
Happy eating!
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