Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to the Sober Cruise Podcast. My name is Martin and this is Mark. Hello Martin and welcome from everyone. How are you today? I'm doing well. I've been out and about doing some, been at the gym, seen some people. So yeah, it's been a good day so far.
Speaker: So whoop in this first podcast, we'll just explain a little bit about what the Sober Cruise is. So we actually met um on a Virgin Voyages cruise, didn't we? That's right, yeah. was Lactia cruise, which was ah really nice, wasn't it? Sort of 14 days, mainly relaxing and mainly really good weather, didn't I was quite surprised actually how good the weather was.
Speaker: Yes, we didn't I don't think we had a single bad day and there were certainly no waves or rocking off the boat or anything like that. It was really good. Yeah, and then um ah I met you whilst on board. didn't know we we We actually bumped into each other, but perchance in Barcelona on the way to the pool. but We didn't but it's absolutely were both trying to cross the road.
Speaker: Yes, it was a very odd pedestrian crossing with two like two sets of and green men, which didn't match up, if I remember. So you knew the halfway across, but not the full way across.
Speaker: And it took ages to grow. And i think we both just walked across them to us. We'll ignore the green man, sir, for we we're breaking the rules in Bastogne a little bit. Now, we then met on board the ship.
Speaker: Did you want to sort of tell us a bit a bit about your background? Certainly. Well, so I, uh, really the sober crews could not be named better for me because, and the, the two each word really talks about a big part of, of my life. Um, I've been sober now for a little over 22 years. And one of the great joys of, of, of being in recovery or being sober is, is working with other people who are sober. I like to spend a lot of, as much time as possible with other sober people. And then the second bit, the cruising, and is my has for a quarter century now has been my favourite form of travel.
Speaker: So I did my first two or three cruises while I was still drinking very, very heavily. and But for the last 22 years, I've taken about one cruise a year and with about 10 different cruise lines. And I just love it. I just love being on a ship. I love getting to all the different ports and just being part of and of kind of the the community on board and for however long it lasts.
Speaker: Now, the last three cruises I've done, I've done solo. Usually I go with my partner. and But the last three have been solo transatlantic cruises um on the last one we met. And and I've particularly enjoyed those, the the the longer time at sea and the they just that sense of disconnection from everyday life. I really enjoy.
Speaker: Yeah, I think the transatlantic ones, but so the the ones that we'll be hosting are mainly around the Mediterranean. And the it's a different kind of thing. so We both went on the transatlantic to disconnect, whereas the Mediterranean cruises, of course, are about going to these amazing kind of places.
Speaker: Without skipping too far ahead, I think a lot of people think that cruise lines are full of people being very merry, shall we say, and making the most of ah of of an all-inclusive package ah to try and get their money's worth. But um this was your first experience on Virgin Voyages. So um what did you think was your sort first impressions?
Speaker: I thought Virgin Voyages were just terrific. and Of all the cruise lanes I've been on, i thought they were the mo by far the most suited to to sober travellers. couple of big things jump out for that. and The first one is that they have no drinks package that at all.
Speaker: Now on almost all the other cruise lines now, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, you're very much encouraged to take the drinks package. and And as a result of that, people are drinking a lot more than they normally would because there's that sense that people want to get their money's worth, you know, and So that makes a big difference. The second thing that makes a big difference in Virgin Voyages is that and soft drinks, Coke, Coke Zero, in my case, ginger ale, if I remember your poison, are free, completely free throughout the ship. and
Speaker: and Free in the galley, the the the kind of the closest thing Virgin gets to a buffet, but also free from all the bars. And what I've experienced in other cruise lines is that sometimes the bar staff can be a little bit sniffy if you're if you're if you're ordering Coke Zero. You know, it was friendly service all the way. and The other couple of things about Virgin that I really liked, one is that it's very fitness focused. and the the gyms are great. There are free exercise classes held throughout the day. So there's like meditation and yoga at the start of that of the the day. Then there's the HIIT class that you and I both went to. And then there are also spin classes.
Speaker: And then I think the final thing that really makes a difference on Virgin Voyages is it's just the overall vibe. and the The people who who come on Virgin Voyages are a very diverse. You know, you have a lot of older couples, and of course, there are no children on board. Nobody's allowed on board before they're 18. You have a lot of people traveling on their own. you have a lot of LGBT people.
Speaker: And really that combination of people just just leads for a very, maybe maybe sophisticated is the wrong word, but very relaxed and curious sener curious crowd of people. So conversations flowed very naturally.
Speaker: So my second favourite probably would be NCL. I've travelled with them the most. And it's fine travelling on NCL as a sober person, but really Virgin were cuddle bulb, I think. There's so many things that are included. the The amazing food that you get on board Virgin Voyages, said the drinks as well, so having those all those soft drinks, being able to go and get a Coke Zero any Sunday. Also the filter of water as well, because most cruise lines charge That's true, yeah. Water Warriors, it's free fields of water and you can get it from various different places around the ship. So I was used by Walter, but all filling it up, which is great. There's single-use plastics as well on board. So that's one of my little bugbears with some of the other cruise lines is there's a lot plastic and things that are thrown away. so
Speaker: um And the food as well is you know amazing food is what you're going to get on Virgin Voyages. And I think, you know, Virgin Voyages didn't didn't didnt set out to create a something which was a completely sober cruise.
Speaker: But they've kind of done it um as almost like a ah you know a nice little extra that we can kind of tap into. So let's see, we'll talk about it bit more later on. But we know we don't have the entire cruise to ourselves. or um or We have people on board and they're obviously free to do whatever they want for you.
Speaker: We are going to be a small group of only 25, which I think is where you can kind of, ah you know, create those kind of friendships and things. And that's basically what we did. We were a small group when we met on board.
Speaker: And that's basically where we came up with the idea of this was, ah if you seem to remember, we sat in the jacuzzi, weren't we? That's right. Yes. what yeah yeah Yes. If I remember the the way the conversation went, as is was this is the first time on the three transatlantics that I'd and i'd engaged with this the solo group.
Speaker: And um what happened was I think on the first night, I think maybe 60 or 70 people, maybe maybe even more, arrived at the the way Virgin Voyages do it is that they have a, you meet in a certain place about quarter to six and they give out and allocations to the to the restaurants.
Speaker: and And then I think over two or three nights, just a group of about six of us sort of started eating together. And and I think you and I were just discussing about how much That added to the cruise, that sense of just having people to go to the shows with and to eat with and to and play board games with or do the quizzes with.
Speaker: and And then I think I just mentioned to you that I thought it would be really nice to have a sober group like this, to how how nice is that would be. And then over a few conversations, we realized with you being a Virgin Voyages travel agent, we realized that actually we could we could make this happen.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, so bob I've been selling Virgin Voyages for for years now. We're one of the UK's top sellers for Virgin Voyages. um And i I think as ah as a cruise line, it's definitely my favorite cruise line. I've been on board multiple times. And even the thought about go on going on again soon with one of my friends and the thought we did look at another cruise line to go on soon, the thought of going on another cruise line, we just decided, no, it wasn't for us. okay We're already at the best one now, so we're not going to go and have anything kind of a lower down.
Speaker: And yeah the the idea came from that, that we wanted to create a community and a space where people, a lot of people are kind of maybe nervous or maybe slightly intimidated about going to, I know a lot of people who are sober that wouldn't go, f for example, to an all-inclusive hotel. Because it's there and they they're worried that other people are going to be getting up to things that you kind of expect. People sometimes are all inclusive. And it's mentioned because Virgin doesn't have um the drinks package, which are really expensive on on the other cruise lines, you know, up to sort of $90 a day is what you're paying out.
Speaker: And people do try to okay that's the get their money back off of those drinks packages, whereas you don't get that on Virgin. And the you know, the people that are drinking, and the prices are um yeah not extravagant, but they're not so cheap that you could have a lot of drink, unless you're really rich, suppose. But, you know, um if you're paying $16 a cocktail, then people aren't really going to be getting an in-your-face kind of TA, which I adds to the atmosphere. And we've all...
Speaker: Let's try and create a nice little community. ah 25 people that we can take away with us. We looked at some of the routes and we've chosen this one, haven't we? So I think you so it's a really nice route, isn't it?
Speaker: It's a fantastic route and it it stops in some really interesting ports and it's eight nights rather than seven nights and it has two days at sea. So it it it really is a very, very good, very good route. One of the nice things about it is that for most of the ports, in fact, I think maybe for all of the ports,
Speaker: And when we dock, we will be arriving in the town. So what can what can be an issue is that if you if you arrive, for example, in Cedavecchia for Rome, or if you arrive Livorno for Florence, once you get off the ship, you've got maybe 90 minutes or two hours to get to the destination, to get to where you want to go. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Whereas with, I think with Marseille, certainly with Palma de Mallorca and with Cannes, you walk off the ship and you're in the center of of the action, you know, so that's going to be really good.
Speaker: They're really, really nice ports. It's very relaxed kind of ports as well. We've deliberately chosen it. It's a version where some of their other cruises do overnight in Ibiza. And we thought it's probably not there so the suit that we're going to be going for. um So we did look at the all the different sailings they were doing in 2026. And this one, I think, stood out ah far and away as being places that...
Speaker: we think people would like to go to and they're nice chilled, relaxed kind of ports. But still also interesting as well. is you can you If you've never been on a cruise before, don't think that you have to get off every single port. If you've been to Cannes before, for example, and you want to just make the most of being on the ship. So for example, the spa, if you want to get a massage or go to the day spa, that's cheaper and on a port day than it is on a sea day. It is, yeah. And certainly one of the greatest things about being on a cruise ship is if you have been to a port before, it feels as if you've got the ship to yourself.
Speaker: you know It can be really, really nice staying or not staying on a ship when everybody else is off. and But yeah, as you say, the spa, I think that on the on the one that we were on, I think it was something like $79 on a on a sea day, but only to visit the spa on ah on a port day.
Speaker: Yeah, and it's is' a very nice aspiring experience. I've done it myself, and you get your yeah mud, face mud thing. And there's a assault but salt room, and there's a jacuzzi, like a plunge pool.
Speaker: um And there's a cold plunge pool as well, so you've been in the sauna, and you can jump into there and see time how long you've been for. I wish to do two minutes. Well done. Well done. I know we're massive. I watched people would always do it. Everyone else was doing about 10, 20 seconds, and I thought, okay, right.
Speaker: I can do longer than this. yeah Yeah. And if you do want to splurge and you can get a pass for the entire week, you know, which, which, which means that you can go whenever you want. And I think if if the, the one we were on, I think it worked out as something like $50 a day, but that can be a really lovely thing. Just, just making time in your day every day to go and spend a couple of hours in the span.
Speaker: Well, talk about actually what people will be doing whilst they're on board. So what's sort of a normal kind of day? So if we start off with, for example, a port day, because a lot of that's going to be included, ah well, it's going to be actually within the port itself as opposed to being on the ship. So what what's the first thing you go and do every morning whilst you're on board? So one of the really nice things about Virgin Voyages is, um, they have what are called friends of Buildopia meetings every morning at eight o'clock in the test kitchen, which is one of the the restaurants. Now friends of Buildopia meetings are on a lot of the cruise lanes now, and it's effectively a code word for AA meetings. Um, and that's not just AA people who go to them. It's pretty much as as anyone who, who wants to connect with other sober people or anyone who's part of any sort of 12 step fellowship.
Speaker: so So every day that will be available at 8am. I think then after that meeting, which is finished at 9, I think what we would intend to do would be sort of have ho effectively a coffee and chat or a breakfast and chat session. where we would, again, people don't have to come, but some of us would go to the galley or maybe Gum Bay for coffee and breakfast.
Speaker: and And then what we're hoping is that for each of the ports that you you and I, well, mostly you will have arranged a um an excursion, so some sort of bus trip usually.
Speaker: So that that would probably leave about 10 o'clock. And then later afternoon, we would we would have our daily meetup. So probably around about 4.30, 5 o'clock, we'll have kind of a relatively relatively informal meetup where everybody is welcome to come along and possibly in the dock.
Speaker: you know, in what the Dock and is one of the great venues. Oh, yeah. Yes, I think that would be your first choice anyway. <unk> loved The great thing about the Dock is you can go indoors or outdoors. There there are kind of those lovely beds outside. and But of course, they serve this fantastic food, this fantastic kind of tapas food. The Greeks in in style, but tapas in size.
Speaker: and And then in the evening time, probably 6.30, 7 o'clock, we will have a and a group going to dinner. Now, obviously, people can make their own reservations for dinner if they like, or they can join the group.
Speaker: And then after dinner, group... That's maybe where we'll split up. One part of the group will maybe go and see one of the shows. Another part of the group might go and do a quiz or do a bit of karaoke or so or something like that.
Speaker: So the whole idea is that people can spend as little or as much time with the rest of the group as they like. Yeah, but I think that's very important is, we you know, no one's forced to come and have dinner with us. You he don't need to come and still wait for but for dinner or brunch with us if you don't want to. It's entirely sort of optional. um And then, again, in the evening, if people want to go to a... We did quite a few quizzes, didn't we? We did number one. We killed second a couple of times. Yeah, there a few people that I think... are and around them they They managed to get pretty much all the answers right, and I'm a bit suspicious of them.
Speaker: But... Yeah, there's plenty of things. There's plenty of activities to do. Or you can literally just do nothing. You've got your your sea terrace cabin, so you can just chill out in your hammock. If you haven't seen the hammocks have a quick Google of them because they are really relaxing. just to They are fantastic. Yeah. And just get some um some room service. Ship Eats is what room service is called.
Speaker: And Mark, you do this, don't you? Because it's a $10 trade charge. But if you order um like coffee or something like that, and it comes, that then they'll waive the trade charge, won't they? That's right. Yes. And the other thing they will do in the ship east night, it is a few times is that cans of Coke Zero and are free.
Speaker: So what I would do is order it, order breakfast, maybe every third day, but order like nine cans of Coke Zero and then just pop those in the fridge. And it just meant that they were always there if you wanted them, you know, so even you just grab a can as you were leaving the cabin to go so to somewhere, to go somewhere.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of places to get the soft drinks around the shipping. where You can go to the galley. All the bars do soft drinks. um If they don't have it on on tap, on pression, I'm trying to think what the eating is they ah then they all then they have cans.
Speaker: s You can take and walk away with. So it's really easy to to get a soft drink. And the great thing, again, because as I've seen all these plastics, all the glasses are the same throughout the ship. So I used to just, if we were up in the galley, up in the buffet, and then ah we're coming downstairs to go to a quiz, for example, I would just take a Coke Zero with me from the galley. So I didn't, whilst I was down there.
Speaker: You can tip the drinks around. It's not, you know, like getting a drink and taking it into TGI Fridays or... Yes, exactly. I must admit I hadn't noticed nothing about the drinks or the glasses, but you're right. yeah The other nice thing about the the cabin and the drinks is that you have a carafe, two carafe's in your cabin and your your room steward fill the seats up every day.
Speaker: One carafe with sparkling and one carafe with still water. And that was just such a treat to be able to come back and have that water there and not have to think about, oh, I need to go to the galley to get water.
Speaker: i think and one more And if you want more, they'll bring you more. you can you've got the little You've got the little tablet in the room they've ordered. And it's really a combination of all those little touches that make Virgin so great and everything that's been thought of just to make everything really nice, really easy. i that It does make it very, it's hassle-free on board. And it is relaxing because you are on holiday. um So you should be relaxing and chilling out and you shouldn't be. huming So, for example, for the restaurant reservations, pretty easy to the restaurant reservations. said You can dine with us. You can go off. You might, because we're to have a WhatsApp group beforehand, you might pair up with people in the WhatsApp group. A lot of people are also coming as either couples or as friends.
Speaker: Well, there's a couple of couples that know each other, they might go for dinner one night. They might go text to Extra Virgin or or The Wake or something. And on the app, you can um ah meet you could link all the other people together if you want to. so you yesleen can meet ah And then you can sort out your own things there. It's free Wi-Fi on board as well, so you can contact each other. So if you do want to go say, oh do you want to go to a quiz or something? Then, you know, you've got free Wi-Fi, you've got WhatsApp, that kind stuff. There is a messaging thing in the Virgin Voyages app, but I could never get it to work properly. So just use WhatsApp and we have a WhatsApp group as well.
Speaker: People want to, they will put in there and say, oh, who fancies doing the quiz app? ah ah Yeah, and on the topic of reservations, it is very easy to to reserve on the app. And of course, it's also very easy to cancel.
Speaker: and And the way they work it is that they give you 15 minutes grace. And if you if you haven't arrived within 15 minutes of your time, then they cancel for you. Now, there's no there's no penalty for cancelling.
Speaker: So what what I would suggest to people is reserve lots and then cancel as you go, as you don't use them. and Especially one of the things that we did several times was and the brunch at Razzle Dazzle brunch at the the wake can be really, really nice.
Speaker: And of course, at the wake at 12 o'clock, they put on the filet mignon. Yeah. but which we Which we had a few times ah which is Which is lovely you know it's it's I mean the galley is fantastic But to be able to go to the wake And just see that beautiful view And be served Beautiful food at lunchtime Was ah was a real treat Yeah, well, talking about, the if you're going to do a brunch, more than likely you're going to doing that on a sea day.
Speaker: And we do have two sea days. So, obviously, a sea day is you don't have the port in the middle to ah to sort take up that sort six hours or six seven hours in port whatever you're going to be doing.
Speaker: So, obviously, the starting off would be the same. So, 8 o'clock in the morning, you'd be going off to the chess kitchen for your friends at Bill W. And then, again, meeting up for a coffee and sort of a chat afterwards is there. But then, what else can people kind of expect to do on a C day? Do you know something?
Speaker: So it it would be a mix of things that are offered by the the ship. um eight So quizzes, for example, sometimes there's movies, but what we would do is just split the group into smaller groups and somebody would maybe go to the quiz. You might go to the quiz and I might go to the movie or, and I know one of my friends who's already booked on the cruise is is very keen on karaoke.
Speaker: So i will be I will be asking her to host the karaoke sessions. ah Well, we can do that. Did you ever go in the... in I did not. No, no, no, you couldn't. No, I'm going near karaoke. Well, no, when you said there's karaoke in the social club, which is open that everyone can go to. and then the karaoke booths.
Speaker: There are carrioboo booths, which I believe the largest carrioboo booth holds, i think, eight? It might even be ten. You think we had about ten in there? Yes. Well, like 12 of actually. Yeah, so that would be really nice. you know so So what we'll do is effectively it'll just be the the port days and the sea days will be relatively similar. So the port days and the sea days will be relatively similar. it' just that we will do more things on the sea days together.
Speaker: So and again, people, is no pressure on anybody at all. is that Join lots of things, join very few things. Whatever you feel is is your best and holiday. That's what that's what we're aiming to provide.
Speaker: And there's a lot of entertainment they put on. So, for example, some of the um so the singers are on usually in the evening. They have those during the day. Sometimes they're in the manor. Sometimes they're in the red room.
Speaker: um Things like the maybe the um the drag show sometime is is on um on a sea day as well. So there's plenty of different things to do. Or you can just chill out, relax, watch the world go by from the cabin. Yes.
Speaker: You could do as much or as little as you like. wellsh Yes. Yeah. And of course, all the cabins we booked are central sea terrace cabins. And I remember the reading before I got on the cruise about this hammock, that every terrace has the hammock. And I remember thinking it was a little bit overstated. You know, why do people go on about this hammock? And then I got into the hammock and then once I got into the habit, it was, oh, this is why, I mean, it was just lovely. It's just lovely like lying for half an hour, just watching the water in the quiet.
Speaker: It's so relaxing. Um, I think every time I got back to my cabin, that i was straight to the hammock. Yes. So it is a real, real luxury. What I like to do is go to the pizza place, get a takeaway pizza, take that up and then relax in the hammock with a pizza. and that i end You know, you end up with it all over you.
Speaker: stoppins are yeah is it is really nice to just chill out have a Coke Zero watch the world go by and just chill out and relax and think that's one of the great things about Virgin is it is ah very relaxed it's a relaxed atmosphere on board night the people the vibe that's on board is very um chilled out relaxed yes yeah and we can' i mean we can't go too much further without talking about the food yes I think we've kind of alluded to it slightly with the wake and razzle-dazzle and things that, but the food is... i mean that They've won multiple awards. The menus were... A lot of the menus were created by Michelin star chefs on land, and then the the team on the ship actually so put them... and what The ones actually doing the cooking, and they're so... you know you have
Speaker: real quality food food that you would probably pay if you were in london you're probably paying 60 70 pounds a head he sound bad at least if you went to the wake in the evening and had a you know your free course steak there that is maybe 80 pounds in london for because it is decent you know it's not a cheap steak you know it's it's a really nice cut and you know There's different, you know, if you're vegetarian, vegan, that kind of stuff, that's all sort of taken care on boarders, where everyone is catered to.
Speaker: Yeah. And I mean, you've been obviously on a lot more Virgin Voyages and Cruises than I have. What would you say are your top three restaurants on Virgin Voyages? I would say it's probably, i think for the atmosphere is Gumby.
Speaker: um So we're treating all about Gumby. Gumby is a Korean barbecue restaurant. So there's, was it eight of you? I think it's about eight of you. You sit around a barbecue pit and then the server actually cooks the food in front of you. So the starters come out and then whilst you're eating starters, they're cooking the chicken or the fish or the octopus as well. Was that?
Speaker: you had to well yeah Very possibly, yep. I sea-free with non-octopus. And then you play a counting game as well. So you you it's a you basically can't say if it's got a three, a six or a nine. So you kind of pivot your turn. you bear what and and then it's a And I think just the atmosphere, because when you um if you get it wrong, everyone shouts Gumby and that. So it's a really great atmosphere within there.
Speaker: The food's really good. I remember telling you about the chicken before we went in. The chicken was very good, yes. they very hours always be Yeah, and then they pick the the strips of beef on the barbecue is really good as well. And then probably, i think the wake is definitely up there for me, either at brunch or in the evening. I think the wake is, you can't go wrong with steak, can you? Yeah.
Speaker: I always got to, if I'm going to go out somewhere and someone else is paying, I always have steak. Yeah. It's, you're Richard Branson paying, I'm going to eat all of your steak. And that, and then probably, probably Pinkalgarve, which is a Mexican restaurant.
Speaker: I think that's probably you know, not including the pizza place because i I'm going to, Yeah, you were very fond of the pizza, if remember. I'm just going to have all the sit-down restaurants. um ah the the this Normally, you just get mainly starters there. And then the steaks.
Speaker: but get tumb this There's a lot of steak on board. um There are more other things than just steak. You don't eat steak. then There are other things to eat. But there's a lot things. So what's your top three restaurants? Well, I would say the weight definitely would be probably number one, and again, for the stake. But...
Speaker: a but um Gumby I and really enjoyed, but it wasn't one one of my favorites. and The one thing I really did like was razzle-dazzle. It kind of has a really nice vibe. and The brunch they do there, they do this incredible thing where they take like a disc from a watermelon.
Speaker: Then they put on, i think it's tofu cream on top of it. And then they put on granola on top of the tofu cream. And then they put frozen fruit on top of the granola. And I just thought... that I had that ah five or six times and it was just amazing.
Speaker: and And then, of course, the other one we haven't mentioned, which I can't remember the name of, is the Italian. What sort word do you remember? Extra virgin. Extra virgin. Now, that was also very good. Now, the only issue with extra virgin was the um it's just the sheer amount. that that's this day shot of card It was a lot of food.
Speaker: It's a lot of carbs and a lot of charcuterie. You get the charcuterie ball to share. um yeah But there's about four courses? Yeah, why that was amazing. A lot of food. yeah And of course, hi the one we haven't mentioned, which is fantastic, is the galley. Now, I did notice it earlier on that you said the B word, but you mentioned the word buffet. wellden Virgin, I'm very keen to say that it's not a buffet.
Speaker: it's It's more like a food cart is um so like food truck kind of style is you go up and for example, i used to i used to like the tacos. um I would go up there and say, can I have one of the avocado tacos and one of the pork tacos?
Speaker: And then they'd make it all fresh to order and then put it on plate for you. So you just have that. And then if you wanted to go and get something from somewhere else, so if you want to get chips, you just go around the corner and get chips and something. It's not, you know, big pile your plate high of beige food and put slop everything on top and end up with this weird, weird concoction.
Speaker: It looks really nice. and um Yeah, and it's it's restaurant quality food. It's not buffet quality food. It is really good. And the other thing, of course, that that which I really, really liked was that you don't have to queue and get it. that They have these little and cards on the table and you put your little flag up and someone comes and asks you what you want. So you can order. The i was i was the salads were just amazing. I really liked the salads. But you could order a salad from one and place and a hot dog or a burger from somewhere else and they would bring it all together. yeah
Speaker: So it it really is, it's it's like another restaurant. It's really, you know, to call it a buffet would really be downplaying how good it is. And then, and just again, another little quirky thing on Virgin is that they have the, and they have the lollipop stand.
Speaker: But that's excellent. Pop, pops, can't remember it's called. But it's, well, yeah, where they have like three different, like they had a chocolate covered but and banana lollipop. ah And that was just really nice to be able to, the end of you at the end of your mail, just to be able to bit wander up there and get a nice lolly just to wander around the ship with.
Speaker: Of course, a lot the time we went down to the ice cream parlor, didn't we? We did, no yeah. And it's really nice because again, they make the ice cream on vault, so there's different flavours every day to choose from. And it's really... It's the kind of stuff that if you had that on land, if you were in, say, Palma Majorca, you'd pay, what,
Speaker: Six euros for a pot? think you would, yeah. Yeah, it was proper ice cream, proper scuba ice cream. And it's interesting, and one just, again, the other side of the coin is just where sober people just have to be a little bit careful, is that what what I did notice was that with the three ice lollies, one of them always contained alcohol.
Speaker: And then with the six ice cream flavours, one would contain alcohol. Now, ah the nice thing was it was always on the label. yeah So so i you could look at the lollipop and it would say whatever flavor it was, it would say contains alcohol. So you could not have it. And then similarly with with the ice cream, it was more obvious because it would tended to be things like rum and raisin or Malibu surprise and stuff. But again, it always had written on it contains alcohol.
Speaker: And I just thought that was a nice little touch that they they they took the care to say to people, look, for you that if you're avoiding alcohol, then don't have this flavor. There are five others to choose from. Yeah. you're not going to go hungry on Thursday or you're not going to go Thursday there's plenty of things to drink i mean I think we'll cover it on a different podcast but yeah if you if you want non-alcoholic beers and things like that then there's there's those available if you want mocktails that kind of stuff all available or so what what we just kept on having is what one Coke Zero and one ginger ale please yes yeah
Speaker: and the and they And they also have things like they have the the smoothies and the protein smoothies and the ginger shots and the coffee, of course. the coffee that like there There are two very good coffee places on board, as well as the free coffee in the galley.
Speaker: Yeah, so you can get, I don't drink coffee, but you can get the yeah you can get the the the coffee, the regular drip-filtered coffee, or you can get your what i would call Starbucks-style coffee. yeah i want to have that in if you want.
Speaker: So we've covered pretty much everything. We've covered the, well, we actually know that I tell a lie. There are two things we still need to cover. One is the entertainment. ah And then the second, we've kind of talked about it a little bit, but it we might might be worth talking about a little bit more is, are the fitness, and the fitness options.
Speaker: So tell us a little bit about the entertainment. You've been on quite a few of them, so you'll have seen most of things. So the entertainment on board is, if you've got a lot of other cruise ships, they either take, um you know, a West End show and then water it down to i make it like a smaller kind of version of it so it fits in.
Speaker: um Or, you know, it the it's um cover bands and things. at Now, you get such a wide range. We've already talked about quizzes and things. We talk about the stuff that's in the Red Room. The Red Room is a multifunctional room.
Speaker: So it can be a traditional theatre, it can be an entire dance floor, which where we had um ah like some of the events in there. um you've got They have their own, um it's like a Cirque du Soleil sort of style ah performance um ah on board. So we saw Persephone.
Speaker: ah whilst we're on board. I've seen quite a few, probably all the other ones on the other ships. um Each ah a Virgin Voyages cruise ship has its own drag queen and she performs, has her own show, which kind of of showcases her talents. And then they have usually like the, the, the diva will sing ah like hits on a different day. And then you're the hostess who's the, who's the, you know, the,
Speaker: They've all got a mace. We're really great. She can definitely welt out a tune. ah So you've got those. And then but sometimes i have comedians on board. there Sometimes they have ah bands and music. and You can literally walk. remember we came out of Boutines in the Red Room and we walked out I think we walked through the SIP lounge and there was a guitarist playing in there. We walked to the roundabout and there was another band playing in there. And then there was a quiz going on in the in the social club. And then there was something else happening at the back of the ship as well. And like we're on the same deck.
Speaker: Yes. There were five different things you could go and just on the same deck. There's always something going on. Entertainment-wise, it's absolutely amazing. so yeah And before you move on from the Red Room, an honourable mention to, i think it was called the Misbehaviour Show, oh which was and which is ah completely impossible to describe, but I think it is possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was just hysterical.
Speaker: It was really well done. And again, vi if if you try and describe it, people go, well, you can't describe it. I think its it's indescribable in a good way. Yeah.
Speaker: Very good way. But the shows on board are really good. The the performers are are excellent. They work really hard. And the shows are really well done and ah well choreographed. um So that just now leaves us on to the finish. side of things. Well, what about the manor? Let's talk about a little bit about that. Sorry, messed up the manor as well. So the manor is the nightclub.
Speaker: Now, they also use it. So we did a, like a legs, bums and tums kind of class, wasn't it? Like a... It was the VHS workout. It was the VHS workout. It was the VHS workout. The Gene Simmons VHS workout where we had our sweatpants and our little shaky things and there was a lot of neon apparently. Yeah, there was a lot neon in that. And they have different nights. So, for example, there's an 80s party night in the manor.
Speaker: which is a lot of fun. so a lot of people will dress up, take their clothes from there. Some people have got their clothes doing the wardrobe from the eighties and some people will go out and buy new clothes for it, you know, neon that kind of things. There different ones. There's someone called We Fancy, which is, you know, dressing fits kind of fancier. But what it is, is it's not just a, it's a nightclub, but, um you know, throughout the night, there will be performances as well. So every, it's like eight, four, nine song, you know, the diva might come out and then perform a song, but they perform it on the dance floor with everyone around.
Speaker: So you kind of feel like you're really part of something. even yeah Really, really cool. You're you maybe underselling it a little bit there because there are some fantastic shows in there. i mean, that is it the one Lola's Book Club?
Speaker: Oh, Lola's Library, yeah. Lola's Library. That was a fantastic show. And then there was the Philip Brown, who was the West End singer. he Yeah, he He had been in The Lion King. and So he was brilliant. He but he was on several times. And then there were comedians. So it's more it's more of a cabaret club, isn't it really, Rob? Whereas the Red Room kind of more of a traditional theatre. The manor is much more cabaret-based, little tables, like a little French bistro with tables with little chairs around them. Yeah.
Speaker: and It gets very busy. Now with the bedroom room have together the Red Room, you can probably arrive 10 minutes before the show. But what we noticed that for the manor, people were arriving 45 minutes before the show. And if you you know you'd probably still get standing room if you arrived close to the showtime. But if you wanted a seat, you had to arrive in plenty of time.
Speaker: The good thing is that it's a ah ah there's a um ah way to service for the drinks. And again, they'll ah they'll bring you over Coke Zero, Ginger Ale, whatever you want.
Speaker: Other drinks are available. But Coke Zero and Ginger on are very popular. Regular Coke, if you want the sugar, you can have it. They sell Red Bull as well, pretty much across the street. Red Bulls make $6 a can. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah And it's just another little thing about the drink, and night and I have no evidence to support this, but I do think that for a lot of people, once or twice during the day, if they're in the bar and they think, you know what, I can get a Coke for zero for nothing, or I can get a beer for $10, a lot of people are just saying, I'll have a Coke. And I think that helps, to again, to reduce the amount of alcohol that's taken on thet on the ship.
Speaker: Well, it's the thing is they're going to have to pay for it. um They know they they're going to have to pay for it. um And ah yeah the the group we were with, there were some people that were sober, there were some people weren't sober. But you know most people you know at lunchtime or even at dinner, but probably even the ones that drank, they would have just a ah Sprite or something. Just... ah just to have something with with dinner or with lunch and if they want to have a drink later they could do a drink later but yeah i think you're right with people don't feel the need to maximize the uh the uh the drinks package that they've paid a horrendous amount of money for why not just go for the thing that's free yeah that's right yeah okay fitness tell us about the fitness
Speaker: So, fitness. Now, I've been on quite a lot of cruise shifts, and would you agree that the gym facilities are absolutely amazing, aren't they? they kind of The quality that you would get on land. I used to work for Virgin Active, and it's a similar kind of quality, similar kind of feel to it as well um on board. It's all great equipment.
Speaker: And it's open 24 hours a day, so you can go in any time. It overlooks, it's split into two, and it overlooks the sea. So whilst you're on the treadmill, you could be looking out to sea, which I did, and it was great because you were looking at the other ships going past whilst you're on the treadmill or on the cross-trainer or whatever.
Speaker: And then the other thing is that all the classes. Yes. And there's so many classes to do. You've got the, but we did the HIIT class quite a few times. As in the training room, which is above the gym.
Speaker: And in there they have things like the TRX and they have like medicine balls and things. They've got a little boxing ring as well, which I never saw anyone go into. ah They got that. There were probably a few influencers went in for an Instagram picture, but a park.
Speaker: going for a picture and then get out pretty sharp but you hate them actually know what they're doing you've come down but there's then you've got the the rooms that they actually the lot of classes take place in so there's the more sort of mind and body sort of style one Yeah.
Speaker: So they they used to have, to talk about the mind and body, well, so they to have what they call a sun worshippers class first thing in the morning. So that was at eight o'clock. I didn't go to that very often because it clashed with the Bill W. But that was more like a i a am a stretching class. And then they would move into a mindfulness class for half an hour, which is as you'd expect. And then they would move into yoga.
Speaker: You know, so for so for some people, you know, that's like 90 minutes of class, class, class. just focusing on low impact, and almost spiritual kind of exercise. But that was really lovely.
Speaker: and But of course, they those classes, not so much the sun worshippers one, but the yoga and the mindfulness do happen in other other times of the day. So you don't have yeah to see them in the morning. Yeah. And then um on the opposite side things with the spin classes.
Speaker: The spin classes were fantastic, i have to say. i've I've done spin classes on other ships, so didn't I've done them quite a few times on NCL, n cl um they kind of were a little bit half-hearted. that you know Whereas um in this class, if the spin class was at 10.30, at 10.31, you were pedaling.
Speaker: you know and it yeah it was really taken that The classes are taken very seriously. you know that ah Certainly the hit class that we went to a couple of times was was as good as any hit class I'd ever been to on land. Yeah, Ash set it up really well. There was enough stations. There was enough variety of things as well because it it wasn't all upper body, lower body. It was a good mix. You were getting a good workout. We we've both got you know bands that track what we were doing and were checking every day to see we can't have a bit of fire.
Speaker: Or suddenly leg got up to it, set to really... you know he he knows how to work your heart doesn't he probably half an hour but it's a good half an hour blast and if they're on sometimes in the afternoon sometimes in the morning so again you can we would generally take the did the morning ones ah for yeah we're going to have a smoothie afterwards the protein smoothies afterwards are exactly the reward after the punishment that and then um ah ah Again, for the fitness side of things, we well sort we've mentioned that you can um ah ah go to the actual gym itself and, you know, forgot your own workout. So you can do that. And the great thing is that um I think a lot of people think that it's going to be full of, ah you know, bodybuilders or it's going to be way for thin people. and that And it's not. It's the the gym is used by all different types of people. It's in the classes as well. It's really nice to see the the different fitness levels.
Speaker: Yeah. And different kind of people that went to the HIIT classes. And the HIIT generally does put off people ah if you know they've never done it before or something. But I think know sometimes you're on a cruise and you think, oh, yeah, I'm going to get this a go. And it's just a great way of, you know, burning off some calories, starting the day right, good sort of mindset for the rest of the day. And if it's early enough and then you end up going to Cannes in the afternoon, that's for free, you know. It means you can have an extra ice cream when you're in Cannes. Yeah.
Speaker: Yes, yeah. And um one of the things I've been worried about before the cruise, because I'd read about that you have to book the classes and that they can fill up. and But I think what we found is that actually booking the c class, there there was often availability.
Speaker: And for some of the classes, if you just even if you didn't have a booking, if you just went, and they would make space for you. So for example, the eight class, it was one day, it it was meant to have 18 people in ah and one day it had 22 people in it because all you had to do was add some extra stations. And so so i don't I think we got all the classes that we wanted to get to.
Speaker: Yes, definitely. enough I think we we managed to do, we we did extremely well and pat ourselves on the back. yeah that We definitely deserved our stakes at the end of it. But I think it's just about creating this um overall whole holiday that you're going to get, ah you know, ah you can go and do the fitness side of things and you can do the wellness side of things. go to the spa if you want to you can go to a pool party if you want to you can stay out till four o'clock in the morning at the manor if you want to or you can just chill out and relax on your sea terrace in your hammock yeah and have as much or as little food as you like you you know pretty much every single taste is going to be catered for on board from you just in the in the galley ah just the different sort type you know you had asian food you had the hot were hot the press you had all the lovely cakes
Speaker: the salads, the bagels, that kind of stuff. And there was a rotating menu as well. um Plenty of different things you could have. Yes, yeah. And one funny little thing was that the one restaurant I really wanted to get to was the Sun Club Cafe.
Speaker: Because I'd heard that they do these amazing poke salads and these amazing bao buns. And yet we were on there for 14 nights and I never got to it ah because there was just so much else, you know. so So on this trip, that will definitely be but one of the first places I had But yeah, the food the food cannot be, you cannot sing the praises of the food and enough. It was just fabulous.
Speaker: and So I think that kind of wraps things up for the first episode, kind of giving people a good kind of feel about what to expect from the Sober Cruise. So it's a maximum of 25 people, all like-minded people, all going for the same reasons.
Speaker: um So if that sounds of interest to you, then obviously get in touch with us at thesobercruise.co.uk. And then the next upper cover, a few episodes afterwards, we'll be going into more detail. about what to expect on board, what the actual cruise is like, we worry about the cabins, that kind of stuff, and also the itinerary, because we said we handpicked this itinerary, so want to let know people know all about it as well. So um thanks very much, Mark.
Speaker: Thank you, Martin. It's been it's been good fun. Yes, good great exit. yeah And thank you, listeners, for listening, and we shall speak to you very soon.
