Day 5 - Bimini, Bahamas
Whoever said, “Life is a day at the beach,” must have been referring to a visit to Bimini Beach with Virgin Voyages. Today, Scarlet Lady is docked in Bimini, a tiny island only 47 miles from Miami. Curiously, this is the first time we have ever been to Bimini.
LED screens throughout the ship inform guests of Arrival and All Aboard times as well as where the gangway is located.
In addition, signs are placed in elevator lobbies to further direct sailors to the gangway location.
Disembarking in Bimini is very easy. Simply scan your sailor wristband at Security and walk down the gangway and you are there. On our visit, the sea level allowed the gangway to remain virtually level with the dock, so there were no stairs to go up or down.
Once off the ship, sailors must walk to the end of the dock where shuttles are provided for transfer to the Beach Club. We disembarked midship, so this was probably a few hundred yards of walking.
It is quite windy on our visit today and waves are pounding the dock. Sailors should be careful when taking photos or selfies not to get too close to the edge of the pier as there are no guardrails to prevent you from falling into the ocean.
Once at the end of the pier, we can look back at the aft section of Scarlet Lady, certainly one of the most unique ship designs we have seen anywhere.
Near the end of the pier, a security guard recognized that we had on black wristbands (which identify us as Rock Star/VIP guests) and pulled us to the side where we received a private transfer shuttle to the Beach Club. Note, non-RockStar/VIP guests have red wristbands.
This is another little perk of being a Rock Star on Virgin, but one of which we were completely unaware.
The drive to the Beach Club took less than 10 minutes. If you are in good shape, you could walk there, but it would probably take 30 minutes.
Entrance to The Beach Club
Once you enter the Beach Club reception area, there is, of course, a bar where you can get an early start on your beach experience.
After you walk through the Beach Club reception area, you arrive at two massive swimming pools which become the hub of the party atmosphere here. There are lots of loungers around the pool area, umbrellas for shade and even a few private cabanas.
If you are looking for a less frenetic day at the beach, you can follow the boardwalk paths which will lead you to the beach area. You can’t get lost. In fact, you can see the beach from the pool.
Two Large Pools At The Beach Club
Throughout this massive beach club complex you will find plenty of little bars offering drink service. You can use your Sailor Wristband to charge drinks to your shipboard account.
All Beach Club employees are crew members from the ship.
Plenty of refreshment stations at The Beach Club
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of beach loungers everywhere you look, many with umbrellas for shade. There are also private cabanas (see below) available for rent. We never saw anything mentioned about the cabanas, so if you are interested, perhaps you should visit Sailor Services onboard to reserve one. In fact, I only learned about the cabanas after doing some research on The Points Guy website.
And, by the way, the ship’s WiFi works very well all along the beach!
According to The Points Guy, cabana rentals start at $500 (priced per cabana, not per person) which includes a $100 bar credit. Crew members are on hand to take and deliver drink and food orders to the cabanas so you don’t have to stand in line at one of the bars. We did see quite a few cabanas occupied.
There are stacks of beach towels which are complimentary. Just walk up and take as many as you need.
Complimentary towels Provided
We found a couple of loungers right on the beach with an umbrella and within easy walking distance to Richard’s Retreat.
Loungers with Umbrellas On The Beach
Richard’s Retreat is a covered bar and dining area reserved for Rock Star/VIP guests.
Richard’s Retreat
We enjoyed our Piña Colada and Rum Punch ($10 and $13 respectively) as we relaxed and enjoyed amazing views of the beach from our loungers.
When it came time for lunch, we visited Richard’s Retreat where a waitress took our lunch order and delivered our meal. Lunch service is available to all sailors, but table service is reserved for those at Richard’s Retreat.
Unlike most cruise lines that would simply offer hot dogs, burgers, and maybe a chicken sandwich, Virgin does things differently. The menu features Caribbean cuisine and everything I tried was delicious.
The Caribbean Chicken and Coconut Curry, while not spicy enough for my taste buds, was creamy and delicious. And, the Grilled Corn On The Cob with jerk mayo and toasted coconut was very good.
Delicious Lunch
Rickee even took time to check out the full size hammocks located next to Richard’s Retreat.
We stayed at the beach, enjoying the sun and the sea, until about 4pm then took the shuttle back to the ship. In spite of my delicious Caribbean lunch on the beach, I was feeling a bit peckish and certainly did not want to disembark Scarlet Lady in Miami without having at least tried the pizza that everyone on YouTube seems so excited about.
There were a few other sailors enjoying pizza when I arrived at Pizza Place on Deck 7. Unlike some other cruise lines, on Scarlet Lady, you don’t simply walk up and ask for a slice of pizza that has been sitting out on the counter for who knows how long.
Each pie is made to order and you can watch your pizza being made and cooked in the ovens behind the counter. This takes a little longer, but your patience will be rewarded with a fresh, hot, delicious pizza. I ordered a Pepperoni, but several other varieties are available. And, like all food onboard, pizza is complimentary.
I have tried pizza on at least two dozen different cruise lines, so I feel somewhat qualified to judge good pizza. Plus, my very first job at 15 years old was working at a pizza joint. I have seen YouTubers claim that Virgin has the best pizza at sea, which is a pretty high bar.
Prior to this sailing, I would have rated the pizza at Silversea’s Spaccanopoli as the BEST with Carnival’s Pizzeria del Capitano coming in at second place, perhaps in a tie for second with Princess Cruises’ SLICE.
The pizza on Scarlet Lady is definitely a step up from Carnival and Princess and pretty damn close to Spaccanopoli on Silversea. So, for now, I will say it is at least in a tie for best pizza at sea. It was VERY good pizza.
Pepperoni Pizza at Pizza Place
Even though I try never to waste good pizza, I had to leave a couple of slices behind because we have dinner reservations tonight at The Wake.
We arrived at The Wake on time at 7pm for our reservation, but ended up having to wait about 20 minutes for our table. They did bring us complimentary glasses of sparkling wine to enjoy as we waited, which was a nice touch.
As it was the last night of the cruise, perhaps The Wake was busier than normal. The place was packed. We did get a nice table for two with a view of the ship’s wake, which is illuminated with a blue light at night.
Rickee ordered the Hamachi Crudo as her starter and I chose the Razor Clam Chowder. For my main course, I had the NY Strip, a steak I like to use for comparison to NY Strip steaks on other cruise lines. Rickee ordered the 6oz Hanger Steak. We will give you all of our ratings in our upcoming Food and Dining review video, coming soon to our YouTube channel!
Hamachi Crudo
After dinner, we head back to our stateroom to finish packing for disembarkation tomorrow. We are sad to leave Scarlet Lady after only five days. It is not easy for us to cover such a large ship, with so many activities, in only five days. But, we are glad we had the opportunity to enjoy this unique cruise experience.
Watch for a full review coming soon to our YouTube channel. In the meantime, you can enjoy our walkthrough and review of our Sea Terrace Stateroom (below).
