This was our first cruise and we were both looking forward to it. We had booked through Virgin and only received our tickets 3 days prior to sailing. Virgin recommened and booked us a one night stay in Madison Avenue, New York. The hotel was lovely, no problem there. The taxi fare to Cape Liberty was $85 dollars which seemed expensive. The drive took about an hour in moderate traffic. On arrival at the port of Cape Liberty we stepped out of the taxi and one of our cases was taken by a porter there and put next to a cage for transfering to the ship.He kept repeating that he was looking after the cases over and over again. We ignored him as he had only taken one of the four cases three foot and did not think this deserved a tip. Eventually he threw the case into the cage and on delivery to our cabin later found it had the handle broken on it. What a good start to the holiday having some random porter shouting to you.

We then entered a tented area and was asked for our sea passes, of course Virgin Cruises had not sent us anything. We had rockstar service so bypassed the other guests and after photographs we went straight onto the ship. The Windjammer restaurant was open for food and drinks straight away. Boarding seemed quite quick and easy and passengers could go to their rooms straight away. Our cabin was alot better than expected and our stateroom attendant over the holiday looked after us brilliantly.

The ports of call Read more