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Most cruise passengers think Virgin Voyages has been created for young people and young cruisers. But is that really who Virgin Voyages it trying to attract to cruise on their 18+ adults-only cruise line? I cruised on Virgin Voyages to find out of "older" cruise passengers would be welcome, enjoy the line and fit in. This is what I discovered....
I cruised as a guest of Virgin Voyages, who covered the cost of my fare but not my additional on board expenses or travel to and from the ship.
What my other Virgin Voyages video: https://youtu.be/EhhdR3ft2xk
ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 77 cruises I have done to date.
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ever since virgin voyages came into
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being i wanted to know if cruise
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passengers like me are either too old
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not party animal enough or will simply
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feel out of place on the line so in
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virgin voyages asked if i wanted to
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cruise on scarlet lady at their expense
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i said definitely yes it seemed a low
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risk way to find out before splashing my
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own money on a longer cruise if any of
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this was true
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now it didn't play out how i expected it
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to
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but i did come away with the answers by
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the way if you're new here welcome
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aboard i'm gary bembridge and i'm here
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to make it fun and easy to discover plan
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and enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations
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my biggest concern to be frank was i was
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worried if i would be too old or if
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would stand out as one of the oldest on
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board now i had though seen virgin
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voyages spoke to me increasingly in
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interviews denying the line was just for
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young millennials but was for anyone who
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was young at heart but of course i
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wasn't really sure what that means or
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certainly if i was one of those
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but i figured if virgin voyages are
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asking me to cruise that probably was at
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least one good sign on the age or the
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two old front i also figured out that as
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they're an adult only line it may
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largely exclude a big chunk of people in
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their 30s and 40s anyway because they're
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more likely to have kids so it could
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mean the biggest group on board would be
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people post kids so older by definition
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i also wondered with virgin voyages
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being a premium line and fares
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definitely reflecting that if that would
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make them appeal and certainly be
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affordable more to establish cruise
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passengers like me rather than perhaps
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the younger set the affairs for example
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include all dining wi-fi gratuities
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fitness classes and water sodas and
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juices
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it also struck me that virgin is a brand
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that people around my age are the
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generation that grew up with them
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you know we were young as richard
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branson emerged and took on established
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brands and kind of broke established
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rules and we lapped all of that up
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so i wondered was it more likely that we
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would want to be there on their cruise
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line even more so than younger
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generations with all that in mind i
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boarded scott lady and immediately my
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age fears were eased as i saw loads of
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people like me also boarding i estimate
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by far most passengers on my cruise were
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in the late 40s to early 60s age range
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also versus other lines i've been on
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recently anyway the spread of age range
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appeared so much wider and the traveler
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makes more diverse
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there was a first mattering of people in
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their 20s and 30s there was many many
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lgbt couples and groups there was lots
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of solar travelers those
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multi-generational families with
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grannies kind of well into their late
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70s and older in tow but the bulk of
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people on my cruise were couples in
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their 40s 50s and into their 60s so
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age-wise i started to relax and settle
3:00
in knowing i was not out of place on
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virgin voyages by age alone
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but i was still a little bit concerned
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by the young at heart emphasis they had
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been making
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were these all going to be party people
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would it be a constant party all over
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the ship all day
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as i really
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am not a party beast
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there are two things that stood out
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during my cruise on that front first
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while you can party if you want to
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it did not define the ship nor the daily
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program virgin voyages is not a party
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ship as such
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party events were there but later in the
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evening instead of one or maybe two on
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other lines there was some sort of
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themed party out on the pool deck most
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evenings normally after 10 o'clock or 11
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o'clock or even later and then the manor
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the nightclub opened way into the early
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hours as well now before that the
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evenings just like on other ships were
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really about dining
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and going to shows
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the big change on virgin voyages though
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is how you dine there is no main dining
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room instead there are nine dining
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venues to choose from which are all
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included in the fair
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these are the wake a steak and seafood
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razzle dazzle vegetarian the test
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kitchen a sort of upmarket six course
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tasting menu pink agave mexican gumbai a
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korean bbq extra virgin italian the doc
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mediterranean meze the pizza place and
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the galia food hall kind of buffet with
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eight stations so instead it's like
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going specialty dining every night or if
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you prefer to the buffet now that suited
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me as i like the variety and being able
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to do that without the extra costs plus
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i found the food great this approach
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added to the growing feeling of the line
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being for me as they are catering for
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travelers like me that enjoyed varied
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cosmopolitan and international cuisine
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it's not basic it's not plain food and
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it's definitely not fast food the shows
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helped too they take place in the red
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room a theater space that gets changed
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around based on the show the shows are
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not the usual cruise las vegas review
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style but quirkier and edgier like for
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example the acrobat based dual reality i
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like this shift as for those usual
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cruise review shows are all a bit too
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similar but dated and felt again that
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this change was aimed at travellers like
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me who want something less predictable
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more adventurous and are tired of those
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themed review shows
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talking to other travellers the liking
5:34
of their shows on virgin was not defined
5:37
or different by age it was all age
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rangers who enjoyed the shows there was
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cabaret of some kind most nights in the
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manor
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that was an option too some were classic
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kind of circus acts others singers but
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also some were much more edgy like never
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sleep alone a sex and relationship
5:53
therapist
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this one was more divisive but again
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that seemed more based on attitudes than
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age as people kind of willing to get
6:02
involved in the audience participation
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segments crossed all age groups in fact
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some of the more older age groups got
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involved but the format of the evening
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felt very similar and is the same as on
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other cruises that i've been on anyway
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dinner shows drinks and bars with live
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music or by having a flutter in the
6:19
casino and i headed to bed as the party
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people started that particular phase of
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the evening
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so it didn't feel out of place as a
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non-party person
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on the ship
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the second thing i found was that most
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of the activities are centered around
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fitness and wellness and it seems to be
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less for other interests
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so did this make me feel the line was
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not catering as well here for me and
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travellers like me there are many many
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fitness facilities around the ship with
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inside and outside exercise spaces a 250
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meter long raised running track
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basketball court and spa of course
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there's a pooled area called the aquatic
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club with two pools though these are not
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as large as on some similar size ships
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and weren't not suitable or designed for
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exercising in practice they were between
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10 and 12 fitness classes every single
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day and four to six wellness seminars
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too now i like to work out on a cruise
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and so this actually catered for me and
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fitted the way i cruise and i actually
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really loved there was no waiting for
7:23
equipment and lots of choice however
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there were definitely less non-fitness
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organized activities than other
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traditional premium cruise lines
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certainly on my cruise there were some
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but much less so now this didn't concern
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me
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because i don't normally take part in
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quizzes craft bingo deck games karaoke
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and so on but i for some i could see
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that was a real issue and several people
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around my age that i spoke to said they
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missed not having more activities it
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felt to me that virgin boy just expects
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the young at heart traveler they talk
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about to have wellness and fitness as a
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much higher priority of things they want
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to do than other more traditional cruise
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entertainment now
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this could well be right because on my
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cruise despite there being so many
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fitness classes they were almost always
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fully booked while things like the
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quizzes the bingo and debt games
8:19
were definitely much less well attended
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so i kind of increasingly felt that
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while the line is not defined by age
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it did seem it was much more designed
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for some travelers than for others so
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while this area suited me and what i
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like to do on a cruise i can see that
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this mix would not be
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for everybody one big change for me
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versus other premium and those kind of
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established lines that i also didn't
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mind was there was no dress code you
8:47
could wear what you wanted i guess
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within reason
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i like
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pretty much everybody
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dressed smart casual in the evenings
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much as i would say when going out to a
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restaurant back at home and it was
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really interesting seeing how people
9:02
also follow that despite there being no
9:05
code on the ship now this was true
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across all age groups in fact i'd
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actually say the younger crowd probably
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got more dressed up than kind of us
9:13
older lot
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so all of this brought me to a
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realization and a conclusion on my age
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and fitting in fears firstly
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i should not have worried that my age
9:25
would be against me on virgin voyages
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and you should not worry about that i do
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suspect
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they will as with my crews attract a
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slightly younger average age than on
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those long established premium lines but
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we're not talking about decades younger
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fifth though is really important i felt
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it did but others who really like a
9:46
classic cruising experience and classic
9:49
ships may not those who prefer some form
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of dress codes
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main dining rooms where you can have a
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regular table build a relationship with
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the same dining staff every night have
9:59
more classic menus rather than having to
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kind of book and navigate regional and
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themed especially dining every night and
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of course where activities are less
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fitness and wellness focused
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those people may not find this as good a
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match though this is not just an age
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thing but a preference thing is what i
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came to realize i like the dining
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options i enjoyed the fitness focus i
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liked the modern twists and the shows
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and entertainment and i liked the energy
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and i also liked that i did not have to
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be a party animal to have a good time on
10:31
the line i'm not sure if all of that is
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what being young at heart is
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but certainly if that is it kind of
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worked for me there were some things
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that did surprise me about virgin
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voyages though that i haven't spoken
10:44
about here so click and watch this video
10:47
where i start by talking about something
10:49
on the ship that threw me totally
10:52
see you over there
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