Virgin Voyages Back to Back around the UK, France and Spain

 A 19 Day back-to-back Virgin Voyages Cruise

In August of 2025, Bruce and I went to Portsmouth in the UK to board a Virgin Voyages cruise ship that went to Amsterdam, Bruges, Scotland, Ireland in 13 days and then to La Coruna, Bilboa Spain and lastly to Bordeaux, France for 6 days before returning to Portsmouth.

The first cruise cost us $8,375 CAD and the second cost $3,820. With the airfare at $4,860 and a few incidental costs for hotels, food and excursions, the whole trip ended up costing about $20,506 and we were gone for 24 days. As per our previous trip to Europe, we chose to go with Air Transat "Club Class" to ensure we were comfortable throughout the flight. Well worth the splurge, once again.

Lots of leg room and nice wide seats!

We had a nice meal with all the wine we wanted. I just ended up having one glass, but I could have had more if I wanted to...

Landing in Gatwick and Transferring to Portsmouth

It was a pretty easy transfer as there is a free shuttle taking you from the North airport to the South airport, where the train station is located. We had gotten our tickes from Trainline and we got on using our phone wallet. We had booked first class and that was a mistake because we were crammed into a little tiny section with other people and the regular class people had lots of room. I learned from this; not all trains have a good first class and paying for it is a waste of money.

Note that our big bags would not fit in the overhead bins. These commuter trains are not meant for people with more than a backpack.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel Room in Gunwarf Quay

Our hotel was just minutes away from the train station. It took us a while to find it because it was hidden in a corner of the warf. We couldn't have picked a better location! The room was clean, it was nice and big, but the air conditioning was broken. Aparently it had been for a long time, we got two fans instead. Not quite adequate, so we were really warm. At least we got all the free still and sparkling water we wanted and free icecream cups too.

Lucky for us, we arrived on the same weekend as the Ocean Race. We got to see the Canadian boat and it's crew. We didn't talk to them, but we saw the interview they had with the organizers.

We walked around Portsmouth and saw a lot of cool old buildings and stuff. It was very pleasant.

Of course, we had to take a photo in front of the old telephone booth. It didn't have a phone in it anymore.

Spice Island Inn

We tried to eat authentic British food on the first night but none of the pubs would serve us. We felt like invisible people. We ended up eating at the Five Guys, and paid a lot more than we should have for such awful food. The next day, as we were sightseeing Bruce saw this pub on the other side of the warf. We popped in as they were just opening for lunch. We told them our story of being ignored the night before and they informed us we were doing it wrong. In British pubs, you need to belly up to the bar to order your food and then find your own table. They staff then bring you your drinks and food. At any rate, they felt sorry for me and let us book a table for that evening. 

We had a great time and really enjoyed the beef and ale pie and mash. We even ate a sticky toffee pudding for desert. I had a Guiness and Bruce had an Amstil. This is probably where I developed a keen taste for Guiness. I love the strong dark beers now!

Our free icecream at the Holiday Inn Express Gunwarf Quay was so darned good! I especially liked the ginger caramel flavour. 

Embarkation Day

We got lucky and met these ladies in the lobby of the hotel that steered us to a spot just next to the hotel where Virgin Voyages was picking up people and dropping them off at Gunwarf Quay. So we got a free ride the the cruise terminal. Yay! That was a win. We boarded at our given time and there were no issues.

We saw this as we pulled out of the cruise port. Looked like a lookout of some kind.

On our trip we saw lots of windmills. I don't even know what these streaks are in the sky.

Amsterdam

While it was one of the cities we had been looking forward to seeing, we found Amsterdam to be a bit too crowded for us and a lot more dirty than expected. We had fun none-the-less and enjoyed our outings to the Red Light district that evening and the canal boat ride the next morning. I think if we were younger travellers, we would have enjoyed the evening a lot more. As it was, we ended up going back in around 9 PM.

Going into Amsterdam was cool as we had to go through a lock. We parked right in the city, so we didn't need to go far to explore the city.

There was actually a protest in front of this building, so we stayed clear of it.

I was surprised to see a bike parking lot that the riders would store their bikes at. There is a path for the bike as the rider walks down the steps.

The tunnel that goes under the train tracks from the warf to the city has tiles on it. It reminded me of Portugal's tile art.

Drugs are everywhere in Amsterdam.

This is on our canal boat tour. It was about an hour. I booked through Viator but I could have just booked directly the night before. They had two prices, one with wine and cheese and the other without. At 10 AM, we chose without. Turns out, there was no cheese; just beer and pop and water. We each got a 3 Euro water.

Since the taxes are cheaper, a lot of people live in boats in the city because the rent and cost is too high to live in the apartments. Some boats are very nice while others are very run down and rusted out.

It's remarkable how the bridges are all lined up so you can see through a bunch of them at one time.

For the rest of the day, we walked around Amsterdam. It was nicer and cleaner during the day, out of the Red Light district. I tried on a pair of wooden clogs... they were too big! LOL!

This was just a random hallway beside a street. I liked the tiled ceiling.

We ended up seeing a lot of old style boats while in Amsterdam because there was a festival going on that weekend. 

This was the first one we saw with the masts up.

ZeeBrugge (Brugges)

We took a bus to Brugges from the Zeebruge port through Viator. It picked us up right outside the port and dropped us off about a half hour later into Brugges. We talked with the bus driver who gave us information on how to get to the old part of town.  We made sure to take a photo of the information so that we knew when to come back and what to do if we didn't make it. We were being picked up at 14:30, so we had plenty of time to explore on our own. I'm glad we didn't take a tour as this was leasurely and fun.

I took a photo of where we were dropped off as well, just to make sure we could come back to it. It was very helpful to have internet through Aerlo as we explored so we could consult Google maps.

The first stop of the day was to have breakfast at a local restaurant that served authentic Belgian waffles. We made sure not to have breakfast that morning so we could be hungry enough. The day before, in Amsterdam, we were too full from breakfast on the ship to eat anything there.

We came across a beer store that served a b'zzillion different types of beer. It was still morning, so we didn't try any but we were impressed that they served the beers in their own glass; so there was a b'zillion different types of glasses too!

There were a lot of canals in Brugges as well. The buildings were really old but clean and in good shape.

This was a cool bridge that went from the old part of the city into a new section. It's called Smedenpoort, also known as Blacksmith's Gate or Blacksmith's Bridge.

We found an authentic Chocolate shop that made the chocolate themselves. It was expensive but very good. I'm glad we splurged. There were a lot of places that said it was real Belgian chocolate, but they came from a box that they decanted onto their shelves. This one seemed to be "more real".

Before we left Brugges, we shared a flight of Belgium beer and a plate of frites. All very good. Bruce really liked the red one which was cherry flavoured.

Inside our chocolate box...mmmmm

Back on the ship, I posed for silly photos. It was such a good day!

Every morning I got up at 5 or 6 AM, showered and had a coffee in front of the window, while reading a book waiting for Bruce to wake up. We then went for a nice breakfast. This was right next to the galley, close to the coffee shop.

Some of the fun things I saw as the sun rose over the ocean. This looked like oil rigs.

Orkney Island in Scotland

We got a tour through the Virgin Voyages ship to Skara Brae on Orkney Island in Scotland. It was pretty amazing. We also got to see little girls dancing for our ship on the wharf. This was Scarlet Lady's first trip to Orkney.

It was really cold but the Scottish people kept telling us how warm it was for that time of year.

Skara Brae

The village is about 5000 years old.

There was a rebuilt area to give you an idea of what the village of Skara Brae looked like 5000 years ago. It reminded me of the Flintstones because it was all made of stone.

Skaill House

This is the house on the property where Skara Brae is. The owner was an amateur archeologist who found Skara Brae after a huge storm. He was the reason why it was so well excavated. Pretty cool!

There was a dollhouse under glass in the big house. I love it!

Standing Stones of Stennes

I didn't even know standing stones were all over Scotland. These were pretty cool. We made sure we didn't have a precious stone on us when we touched them. You never know, right?

Farewell Orkney!

We saw the dancers once we got back to the ship. It was so cold but the little girls where so happy to dance in their skimpy dresses that we sat on our balcony and clapped for them until they left.

Greenock Scotland

We didn't take an excursion in Greenock. Instead we went to Lews Castle. It was a wonderful walk around the town and we really loved reading all about the owner of the castle and how he tried to change the town. Unfortunately, when the men came back from the war, they closed down all his ideas to expand the town and he eventually left. They preferred leaving things the way they were and eventually the town just wasn't providing jobs etc and the younger population left.

We snapped a photo of this post in the ship because it reminded us of a giant cat scratching post.

The woods around Lews Castle were very nice.

Not sure what the statues were, but we decided to take selfies in front of them. These were placed along the paths on the castle grounds.

Lews castle.

The museum was next to the castle and we spent a lot of time there, but we didn't take any photos.

Stornoway, Scotland

We took a excursion to Stirling Castle when we stopped inn Stornoway. It was a fun excursion.

I really liked the maniquins (statues) in the galley of the castle. It made it a lot more realistic.

Of course, I loved the miniature mockups... It would be fun to replicate.

The tapestries were so remarkable.

Back then, it was colour, colour, colour! Not the muted tones of today.

Royal Scottish King coat of arms of the House of Stuart from Stirling Castle.

This is the detailed ceiling of the Stirling Heads in the King's Bedchamber at Stirling Castle, Scotland. These are replicas of the real thing.

What it would be like to attend the banquet as king and queen.This is in the Great Hall of Sterling Castle.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a ship excursion, I booked the Titanic Museum tickets online as well as a hop-on, hop-off bus from Viator.

We took a free bus from the port into downtown Belfast. It was too early for our hop-on, hop-off bus tour, so we walked the 30 minutes or so from there to the Titanic museum. Since we had bought "anytime" tickets, we could go in as soon as we got there and we actually spent over 3 hours looking at everything. 

Bruce is standing next to a restored ship's wheel of the SS Nomadic. Located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this vessel is the last surviving ship of the White Star Line. Seeing the ship was included in our Titanic Museum ticket.

Outside the Titanic Museum, they filled in the dry dock where they had built the Titanic and painted on the areas of the deck. This was quite amazing to be able to actually see the size of the ship.

Of course we had someone take our photo on the deck of the Titanic shouting "I'm the king of the world!"

Some of the items that are for sale in the gift shop were so cute!

We were really impressed with all the stories, again, on how Canadians had a lot of links to this area of Scotland. We learned so much about the "troubles" from our bus tour driver.

The walls between the Catholic and Protestant neighbour hoods were so high. It seems like they build three separate levels of the wall to make sure things couldn't be lobbed over. The bus driver allowed us off so that we could sign the wall, if we wanted to.

Saw a lovely rainbow just as we were pulling out of the port.

Dublin, Ireland

We just did the hop-on, hop-off bus tour in Dublin, Ireland. We got a free bus to the center of the city and then we took the bus that I had booked through Viator. We really enjoyed it and would probably enjoy visiting Dublin the next time, just walking around the city. This first time, though, the hop-on, hop-off bus was a good choice.

Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland.

The next two days were sea days, so we enjoyed some Irish inspired drinks on the ship and lazed around.

We had leftover on board credit, so we bought a couple of watches.

We didn't get off the ship in Portsmouth because we were on the next cruise. That gave us time to enjoy the ship and just relax. I put the bed cushions on our metal deck chairs to be more comfortable while Bruce enjoyed the hammock.

Enjoying more Guiness with a Guiness mustache!

Bruce is loving his rainbow churros for breakfast. We call it dessert for breakfast.

The ship is resupplying for the next leg of our trip.

More beer, but this time we're changing it up by playing scrabble. I always win at scrabble, so we don't play often. This was a good day for me; Bruce is being a little pouty, LOL!

Another day, another fun sea day!

These were really good. It's like eggs benedict but on a soft flour tortilla and avocado sauce. There is spicy meat and cheese involved as well. So good!

To see the full menu, you have to download it from the QRcode. I took a photo by accident instead because I didn't know what I was doing, even after 14 days on the ship. LOL!

The next 6 nights were filled with comedy. Somehow, a lot of the humour was lost on us. Firstly, it was geared to the UK mostly, some references to Americans, but many of the young comedians thought it was funny to pick on old people. (Apparently that is me and Bruce!) Yeah, not as funny for us, let me just say...

The seas got a little choppy on our way to the next port.

A Coruña, Spain

This was a pretty nice port. We took a ship provided bus tour using our vast amount of onboard credit. Although the tour was pretty good, we were docked really close to the town and, should we ever come again, we would definitely just walk about the area on our own trying out the different foods and wines in the restaurants. 

This is us coming into the port.

This was a pretty cool looking ship parked next to us.

We got off in several areas on our bus tour.  

Tower of Hercules (Torre de Hércules) in A Coruña, Spain

Statue of Breogán

Aquarium Finisterrae and the military fort turned park, Monte de San Pedro.

Batería do Monte de San Pedro in A Coruña, Spain, featuring massive Vickers 15-inch naval guns.

Our guide is showing us the most narrow home in A Coruna. The taxes were based on the width of the house and this is how people kept their taxes low.

Convento de San Domingos located in the Old Town of A Coruña, Spain.

Fuente del Deseo (Fountain of Desire) located in the Plaza de Azcárraga in A Coruña, Spain.

Monumento de María Pita located in the Plaza de María Pita in A Coruña, Spain. Women rock!

I read so many Asterix and Obelix books when I was a kid. This warmed my heart to see the statues here.

We were let loose for a couple hours in the city before we had to board the ship again. I enjoyed this a lot. We treated ourselves to some ice cream that was very, very good.

Prior to boarding, we each had photos taken beside the statues of our choice. There is no shortage of nakedness in Europe. 

Pulling out of port was very picturesque too!

Castillo de San Antón in A Coruña, Spain.

Sunset just as we were leaving was beautiful!

Bilbao, Spain

We had another excursion from the ship while in Bilbao. We actually docked in a small ritzy type town of Getxo, at the Getxo Cruise Terminal and had to take a bus to Bilbao.

Our tour guide was very informative, but she was a bit scary... She was factual in her presentations, but was a bit abrupt. Oh well, we had a good time anyhow. This is another town that, if we come again, we'll be doing on our own. This first stop was at the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, Spain

Catedral de Santiago de Bilbao 

Just looked up at the top of an overhang as we walked and saw the ceiling was painted.

Iglesia de los Santos Juanes

 Plaza Nueva in Bilbao, Spain

We had a chance to visit some of the taverns down town and we found these "pinchos" Delicious snacks that reminds me of bruccheta, but way more stuff on it. We had goat cheese and apple and perhaps the tomatoes as a type of relish. Yummy! Normally it would be eaten with wine or beer, but since it was not quite noon yet, we had European Fanta. Just for the heck of it.

La Unión y el Fénix statue positioned atop a bank dome in Plaza Arenal, Bilbao

The Puppy floral sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, a 43-foot tall West Highland Terrier covered in thousands of plants.

 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, we didn't go inside.

 Louise Bourgeois's "Maman" spider sculpture in the fog of the rain burning off with the sun.

Bruce and I with La Salve bridge in the backgroud.

Vendors outside the Guggenheim Museum, not sure if they were legal or not.

Guggenheim Museum

Vizcaya Bridge (or Puente Colgante), a historic transporter bridge connecting Portugalete and Getxo in Spain. It's not really a bridge, but a moving ferry that runs under the bridge structure.

We took the ferry across the river.

Cars on one side, people on the other. We got on, then got off, ran around to the other side and got back on.

On our way back to Getxo, I took photos of the amazing rich people houses we saw along the way.

The new stuff was built right onto the old acient stuff. It blended pretty well!

We got some well deserved ice cream once we were back on the ship.

More fun sights as we pulled out of Getxo.

Bordeaux, France (Le Verdon)

This was our last port on the cruise. We landed at Le Verdon and took a 2 hour bus ride into Bordeaux. Our choices were limited as Le Verdon is just a commercial port with nothing to see. I'm glad we went to Bordeaux, it was a nice excursion. We actually did all the touring on our own, based on what I found out on the internet. It was very nice and although we were limited to 4 hours in Bordeaux, it was enough for us. 

Statue of Montesquieu, a 19th-century marble sculpture by Dominique Maggesi located in Bordeaux, France

Monument aux Girondins, a striking memorial and fountain located on the Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux, France

We first went to the Bar a Vin, where we did wine and cheese tasting. We shared a flight and really enjoyed the experience, even if we were the only ones there. It had just opened for the day.

This replica of the "Bacchus enfant" was at the Bar a Vin

We then walked about taking in all the sights. Most of the time, we didn't know what we were looking at, but it was all so very nice.

Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, France

Fontaine des Trois Grâces

Miroir d'eau

Porte Cailhau

Grosse Cloche

Place de la Victoire 

The large Ferris wheel in Place des Quinconces,

Monument aux Girondins, located in the Place des Quinconces 

I had a schmackeral of wine while Bruce had a Perrier as we waited for the time to board our bus. By then, we were pretty tired and we were happy to watch the fountain as we waited.

We still had some on board credit, so we bought some expensive bingo cards but didn't win. Oh well, the Diva called the Bingo, so it was a show as well as a bingo game. We enjoyed it despite not winning anything.

This drink was pretty darned good, I can't remember what it was called, but wow! I reminded me of a Negroni.

Since we knew our way around Portsmouth now, we walked back to the train station, which went directly to the airport in Gatwick, where out hotel was. 

We were early for the train, so we stopped by a Costa for a cappuccino and croissant.

We had to wait to check in to the Premier Inn hotel because it wasn't quite 3 PM yet, so Bruce had another Fanta with his fresh cinnamon roll and I had another coffee. I think it was another Costa.

We went to the hotel's restaurant where I had fish and chips with mushy peas and Bruce had an Indian dish. It was all pretty good. This was included in the price of our room.

We traveled back home the next morning in Club Class on Air Transat. Unfortunately this trip wasn't as good as the rest. You could tell coming to Europe is a lot better, with a fresh flight crew, than going back with a tired crew who just wanted to get back home. While the food was okay, the bathroom had a thick layer of wet pee on the floor and I could smell it from my first row seat. Also, there was an incident where a passenger was taken off the plane and we ended up being two hours late when landing in Montreal. This caused us to miss our train back home. There were no decently priced hotels to be had as it was the last weekend before school started. Thank goodness there was one last train to Ottawa, where our son lives and we took it to spend the night at his place. Our other son, drove the 2.5 hours to come get us and drive us home. Thank goodness for our kids!

Conclusion: 

This trip was the trip of a life time. We loved it all and quickly forgot anything that wasn't perfect. We learned that we don't easily get seasick and quite enjoy long cruises. Going to a place for just a few hours is fine with us, so we get to see a lot of places in a short amount of time. These memories will last forever! I'm so happy we did it and I can't wait to do it again.

Total Costs in CAD $

Virgin Voyages Cruise #1 Portsmouth to Ireland, Scotland & More $8,375 CAD plus we got $650 USD on board credit

Virgin Voyages Cruise #2 English Sights & European Delights $3,820 CAD plus we got $850 USD on board credit

Airfare, Air Transat Club Class- $4,860.50 CAD

Other transportation costs - $552.32 CAD, includes an additional ticket we bought for Ottawa

Hotel and Meals - $986.34 CAD

Excursions (not including those we got using onboard credit) $1,810.48

Total Cost of Trip: $20,404.46 for 23 days away from home. Equals to $443.58 per person per day.