Virgin Voyages Brooklyn Embarkation: Epic Views, Easy Parking

Dining reservation madness on a new-to-us cruise line, a too-memorable grab n’ go dessert, a Korean drinking game, and a Brooklyn Cruise Terminal? Fuggeddaboudit, it’s a piece of cake! All of this and more were part of our Virgin Voyages Brooklyn embarkation day experience on Valiant Lady. From parking the car to stepping aboard took about 50 minutes, and a desk just past check-in reshuffled our dinner plans.

Virgin Voyages Brooklyn Cruise Terminal: Parking, Luggage and Check-In

This was our second October cruise from New York to Bermuda, and the two couldn’t be more different. Four years ago, Rona, Jay, and our daughter Rachel boarded Disney Magic from Manhattan for Halloween on the High Seas, with families in costume everywhere. Now, just Rona and Jay were boarding the adults-only Valiant Lady for a sold-out sailing and Scarlet Night, Virgin’s party night, where the costumes are a whole different sort.

Virgin boards later than most cruise lines. The earliest time we’ve heard of is 1:00 to 1:30 PM for RockStar (suite) guests, and our boarding group was 2:45 PM, which let us skip the traffic on the drive in from New Jersey.

The Cruise Terminal is located in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, a peninsula bordered by the upper New York Harbor and Gowanus Canal. Because of its location, the views from any ship docked here are amazing, but more on that later. The terminal itself features a huge outdoor surface lot right next to the ship – only one ship at a time in Brooklyn.

Right after driving through the gates of the terminal, we pulled into one of many spots where a luggage porter was ready to take our bags. Virgin had emailed our luggage tags and we’d already printed and attached them to our big bags, so this was extremely straightforward. We then drove around the corner and pulled into the parking lot, having paid for the parking in advance – $285 ($270 + a service fee) for a 6 night sailing in October 2026. You can pay at the lot if you prefer, in theory avoiding the service fee. Plenty of parking spots were available.

With our luggage handled, by 2:15 we were walking across the parking lot and cross walks to the terminal. Virgin is fairly strict about boarding times and has separate queues set up outside the terminal for each boarding group. Getting to our 2:45 boarding group line was a bit disorganized, but after a bit of “wait here”, we were brought inside the terminal at the beginning of our group. The security line with the x-rays et al moved quickly, after which we joined a long line for check-in. But the line moved quickly and everyone was in good spirits because…. cruise!

As part of checking in, we each received The Band, our respective wrist wearables, which we’d use to open our stateroom door, get on and off the ship, and buy anything on board, including bar drinks, premium coffees and teas, and merchandise at the onboard shops.

Virgin had set up desks in the terminal just past check-in where you can buy wi-fi and, most importantly, grab additional dining reservations that weren’t previously available. The crew can also change reservations you already have. You can wait until you’re onboard for this, but we didn’t want to take a chance on missing out, so we walked right up to an available crew member at one of the desks. Not a whole lot of people were doing so when we were there. The full dining reservation story is at the end of this post.

Reservations sorted out, we had one more short line to wait on until our group was invited to board. About 50 minutes after parking the car, we were on board the Valiant Lady!

Valiant Lady and Sail Away

On Virgin Voyages, cabins are ready immediately upon boarding, so we headed up to deck 10, where stateroom 10306A waited for us. Jay touched his wearable band to unlock the cabin door sensor, and we entered our sea terrace. Virgin Voyages uses different names for things. Passengers are sailors. Suite guests are RockStars. And verandas are sea terraces. 

We will have a cabin review and tour, so keep an eye out for that. While we were briefly in the room, one of our two checked bags appeared at the door, so we pulled it inside, assuming the other would show up soon (it did). In the meantime, however, we were hungry but wanted to take care of the muster drill before finding a late lunch. 

On Virgin, muster is pretty easy. Sailors watch a safety video on either the Virgin mobile app or on the big TV in the cabin. With the video watched and every detail obviously committed to memory, we headed for our muster station and tapped our bands on the crew member’s handheld reader/device/thingy and we were done!

Lunch was available at the Galley, Virgin’s food-hall-style alternative to a buffet. As with the embarkation day afternoon buffet on other cruise lines, the joint was jumping, with seating at a premium. After a poke around at the various options, Jay ordered the shrimp salad sandwich from Hot off the Press and waited for it.

Rona found window-facing counter seats and ordered her lunch from one of the passing crew, opting for a Pescado Taco plus Tacos al Pastor from Let’s Taco Bout It. It took a while for the sandwich, but it took a whole lot longer for the tacos to arrive.

We grabbed some Coke Zeros from the fountain — soft drinks (Coke products) are included in your cruise fare, which is nice. The sandwich was really tasty and the toasted roll had an awesome chew. The tacos were fine, but small — nothing special. What was special, however, were the two desserts we pulled from one of the grab n go cases. The Callebaut Dark Chocolate mousse with crunchy pearls and pistachio crumble was insanely good and had us glancing at every grab n go case on the ship for it. The Tres Leches cake was as moist as you’d expect, sweet and delicious.

With some regret over how much dessert we’d just eaten, we chose to drown our sorrows in coffee at the Grounds Club Too for some Intelligentsia coffee in the form of an iced americano with sugar free vanilla syrup and oat milk for Rona and a flat white for Jay. That is some good coffee and Rona loved how they served the iced version in a plastic cup with a sealed cover that she could bring anywhere on board, leave it and it would find its way back to a Grounds Club.

Sailaway was scheduled for 5:00, so we joined the sailaway party that was kicking off on the pool and sports decks. A cheer greeted the announcement indicating all sailors had completed their muster drill and we were now legally allowed to depart. A later announcement from the captain that our departure would be delayed was a bit of a bummer since we’d likely miss the actual sailaway due to our early dinner reservation.

Still, with the crew handing out bubbly, we stood in awe of the panoramic views of NY Harbor. Governors Island was directly in front of us, behind which loomed the Financial District and skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan, including One World Trade Center. To the left the Statue of Liberty rose from Liberty Island with Ellis Island just beyond.

To the right stood the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and not-quite-iconic Manhattan Bridge.

Gunbae Korean BBQ on Valiant Lady: Menu & Drinking Game Review

Gunbae Korean BBQ was one of the few reservations we’d secured when our reservation window opened a couple weeks before the sailing. Unlike most other restaurants aboard, time slots at Gunbae were generally available. We showed up at 5:45, and the hostess quickly led us to a communal table for six along the windows, leaving us with menus. As with most Korean BBQ restaurants, centered in the table was a built-in flameless grill, where all the food would be cooked.

As we got to know the other two couples at our table, our server came over and explained the menu, the cooking, and critically, the drinking game we’d be playing once we ordered. We each could select items from the selection of small bites, rice, noodles, and stews, and later on from the desserts. Because there were no allergies at our table, she was going to bring out all the items from the BBQ grill menu and we’d have it family style.

We ordered Shrimp Kimbap Rolls, Dakgangjeong (crispy chicken), and Soondubu—a seafood stew—to start, and Jay added the Lucky #7 soju cocktail, which contained bourbon. With the orders in, our server brought out complimentary shots of soju and commenced the drinking game, which involved a bunch of counting, clapping, and shouts of GUNBAE when someone said a forbidden number and lost. Jay was loser number one, and was forced to down his shot of soju first. The whole experience was fun as heck!

They brought out some complimentary small plates that included kimchi, eggplant, spinach, and oi muchim. The eggplant was a hit across the table, except for Jay, who finds eggplant’s consistency kind of gross. All of it was tasty.

It wasn’t long before the starters came out. The excellent Soondubu featured clams, mussels, and shrimp sitting in a subtle tofu broth, topped with a big ol’ runny egg. We made short work of that.

The Shrimp Kimbap Roll was flavorful, but had an unusual texture, a bit like a shrimp sausage. The Dakgangjeong was really good and not too spicy – think a crispier Korean version of General Tso’s Chicken. Knowing the BBQ was still to come, we opted to stop shoving them down our throats and handed the rest off to one of the other folks at our table. 

While we’d been eating our starters, the server had brought out a pile of vegetables and began grilling them. The timing worked out well because once we’d finished the appetizers, the vegetables came off the grill and she dished them onto a large plate that we passed around, serving ourselves. This included two kinds of mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, asparagus, and bok choy. We also had a variety of dipping sauces to work with.

We were fortunate to be seated along the windows in Gunbae because around this time, the ship, which had set sail while we were seated, approached and then traveled under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn. Being outside on deck would have been better, but honestly this was still pretty cool.

Next up, our server brought out kimchi fried rice and grilled up the seafood, which included shrimp, squid, and octopus, which we again passed around family style. The shrimp and squid were cooked perfectly, though the octopus was rubbery and overcooked.

Last up were the meats, starting with the pork belly, then bulgogi made with rib-eye. The kimchi fried rice was surprisingly good, given we’d not had a lot of experience with kimchi. The bulgogi was the star.

For dessert, the server suggested we could get a twist of the two soft-serve flavors – Shikhye and Black Sesame, which we did. Shikhye is a traditional, sweet rice drink flavor. These little bowls were topped with black sesame granola, mini mochi, and miso caramel. Combining the nutty, earthiness of the black sesame with the malty, sweetness of the Shikhye brought a unique and light ending to a wonderful experience and enjoyable meal.

Evening on Valiant Lady

That evening found us at On the Rocks, a 360-degree cocktail and aged-spirits bar and lounge, located centrally on deck 6 in the heart of the Roundabout atrium, where Jack Shepherd, the guest musician and live loop wizard, was this evening’s musical entertainment. Jay opted for a Crown and Diet Coke, while Rona ordered Aviation gin on the rocks in a tall glass, to which she added one of the cans of diet tonic we’d brought aboard. Aviation gin is her favorite, however unlike Celebrity, Virgin does not carry diet or light tonic on board.  

Properly lubricated – we’ll skip the blurry Rona selfie – we checked out some of the shops before heading over to the Red Room, Virgin’s transformable theater venue. Tonight’s event was The Miss Behave Show, and the signs plastered all around the stage and sides of the theater indicated we were in for a bit of madness.

Kandy, the biting self-described “magnificent” host, and her flamboyant assistant Cherry ran a chaotic, raunchy game show that split the audience into Team Ahoy and Team Sailor for rapid-fire challenges and randomly assigned, meaningless points. We were on Team Ahoy and won, though who knows why, and it was a lot of fun.

It was getting close to 11 PM and we were hungry. As one does on a cruise, this means you find food. We headed back up to the Galley, where Diner & Dash serves classic American diner fare and especially breakfast items 24/7. Protein was the name of our game, so we ordered up a cheese omelette and bacon, and grabbed some decaf coffee and tea. The omelette was made fresh to order and the bacon was smoky, salty, and all kinds of not-healthy delicious. 

That was it for embarkation day from Brooklyn. Read on for how we managed dining reservations, and keep an eye out for more content on our Valiant Lady Bermuda Cruise page — the next post will focus on the ship overall, including entertainment, lounges and other spaces.

Virgin Voyages Dining Reservations: What We Did Before and After Boarding

All the restaurants on Virgin Voyages are included in your fare. You can walk up to any of them, but availability is not guaranteed and depends on ship capacity and timing. For a guaranteed table on a given day, you need to make a reservation, which you can do in advance of the sailing on the Virgin mobile app, potentially in the embarkation cruise terminal after check in, or on board. Reservations can also be made through My Account on VirginVoyages.com or a travel advisor, a.k.a. “First Mate”.

Several Virgin-focused sites report that only a portion of tables are released before boarding. We can’t say how large that portion is, but our experience at the desk fits. 

Where it gets interesting, or potentially stressful, depending on your point of view is that Virgin has a tiered system for when you can book advance reservations. 

For bookings made on or after October 7, 2025. Earlier bookings follow older rules. Source: Virgin Voyages dining FAQ, checked October 17, 2026. Your exact date shows in the Virgin app.

Because we had booked a lock-it-in fare (a guaranteed cabin), we had to wait until 15 days prior, and by that time, the sailing was, for all intents and purposes, sold out. Still, we intended to stay up until midnight, both of us logged into the Virgin mobile app and with a plan. Jay would try for The Wake (steakhouse) and Extra Virgin (Italian), while Rona would aim for Pink Agave (Mexican) and Ariya by Razzle Dazzle (Indian). Gunbae fell to whoever finished first and Test Kitchen (experimental tasting) was not on our list to try.

What happened at midnight

Midnight arrived and the mobile app worked like a champ, in spite of all the social media warnings that it would crash with all the people trying for reservations. The problem was, there weren’t many of those available. The Wake? Not for dinner and not for brunch. Extra Virgin? Nada. 

Fortunately, Rona snagged Ariya at 5:45 on day two of Bermuda – a little early, but honestly just fine. She also grabbed our 5:45 embarkation day Gunbae reservation we covered earlier. There was nothing else aside from Test Kitchen, so in the end she took a 7:30 reservation there for the last night of the sailing. We were pretty disappointed, and the sentiment was shared by others in the Facebook group for this sailing.

We did not stop there, however, and kept checking for reservations every day, multiple times per day. It was kind of like booking dining in Walt Disney World, to be honest, but with a much lower success ratio.

A few days later, Rona was able to secure a 9:00 Pink Agave slot on the second night of the sailing. That was kind of late for us and limited some of the entertainment options, but at least we had it. 9 PM was nothing compared with the Extra Virgin slot Rona snagged a couple days after that – 9:45 on the third night of the sailing. 

What the terminal desk changed

Fast forward to embarkation day and the reservation desk in the terminal. The awesome crew member was able to help us out. She pulled in the Extra Virgin reservation by an hour to 8:45, and got us an 8:15 table at the Wake on the last night of the sailing, dropping our Test Kitchen reservation. Now we just needed a reservation for night four. 

We just weren’t feeling Test Kitchen based on what we saw of it on a few YouTube videos. On sailings shorter than 6 nights, you can only reserve each restaurant once. Because ours was a 6-night sailing, she was able to secure us a second Pink Agave reservation – at 8:15. And we called it good. Our dining looked like this:

• Night 1 (Wednesday) – Gunbae – 5:45
• Night 2 (Thursday) – Pink Agave – 9:00
• Night 3 (Friday) – Extra Virgin – 8:45
• Night 4 (Saturday) – Pink Agave – 8:15
• Night 5 (Sunday) – Ariya by Razzle Dazzle – 5:45
• Night 6 (Monday) – The Wake – 8:15

Walk-ups for brunch

We did not ask about brunch or lunch reservations, which were offered only in The Wake and Ariya. Once we were on board the ship, we checked the mobile app for any brunch slots, but none were available. We figured we would try to walk-up approach and see what happened.

First on Thursday and then on Friday mid-morning, we stopped at the Wake and the hostess politely shook her head each time – there was no availability and already a huge waiting list. However, on Sunday, after doing a bit of shopping in Bermuda’s Royal Navy Dockyard, we returned to the ship late morning, making a beeline for the Wake once more. Perhaps we’d have a chance with many people off the ship? Our persistence and strategic thinking were rewarded when the hostess smiled and guided us down to the waiting area where we remained for all of one minute before being seated. 

The prevailing wisdom on walk-up seating is to try during off-peak hours. On a full sailing, this is probably more applicable on the less popular restaurants, especially since some of our reservations were fairly off peak. We’d also suggest trying on port days while fewer people are on the ship.

What we recommend as of October 2026

• Use the dining reservations desk in the cruise terminal. It can add reservations and change the ones you already have. It moved our Extra Virgin time up an hour and swapped Test Kitchen for The Wake.
• Set an alarm for the night your dining window opens, and have a ranked list of restaurants ready.
• Log in to the app before midnight, and split the restaurants between two people if you can so you cover more ground.
• Check for openings several times a day after your window opens. Cancellations are how we got Pink Agave and Extra Virgin.
• For brunch and lunch (only The Wake and Ariya), try walk-ups on port days.