Virgin Voyages - Resilient Lady Day 2 - Amsterdam, Protestors and Gunbae

On our second day onboard Resilient Lady we were due to arrive in Amsterdam early in the afternoon, unfortunately everything didn't go to plan!

A Relaxed Morning

After a fun but late night at the pyjama party in The Manor (definitely a highlight of the trip so far), we decided to take it easy this morning. We’ve had a couple of late nights in a row with the night before the cruise ending up a late one, and the comfortable bed in our cabin made it easy to sleep in for a bit.

Once we were up, we grabbed a drink at Sip, the bar we’d gotten familiar with from the Grog Walk the night before. It was nice to find that soft drinks like Coke and Diet Coke are included in the cruise fare, so we didn’t have to worry about any extra charges.

The Pizza Place

With our drinks in hand, we made our way to the pizza place onboard. We’d been hearing great things about the pizza on Virgin Voyages, so we were excited to try it. We went with a pesto chicken pizza and a classic margherita pizza, sharing both. The wasn't a lot of seating in here, with larger, low, communal tables and a few two-person tables, but we were able to find somewhere to sit. Everything is cooked to order but it didn’t take long for our buzzer to go off, and we were able to enjoy the pizzas. Both were really good, and it was hard to pick a favourite between the two.

Protestors

After lunch we headed up to Deck 15 to watch as we sailed into Amsterdam. The approach to the city is pretty cool because you go through a series of locks, and it feels like the ship is really close to the walls. However things didn’t go as planned when we got stuck in the lock. Protesters from Extinction Rebellion had blocked the exit which meant we couldn’t leave right away. We found out later that this was part of a larger protest against cruise ships entering the city, but it took a couple of hours before the police arrived, cleared the protesters, and allowed us to continue our journey.

Despite the delay, we eventually made our way into Amsterdam, with a new estimated arrival time of 8.30pm Amsterdam time.

Rockstar Party

Before heading into the city, we were invited to a party in the Massive Suite by Lindsay, who we met through the cruise Facebook group. It was a fun chance to meet more people on board, have a drink, and hang out. After that, we bumped into some other people that we knew from the cruise world, Emma, Ali, and Mark at Sip, where we stayed for another drink. It was great chatting with them before we headed back to our cabin to get ready for the evening.

Dinner at Gunbae

For dinner, we made our way to Gunbae a restaurant that’s known for its interactive, social dining experience. It was quite busy when we arrived, so we had to wait a little while before being seated. Once we got to our table, we shared it with our friends Tom and Dom (of Tom and Dom Travel) another group of four, and the meal started with a variety of small dishes, like crispy fried chicken and seafood corn dogs. The pork belly and beef cooked at the table on a hot plate were the main highlights. Watching the food being prepared in front of us was a fun part of the experience, and the beef, in particular, had a great flavour.

There was also a drinking game that everyone played during the meal, which was fun. Lizzy isn't usually a fan of shots, but this one, which was Sake, wasn’t so bad, and we had a good time with the group.

For dessert, there were only two options: mango or matcha ice cream. Neither of us were big fans, but we weren’t too bothered by it. We were more interested in heading out to explore Amsterdam.

Exploring Amsterdam by Night

After dinner, we popped back to our cabin to change into some more comfortable shoes and headed out into Amsterdam. We weren’t sure if it was going to rain, but luckily, we timed it just right and avoided getting caught in the heavy rain that some people on board experienced. We walked from the ship into the city centre, heading toward the Red Light District and stopping for drinks at a few bars along the way. We had a great time, even if one of our drinks orders went a little wrong (Malibu and tonic doesn’t work as a combination, trust us!).

At around 2am the bars in Amsterday started closing, which felt a bit early to us considering it was only 1am ship time, but we headed back to the ship. Once we were back onboard, we grabbed some pizza from the pizza place and Tom and Dom got some burgers for us, which we enjoyed in the galley. It seems like after a certain hour, the galley becomes the place to hang out on the ship, it has a really fun vibe.

Final Thoughts

So that was our day! It was definitely a mix of unexpected moments and great experiences. We’re really enjoying everything Virgin Voyages has to offer, the staff are fantastic, the food has been excellent, and the overall vibe on board is just fun and easygoing. Despite the protests and the rain, we’re loving our time aboard Resilient Lady and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings for our full day in Amsterdam.

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to watch our day in more detail check out our YouTube video below.