Cruiser Leaves Hungry After Disappointingly Small Portion Ruins Birthday Dinner
There is no better way to celebrate birthdays than being on a cruise! One of the more popular activities to celebrate such an important occasion is by having a nice dinner.
However, for one recent passenger, her birthday dining experience was anything less than special due to the lackluster portion sizes while eating at The Test Kitchen on a Virgin Voyages cruise.
Travel influencer Cierra B (@thetravelingattorneyeats) posted a video capturing her reaction to the disappointing meal on May 2, 2025 — the video has since amassed 3.2 million views and received nearly 5k comments.
The video begins with text saying, “Story time: you thought you were getting punk’d at your cruise birthday dinner.”
A crew member could then be seen taking a smoke-filled glass lid off of a plate of peas, after which Cierra’s jaw quite literally dropped.
“Is this real? What is happening?” she said, truly shocked by what was presented on the table.
Then, after setting down two pieces of bread, the crew member who was serving the influencer and her companion explained the dish.
The plate had egg and peas on it, as well as caviar and a special smoke to enhance the flavor. However, from the angle the video was recorded, there did not appear to be an egg on Cierra’s plate.
It was confirmed in her video caption that the egg did make it onto the plate, but that was not the issue, as the food was tasty and did get served as intended.
This video concludes with Cierra telling the individual recording for her to stop, as she struggled to keep her laughter in about the peas she was presented with.
What truly ended up being the issue was the portions being so small that the creator needed to also have a burger after dinner to make up for the lack of food.
“When we ate at the test kitchen, as soon as it finished we went for pizza and burgers,” replied one person, sharing a similar experience.
“Here we go, I hope you’re hungry….for nothing!” commented another, poking fun at the situation.
Cierra did say that she learned her lesson and that in the future, she would be reading the onboard restaurant descriptions much closer before choosing to dine there.
The Test Kitchen is just one of the 20 included dining experiences open to guests while on Virgin Voyages’ ships, but it is one that has received many mixed reviews.
Ongoing Mixed Feedback For This Innovative Dining Experience
Even though Cierra was disappointed by the portion sizes, she did mention that the food was good — there just was not enough of it!
This is a common piece of feedback The Test Kitchen has received since it launched the dining experience during the maiden voyage of the 4,400-passenger Scarlet Lady in early 2020.
Read Also: How Not to Overeat on a Cruise – And Why It Matters
Back in March of 2025, a guest on Scarlet Lady took to Reddit to share their experience that was quite the opposite of Cierra’s.
“This is a 5-course dinner in a very modern restaurant, with a very clean aesthetic,” shared the poster, adding, “We had a smoked eel with soy, scallops with black garlic, cheese tart, taste of chicken and their yuzu dessert.”
The post goes on to highlight the flavors from several dishes, but also notes that the cheese tart was not very good, but that the vegetarian option was a much better choice.
Overall, this individual had a great dining experience — but yet again, comments were mixed about the extravagant dining option.
“Ah man, I’m glad you enjoyed your time at The Test Kitchen. It was not for me, unfortunately,” one person replied.
“We did that menu as well and loved it,” said another.
Funny enough, the dish that got mentioned the most as people’s least favorite was the peas and eggs — yes, the same one in Cierra’s video!
The travel influencer did sign up for a menu that is known for small tasting bites and not for its large portions, but we do hope the rest of her meals looked like an actual plate of food and not something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
Cruiser Leaves Hungry After Disappointingly Small Portion Ruins Birthday Dinner