Virgin Voyages is understood for giving friends nice worth by together with greater than the everyday cruise line in its commonplace fares — all onboard eating, Wi-Fi, gratuities, group health courses and fundamental drinks and comfortable drinks. However while you’re crusing on an adults-only cruise like Virgin, you would possibly really feel one key factor is lacking: alcoholic drinks.
Does Virgin Voyages have drink packages like different cruise strains to bundle alcohol pricing into one handy every day price? Whereas there isn’t any such factor as a Virgin Voyages drink bundle, in true Virgin style, the cruise line has give you a distinct option to make masking your drink prices simpler and finally offer you a greater worth.
As a substitute of restrictive drink packages which may not even embody the entire top-shelf drink choices on board, Virgin Voyages gives a extra simple program referred to as Bar Tab that allows you to add a pay as you go beverage credit score to your account and earn bonus drink credit totally free. You may then use your Bar Tab to pay for any drink served on board.
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In case you plan to imbibe throughout the ship’s dozen or so bars, you would possibly need to contemplate prepurchasing a Bar Tab. We’re right here to clarify the way it all works.
How does Virgin Voyages’ Bar Tab work?
Virgin Voyages contains what the road considers to be “important” drinks in its commonplace cruise fare: nonetheless and glowing water, nonpressed juices, sodas, tea and drip espresso. Sodas are the principle differentiator from many different cruise strains, which regularly cost additional for comfortable drinks. Every part else — alcoholic or in any other case — is taken into account a premium drink on Virgin.
Bar Tab is an onboard credit score on Virgin Voyages cruises that may solely be used for alcoholic drinks and different premium drinks. Buying a Bar Tab offers you the possibility to prepay to your drinks that are not included in your cruise fare (suppose: alcoholic drinks, specialty coffees and fresh-pressed juices).
However what is the level of prepaying to your drinks?
The perk is that Virgin Voyages throws in an additional $50 credit score for each $300 Bar Tab you buy, so that you’re basically saving 15% by paying up entrance. You can’t buy a Bar Tab in different quantities. (Even in the event you may, why would you prepay for a distinct quantity in the event you will not be rewarded with a $50 bonus?)
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Associated: get free or low-cost drinks on a cruise
For the reason that complete level of Bar Tab is that it is a pay as you go beverage credit score, it may solely be bought earlier than your cruise (via the app or web site, or by calling Sailor Providers or a journey agent) and should be added to your account not less than 24 hours earlier than crusing. The supply is not accessible when you’re on board.
Which premium drinks does Bar Tab cowl?
Not like Sailor Loot, which is Virgin Voyage’s equal of onboard credit score that may be spent on something from spa and retail purchases to shore excursions, Bar Tab can solely be used for alcoholic drinks and some other premium drinks. (There was a loophole the place Bar Tab and Sailor Loot credit would mix within the Virgin app, and passengers may buy non-drink gadgets with their Bar Tab credit score, however that has been resolved.)
Other than alcoholic drinks, premium drinks coated by Bar Tab additionally embody specialty coffees like espresso drinks and chilly brew, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, mocktails and milkshakes (plus boozy shakes!). There isn’t any want to fret about worth limits per drink since Bar Tab is only a credit score towards your beverage spend. That is what makes it so simple.
You may as well spend your Bar Tab credit score on afternoon tea on the Sip Champagne lounge or while you “Shake for Champagne,” an app characteristic that allows you to summon a bottle of bubbly with the press of a button from virtually anyplace on the ship. In case you’re crusing on a Caribbean itinerary, Bar Tab can be utilized on the bars on the Bimini Seaside Membership, too.
Bar Tab can even cowl your $25 corkage payment in the event you convey your individual wine bottle to dinner at any of the onboard eating places. (Virgin cruisers can convey as much as two 750-milliliter bottles of wine on board throughout embarkation per cabin, together with a dozen 12-ounce cans or cartons of water, comfortable drinks, nonalcoholic beer or dietary dietary supplements.)
Bar Tab does not apply, nonetheless, to any of Virgin’s interactive beverage courses, and it may’t be used for any bottles of wine or spirits meant to be taken off the ship (i.e., duty-free liquor purchases).
Are there any Virgin cruise drink bundle offers? How else can I save on drinks?
Whereas Virgin Voyages does not have drink packages, as we have talked about, the road usually runs limited-time gives that embody free Bar Tab credit. In November 2023, I noticed a suggestion awarding $300 in free drink credit on four- to six-night sailings and a $600 Bar Tab credit score for seven-night or longer sailings.
Virgin additionally sells a number of cruise bundle add-ons that embody Bar Tab credit or different free drinks. For instance, while you add the Splash of Romance bundle to your crusing, you get every day cold-pressed juices, a complimentary Shake for Champagne and an unique Sailaway Hour, amongst different perks that are not beverage-related.
Equally, the celebratory Splash for Your Bash bundle contains drinks to your group at two particular non-public occasions: a bottomless brunch and a cocktail party.
Associated: Are cruise line drinks packages well worth the worth? What to know before you purchase
Passengers staying in a Mega RockStar Quarter suite all the time obtain limitless complimentary premium drinks (valued as much as $25 per drink) and two bottles of wine per day (valued as much as $90 per bottle). The suites price a premium, however you will not need to spend something additional on drinks when you’re on board.
Lastly, enrolling in Virgin Voyage’s loyalty program, referred to as Crusing Membership, may also get you free drinks. Beginning together with your third cruise with Virgin, you may be eligible for a free $100 Bar Tab yearly, a every day $10 specialty espresso credit score and an invite to an unique cocktail occasion on future sailings via the top of 2024.
Is a Virgin Voyages Bar Tab value it?
A couple of huge variations between Virgin’s Bar Tab and the everyday drink bundle format on different cruise strains make getting your cash’s value simpler with Bar Tab.
Virgin Voyages doesn’t require that each visitor in a cabin have their very own Bar Tab (not like many different cruise strains, which require all adults staying in the identical cabin to pay for their very own drink bundle). Actually, you’ll be able to share your Bar Tab credit score together with your cabinmate (no must be current once they’re ordering) and even pay for pals’ (or strangers’) drinks, which is available in additional useful in the event you nonetheless have credit to spend on the finish of your crusing.
As Virgin’s web site says, “it pays to prepay” — that’s, if you understand how a lot you intend to drink. The primary draw back is that your pay as you go Bar Tab is nonrefundable, so when you’ve got any credit score left over on the finish of your crusing, you’ll lose the unused quantity.
To make it possible for including a Bar Tab to your account is worth it and saves you cash fairly than wastes it, you may need to ensure that you don’t prepay greater than you and your buddies can drink. You may also profit from utilizing your Bar Tab credit score as a useful option to keep on with a particular beverage funds.
Associated: We tried each bar on Virgin Voyages and ranked them from greatest to worst
On Virgin Voyages, the specialty coffees common $4, beers common $6 to $7, fundamental cocktails common $10 and wines by the glass common $11. You need to use these costs to estimate what number of drinks per day it could take to spend via a $300 or $600 Bar Tab credit score.
As an example, with a $300 Bar Tab on a six-night crusing, you’d have to spend not less than $50 per day on drinks to interrupt even. Divide this by two in the event you’re crusing with a accomplice, and it is clearly doable to satisfy your spend of $25 per particular person per day with solely three alcoholic drinks every. Double your Bar Tab to $600 for that six-night crusing in the event you can see yourselves every ordering roughly 5 alcoholic drinks every day.
In case your crusing is on the shorter aspect, say 4 nights, you may need to squeeze in some additional liquid enjoyable to burn via a $300 Bar Tab, as you may have to spend $75 per day on drinks. That is not less than seven or eight drinks per day in the event you’re imbibing solo (extra in the event you primarily drink beer) or solely 4 drinks per particular person every day in the event you’re sharing the Bar Tab with a cabinmate.
Backside line
Virgin’s Bar Tab gives such a versatile format that it is onerous to go incorrect with it in the event you plan to drink alcohol in your cruise (so long as you are not staying in a high suite with included drinks).
In case you sometimes spend not less than $300 on drinks while you’re cruising — whether or not by yourself or amongst your journey companions — you would possibly as nicely prepay for a Bar Tab and save 15% with Virgin Voyage’s $50 Bar Tab bonus supply.
In case you’re on a brief cruise and your group does not drink alcohol, it may be tougher to make use of up a $300 Bar Tab on specialty coffees and fresh-pressed juices alone.
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