Does Virgin Voyages have drink packages? Right here’s why Bar Tab could be higher

Virgin Voyages is thought for giving visitors nice worth by together with greater than the standard cruise line in its customary fares — all onboard eating, Wi-Fi, gratuities, group health courses and fundamental drinks and smooth drinks. However once 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 other cruise lines to bundle alcohol pricing into one handy each day charge? Whereas there is no such factor as a Virgin Voyages drink package deal, in true Virgin vogue, the cruise line has give you a special method to make protecting your drink prices simpler and in the end provide you with a greater worth.

As a substitute of restrictive drink packages which may not even embody all the top-shelf drink choices on board, Virgin Voyages provides 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 at no cost. You may then use your Bar Tab to pay for any drink served on board.

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If you happen to 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 customary cruise fare: nonetheless and glowing water, nonpressed juices, sodas, tea and drip espresso. Sodas are the principle differentiator from many different cruise strains, which frequently cost additional for smooth drinks. Every thing 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 (assume: 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 primarily saving 15% by paying up entrance. You can not buy a Bar Tab in different quantities. (Even when you might, why would you prepay for a special quantity when you will not be rewarded with a $50 bonus?)

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Associated: How to get free or cheap drinks on a cruise

Because the complete level of Bar Tab is that it is a pay as you go beverage credit score, it could solely be bought earlier than your cruise (by way of the app or web site, or by calling Sailor Providers or a journey agent) and have to be added to your account at the least 24 hours earlier than crusing. The provide is not out there when you’re on board.

Which premium drinks does Bar Tab cowl?

In contrast to Sailor Loot, which is Virgin Voyage’s equal of onboard credit that may be spent on something from spa and retail purchases to shore excursions, Bar Tab can solely be used for alcoholic drinks and another premium drinks. (There was once a loophole the place Bar Tab and Sailor Loot credit would mix within the Virgin app, and passengers might buy non-drink objects 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 value limits per drink since Bar Tab is only a credit score towards your beverage spend. That is what makes it so simple.

You can even spend your Bar Tab credit score on afternoon tea on the Sip Champagne lounge or once you “Shake for Champagne,” an app function that allows you to summon a bottle of bubbly with the clicking of a button from nearly wherever on the ship. If you happen to’re crusing on a Caribbean itinerary, Bar Tab can be utilized on the bars on the Bimini Beach Club, too.

Bar Tab can even cowl your $25 corkage payment when you carry your personal wine bottle to dinner at any of the onboard eating places. (Virgin cruisers can carry 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, smooth drinks, nonalcoholic beer or dietary dietary supplements.)

Bar Tab does not apply, nonetheless, to any of Virgin’s interactive beverage courses, and it could’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 package deal offers? How else can I save on drinks?

Whereas Virgin Voyages does not have drink packages, as we have talked about, the road typically runs limited-time provides that embody free Bar Tab credit. In November 2023, I noticed a proposal 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 couple of cruise package deal add-ons that embody Bar Tab credit or different free drinks. For instance, once you add the Splash of Romance package deal to your crusing, you get each 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 package deal contains drinks to your group at two particular non-public occasions: a bottomless brunch and a cocktail party.

Associated: Are cruise line drinks packages worth the price? What to know before you buy

Passengers staying in a Mega RockStar Quarter suite at all times 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 Sailing Club, 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 each day $10 specialty espresso credit score and an invite to an unique cocktail occasion on future sailings by way of the top of 2024.

Is a Virgin Voyages Bar Tab value it?

Just a few massive variations between Virgin’s Bar Tab and the standard drink package deal 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 package deal). The truth is, you may share your Bar Tab credit score together with your cabinmate (no must be current once they’re ordering) and even pay for associates’ (or strangers’) drinks, which is available in additional useful when 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 propose to drink. The principle draw back is that your pay as you go Bar Tab is nonrefundable, so if in case you have any credit score left over on the finish of your crusing, you’ll lose the unused quantity.

To guarantee that including a Bar Tab to your account is worth it and saves you cash relatively than wastes it, you may need to make sure that you don’t prepay greater than you and your buddies can drink. You may additionally profit from utilizing your Bar Tab credit score as a useful method to stick with a particular beverage finances.

Associated: We tried every bar on Virgin Voyages and ranked them from best 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 should use these costs to estimate what number of drinks per day it could take to spend by way of a $300 or $600 Bar Tab credit score.

For example, with a $300 Bar Tab on a six-night crusing, you’d must spend at the least $50 per day on drinks to interrupt even. Divide this by two when you’re crusing with a companion, 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 when you can see yourselves every ordering roughly 5 alcoholic drinks each day.

In case your crusing is on the shorter facet, say 4 nights, you may need to squeeze in some additional liquid enjoyable to burn by way of a $300 Bar Tab, as you may must spend $75 per day on drinks. That is at the least seven or eight drinks per day when you’re imbibing solo (extra when you primarily drink beer) or solely 4 drinks per particular person each day when you’re sharing the Bar Tab with a cabinmate.