If a child-free cruise expertise with decadent meals, an upscale seashore vibe and bingo hosted by a drag queen seems like one thing you’d get pleasure from, Virgin Voyages is perhaps your new favourite cruise line.
The brainchild of quirky enterprise mogul Richard Branson, Virgin Voyages promised to shake up the cruise business — and it delivered by banning youngsters from crusing, including loads of risque leisure, scrapping the normal buffet and inspiring cruisers to embrace enjoyable and self-care by means of its “detox and retox” philosophy. Its three (quickly to be 4) midsize ocean ships embrace upscale cruising with all of the accoutrements that allow passengers to find their inner children.
What you’ll be able to anticipate from the road is a fun-yet-classy vibe with fashionable decor, day by day events and video games and an inclusive really feel that encourages everybody to return as they’re. Plus, nearly all the things — gratuities, fundamental Wi-Fi and all however one restaurant — is included within the worth. (You’ll pay additional for alcohol and shore excursions.)
Right here’s all the things you could learn about Virgin Voyages’ ships, the place they sail and their onboard points of interest, together with eating, leisure and lodging.
3 issues TPG loves about Virgin Voyages
- Wonderful exhibits that rival one of the best exhibits you’d discover on land
- Inclusivity that makes everybody really feel welcome
- Standout delicacies with practically each restaurant included within the cruise fare
What we might do with out
- Cabins that really feel cheaply furnished with bogs which are too small
- Excessive-demand actions that overlap; it’s important to decide, select and schedule upfront
The Virgin Voyages fleet
Virgin Voyages — which debuted in 2019 with its first ship, Scarlet Lady — operates a fleet of three practically an identical vessels: Scarlet Girl, Valiant Lady and Resilient Girl. A fourth, Sensible Girl, is about to start crusing in fall 2025.
All the 110,000-ton, 17-deck ships provide 1,330 cabins and 78 suites. At most capability, they’ll carry 2,770 visitors. It supplies the facilities of a bigger vessel however with out being so huge that it’s troublesome to handle. (For context, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, which is at the moment the world’s largest cruise ship, carries practically thrice that variety of passengers.)
If I needed to examine Virgin Voyages to its different mass-market opponents, I’d say it’s a hybrid of Superstar Cruises and Disney Cruise Line (however with out the youngsters). It options an upscale however not luxurious onboard vibe and boundary-pushing leisure, and it appeals to younger professionals. It additionally encourages cruisers to let their inside youngsters unfastened with dodgeball tournaments, board video games, arcade play and practically 24-hour entry to free ice cream, sweet and pizza — and all of the enjoyable is supposed for grownups.
Locations and itineraries
Virgin Voyages’ focus is the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mediterranean, with all 4 ships catering to a number of of these areas.
Through the spring and summer season months, Scarlet Girl sails round-trip from Barcelona, providing weeklong voyages within the Med. Within the fall, it repositions to its winter residence port of Miami, from which it runs weeklong cruises to the Western Caribbean.
Valiant Girl sails year-round from Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, providing four-, five- and seven-night Bahamas, Caribbean and Mexico itineraries by means of the spring of 2026. In the summertime of 2026, it should reposition to Barcelona and ultimately Portsmouth in the UK to supply Mediterranean and British Isles voyages, respectively.
Resilient Girl gives seven- to 11-night voyages from San Juan to the Caribbean and Bahamas through the winter months. In the summertime, it heads to Europe to do Athens, Greece-based cruises to the Greek islands, Turkey, Croatia and Montenegro.
When Sensible Girl begins crusing in late 2025, it should residence port in Miami and provide longer voyages of seven to 12 nights to the Jap and Western Caribbean.
As a result of Virgin Voyages is so centered on bringing unique experiences to its visitors, it has developed a non-public seashore membership on the Bahamian island of Bimini in partnership with Resorts World. A lot of its ships’ Caribbean sailings name there.
The Beach Club at Bimini options twin lagoon swimming pools with complimentary lounge chairs, enjoyable pool floats and for-fee cabanas. It supplies Virgin vacationers with seashore entry, waiter-served lunch and actions like paddleboard yoga, volleyball and cornhole. Native shore tour choices can be found for an additional price, as are poolside personal cabanas.
Who sails Virgin Voyages?
Virgin Voyages cruises attraction to adults — “sailors” in Virgin Voyages phrases — who prefer to have a very good time, no matter age. They are usually fashionable, prosperous and properly traveled. They love a very good celebration and luxuriate in posting their newest whereabouts on TikTok and Instagram.
They’re comfy with who they’re, they usually’re simply as comfy permitting others to be themselves, too. Anticipate your fellow passengers’ vibes to run the gamut from laid-back and informal (however at all times modern) to simply plain additional (assume: tutus, fishnets, neon hair and make-up; something goes). You’ll end up among the many likes of seashore bums, rock stars, mermaids and others who will seemingly turn into your greatest pals on the dance flooring or over a late-night recreation of Mouse Entice or Mall Insanity.
Cabins and suites
All 4 ships provide the identical varieties and lessons of cabins: the Insider (inside cabins with no home windows), the Sea View (outdoors cabins with home windows), the Sea Terrace (balcony rooms) and a wide range of RockStar Quarters, that are suites with names just like the Candy Aft Suite, the Critically Suite, the Cheeky Nook Suite and two TPG Award-winning, 2,147-square-foot Massive Suites, plus a number of others.
The Huge Suites every provide two bedrooms, a typical one with a king-size mattress and one other with a pullout sofa, in addition to a wide range of guitars and an amp, in case you’re feeling like a jam session. Additionally they have file gamers with an intensive music library; personal sundecks with eating tables, sizzling tubs, loungers and outside showers; premium linens; butler service for issues like specific swimsuit drying and stocking the complimentary minibar; luxurious toiletries; temper lighting; two full-size closets; and precedence embarkation and disembarkation, plus transfers.
The ships’ RockStar Quarters, together with the Huge Suite, give their occupants entry to the unique keycard-protected Richard’s Rooftop. The stylish however enjoyable outside bar and lounge space gives a free day by day Champagne comfortable hour, in addition to personal sizzling tubs and comfortable couches for lounging.
Of the fleet’s cabins, 93% have ocean views (that means solely 7% are insides), and 86% have balconies. That’s a powerful quantity. Forty-six solo cabins are unfold throughout the within and out of doors classes on every ship.
So far as accessible staterooms, 29 exist on every vessel, in practically all classes. They’re divided into two varieties: totally accessible cabins (for customers of wheelchairs) and ambulatory accessible cabins (for customers of canes, walkers and scooters).
Good in-cabin touches embody a digital pill that permits cruisers to open their curtains, flip the lights on and off and even name a cabin attendant or contact the entrance desk. Moreover, all balcony rooms have hammocks that permit passengers to nap outside whereas having fun with the ocean breeze in their very own semiprivate areas.
In customary cabins, Virgin Voyages launched an L-shaped couch setup that converts right into a mattress at night time — both two twins that take the identical L form because the couch (which might make sleeping awkward if you’re sharing the room with a buddy) or a queen when the 2 twins are mixed. (Solo cabins should not have the L configuration and, as an alternative, provide a stationary full-size mattress. Cabins that sleep 4 passengers have the L setup with pull-down bunks.)
The road deserves props for making an attempt one thing revolutionary, however switching between the 2 is usually cumbersome for the room stewards. For that motive, passengers usually choose to maintain the furnishings as a mattress during the voyage, however which means there’s nowhere to sit down besides a single chair within the nook of the room.
One other miss is the lavatory setup in customary lodging. They’re in regards to the measurement of an airplane rest room, plus an enclosed bathe. There’s so little room in there that passengers usually complain of whacking their palms and elbows on the bathe door whereas making an attempt to make use of the lavatory sink or vainness space.
Eating places and eating
Virgin Voyages’ eating is in a category of its personal. It’s uncommon {that a} nonluxury (learn: not all-inclusive) cruise line has such a variety of complimentary meals. In truth, passengers can dine at each single onboard restaurant without cost — one thing you received’t discover on different mainstream ships. (The one exception is a dinner theater-style eating expertise, which takes place within the nightclub on Resilient Lady.)
As is the case with most of its cruise-related endeavors, this model doesn’t do meals and drinks like the opposite traces do. First, it scrapped the concept of an onboard buffet and changed it with a complimentary meals courtroom. Then, as an alternative of a most important eating room, it developed greater than a dozen free eating places that includes all sorts of delicacies, in addition to a for-fee dinner theater — all of that are completely professional at catering to dietary restrictions like vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free.
Consider Virgin Voyages’ dining venues as upscale land-based eating places. The atmosphere and theme are totally different at every, they usually all serve totally different specialties. One different similarity: You’ll want reservations, and also you’ll wish to make them ASAP. In any other case, you would miss out, as fashionable instances are likely to refill rapidly.
The variability can be spectacular. Virgin Voyages’ restaurant menus function a spread of cuisines.
Standouts embody vegetarian-forward New American restaurant Razzle Dazzle, The Wake restaurant for seafood lovers, Korean barbecue at Gunbae (which entails a fairly raucous conventional ingesting recreation), intelligent and mouthwatering molecular gastronomy at Take a look at Kitchen, Further Virgin with Italian meals so spectacular it’ll have you ever making appreciative hand gestures and Pink Agave with its delicious Mexican menu.
Passengers with a hankering for late-night pizza ought to head to The Pizza Place for actually scrumptious pie choices, and anybody with a candy tooth will admire ice cream from Lick Me Until … Ice Cream and sweet (Swedish Fish, gummy bears, saltwater taffy and Pink Vines) from The Social Membership.
Room service is out there for a payment through the Virgin Voyages app.
In terms of alcohol, gone are the times of drink packages. On Virgin sailings, you prepay your bar tab earlier than you set sail, and the quantity is debited out of your last onboard invoice. For those who go over it, you pay per beverage like at any shoreside bar. Though you don’t must prepay, the road will usually offer you additional funds for those who do.
Leisure and actions
All through the day, cruisers can calm down by the pool, take a shore tour or select from all kinds of enjoyable actions which are designed to be nostalgic. Play within the arcade, problem your journey companions to a recreation of Hungry Hungry Hippos or pose for images in one in all a number of social media-worthy spots in your method to seize an ice cream cone.
At night time, the road’s next-level theater and nightclub exhibits appeal to massive crowds of passengers who then transfer on to theme events till the wee hours of the morning. Though every of Virgin Voyages’ ships has its personal exhibits, they’re constantly wonderful throughout the board, that includes top-notch singers and dancers and storylines with sexual innuendo befitting the Virgin model and the fleet’s adults-only atmosphere.
It’s necessary to grasp that, with the variety of day by day actions supplied, you’ll be able to’t presumably see and do all the things on a voyage that’s every week lengthy or shorter. (That’s intentional as a result of Virgin needs your FOMO to drive you to e-book one other crusing.) You’ll have to decide on which actions with overlapping time slots to prioritize. Additionally, for those who don’t join properly upfront, you would miss out as a result of many actions e-book up rapidly.
Theaters and exhibits
A high-energy dance and acrobatics present, an immersive nightclub activation that options three hours of burlesque in a library and an S&M-heavy dinner theater (full with a metaphorical threesome) are just some of the most recent leisure choices passengers can expertise on Virgin Voyages sailings.
Lots of the line’s choices are the product of partnerships with well-known high-end manufacturing corporations and choreographers, resembling The 7 Fingers (“Water for Elephants” on Broadway), famed Brooklyn nightclub Home of Sure and the Weiner Leisure Group, whose proprietor labored on New York’s model of “Sleep No Extra” — an interactive “select your individual journey” efficiency that splits you off out of your group and permits you to wander by means of a number of flooring of the outdated warehouse the place it takes place.
Not all ships have the identical exhibits. Resilient Girl gives a plethora of unique leisure, together with an anthology-style nightclub activation that takes place in a “library” (the ship’s nightclub), plus an added-fee dinner theater that {couples} a incredible present with out-of-this-world delicacies.
For lovers of Greek mythology and wonderful acrobatics, dancing and feats of power, “Persephone” is the don’t-miss onboard present. Tying in with Resilient Girl’s Greece voyages, it tells the story of the goddess’ torrid love affair with Hades, the god of the underworld.
Discovered on Valiant Girl and Scarlet Girl, “Duel Actuality” is a contemporary tackle “Romeo and Juliet” that’s punctuated by rival “gangs” and jaw-dropping stunts like aerial acrobatics, hula-hooping and juggling. It’s so well-liked that it’ll tour on land. This marks the primary time a present created particularly for a cruise vessel has gone from ship to shore.
Different passenger favorites embody “Miss Behave,” a wacky and wild recreation present centered on the concept nothing actually issues, together with the factors that the viewers earns (on Valiant Girl and Resilient Girl) and “Miss Titty Kaka,” a racy and hilarious selection present hosted by a resident drag queen (discovered fleetwide on rotation).
Pageant Stage gives a sequence of exhibits that rotate and continuously change all through the fleet, bringing among the most mind-boggling expertise on board for a restricted time solely. Examples have included an Irish comic who turns cruisers’ lives into hit songs by means of freestyle rap proper on the spot and an “America’s Bought Expertise” finalist who does a whole comedy routine together with his mouth taped shut.
Stay music is one other sturdy level. Virgin ships haven’t historically had as a lot stay music as ships from different cruise traces, however that’s altering. You’ll be able to anticipate stellar nightly performances within the Champagne bar and in every vessel’s atrium space.
Different inside points of interest and actions
Trivia is scheduled a number of instances a day, nevertheless it goes on for greater than an hour, and individuals spin a wheel to find out the subject. Bingo is hosted by a drag queen. Afternoon tea is obtainable for a payment and comes with a facet of Champagne.
Extra uncommon pastimes accessible on board embody bar crawls, espresso tastings and mixology lessons (all for a payment). Free actions vary from board recreation play and summer season camp arts and crafts to karaoke and ’90s boy band dance lessons.
For those who’re prepared to pay for enjoyable, you may as well go to the onboard on line casino or make an appointment for a service on the spa, nail salon, hairdresser or barber. Feeling additional daring? Schedule a tattoo or piercing session on the onboard Squid Ink physique artwork parlor.
Or, select from one in all your ship’s free fitness classes — one thing for which different cruise traces cost a payment. You’ll discover all the things from ‘80s-themed aerobics and bungee lessons to yoga, spin and HIIT.
High-deck points of interest
For those who’d fairly calm down or be energetic alfresco, choices abound for that, too. Virgin’s ships all provide two swimming pools (the principle pool and the Gymnasium & Tonic pool, which has two sizzling tubs and an overwater web for lounging), outside Muscle Seaside-style exercise equipment and a jogging monitor.
For yoga or topless sunbathing, head to The Perch on the topmost deck of every vessel. Or, for those who’re booked in a set, head as much as Richard’s Rooftop, an unique sundeck that options loads of lounge area and its personal bar with a contented hour every night.
Organized outside actions would possibly embody health lessons, dodgeball on every ship’s sports activities courtroom or stargazing at night time when circumstances permit.
For extra enjoyable and enjoyable pursuits, the ship additionally has a choice of clamshell loungers and an space that may convey you again to your childhood with see-saws, swings and large Tornado and chess.
Kids’s packages
Virgin Voyages is an adults-only cruise line, which suggests nobody youthful than 18 is allowed to sail. For that motive, no youngsters golf equipment or youngsters’s programming can be found.
What to know earlier than you go
Required paperwork
For worldwide voyages, for those who’re a passenger who’s additionally a U.S. citizen, you’ll want a passport that’s legitimate at the least six months after disembarkation day to be able to cruise. Green-card holders and non-U.S. residents might want to verify necessities based mostly on locations visited.
For those who’re crusing round-trip from Florida or Puerto Rico and headed to the Caribbean or the Bahamas, you’ll be capable of board utilizing your authentic beginning certificates and a government-issued picture ID, resembling a driver’s license. (Nonetheless, we extremely suggest utilizing a passport.)
Additionally, you will must do some on-line prep forward of time to be able to verify in and choose a time to reach on the embarkation port on the day of your crusing.
Gratuities
Suggestions are constructed into Virgin Voyages’ fares, so that you received’t see a day by day service cost in your onboard invoice. You’re welcome to tip additional to crew who go above and past, nevertheless it’s neither required nor anticipated.
Come ready with some small payments to tip porters on the pier after they take your suitcases. It’s additionally acceptable to tip anybody who delivers room service (or Champagne) along with tour guides on shore excursions.
Wi-Fi
Once you sail, you’ll obtain free fundamental Wi-Fi entry for 2 units per particular person. Speeds are respectable, however for those who’re anticipating to stream motion pictures or TV or make video calls, you’ll must pay to improve to the ships’ premium Wi-Fi possibility.
Carry-on drinks coverage
Every passenger is permitted to convey as much as 12 sealed 12-ounce (or smaller) cartons or cans of nonalcoholic drinks like juice, water, soda and sports activities drinks. Every particular person of authorized ingesting age (see beneath) may convey two 750-milliliter bottles of wine. Cruisers aren’t allowed to convey their very own liquor or beer on board.
Any drinks you convey on board have to be transported in your carry-on baggage. Drinks in checked luggage might be confiscated and returned on the finish of your crusing. Liquor purchases made ashore will even be held till the top of the voyage.
Smoking coverage
Smoking and vaping are solely allowed within the Deck 6 smoking room outdoors the Pink Room and in a delegated outside space on the starboard facet of Deck 16 by the doorway to Richard’s Rooftop.
Passengers smoking of their cabins or on stateroom balconies are topic to a $500 tremendous and potential disembarkation with no refund.
Laundry
Virgin Voyages’ ships should not have self-service laundry rooms. As a substitute, cruisers have the choice to ship their garments out for urgent, washing and folding, or washing and urgent. Particular person gadgets price $4 every for press solely, $5 every for wash and fold and $6 every for wash and press. Or, you are able to do a whole bag of washing and folding for $30.
Eco-cleaning (moist washing however with much less water and eco-friendly detergent that’s simpler on materials) is out there for $7 per merchandise. Categorical turnaround (returned by 5:30 p.m. the identical day when picked up earlier than 11 a.m.) is $20 additional for each common washing and dry cleansing. Nonexpress gadgets might be returned the next day by 5:30 p.m.
Electrical shops
All cabins are outfitted with a mixture of shops, together with North American, USB and common (for European locations, the UK and plenty of different international locations).
Commonplace balcony cabins have two USB ports close to the beds, together with a North American outlet. Desk and vainness areas every have two extra USB ports (one in all which is taken up by the charging cable for the cabin’s pill that controls the TV, curtains and temperature), two extra North American shops and one common outlet.
The bogs aren’t outfitted with shops, so that you’ll must model your hair and use any electrical razors on the vainness.
Lots of the public areas — together with The Grounds Membership espresso bar and The Galley meals courtroom — even have tons of shops accessible for charging.
Forex
All Virgin Voyages ships function on {dollars}. Hyperlink a bank card to your account (which you are able to do through the app previous to embarkation day), or put up a money quantity from which you’ll be able to debit for purchases made on board.
As a substitute of keycards, passengers will every obtain The Band — an adjustable wire bracelet that serves as your room key and machine to make onboard purchases. The one time you’ll obtain a card is for those who’re booked in a set that features entry to Richard’s Rooftop, an unique personal sundeck.
Ingesting age
Though Virgin Voyages’ ships permit anybody 18 and older to sail, the ingesting age on board is 21 years when ships are docked within the U.S. In worldwide waters and in locations like Europe, the place the ingesting age is eighteen, the onboard ingesting age is eighteen.
Costume code
Virgin Voyages has no official costume code and advises passengers to return as they’re, whether or not it’s a shiny costume or denims and a T-shirt. Nonetheless, the typical passenger enjoys wanting stylish and classy, even when dressed down. The ships haven’t any formal nights, however most individuals do turn into one thing a bit nicer for dinner.
Remember to convey one thing purple for Scarlet Night time — a mixture atrium spectacle, pool celebration and nightclub rave that occurs as soon as per crusing. Different themed nights embody a pajama celebration and an ’80s bash, so pack accordingly.
Virgin Voyages’ loyalty program
Virgin Voyages’ Sailing Club is a loyalty program solely for Virgin Voyages cruisers. It has three fundamental ranges. Solely the best gives perks which are tremendous noteworthy, however a few freebies stand out with every tier.
Factors are earned by taking full-priced cruises; one voyage, no matter worth or size, earns you 1 level, so long as you haven’t obtained a big low cost. Once you attain Crusing Membership standing (after one crusing), you’ll get reductions on cruises and early entry to promotions. On the Blue Extras stage (after two voyages), you’re entitled to at least one free specialty espresso every day of your crusing and a free bag of laundry.
But it surely’s cruisers on the Deep Blue Extras tier (after 4 cruises) who actually see the advantages. They earn all the things from Blue Extras, plus a further specialty espresso day by day, free urgent for 2 clothes gadgets and one free specialty laundry merchandise. Actually spectacular facilities embody a $100 bar tab credit score, a free improve to limitless premium Wi-Fi and precedence boarding for themselves and their cabinmates.
Don’t confuse this program with the Virgin model’s different loyalty schemes, resembling the final Virgin Pink rewards membership and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Word that these are separate from Virgin Voyages Crusing Membership, and cruises won’t earn you factors in both of them. Nonetheless, for those who’ve earned sufficient factors with Virgin Pink or Flying Membership, you’ll be able to redeem them for Virgin Voyages sailings.
How a lot does a Virgin Voyages cruise price?
As a result of Virgin Voyages contains a lot — fundamental Wi-Fi, gratuities and meals in any respect however one restaurant — in its cruise fares, you’ll be able to anticipate its sailings to be a bit pricier than you’d discover with most different mainstream cruise traces. Nonetheless, that is actually a case of getting what you pay for, because the expertise Virgin gives is a lower above different nonluxury merchandise.
Pricing for essentially the most fundamental cabins normally hovers round $200 per particular person, per night time, with suites ranging from roughly $600 per night time. On the time of publication, costs for Resilient Girl sailings begin from $814 per particular person ($163 per night time) for an inside cabin on a five-night Mexico crusing, round-trip from Miami. Suites can be found from $2,067 per particular person ($517 per night time) for a four-night Bahamas voyage, additionally round-trip from Miami.
On Valiant Girl, Mediterranean sailings in an inside cabin begin at $1,589 per particular person ($227 per night time) for a weeklong cruise, round-trip from Barcelona, calling on ports in France, Italy and Spain. For a set on a seven-night itinerary with the identical ports, additionally round-trip from Barcelona, passengers can anticipate to pay at the least $4,416 per particular person ($631 per night time).
For Resilient Girl’s Adriatic and Aegean Sea cruises, you’ll shell out a minimal of $1,617 per particular person ($231 per night time) for every week in an inside cabin. The ship travels round-trip from Athens and visits ports in Greece, Croatia and Montenegro. For a set on the identical weeklong itinerary from Athens, the going charge is $4,572 per particular person ($653 per night time).
Learn how to e-book
You’ll be able to e-book Virgin Voyages sailings immediately by means of the cruise line. You’ll be able to both buy a cruise your self on the line’s website or name 954-488-2955 to talk with a Virgin Voyages agent who will help you. You probably have sufficient Virgin Pink or Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors saved, you should utilize them to pay on your cruise.
You may as well e-book a Virgin Voyages cruise by means of a travel agent for those who want the extra customized service they provide.
Some third-party journey corporations, resembling United Cruises, additionally promote Virgin Voyages sailings.
Backside line
Virgin Voyages gives a lighthearted-but-upscale adults-only expertise that’s dearer than what you’d pay for different premium cruises. Nonetheless, passengers obtain their cash’s price through inclusions like gratuities, Wi-Fi, wonderful eating and phenomenal exhibits that push plenty of boundaries.
The road’s midsize ships cowl areas in Europe, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, they usually appeal to a crowd that’s laid-back and accepting however which prides itself on feeling and looking good.
If drag queens, merpeople, boy band dance lessons and video games of large Tornado attraction to your sense of enjoyable and journey, Virgin Voyages would possibly simply be the cruise line for you.
Wish to study extra about Virgin Voyages? We’ve received you lined.
- Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady ship review
- A first look at Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady
- Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady ship review
- How to drink on Virgin Voyages cruises
- Why Virgin Voyages has the best entertainment at sea
- The best destinations to visit with Virgin Voyages
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- All you need to know about Virgin Voyages’ fitness classes
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