Virgin Voyages VoyageFair Choices Explained: Base vs Essential vs Premium

Since 7 October 2025, booking a Virgin Voyages cabin means making one extra choice: your fare. Virgin calls it VoyageFair Choices, and for Sea Terraces and below there are now three fares to pick from: Base, Essential and Premium. RockStar Quarters sit outside the system with their own perks.

The fare you pick decides how early you can book your restaurants, how good your Wi-Fi is, whether you get a drinks credit and how much flexibility you have if plans change. Here’s how each one works, what hasn’t changed, and which we’d choose.

Last checked: 22 October 2026. Virgin’s fares and policies change from time to time, so we’ll always confirm the details for your sailing when you book with us.

VoyageFair Choices at a glance

	Base	Essential	Premium	RockStar Quarters
Wi-Fi	Basic: messaging, social media, browsing (1 device)	Classic: up to 2x faster browsing, Wi-Fi audio calls (1 device)	Premium: up to 5x faster, video calls and streaming (2 devices)	Classic (RockStar) or Work From Sea (Mega RockStar, 2 devices)
Dining reservations open	15 days before sailing	45 days before sailing	60 days before sailing	120 days before sailing
Cabin	Assigned at booking, but can change up to 7 days before sailing	Assigned at booking	Assigned at booking	Assigned at booking
Changes	No date, name or cabin changes	Date changes; names for Sailors 2–4 only; cabin changes	Date changes; all names; cabin changes	Date changes; all names; cabin changes
Cancelling	Non-refundable	Eligible for Future Voyage Credit	Eligible for Future Voyage Credit	Eligible for Future Voyage Credit
Drinks	No	No	$15 per Sailor per night Bar Tab	Curated in-room bar (RockStar) or bottomless in-room bar and daily Bar Tab (Mega RockStar)
Support	Standard	Standard	Priority pre-voyage support line	VIP Priority Service or Red Glove Service, plus RockStar Agents on board
Extras				Richard’s Rooftop, priority boarding, free room delivery

Date changes are allowed up to 45 days before sailing, and name changes up to 48 hours before. This table is based on Virgin’s own VoyageFair grid.

What every fare still includes

The headline hasn’t changed. Whichever fare you choose, you still get Virgin’s “always included” basics:

• All 20+ eateries, including the six restaurants. There are no specialty dining charges. See our Virgin Voyages restaurants guide.
• Wi-Fi, at the level your fare includes
• Shows and entertainment
• Unlimited group fitness classes
• Soft drinks, still and sparkling water, juices, drip coffee and basic teas

What has changed is how crew gratuities are shown, which we explain below.

The three fares explained

Base: the lowest price, with no flexibility

Base is the cheapest way into a Sea Terrace or below. In exchange, it’s non-refundable, and you can’t change your dates, names or cabin once booked. Your cabin is assigned when you book but can still be moved up to seven days before sailing. You get basic Wi-Fi on one device, and your dining reservations don’t open until 15 days before you sail, by which point the popular times at The Wake and Extra Virgin are often gone.

Who it suits: Sailors who are completely sure of their plans and want the lowest price, and who don’t mind booking restaurants late. Good travel insurance matters more than ever on a Base fare.

When Base makes most sense: last-minute bookings. If you’re booking within about 15 days of sailing, your dining window opens straight away anyway, and there’s less time for plans to change.

Essential: the classic Virgin experience

Essential is closest to how Virgin worked before VoyageFair Choices. Your 45-day dining window is the one most Sailors had before, you get faster Classic Wi-Fi with audio calls, and you can change your dates and cabin, plus the names of Sailors 2 to 4 (but not the lead Sailor). If you need to cancel, you’re eligible for a Future Voyage Credit.

Who it suits: Most Sailors. It’s the sensible middle ground.

Our tip: because the lead Sailor’s name can’t be changed on Essential, make the person whose plans are most certain the lead Sailor. On a group booking, that small choice can save a lot of hassle.

Premium: the extras, and the earliest dining window

Premium adds the most useful perks without stepping up to a RockStar suite. You get a $15 per Sailor per night Bar Tab, Premium Wi-Fi with video calling and streaming on two devices, a 60-day dining window (previously only for suites) and a priority support line before you sail. You can also change every name on the booking, including the lead Sailor.

Who it suits: Foodies who want first pick of restaurant times, anyone who needs to work or video call from the ship, and couples who’ll easily drink their way through the Bar Tab. Do the maths: on a 7-night sailing for two, the Bar Tab alone is $210 of drinks, so compare that with the price difference for your sailing. Our Bar Tab calculator helps.

Voyage length	Premium Bar Tab per Sailor	Per cabin of two
4 nights	$60	$120
5 nights	$75	$150
7 nights	$105	$210
10 nights	$150	$300
14 nights	$210	$420

The Bar Tab is for drinks, and any unused balance isn’t refunded at the end of the voyage, so it’s best for Sailors who were going to buy drinks anyway. If you’d buy a Bar Tab anyway, Premium can work out cheaper than Essential plus a Bar Tab, especially on longer sailings.

A note for remote workers: Premium Wi-Fi handles streaming and most video calls, but it isn’t Work From Sea. If you need a VPN or work meeting platforms, look at a Work From Sea upgrade or a Mega RockStar.

Lock It In rates

Alongside the three fares, Virgin sometimes offers Lock It In rates, usually closer to sailing. You’re guaranteed a cabin in the category you book (or higher), but Virgin picks the exact cabin later, so it may be in a less central or busier spot. Lock It In rates are non-refundable and can’t be changed. Sailing Club perks still apply.

They can be great value if you’re flexible about where your cabin is. If location matters to you (near a lift, away from the aft, a quiet deck), book a fare instead.

RockStar Quarters and Mega RockStar Quarters

Suites aren’t part of VoyageFair Choices. RockStar and Mega RockStar Quarters keep their own perks, and since 7 October 2025 their dining window opens 120 days before sailing, the earliest on board. On top of the flexibility of Essential and Premium, RockStars get a curated in-room bar with the first round on Virgin, access to Richard’s Rooftop, priority boarding, free room delivery from Ship Eats, VIP Priority Service before sailing and the RockStar Agent team on board.

Mega RockStars step up again, with a bottomless in-room bar, a daily Bar Tab, Work From Sea Wi-Fi on two devices (with VPN and meeting platforms), Red Glove Service and a dedicated Mega RockStar Agent.

Gratuities: now shown separately

This is the change that surprises people. For bookings made on or after 7 October 2025, crew service gratuities are no longer folded into the fare. They now appear as their own line in your fare breakdown. You have two options:

Option	Rate	Good to know
Pre-pay before you sail	$20 per Sailor per night	Saves $2 per Sailor per night. Locked in and non-refundable.
Pay on board	$22 per Sailor per night	Added to your onboard account automatically. Can be changed or removed at Sailor Services before you disembark.

Virgin lists these rates in US dollars. Either way, 100% goes to the crew, and you’re not expected to tip on top for drinks, dining or the spa. Our tip: pre-pay. It’s cheaper, it’s done, and it makes your onboard bill simpler.

Comparing an older Virgin quote with a new one? Remember the new fare doesn’t include gratuities, so add them in to compare like for like. More in our guide: is Virgin Voyages all-inclusive?

Booked before 7 October 2025?

Bookings made before VoyageFair Choices launched keep their original fare and inclusions. Virgin also gave them a boost: Sea Terraces and below now get a 60-day dining window instead of 45 days, and suites get 120 days.

Do all fares count for the Sailing Club?

Yes. Base, Essential and Premium bookings all count towards your Sailing Club voyages, and you receive your Blue Extras or Deep Blue Extras perks on all of them. Lock It In bookings get your perks too. Heavily discounted bookings, such as First Mate rates or free Access Key voyages, don’t count. See our guide to the Virgin Voyages Sailing Club.

Which fare should you choose?

• Choose Base if price is everything, your plans are fixed and you’re happy to book restaurants late.
• Choose Essential if you want the Virgin you know: a good dining window, flexibility and a Future Voyage Credit if you need to cancel. It’s the right fare for most Sailors.
• Choose Premium if you love your food, need proper Wi-Fi, or will happily spend the Bar Tab. It’s especially good value on longer sailings.
• Choose a RockStar suite if you want the earliest dining window and the full VIP treatment.
• Booking for a group? Put everyone on at least Essential, so you can swap a Sailor if someone drops out. Consider Premium for the organiser’s cabin, as it’s the only fare that lets the lead Sailor change.

Not sure? Send us your dates and we’ll price up Essential and Premium side by side, so you can see exactly what the difference buys you.

VoyageFair Choices FAQs

More Virgin Voyages planning guides

• Is Virgin Voyages all-inclusive?
• Virgin Voyages restaurants: how dining works
• The Virgin Voyages Sailing Club
• Virgin Voyages drinks prices and Bar Tab calculator
• The Ultimate Guide to Virgin Voyages