How Much Does a Virgin Voyages Cruise Really Cost? Fares, Tips and Hidden Extras

Virgin Voyages has a reputation for being “all-inclusive-ish”, and it’s easy to see why. Every restaurant is included, Wi-Fi is included, the fitness classes are included, and nobody hands you a drinks package brochure on the gangway. But “more included than most” isn’t the same as “nothing else to pay”, and since October 2025 the way Virgin prices a cruise has changed.

We’ve sailed Virgin more than 14 times and spent well over 100 nights on board, so this is the guide we wish we could hand every UK Sailor before they book: what the fare covers, what you’ll actually spend on board, and the costs at home that people forget about.

We’ll say it confidently: for what you get, Virgin Voyages is by far the best-value cruise at sea. Every restaurant, the Wi-Fi, the shows and the parties are in the fare, with no supplements for the kind of dining that costs extra on other lines. Our is Virgin Voyages all-inclusive? guide explains exactly what’s covered.

The short version: your fare covers your cabin, every restaurant, basic drinks, Wi-Fi and the entertainment. On top of that, budget for gratuities ($20 per person per night if you prepay), alcohol and speciality coffee, any Shore Things and spa treatments, and, from the UK, flights, a hotel and insurance. Onboard prices are in US dollars.

What your Virgin Voyages fare includes

This is where Virgin genuinely stands out from the big-ship lines. Whichever fare you choose, these are included:

• All the restaurants. The Wake, Extra Virgin, Pink Agave, Gunbae, The Test Kitchen and each ship’s own restaurant (Razzle Dazzle, Lucky Lotus, Ariya or Rojo), plus The Galley food hall and Ship Eats room service. There’s no speciality dining surcharge. See how dining works.
• Basic drinks. Water, soft drinks, drip coffee and tea, at any bar and in every restaurant.
• Wi-Fi. Every fare includes Wi-Fi; the speed and number of devices depend on the fare.
• Entertainment. The shows, the parties (Scarlet Night included) and most of the supper clubs.
• Fitness and the pools. Group classes, the gym, the running track and every pool and hot tub.
• Gelato. Yes, really. Help yourself.

If you’re wondering how that stacks up against a classic “all-inclusive” cruise, our is Virgin Voyages all-inclusive? guide goes into more detail.

To show what “included” looks like in practice: on Resilient Lady in April 2026 we ate at Gunbae, Pink Agave, Extra Virgin, The Wake, The Test Kitchen, Razzle Dazzle, The Dock House and The Galley, all of them included in the fare. We also posted around 70 Instagram Stories that week on the included Wi-Fi, which tells you how well it works.

Your fare type changes the price

Since 7 October 2025, Sea Terrace cabins and below are sold on three fares: Base, Essential and Premium. Base is the cheapest but non-refundable, Essential is the closest to Virgin’s old fare and the one most of our Sailors book, and Premium adds faster Wi-Fi on two devices, a longer dining window and a Bar Tab credit of $15 per Sailor per night.

That Premium Bar Tab is worth doing the maths on. On a 7-night sailing it’s $105 each, so if you’d drink that anyway, part of the extra fare comes straight back. Our VoyageFair Choices guide compares all three side by side.

RockStar suites sit outside these fares and come with their own perks. More on that in our RockStar guide.

Gratuities: no longer built into the fare

This is the change that catches people out. For bookings made on or after 7 October 2025, Virgin shows the service gratuity as a separate line rather than including it in the fare:

How you pay	Per Sailor, per night	7 nights for two
Prepaid before you sail	$20	$280
Added on board	$22	$308

Prepaying saves a little and means one less thing on your onboard bill. If you booked before 7 October 2025, your original fare terms still apply, so check your booking or ask us. Either way, there’s no expectation to tip again at the bar, in the restaurants or in the spa.

Drinks: the biggest variable

Virgin doesn’t sell a drinks package. Instead you pay as you go, either onto your account or from a Bar Tab: money you load in advance, often with a bonus added on top. There’s no daily limit, you can use it to buy drinks for others, and it works on every drink, from a beer to the top shelf, on board and at the Beach Club at Bimini. Virgin’s current Bar Tab offer adds $25 to a $200 tab, $50 to $300, $100 to $500, $175 to $750 and $250 to $1,000. Unused credit isn’t refundable, so don’t overload it.

Cocktails on board are typically in the low-to-mid teens in dollars, a glass of wine a little less, and a beer less again. For a couple who enjoy a few drinks each day, drinks are usually the largest onboard spend. Rather than guess, plug your own habits into our Bar Tab calculator, which uses the real menu prices we’ve photographed across the fleet.

To give you some real numbers from our own sailings: on Brilliant Lady in September 2026, extra cocktails at the Shhh! speakeasy were $11 to $15. On Valiant Lady in August 2026, the Loose Cannon rum cocktail was $15, $11 as a zero-proof version, or $25 with a souvenir Powder Keg glass to take home. Souvenir glasses do sell out, so buy one early if you want it.

Two other drinks costs to know about: speciality coffees, fresh juices and smoothies are charged, and so are the cocktails and frozen drinks at the Beach Club at Bimini. Sailing Club members get free barista coffees, which adds up quickly if you’re a flat white person. How the Sailing Club works.

Free extras we’ve enjoyed on board

Some of the best bits of a Virgin sailing don’t touch your onboard account at all. A few we’ve enjoyed recently:

• Sail-away bubbles. On every Lady ship we sailed in 2026, the sail-away party came with 30 minutes of free-flowing bubbles (Resilient Lady in April and Valiant Lady in August).
• Free barista coffees. On Brilliant Lady in September 2026, our Sailing Club perk was two free barista coffees each per day.
• The supper club on Valiant Lady. It’s a Ship Show, a dinner show in The Manor, had no extra charge in August 2026; we only paid for drinks.
• The parties. Scarlet Night, the PJ Party and the rest are all included. Our Scarlet Night guide explains the big one.

Optional extras worth budgeting for

None of these are compulsory, but they’re where a cruise budget quietly grows. Here’s what we’ve paid recently:

Extra	What we’ve seen	Worth it?
Test Kitchen drinks pairing	$30–45 per person (Valiant Lady, Aug 2026)	Yes, once
Bottomless brunch	$35, or $75 with Moët	A fun sea day
Supper clubs (Another Rose, Up With a Twist)	Around $50 per person, a cocktail with each course	Yes, book on day one
Shhh! Speakeasy (Festival of Senses)	$25 including one cocktail	Great for a date night
Spa treatments and the thermal suite	See our spa prices guide	Treat yourself on a sea day
Shore Things (Virgin’s excursions)	Varies hugely by port	Book the big ones early
Cabanas at the Beach Club at Bimini	Paid extra	For groups, yes

A handful of premium dishes are marked “Treat Yourself” on the menus (caviar, lobster, the bigger raw bar platters). Everything else on the menu is included, so there’s no pressure to order them.

The costs at home that people forget

Virgin doesn’t sail from the UK at the moment, so for UK Sailors the cruise is only part of the bill:

• Flights. Miami for the Caribbean and Bimini, Barcelona or Athens for the Mediterranean, and Vancouver, Seattle or Los Angeles for Alaska and the Pacific Coast.
• A hotel the night before. We always fly in at least a day early. Miami hotels in particular aren’t cheap, and resort fees can apply.
• Transfers to and from the port.
• Travel insurance with proper cruise cover. US medical costs make this non-negotiable.
• An ESTA or Canada eTA if you’re flying via the USA or Canada.
• Card fees. Everything on board is charged in US dollars, so use a card without foreign transaction fees.

This is where a package earns its keep. When we put your cruise, flights and hotel together as one holiday, it’s ATOL protected, and if a flight delay means you miss the ship, it’s our problem to solve, not yours.

What our own trips looked like

For our Caribbean sailing on Resilient Lady in April 2026, we flew Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to Miami in Economy Delight, with a look round the Upper Class Wing on the way. We spent the night before at the Yotel in downtown Miami, and after the cruise we stayed on in Miami Beach and spent an afternoon at Wynwood Walls before flying home.

For Brilliant Lady’s Pacific Coast sailing in September 2026, we flew KLM from Bristol via Amsterdam to Vancouver in Economy Comfort and spent the night before at the Sandman Suites on Davie Street. Flying from a regional airport saved us a London hotel and airport parking, which is worth including when you compare flight prices.

An example budget: 7 nights in the Caribbean for two

Every booking is different, but this is the kind of breakdown we talk through with Sailors before they book. Figures are a guide, in US dollars for anything on board:

Item	Budget for two	Notes
Cruise fare (Sea Terrace, Essential)	Your quote	Varies by date, ship and cabin
Gratuities, prepaid	$280	$20 per person per night
Drinks	Use the calculator	Our Bar Tab calculator gives a realistic figure
One Test Kitchen pairing and one brunch	Around $140	Optional, but highly recommended
Two Shore Things	Varies	Or explore independently
Flights, hotel and transfers	Your quote	Cheaper and protected as a package
Travel insurance	Your quote	With cruise cover

Five ways to keep the cost down

• Choose the right fare. Base suits fixed plans and late bookings; Essential gives flexibility; Premium only pays off if you’d use the Bar Tab and the faster Wi-Fi.
• Prepay gratuities and save $2 per person per night.
• Load a Bar Tab when there’s a bonus rather than paying as you go.
• Book through a First Mate. You pay the same as Virgin’s price, and we add bonus onboard credit on cruise-only bookings.
• Pick a sailing with sea days and Bimini. Port days are where excursion spending happens; sea days and the Beach Club cost very little.

Not sure what to expect overall? Our first Virgin cruise guide and Ultimate Guide to Virgin Voyages cover the rest.

Virgin Voyages cost FAQs

Get a Virgin Voyages quote

We’re award-winning Virgin Voyages First Mates. You pay the same as booking direct, and when you book cruise-only through us we add bonus onboard credit on top of anything Virgin is offering. Tell us your dates and budget and we’ll give you an honest, all-in figure before you commit. Get a free quote.