Virgin Voyages likes to tout itself as being different from other cruise lines. And in many ways, it is. It’s strictly adults only and only allows passengers aged 18+. Tips, basic Wi-Fi, drip coffee and soft drinks are all included. They don’t have buffets. And instead of utilizing drink packages for higher-end alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers, wines and cocktails, they’ve traditionally offered what they called a Bar Tab.
What Is a Bar Tab?
Bar Tab is, essentially, a spending account. You can purchase a Bar Tab for your cruise and, depending on the amount of Bar Tab you get, Virgin Voyages would kick in a certain amount as a bonus – the more Bar Tab you bought, the bigger the bonus you’d get.
If you have a Bar Tab, you order drinks as you would at any bar or restaurant but instead of paying for each drink, the cost of the drink comes off your Bar Tab spending account. If you run out of Bar Tab, you can pay for your drinks with Sailor Loot (another type of onboard spending) or it would go on your bill and it would be covered by whatever credit card you have on file.
Because of the bonus, Bar Tab was considered to be a good deal by many people sailing on Virgin Voyages. Plus – SUPER BENEFIT – you rarely saw people drunk out of their minds on a Virgin Voyages cruise, because people didn’t feel the need to “get their money’s worth” like they do when they’re on a drink package.
What’s a drink package?
A drink package is a flat fee a cruiser pays, per day. With that, they can drink as much as they want. Some cruise lines have different levels of drink packages – perhaps a relatively cheap one for soda/coffee, a more expensive package will include only cheaper booze and a very expensive package will include the higher end alcohol.
Regardless, if someone is paying, say, $75, $90 or even $100 per day for an alcoholic drink package, they’re going to make sure they at least get their money’s worth, if not more. And when you’ve got people guzzling as much alcohol as they can, that’s when you start reading about who’s getting into fist fights, who’s throwing up in the plants, etc.
Virgin Voyages has decided they want some of that
Earlier this year, Virgin Voyages piloted a drink package for one month. It was available to a very limited group of people – those who had Rockstar quarters (which is “VV-speak” for suites) on the Valiant Lady cruise ship.
People who have suites on VV already have a full array of bottled alcohol in their cabins, but having the “$95 per person/per day/every day” drink package – which HAD to be purchased by everyone in said cabin – also got them access to beer, wine, cocktails, shots, etc., that were available at bars and restaurants throughout the ship, as well as specialty coffees and fresh pressed juices (which typically cost extra)..
★ Unlimited expertly crafted cocktails, curated wines by the glass, and premium craft beers
★ Specialty coffees and freshly pressed juices
★ No daily drink limits
★ Drinks up to $20 per serving – valid at every bar and restaurant onboard
★ Covers their entire voyage – from embarkation to their final toast, including a day at The Beach Club at Bimini.
• Must be purchased for the entire voyage
• Available for Sailors 21+, and all Sailors in the suite must purchase
• Non-refundable & for individual use only
• Includes two drinks per order
• Package activation begins at embarkation
• For more details, please refer to the Terms & Conditions
Mixed opinion
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