5 Ways to Cruise Like a ROCKSTAR on Virgin Voyages

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Virgin Voyagers are well known for their
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mega rockstar luxury experience. With
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Richard Branson himself at the helm on
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some of these celebration voyages, it's
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easy to think because Virgin Voyagers
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want to show you that billionaire
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lifestyle that it has to cost a fortune
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to enjoy luxuries at sea. Well,
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thankfully after years of
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costconsciously sailing on Virgin
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Voyages, we found some tips, tricks, and
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hacks to try and get that luxury
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experience for less. I'm David from VV
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Insider and I'm going to walk you
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through five top tips to get luxury
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touches on your voyage without having to
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spend a huge amount of money on Rockstar
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or Mega Rockstar suit. Stick around for
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a bonus tip of how you can sail in the
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Rockstar Suite for less than you might
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think. Vinsider is the number one
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resource for the latest Virgin Voyages
0:50
info, guides, and news. From picking the
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perfect cabin to booking dining or
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simply just making the most of your
0:55
voyage and saving money while you do it,
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Support our work by hitting subscribe
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and stick around to hear how you can get
1:06
exclusive perks by booking directly with
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us.
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So, the first tip I want to mention is
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an exclusive thing that happens only on
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Virgin Voyages. And this is a really
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unique feature of the ships that will
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make you feel like a celebrity. And this
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is specifically for anyone who loves
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champagne. When you step on board a
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Virgin Voyages ship, you will quickly be
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made aware of an exclusive brand deal
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between Virgin Voyages and Moete
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Shandon. Moet Shandon is a French
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champagne brand that has quite the
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presence on board. If you enter Sip
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Lounge, for example, on every single one
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of the vessels, you will see this
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magnificent Muet Shandon bottle that is
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encrusted with ruby red S Swarovski
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crystals. You'll also see some comically
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large Muette and Shandon bottles. Now,
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I'm going to pause here just for one
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second for those that are thinking that
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I'm pronouncing Moet wrong. I have
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checked this on the Moeta Shandon
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website and I can confirm that the T is
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pronounced with a hard T. And that's
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because the name Moette is actually
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Dutch. So the T is pronounced as a hard
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T. Now of course on board you'll be
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forgiven for pronouncing Met moi however
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you like. But one incredible feature
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that this partnership with Muetta
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Shandon allows is the ability to shake
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your phone for champagne. This is called
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shake for champagne and it's such a fun
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feature on board and it makes you feel
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like a true celebrity. The idea here is
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when you're on board and you've got the
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Virgin Voyages app open on your phone,
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as long as you're in one of the public
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areas that supports it, if you give it a
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good shake, you will see a message pop
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up on screen which will ask you, are you
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ready for bubbles? It will also tell you
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the cost that will be associated to your
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account, which costs no more than a
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normal bottle would cost you at a bar.
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But what will happen here is that a full
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bottle of Muette will be delivered to
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wherever you are, wherever you've shaken
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for champagne on board. Nothing will
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make you feel like more of a celebrity
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than just lying there and waiting for
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your champagne to be delivered wherever
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you happen to be. You could be lounging
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by the pool. You could be lounging in
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one of the sun areas at the dock. You
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could be in the doghouse on one of the
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comfortable sofas and someone will bring
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out that champagne along with as many
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glasses as you need to start the toasts
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and celebrations. What's more, because
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this is simply an order from the bar and
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it's an alcoholic beverage, this will
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come out of your bar tab allowance as
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well. So, if you've got some extra bar
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tab to use up in your last few days,
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then this is a great way to spend that
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additional bar tab. But that does bring
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me on to one word of warning with Shake
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for Champagne. If you do want to use it,
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it's best not to wait until the final
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night. And the reason why is because
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there will be many people trying to use
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their barab allowance or if they have
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shake for champagne included as part of
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a package that they bought, which I'll
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come on to in just a moment, they might
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have forgotten to do it all the rest of
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the trip and have saved it up till the
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last night, which means that you might
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be waiting a long time to receive your
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champagne, which doesn't feel bougie or
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celebrity at all. So maybe plan to shake
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for champagne a little bit earlier in
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the voyage if you plan to do that.
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Moving on to luxury number two, and that
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is to enjoy the thermal spa on board.
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The thermal suite in the redemption spa
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on board Virgin Voyages cruise ships is
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absolutely beautiful. If you're using
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the thermal suite in Redemption Spa,
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you'll be advised to go through the
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thermal spa journey, and I'm going to
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quickly walk you through it. So step
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number one is you're going to check in
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at the front desk. You'll then be given
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a complimentary amount of the nourishing
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mud that you'll be using later in the
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mudroom. You'll then be invited to
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change into your slippers and robe and
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then you'll be guided to the thermal
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suite. You'll then be invited to go into
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the steam room where a warm aromatic
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mist will open your pores and prepare
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you for the treatment ahead. You'll then
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move into the salt room, which is a
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mid-temper space, and it's filled with
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vaporized salt crystals, which are
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designed to invigorate your skin. You're
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then going to head to the mud room, and
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this is where you're going to apply that
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nourishing mud that you were given when
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you checked into the redemption spa. The
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mudroom is a tiled space where you can
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apply the mud, and it includes cold and
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warm showers for you to rinse that off
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before you then move into the relaxation
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part of your visit. So, when you move
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into the relax phase, you'll then enter
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the main room, which include a midsize
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pool, which is described as mid
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temperature, but in our experience, it's
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always been a little bit on the chilly
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side, to be honest. There's also a small
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warm dip pool and a cold dip pool.
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There's also a dry sauna, and there is
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also an ample amount of space to lie
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down and relax, either on padded sun
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lounges, or there are heated marble
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benches if you'd prefer to lie down
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flat. A trip to the thermal suite in
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Redemption Spa will set you back $79 if
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you decide to go on a sea day. But if
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you go on a port day instead, it will
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only cost you $59. So there's quite a
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saving to be made if you feel like
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skipping a port or going later on in the
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day. If you really enjoy the thermal
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suite in the redemption spa, there are
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also unlimited passes available. The
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price of those unlimited passes vary
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depending on the length of your sailing.
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Simply ask sailor services or a member
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of the spa team if you'd like more
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information on that. Now we move on to
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tip number three. And this one actually
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bundles up those two previous tips that
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I've just given you. So tip number three
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is to buy the splash of romance package.
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The splash of romance package not only
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includes a three-hour session in the
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thermal suite like I've just mentioned
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and also one use of the shake for
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champagne function on your app as well,
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but you'll also get something that's
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very exclusive that's only available to
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those that have booked Rockstar, Mega
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Rockstar, or are one of the members of
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the highest level of the sailor club on
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Virgin Voyages. And that is priority
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boarding. And the reason why priority
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boarding is so useful is who doesn't
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want to start their vacation off early?
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Getting on board even an hour or two
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earlier will help you get into that
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vacation spirit so much easier. But
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crucially, because some of the things
7:21
that you can book inside of the Virgin
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Voyages app, for example, some of the
7:25
dining and some of the events, you want
7:28
to get on board early so that you'll get
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your first choice of all the times and
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the events available. Getting on board
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early is a fantastic perk and it's great
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that it's bundled as part of this Splash
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of Romance package. Splash of Romance
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package is of course designed for
7:41
couples normally, but there's nothing
7:43
stopping you buying Splash of Romance,
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even if you're sailing solo if you still
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want access to those features that I've
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mentioned. As of the time of filming
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this, Splash of Romance costs $250 for a
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couple, which actually represents pretty
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good value, especially if you don't have
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any other type of priority boarding
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available on your sailing. This is
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really the only way to guarantee that
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you're going to get on the ship early.
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Splash of Romance also has a couple of
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extra perks, including two cold pressed
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juices per day, an exclusive cocktail
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hour event, which is generally hosted in
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On the Rocks, or if the weather permits,
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it will be hosted on the Perch, where on
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one of the evenings of the voyage,
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you're invited to join the other sailors
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that have booked the Splash of Romance
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package for unlimited alcohol for an
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hour. There are a couple of drinks
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available. It's not just an open bar,
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but also generally there'll be some live
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music to set a lovely romantic
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atmosphere as well. And then finally,
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you'll also receive something that
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Virgin Voyages call sultry bites. These
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are sweets or candies that are delivered
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to your room twice during your voyage.
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In our experience, they are really
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delicious and it adds a little touch of
8:49
indulgence to the voyage as well. The
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question of is Splash of Romance worth
8:54
it is something that we're asked
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constantly. A rule of thumb for us is if
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you're going on a sailing that any
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longer than about five nights, generally
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Splash of Romance is going to be worth
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it financially because you're going to
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be saving money on those cold pressed
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juices. But really, it's up to you. If
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you like champagne, if you want to visit
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the spa, if you want to get on the ship
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early, and that sounds like something
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that's worth $125 each, then go for it.
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Before we move on, I just have a little
9:20
bit of a personal plea here, and that's
9:22
to really help get our YouTube channel
9:24
to more people. So, being frank with
9:26
you, I have a normal 9-to-F5 outside of
9:28
VV Insider. I do this work on evenings
9:31
and weekends, and I'm desperate to make
9:33
sure that this is worth the time and the
9:35
effort. So, tell me in the comments if
9:37
you're finding these videos useful. And
9:39
if you do, please give me a like and a
9:42
subscribe. And also share these videos
9:44
with the people that you're sailing
9:46
with. If you're in one of those Facebook
9:48
groups for your sailing and you found
9:49
any of these video guides useful and you
9:52
think people will get a lot out of them,
9:53
feel free to share them. that would
9:55
really help us out a lot. But crucially,
9:57
I just want to make sure that I'm giving
9:58
you the most useful information
10:00
possible. So, do let me know in the
10:02
comment if we're heading in the right
10:04
direction with these videos or if
10:05
there's anything else that you'd like us
10:07
to cover cuz we'd really like to help in
10:09
any way that we can. Anyway, back to the
10:11
tips. Moving on to tip number four, and
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this is all about decadence and treating
10:16
yourself, and that's to enjoy afternoon
10:19
tea on board. The afternoon tea on
10:21
Virgin Voyages is something we always
10:23
hear great feedback about. Afternoon tea
10:26
is hosted in Sip Lounge, which is a
10:29
really lovely decadent champagne bar,
10:31
and it offers a really nice setting for
10:33
afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is
10:35
available on Cdays between 1:00 p.m. and
10:38
400 p.m. If you want to participate in
10:41
afternoon tea, you don't need to book
10:43
ahead. You simply just show up to Sip
10:45
Lounge and ask one of the servers that
10:47
you'd like to participate. You'll then
10:49
be guided to a table and offered a
10:50
choice of two different options. One
10:53
option is the non-alcoholic option, in
10:55
which case you simply choose the tea
10:58
that's available from a menu of hand
11:00
selected teas, or you can choose the
11:02
alcoholic option, which is $35 each,
11:05
where your afternoon tea experience will
11:07
be served alongside a glass of Moetta
11:10
Shandon Champagne. If you want to take a
11:12
look at all of the different tea options
11:14
and the menu options that are available
11:16
during afternoon tea, including the
11:18
sweet and savory treats that are
11:20
provided at your table, simply head over
11:22
to bvincider.com and go to our afternoon
11:25
tea page. We have all the information
11:27
that you need on there. Thankfully, this
11:30
comes off of your bar tab allowance. So,
11:32
actually, this is a great way to spend
11:34
any excess bar tab allowance that you
11:36
might have. And it's certainly a lovely
11:38
way to treat someone if you have extra
11:41
bar tab and you want to invite maybe one
11:43
of your new cruise friends around to sip
11:44
lounge for afternoon tea. It's a great
11:46
way to chat and catch up and talk about
11:48
the voyage that you've had and plans to
11:50
come. A lovely way to spend a seaday
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afternoon. And that brings us on to tip
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number five. And again, this is another
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way of acting luxurious and bougie
12:00
through the act of consumption and being
12:03
decadent. And that is the bottomless
12:06
brunch options available in two
12:08
restaurants on board Virgin Voyages. If
12:10
you've seen any of the content from this
12:12
channel before, you'll know that we bang
12:14
on about Virgin Voyages food all the
12:16
time. It is second to none. The dining
12:19
that's included with your cruise fair on
12:21
Virgin Voyages is amazing. And one of
12:24
the times that really shines is during
12:26
brunch. Now, of course, all of the food
12:28
available at brunch is part of your
12:31
cruise fair. So, in that respect, every
12:33
brunch is bottomless. However, when we
12:36
say bottomless brunch, what we mean is
12:38
the alcohol. Brunch on Virgin Voyages
12:40
ships happens in two restaurants on
12:43
board. The first restaurant is the wake,
12:45
which is the steakhouse. And brunch at a
12:48
steakhouse on Virgin Voyages is
12:50
fantastic. There are options like steak
12:52
and eggs, eggs benedict, clam chowder,
12:55
along with some incredible sweet treats
12:58
as well. Or if you'd prefer a little bit
13:00
more of a casual dining experience, you
13:03
can head over to Razledazzle. And of
13:05
course, depending on what ship you're
13:06
on, Razledazzle might look a little bit
13:09
different. By which I mean, if you're
13:11
sailing on Valiant Lady or Resilient
13:13
Lady, you'll have the original
13:15
Razledazzle experience, where brunch
13:17
generally has quite an American flare.
13:20
Alternatively, if you're on Scarlet
13:22
Lady, you'll be in Lucky Lotus by
13:24
Razledazzle, which is an Asian inspired
13:26
restaurant, where some of the brunch
13:28
options will be Asian inspired as well.
13:31
And finally, if you're on Brilliant
13:33
Lady, you'll be heading over to Rojo by
13:35
Razledazzle, which is a restaurant with
13:37
menus inspired by the flavors of Spain.
13:40
So, expect to see a Spanish themed
13:42
brunch there. Regardless of which type
13:45
of razzledazzle you end up at, here is
13:47
where you'll have a bit more of a casual
13:49
and relaxed brunch vibe. And that's
13:51
certainly not to say that the wake is
13:53
stuffy in any sense. It's just that the
13:55
brunch food that's presented at the wake
13:57
is presented in a way that's a little
13:59
bit more elegant. But of course,
14:00
anywhere you dine on Virgin Voyages,
14:02
there are no dress codes. You can be as
14:04
casual as you like wherever you go. Now,
14:06
let's talk about bottomless brunch. So,
14:08
what does that actually mean? So the
14:10
food is always bottomless because of
14:12
course food is included in your cruise
14:14
fair on Virgin Voyages and you can of
14:16
course order as much food as you like.
14:18
So it's always bottomless in that sense.
14:20
When we mention bottomless brunch, what
14:22
we mean is the beverages. So during
14:24
bottomless brunch, you can choose any
14:26
drinks from a set menu of drinks which
14:28
include draft beers, wines, and
14:30
signature cocktails. The cost is a flat
14:33
fee at time of recording of $35 per
14:35
person. And from the time of you
14:37
ordering your bottomless brunch, you'll
14:39
be given 2 hours to order any drinks
14:41
from this menu as many times as you
14:43
like. You don't have to commit to just
14:44
one drink. If you want to try multiple
14:46
drinks on the menu, you're certainly
14:48
welcome to do that. You are, of course,
14:50
encouraged to finish one drink before
14:52
you order the other. Bottomless brunch
14:54
is available as soon as brunch is
14:56
available at 8:00 a.m. The reservations
14:58
finish at 1:00 p.m. and brunch itself
15:00
closes promptly at 1. So, make sure if
15:04
you want to take full advantage of the 2
15:06
hours of bottomless brunch that you get
15:08
there before 11:30. The drinks that are
15:11
offered on the menus do differ between
15:12
the restaurants. So, do make sure you
15:14
check on vivvincider.com and have a look
15:17
at the menus of bottomless brunch to see
15:19
which drinks are available where. And
15:20
just like the other beverage related
15:22
options, this is just a charge that will
15:24
be taken off of your bar tab allowance.
15:26
So, if you do have a bar tab, your
15:28
bottomless brunch cost will just be
15:30
taken from your bar tab credit. One last
15:32
note to say on bottomless brunch. If
15:34
you're feeling extra bougie and you want
15:37
Moeta Shandon unlimited for two hours,
15:40
you can do that as well. It's $75 per
15:43
person. But if you want unlimited
15:45
champagne for 2 hours and want to drink
15:48
like a VIP, then that maybe is the route
15:50
for you. I've got one bonus tip that
15:52
will really make you feel like a proper
15:55
celebrity either before you get on your
15:57
Virgin Voyage and after you step off the
16:00
ship. And that's by getting your own
16:02
personal chauffeur service where as soon
16:05
as you step off the ship, you will have
16:07
your own driver holding up your name on
16:09
a card ready to whisk you off to the
16:11
airport or your next destination. And
16:14
that's through the use of a fantastic
16:15
service that we've used before that
16:17
helps you get around from the ship, from
16:19
the port, from the airport. And that's
16:21
called Welcome Pickups. And welcome
16:24
pickups is a service that we've used in
16:26
the past which is an incredibly reliable
16:28
service that takes you from the port and
16:31
gets you to the airport or vice versa.
16:33
We have a partnership with them which is
16:35
a way where you can really help the work
16:37
that we do here by simply booking your
16:40
airport or port transfer through welcome
16:42
pickups. We have a link in the
16:44
description below if you need to book
16:46
your online transport when you get on
16:48
and off the ship. And speaking of
16:50
supporting the work that we do here at
16:52
VV Insider, which namely is to free of
16:55
charge give this information to you,
16:57
these guides, this information, this
16:59
news about Virgin Voyages is to book and
17:02
entrust your next voyage with us. So we
17:05
work with the top 10 Virgin Voyages
17:07
first mate. Over the past couple of
17:09
years, we put an incredible amount of
17:12
work into understanding the Virgin
17:14
Voyages experience, both from the sailor
17:16
point of view and from the travel
17:18
advisor point of view. So, we're ready
17:20
to really bring that together and make
17:22
sure your next Virgin Voyage is as good
17:24
as it possibly can be. So, not only will
17:27
you be booking with the experts on
17:29
Virgin Voyages, but also you'll be
17:31
getting some exclusive perks that are
17:33
available nowhere else, including ad
17:37
free access to vbvinsider.com, so you
17:39
can plan your next voyage using all the
17:42
tools and all the information that we
17:44
have without getting disturbed by
17:46
adverts. And also, you'll be entering
17:48
our Red Diamond Club, which includes a
17:51
new loyalty scheme to make sure that you
17:53
get rewarded for making the right choice
17:55
with your Virgin Voyages booking. If you
17:57
head over to vbvinsider.com/book,
18:01
we talk about all the incredible perks
18:03
that you get by trusting your next
18:05
voyage with us. Now, thanks for sticking
18:07
around for our bonus tip. And our bonus
18:09
tip is all about how you can sail as a
18:11
rockstar or a mega rockstar for far less
18:15
than it appears to cost on the Virgin
18:17
Voyagers website. And this is all about
18:19
your ability to upgrade your cabin
18:22
through the upgrade bidding process. So
18:24
the way this works is that approximately
18:27
65 days before you sail, you'll get an
18:30
email from Virgin Voyages inviting you
18:32
to come and upgrade your cabin type.
18:35
Even if you don't get an email, if you
18:37
go to VV Insider, we have a guide on how
18:39
to upgrade your cabin and you can click
18:41
on the link there, put your reservation
18:43
number in, and you should be able to
18:44
access this upgrade system. And because
18:47
this is on the Virgin Voyagers website,
18:49
you can do this regardless if you booked
18:50
through VV Insider or not. Word of
18:53
warning, you do need to turn off your
18:55
pop-up blocker if you have one,
18:56
otherwise it might not work properly,
18:58
but you will see a list of options for
19:00
you to upgrade your cabin. Now, a word
19:02
of warning here. you might not be able
19:04
to upgrade to Rockstar or Mega Rockstar
19:07
if you're starting out from a very low
19:10
cabin type. So, for example, if you're
19:12
in an insider room, you're probably not
19:15
going to see options for Rockstar and
19:16
Mega Rockstar because actually there are
19:19
quite a number of different options
19:20
available for you to upgrade to before
19:23
you would even spill over into the
19:24
Rockstar and Mega Rockstar categories.
19:27
So just to make things easier for you
19:28
and so that you don't have an incredible
19:30
amount of options, you might only see
19:32
options up to maybe Cas XL for example.
19:35
But if you do see the options for
19:37
Rockstar and Mega Rockstar, here is your
19:39
chance to really grab a bargain. So
19:41
knowing how much to upgrade and how much
19:43
to bid for is a little bit of an art
19:46
form in itself. We do have a guide, like
19:48
I say, on vbvinsider.com if you want to
19:50
read our advice on it, but really this
19:53
is your judgment call. How much value do
19:56
you put on the Rockstar and the Mega
19:58
Rockstar experience? In our opinion,
20:00
it's a fantastic thing to do, and if you
20:02
have the chance to do it, you absolutely
20:04
should. But certainly don't pay any more
20:07
than you can afford. You're going to
20:08
have a fantastic time on board Virgin
20:10
Voyages. Regardless, especially if
20:13
you're using some of the tips and some
20:14
of the add-ons that I've talked about in
20:16
this video, you might be better off
20:18
spending your money on a few of those
20:20
different options that I've discussed in
20:21
this video rather than spending hundreds
20:24
or thousands of dollars just to upgrade
20:26
to a different room type. Yes, you're
20:28
going to get those extra perks, but as
20:30
I've discussed, you can get some of
20:31
those perks just by paying a little bit
20:33
extra elsewhere instead. But my advice
20:35
is to give it a go. Even if you're
20:37
bidding the absolute minimum, you never
20:39
know, you still might be in luck. Maybe
20:41
nobody else has went for your cabin
20:43
type. You just don't know. But you
20:44
certainly got to be in it to win it. And
20:46
we've heard some great success stories
20:48
of people getting really fantastic
20:50
sweets for not a huge amount of money.
20:52
So in our opinion, it's definitely worth
20:54
a go. So that's everything from our side
20:56
about living the luxurious lifestyle at
20:59
sea, even with a red band. So I hope you
21:01
found this useful. If you have, remember
21:04
to like and subscribe. And until next
21:06
time, happy sailing.
21:09
[Music]

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