Up next in 10
Are Virgin Voyages Lock It In Rates worth booking? In this video, David explains how Virgin Voyages Lock It In Rates work, why they can be cheaper, and the main pros and cons to consider before choosing one.
We cover cabin assignment risks, refund and change restrictions, Wi-Fi and dining differences, solo traveler warnings, upgrade options, RockStar exceptions, and when a Lock It In Rate can still make sense.
🔗 Book your next Virgin Voyage with VV Insider
https://vvinsider.com/book
Booking through VV Insider helps support our independent guides, tools, and videos at no extra cost to you.
✨ Why book with us
• Bonus Sailor Loot offers available on select voyages
• Exclusive booking perks on eligible sailings
• Trusted Virgin Voyages specialists
• Support for choosing the right voyage, cabin, and fare
📌 What we cover
• What a Lock It In Rate is
• When Lock It In Rates are usually available
• Why these fares can be cheaper
• The risk of getting a less desirable cabin
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Today I wanted to tackle a topic that comes up about Virgin Voyages time and
0:05
time again, and it's part of a booking decision that every Sailor needs to make
0:09
when they're booking their Virgin Voyage.
0:11
And one particular question that comes up time and time again is
0:14
are "Lock It In" Rates worth it?
0:16
Well, in today's guide, we're gonna look at what a "Lock It In" Rate is, and
0:20
whether the pros and cons outweigh one another to make it worth your while to
0:25
make sure that you snag a really good price for your next Virgin Voyage without
0:28
losing too much of the core experience.
0:31
My name is David from VV Insider, which is a website that's all about Virgin
0:36
Voyages, including information guides and all the latest news and updates
0:41
about all four Virgin Voyages ships, from making sure that you've chosen
0:45
the right cabin before you sail all the way up to previewing the restaurant and
0:49
bar menus to check to see what you want to eat and drink before you set sail.
0:54
All of these things and more, including some exclusive vacation planning tools
0:59
that you can use free of charge are all available on our website, vvinsider.com.
1:04
But today we're gonna delve into the "Lock It In" Rates that Virgin Voyages offer,
1:09
which are often some of the cheapest rates available for any given voyage.
1:13
but what might look like a great deal on the surface does come with some drawbacks
1:18
that you really need to be aware of.
1:21
so in order to make sure that you've made the right choice before you
1:23
set sail, hopefully this video will answer a lot of those questions.
1:27
So first of all, what is a "Lock It In" Rate?
1:30
Well, "Lock It In" Rates are what Virgin Voyages call their guaranteed room rate.
1:34
so if you've ever sailed with any of the cruise line, this might
1:37
have been called the GTY rate.
1:40
When you are booking your voyage.
1:41
and what this effectively means is that you're locking in the cabin type
1:46
that you selected, which means that you'll be given any room available
1:49
in that cabin type as long as it's free and available when you set sail.
1:54
So when are "Lock It In" Rates available?
1:56
Well, first thing to mention is that "Lock It In" Rates are not always available.
2:00
They only become available on certain select sailings
2:04
generally, if you're looking for good "Lock It In" Rates , a really
2:07
good place to go is to have a look at our "Offers & Deals" page.
2:10
Where we list off all the voyages that have "Lock It In" Rates available,
2:14
starting from $89 per Sailor per night.
2:17
It's worth mentioning though, that these type of rates are offered on every
2:20
single one of the cabin categories.
2:22
So all the way from Insider where you get the very best prices possible, but all
2:27
the way up to the Mega RockStar level.
2:29
Now because you're not assigned a cabin, nor are you able to choose a cabin.
2:34
This means Virgin Voyages are going to give you a great discount in order
2:38
for that flexibility on their part to give you any room that they fancy.
2:42
now we have a tool on our website called the VV Insider Cabin Lookup Tool, which
2:47
ordinarily allows Sailors to put in the cabin number for their particular
2:51
sailing to see information about their cabin, including the pros and cons.
2:57
Yes, there are some cons to some cabins.
2:59
And the reason why we list off this information is that all
3:02
cabins are not created equal.
3:05
Some cabins are in noisier areas of the ship, and some balcony cabins have
3:09
metal balconies, and maybe they're lacking an iconic red hammock as well.
3:14
So there are certain things that people need to check before they sail.
3:18
Now, you can only do this if you know what your cabin is.
3:22
So as long as you haven't booked a rate that doesn't allow you to move your cabin,
3:26
you'll be able to read the information about your cabin and
3:29
ask Sailor Services or your First Mate to move you to a different one.
3:33
But of course if we now apply that to the "Lock It In" Rate scenario,
3:36
because your cabin isn't assigned to you until just before you sail, and
3:41
even at that time you're still not able to change your cabin, you could
3:44
be automatically assigned one of those cabins that you might have wanted to
3:48
avoid had you booked a different rate.
3:51
and because you've been given that discount from Virgin Voyages for
3:54
that flexibility on their part, you are not able to make any changes.
3:58
So you're kind of stuck with it.
4:00
that, of course is one of the biggest and the most obvious
4:02
drawback to booking one of these.
4:04
"Lock It In" Rates.
4:05
So if being able to choose a cabin is really important to you and you'd
4:09
rather avoid those noisy cabins or those cabins with any other sort of drawback,
4:14
then maybe this isn't the rate for you.
4:16
there are of course some other things that you'll need to consider
4:19
when choosing one of these rates.
4:21
One other thing is that you are only gonna get Basic Wi-Fi,
4:24
the Basic Wi-Fi is fine for casual browsing.
4:27
It will be a little bit slower, but you won't be able to do things like streaming.
4:31
You do at least have the ability to pay for Premium Wi-Fi when you're on board,
4:35
even if you've chosen a "Lock It In" Rate.
4:37
Another big drawback is that you are unable to make any
4:40
changes to your booking at all.
4:42
When Virgin Voyages say this is a "Lock It In" Rate, they really
4:45
do mean that it is locked in.
4:47
So even if you wanted to change the booking in a positive way, let's say
4:51
you wanted to make an upgrade, so you wanted to go from, let's say, an
4:55
Insider cabin to a Sea Terrace cabin.
4:57
You are not able to do that.
4:59
Your booking is locked in.
5:01
Another scenario is if you wanted to bring another guest along.
5:04
So let's say you had a solo booking and you wanted to bring
5:07
a companion along on that voyage.
5:09
Well, unfortunately, you would have to make another booking
5:12
for that change or amendment.
5:14
So it's worth making sure that your plans are pretty much set in
5:18
stone before you decide to book.
5:20
You'll also, with this type of booking, only have a 15 day dining
5:25
booking window, which means that you are not able to choose any
5:29
restaurants or make any reservations until 15 days before your sailing.
5:35
Because Sailors who've booked an Essential Fare are able to book 45 days out.
5:40
those who've chosen a Premium Fare get a 60 day dining window.
5:44
And finally, RockStars are given 120 days to decide where they'd like to dine.
5:49
By the time that 15 day dining window opens, you're gonna be left with very,
5:54
very few options indeed, and you may need to make some last minute bookings for
5:58
dining when you get onboard the ship.
6:01
And even then, you're not gonna have a huge selection to choose from.
6:05
because those bookings are locked down, it also means that these type
6:08
of bookings are not refundable.
6:10
That means any payments that you've made towards one of these
6:13
bookings, excluding taxes and fees will be completely non-refundable.
6:19
So if you decide to change your mind or you decide to make a change in the
6:22
future, you're not able to get that money back as future voyage credit
6:27
and apply it to something else.
6:28
You're not able to get it back in cash or a credit card.
6:31
It is completely forfeited.
6:34
Like I say, if you do need to cancel, you will at least
6:36
get your taxes and fees back.
6:38
Another drawback that catches a few loyal Sailors out is that
6:42
you're not able to use an MNVV.
6:44
That's a "My Next Virgin Voyage" placeholder discount.
6:48
A little caveat to that is that you are able to use an MNVV
6:52
discount with a RockStar or Mega RockStar "Lock It In" Rates.
6:55
So just keep that in mind.
6:57
And then finally this is a really interesting drawback which
6:59
catches a few solo Sailors out.
7:02
And this is something if you are traveling by yourself, you'll
7:05
really want to know about.
7:06
Be very wary before you book a "Lock It In" Insider or a "Lock It In" Sea View.
7:12
That's because Virgin Voyages can assign you any cabin inside of that category,
7:17
which means if you've booked a "Lock It In" Insider rate, you may be given
7:21
a Solo Insider room, which is a lot smaller than a standard Insider room.
7:26
What's more, you might be paying more for the "Lock It In" Insider rate
7:30
than it would've cost you just to book the Solo Insider rate all along.
7:34
The same is true for the Sea View category, but there are so few Solo
7:39
Sea View rooms that it's less likely.
7:41
But just be aware.
7:42
You certainly don't want to be paying for something that has all of these
7:45
restrictions when you could have booked a standard rate straight away.
7:49
So after I've listed off all of those drawbacks, who in their right mind would
7:53
book one of these "Lock It In" Rates?
7:55
Well, actually we book "Lock It In" Rates all the time,
7:58
and that's for a few reasons:
8:00
Primarily; the number one reason that we book these "Lock It In" Rates is
8:04
because we do like to plan ahead with our trips.
8:07
Oftentimes a huge consideration with these trips, especially when
8:11
these trips are further afield and require long haul flights.
8:14
We are booking flights and hotels along with the cruise anyway,
8:17
so it's very likely we're gonna be making it on that vacation.
8:21
We also make sure that we have travel insurance, so if anything untoward did
8:25
happen, which meant that we couldn't travel, at least we'll be able to cover
8:29
the cost of the cruise using insurance.
8:32
And realistically, if you look at the "Lock It In" Rates
8:34
and the deals available, the prices are very good indeed.
8:38
Sometimes the price difference between the "Lock It In" Rates and the standard
8:42
rates on voyages is a huge jump.
8:45
and we like to look at the bigger picture and weigh up whether it's
8:48
worth taking that discount in exchange for the cons, and most of
8:52
the time we think it's absolutely fine
8:54
. I will say, of course, that comes from our experience where we have
8:57
sailed with Virgin Voyages in the past so we know what we're getting.
9:01
If you are making this booking for a special occasion, or if you've
9:04
not experienced the brand before, then maybe you do wanna have a
9:07
little bit more control over your experience, so might be worth making
9:11
sure that you have a standard rate.
9:13
This isn't necessarily a pro for a "Lock It In" Rate, but just a note,
9:17
you are able to still upgrade your cabin using the upgrade bidding system.
9:22
so you'll still have a reservation number and you're still able to
9:25
log into the upgrade bidding tool.
9:27
So you will be given some options to be able to select what type of cabin
9:31
and how much you'd like to bid to upgrade to those higher level cabins.
9:35
So regardless of the fact that you're not able to make a change to
9:38
your booking, you are able to still use the upgrade bidding system to
9:42
at least upgrade your cabin type.
9:44
And talking cabin upgrades brings me to the bonus point that I wanna
9:49
mention here, is that if you book a "Lock It In" Rate cabin, you
9:53
may snag yourself a free upgrade.
9:55
and the reason for this is because you are guaranteed a cabin in the
9:59
category that you've booked in.
10:01
The specific cabin that you're given won't be assigned to you
10:04
until close to the sailing date.
10:07
So let's say for example, you were sailing on Resilient Lady and all
10:11
of the Limited View Sea Terraces had already been taken, and you'd booked
10:15
a "Lock It In" Sea Terrace cabin.
10:17
Well, what are they gonna give you now?
10:19
They're gonna have to give you a standard Sea Terrace cabin or a
10:23
Central Sea Terrace cabin, because that might be all that's available.
10:27
This type of free upgrade is actually something that we've experienced
10:31
before in the past, and it might be more common than you think
10:34
In the past, we booked a "Lock It In" Insider and were given
10:37
a Central Sea Terrace instead.
10:40
It just means that all of the Insiders and the Limited View and the Standard
10:44
Sea Terrace cabins had all been filled by the time we got our cabin assignment.
10:49
So we were very lucky indeed to be given an upgrade a few levels up
10:53
from where we originally booked.
10:55
This of course isn't a guarantee, and it's probably more likely, let's
10:58
face it, that you'll be given a lower level cabin than a higher one.
11:02
But it is something that does occur.
11:04
So when you eventually get your cabin assignment through in that email it's
11:07
worth checking to see where it is, you might be in for an nice surprise.
11:11
It's worth mentioning though, that These type of rates are offered on every
11:15
single one of the cabin categories.
11:17
All the way up to the Mega RockStar level,
11:20
so you can find a great discount on Mega RockStar Suites by simply booking
11:25
a "Lock It In" Rate Mega RockStar Suite.
11:27
In those instances where you've chose RockStar or Mega RockStar,
11:31
even though you've chose a "Lock It In" Rate, you actually get all of
11:35
the benefits and perks of booking a RockStar or a Mega RockStar category,
11:40
including the extended dining window.
11:42
And if you've chosen Mega RockStar, you get your Work From Sea
11:45
Wi-Fi, and you'll also get your towncar private transfer as well.
11:50
Personally, we've done a " "Lock It In" Mega RockStar deal before and it
11:53
was a very, very good price and we ended up getting all the perks that
11:57
you get with that Mega RockStar suite.
11:59
It's well worth having a look to see if your sailing has it available.
12:02
So the big question is are "Lock It In" Rates worth it?
12:05
In my opinion, it absolutely is.
12:08
But it really comes down to personal preference and whether this is your first
12:13
exploration into Virgin Voyages or not.
12:15
If you are looking to have the full, unencumbered Virgin Voyages experience,
12:20
you want that wonderful balcony, you want that iconic red hammock, you wanna
12:24
have that extended dining booking window.
12:27
Then perhaps it's not the rate for you, but if you simply just want to get
12:30
on board, or if you've been
12:31
on board a few times and you already know what to expect, which is
12:34
very much our case, then I would say absolutely it's worth it.
12:37
I hope you found this guide to "Lock It In" Rates useful if you're
12:40
looking for a great "Lock It In" deal and you want some extra free
12:44
perks included with your booking.
12:46
Then just head over to vvinsider.com/book.
12:49
We've got a whole list of reasons why trusting us with your next
12:52
Virgin Voyage not only helps support the work that we do, which is to
12:56
get all of this useful information out to Sailors around the world,
13:00
but also there are some exclusive free perks for you simply by using our link
13:05
to make your booking, it doesn't cost you any more and you get those extra benefits.
13:09
So it really is a win-win, and it's why I always say it's the best way
13:13
to make a Virgin Voyages booking.
13:15
We're setting sale on Brilliant Lady on a voyage from Los Angeles to
13:19
Vancouver, and I'm gonna capture the incredible moments on that voyage and
13:23
bring you a full trip report next week.
13:25
So make sure that you stay subscribed for that.
13:28
if you've already "Locked It In" and you're looking forward to your
13:31
next Virgin Voyage, something that's worth watching is a guide that we put
13:34
together, which shows you all of the themed nights that you're gonna be
13:37
expecting to see on your Virgin Voyage.
13:40
So if you are looking for something to watch, I would head there next!
13:43
But until I see you next week with that exciting trip report, happy sailing!
#Travel & Transportation