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Save $$$s on Virgin Voyages Drinks in 2025 - Top Money Saving Tips for Sailors
Mar 29, 2025
Ultimate Guide to Saving Money on Drinks with Virgin Voyages | Insider Tips & Tricks
In this informative video, learn how to make the most of your drinking experience on Virgin Voyages with essential tips and tricks from VV Insider. Discover the drink policies, understand how Bar Tabs work, and find out where to get free or discounted drinks on board. From utilizing special cabin perks to participating in on-board events, we cover all the strategies to help you save money on beverages. Whether you're a seasoned sailor or new to cruising with Virgin Voyages, this guide ensures you get the best value for your money. Check out vvinsider.com for more resources, and don't forget to subscribe for exclusive perks and updates!
Book with VV Insider: https://vvinsider.com/book/
00:00 Introduction: The Rising Costs of Beverages
00:47 Context: Understanding Virgin Voyages' Drink Policies
03:23 Context: Mega Rockstar Perks: Unlimited Drinks
05:22 Tips for Free and Discounted Drinks
07:58 Events with Inclusive Drinks
09:19 Add-On Packages with Inclusive Drinks
11:30 Maximizing Your Bar Tab
15:29 Recap and Final Tips
- 2024 Price Rises: https://vvinsider.com/recapping-all-the-2024-onboard-price-increases-on-virgin-voyages/
- Types of Onboard Credit: https://vvinsider.com/guides-and-faqs/guide/types-of-onboard-credit/
- Mega Rockstar Perks: https://vvinsider.com/guides-and-faqs/guide/mega-rockstar-suites/
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0:00
there's no denying that everything in
0:01
the world is more expensive now than it
0:03
was a few years ago it's more important
0:05
than ever to make sure that you're
0:06
getting the most bang for your buck when
0:08
it comes to drinking and beverages on
0:10
board virgin voyages V The Insider is
0:14
the number one resource for the latest
0:15
virgin voyages info guides and news from
0:18
picking the perfect cabin to booking
0:20
dining or simply just making the most of
0:22
your voyage and saving money while you
0:23
do it VV insider.com has helped
0:26
thousands of sailors around the world
0:27
sale smarter support our work by hitting
0:30
subscribe and stick around to hear how
0:32
you can get exclusive perks by booking
0:34
directly with
0:36
us what we thought we would do is
0:39
compile all of the hints and tips that
0:41
we've got around VB insider.com and
0:43
bring it into one video so you can
0:45
reference this on your next voyage for
0:47
those that have sailed before you'll
0:49
understand how drinks work on board
0:51
virgin voyages and you can skip ahead
0:53
past this part but I just wanted to give
0:54
you a bit of context of how drinks work
0:57
if you're coming to Virgin voyages as a
0:59
brand new Cru
1:00
or you'll come to it from a different
1:01
Cruise Line things are a little bit
1:03
different in virgin voyages it's a
1:05
little bit more along the lines of what
1:07
you would see a hotel or a resort on
1:09
land by that I mean every single drink
1:12
is charged Al aart apart from the things
1:14
that are included in your Voyage fair
1:16
and virgin voyagers are quite generous
1:18
in this regard you get soft drinks and
1:20
filter coffees included as part of your
1:22
Voyage fair and that's not just
1:24
restaurants and during dining it's
1:26
actually anywhere on board so even bars
1:29
you can roll up to them and ask them for
1:31
a Diet Coke or an orange juice and
1:33
they'll hand that over to you without
1:34
having to tap your band you can just
1:36
walk away from the bar and enjoy it and
1:38
that is great but of course not
1:39
everything is included you'll still need
1:41
to pay for alcohol for things like
1:44
specialty coffees freshly press juices
1:47
anything that doesn't fall under the
1:48
sort of standard soft drinks remit so
1:51
the way that that works is when you
1:52
order your drinks so either at a bar or
1:54
while you're being served for dinner for
1:56
example someone will ask for your drink
1:58
order they will use their device to tap
2:01
your band and they will charge the drink
2:03
to your room the cost of drinks on
2:05
Virgin voyages is fairly reasonable it
2:08
has been creeping up over the last few
2:10
years and we keep a track of that on VV
2:12
insider.com but for the most part the
2:14
prices are still fairly reasonable to
2:17
what you would expect with a large city
2:18
on land and of course one of the
2:20
Fantastic things about Virgin voyages is
2:22
that tips are completely included so
2:25
you're not having to add on 18% or 20%
2:28
there's no rigar roll of some bringing
2:30
over a receipt for you to sign all of it
2:32
is taken care of charges for drinks
2:34
follow a little bit of a hierarchy if
2:36
you've got promotional credit on your
2:38
account this comes in two forms one of
2:41
which is Sailor loot which you can spend
2:43
on anything on board and then another
2:45
type of credit is Bab and bab
2:47
specifically is only for drinks if you
2:50
have neither of those two types of
2:52
credit you will simply build up a bit of
2:54
a debt on board which you'll need to
2:56
clear up before you disembark when you
2:58
order a drink you don't need to tell
3:00
them to take this from the promotional
3:01
credit that you have it will
3:03
automatically be taken from your bartab
3:05
allowance first if you run out of bartab
3:08
allowance it will then move over to your
3:10
sailor Loot and then if you've run out
3:12
of Sailor loot or you didn't have any in
3:14
the first place it will just get charged
3:16
from your onboard account B Tabs are
3:18
really interesting and it's actually a
3:20
great way to save money on drinks so
3:21
we'll come on to that in just a moment
3:23
but for now I just want to give you a
3:25
big caveat because there is actually a
3:27
way that you can get all of your drinks
3:29
included on board and that's by choosing
3:31
a cabin type that includes unlimited
3:34
drinks and that cabin type is Mega
3:36
Rockstar as the name suggests Mega
3:38
Rockstar is the highest level of cabin
3:42
type that you can get on Virgin voyages
3:44
it includes accommodations like the
3:46
massive Suite which you might have seen
3:47
on different YouTube videos here and
3:49
there with an outdoor hot tub and
3:51
guitars on the walls very opulent very
3:53
nice and of course with those fantastic
3:56
accommodations comes an incredibly high
3:59
price and if you're spending that money
4:01
virgin voyagers reward your kindness by
4:03
giving you an unlimited bab and you can
4:06
buy as much alcohol as you like and it
4:08
won't be charged onto your account
4:10
couple of caveats there you can only buy
4:12
two drinks at a time and those two
4:14
drinks can't be more than $25 each so
4:17
you can't go and order a very fine
4:19
whiskey that would cost hundreds of
4:20
dollars there is an effect of fair usage
4:23
policy with that mega rock stars and
4:25
rock stars which is the cabin type
4:27
that's just underneath mega rock stars
4:29
do get the had a benefit of having an
4:30
inet mini bar where you get small
4:33
bottles of liquor couple of mini bottles
4:35
of wine a mini bottle of champagne which
4:38
are designed to be consumed in the room
4:40
so you would make mix drinks and
4:41
Cocktails or enjoy a glass of wine
4:44
before you head out for the evening for
4:46
rockstars your mini bar is set as you
4:48
get on board the key difference between
4:50
Rockstar and mega Rockstar with your in
4:52
room bar is that with Rockstar it is not
4:55
refreshed once you use it it's gone with
4:58
mega Rockstar once you use the alcohol
5:00
it's refreshed every day by your
5:02
Rockstar agent for all those not sailing
5:04
in that Rockstar level and you're coming
5:06
on board as a redband sailor you aren't
5:09
getting any drink perks really so you
5:11
have to try and find the best deals any
5:13
free alcohol that you can get while
5:15
you're on board really to make the most
5:17
of your Voyage fair and I don't blame
5:19
you and I'm here to share a few tips on
5:20
how you might be able to do that before
5:22
I get into the meat of this which is
5:23
about how you can use the B tab to save
5:26
money on drinks on board I've actually
5:28
got a couple of tipss to give you where
5:29
you can get either free or discounted
5:32
alcohol I wouldn't blame you if you come
5:34
here just to hear how you can get free
5:36
alcohol on board we'll take anything if
5:38
it's free so the first way you're able
5:40
to get free alcohol I say free in
5:42
quotation marks cuz it's not entirely
5:44
free but you can actually bring alcohol
5:46
on board so you can bring two bottles of
5:48
wine in your carryon luggage and that's
5:51
two bottles of wine per cabin and you
5:53
can't bring any Magnums on board they do
5:55
need to be standard
5:57
750ml bottles of wine although that's
5:59
not free you do obviously have to buy
6:00
the wine before you get on board you're
6:02
not going to be charged by virgin
6:03
voyages for it so it's a little bit of a
6:05
win you can get it at grocery store
6:06
prices and bring it on board another
6:08
totally free option for alcohol are the
6:11
drinks that are given away as part of
6:13
the sailway celebrations the hostess
6:15
will raise a toast where you're toasting
6:18
to the voyage ahead and of course you
6:20
need something in your hand to toast
6:22
with the crew will have meandered round
6:23
at this point to hand out three glasses
6:26
of sparkling wine this sparkling wine is
6:29
called St Louis some Sailors love it
6:32
some Sailors hate it but it is free so
6:34
you may as well take a glass there's
6:35
nothing really stopping you going and
6:37
getting another glass from the crew so
6:39
feel free but it's a really nice gesture
6:41
of Virgin voyages to do this and
6:42
actually it's a fantastic way to start
6:44
your Voyage off and when the toast is
6:46
finished the happenings cast will join
6:48
you in the celebration of the new Voyage
6:50
dancing partying it's one of my favorite
6:53
events and it sets up A really lovely
6:55
atmosphere for the voyage ahead if
6:56
you're on a voyage that's celebrating
6:58
something like passing the equator or
7:01
going through the straight of Gibralter
7:02
for example they may ad hoc decide to
7:05
bring on other different types of
7:07
celebrations and you will generally hear
7:09
about this in the event lineup it's not
7:11
on every Voyage in fact it's very rare
7:13
but do keep an eye out they may offer
7:15
free bubbles during these very special
7:18
events that happen during your Voyage so
7:20
do keep an eye out sticking with free
7:22
drinks for the minute and one of the
7:23
best opportunities to get free drinks is
7:26
to participate now I know to a lot of
7:28
people the idea of guest participation
7:30
or getting up on stage is horrible and
7:33
it strikes you with fear but there is
7:35
the reward on Virgin Voyages of
7:38
generally a free drink after you've done
7:39
it which is incentive enough is it not
7:42
and of course if you're brainy enough
7:44
and you win a quiz or a trivia you will
7:46
also have the potential of getting a
7:48
free drink I say they have the potential
7:50
because policies may change they may
7:52
decide that they're not going to give
7:53
out free drinks anymore so don't hold me
7:55
to it but it's definitely worth getting
7:56
involved anyway you'll have a great time
7:59
so that's free drinks sorted let's think
8:01
about discounted drinks one really great
8:03
way to get the most out of your money
8:05
when it comes to alcohol on board is to
8:07
sign up for one of the happenings events
8:10
generally if you join a food or drink
8:11
related happenings event the drinks that
8:14
they give you as part of that event are
8:15
included as part of the price of the
8:17
event itself so for example something
8:20
like L Gigante is a really fun Mexican
8:24
themed Bingo and they give you
8:25
margaritas and Palomas while you play
8:28
you also get to try buy a few shots of
8:30
tequila and Mescal as well I would just
8:32
give you a word of warning before you do
8:34
that and that's to savor the drinks that
8:36
they give you other events that give you
8:39
quite a decent amount of alcohol for
8:40
your money are things like mix it up
8:43
which is a bartending competition style
8:45
event where the bartenders are competing
8:47
to make the nicest or the best cocktail
8:50
and you as the audience vote on that in
8:52
order for you to vote on the cocktails
8:54
you of course have to taste them so you
8:56
get two cocktails at a time and I
8:58
believe this happens three times times
8:59
so that's six cocktails for the price of
9:01
Entry not bad at all but again word of
9:04
warning go steady you don't have to
9:06
finish the drinks while you're in the
9:08
event you might want to take it with you
9:09
and sip on them as you go about the rest
9:11
of your day on board we have a page on
9:13
VV insider.com which lists out the
9:15
events and you can actually see the food
9:17
and drink events that include alcohol
9:19
now there are a couple of packages that
9:21
you can add to your voyage that include
9:23
alcohol whether this is good value or
9:25
not really depends on your own
9:27
preferences splash of romance includes a
9:30
bottle of moette champagne and you can
9:31
use the shake for champagne feature for
9:33
that there's also an exclusive party
9:36
where they will serve sangria and
9:38
sparkling wine during that time it's an
9:40
hour long and again it's drink as much
9:42
as you like but of course you're very
9:44
welcome to take one of those drinks away
9:46
and enjoy it elsewhere on board if you
9:48
like similarly Splash for your bash is
9:50
another package you can add to your
9:51
Voyage which includes a bottle of moette
9:54
champagne which will be delivered to
9:55
your cabin it also includes a bottomless
9:58
brunch and during the meal that you're
10:00
having with your Splash for your bash
10:02
participants you will get a curated
10:04
cocktail as well as part of the deal we
10:07
have all the details on VV insider.com
10:09
and I'll include a link to that as well
10:11
another way to get potentially
10:12
discounted alcohol is to take advantage
10:15
of a bottomless brunch at one of the
10:17
restaurants so both the wake and razzled
10:19
Dazzle offer bottomless brunch options
10:22
bottomless brunch which when we say
10:23
bottomless we're talking about alcohol
10:25
all the food is included as part of your
10:27
brunch on board anyway but the the
10:29
alcohol is always charged for but if you
10:31
decide to do bottomless brunch you'll
10:33
pay a oneoff fee and for 90 minutes
10:36
you'll be able to reorder from that menu
10:39
and you won't be charged for each drink
10:40
individually so depending on how much
10:42
you plan to drink during brunch this
10:44
could be a way to get discounted drinks
10:46
if you like you can actually order
10:48
anything from the menu so if you started
10:51
with a mimosa and decide that you like
10:53
to switch to bloody Mar's for example
10:55
that's totally within your gift to
10:57
choose if you like now as a little of a
10:59
bonus if you're a Sailing Club member
11:01
that has deep blue extra benefits you'll
11:03
be invited along to an exclusive
11:05
cocktail event very similar to the one
11:08
that you'll see in the splash of romance
11:09
event but you don't need to add any
11:11
additional packages to your Voyage but
11:13
if you qualify for deep blue extras you
11:15
will get this invite free of charge
11:17
another deep blue extra perk when it
11:19
comes to beverages is that you get two
11:21
free specialty coffees a day so again
11:23
don't forget to pick those up during
11:25
your Voyage head down to grounds Club to
11:27
get your free coffees each day I want to
11:30
talk to you a little bit more about the
11:32
bab and how you can actually get the
11:34
most out of your B tab cuz it is a
11:36
little bit confusing and actually vivv
11:38
insider.com have made it really really
11:40
easy and I'm going to talk you through
11:41
the bartab calculator tool and how that
11:43
can save you money on your drinks when
11:45
you Voyage the way that the B tab can
11:47
save you money for drinks on board is
11:49
all to do with the bonus that you get
11:51
for pre purchasing your B tab so you may
11:54
already have a bartab gifted to you as
11:56
part of your booking for the voyage so
11:58
you may have got a couple of $100 for
12:00
example as a bit of an incentive to
12:01
boook your Voyage which is great but it
12:03
might not be enough to cover the drinks
12:05
that you're going to have throughout the
12:06
voyage when you top up your B tab you're
12:08
going to be given an incentive for the
12:11
amount that you're topping up your Bart
12:12
tab with and the amount of bonus that
12:14
you get is dependent on the amount of
12:16
bartab that you buy this can get hugely
12:19
complicated and you need to do the heavy
12:21
lifting of trying to imagine what you're
12:23
going to be drinking and how much it's
12:24
going to cost throughout your Voyage to
12:26
make this easy VV insider.com has a bab
12:30
calculator which is one of our most used
12:32
tools on the site and what it does it
12:34
asks you how long is your voyage for
12:37
what is your loyalty status how much
12:39
have you already got in your wallet so
12:41
have you already got some B tab or saor
12:43
loot already and then it asks what
12:45
you're intending to drink each day so
12:47
are you a Wine Drinker are you a Beer
12:49
Drinker do you drink cocktails we do
12:51
some maths under the surface using some
12:53
averages that we know from the menus and
12:55
then we produce a result and the result
12:57
isn't just how much you're going to
12:59
spend on board for drinks it actually
13:01
takes all the information and figures
13:03
out the best way to buy those chunks of
13:05
bartab in the most price efficient way
13:08
I'm going to give you an example so I'm
13:10
going to add in details for our upcoming
13:13
Voyage seven nights so we're already
13:15
there I have an existing bab amount of
13:17
$200 so I'll pop that in yes I am a
13:20
saling Club member so I'm just going to
13:22
pop that in as well and the reason why
13:24
we ask that question is the bonus that
13:26
you will receive is dependent on your
13:28
member status this and then I'm going to
13:30
decide how many drinks I want to drink
13:32
per day now this is based on the whole
13:35
cabin sharing so if I for example drink
13:38
two glasses of wine and my partner would
13:40
also drink two glasses of wine um I can
13:42
add four in here and then let's add a
13:44
couple of beers let's add a couple of
13:46
cocktails and then maybe a couple of
13:49
speciality soft drinks once I've added
13:50
all that information in I can scroll
13:52
down and it says yes I would save money
13:55
by pre purchasing an extra bab it's
13:57
saying that I need to buy a chunk of
13:59
$300 a bab which will be worth
14:02
$425 once they add the bonus on so it's
14:05
going to cost me $300 plus $12 out of
14:08
pocket so actually I'm saving a fair
14:10
amount of money there so it's definitely
14:11
worth doing I've just mentioned there
14:13
that actually you could be going into
14:15
your Voyage with a certain amount of bab
14:17
or sailor loot already connected to your
14:19
sailing and you're probably asking
14:21
yourself how can I get that how can I
14:23
get the best deal now one of the best
14:25
ways to make sure that you're getting
14:26
the best deal in the most bab for your s
14:29
is to use The vvb Insider Voyage finder
14:32
if you go to vvb insider.com and click
14:35
book there's a whole list of all the
14:37
Voyages that are coming up on all of the
14:38
Virgin Voyager ships one of the best
14:40
ways to make sure you get the maximum
14:42
sailor Loot and barab is to use the VV
14:45
Insider booking tool by using the VB
14:47
Insider booking tool you're booking
14:49
through our partners the getaway guys
14:51
and we work with them to see if there
14:53
are any incentives or promotions
14:55
available for your sailing if there is
14:57
any additional sailor loot or bartab
14:59
that we can add to your Voyage we'll be
15:01
doing that if you're unsure what
15:03
promotions are available for a
15:04
particular Voyage always get in touch
15:06
with us also if you stay subscribed to
15:08
The vivv Insider newsletter if there are
15:11
any promotions or any offers that come
15:13
out we will introduce you to all the
15:15
Voyages that are available on that offer
15:17
so keep an eye on your inbox if you're
15:19
subscribed and we'll make sure that you
15:20
get connected with the best offer
15:22
possible for the voyage that you're
15:23
looking for if you have any questions at
15:25
all before you book always get in touch
15:27
with Viv Insider and we'll point you in
15:29
the right direction so let's recap those
15:31
ways that you can save money on drinks
15:32
on board on Virgin voyages so first of
15:35
all take full advantage of the free
15:37
drinks that are available make sure you
15:38
take advantage of any events that have
15:40
drinks on offer whether that's included
15:42
in the package that you've booked or one
15:44
of the happenings events and the number
15:46
one best way to save money on drinks
15:48
while you're on board virgin voyages is
15:51
to use Babs effectively and use the
15:53
bartab calculator to figure out exactly
15:56
what you need to do where to put your
15:57
money to get the most bang for your book
15:59
for drinks on board that's everything
16:01
we've got if we've missed anything at
16:03
all and you think you've got a fantastic
16:04
idea to save money on drinks on board
16:06
virgin voyages let us know in the
16:08
comments thank you so much for watching
16:10
we're going to be releasing a few more
16:11
of these guided videos so that we can
16:13
give you the best of our hints and tips
16:15
all bundled together stay tuned to VV
16:17
insider.com for the latest virgin
16:19
voyages news info and guides
16:24
[Music]
16:29
oh
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