0:00
choosing the right cabin for your Virgin
0:02
Voyage is really important whether you
0:04
spend a lot of time in your cabin on
0:06
your Virgin Voyage or whether you like
0:08
to explore and enjoy the entertainment
0:10
it really pays to make sure that you've
0:12
chosen the right cabin for your needs vb
0:15
Insider is the number one resource for
0:17
the latest Virgin Voyages info guides
0:19
and news from picking the perfect cabin
0:21
to booking dining or simply just making
0:23
the most of your voyage and saving money
0:25
while you do it vincider.com has helped
0:28
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0:30
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0:34
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0:38
us now when you book your Virgin Voyage
0:41
it might be tempting to think that all
0:43
cabins within the same category will be
0:45
exactly the same well I'm here to tell
0:47
you that's not exactly true there are a
0:49
few things that you need to look out for
0:51
there are some cabins that are better or
0:53
worse depending on where in the deck
0:55
plan this cabin sits and I'm here to
0:57
tell you how you can make sure that you
0:58
get the right cabin for your sailing now
1:00
when Virgin Voyages launched back in
1:02
2021 there was a lot of feedback about
1:04
the cabins and some of the aspects of
1:06
the cabins weren't exactly up to some
1:08
sailor specifications or needs now
1:11
they've done a lot of work in that
1:12
preceding period to make sure that the
1:14
cabins are really fitting the needs and
1:16
really exceeding sailor's expectations
1:19
and from my personal point of view the
1:21
cabins on board Virgin Voyages are
1:23
second to none they are brilliant they
1:25
offer all the right conveniences there's
1:27
free water there's the balconies are
1:30
fantastic the hammocks are great they
1:32
are really really brilliant but there
1:34
are differences depending on where you
1:36
are on the deck plan and I want to tell
1:37
you how you can make sure you can get
1:39
the best cabin for your money so just a
1:41
very brief overview of the different
1:43
categories of cabin that you can get on
1:45
Virgin Voyages so let's start from the
1:48
bottom so you can if you just want to
1:50
get on board and enjoy your sailing you
1:52
can go for an insider cabin so an
1:54
insider cabin you're not going to have a
1:56
portal or a window to see outside you're
1:59
certainly not going to have a balcony
2:00
because if you look at the deck plan
2:02
you're not going to be on the outer
2:04
edges of the ship you're going to have a
2:05
cabin that's in the middle now this is
2:07
great if you're budget conscious and
2:08
you'd simply want to get on board for
2:10
the lowest price possible they are very
2:12
well priced these cabins and just like
2:14
all Virgin Voyages cabins they're very
2:16
comfortable but for those who do want to
2:18
see outside and want a bit of natural
2:20
light with their voyage why wouldn't you
2:22
then there are the sea view cabins so
2:24
these are cabins where you will have a
2:26
window you will be able to see outside
2:27
you will have natural light so the cost
2:29
for those are slightly higher than the
2:31
insider rooms of course but depending on
2:34
your perspective it might be worth the
2:35
extra money if you prefer seeing a
2:37
little bit of natural light or peeking
2:39
out the window in the morning when you
2:40
get a port to see exactly where you are
2:42
and now we step up to a cabin type where
2:44
most of the sailors on board will be and
2:47
that's the sea terrace level so there
2:50
are thousands of sea terraces on board
2:52
Virgin Voyages and sea terrace is the
2:55
name that Virgin Voyages give to the
2:56
balconies on board and these cabins are
2:59
generally what you think of when you
3:01
think of Virgin Voyages so if you've
3:03
seen social media content or YouTube
3:05
videos of people on Virgin Voyages
3:07
they're generally in a sea terrace
3:08
unless they've upgraded to Rockstar or
3:10
they're an insider generally most people
3:13
are in a sea terrace within the sea
3:14
terrace category there are some more
3:16
affordable options so there are limited
3:18
view sea terraces available where you
3:20
might have your view obstructed by some
3:22
piece of engineering or a lifeboat for
3:24
example but it will reduce the cost
3:26
slightly and there are also some premium
3:28
options so they have a sea terrace XL
3:31
option if you want a larger bathroom for
3:33
example now once we get past the sea
3:36
terrace level this is where we get into
3:38
the suite level so if you upgrade from
3:41
sea terrace you will be in a rockstar
3:43
suite the rockstar suites are exactly
3:46
what they sound like very plush lovely
3:48
suites with marble features and accents
3:51
you get a mini bar in the room with some
3:53
alcohol included as well and a lovely
3:56
marble bathroom with a spacious shower
3:58
the beds are also a bit bigger as well
4:00
in the Rockstar suit and then of course
4:02
better yet you can upgrade from the
4:04
Rockstar level to the mega rockstar
4:06
level so this is where the biggest and
4:08
the most opulent cabins on board are
4:11
going to be so from mega rockstar we're
4:14
not just talking about the massive suite
4:16
you might have seen the massive suite on
4:18
social media or on videos shared by
4:20
Virgin Voyages there are other Mega
4:23
Rockstar suites available as well which
4:24
resemble a little bit more like the
4:26
standard Rockstar rooms but of course
4:29
they are still huge and they are still
4:30
very luxurious so now you know about all
4:32
the different cabin types let's delve a
4:35
little bit into how you actually book
4:36
this and get assigned a cabin in the
4:38
first place when you book your Virgin
4:40
Voyage you'll normally be assigned a
4:42
cabin straight away so when you finalize
4:45
your booking you've paid your deposit or
4:47
paid in full you'll receive a
4:49
confirmation email and on the
4:50
confirmation email you'll actually see
4:52
which cabin number you've been assigned
4:55
so this will be in the cabin type that
4:56
you've selected but of course you'll not
4:58
understand at that point whether this
5:00
cabin that you've been assigned is a
5:02
good cabin or a cabin that maybe has a
5:04
few drawbacks so there is one caveat
5:06
that I'll mention here and that's the
5:08
idea of a lock itin rate other cruise
5:11
lines call this a guaranteed rate
5:13
sometimes you can get a really good deal
5:15
with a lockad in rate but you do have to
5:17
make absolutely sure that you can make
5:18
the sailing because if you decide to
5:20
cancel unfortunately you won't get any
5:22
of your voyage fair back it will be
5:25
completely forfeited so do make sure
5:27
that you can make that sailing before
5:29
you book the lock it in rate of course
5:31
things do happen make sure that you got
5:33
travel insurance to cover those
5:35
eventualities now for everyone else if
5:37
you haven't booked a locket in rate you
5:39
will get that confirmation email with
5:40
your cabin assignment on it how do you
5:43
make sure you get the right cabin if the
5:45
cabins are slightly different and the
5:46
Virgin Voyagers website don't tell you
5:48
what those differences are how can you
5:50
make sure that you're not being put in a
5:52
cabin that doesn't really suit your
5:53
needs well I'm here to tell you about a
5:55
tool that can actually make this a lot
5:57
easier so what you're going to do you're
6:01
vvincider.com and you're going to choose
6:02
the cabin lookup tool so the cabin
6:05
lookup tool is a catalog of every single
6:08
cabin on board the Virgin Voyages ships
6:11
we have scoured the deck plans and
6:13
coupled that with information that we
6:15
know from our own experience and the
6:17
experience of our sailor community to
6:19
make sure that we have as much
6:21
information about each cabin as possible
6:24
so once you have that cabin number you
6:26
can pop it into the tool and read
6:28
information about the very specific
6:30
cabin that you've been assigned now the
6:33
type of information that we have on each
6:35
of the cabins is of course dependent on
6:37
the information that we've been given by
6:38
sailor and the information that we've
6:40
researched for ourself but generally the
6:42
feedback that we've had on the cabin
6:44
lookup tool has been really really
6:46
fantastic and people find it a really
6:47
accurate source of information for their
6:49
sailing so what type of information does
6:52
it give you well sometimes we have
6:54
actual pictures of the cabin itself and
6:56
these are submitted by sailor so not
6:58
every single cabin has photos but
7:00
hopefully yours does so you'll be able
7:02
to see what the configuration of the
7:04
beds for example are you'll also be able
7:06
to see which side of the ship that
7:07
you're on if you have an outside cabin
7:09
sometimes this can be useful if you're
7:11
doing a transatlantic crossing for
7:13
example because the side of the ship
7:15
that you're on will determine how much
7:16
sunlight you're going to get throughout
7:17
your voyage but the most crucial thing
7:20
and the thing that people find most
7:22
useful on our cabin pages is the idea of
7:25
these pros and cons for each cabin so
7:28
what does that mean in practice well
7:30
some of the drawbacks that we've noticed
7:32
from some rooms is that they could be
7:34
quite close to noisy venues so for
7:36
example you might have a room that's
7:38
directly beneath the Mana nightclub
7:40
which of course hosts events that go on
7:42
until the early hours of the morning so
7:45
generally those rooms you might hear a
7:47
little bit of music from venues nearby
7:49
so we've noted them on our cabin lookup
7:51
tool and we've said this cabin is next
7:53
to a noisy venue so that might be
7:55
something that you want to watch out for
7:57
and we also note one really salient
8:00
point which a lot of our sailors ask
8:02
which is do I have that iconic red
8:05
hammock on my sea terrace balcony so if
8:08
you've seen any social media content or
8:10
any content at all about Virgin Voyages
8:13
you will likely have seen these very
8:15
iconic red hammocks that are on each of
8:17
the terraces and they are a fantastic
8:20
perk for a Virgin Voyage really lovely
8:22
to relax on there listen to some music
8:25
read a book but not every sea terrace is
8:28
guaranteed to have one and that's where
8:30
the Vivian Insider Cabin lookup tool
8:32
really comes into its own cuz it will
8:33
tell you whether you shall have one or
8:35
not on your sea terrace now it's not all
8:37
doom and gloom there are some pros that
8:39
we've actually noticed about each of
8:40
these cabins as well so there are some
8:42
perks that we found that really elevate
8:44
your Virgin Voyage experience so for
8:45
example having a cabin that is close to
8:48
an elevator or a lift is really useful
8:51
because it means that you can very
8:52
quickly rush to your room get changed or
8:54
pick up a drink for example and then
8:56
rush down back to the venue that you
8:58
were at before because you're very
9:00
adjacent to the elevator and depending
9:02
on the shape of the ship and where you
9:03
are on the deck plan there are some
9:06
rooms that actually have a little bit
9:07
more space so the floor plan is actually
9:09
a little bit larger um and actually that
9:12
extends to the sea terrace as well so
9:14
even within the same cabin type you
9:16
might actually find some of the sea
9:18
terraces are slightly larger just
9:19
depending on the shape of the ship and
9:21
where they're positioned on the deck
9:23
plan so that's something that's really
9:25
useful to look out for in the cabin
9:26
lookup tool now of course that leaves an
9:28
open question there what do you do if
9:31
you've got a cabin that you feel is not
9:32
going to be the best experience for your
9:34
Virgin Voyage well that's exactly where
9:37
working with a travel advisor comes in
9:39
really really useful so if for example
9:42
you book your voyage through VV Insider
9:44
we will check the cabin assignment that
9:46
you've been given and double check that
9:48
your room hasn't got any of these
9:49
drawbacks that we mention and we'll
9:51
proactively get in touch with you to
9:53
move that to a different cabin now if
9:55
unfortunately you haven't booked for
9:56
yourself you can of course ask your
9:58
travel advisor or if you've decided to
10:01
virginoyages.com you can contact sailor
10:04
services and ask them to move your room
10:06
assignment and again you be on the cabin
10:08
lookup tool and if they suggest another
10:10
room check that room out and make sure
10:12
that doesn't have any drawbacks either
10:14
or use the cabin lookup tool to maybe
10:16
choose an area on the ship or cabins on
10:18
the ship that you'd like to move to and
10:20
ask them specifically if you can move to
10:22
that particular cabin as long as it's in
10:24
with the same cabin type it won't be a
10:26
problem for them to move it as long as
10:28
it's available now of course Virgin
10:30
Voyager ships are sailing a lot more
10:32
full now things are selling out so it is
10:35
a little bit more difficult to get the
10:36
exact cabin assignment that you need but
10:39
of course booking with a trusted travel
10:41
advisor like we've done with the Getaway
10:43
Guys we can make sure that you're
10:44
getting the best cabin possible and
10:47
making sure you can really enjoy your
10:49
cabin on your sailing now the cabin
10:51
types that I've mentioned there are of
10:53
course a few different options for you
10:54
to decide to upgrade so if you boot one
10:57
of the lesser options for example an
10:59
insider or a sea view and you quite like
11:01
the idea of moving up to a sea terrace
11:03
and enjoying the hammock for example
11:05
there are options for you to upgrade so
11:07
you can actually upgrade at any point so
11:09
you can contact your travel advisor and
11:11
you'll be provided a price and you can
11:13
decide to upgrade that way but there are
11:15
a few other ways that you can upgrade as
11:17
well and that's to use the upgrade
11:19
bidding process so the upgrade bidding
11:21
process is not unique to Virgin Voyages
11:24
in fact if you sailed with other cruise
11:26
lines you might have come across a
11:27
similar concept where you'll get an
11:29
email ahead of your voyage to say "Why
11:32
don't you think about upgrading your
11:33
cabin to one of the more opulent
11:35
options?" So for example you might get
11:37
an option to upgrade to the Rockstar
11:39
Suite for example so the way that this
11:41
works is that you'll be given a list of
11:43
different upgrade options depending on
11:45
your cabin type now this is slightly
11:48
restricted in the fact that you can only
11:49
upgrade to a certain type of cabin so
11:52
for example if you booked an insider
11:54
cabin you're not going to get options to
11:57
upgrade to a massive suite for example
11:59
because that would just be far too many
12:00
options for them to give everyone it
12:02
would be very difficult for them to
12:03
manage and of course it would likely be
12:05
very unaffordable to move to that level
12:07
of cabin from an insider so you'll be
12:09
given an option of around five or six
12:11
different cabin types and you can decide
12:13
how much you'd like to bid on each of
12:14
them now Virgin Voyagers do try and help
12:17
you out here because they'll tell you
12:18
whether the bid that you're giving is a
12:20
weak bid or a strong bid whether that's
12:22
going to be likely to be successful as
12:25
you go through the journey but you'll
12:27
choose an amount of money that you're
12:28
personally happy to spend to upgrade to
12:30
that cabin type now of course you are at
12:32
that point competing against other
12:34
sailors so if you put in a low amount
12:37
it's likely that somebody else might
12:38
actually pipp you to the post and be
12:40
able to upgrade ahead of you you'll only
12:42
find out whether you're successful
12:44
around about 48 hours before the sailing
12:47
and generally you'll notice that the
12:48
money has been taken for your upgrade
12:50
from your bank account or your credit
12:52
card first before you hear anything at
12:54
all from Virgin Voyages because of the
12:56
complex nature of the upgrade system
12:58
there are of course thousands of cabins
13:00
and different people in different levels
13:02
all bidding for different types of
13:04
cabins you can imagine that's quite a
13:06
lot of information for Virgin Voyages to
13:08
process so sometimes money can be taken
13:10
and refunded the same day if they
13:12
haven't quite figured out how to fit
13:14
everyone into the different cabin types
13:16
but you'll only be assured that your
13:17
upgrade is successful when you receive a
13:20
confirmation email with your new cabin
13:22
number and of course we invite you to
13:24
repeat the process and check that that
13:26
new cabin number hasn't got any
13:28
drawbacks now at this point it might be
13:30
a little bit too late because of course
13:32
they've reassigned all the cabins and
13:34
everything will be quite busy so it's
13:36
very unlikely they're going to be able
13:37
to move you to a different room but at
13:39
least you can be prepared for what to
13:41
expect when you get on board now one pro
13:44
tip that I'll give you here if you're
13:46
given a sea terrace cabin and you have
13:47
the opportunity to upgrade to an XLC
13:50
terrace cabin make sure that the
13:52
benefits of the XLC terrace cabin are
13:54
right for you because sometimes those
13:57
upgraded XL sea terrace cabins are in
14:00
areas on the ship that are quite noisy
14:02
and they're certainly more prone to
14:04
drawbacks than the standard sea terrace
14:06
but of course that might be worth it to
14:07
you if you want to have the larger
14:09
bathroom now the brand and the onboard
14:11
experience is a little bit better known
14:13
and people are really enjoying the
14:14
product things are a lot busier and with
14:16
that there are fewer options to move
14:18
around on the ship to get to a better
14:20
cabin to make sure you can do everything
14:22
in your power before you get on board to
14:25
make sure that your cabin is right
14:27
before you sail otherwise sailor
14:29
services might find it quite difficult
14:30
to meet your request i'm going to make a
14:32
little bit of a plea here and that's to
14:34
really help us out help other sailors
14:37
out by coming back to VB Insider and
14:39
telling us how your cabin was and
14:41
actually sharing photos of the cabin
14:43
itself is really really useful because
14:45
inside the different cabins there are
14:47
different layouts of the beds and you
14:49
have more room on the balcony side of
14:51
the bed or more room on the bathroom
14:52
side of the bed your photo tells a
14:54
thousand words so if you're able to take
14:56
a snap and get it back to VB Insider or
14:59
if you've already sailed and you've got
15:00
something in your camera roll that you'd
15:02
like to share with us make sure you go
15:04
on the cabin lookup tool find the cabin
15:06
that you were assigned and use the
15:08
upload photo button so you can share
15:10
your experiences and help other sailors
15:12
out and if you notice anything that
15:14
isn't quite right on the cabin lookup
15:16
tool so for example if you were in a
15:17
room that was very noisy and we didn't
15:19
mention it on VV Insider don't suffer in
15:22
silence let us know and we'll update our
15:24
VV Insider cabin lookup tool to really
15:27
help other sailor out and make sure that
15:29
people are aware of any potential
15:31
drawbacks with the cabins that they're
15:32
booking because of course as I've said
15:34
before VV Insider is nothing without our
15:37
sailor community so make sure you join
15:40
the conversation subscribe to the
15:42
YouTube channel make sure you follow us
15:44
on Facebook as well because we've got a
15:45
fantastic huge community on Facebook
15:48
that are really engaged in the type of
15:50
content that we create around Virgin
15:51
Voyages the information the guides join
15:54
the conversation and get on board and as
15:57
always don't sail alone vv Insider can
16:00
come along that journey with you as
16:01
you're booking your voyage so do use the
16:04
VV Insider booking tool to make sure
16:06
that you're getting the best price and
16:08
the best deal when you're booking your
16:10
Virgin Voyage but also make sure that
16:12
we're along on that journey as your
16:14
experts we want to help you want to make
16:16
sure that you're having the best voyage
16:17
possible so things like us checking the
16:20
cabin for you making sure that you're
16:22
getting the most amount of sailor loot
16:23
and bar tab for your sailing and of
16:25
course we're always here to help so even
16:27
if you haven't booked with ourselves and
16:29
you boot direct or with a different
16:30
travel adviser don't worry we're still
16:33
here to answer all your Virgin Voyages
16:35
questions so do get in touch so that's
16:37
everything we've got on choosing the
16:39
right cabin on board Virgin Voyages if
16:41
you think we've missed anything let us
16:42
know in the comments otherwise follow
16:44
along and we'll catch you up with all
16:46
the latest Virgin Voyages information
16:48
guides and news thank you so much for
16:51
watching and make sure to stay in touch