6 Tips for Stress-Free Virgin Voyages GROUP Trips

Name: 6 Tips for Stress-Free Virgin Voyages GROUP Trips | Open Video
Uploaded: 2026-06-10T13:45:05+00:00
Duration: 16 min 34 s

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as with most things in life, sailing on Virgin Voyages is better with friends.
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but there's a few things you need to know if you are traveling as a group cause
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there is a number of things that can really trip you up if you're traveling
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with more than one cabin in your group.
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If we haven't met before, I'm David from VV Insider, which is a website
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that's dedicated to Virgin Voyages.
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All the information, the guides, and the news that you'll need to
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plan your perfect trip onboard the four Virgin Voyages Lady ships.
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Personally, we've sailed on board over 23 times, and most of those
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times have been with a larger group.
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And when I say group, I mean anything that's more than just one cabin.
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So this ranges from just you as a couple, traveling with another couple, all
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the way up to a huge number of people.
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Maybe you're celebrating a wedding or an anniversary and
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you have a number of cabins.
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Well, these tips are designed to cover all eventualities.
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We're gonna take a look together to make sure that we perfect the booking
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process, but also take a look at some hint and tips of what to do when you
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get on board to make sure that you all have the best time traveling as a group,
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so there's lots to cover together.
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So let's jump right in.
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VV Insider is the number one resource for the latest Virgin
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Voyagers info, guides and news.
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From picking the perfect cabin to booking dining, or simply just
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making the most of your voyage and saving money while you do it.
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vvinsider.com has helped thousands of sailors around the world sail smarter!
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Support our work by hitting "SUBSCRIBE" and stick around to
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hear how you can get exclusive perks by booking directly with us!
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so the first thing that we're gonna look at is to make sure
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that you get your booking correct.
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and it's really vital that you get this step right.
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If you wanna make sure you have a great time together on board.
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So the booking process might look a little different if you are looking
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to plan a number of cabins together.
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and this is especially important if you are booking a larger group.
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Now, most of the time when you're booking your Virgin Voyages vacation,
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you can either book direct on the Virgin Voyages websites, or you can work
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with a First Mate or a travel agent.
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Well, when it comes to booking multiple cabins or booking as a
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group, this is where Booking Direct with Virgin Voyages on their website
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maybe isn't the best way forward.
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And that's down to a few reasons
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but the most important reason is really down to price.
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There are deals and offers available when you book multiple cabins together,
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and a First Mate are in a really unique position to be able to navigate that,
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to make sure you get the best deal so you're not spending too much money.
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We ourself here at VV Insider have already worked with a number of groups, including
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birthdays and wedding trips, and have helped them secure great offers, but
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have also managed to help them in ways that you wouldn't necessarily expect.
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Including simple things like making sure your group cabins are all bundled
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together so that when you are done for the night, you all head in one direction.
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It's simple things like that that can make the experience onboard so much better.
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So I would always recommend booking with an expert, but especially if you're
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wanting to book more than one cabin.
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So head over to vvinsider.com/book and use the enquiry form there to let us know what
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your plans are and we'll make sure we can help you in the best way we possibly can.
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with some of the larger groups, you actually get some included perks,
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like some exclusive onboard dining.
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and also price protection on offers and deals until everyone
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is ready to pay their deposit.
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Like I say, there's a number of ways that groups can be helped
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during the booking process.
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As soon as we know what your group looks like, we can make
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sure we give you the right advice.
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This also leads me onto tip number two, which is to align your group
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expectations before you sail.
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And we can say this with some authority.
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we've traveled with large groups in the past, and it's really important to realize
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that some members of a group may want to do different things than others, or maybe
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just bring a different vibe on board.
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I feel like I'd say every time on these videos, that you can really choose the
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vibe that you like on Virgin Voyages.
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So whether you're a night owl and you like the nightlife and you like partying, or if
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you prefer a chilled and laid back vibe, everything is possible on Virgin Voyages.
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And that doesn't need to stop just because you're traveling in a larger group,
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It's very possible, even if you are sailing with multiple cabins, that
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individuals in those cabins might want a different vacation during the sailing.
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Because there's so many options and what to do on board that is perfectly
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possible whilst also making sure that everyone remains part of the group.
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So what I would really recommend is to make sure everyone in your group
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has a good understanding of what's available on board Virgin Voyages.
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One of the best ways to do that is to make sure that you're
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looking at expert resources
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As you well know the number one expert resource is vvinsider.com, where we list
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off a huge amount of information that you'll need to know for your sailing,
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including all of the events that you're expecting to see on board the ship.
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We also list off all of the restaurants and all of the bars,
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including the menus as well.
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Of course, all of that information can be a little overwhelming, so that's
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why we produce videos like this that introduce individual aspects of sailing
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with Virgin Voyages, one step at a time.
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So if you're managing and planning a group yourself, you may wanna
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send links to individual guides and pages on vvinsider.com to your group
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and also encourage them to subscribe to this channel.
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And while you're at it, you can of course subscribe yourself.
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That way you'll get notified when guides like this come out.
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But also every two weeks we have a Virgin Voyages Insider Update where we tell
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you all of the news and changes that are happening on board the ships as well.
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And this is a really good way to get excited for your next vacation coming up.
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One other thing I would recommend is to join the Facebook group that's
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connected to your individual sailing.
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so over on Facebook, sailors will set their own community of
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individuals up that are looking forward to an individual sailing.
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This way you can talk about plans, excursions, ports, and trips.
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and also share questions and tips about your upcoming voyage with people that
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will be joining you on that voyage.
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You may also meet some new people before you even set sale.
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If you're looking for the individual Facebook group for your
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sailing, we've made it super easy.
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If you head over to vvinsider.com and hit the "FB Groups" link, there'll be a huge
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list of all the sailings that are coming up in the future, each with an individual
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Facebook group link associated with it.
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If your sailing is maybe far into the future,
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there may not be a Facebook group yet, You're very welcome to set
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a Facebook group up and manage it yourself and share the link with
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us so we can list it on our site.
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tip number three is to sort logistics out early.
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This is because there's multiple risks associated with
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going on one of these voyages.
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Even before you arrive at the port,
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for example, it's not uncommon to see flights getting delayed or canceled.
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if you are relying on a train like the Brightline, they too can be canceled
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or fall victim to maintenance problems.
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or you might run into some personal problems like forgetting
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a passport or something important.
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That's why we always recommend arriving to the port city the day before you travel.
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and this is especially useful and fun if you're part of a big group.
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Because it means that you're able to coordinate and get together
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for a celebratory meal and a drink before you set off the day after.
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It's also really useful at this point to set up some sort of group
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communication between you all.
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This will always really depend on the technology that your
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group has available to them.
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If everyone's on Facebook, you may want to use Facebook Messenger.
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If everyone has iPhones, you might just wanna use FaceTime and the messaging app.
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Or one thing that's really useful in Europe, especially because many
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groups have a mixture of iPhones and Android phones, is to use WhatsApp.
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that's a perfect place to talk about plans and talk about
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what's coming up on the voyage.
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this will also become really useful when you're onboard the ship to
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try and find members of your party when they're around the ship.
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and on that same topic before you get on board, you might want to establish
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a meeting point where everyone gets together maybe at a particular time during
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the day, but also if you're meeting up before you head out to port, for example,
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personally, our group tends to use On The Rocks at the bottom of The
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Roundabout if we're all meeting up before we head out for the day.
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now onto tip number four, and this is possibly one of the most
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important ones, and this all comes to dining and reservations.
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So dining reservations really is its own topic as there's a lot to cover, and we
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do have a video on this channel which talks all about dining reservations.
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But here are a few things that are really good to know when it comes
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to traveling in a larger group.
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The first thing to do is to make sure that you're all connected in the mobile app.
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Once you've got your booking reference, you are able to log into your Virgin
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Voyages account on the mobile app, once you're logged into your sailing
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on the mobile app, look at the bottom of the screen and along the bottom
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You'll see a button that says Messenger.
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When you tap on that button, you'll see another button that says contacts.
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If you head to that button, you'll be given a QR code, which you can
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use with other people in your group to link your voyages together.
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What that will mean is when you are ready to make your bookings for dining,
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you will see everyone together a list of faces with everyone in the group.
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you simply select faces from this list when you are booking your dining, and
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everyone will be dining on the same table.
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as you well know, this will mean very little unless there are actual
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dining reservation spots available.
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Again, if you're looking for hints and tips on making sure you get
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those dining reservations, head over to our booking dining video.
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One really good thing to know if you're traveling in a group is that
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if just one of your bookings has a higher dining reservation window,
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you'll be able to make group bookings from that date with cabins that have
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a lower dining reservation window.
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so let me explain.
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Let's say you have a group of five cabins and four of those cabins
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have booked a Base rate fare, which means they're only able to book
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dining 15 days out from the sailing.
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which means that most, if not all of those larger tables will already
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have been reserved by other people But let's say that 1 out of 5 has
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booked a RockStar suite, in which case their dining window is 120 days out.
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So they're able to snag tables 120 days out from the voyage.
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well, if you're all connected on the app, like I just mentioned, those RockStars
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will be able to book a table for everyone
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regardless of the fact that those individuals wouldn't be able to
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choose their own dining and until 15 days out, you're actually able to
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reserve everyone a table 120 days out.
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This also applies if you're on the Essential or the Premium fare,
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where your dining window would be 45 days or 60 days, respectively.
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This is a really good perk and it just proves it's nice to
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have friends in high places!
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One thing to mention is that there is a limit to how many people you
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can book on a table just using the app . So if you are looking for a much
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larger group booking, you may want to speak directly to the restaurant
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managers when you get onboard the ship.
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there are much larger tables in The Test Kitchen and Pink Agave.
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And in The Wake, which is the steakhouse on board, there are actually two
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areas which effectively give you a private dining area for larger groups.
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Again, if you're looking to secure one of those spaces, it's worth making sure
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you speak to restaurant reservations as early as you can when you get on board.
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It will really help, of course, if you are a RockStar or a Mega RockStar
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and you have a RockStar Agent to be able to ask for this on your behalf,
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you might have a little more success.
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Now on to tip number five, which is all about how to make sure you use your Bar
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Tab and budgeting to make sure you're not spending too much money on board.
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One thing to mention here is that Bar Tabs are not transferable around cabins.
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If you are in a cabin, you can share a Bar Tab together by connecting your
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onboard accounts together, but you are not able to do that across different cabins.
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if you want to use your Bar Tab to buy other people drinks, you are able
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to do that, but you will need to be in the same place at the same time.
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As you will need to tap your band in order to make the charge.
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one thing that works really well on Virgin Voyages during dining is that you don't
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need to worry about bill splitting because each individual person at the table will
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be charged for their drinks individually.
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You don't need to ask for this to happen.
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It will happen automatically when they're taking your drink order.
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What they're actually doing on the device is putting that drink order
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against you as an individual, so you will be charged for your drinks.
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of course, if you want to cover the cost for somebody else's drink,
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you can simply ask them, But by default, the bills are split anyway.
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so you don't need to worry about this if you are dining in a big group.
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as ever, if you're looking to make the most out of your Bar Tab, we have a
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Bar Tab Calculator on vvinsider.com.
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Where you can put the information for your sailing and how many drinks you
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see yourself having on average per day.
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And we calculate how much Bar Tab is best to put on your account
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to save the most money possible.
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That's a completely free tool that's available to sailors around the world.
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Now, tip number six is all about planning one anchor moment
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during every day on your voyage.
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This is a really nice way to make it feel like you're not having forced fun
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every single day because you're just planning one simple event per day.
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It makes things a lot easier for everyone.
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This means that everyone in your group can feel free to explore the
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ship independently and do their own activities, but you still have
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that planned event during each day.
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so a few examples of what you might want do.
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Everyone might wanna meet together at the Grounds Club for morning coffee together.
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if it's a warm weather sailing, you might wanna meet up together
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on the pool deck in the afternoon,
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or perhaps
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you might wanna organize pre-dinner drinks at one of the bars.
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But remember, each day on the ship is gonna be different.
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So you might have days where you're going to a particular port,
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you might wanna organize a Shore Thing or an excursion together.
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you may also have a sea day coming up where there's tons of Happenings, events
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going on around the ship, so you might wanna choose some of these happening
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events to do together as a group.
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Of course, you've also got the big themed nights, so depending on which ship
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you are on, you might have some themed nights that have a dress up theme that
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you might all wanna get involved with and have a really good time as a group.
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and regardless of which ship you're on, you are always gonna have things
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like the PJ Party and Scarlet Night.
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These events in particular are so much fun to do as a larger group
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'cause it means you can do things like coordinating outfits or simply just
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enjoying the themed night together.
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If you're looking for any more information on which events are coming up on your
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sailing, head over to vvinsider.com and tap on events and you'll see exactly
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which events, including the themed events that are coming up for your particular
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sailing on your particular Lady Ship.
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There are tons of different tips that we could give you while traveling as a group
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if you want to plan things meticulously.
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But in our experience, about 70 to 80% of all of our voyages have been
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with other sailors as part of a group.
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I would recommend just planning things enough, don't over-engineer it.
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Don't force a particular schedule on your group of friends.
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especially if it's one of your first times on Virgin Voyages, because the
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likelihood is everyone will still be discovering things for themself.
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It'll be very difficult to have a regimented schedule when you're
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sailing for the first time.
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I would really recommend you to encourage everyone in your group to do a little
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bit of research themself by watching videos like this and looking at which
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venues and events to expect on your sailing, and decide what type of things
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that you'd all like to do together
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and not forgetting; there's plenty of things to do on board without having
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to plan and pre-prepare, including live events that you can simply show
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up to and all enjoy together as well.
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But like I say, if you've got plans coming up that involve more than one cabin,
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I do recommend that you get in touch with some voyage experts like ourselves
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to make sure that we navigate that booking process, 'cause that will be
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the most important thing to get right before you head off onto your sailing.
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If you wanna learn more about that and also support the work
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that we do here at VV Insider,
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which is to get all of this information and free tools out to everyone
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around the world, then head over to vvinsider.com/book and you can find
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out more about the exclusive perks that you can get by booking or linking
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your next Virgin Voyage through us.
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thank you so much for coming along.
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I'll be back next week with our Virgin Voyages Insider Update and there is
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a ton of news this time, So make sure you stay subscribed to this channel
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and I'll be back next Saturday.
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Looking forward to seeing you then and happy sailing!

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