Virgin Voyages is worth it if you want a strictly adults-only cruise (18+, no kids anywhere on board) with a relaxed, boutique-hotel feel and none of the traditional cruise formality. Wi-Fi, dining across 20-plus eateries, group fitness classes, and non-alcoholic basics like still and sparkling water, drip coffee, and soda are all included in your fare, but gratuities are not — they’re a separate charge, the same on every fare tier, currently about $20 per sailor per night if you prepay or roughly $22 per night if you settle up onboard. Alcohol and specialty items are not — Virgin uses a prepaid “Bar Tab” instead of a classic drink package. If you’re traveling with children, want a formal main dining room, or love a big-ship “everything’s an upsell” energy, it’s probably not the right fit.

I’m Kelly, and I book a lot of cruises for a lot of different kinds of travelers. Virgin Voyages is one of the lines my clients ask me about most, usually because they saw the ships online and thought, “Wait, is this actually a cruise?” It is — just not the cruise their parents took. Let me walk you through what makes it different, what’s genuinely included, and, most importantly, who should book it and who should skip it.

What Makes Virgin Voyages Different

The single biggest thing to understand about Virgin Voyages is that it is adults-only. You must be 18 or older to sail, and there are no kids on board at all — no nursery, no kids’ club, no water slides with a line of ten-year-olds. When my clients tell me they love cruising but wish they could skip the crowds of strollers around the pool, this is the first line I bring up.

The vibe is more “design hotel that floats” than “mega-ship resort.” A few things that surprise first-timers:

No formal nights. There’s no tuxedo evening, no assigned dinner seating, no dress code stress. You show up when you’re hungry.
No traditional main dining room. Instead of one giant hall with a fixed rotation, you get 20-plus restaurants and eateries, and you decide where and when to eat.
A grown-up atmosphere. Think late-night entertainment, DJ sets, a tattoo studio, and a spa-forward “thermal suite,” all aimed squarely at adults.

If you’ve cruised before and found the formality a little stuffy, this is the antidote. If the formality was part of the fun for you, keep reading — Virgin might not be your line.

What’s Actually Included in the Fare (and What Isn’t)

Here’s where I spend the most time with clients, because Virgin’s pricing model is genuinely different from what most people expect. The headline is that a lot of the “nickel-and-dime” extras from other lines are baked in.

Included in your Virgin Voyages fare:

Wi-Fi on board
Dining at all 20-plus restaurants and eateries — these are included, not surcharge steakhouses
Group fitness classes
Non-alcoholic basics: still and sparkling water, drip coffee, and soda

Not included (you pay extra):

Gratuities. This one trips people up, so I flag it early: gratuities aren’t baked into the fare on any tier — they’re a separate charge, the same whether you book Base, Essential, or Premium. You can prepay at roughly $20 per sailor per night, or settle up onboard at about $22 per night. Either way, budget for it as a line item on top of your fare.
Alcohol of any kind
Specialty coffees and other premium beverages
Spa treatments, and some premium experiences

What you get	Virgin Voyages
Minimum age to sail	18+ (strictly adults-only)
Kids on board	None
Wi-Fi	Included
Gratuities	Not included — separate charge, same on every fare tier (~$20-22/sailor/night)
Dining (20+ venues)	Included
Group fitness classes	Included
Non-alcoholic basics (water, soda, drip coffee)	Included
Alcohol	Extra — via “Bar Tab”
Formal nights / dress code	None
Assigned dining times	None

Here’s the mistake I see first-time Virgin cruisers make: they assume “alcohol included” because so much else is. It isn’t. Virgin uses a Bar Tab model — you prepay a set amount of onboard bar credit before you sail, and drinks draw down against it. There’s no traditional all-you-can-drink beverage package. When one of my couples is trying to budget, I walk them through roughly how much they actually drink in a day so their Bar Tab isn’t wildly over or under. That five-minute conversation saves a lot of surprise at the bar.

One more term to know: Sailor Loot. That’s Virgin’s onboard credit — money that lands in your account to spend on board, sometimes through a promotion. Between Bar Tab and Sailor Loot, the lingo is half the confusion, and it’s exactly the kind of thing I sort out before you ever step on the ship.

The Dining Is the Sleeper Feature

I want to spend a moment on the food, because it’s what wins over skeptics. Instead of one repetitive dining room, Virgin gives you a spread of restaurants — everything from a Korean barbecue spot to a Mexican taqueria to an upscale steakhouse — and they’re all included in your fare. No per-restaurant surcharge for the “specialty” venues, which is the opposite of how most lines work.

For my clients who love to eat and hate feeling upsold, this is the closest thing to an all-inclusive dining experience I can point them to at sea. The catch is that the popular spots book up, so I always help clients reserve their dining before departure rather than gambling on walk-ups. When I book a couple on Scarlet Lady, the dining reservations are one of the first things we lock in.

Scarlet Lady vs. Valiant Lady: The Two Ships

Most first-timers will sail one of Virgin’s two established ships, Scarlet Lady or Valiant Lady. They’re sister ships — very similar in size, design language, and onboard experience — so the honest truth is that the ship matters less than the itinerary and the departure port.

That’s the conversation I actually have with clients: not “which ship is better,” but “which sailing fits your calendar, your home airport, and the region you want.” Both ships have run Caribbean itineraries, and Virgin also sails elsewhere seasonally, so the right pick usually comes down to where you want to wake up and how easy the port is for you to reach. If you’re the type who compares cruise styles carefully, my breakdowns of whether Regent Seven Seas’ all-inclusive model is worth it and river versus ocean cruising with Viking pair nicely with this one — they help you see where Virgin sits on the spectrum.

Who Virgin Voyages Is Worth It For

After booking a range of travelers on it, here’s who I confidently send to Virgin:

Couples who want a kid-free trip. No children on board means genuinely quiet pools and adult-paced days. This is the number-one reason my clients choose it.
First-time cruisers who think they hate cruises. If the formality, the buffet chaos, or the crowds turned you off before, Virgin’s boutique, no-dress-code style often flips people.
Foodies who resent surcharges. Twenty-plus included restaurants is a strong pitch.
Solo travelers and friend groups. The social, design-forward atmosphere suits people who want nightlife and a scene, not a family resort.
Travelers who want fewer surprise charges. Wi-Fi and dining already handled means a tidier final bill — as long as you understand the Bar Tab and budget for gratuities as a separate line item.

Who Should Skip It

I’d rather be honest and keep a client happy than book the wrong trip. Virgin is probably not for you if:

You’re traveling with kids or grandkids. There’s no version of this that works — under-18s can’t sail, full stop.
You love a formal cruise. No formal night, no grand main dining room, no traditional production-show-and-captain’s-table rhythm. If that’s the magic for you, you’ll miss it.
You want a big all-you-can-drink package. The Bar Tab model can be great, but if you specifically want a flat-rate unlimited drink package, that’s not how Virgin works.
You’re bringing a multi-generational group. A trip built around grandparents, parents, and kids together simply can’t happen on an adults-only ship.

How I Help You Match the Right Sailing

This is the part a website comparison chart can’t do. When a client comes to me curious about Virgin Voyages, we talk through the things that actually determine whether you’ll love it: Are you truly happy with an adults-only trip, or would you miss having the whole family together? How much do you realistically drink, so we size the Bar Tab right? Which departure port is painless from your home airport? Do you want a Caribbean beach week or something farther afield?

From there I match you to the specific sailing, get your dining reservations in early, keep an eye out for supplier promotions like onboard credit or upgrade offers, and make sure the fine print — the age rule, the Bar Tab, what’s included — is crystal clear before you book, not after. First-time Virgin cruisers who come to me almost always tell me the same thing afterward: the ship was easy; it was knowing how it all worked ahead of time that made the trip feel effortless.

So — is Virgin Voyages worth it? For the right traveler, absolutely. It’s one of the most distinctive, genuinely relaxing cruise experiences out there, as long as you go in knowing it’s adults-only and understanding the Bar Tab. The wrong traveler, though, can feel like the trip just wasn’t built for them, and that’s exactly the mismatch I’m here to prevent.

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