Last updated: May 2026
Planning a Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise and wondering if it is actually worth the hype?
After spending 7 days sailing the Eastern Caribbean with Virgin Voyages, we can confidently say it was one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to explore multiple Caribbean islands. Visiting these islands independently would have required multiple expensive regional flights and hotel bookings, which made the cruise surprisingly good value overall.
From the adults-only atmosphere and incredible food to Scarlet Night and the beautiful Caribbean ports, the experience felt very different from traditional cruising.
In this honest Virgin Voyages review, we will cover:
- what the food is really like
- the entertainment and onboard atmosphere
- our full Eastern Caribbean itinerary
- cabin quality and what’s included
- how to get a free $150 bar tab bonus
- whether Virgin Voyages is worth the price
- who this cruise is actually best for
By the end of this review, you’ll know whether a Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise is the right fit for your travel style.
Table of Contents
Why Trust This Review?
We have personally sailed this itinerary and are giving you our own independent review. This was not a hosted experience, we visited all the ports ourselves and experienced dining/entertainment/cabins firsthand. We paid for our cruise and this review reflects our honest personal experience. This is what we thought of our cruise and what we wished we knew before we booked.
| Planning a Virgin Voyages Cruise? |
|---|
| Book through our referral link and new sailors receive: ๐น $150 in free drinks to purchase specialty beverages on your cruise! ๐ Book your Virgin Voyages cruise here |
Quick Verdict โ Is Virgin Voyages Worth It?
โญ Overall: 9/10
๐ฝ Best for: Couples, adults & first-time cruisers
๐ฐ Worth the price? Yes
๐ฅ Best feature: Food & adults-only atmosphere
โ Biggest downside: Drinks can get expensive quickly
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent food Adults-only atmosphere Great entertainment Modern ships Strong inclusions | Less suited to older/traditional cruisers Pool deck can be crowded Small pools |
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Who Is Virgin Voyages Best For?
Best for:
- couples
- millennials
- friend groups
- first-time cruisers
- food lovers
Not ideal for:
- families
- travellers wanting a traditional cruise experience
Our Virgin Voyages Caribbean Itinerary
This is the exact cruise we booked, it was based in the Eastern Caribbean and we chose this specifically because it visited multiple small islands that were expensive to fly into/out of especially when visiting for a few days only. We felt it gave us the best opportunity to see this area in the most convenient way possible.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Our cruise started in Puerto Rico which was fantastic. We loved that it began right in the Caribbean without having to sail to get there. San Juan was a great city to explore, we focused on Old San Juan for its walkability and culture. Our embarkation experience was excellent, quick and easy and before we knew it we were on board. We loved spending a day in Old San Juan before we boarded our cruise, check out our guide here!
Philipsburg, St Maarten
St Maarten was our first stop and a very exciting one. The port was very simple, after disembarking we walked into the main centre of town. We really wanted to go and see the famous Maho Beach where the planes land right behind the beach so we found a local minibus heading that way. This was such a cool experience and we think it is a must especially for first-time visitors to St Maarten. Back in town we walked around a little and grabbed a drink before heading back to the ship.
๐ Read all the details in our St Maarten Port Day Guide on our adventure and all the best port day options here.
Sea Day
We were really unsure about a sea day, we originally viewed it as a ‘waste of a day’ when we could have been exploring a destination. However, that has since changed and the only thing we wish now is that we either had two of them or that this one was more in the middle of the itinerary.
The sea day gave us the perfect time to explore the ship properly and relax. When you are at a new port every day you get exhausted from trying to explore the destination and still go to the shows or activities.
The sea day was the perfect relaxing day to lounge by the pool, do some activities and catch some entertainment. It would be the perfect day to book a spa treatment or massage. Virgin Voyages lets you bring on 2 bottles of wine or sparkling which we had done, we enjoyed relaxing on our balcony toasting to our cruise with nowhere to be.
Bridgetown, Barbados
We were super excited for this port day, we definitely wanted to spend time on the beach at Barbados so that was our focus. We walked from the port into Bridgetown and checked out as much of the town as we could while still heading towards the nicest beach in the closest area. The town was pretty relaxed and the beach was stunning. Perfect white sand and super clear water we loved hanging out here for the day. We slowly started heading back in the afternoon toward the ship, detouring to see Rhiannas childhood home and a cricket ground and Legends of Cricket Museum which were conveniently located near the port.
๐ Our full Bridgetown Barbados Port Day Guide includes everything we did, where we went and what we would do next time.
Fort-de-France, Martinique
We decided to walk around Fort-De-France and explore the town. It was perfectly walkable with lots of interesting stops. The unique French-Caribbean vibe was felt in the architecture, which coupled with the stunning scenery, made it easy to like this stop. We have created a full itinerary of our port day stop in Martinique!
St Johnโs, Antigua
Antigua has 365 beaches on it which is enough for one for every day of the year. We chose one, jumped in a local mini bus and headed out there. It was a really lovely beach but most of the area was taken up with hotel sun-beds. If you were spending the day here you could rent one and relax. There were some great beach bars and restaurants, Mike grabbed a beer from a nearby store and enjoyed it on the beach. ๐ This was one of the easiest things to do, but I have covered all of the options for the best things to do in our full Antigua Port Day Guide.
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Tortola has a small port where you could wander around the town or do a day trip. This is one I would book an excursion for. We decided to walk the town and check it out but we also wanted some ship time so we headed back early to just relax on our last afternoon.
๐ This is our Tortola Port Day Guide, it covers all the best excursions and what you can do in the port area.
What Is Included on Virgin Voyages?
Virgin Voyages has some of the best inclusions of any cruise line. We really wanted to get the maximum value for our money and Virgin Voyages delivered. After being on this cruise and then comparing it with a cheaper MSC cruise only a few weeks later we could see where the value is.
These are the inclusions that Virgin Voyages offers:
- Restaurants included (booking essential)
- WiFi
- Gratuities
- Fitness classes
- Entertainment
- Soft drinks/coffee/tea/water
- Retro arcade games and activities such as quizzes and scavenger hunts, social gatherings and karaoke.
Enjoying this guide? Support our blog by buying us a coffee
What costs extra?
- alcohol
- excursions
- spa services
- specialty add-ons
Are Gratuities Included?
In every Virgin Voyages cruise the gratuities are included already. The rules around this have changed and now you will see them in the breakdown of the price you pay. It is best to choose to prepay them as once you are boarded they go up in price. These gratuities are for the entire ship, so there is no need to tip individually. I loved this as it means money isn’t being handled with food and drinks and is much less hassle.
Virgin Voyages Food Review
The food on our Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise was one of the highlights and where we saw excellent value. There was a main galley area filled with lots of stalls serving different types of food. It was not a buffet or self service, there’s a menu board and a staff member would give you what you wanted, as much or as many times as you asked for it. The Galley was open for breakfast and throughout the day. There is a 24/7 late night diner for midnight snacks and the pizza place stays open late too.
There were also restaurants for dinner which required bookings. While it is sometimes possible to walk in I would not rely on it as they are all usually booked out and we saw many people getting turned away. The food was excellent onboard, we really couldn’t complain at all.
Best Restaurants on Virgin Voyages
While the food in all restaurants was of a high quality, our favourite restaurants were The Wake, Extra Virgin Italian and Pink Agave Mexican. These were the restaurants that we felt had the nicest food options, ones we would go back to every day if possible. The Wake was our overall favourite, we loved the lamb chops and steak.
๐ Find my Virgin Voyages Gluten Free Guide.
Virgin Voyages Entertainment & Nightlife
The entertainment of Virgin Voyages is different to your usual cruise. There are theme nights and parties which everyone who attends dresses up for the theme. The parties have a nightclub vibe and the themes are:
- Scarlet Night
- PJ Party
- We Fancy Party
There is also live musicians throughout the ship, usually by the bars so that you can sit and relax with live music and a drink. The bigger shows are slightly different to the usual cruise shows. There are a couple of music performances, the a cappella group was excellent as was the comedian and a lot of variety shows. These shows include a Diva who is one of the main characters on the ship. They are all entertaining and of high quality, there is also just a little audience participation involved.
The final entertainment style is the activities, there are quizzes, scavenger hunts, board game challenges, karaoke and a DJ out by the pool. It felt like there was always something happening on the ship.
How Much Does Virgin Voyages Actually Cost?
Virgin Voyages keeps pricing relatively simple which is fantastic, we loved that almost everything was included. There are three levels of voyage fares now which are Base, Essential and Premium. They each include varying levels of WiFi and restaurant booking dates. We just took the base fare and it was more than enough.
These are the approximate costs of incidentals in Virgin Voyages:
| Item | Typical Cost in USD |
|---|---|
| Cruise fare | ~ $1,800 up to $3500+ |
| Drinks | Included water, coffee, tea and soft drink. (Extra charges for Beer ~$7-9, Wine ~$11, Cocktails ~$11-15) |
| Excursions | Start from ~$70 up to $3000 |
| Bar tab | Bar tab can be added to your stay from $200 – $1000. This is used for specialty drinks above. (Check out our offer – free $150 bar tab with each cruise – new sailors only.) |
| Extras | Hair dressers, beauty/spa services, tattoo etc all vary |
The inclusions with Virgin Voyages are excellent value. The dining is high quality restaurant level, when compared to other cruises where you would either pay extra for the restaurant these are all included. We really loved that on Virgin Voyages almost everything was included, with the exception of the above you didn’t have to worry about paying for anything else onboard.
| Planning to book Virgin Voyages? New sailors can get a FREE $150 USD bar tab through our referral link here. |
Our Cabin Review
Virgin Voyages has some of the best cruise cabins we’ve personally stayed in. Our cabin was excellent, we had a sea terrace room and it was perfect. We loved the easy layout, entry with storage and hanging space, bathroom which is compact but functional. The bedroom section is a decent size, the bed is huge and there is even a lounge chair, table and desk. The sea terrace was amazing, we loved the hammock and the ability to have indoor/outdoor space.
The tech features were a highlight with a digital controller that could be used to turn on and off lights, open the curtains, control the TV and set the lighting. We had heard that storage may be a problem on a cruise ship but not here, there was enough to hang what we needed and the drawers and room for our bags was great. There was a safe and a mini fridge and the stewards refilled the 2 carafes of water daily.
Our cabin was cleaned daily and was incredibly comfortable, we wished we had more time to spend in there!
What We Loved Most About Virgin Voyages
Our favourite things about our Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise were:
- Favourite destination: a tie between St Maarten and Barbados
- Favourite restaurant: The Wake
- Best onboard experience: We loved the restaurants and activities
- Atmosphere: There was a relaxed adult atmosphere. The vibe was incredibly friendly and calm, everyone was in a good mood!
What We Didnโt Love
A few of the things we didn’t love about the cruise were:
- The crowded pool deck area
- The pools were really small, there were multiple spas which were also crowded most of the time.
- The quizzes being based on US history or culture, as Australians we had no idea and lost every time.
Virgin Voyages vs Traditional Cruise Lines
For us Virgin Voyages was far superior to a traditional cruise line. We also went on a short Caribbean cruise with MSC and it just couldn’t compare.
Virgin Voyages vs MSC
Firstly Virgin Voyages ships are modern and more boutique feeling. Their maximum capacity is about 2,800 passengers so they generally carry less people. They are adults-only so you don’t have children racing around in pools or dining areas and there was no kids play areas. The vibe is happy, friendly and un-rushed. The meals in restaurants look, taste and feel like they took time and care to create. Traditional cruises can feel a little cheesy at times, Virgin Voyages just felt like an elevated cruise experience.
| Feature | Virgin Voyages | MSC |
|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Adults-only | Family friendly |
| Food | Premium | Standard |
| Entertainment | Modern | Traditional |
| Included extras | More | Less |
| Best for | Couples | Budget travellers |
Tips for First-Time Virgin Voyages Sailors
Our top tips for first-time sailors with Virgin Voyages is to:
- book shows ASAP
- book restaurants as early as possible, if you miss out on a restaurant booking head straight to guest services on embarkation and they can help arrange them.
- pack red for Scarlet Night (at least a red top or pop of colour)
- come out for the sail away party, there is free sparkling wine for an hour! It is a lot of fun.
- donโt over-schedule ports
- get a bar tab
- try a variety of the different styles of entertainment
Virgin Voyages Is Perfect For:
โ
Couples
โ
Adults-only travel
โ
Food lovers
โ
Modern cruise fans
Virgin Voyages May NOT Suit:
โ Families
โ Traditional cruisers
โ Budget travellers
โ Travellers who prefer the slow travel experience
How to Get the $150 Free Bar Tab Bonus
๐น New Virgin Voyages sailors receive a FREE $150 USD bar tab when booking through our referral link, directly with Virgin Voyages.
Use it for cocktails, wine, specialty coffee and premium drinks onboard.
FAQ โ Virgin Voyages Caribbean Review
Is Virgin Voyages all inclusive?
Virgin Voyages is not 100% all inclusive but they are one of the most inclusive cruise lines. After sailing on other more traditional cruise lines we realised just how much was included.
Is Virgin Voyages worth the money?
Yes! We think that Virgin Voyages is definitely worth the price. With so much included you really don’t need to worry about anything, just get on the boat and enjoy.
Are drinks included on Virgin Voyages?
Tea, coffee, water and soft drink is included on Virgin Voyages. Most cruise lines don’t include soft drinks so this is a great bonus.
Is Virgin Voyages good for couples?
Virgin Voyages are excellent cruises for couples. The adult-only atmosphere is awesome, no kids in the pools or running around dining areas.
What is Scarlet Night?
Scarlet Night is the big theme night on all Virgin Voyages cruises. Everyone wears red (top to toe normally!) and there are performances telling the story behind the night. After this everyone heads out to the pool area to watch the show, there is dancing, singing and a DJ.
Is Virgin Voyages good for first-time cruisers?
Virgin Voyages is an excellent choice for first-time cruisers, they make it so easy to be part of. The itineraries are varied and exciting. I highly recommend.
What age group goes on Virgin Voyages?
You have to be 18+ to go on Virgin Voyages, while people in their 80s join in the usual age is between 30-50ish. A younger crowd is attracted to the shorter sailings and slightly older to the longer voyages.
Is Virgin Voyages better than Royal Caribbean?
We have yet to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise so hard to say but it would really take a lot to beat Virgin Voyages!
Is the bar tab worth it?
If you plan on drinking on the ship then definitely get a bar tab. They top up the bar tab with a little extra if you buy before you sail and if you book through our link (and haven’t sailed with Virgin Voyages before) you get a free $150 to spend on specialty drinks!
What is included on Virgin Voyages?
Your cabin, food, drinks such as water, coffee, tea and soft drink, entertainment, board games, retro arcade games, WiFi, fitness classes, water refreshed in your room each day, daily room cleaning, all port fees.
How do gratuities work on Virgin Voyages?
Gratuities are included in the price of the cruise, you will see it on a separate line as it has to be declared how much of the price is for gratuities. This means that you do not have to tip as you go for service as it has already been done. It is a cleaner way of doing things so money is not being handled with food and drinks too which I loved!
Is Virgin Voyages Worth It? Final Verdict
If you want an adults-only Caribbean cruise with excellent food, modern ships, fun nightlife and a relaxed atmosphere, Virgin Voyages is one of the best cruise experiences we’ve personally had.
While it is more expensive than budget cruise lines, the inclusions, dining quality and overall atmosphere made it feel worth the price for us.
We would absolutely sail with Virgin Voyages again!
Plan your trip:
โ Antigua Cruise Port Day Guide
โ MSC Bahamas Review
โ Ocean Cay Cruise Port Day Guide
โ Barbados Cruise Port Day Guide
โ St Maarten Cruise Port Day Guide
โ MSC Gluten Free Review
โ Virgin Voyages Gluten Free Review
โ Nassau Cruise Port Day Guide
โ Curacao Guide
โ Aruba Guide
Want to see it all in action? Watch our full Caribbean series on YouTube (subscribe to our channel to stay up to date with our travel guides) and follow along on Instagram @passport_nomads and @kelly___buckley for real-time travel tips, guides, and behind-the-scenes moments.
We hope this guide helped you plan an unforgettable trip.
