April 29, 2024|Cruise, Virgin Voyages

by Eric Lipkind

I make it no secret that Virgin Voyages is my favorite cruise line.  Having also sailed on Disney, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Norwegian, and Carnival (ugh), Virgin stands alone at the top.

Last summer, my wife and I sailed on Virgin Voyages from Barcelona to Marseilles, Cannes, Mallorca, and Ibiza.   It was amazing, and we booked it with a crazy cheap points deal.   We are slated to go on another Virgin Voyage this summer as well.

Recently, Virgin Voyages released a number of innovative programs for its passengers.

STATUS MATCH

Starting today and through Friday, April 26th, Virgin Voyages will match your status from not only other cruise lines but also from hotels and airlines. This will give you access to ‘Blue Extras,’ including a free bag of laundry, specialty coffee, an exclusive cocktail event, and other benefits. In order to match the status, you will need to submit proof of status in another loyalty program and book a sailing by Friday, April 26th.   This is a no-brainer if you want to book a cruise with Virgin.

CASINO REWARDS

Virgin has rolled out its Sea-Roller rewards program for casino players.  Similar to other cruise line casino programs, the more you gamble, the more benefits you receive. Benefits include premium Wi-Fi, No-fee cash advances (great for earning free Credit card miles and points), free play, free drinks, and free cruises!   If you gamble, this is a great way to get extra perks.

SUMMER SEASON PASS

Virgin recently released its Summer Season Pass program, allowing you to sail on four back-to-back week-long European cruises this summer.  Initially, the offer was good on the Scarlett Lady ship and extended to the Resilient Lady ship.  Locations visited include France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia and more.   This is a take on the work-from-home option, except you can work from the ship using the ship’s amazing wifi.  Actually, last summer, when I was on a Mediterranean Virgin Voyage, I was able to do a Zoom interview with an NYC news outlet off the coast of France.  So, the moral of the story is that working at sea is very doable.   

Speaking with John Diorio, Vice President of North American Sales, Richard Branson, the Virgin Voyages CEO, created this idea and wanted to create a way to blend work with play.    Customer reception from both sailors and Travel Advisors has been very strong.  Most people who have signed up are US or UK based as they are the top two Virgin markets..  Demographics of the typical sailor are not yet available, but the average Virgin Voyage sailor is 47  years old.   Registered so far are primarily couples, but some singles have signed up as well.  Since COVID, the work-from-home environment has certainly expanded,  so this was a natural expansion of that.   Usually, sailors can stay on the ship at the end of each cruise without having to disembark and reboard.   

The cost is $9,990 for up to two passengers and includes a central Sea Terrace Cabin, Premium Wi-Fi, laundry service, access to a private sundeck called Richard’s Rooftop, a $10 specialty coffee credit per day, and welcome Champagne.

HOW YOU CAN BOOK WITH POINTS

As I mentioned, last summer, I booked with points using a great transfer bonus from Citi Thank-You points to Virgin Atlantic points and then using those Virgin Atlantic points on the sister program Virgin Red, which was running a Virgin Voyages Cruise promotion to book with points.

Unfortunately, for this summer, there was no promotion to book with Virgin points, so I was able to book through Chase Travel using my Chase Ultimate Rewards points in conjunction with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. This allowed me to pay for the cruise at a rate of .67 points per dollar value of the cruise, which allowed me to pay completely with points with no out-of-pocket cost.  

If you choose to take advantage of any of these offers, especially the Season Pass, let me know.  I would love to talk to you about it.