In a surprising announcement on September 25, 2025, Virgin Voyages shared multiple new fare types coming to cruises booked October 7 and beyond. We’ll talk about those fare types below, but essentially what it means is that price, flexibility, and inclusions are changing based on what fare type you select. While inclusions and price have always varied with the cruise line’s Lock It In (e.g., guarantee) and Rockstar Quarters (e.g., suite/ship-within-a-ship), you’ll now find different fare types for ALL cabins going forward. Just like the airlines, Virgin Voyages adds Basic Economy with today’s announcement.

Booking Types

In today’s announcement, Virgin Voyages shares that there will now be 3 new fare options for standard cabins (sea-terrace and below). The Lock It In rate is still available, and still has the most restrictions of any fare.

• Base
• Essential
• Premium

Base Fare

The Base fare is essentially Virgin Voyages new Basic Economy ticket we see on airlines. While your cabin is assigned at booking, it is “subject to change up to 7 days before sailing.” Additionally, Base rates are non-refundable, non-changeable, and you get to book your restaurant reservations only 15 days prior to the voyage.

You also lose the included Classic WiFi that Virgin Voyages has always been known for included. Instead, those who book a Base Fare will receive Basic WiFi that will be significantly slower than the current offering.

Honestly, the Base Fare is essentially a Lock It In rate. The only real difference is your cabin is assigned at booking. However, remember, just like a Lock It In rate, it’s not actually guaranteed. We’ll be curious to see if both of these fares options remain long term, or if Lock It In eventually gets sunset. We’re also curious to see how big of a price difference there actually is between a cabin assigned 2 days prior to sailing and one that could change up to 7 days before your sailing.

Essential Fare

The Essential fare is most closely related to what cruisers see today. Your room is assigned at booking, you receive the Classic WiFi package for 1 device, you can cancel and receive a future voyage credit, cruise date changes are allowed*, and name changes are allowed**… but there’s a big change when it comes to flexiblity.

*While cruise date changes are allowed, today, you can change that date until 48 hours before your voyage. Truly, it’s the most flexible policy of any cruise line out there. With the new program, this changes to 45 DAYS before voyage! Honestly, it’s still pretty flexible, in our opinion, but it’s a significant change: 2 days to 45 days.

**Another change coming to the Essential Fare is related to name changes. Today, you can change anyone and everyone on a Virgin Voyages booking. With the new fare type, you’ll only be able to change sailors 2-4. The primary cruiser must remain on the reservation. Like cruise date changes, this was another area where Virgin Voyages exceeded when it came to flexibility. Going forward, the Essential Fare reduces that flexibility somewhat.

What’s not changing? You’ll still be able to book your restaurant reservations 45 days prior to sailing.

Premium Fare

The Premium fare adds a couple features that aren’t included in the standard Virgin Voyages booking today. Specifically, those who book a Premium Fare will receive:

• Premium WiFi for 2 devices
• All sailors can be changed on the reservation, even the primary
• Priority Service pre-voyage
• Bar Tab: $15 per sailor, per night

Additionally, those cruisers who book a Premium fare will be allowed to book restaurant reservations 60 days prior to sailing.

The Premium fare will cost $45 per sailor, per day more than the Essential fare. Is the flexibility to change all sailors, premium WiFi and the additional bar tab worth it? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Virgin Voyages Strips Out Gratuities

One of the most controversial changes is that Virgin Voyages will no longer bundle Gratuities in the cruise fare! Gone are the days of “pay one price, get it all.” The cruise line shares that it’s to bring better transparency to their pricing. Now you’ll be able to better compare their price with the price of other cruise lines.

Bull.

Separating out the $140 gratuities bill on a $5,000 Virgin Voyages sailing is not going to soften the blow. The reality is: Virgin Voyages is priced higher than cruise industry peers. And we’ve always defended this as you get so much more.

Separating out the gratuities line item has little to do with helping transparency. It’s a tax and financial play. Today, when the cruise line charges one price, outside of taxes and fees, it’s all considered revenue. By separating out Gratuities as its own line item, Virgin Voyages can now account for this differently saving tax dollars.

And it’s a pretty significant chunk of change. Think about it: 2,770 sailors x $140 x 4 ships x 52 weeks in a year. That’s $80 million dollars that Virgin Voyages can account for differently. Not a small number at all.

Pre-Pay Gratuities and Save

One other piece of the announcement today is that if you pre-pay gratuities, it’ll cost $20 per sailor, per day. If you wait to pay on board, it’ll cost $22 per sailor, per day. Additionally, all cruisers will be the same amount, regardless of fare type. If you book a Lock It In rate, you’ll pay the same amount of gratuities as someone that has a butler and has paid $20k for their stateroom. Interesting.

What they did not mention is: will cruisers be able to remove gratuities like they do on other cruise lines? We LOVE that Virgin Voyages builds in gratuities so you don’t have that line at guest services on the final day of the cruise. If gratuities can be removed, this will be a major blow to a cruise line we love so much.

Our Thoughts and Reaction

One of the things we’ve always loved and appreciated about Virgin Voyages is the straight-forward, easy-to-understand pricing model. You pay one price, and everything is included. Flexibility, service, and support, it’s all there. No nickel-and-diming like we see from some cruise lines.

Just looking at the new “Voyage Fair Choices” grid from afar highlights just how far the cruise line is moving from straight-forward and easy-to-understand.

The new fare types and gratuities line item launch October 7, 2025. Based on today’s announcement, we expect to see upcoming changes to the Sailing Club Loyalty Program. We first worried about this all the way back in 2022, and now, it appears it’s finally time to get an airline-style loyalty program.