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If you’ve had your eye on a Virgin Voyages cruise, you’re in luck: Virgin Red is offering a 7-night European cruise on the “Valiant Lady” or the “Resilient Lady” for 80,000 points total for two passengers. Sailings are from Barcelona or Athens.
There are currently 30% transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic (and thus, Virgin Red) via both Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) and Amex Membership Rewards (MR), so these 7-night cruises can be had for only 62,000 points from either of those programs.
The Deal
Limited time offer to book the following Virgin Voyages’ cruises using Virgin Red:
- Choose ANY 7-night sailing from Barcelona on Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady or from Athens on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady for 80,000 Virgin Points.
- Valid for accommodation in a Sea Terrace or Limited Sea View Terrace cabin for up to 2 people.
- Book for departures between 6/1/23 and
7/31/238/27/23. - Stacks with 30% transfer bonuses from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards.
Direct Link to Offer and Itineraries (must log-in to Virgin Red)
Key Terms
- This offer is exclusive to Virgin Red members.
- Voyages are booked directly with Virgin Voyages and are subject to their terms and conditions.
- Flights and transfers are not included.
- This is a round-trip voyage from either Athens or Barcelona. All sailors (passengers) must make their own travel arrangements to and from Athens or Barcelona prior to and after the cruise.
- Purchase of sailings from Virgin Red are for Access Keys to book cabins. Reservations made with Access Keys are not eligible for Virgin Voyages’ Perks Program or count towards any future loyalty program credits.
- Cabins are The Sea Terrace or Limited View Sea Terrace on Resilient Lady or Valiant Lady, and will be determined by Virgin Voyages according to availability. The price is per cabin (one or two persons). There is no single sailor supplement available.
- Each Access Key required to book a cabin is only applicable for a seven-night sailing from Athens on Resilient Lady or a seven-night sailing from Barcelona on Valiant Lady departing no later than 07.31.2023. Any other use of the Access Key will be void.
- Each Virgin Red member can book up to 4 The Sea Terrace or Limited View Sea Terrace cabins. The booking party must check-in at the same time.
- Access Keys may be used for personal, non-commercial purposes only. Any resale or transfer of Access Keys or cabins for profit is not permitted and may result in the Access Key(s) and/or cabin(s) being cancelled without notice.
- Virgin Red recommends that bookings should be completed no later than five business days before the date of travel.
- Cabin type cannot be upgraded when using an Access Key as part of the booking process, and any attempt to do so will result in the Access Key being void. However, once the booking of a The Sea Terrace or Limited Sea View Terrace cabin has been confirmed, it may be possible to upgrade if Virgin Voyages subsequently offer the chance to do so.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club vs. Virgin Red
Virgin offers two rewards programs. One is the legacy Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program, and the other is the new Virgin Red program which offers awards far beyond flight awards. Even though they have different names, it’s best to think of the two programs as one thing. By joining Virgin Red, you can link your Virgin Atlantic account and then all points will appear together in both programs. In other words, you’ll have equal access to all of your points regardless of whether you log into Virgin Red or Virgin Atlantic.
You can sign up for Virgin Red here.
Quick Thoughts
While I haven’t ever been on Virgin Voyages, they seem to get good reviews and are a step up from more common carriers like Carnival and Princess.
Looking at cash prices, these seem to be a very good deal. Dates for the specified itineraries for a Sea Terrace cabin are hovering in the ~$3000 range, making this a very good use of 80,000 Virgin points (or 62,000 Chase or Amex points). All food, soft drinks, tips, group fitness classes, entertainment and Wi-Fi are included. All cruises are adults-only.
It’s worth noting that each Virgin member can book up to four cabins under these promotions, making it feasible for a larger group to travel together, provided that everyone is over 18 (Virgin Voyages cruises are adults-only). There is no single supplement, so the price is the same for one or two passengers.
In order to make this redemption, you’d need to have points in your Virgin account and then sign in to the Virgin Red app and hit “redeem” on the offer you want. Virgin Red will send you an access code that you use to book directly with Virgin Voyages.
Virgin Red is a transfer partner of Capital One, Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Bilt Rewards. Suffice it to say that there’s a lot of ways to transfer in. If you already have a Flying Club account, you can link this to your Virgin Red account and the points totals for both will theoretically sync…although it doesn’t always seem to be a smooth process.
Overall, this looks like an attractive deal for those interested in trying out Virgin Voyages.
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Was it available until the 27th of Aug?
Jumped on this deal and am cruising out of Barcelona on July 9th. Bid for an upgrade on the XL Sea Terrace and was successful with a bid of $350. In addition, per others suggestions, successfully matched my Hyatt Globalist -> MSC Cruises -> Virgin Sea-Rover w/ Deep Blue Extras.
Well for those looking to book this, I recommend to jump on the opportunity to see sir Richard himself as he’s throwing a party on the last week of August from Athens https://www.virginvoyages.com/ahoy/stories/a-virgin-celebration-voyage
First, if you get referred by someone for the same dates cruise, both you and the referrer get a champagne. You can link up your reservations even after the booking is done.
Second, you can status match your hotel status to MSC which you can then match to Virgin. This gives you a bunch of perks, mainly priority boarding and $100 alcohol credit. Both of these matches (from MSC and Virgin) came within 24 hours.
Can I gift the access code to a friend? Anyone around who has done that this time or the last time when the promo was alive?
I read that it’s possible and you DO NOT have to sail with them.
I have just about pressed the redeem now button, but just cant find the cancelation policy. Tried calling Virgin Voyages and they seem to say contact Virgin Red. Voyages said if I canceled it would be no problem, they would just cancel the room, but they don’t know about the points. Anyone have more insight?
Anyone with questions hit me up! I took a VV points trip out of BCN in OCT and just booked my 2nd for June 11 out of Athens. Linking status match (XYZ to MSC then to Virgin) nets you the following: $100 bar tab, $10/day specialty coffee ONLY from The Grounds Club (not restaurants IME), giant laundry bag service, and an awkward champagne hour where you meet all the other super-repeat-cruisers and try to avoid mentioning it’s your first or second time on a cruise ship.
@Tim Steinke they also have referrals (for your exact sailing date/ship) whereby each person using the link gets a free bottle of bubbly (~$100 value).
June 11th from Athens is here if interested https://virg.in/Ucis
Currently on valiant lady. Food is outstanding. Crew and passengers super friendly. No problem with reservations although ship is only 1/2 full. Definitely a great redemption. Bid for an upgrade and got it to the XL sea terrace. Bathroom alone makes it worth it. Status matched and got sooo many perks.., I’ll be having to buy alcohol for the ship. They gave $100 to both me and my travel companion. The loyalty reception had all you can drink sangria. I’m eying the Greece itinerary but can’t justify two week long cruises in one summer. Hopefully they will keep these redemptions going. The line definitely needs publicity. Crew says it’s never at capacity. Great for us… but concerning as a business model.
What was the winning bid?
$415
Did you use an access code/points redemption and also got the perks via status match?
Yes
@Charles going on the same cruise from Barcelona. what restaurant do you recommend booking? And on shore activités ?
They are all great. If I had to choose… Italian abs Korean barbq. Ship is not full so you won’t have problems getting reservations. It’s super hard to know what to reserve and not miss the shows etc. I did all my own shore excursions. People who did Monaco complained about too much time on bus. In Cannes I booked local ferry to at tropez which leaves right from same port. In Mallorca rented a car and saw smaller towns which were great. Ibiza spent the day at the beach via taxi. This was one of the best redemptions I’ve done and I’m a huge points person. Have fun.
Thanks for the quick reply. Also a huge points person and it’s a fun redemption as it will be my first cruise (also being able to have the family at a very low cost is awesome too)
What about on-board activities, as you mention that are many to choose from. What are the best ones? Also did you MS on the ship with their casinos?
No ms on the ship… but I didn’t try lol. The shows are fairly mediocre… but scarlet party was tons of fun. They run the shows multiple times so don’t stress too much. Do status match… hotel to msc to virgin. We got $100/person in drinks, a free reception, specialty coffees and laundry. Even though it says the match ends 3/31… they approved me.
I was on the same cruise as Charles. I thought the Duel Reality show was fantastic. We stayed near Marseille for 4 nights before the cruise. The seaport town of Cassis is close to Marseille and very nice. While there we took a boat trip to see the callanques (steep rocks that form narrow bays). Very pretty. In Cannes we took the “free” walking tour with what to do Riviera (I think). My wife and I were the only 2 people on the tour. The guide, Lucia, was great. In Malloraca we rented a car at the airport and drove to Valldemossa, Cala de Drei, and Sóller. Loved the first 2, but get to the second one by 10:30 (very limited parking).
If I were you I would try each restaurant. The Test kitchen was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. They change the menu midweek, so you could go there twice.
That’s awesome! Thanks a lot for the tip 🙂
That is impressive. Looks like those cruises are between $2,000-$3,000, depending on the date and whether 1 or 2 people. That translates to 3.2-4.8 cents per mile if a person used the 30% transfer bonus from Chase or Amex (2.5-3.75 if no transfer bonus)
My wife and I are leaving Marseille today and flying to Barcelona. We get on thee Valiant Lady tomorrow for the French Daze and Ibiza Nights cruise that I paid for with 100k IR points. I expect this to be one of the best redemptions I ever made. According to the Miles to Memories podcast from a few episodes ago the food and entertainment onboard is awesome.
Book restaurants and entertainment ASAP, as I had major problems last October getting into things. Fun time though
Thanks for the tip. I was able to book restaurants, but I think I need to wait until I board in order to book entertainment
Anyway to extend the previous offer of 100k back in February?
Does anyone know if we can add a 3rd person to the cabin? How much extra would that be?
Long shot, but I’m wondering the same. Any chance you found an answer to this or tried yourself Gary? Thanks.
Hi Justin,
So I asked Virgin Red directly and unfortunately no you cannot. If you want to add 3rd person you’d have to book a 2nd room, which is what I’ll be doing.
Thank,
Gary
Too bad this is adult only.
Yep, just saw that. It blows!
I just got back this week from the Barcelona cruise. It was amazing! We are not typical cruisers. Virgin has figured it out! I highly recommend it….
That’s great feedback, Jim. I’m curious, since you’re not a “typical” cruiser, what were the aspects of the Virgin cruise that made it so appealing? I’d love to hear your impressions.
Virgin status matches with other cruise lines and you do get the associated perks on these cruises, they just aren’t supposed to count towards establishing status directly with virgin.
And if you don’t have status with other cruise line MSC will match your hotel status. I was able to match Hyatt Globalist to MSC Diamond to Virgin Sea Rover