Love Adults-Only All-Inclusive Resorts? Virgin Voyages Might Be Your Next Vacation

 

If your idea of a great vacation is an adults-only resort, a good pool, great food, a kid-free atmosphere and enough going on that you can do as much—or as little—as you want, you may have more in common with a Virgin Voyages traveler than you think.

I hear it all the time: “I’m a resort person. I don’t think cruising is for me.”

Fair enough. A cruise and an all-inclusive resort are not the same vacation.

But Virgin Voyages is one cruise line I think adults-only resort lovers should take a closer look at.

It starts with one very important thing: no kids

Virgin Voyages is exclusively for guests 18 and over. Every ship. Every itinerary.

For someone accustomed to an adults-only resort, that matters. You’re not giving up the grown-up atmosphere just because you're moving from land to sea.

You can spend your afternoon by the pool, have a long dinner, see a show, head out for drinks or stay up late without the experience being designed around family activities.

And adults-only doesn't have to mean party-all-day either. You can make the trip as lively or as relaxed as you want.

The food may surprise resort lovers

This is probably one of the biggest reasons I'd recommend Virgin to someone who enjoys a good all-inclusive.

Virgin includes dining at 20+ eateries, with no traditional cruise buffet, main dining room or assigned dining times. Think Korean BBQ one evening, handmade pasta another night and steak or seafood the next.

And those core restaurants are included in your voyage fare rather than requiring a separate specialty-dining package.

So... is Virgin Voyages actually all-inclusive?

Not quite — and this is where it's important to compare properly.

Your voyage includes accommodations, dining at the core eateries, essential drinks such as still and sparkling water, soda, tea and drip coffee, Wi-Fi, group fitness classes and entertainment.

Alcohol isn't generally included; Virgin uses a pay-as-you-go model rather than requiring a traditional drink package. Spa treatments and other optional extras can also add to your vacation cost.

Virgin's gratuity policy also changed. For current bookings, service gratuities are $22 per Sailor per day onboard or $20 per night when prepaid. Once that's paid, Virgin says additional tipping isn't expected onboard.

So if you're comparing Virgin with a true all-inclusive resort, don't compare the advertised room and cruise prices alone.

Compare what your whole vacation is likely to cost.

That's something I can help you work through before you choose either one.

See what's included with Virgin Voyages

The biggest difference? Tomorrow, you're somewhere else.

This is where cruising wins for some travelers.

At a resort, you unpack and settle into one destination for your vacation.

On a cruise, you still unpack once—but the scenery changes.

You might spend one day enjoying the ship, wake up the next morning somewhere in the Caribbean, explore for the day, return for dinner and entertainment, and wake up somewhere completely different the following morning.

For someone who wants to see several places without packing, flying and changing hotels between each one, that's hard to beat.

But resort lovers should know what they'll be giving up

If what you love most is stepping directly from your room onto a huge beach every morning and spending seven uninterrupted days surrounded by one tropical resort, cruising won't replace that.

Your cabin isn't a resort suite. Your beach isn't sitting outside waiting for you every morning. And port days have schedules.

Some people will still prefer the space and slower pace of a resort.

And that's perfectly fine.

I'm not interested in convincing every resort traveler that they need to become a cruiser.

The better question is whether the experience fits you.

Who should give Virgin Voyages a try?

I'd put Virgin on your shortlist if you love adults-only vacations, good food and entertainment but also want to see more than one destination.

It's especially worth considering if you've been curious about cruising but the traditional image of buffets, formal nights, large family groups and rigid dining schedules has kept you away.

Virgin doesn't have required formal nights, and its dining model doesn't use the traditional buffet/main-dining-room/assigned-seating approach.

If you're firmly in the “give me my resort and leave me there for a week” camp, I can work with that too. 😂

There are plenty of adults-only resorts I'd happily recommend instead.

Ready to see where Virgin Voyages can take you?

Explore current destinations and sailings and, when you find one you love, you can book through Phenom Travels.

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Still deciding between a resort and a cruise?

Sometimes the right answer isn't obvious from scrolling through resort photos and cruise itineraries online.

Tell me what you normally enjoy on vacation, where you're thinking about going, your approximate budget and who you're traveling with. I'll help you compare the options and decide whether your next getaway belongs at a resort or at sea.

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