Another Bar Tab question

[We_like_to_cruise]

Thank you all for your previous contributions.

 

I spoke with VV and was advised that the $100 bonus on a $300 Bar Tab expires 11/15.  She also said although my voyage is not until 2024, I would need to pay the $300 immediately to receive the $100 additional credit.  (It is not added onto your account to be paid when final payment is made).

 

My wife and I are not big drinkers so are wondering whether to just get one and share it or each get one.

 

On an average day at sea I may get a couple of specialty coffees, a beer at lunch, a pre-dinner Scotch and a glass of red wine at dinner.

 

She may get a couple of specialty coffees, perhaps a Mojito or a glass of white wine at dinner. 

 

Searching online, it seems that each restaurant has its own liquor choices and prices.  But, roughly, specialty coffees are $4 - $6, beers seem to be between $5-$10, there seem to be many wines available from $8 - $15, cocktails  between $12 - $15. 

 

Does this seem to be in the right ballpark?  I will do the calculations if confirmation that these numbers seem realistic.

 

I got them from the following website:  https://profcruise.com/virgin-voyages-bar-menus-and-drink-prices/

 

BTW, any Happy Hours or discounted drinks we should look out for ?

 

Thank you.

[CineGraphic]

If it's only a 4-5 day sailing, I honestly think you'll be fine with one tab between the two of you.

 

[_tacocat_]

your numbers are spot on.  the only discounted drinks i've seen are buckets of beers, where you get $1 off each if you buy 5. it comes down to how much you think you'll drink - if over $300, yay you get some free money ($100 if you spend it all), if not, there are no refunds.

[rebeccac]

Also remember that the prices you see for drinks will be the price you pay.  There is no gratuity added.  

[cantgetin]

I agree that one bar tab will likely be enough for you to share.  After the current special expires on 11/15, there will be another special.  This is the second $100 bar tab bonus I've seen this year, each lasting a few months.  Between those, the bonus was $50.  While there are no guarantees, I think the chances of another $100 bonus between now and 2024 are very high.  Another consideration is that some people have been told that if they cancel a cruise, their bar tab pre-payment will be refunded as "future cruise credit," not as a refund to their credit card.

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/7/2022 at 4:44 PM, We_like_to_cruise said:

Thank you all for your previous contributions.

 

I spoke with VV and was advised that the $100 bonus on a $300 Bar Tab expires 11/15.  She also said although my voyage is not until 2024, I would need to pay the $300 immediately to receive the $100 additional credit.  (It is not added onto your account to be paid when final payment is made).

 

My wife and I are not big drinkers so are wondering whether to just get one and share it or each get one.

 

On an average day at sea I may get a couple of specialty coffees, a beer at lunch, a pre-dinner Scotch and a glass of red wine at dinner.

 

She may get a couple of specialty coffees, perhaps a Mojito or a glass of white wine at dinner. 

 

Searching online, it seems that each restaurant has its own liquor choices and prices.  But, roughly, specialty coffees are $4 - $6, beers seem to be between $5-$10, there seem to be many wines available from $8 - $15, cocktails  between $12 - $15. 

 

Does this seem to be in the right ballpark?  I will do the calculations if confirmation that these numbers seem realistic.

 

I got them from the following website:  https://profcruise.com/virgin-voyages-bar-menus-and-drink-prices/

 

BTW, any Happy Hours or discounted drinks we should look out for ?

 

Thank you.

 

One Bar Tab between both of you should do fine. And if you go over, well you just pay a little bit more ala carte vs. paying $600 and wasting it. 🙂

[garycarla]

Don't get too hung up on buying bar tab. After all, you can just buy and pay onboard.

 

By buying and getting bonus, you get a 25% discount.

If you do not use it, you pay extra.

[cantgetin]

41 minutes ago, garycarla said:

Don't get too hung up on buying bar tab. After all, you can just buy and pay onboard.

 

By buying and getting bonus, you get a 25% discount.

If you do not use it, you pay extra.

Exactly!  And VV drinks a la carte are cheaper than many other lines.  Prices posted include grats.

[3rdCoastFan]

Speaking of sharing a bar tab, I'd like to hop in and ask this - how does sharing a bar tab work, exactly? That is, if I get the bar tab on my account and I'm not physically with my wife, can she still put any drinks on "my tab"? Before the end of the cruise, can we ask someone in guest relations to simply move her drinks to my account? If anyone can share specifics of how it works to share a tab that would be much appreciated! 

 

I imagine I could give her my bracelet but then I couldn't order any drinks - solve one problem and create another!

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, 3rdCoastFan said:

Speaking of sharing a bar tab, I'd like to hop in and ask this - how does sharing a bar tab work, exactly? That is, if I get the bar tab on my account and I'm not physically with my wife, can she still put any drinks on "my tab"? Before the end of the cruise, can we ask someone in guest relations to simply move her drinks to my account? If anyone can share specifics of how it works to share a tab that would be much appreciated! 

 

I imagine I could give her my bracelet but then I couldn't order any drinks - solve one problem and create another!

In our case, the accounts were tied to the cabin.  When I did the on line check in, I agreed to be responsible for all charges to the cabin.  That way, anything charged to the bar tab or the "loot" could be done with either bracelet, and we did use them both.  THe app has the ability to separate who mades the charges, but in our case it didn't matter as we had the same pay source.  If you are buying drinks for someone not in your cabin, your bracelet needs to be present.

I guess the easy way to explain it is that the "tab" didn't belong to me, it belonged to the cabin.

[angela12345]

I haven't cruised yet, but I've read there are several opportunities to get free drinks as well.  Free champagne at sailaway on a certain deck ??  The Korean bbq starts with a shot of soju (spelling? correct word? haha).  Can some folks who have sailed comment on free/cheap drink opportunities ?

 

I agree with posters above that one bar package sounds like it will be plenty for you guys.  Roughly doing the math, you guys might spend $50-90 per day, combined.  How long is your cruise ?  At $50 per day $300/50=6 day cruise, $300/60=5 day cruise, $300/75=4 day cruise.  Including the extra $100 bonus money puts it at $400/50=8 day cruise, $400/80= 5 day cruise, $400/100=4 day cruise.

 

low end 55
him: 5 coffee 5 coffee 5 beer 10 scotch 10 wine = 35

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 10 mojito or wine = 20

 

mid 80

him: 6 coffee 6 coffee 8 beer 12 scotch 13 wine = 45

her: 6 coffee 6 coffee 13 mojito 10 wine = 35

 

high end 90

him:5 coffee 5 coffee 10 beer 15 scotch 15 wine = 50

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 15 mojito 15 wine = 40

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, angela12345 said:

I haven't cruised yet, but I've read there are several opportunities to get free drinks as well.  Free champagne at sailaway on a certain deck ??  The Korean bbq starts with a shot of soju (spelling? correct word? haha).  Can some folks who have sailed comment on free/cheap drink opportunities ?

 

I agree with posters above that one bar package sounds like it will be plenty for you guys.  Roughly doing the math, you guys might spend $50-90 per day, combined.  How long is your cruise ?  At $50 per day $300/50=6 day cruise, $300/60=5 day cruise, $300/75=4 day cruise.  Including the extra $100 bonus money puts it at $400/50=8 day cruise, $400/80= 5 day cruise, $400/100=4 day cruise.

 

low end 55
him: 5 coffee 5 coffee 5 beer 10 scotch 10 wine = 35

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 10 mojito or wine = 20

 

mid 80

him: 6 coffee 6 coffee 8 beer 12 scotch 13 wine = 45

her: 6 coffee 6 coffee 13 mojito 10 wine = 35

 

high end 90

him:5 coffee 5 coffee 10 beer 15 scotch 15 wine = 50

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 15 mojito 15 wine = 40

I was on the 14 night TA, so things for us might have been "different."  THere was free champagne on decks 15 and 16 for sail away (unlimited and easy to obtain.)  If you qualify for Deep Blue Extras, there is a crowded cocktail party on deck 16 with a couple of drink choices, again unlimited.  If you are in a suite, there is nightly champagne on Richard's Rooftop (90 minute "party.")  Also, if you qualify for deep blue, you have $10 per day credit in The Grounds Club good on any beverage served there (coffee, tea, hot chocolate with or without alcohol added)  There are many promotions that include a bottle of Moet, but no matter how many promos you qualify for, you are limited to one free bottle. You can also bring 2 bottles of wine on board. 

Each of the sit down restaurants had a small "welcome" drink each night of our cruise.  It varied by night and by restaurant.  Gumbae had this in addition to that provided for the drinking game.  When I say "small," I am talking about an ounce or less.  This is what I don't know whether it was special for our cruise or if it happens routinely.  My travel partner tried to order one of these the next night in a "regular" size (one she'd had the night before), and after they checked, was told they had used up one of the ingredients; they offered to make her something similar.

 

You don't need a bar tab to purchase drinks.  THe advantage to the bar tab is the "bonus," which is currently $100...that's a 25% discount on drinks if you use the whole tab.  You can buy drinks with Sailor's Loot or with the credit card you put down at the beginning of the cruise.  They are priced cheaper than some other lines AND the price includes the gratuity.  We figured that the best way to purchase anything was to use all the"prepaid"  or free stuff we had, and go a little over.  The obvious disadvantage to the bar tab  comes into play if you don't spend at least the $300; if you don't spend the entire bonus, you aren't really out anything as it was a freebie.  BUT you can always find a way to max out the bar tab.  Buy a round for your new friends or buy a bottle of wine from a bar to take back to your cabin during the cruise or take home.  This will cost more than buying it at the duty free shop (where you can't use your bar tab), but the point is to not waste the tab!

[angela12345]

Wow, great post, very detailed answer, thank you !

Hopefully you've inspired some folks on shorter cruises to chime in too.

[We_like_to_cruise]

22 hours ago, angela12345 said:

I agree with posters above that one bar package sounds like it will be plenty for you guys.  Roughly doing the math, you guys might spend $50-90 per day, combined.  How long is your cruise ?  At $50 per day $300/50=6 day cruise, $300/60=5 day cruise, $300/75=4 day cruise.  Including the extra $100 bonus money puts it at $400/50=8 day cruise, $400/80= 5 day cruise, $400/100=4 day cruise.

 

 

Yes, you are right, thank you.  We figured about $60 per day. 

[We_like_to_cruise]

5 hours ago, angela12345 said:

Wow, great post, very detailed answer, thank you !

Hopefully you've inspired some folks on shorter cruises to chime in too.

 

Yes, I agree !  Thank you cantgetin.

[_tacocat_]

The welcome drinks were def a special thing.  We had those on Richard’s bday, but have not seen them on any other VV we’d done.

 

Trivia/risky quizness prizes are a free round of drinks for the winning team.

 

extra virgin used to give a shot of limoncello after dinner, but they recently swapped to amaretto.

[angela12345]

On 11/13/2022 at 2:16 PM, _tacocat_ said:

extra virgin used to give a shot of limoncello after dinner, but they recently swapped to amaretto.

I just saw the limoncello in a review last night.  Sad to hear they swapped, hopefully its only because they temporarily ran out or something and it'll be back soon.

[conandrob240]

Do you have to call to buy a bar tab? When I try in App it shoots me back to website then I get an error message. Just me?

[_tacocat_]

11 hours ago, angela12345 said:

I just saw the limoncello in a review last night.  Sad to hear they swapped, hopefully its only because they temporarily ran out or something and it'll be back soon.

weird - we were B2B at the end of Oct/beginning of Nov and it was amaretto both times.  i saw one of the happenings cast post EV too and they also had amaretto.  i don't love either of them, so no major loss for me either way hahah

[jon81uk]

13 hours ago, conandrob240 said:

Do you have to call to buy a bar tab? When I try in App it shoots me back to website then I get an error message. Just me?

You might be able to buy bar tab on the website, but we got payment errors a few times. Phone can be more reliable.

[We_like_to_cruise]

14 hours ago, conandrob240 said:

Do you have to call to buy a bar tab? When I try in App it shoots me back to website then I get an error message. Just me?

 

I logged into my booking on a PC and the Bar Tab was available to purchase.  So, it might be an issue with the app (?)

[angela12345]

4 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

weird - we were B2B at the end of Oct/beginning of Nov and it was amaretto both times.  i saw one of the happenings cast post EV too and they also had amaretto.  i don't love either of them, so no major loss for me either way hahah

Yeh, that is weird.  Didn't they just start sailing finally in October ??  But looking at it, the review cruise was in July.  Here's where I heard it.  I've got it set to start a few seconds before he mentions the limoncello shot (hopefully I did it right) . . .
 

 

[cantgetin]

They started sailing in October 2021.  As to this guy....he'd put up a couple of scary videos...hope he is wrong.  Bookings on VV cruises are gradually increasing and most passengers are now paying the rates available to all on line (as opposed to casino or travel agent rates).  True, these are not the "book rates" but most lines have constant sales and other than the really high end lines, very few passengers pay the "full fare."  True that VV started out cruising at 1/3 capacity, but most current cruises are going out at 50% -80% of capacity.  VV will essentially never hit the 101+% of lines that focus on 4 person cabins as most VV cabins hold 2 people.

 

[_tacocat_]

52 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

 As to this guy....he'd put up a couple of scary videos...hope he is wrong. 

this guy is an absolute clown.  he worked for another cruise line a while back and now considers himself a financial expert and proselytizes this garbage to his followers on facebook and youtube.  do yourself a favor and don't watch/give him ad revenues haha.  he also constantly posts negative comments about VV in every VV facebook group i'm in and has to make sure everyone knows that richard branson maintains very minimal ownership in VV (which is well-known and weird that he keeps bringing this up).

[cantgetin]

Thanks for posting, tacocat.  Yeah, his latest is that NCL is "poised" to buy out VV.  Right.....