Virgin Voyage’s Splash of Romance Package

By:  Haley Sosnick, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent

Okay, so you booked your Virgin Voyages cruise and now you are starting to hear rumblings about this Splash of Romance package.  Maybe you are going on this trip with friends and romance is not on the itinerary.  Do you even need to concern yourself with the Splash of Romance package?  I’ll tell you all about my experience on the Scarlet Lady and what my final verdict was.

Recently, my husband and I had our first experience aboard Virgin Voyage’s Scarlet Lady.   As a travel agent I had already heard all about Virgin’s Splash of Romance package add-on and was still on the fence about it so I didn’t book it right away.  I actually waited a bit before I decided to take the plunge.  I researched for days, talked to other agents and just really thought long and hard about the add-on.  Eventually, I decided it was worth a shot and added it to my booking through the Virgin Voyages’ app. Now I want to break down the package, the process and my final verdict.  

What is The Splash of Romance Package?

This is a package of perks you can add on to your reservation.  There are actually quite a few things included

• Priority Boarding - With this feature you get to be in the first boarding group after those in Rockstar cabins.  Typically, this starts around 1:45 and there will be a separate line identified so you know exactly where you should line up.  For this reason alone, I believe the package is totally worth it.  You can potentially save hours of time by paying just $200 AND you get other perks to go along with this!

  
  

• Wristbands - As soon as you arrive and drop your luggage off you will be able to pick these up.  You will want to have them before you get in the line for boarding.  If you aren’t sure where to go just ask anyone and they will me more than happy to help you.  I can’t express just how friendly and helpful everyone at Virgin was during this entire process.

  

  

  
  
• Daily Cold-Pressed Juices - These are available each morning during a window of time.  We didn’t partake in these every day but did stop by a couple of times.  They were pretty good.  Nothing amazing here.  But let’s be real, the addition of juices had nothing to do with why I purchased the package.

• Thermal Spa Passes - These were a surprisingly delightful addition to the package.  I was a little unsure as to what we should expect on this one.  Basically, you (two of you)  have a three hour time slot to enjoy the thermal spa area.  There are cold plunge pools, a salt room, mud room and sauna you can enjoy.  We went back and forth and enjoyed these for almost two hours.  We didn’t really need the full three hours but it was nice to know we had it.  Here’s a little tip on securing your spa time.  Go directly to the spa as soon as you board (and being one of the first on board makes this pretty easy).  Choose your day and time you want to come back.  We chose our sea day and I feel this was a great choice because it is the better value.  Passes for port days were $10 per person cheaper in comparison to passes for sea days.  When using your Splash of Romance passes, you are not charged for choosing a sea day for your visit.  When you show up for your time slot you will show up in your swimsuit.  Once you check in you will be given a tour, sandals, a robe and a locker.  Then you are free to use the space as you wish!  There will be other people in there but they book it so that it is never really “crowded”.  We were able to move back and forth between the different areas of the spa and just relax.  My husband was a big fan of the cold plunge pools.  There are actually multiple plunge pools and they have slightly different temperatures.  I loved having this time to just unwind and get a feel for the spa experience aboard the ship.

• One Shake for Champagne Experience - Everyone knows that on Virgin Voyages you can open the app and shake at any time to have a bottle of champagne delivered to you wherever you are on the ship.  Your account will show the $100 charge but it will be credited without charging your card on file.  This right here is half the cost of the package itself and it’s so fun to experience!

• Happy Hour Party- When you arrive in your room you will have a letter that explains your perks and it will tell you a specific location and time for your special happy hour.  They call this party a “sail away event”.  Our party was located at the aft of the ship and was on a later day in our sailing.

  

  

  

  
  

  
  

• Sultry Bites - For our 5 day sailing we had some sweet treats delivered to our room on two different days.  In all honesty, I have heard mixed reviews on these sweets but I must say that I really enjoyed them!  My husband doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth so I was able to enjoy them even more.  The best were the macaroons.  They were so yummy and it was great having them delivered to the room.

When to Purchase

There are a limited number of packages available (200 to be exact) so the sooner you make this purchase, the better.  They will sell out!  I actually heard multiple people on my sailing say they wanted to add it but they waited too late.  I actually love that Virgin Voyages keeps these packages limited.  That’s really part of what makes it worth it.  In the grand scheme of things, 200 cabins purchasing the package is a very small number when compared to the total number of cabins on the ship.

How to Purchase

You will open your account and look for the section that says “add-ons”.  If the package is available, you will see it there.  If you are having trouble this is definitely something your travel agent can help you with too.

The Bottom Line

If  you are concerned about value, I would say you definitely get more than what you pay for with the Splash of Romance package.  At the time of our sailing, Thermal Spa passes are $59 for port days and $69 for sea days.  Add that to the cost of champagne and you have already exceeded the value of the package.

Maybe you don’t think you will use everything.  I felt the same way and maybe that’s why I was a little hesitant to purchase right away.  We aren’t even champagne drinkers but we made friends with other passengers and were able to share our shake for champagne so it didn’t go to waste.  But really, if you care about getting on the boat quickly and easily I think this is a must!

Still on the fence? Book your next Virgin Voyages cruise in a sea terrace or higher with a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent during the month of November 2023 and you’ll receive $100 onboard credit!  Please reach out to Haley, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels to plan your next vacation or you may contact Marvelous Mouse Travels.