Solo Travel on Virgin Voyages

Lori recently tried a solo sailing on Virgin Voyages and is sharing her experience with us. Enjoy!

Solo travel is not something that is new to me. Historically, it’s always been work related, so there are people who will question whether that truly counts as a solo trip (for the record, I say it does count because I was still dining solo every day and I have also taken advantage of the opportunity and done local activities solo as well).

Recently, I went on an actual solo vacation when I booked a last-minute Virgin Voyage as a solo sailor. It was the perfect time for me to experience what it was like to cruise solo since my husband has maxed out his PTO for the year and can’t add any more trips unless he plans to work the entire time.

If you haven’t ever sailed Virgin Voyages, there are a few things that make it unique from other cruise lines:

First, and most important to many sailors, they are an adult only line (18 and up).

Virgin Voyages features alternative dining styles. Instead of a buffet, they have the galley, which is more like a food court. Instead of a primary dining room and specialty restaurants that cost extra, all dining is included in the price and it’s 100% restaurants.

They also feature two themed parties on each sailing - a late-night pajama party to kick off the first night and Scarlet Night, where everything turns red and it turns into a giant pool party.

Virgin also does a fabulous job accommodating solo sailors on all voyages. Here are 4 things I loved about the solo experience, and the one thing I think could be improved.

Things I loved #1: Cost and cabin options

Of all the major cruise lines, only Virgin Voyages and Norwegian truly prioritize the solo sailor experience. On Virgin, this means that they have 40+ cabins specifically designed for solo sailors, and they also allow solo sailors to book any of the regular cabin categories as well without the dreaded 200+% single supplement raising the price!

For this cruise (which was one of the annual Celebration Voyages), I booked the solo insider cabin for $1155, which breaks down to $231 per night. Some may disagree, but I think that is an amazing value for everything that it included - the cabin, all dining, soft drinks, and basic Wi-Fi. It’s difficult these days to find hotels in the US for less than $150 per night, and that’s not even including the taxes and fees that are added on, and it doesn’t include any meals (except maybe a basic free breakfast).

I used points for my pre-cruise hotel, but if I hadn’t, that one night would have been $400+ just for the room and Wi-Fi!

While we are on this subject, let’s chat about the solo insider cabin.

It was tiny, but that didn’t bother me since I was alone. In the cabin you get a small hanging space (which had plenty of room for me to store my suitcase in addition to hanging my dresses) and then a closet with 4 drawers and a few shelves and the safe. There was also a small desk area with 2 small shelves, a stool so you can use it as a vanity, and the mini fridge. The bed is bigger than a twin, but smaller than a full. The TV (which was huge in this tiny room) was hanging at the foot of the bed.

There also was a large flat space at the foot of the bed that I used to store my beach bag, hat, the throw pillows, etc. Next to the bed was a small ledge that is perfect for small items you need by the bed as well as some regular and USB plugs and controls for all the lights. The best part of this tiny room is that the bathroom was not tiny. Well, it was because most Virgin bathrooms are tiny, but it is the same size as all of the other cabins until you get to the XL Sea Terrace and Rockstar suites.

Overall, I had no complaints about the room, and I slept like a rock in all that darkness!

#2: Solo Sailor Meet-ups

One of my favorite things about Virgin is that you can access your cabin as soon as you board on embarkation day. When I arrived in my cabin, I found a welcome letter greeting me as a potential solo sailor. I say potential, because they word it like this since they don’t know if you are traveling with others and simply choosing to stay in a cabin alone. The letter invited me to a solo sailor meetup that afternoon. It was planned for 4:15pm and after the meetup, the group would transition to the sail away party together.

While the meetup itself didn’t have much value for me (I think because the weather was poor and several activities were moved indoors), I loved how we moved as a group to kick off the cruise with others instead of doing it alone. I was with a group of around 10 other solo cruisers, and we decided to go down to deck 6 instead of 7 so it would be less crowded. This was the perfect plan as we could still chat and get to know each other, but we still had all the fun of the party, including the complimentary sparkling wine! We also made plans to meet back at the same bar later that evening so we could go to the pajama party together.

In addition to this meetup, there also was a similar meetup each morning at 10am. I went to it on our first full day, and it was great. Everyone had a chance to introduce themselves and share where they were from. After it ended, a group of us went to breakfast together, which was lovely. I didn’t attend any of the other meetups since two were port days and I already had plans for each day at that time and on the second sea day, I slept until 10:30am thanks to my dark and cozy cabin!

#3: First Night Solo Sailor Dinner

On the first night, Virgin always plans a large solo dinner event. On this sailing, we met at Razzle Dazzle at 6:45pm. They had 4 large tables reserved for us, and I think we filled them all (our table was at least 20 guests - it was super long). I loved this so much because it took the stress of dinner away that first night (and even more so for me - since I booked 3 days prior to sailing, dinner reservations were scarce to book in advance).

Beyond the first night, there were additional options for the solo dinners, but more about those later, since it was the one thing I didn’t love.

#4: Solo Activities

This is a weird one, because it will be different for everyone. However, for me, I loved not having to compromise activities each day to accommodate what someone else may want to do.

Our first port was Cozumel. I have been to Cozumel A LOT (most recently in November 2024) and done tons of beach excursions, so this time I wanted to do something different. I signed up for a chocolate and wine tasting and it was fabulous! There were only 5 of us attending and it felt so private and personal. We learned about the history of chocolate in Mexico and how it is handmade and then got to make our own. After that, we moved on to pairing two Mexican wines (both from the Baja peninsula) with several flavors of Mexican chocolates. All while looking out at a beautiful beach and the blue-green sea!

On our second sea day, I had been invited to high tea with some people I met on board. But the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to attend (mostly because it was planned somewhat early in the afternoon and I had a late breakfast). Instead, I looked at the event lineup and saw a champagne and fried chicken tasting.

This was a paid event, but it sounded amazing and perfect for me, so I took the plunge and signed up. I 100% recommend this for anyone who is a fan of champagne! We sampled 3 champagnes paired with some tasty fried chicken. Everyone at our table was so much fun and we had a great time bonding over our love of bubbles. It was totally worth the time and money, and I guarantee I would probably not have done it if I had been traveling with others (since we probably would have been out at the pool deck instead).

I only had dinner alone one time, and it was 100% worth it! I love The Test Kitchen, and it was a must dine option for me since they were offering a menu I had not tried yet. I was seated at the bar that overlooks the area where they create the desserts. We were seated in groups of 4 (ours was only 3 because another solo sailor decided the menu wasn’t for him) and the service we got was amazing! I did make a reservation for 1 that night, simply to be sure I would be able to get in, but I think I could have easily walked in without one since I was willing to sit anywhere.

I was worried that I would feel lonely on this cruise, especially on sea days. But what I learned instead is that not having to worry about anyone other than myself proved to be the most relaxing vacation ever!

The One Thing I Didn’t Love

I already mentioned how much I loved the dinner the first night. The option to dine with other solo sailors did extend into the other evenings, but I did not love how it was executed. First off, for me, it was way too early each night with a 5:45pm meet time. I wish they also offered a later time, because being ready for 5:45pm was too early for me, especially on port days. When I chatted with others about the dinners, they expressed that there weren’t always enough seats. They typically had a table for 4 planned in a few different restaurants each night. While obviously this could vary based on the number of solo sailors, I think offering the option at a variety of times would be an easy way to accommodate more guests.

Overall, this didn’t impact me too much, since I had dinner almost every night with new friends I made on this sailing, but I can see how it could have been more of a concern if I had wanted to attend these dinners each night.

Final Thoughts

I absolutely loved this solo experience. Is it for everyone? Probably not. However, I think it is something everyone should try if they can.

Ready for your own solo cruising adventure?