Heidi BucoloSince Virgin Voyages’ debut, the cruise line’s itineraries have been all about sun, fun, and party vibes. From Caribbean beach clubs to Mediterranean nights, the social atmosphere, eccentric entertainment, and no-kids policy made sense. So when Brilliant Lady headed north for Virgin’s first Alaska season, we had the same question you probably do: does an adults-only brand that set out to redefine the cruise vacation actually work in a region where lines like Princess and Holland America have been leaders for years?
We booked a sailing to find out. We’ve sailed Virgin five times before Alaska, so we know the product pretty well. We’ve also previously cruised to Alaska seven times — with Princess, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Celebrity Cruises — so we know exactly what a good Alaska cruise looks like.
Does Virgin hold its own against the competition in the region? Is Virgin the right choice for your Alaska cruise? We’re sharing everything you should know before you put down a deposit and where we think the line shines (and falls short) in the Last Frontier.
In this review:
- Who this adults-only cruise is right for
- The pros of Virgin Voyages in Alaska
- The cons of Virgin Voyages in Alaska
- The bottom line
Who this adults-only Alaska cruise is right for
If you want Alaska without kids, along with more complimentary food options and a trendier onboard atmosphere than the region’s norm, Virgin is a strong fit. If your Alaska bucket list includes Glacier Bay National Park, a cruisetour into the interior, or watching the scenery from a forward-facing glass observation lounge, this is not the line for you.
Pros of Virgin Voyages in Alaska
Adults-only in a family-friendly region
Alaska is a great destination for multigenerational families. The cruising season of May to September lines up nicely with school break and there’s something for every age group to enjoy. You’ll find plenty of kids sailing way up north on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and even Princess Cruises.
That’s why half the appeal of Virgin in Alaska is actually what’s missing! There’s no kids’ clubs, no children crowding the hot tubs, no chaos in the buffet. If the reason you’re drawn to the Last Frontier is the peacefulness, sailing it adults-only amplifies the experience.
Enrichment that pleasantly surprised us
We admit that we didn’t have high expectations for the enrichment component of the Virgin Alaska cruise experience. Princess and Holland America do a wonderful job of bringing the region’s history and culture to life with expert-led presentations on everything from the Gold Rush to Iditarod races and wildlife.
While somewhat different, we were pleasantly surprised with Virgin’s offerings. We had two experts on our sailing, a Naturalist and a Cultural Heritage Guide from Alaska Native Voices. Dr. Glo and Q offered a variety of sessions during the voyage. These ranged from the Honestly Alaska talk show and Primetime Ports presentation to the more informal Northern Narratives and Field Notes sessions. Both of these Alaska Happenings Cast members were knowledgeable and engaging, though we do wish there had been a few more formal presentations.
Some of the best food at sea, and it’s included
We’ve always felt that the food across the Virgin fleet is a strength, and Alaska is no exception. There’s no main dining room, no upcharges for specialty dining, and plenty of places to grab some casual eats. The food quality in the six complimentary sit-down venues holds up against lines charging specialty restaurant prices.
There’s lots of variety too: The Wake American steakhouse, Mexican at Pink Agave, Italian at Extra Virgin, Gunbae the Korean BBQ, and experimental cuisine at The Test Kitchen. Even the newest space debuting on Brilliant Lady, Rojo, did not disappoint. Not to mention, there’s always free pizza, gelato, chicken wings, and more.
Alaska-inspired dishes and cocktails
Beyond the already delicious food and drink offerings, several restaurants and bars feature Alaska-inspired dishes and regionally themed drinks. Just look for the bear icon on the menus. You can sip a Strawberry Rhubarb or Blueberry Mirlo sangria at The Dock, grab an Alaskan brew at The Loose Cannon, or warm up with exclusive mulled wine and boozy hot chocolate during glacier viewing. Select bars also serve local Alaska spirits and wines, like the Nutty Old Fashioned featuring fire dog whiskey from Uncharted Alaska Distillery.
When it comes to food, you can sample items like Achiote Spiced Salmon at Pink Agave, Grilled Loin of Venison at The Wake, and Roasted Cod at Rojo. Don particularly enjoyed the salmon dish. There are also “Treat Yourself” items available for an upcharge on select menus, many featuring Alaskan King Crab.
Alaska activities with a Virgin twist
The onboard activity calendar leaned into the destination without losing Virgin’s quirky personality. In addition to the enrichment-type offerings, there were plenty of other activities to fill time between ports. Some of the Alaska-themed additions include Lumberjack Games, Bear Wit It trivia, Salty Trivia: Alaska edition, Crack the Crab, and Gold Rush Gamble ($50 buy in to play). These activities were a fun and creative way to pass time between the ports, and they were certainly more lively than what you’d expect on an Alaska cruise.
In addition, there are other Alaska-inspired up-charge activities including Drawn to the Wild, Northern Nightcaps, and Baking Alaska. While Baking Alaska sounded fun, and we did book it, it ended up taking place smack in the middle of glacier viewing so we decided to skip it.
A livelier onboard vibe than the region’s usual lines
Beyond the activities, the whole onboard vibe is more lively too. The atmosphere had energy that the region’s usual ships don’t match. If you think the evenings on Alaska cruises might be boring with many guests retiring to bed after dinner, that’s certainly not the case on Virgin Voyages.
There’s live music until 12 AM, Bingo After Dark, several production shows, parties in The Manor until late, the first night PJ Party, and Scarlet Night of course. There’s never a dull moment. In fact, we found it difficult to fit all the shows and parties into a 7-day cruise. Some of the production highlights for us were Murder in the Manor (requires a reservation), Duel Reality, Red Hot, and Out of Time. Actually, we’d argue that Brilliant Lady has the best entertainment in the Virgin fleet.
Trendy, modern ship spaces
It’s true that the newest and best ships in many cruise lines’ fleets don’t sail in Alaska, but that’s not the case for Virgin Voyages. Brilliant Lady is the newest lady ship, and she offers a trendy, modern premium feel. The design is contemporary and the spaces are social — a noticeable contrast with some of the Princess and Holland America hardware in the region that’s a decade old.
We particularly liked the redesigned Roundabout. Serving as the central atrium, this area feels more open and offers additional seating when compared to her sisters (even though it still doesn’t offer great views of the surrounding scenery). Our favorite spot on any Virgin cruise is The Dock and Dock House. These posh spaces are perfect for relaxing on a sea day, complete with tasty tapas and drinks. The Social Club is another fun hangout space for the kids at heart. It features free arcade games, board games, and snacks like pretzels and dirty sodas.
Inclusions that beat the competition on value
Basic WiFi, most dining, fitness classes, and soft drinks are all included in the Virgin cruise fare. This is where Virgin’s value shines. On paper the fares run comparable to the established Alaska lines, but once you start tacking on all the add-on costs, Virgin often lands cheaper.
For example, a 7-night Alaska cruise in May 2027 starts at around $900 per person (inside cabin) or $1650 (balcony cabin) on both Virgin’s and Princess’ newest ship. However, that doesn’t account for any specialty dining or WiFi on Princess Cruises. If you want to add those in, it’s $70+ per person, per day. The one caveat is that adding the Princess Plus or Premier package does include alcoholic drinks, whereas you’ll need to pay a la carte for those on Virgin. So, it’s important to do the math for your specific situation if you’re trying to get the best deal on an Alaska cruise.
A more diverse crowd than a typical Virgin sailing
If “adults-only Virgin” makes you picture a rowdy party crowd, we’re here to set the record straight. While that stereotype isn’t really true on any Virgin sailing, it’s especially inaccurate in Alaska. Yes, the atmosphere is more lively and there’s activities that run past 1 AM, but there’s also plenty of spaces to relax, read a good book, or just enjoy the views.
Further, the demographic on any Alaska cruise tends to skew a bit older than a Caribbean sailing, and that’s also true on Virgin. This itinerary seemed to pull a broader, more varied passenger mix than a typical Virgin sailing, with more range in age and travel style. We met plenty of fellow Sailors who had cruised other lines before but were drawn in by the idea of an adults-only Alaska trip. Plus, Virgin is known for being inclusive and solo-friendly.
Cons of Virgin Voyages in Alaska
No Glacier Bay and no Cruisetour add-ons
It took us three Alaska sailings until we landed on an itinerary that included Glacier Bay National Park, and we haven’t done anything else since…until now. While Alaska is spectacular no matter the itinerary, we’ll always stand by our opinion that the absolute best cruise experience in the Last Frontier includes scenic sailing in Glacier Bay. It’s a full day event, park rangers come onboard, there’s expert narration, and you have the chance to see 4-5 glaciers including the magnificent Margerie Glacier.
And unfortunately, Virgin Voyages does not sail into Glacier Bay. Only select cruise lines have permission to do so. Instead, Brilliant Lady visits Dawes Glacier, which is best seen from the pricey glacier explorer boat as the ship can’t get as close. Virgin Voyages does not offer any land add-ons either. We did our first Alaska Cruisetour last year, and highly recommend you consider one. It’s an easy way to combine an interior trip visiting Denali National Park with an Alaska cruise.
Subpar viewing spaces
Alaska is all about the scenery, so we always recommend choosing a ship that has lots of viewing spaces. Forward, aft, indoor, outdoor, covered — the more options, the better.
When considering Brilliant Lady, it’s important to know that all the prime scenic-viewing spots are aft (The Athletic Club and The Dock are the best locations). Unfortunately, there’s no ideal forward-facing vantage point (not even the bow, which some ships open during glacier viewing). And more importantly for Alaska, there’s no indoor observation lounge with panoramic glass windows. There’s also little in the way of covered viewing spots when it’s rainy outside. Further, while Richard’s Rooftop (the forward-located VIP sundeck for suite guests) and the outdoor promenade area on Deck 7 sound good in theory, the views are obstructed by tall glass walls.
No scenic sailing narration outside of a WhatsApp group
While some cruise lines go overboard with intercom announcements, Virgin is the other extreme and does not make any announcements. So, we did miss having some of the narration that we’re used to in Alaska like navigational updates, wildlife spottings, etc. There were no ship-wide announcements during scenic cruising to tell you what you were looking at or when to be out on deck for the best scenery.
Instead, we had the option to join a WhatsApp group led by the Naturalist, Dr. Glo. This was the only way to get real-time updates. Personally, we ended up finding it distracting and stopped checking the group part way through the cruise. And the only other option for narration was the upcharge activity Headphones & Horizons. Think silent disco headphones, binoculars, and live commentary.
Cabins short on storage for Alaska layers
We’ve never really been fans of Virgin’s cabin design. The cabins are the least aesthetic area on the ship, the bathrooms are notoriously small, and there is very little storage. This is particularly problematic in Alaska where you’re packing bulkier than you would for the Caribbean. Think rain gear, layers, outerwear, and the like. We found ourselves struggling to make everything fit.
Thankfully, we use packing cubes, so we ended up leaving most of our daytime attire in them and stacked on the limited shelf space. We also always pack magnetic hooks which came in handy for hanging our wet rain coats, jackets, and day bags. Another one of our trusty cabin hacks is a hanging pocket organizer. Here, we stored toiletries, sunglasses, chargers and cords, accessories like gloves and hats, and more.
“Elevated” shore excursions that didn’t deliver
Virgin labels many of its shore excursions as elevated or exclusive, so we booked a few of them expecting an “elevated” or “exclusive” experience. But that wasn’t the case. While our Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary & Black Bear Viewing tour in Ketchikan and our Whale & Marine Life Discovery Cruise in Prince Rupert were great, they didn’t outshine the competition. In fact, we did the exact tour in Ketchikan previously and the only thing that was different was an included drink and snack at the end of the tour. That said, they’re certainly still worth booking, just don’t expect them to be different from the mainstream offerings.
But our exclusive Gardens and Good Cheer tour in Juneau was rather dull and not one that we’d recommend given the cost.
Beyond the excursions themselves, the whole Shore Things experience was a bit disorganized, especially in Juneau where tender operations were required.
PRO TIP: You can book shore excursions outside the cruise line and often get smaller group sizes and cheaper prices. Shore Excursions Group even offers a return-to-ship guarantee.
A thermal suite that’s wrong for scenery watching
What could be better than watching fjords, waterfalls, and glaciers pass by while relaxing in a heated stone lounger? Well, if that’s the experience you envision, you won’t get it on Virgin. Unlike some NCL ships, whose thermal suite is primely positioned to double as a scenic-viewing space with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Virgin’s Redemption Spa isn’t set up to fully take in the Alaska scenery while you use it.
Also different from our previous Virgin cruises, thermal suite passes on our sailing were only 2-hour blocks instead of 3-hour blocks for the same price of $59 on a port day and $79 on a sea day. While you honestly don’t need more than two hours to enjoy it, it still works out to be more expensive per hour to use.
A shared terminal in Seattle means a crowded embarkation
Embarkation in Seattle runs out of a shared terminal, and it makes for a more chaotic start to your Alaska cruise. If you’ve sailed Virgin out of Terminal V in Miami, you might be spoiled. In Seattle, Brilliant Lady shares the Smith Cove Terminal at Pier 91. This meant that we were embarking at the same time as a Carnival ship. With mass crowds and long lines everywhere, it took us a few moments to get our bearings and figure out where we needed to go to drop off our bags and check-in. Unfortunately, there weren’t many staff members around to direct people either.
While also true for many other cruise lines departing from Seattle, another thing to keep in mind is that Pier 91 is not within walking distance to the major Seattle attractions. It’s about 3 miles away from the Seattle Waterfront and Pike Place Market. So, if you’re planning to spend some time in Seattle before your cruise, you may want to get a hotel near Pier 66 and just plan to get a rideshare or taxi to the port on embarkation day.
No drink packages to lock in a rate
While Virgin’s cruise fares are more inclusive than many other lines sailing in the region, it doesn’t include everything. The two primary add-ons that all cruisers need to budget for are gratuities and premium drinks like specialty coffee and cocktails.
And Virgin doesn’t sell traditional drink packages either. So, there’s no way to pre-pay and cap your bar spend at a known dollar amount. You can purchase a Bar Tab which gives you some bonus spend, but if you’re looking to walk away without any onboard expense, you’ll need to keep checking your account to see how much credit you have left. Whereas, Princess (Princess Plus and Premier) and Holland America (Have It All) both offer add-on packages for that all-inclusive feel which couples alcoholic beverages, gratuities, and more into the price.
New VoyageFair Choices change everything
Virgin has reworked its fare pricing into new tiers, and the rules and inclusions of each now differ from what returning Sailors may expect, so read the fine print before you book. The tier you choose not only affects the price but can change what’s actually covered and whether cancellations or changes are allowed once you’ve booked.
This is especially important to consider given that Alaska cruises tend to be pricier than other itineraries in the Caribbean or Mediterranean. Now, the cheapest price you see is the Base Fare, which is non-refundable, allows no changes, and your cabin can be assigned as late as 7 days before you sail. If you want the closest equivalent to Virgin’s old pricing, you’ll need to book the Essential tier. So, be sure to budget accordingly — and remember that Alaska excursions are more expensive than other regions too.
The Bottom Line
So, is Virgin Voyages worth it in Alaska?
After five Virgin sailings and seven previous Alaska cruises, we think Virgin Voyages is a good alternative for the right traveler. The food, the inclusions, and the adults-only atmosphere make a strong case. Add a ship that actually feels modern and trendy, livelier nights and entertainment than the region is used to, and enrichment that beat our expectations, and the Virgin experience holds its own against the competition.
However, you need to weigh the trade-offs. Virgin skips Glacier Bay, offers no cruisetour to pair with Denali or the interior, and gives you nowhere warm, dry, or forward-facing to take in the scenery.
Ultimately, the decision comes down to what you want out of the Last Frontier.
Choose Virgin Voyages in Alaska if…
- You want to experience the Last Frontier adults-only
- You care as much about the onboard experience as the itinerary
- You like livelier nights, modern spaces, and lots of entertainment
- You’re sailing solo or want a more inclusive, varied crowd than the region’s usual
- You’re a foodie looking for great included dining options
Choose another line for your Alaska cruise if…
- Glacier Bay National Park is on your bucket list
- You want to pair your cruise with a land tour to Denali or the interior
- You want plenty of viewing spaces, especially a forward-facing observation lounge
- You’d prefer a more traditional and educational Alaska cruise experience
- You want the option for an all-inclusive add-on package
Comments
Would you consider sailing Virgin Voyages in Alaska? What are your top priorities when booking a cruise to this region? Drop us an anchor below to share your Alaska cruise reviews.
