We’ve booked countless Virgin cruises for our clients and more than a dozen for ourselves. After all that cruising there’s one thing I would never personally book on Virgin, that’s the Lock-it-In and Base rates. Those rates are super tempting, sometimes saving hundreds of dollars for the same trip over what an Essential fare costs. That low price comes with strings attached, though, and I would caution against taking this deal. However, many people are intrigued by the siren song of a cheap sailing, so if you are among those interested, make sure you are fully aware of all the rules and restrictions that surround it.
No Cabin Choice
What, I think, is the least troubling, is when you book a Lock-it-In fare, you won’t have a cabin assignment, meaning you don’t have a specific cabin number. It operates like a guaranteed rate on a lot of other cruise lines. You’ll get a cabin in the category you booked, but it won’t be determined which one until right before you sail. That means, if you book a Lock-it-In Sea Terrace, you’ll likely end up in a Limited View with the risk of being right above some noisy common area. Sure, there’s a chance you’ll get a Central Sea Terrace on idyllic deck 10, but that’s a slim chance.
Never go into booking Lock-it-In expecting anything more than the cheapest, most basic option. Even when that cabin is assigned, you won’t be able to move it, wherever they put you, that’s where you’ll stay.
Base Fare does vary slightly here. You’ll have an assigned cabin number, but you won’t be able to move it. Virgin also has the right to move that cabin as they see fit up until you are, literally on the gangplank boarding the ship! Okay… that’s slightly hyperbolic, but Virgin really can change that cabin right up until you check-in and receive your Band. For this reason, people who are sensitive to noise or want a specific deck, like a lower level deck that will avoid sea sickness, aren’t going to want to book these rates.
No Booking Flexibility
Whether it’s Lock-it-In or Base fare, once you are booked, you’re booked. What this means is that you can’t make any changes to the booking at all. If you can’t sail those dates because something came up in your life, you’re “locked-in”. You can’t change to a different sailing. Neither can you swap out your cabin mate because they’re, “locked-in”. It doesn’t matter if it’s your spouse you caught cheating on you with your, now ex, best friend; there’s no name changes allowed for any of the sailors. You especially cannot cancel the booking for a refund, or even credit for another Virgin sailing, because you’re, say it with me… “locked-in.”
Basically, if something goes wrong and you can’t go, too bad. To quote the best Willy Wonka, “You get nothing. You lose. Good day, sir.”
This also means that if the price drops, you can’t re-price. I have heard horror stories of someone who booked a Lock-it-In rate, only for the price of a regular cabin to fall below what they paid well within the window to reprice, but they couldn’t take advantage of it because they were, one more time, “locked-in”.
Promotional Restrictions
Here’s one area where the Lock-it-In and Base Fares vary. While the Base Fare can enjoy assorted promotions that Virgin may offer, like extra Sailor Loot or Bar Tab, or use a My Next Virgin Voyage certificate, the Lock-it-In rate gets none of that. The already low price is the perk, and you are not allowed to combine it with anything else.
How much this particular restriction impacts you is variable, but there are quite a few discounts and promotions that us travel agents will help you take advantage of. For example, there is a First Responder discount for people like EMTs. There’s also residency rates that more than a third of Americans qualify for, not to mention the entire countries of Canada and Mexico. Active and retired U.S. and Canadian military members receive discounts as well. Additionally, Virgin will run promotions adding hundreds in Bar Tab for specific sailings.
If you book the Lock-it-In rate, you can’t take advantage of any of those. Now, yes, many times the Lock-it-In rate is lower than those discounts, but there’s all the restrictions we’ve already mentioned and, we still haven’t talked about the difference in onboard experience…
On-Ship Downgrades
Let’s say you can live with all those downsides. You don’t care where your cabin is on the ship, you aren’t eligible for any other discounts, and you have already determined that you will be taking this trip no matter what. Fair enough. We’re not done with the limitations, though, because there are a few more rules to both the Base Fare and the Lock-it-In cabins that may make your on-board experience less exciting than you may want.
Both fares can only make reservations for dining 15 days before sailing. What that means is, by the time you get to make dining reservations, a full month will have gone by since the Essential Fare sailors could book their dining, and they generally make up about 80% of a ship’s bookings. Now, if you like to eat late, like I do, you should still be able to get into various restaurants. I’ve also eaten at Virgin’s restaurants quite a few times at this point, so if I miss an Extra Virgin night, I’m not going to feel like I missed out.
If you’re on the Lock-it-In Fare, you might miss out on dining reservations for the times you want to eat.
If there’s a restaurant that you are keen to visit or a night that’s special and you want to eat at a particular time, you might not get what you are hoping for.
Outside of dining reservations, Virgin has added more tiers to their Wi-Fi and, not surprisingly, they’ve made their included Wi-Fi for Base and Lock-it-In worse. While Wi-Fi is still included at this rate, you are going to be at the absolute lowest level with both of them. This is a special tier of Wi-Fi access they created when they made the Voyage Fare changes in October of 2025. Don’t expect to do much more than some simple text messages, basic internet browsing, and social media. I’ve tried it out this tier and images don’t always load, it’s often just text and emojis and, if you’re a Millennial, your .gif filled chats aren’t loading either. Don’t even think about Wi-Fi calling and video streaming, it’s not happening.
On the other hand, if you’re trying to disconnect, that might be a plus.
Rockstar Lock-it-In
I haven’t yet touched a category of Lock-it-In that’s a little different, that’s the Rockstar Lock-it-In rate. Yes, Virgin offers discounted rates on their suites as well and their Lock-it-In rate doesn’t work the same way as the regular cabins. With this rate, you still get all the on-ship perks of being a Rockstar, including the super early dining reservations, however you get a lot of the downsides of Lock-it-Ins when it comes to flexibility. What this means is: no promotions, no choosing your cabin, no changing your cabin, no name changes, no sailing date changes, and definitely no refunds.
The Mega RockStar suites on Virgin Voyages do have their own Lock-it-In Fares.
The suites on Virgin aren’t cheap either, not even with the Lock-it-In rate. That’s a lot of money that you are “locked-in” to paying Virgin and that always makes me a little nervous. People aren’t immune to sudden changes in their life. Maybe you find out you’re pregnant and would be too late in your term to fly to the cruise, with Lock-it-In that’s just too bad. Perhaps, your brother sets his wedding date the same week as your cruise, oh well. Whatever the case may be, if you can’t go anymore, too bad. It doesn’t matter how much you paid, you chose to be “locked-in”
Conclusions
I have seen too many people get burnt by all the exclusions that come with the Lock-it-In price to ever think about doing it myself. If I’m dropping thousands of dollars on a vacation, I’m going to spend a little bit more to have a good experience and not settle for hurdles and risks.
You never know what might happen, pay a little more and protect yourself when you’re booking a vacation. Whether that’s through travel insurance or by booking a refundable fare.
I always recommend having travel insurance when you are buying a cruise, or really any vacation, and I recommend getting it from a third party vendor that will cover every part of the trip. If you absolutely want to book a Lock-it-In rate, I consider trip insurance to be even more essential, since that “no refund policy” can look a lot worse when you are facing an illness or injury that has thrown off your travel plans, or your even something simple like the plane is delayed and the ship leaves without you.
If this article made you second guess booking that Lock-it-In rate, then I’ve done my job because we want you to be informed about what you are purchasing when you book a vacation. That’s how we work with all our clients, by making sure they understand their options and any risks they take because informed decisions make for better trips. And if you want help staying informed, you can subscribe to this channel. As you might have guessed we are a travel agency and if you are looking to book a trip to a resort, take a cruise, or just get away for a few days we can help with that!
Each year we book hundreds of vacations for individuals, families, and large groups. We’ve got years of experience and firsthand knowledge to make sure you get the best trip possible with support all along the way. Our team of travel professionals can help find and book the best rates and discounts for your trip because it’s our job. So don’t book on your own, use our expertise and book with us so we can help get you, far far away.
