Virgin Voyages Dining Reservations: Don't Panic
I spend a lot of too much time on Reddit, and one of the most common points of stress I see on there and in my inbox is from Sailors panicking because they’ve logged into the Virgin Voyages app and found that every single dinner reservation for their cruise is "Sold Out."
I’m here to help you navigate this, but first, take a deep breath, as I promise you’ll not go hungry on Virgin.
In fact, if you’re a party of four or fewer and you’re okay being just a bit flexible, you might find that not having a rigid schedule of reservations actually makes for a better vacation. Here is the reality of how dining works on Virgin, and why those "Sold Out" screens aren't the final word.
The Psychology of Dining Reservations on Cruise Ships
While I’m going to share some tips to get dining reservations and explain why you shouldn’t worry if you don’t have reservations, I think first it’s worth explaining the problem I’ve observed with this on Virgin, and increasingly, on other cruise lines. Modern cruise ships often have many restaurants, and we have the technology to make it so that folks can make reservations at those restaurants. Great! The issue is that when people see reservations can be made, they think they’re required. When they think they’re required, they rush to grab all the reservations they can. When they rush to get all the reservations, slots fill. Now a lot of availability is taken up by folks that may not even need those reservations, making availability scarce! The reality? Quite often reservations aren’t needed - but be a good member of the cruising community and drop reservations you don’t plan to use.
What to Do to Make Dining Easy on Virgin Voyages
Here are some initial tips to score dining reservations on Virgin.
Keep Checking the App
If everything appears to be full, check later. This is true both before and during your cruise. Before the cruise, additional slots are made available as the voyage date approaches, plus people change their plans, which opens up even more slots. Once onboard there are lots of changes happening, people decide to dine at different times, they decide they’re going to hit one of the casual eateries instead, or maybe try Ship Eats. Multiple times I’ve visited a restaurant that was totally full, and then while walking to another refreshed the app to find that a slot had opened up - allowing me to walk right back to the host stand, but this time, with a reservation.
Ask for Help once you Board
On embarkation day, if the app is being fickle or you just wanna talk to a human, ask where you can get dining reservation help. Sometimes this is at Razzle Dazzle, sometimes they have a booth setup near the roundabout - it varies. The folks there can make quick work of finding availability, shifting your current plans if you need to for any reason, and answering your questions. If you’re a Rockstar, you can also get this help in the embarkation day Rockstar lounge, which is usually found at Sip.
Don’t Make Assumptions About Party Size
As we learned from Virgin Voyages’ CEO, there are multiple table configurations in the restaurants, and this is likely why sometimes, when we’ve thought a reservation at a time and restaurant we wanted wasn’t available because we saw there wasn’t space for two of us, we found that slots were available if we searched for four people, instead. Now if you are a party of two, don’t take up extra space needlessly, but this is a good quirk to keep in mind if you’re traveling with a group of four (for example), and didn’t think you’d get a space together just because you didn’t see anything for a subset of your group.
The App "Lies" to You
An important thing to understand about Virgin Voyages’ reservation system is that they only release a subset of tables for pre-voyage booking. Much of the capacity is held back for booking once you are physically on the ship’s Wi-Fi. Even the reservations that are released in the app ahead of your sailing may be staggered, so sold out 50 days out doesn’t necessarily mean sold out 20 days out. Virgin does this to ensure that people who book last minute, didn’t know about reservations, or weren’t sure of their plans, still have a chance to eat at The Wake, Extra Virgin, and the other great restaurants.
So what do you do with this information? Easy. As soon as you step on board and connect to the ship's Wi-Fi, open the app. You will suddenly see a "sea" of availability that didn't exist an hour prior. Recently we’ve even been able to do this from the lounge/waiting area at Port Miami before we even board, so that’s worth a shot as well.
Getting Walk-Ups (Talk to a Human!)
I’ve said it a thousand times on r/VirginVoyages: You don’t need a reservation to eat at a sit-down restaurant. Just like your favorite spot at home, they almost always have space for walk-ins, especially for smaller parties. Does a reservation help? Sure! Is it necessary? Not if you’re flexible.
Last year we chatted with Virgin Voyages’ CEO, Nirmal Saverimuttu, and discussed reservations. He shared that while they continue to work on the reservations system, one challenge is that many tables can be configured for two or four Sailors, so their system may think the restaurant is full when there are tables ready.
Watch our interview with Virgin Voyages’ CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu here
Will you always get a walk up at the restaurant you want if you’re a group of 4 or fewer? Not necessarily. If you show up at Pink Agave or Extra Virgin at 7:30 PM (peak time) without a reservation, they may tell you they’re booked solid, or recommend a time to come back. So what are your options? Go early (around 6:00 PM) or late (after 9:00 PM). If there is a wait, they’ll give you an estimate, and you can grab a cocktail at a nearby bar or browse nearby shops. Of course you can also try a different venue that night where there might be space - and while you’re walking there, you can see if any reservations have opened up later in the sailing for the restaurant that was too busy to easily get into.
Other Tips and Quirks
Test Kitchen & Gunbae
There are two restaurants where the "rules" are a bit different because of the experience: Gunbae and Test Kitchen. Gunbae aims to sit six people at a table, so you may sit with other Sailors. Because of this, they’re often looking for individuals, or small groups (two or three) to fill those tables. This means even though it’s a popular restaurant, it’s sometimes the easiest to get a table at just by walking up. Test Kitchen is also different because of the pace of the meal and the fact there are so many courses. Many find that walk-ins are more easily accommodated at the start of the evening at this restaurant.
Solo Sailor Dining
If you’re sailing solo you’ll find Virgin does a pretty great job with various social events. As part of that, each day, there is a large table set aside in one of the restaurants just for solo Sailors who’d like to mingle. This means you don’t have to even think about reservations, and you can meet fellow Sailors over a great meal. You’ll likely have a notice about this in your room upon embarkation, but if not, just ask Sailor Services.
You’re Not Limited to One Restaurant Per Sailing
There’s a nasty rumor that on Virgin you can only eat at each restaurant one time per voyage, and that’s absolutely not the case. This stems from Virgin restricting you to one reservation per restaurant per voyages (or two on longer voyages), but as we just covered, reservations aren’t generally necessary anyway. In addition, there are a ton of great options at other venues where reservations aren’t even a thing: The Pizza Place, Sun Club Cafe, The Galley, via Ship Eats, The Dock, and even some interesting bites at Sip.
The Bottom Line
Don’t let a lack of pre-booked reservations get you in a sour mood. Whether you’re looking for a steak at The Wake (though I recommend the salt-crusted dorade) or some incredible Italian at Extra Virgin, you won't go hungry. Stay flexible, use the "on-board" booking window, and don't be afraid to just show up and ask nicely. Oh, and re-check the app!
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