Virgin Voyages Sea Rollers Casino Programme - Should you go 'all in'?!
If you’re totally new to the game, then almost every cruise ship out there will have an onboard casino. Some will have enormous venues spread through multiple rooms, and sometimes even multiple floors of the ship. Others, however, are kept much more ‘refined’, and kept to just one venue onboard the ship. In these casinos, you can usually try your hand at the table games that you’d find at a casino ‘on land’, a wide array of slot machines, and a few other options too (video poker, and sports betting etc, for example). The Virgin Voyages casinos aren’t huge, but after sailing on two of their ships now, I’d consider them more than ‘fit for purpose’ - I was never unable to get a machine if I fancied having a spin, despite the fact there aren’t a huge number down there compared to other lines.
On Virgin, you’re going to find the casino towards the front of the ship down on Deck 6, directly next door to the ground floor of ‘The Roundabout’, which is the main atrium onboard. One side of the casino then leads you into the Manor, the multi-use venue that becomes the late night/nightclub venue, so you’re not going to struggle to find this place during your cruise! The casino on an Virgin ship is quite a lovely place to spend time, mostly due to the fact that it provides some quiet, while next door to one of the loudest venues onboard, and it’s also non-smoking (yes, there’s a smoking room, but this is so well controlled that there’s no smell at all out on the casino floor - well done Virgin!).
Being honest, one of the things that I loved about Virgin Voyages at the point of their launch was that they weren’t ‘playing the game’ of cruise line ‘loyalty programmes’, where the cruise lines compete against each other to offer you the best perks or benefits in return. However, Virgin have now launched the Virgin Voyages Sailing Club, which is their attempt to lure passengers to book repeat voyages for various benefits in return, including premium wi-fi, complimentary laundry, additional ‘bar tab’ (or drinks), and a few other things.
Since launching the Sailing Club, Virgin have also launched another initiative: the ‘Sea Rollers’ Rewards Programme. The aim of this one is to reward the most active players in the casinos across the Virgin Voyages fleet, and in this article I’m going to run through how it works, and whether or not I’d consider it ‘worth it’, based on what I know at this stage.
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So, how many levels are there in this programme? This one’s easy to answer - there are 5 levels in the Rewards Club, with the below points requirements for each:
Showstopper: 0 - 4,999 points
Star: 5,000 - 14,999 points
Superstar: 15,000 - 34,999 points
Idol: 35,000 - 74,999 points
Legend: 75,000 points
I know what you’re thinking - how do you earn points? Let’s answer that before we look at how the rest of the programme works. If you’d like to check out the various tiers and benefits for yourself, click here to head across to the official Sea Rollers grid on Virgin’s website.
In short, to earn ‘points’ in the Virgin Casino Programme, you need to spend money in the casino. The accumulation of points is directly attributed to the amount of money you’re spending in various areas of the casino. This is been broken down into 3 key areas, each with a different points value for your spend: Table Games (points earned based on average bet, session play or hands played and game type), Slot Machines (for every $5 spent, you’ll earn 1 point), and Video Poker (for every $10 spent, you’ll earn 1 point).
Now, as a Slot player, when I first saw these figures, I got quite the fright! For me to jump from my current tier (the entry level tier) to the ‘Star’ status, I need to earn 5,000 points as a minimum. Working to the basic logic of 1 point for $5 spent, I’d need to spend a whopping $25,000. To progress to the other tiers via the slot machines would cost, well, a HUGE amount of money.
It’s important to remember that, to hit these figures, you don’t need to be boarding the ship with, for example, the $25,000 mentioned above. You build points in the ship casinos by cycling money through the machines, not just spending your own cash. What does this mean? Well, for example:
If you play $10 on your slot machine, win $20, then play that $20, you’re going to be sitting with a total of 30 points. Now let’s look at this example on a slightly larger scale…
If you play $500 throughout your cruise, win another $300, and then play that, you’d be sitting with a points balance of 800.
In other words, always remember - if you’re putting money through the machine (regardless of if it’s money YOU brought onto the ship, or money you’ve won in the casino), you’re still building points!
The initial difference with this loyalty programme from Virgin appears to be that it’s more difficult to earn points to progress between tiers, but then the value of the benefits of the ‘lower’ tiers appear higher than with some other cruise lines. Last year, I cruised with a line who were quick to advertise how many player points were required to receive $10 of ‘free play’, a bottle of wine, a meal at a speciality restaurant, or a massage. It’s clear that Virgin Voyages are aiming to the higher rollers with this initiative, as I’d need to spend almost $400,000 to reach the top tier here (don’t worry - I don’t enjoy playing slot machines THAT much…!).
Next up, let’s explore how long your points are valid for.
The rule’s pretty simple on this one - Virgin explain that you’ve got 12 months to earn a certain tier status, followed by another 12 months to sail with those status perks.
Earning cycles operate on an annual basis with Virgin (May 1st 2024 - April 30th 2025, for example). Once you’ve earned enough points to achieve a status tier, you retain that status tier until the end of the following status year.
It’s also explained that you’ll receive access to your current tier benefits and the chance to ‘level up’ on every cruise you take during the earning cycle.
Can you status match your Casino benefits with Virgin?
Now, up until now, the ‘rules’ have been fairly clear cut, but this is when it gets a little (or a lot) more uncertain. Virgin explain that they do not entertain status matching with other casinos or other offers, but they do invite existing players to submit any offers that they currently have for complimentary cruises (minimum 3 nights), in exchange for an offer from Virgin.
I’ve had a look and tried to decipher for myself what the online form means, and it looks like Virgin are asking you to obtain an offer from another cruise line, but then contact them via this form to receive an alternative offer. It’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out - it seems MUCH more labour intensive than what I’ve seen from other lines in this area!
So, is it worth getting involved?
This is the exact question I had when I first read about the programme. My honest advice on this one is that it’s worth joining any loyalty programmes, especially when they’re offering you decent perks. However, it’s absolutely critical that you gamble responsibly, as achieving that ‘next tier’ on the status ladder should NEVER result in you entering any form of financial difficulty - this is SO important to remember throughout your gaming experience. If it stops being fun, it’s probably time for you to stop.
If you’re new to Virgin, or the casino world, then don’t worry - on Embarkation Day (the day you board your ship), the casino team usually run a few sessions to help to teach you how the games in here work, so you can ‘test the waters’ without spending any actual money - worth a try to see how you feel!
To see more from inside the casino facility onboard Virgin Voyages’ cruise ships, click here!
The final point to add here is that, although we’ve been talking about the positive element of a loyalty programme in this article, we’re talking about gambling at the end of the day. As mentioned above, it’s paramount that you exercise responsibility - if it does become a problem, you can access support on the following websites: UK and USA.
If you do choose to take part in the programme, GOOD LUCK, and thanks so much for checking out my post today!