Free toolCruise Budget Planner
Add up the real cost of a cruise (fare, flights, hotel, excursions, drinks and extras) per person and per night, before you book.
Loading page
Cocktails, wine, beer and specialty coffee. Skip water, soda, tea and drip coffee: Virgin includes those.
Tap what you drink most, or type the price from your sailing's menu.
The average of beer, wine and cocktails below. From Virgin Voyages' published prices (opens in a new tab), checked Oct 26, 2026. Tips included; prices vary by ship.
We compare Virgin's standard Bar Tab tiers for you. For any other offer, enter it exactly as quoted: what you pay, and the credit you get to spend.
Each counts as half a drinking day.
Virgin includes tips in its drink prices, so leave this at 0 for Virgin.
For display only. Nothing is converted.
$420 on drinks
See breakdownNights, how many adults are drinking, and how many drinks each of you has on a typical vacation day.
Beer, wine, cocktails or a mix, priced from Virgin's published menu prices. Or type your own.
We suggest the largest Bar Tab you'd spend anyway, or tell you to skip it and pay as you go.
Think of a relaxed vacation day rather than a normal day at home, and count cocktails, wine, beer and specialty coffee for one person. Leave out anything your fare already includes. If you'll spend some port days ashore, set them under Fine-tune: each counts as half a drinking day.
Only if you'll spend at least what you pay for it. Spend more than the credit you get and you keep the whole bonus; spend between the two and you save part of it; spend less than you paid and the tab costs you money, because unused credit isn't refunded. That's why we suggest the largest tab you'd spend anyway. Have a different offer? Enter it under "Have a different bar tab offer?".
From Virgin Voyages' own drinks page, which lists beer at $7–9 and a basic cocktail at $11, says 40% of its wines by the glass are under $11, and includes tips in those prices. Virgin calls them examples that vary by ship, so treat them as a starting point and type your own if your menu differs. The Bar Tab tiers come from Virgin's Bar Tab offer terms. We show the date we last checked both.
Yes. The link in your address bar always matches your answers, and "Copy a link to this estimate" copies it for you.
No. We don't store anything you enter. Your answers live in this page's link, so bookmark it or share it to come back to the same estimate.
Free toolAdd up the real cost of a cruise (fare, flights, hotel, excursions, drinks and extras) per person and per night, before you book.
Drinks are the biggest wild card in a cruise budget. Here's how to estimate yours honestly, and how to tell whether a prepaid bar tab or package is worth it.
3 min read
A plain-English look at what a cruise fare typically covers, what costs extra, and how to check inclusions for a specific sailing.
1 min read
Budget sorted?
Compare real adults-only sailings by destination, dates, length and ship.