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Fantastic deal alert: Get a 7-night cruise for just 40,000 points per person

Gene Sloan
Gene Sloan
Cruise team lead
As TPG's cruise team lead, Gene Sloan oversees the site's cruise content and also writes many of TPG's main cruise guides. He has spent nearly 30 years writing about cruise ships and cruising, and he is one of the world's best-known authorities on the topic.
May 30, 2023
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5 min read
Valiant-Lady
Fantastic deal alert: Get a 7-night cruise for just 40,000 points per person
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Quick summary

Do you have 80,000 points to burn in the Virgin Red loyalty program? If so, act fast: You can cash them in for a seven-night Mediterranean cruise for two that normally costs around $3,300 or more.

The limited-time offer is only available for sailings on Virgin Voyages ships in the Mediterranean that begin between June 1 and Aug. 31, which means you must be ready to travel in the next two months.

For your points, you'll get accommodations for two on Virgin Voyages' Athens, Greece-based Resilient Lady or Barcelona-based Valiant Lady in a Sea Terrace cabin — Virgin's fancy way of saying a cabin with a private balcony. That's a big upgrade from the ship's entry-level Insider cabins, which are in the interior of the ship and don't have windows. It's also a step up from the vessel's window-but-no-balcony Sea View cabins.

All your meals will be included, as well as free onboard Wi-Fi, gratuities and entrance to all onboard shows.

A Sea Terrace cabin on Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady. VIRGIN VOYAGES

The least expensive Sea Terrace cabins on seven-night sailings out of Athens and Barcelona between June 1 and Aug. 31 start at around $3,300 for two, including taxes and fees. Some departures over popular weeks start at significantly higher prices.

Related: I've been on more than 150 cruise ships; here's what I thought of my 1st Virgin sailing

TPG values Virgin points at 1.5 cents each, so by our estimate, 80,000 points would be the equivalent of just $1,200. That makes this an unusually good points offer, as you're essentially getting the cruise for nearly a third of the normal price.

Virgin launched a similar points offer for Mediterranean cruises in February but with a higher rate of 100,000 points for seven-night sailings.

Itineraries available as part of the promotion include:

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  • Seven-night Greek Island Glow sailings out of Piraeus, Greece (the port for Athens), that bring stops at Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos, Greece; and Bodrum, Turkey.
  • Seven-night Adriatic Sea and Greek Gems sailings out of Piraeus that bring stops in Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro; and Corfu, Greece.
  • Seven-night The Irresistible Med sailings from Barcelona to Toulon, France; Carrara, Italy; Ajaccio, Corsica; and Ibiza, Spain.
  • Seven-night French Daze and Ibiza sailings from Barcelona to Marseille and Cannes, France; and Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza, Spain.

Don't have enough Virgin points to book the offer — or any at all? You can still get in on this deal by transferring points from one of several major credit card programs to Virgin Red. Programs include American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou.

Additionally, both Amex and Chase are currently offering a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic. That knocks the price down to 62,000 transferred points from either of those programs.

Related: The 5 best places you can visit on a Virgin Voyages cruise

To take advantage of the offer, you first must head to the Virgin Red app and tap "redeem," where you see it promoted. This will deduct the necessary points from your Virgin Red account. A member of the Virgin Red team will then email you an access key within 48 hours that you will use to book a cabin using the points at the Virgin Voyages website.

Among caveats to the offer:

  • There are a limited number of cabins available as part of the offer.
  • Passengers will be assigned a Sea Terrace or Limited View Sea Terrace cabin based on availability.
  • The points price is per cabin, whether one person or two people are staying in the cabin. In other words, if you're traveling alone, you'll pay the full price of 80,000 points for the cabin. If you are traveling with a companion, you'll pay the same 80,000 points for the cabin — or 40,000 points per person.
  • All passengers must be over 18 years of age.
  • Each Virgin Red member can book up to four cabins as part of the offer, but the booking party must check in at the same time.
  • The Virgin Red member responsible for the booking must present their Virgin Red app to verify their eligibility before boarding.

Also, note that you cannot upgrade cabins booked under the offer unless Virgin Voyages subsequently offers the chance to do so.

In addition, Virgin Red recommends that bookings should be completed no later than five business days before the date of travel.

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Featured image by VIRGIN VOYAGES
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.