helkatred

So as speculated, Virgin aren’t coming back to Australia next season! Sailing out of San Juan. So now we have individual flights to Athens booked we will have to find a different way to spend our holiday!’ 

On 2/23/2024 at 7:42 AM, CountessCookie said:

I would say B. Since someone found that port booked for Resiliant Lady. 

 

Given what we have seen, I really doubt they will come back to Aus next season. I'm booked on Resiliant Lady for Jan 2025 and I've started making alternative plans.

Which port? New York? 

She was chockers, with possibly half the ship virgin staff travelling on virtually free trips as their Christmas bonus! We figured out anyone over 50 was full fare paying 😂 a full ship - but that was a 4 nighter; chance of that happening on longer NZ cruise non existent. 

23 hours ago, Rambo24 said:

Has anyone been on deck 14 with Virgin we are basically under the pool.... it it noisy? 

We were on it last week and I think it would be fine, the cabin decks were always quiet when we were looking around. Our cabin was on 5 which was quite handy for sailor services and bars on 6. Only negative was the moving around of furniture in the Red Room after their performances late at night, but obviously the cabin was underneath so not a sensible pick! 

22 hours ago, Rambo24 said:

The Indian sea can also be a a bit doggy at this time of year. 

Dodgy?😂😂

10 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

I'm booked on the Portsmouth to Barcelona next September. Air is already booked so I'm hoping it isn't changed around to bad. 

 

They could actually depart Barcelona and go to Cape Town. So I am hoping if they have to avoid the Red Sea this will be the option.

 

That's an interesting thought.  So we wouldn't be able to get on in Athens anyway!

6 hours ago, RetroSister said:

I've been watching it unfold because we're booked on the 1st 2 legs of opposite itinerary in the fall: Athens - Dubai and Dubai - Singapore. Hard to imagine the Red Sea will be safe for insurance underwriters by the time they have to make the decision whether to sail that route. 

The Barca - Cape Town let honestly looks pretty exciting to me, but the Athens to Barca? From 14 days down to 5? No thanks. And what they're selling the Barcelona to Athens leg for right now is much less than what we paid for the original 14 day itinerary to Dubai. If we end up with the opposite itinerary, we'd probably just cancel the Athens - Barcelona leg and go Barca - Cape Town. Even though it's months away, it's still kind of maddening to wait. I can't imagine how hard it is to be recalculating plans for everyone on the upcoming April sailing.

I have read on other sites that VV will announce at the end of February, all the new sailings for resilient lady, we are also booked on those same 3 sailings as you. However we aren’t keen on all the sea days (7x2 I think) on the African route.,by the way there is also muttering that they won’t even be bringing RL back to Australia as this inaugural season didn’t reach expectations. So up in the air and definitely hoping end of Feb will give us answers! 

1 minute ago, Jamesv281117 said:

Booked direct, got the change confirmation through a couple of hours ago so also took four hours for mine like others had said. 

Unfortunately we have booked our October Athens-Perth sailing through an agency.  Wish we hadn't but of course it was a terrific deal 🤑

6 hours ago, Jamesv281117 said:

Just requested the same, how long did it take to get confirmation out of interest?

Have you booked direct with VV or through a travel agency?

On 2/9/2024 at 8:59 AM, Mark_UK said:

I'm booked on the October one from Athens 🤦‍♂️😫

So are we.  Not too sure how we feel about the African itinerary as we booked because we've never been to India, Sri Lanka etc etc ... there's a few alternatives around that date in October so considering that.  Because - of course - we have flights booked!!

On 2/8/2024 at 3:35 AM, aqlollipop said:

Right there with you @giraffic  Fingers crossed 🤞🤞 they find a way to do it impacting the fewest number of sailings. I'll be optimistic and hope that at worst, they arrive a few days later in Athens and our itinerary is shortened/adjusted accordingly. Not an outcome I would love, but better than an outright cancellation, maybe...

I believe their schedule will be as before with the first cruise from Athens on 9th May (?) - they're doing a very quick leg from Barcelona via Malta to Athens.

7 hours ago, Jamesv281117 said:

Doesn't say yet how the nee voyages will be split but I imagine it would have to be Sydney to Cape Town, Cape Town to Casablanca and Casablanca to Athens.

Cape Town to Barcelona I believe; then a very short cruise to Athens via Malta. My cruises are offering a reduced fare for that leg. 

I saw that Cunard have re-routed their sailing around Africa with a fairly interesting collection of ports, but Island Princess are leaving Australia and straight across the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, then Cape Town.  Anyone wanting Dubai will have to fly from there.

5 minutes ago, Kiraon said:

Our cruise from Doha to Antalya through the Red Sea and Suez Canal starts on March 9, so in 5 weeks. I have already contacted the travel agency several times, but TUI cruises says that the trip will continue as normal. While Carnival Cop. has canceled all cruises, the German TUI cruises are just playing stupid. I am very angry and disappointed.

The only thing so that the Houthi rebels appear to be targeting container ships, not cruise ships. 

Good advice, thank you. We have our flights booked but accommodation is flexible thank goodness. 

23 hours ago, Perigem said:

It feels like they're playing chicken with us, trying to get us to cancel first. There's no way we're going through the red sea, even just from an insurance point of view, so unless they're sailing to Dubai then putting the boat on wheels and going cross country just cancel/modify the trip and tell people. At this point I've lost my flight to Dubai money and my flight home money is like my cruise money back so I can actually have a holiday this year.

Does that mean you have cancelled?  Will VV accept cancellations based on this Red Sea disruption to schedules?  We are on the October return to Athens but it is concerning us even at this point.

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Thanksgiving Holiday  staff have leave. 

Oh of course!  Thanks for that...... anyway it looks like my question has been answered by you good folk!

41 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

There were two recent offers. The first one was to buy a Virgin cruise (up to 6 nights) for 79,999 Velocity points. That one is finished.

 

The second one runs until the end of November and involves getting 50% off the cruise fare (not fees and taxes) if you enter "VirginAustralia" as an access key when you book online.

Wow that’s a hell of a deal! Shame we booked months ago!! Again, you saw it on the website? Or on an email from them? Thanks for that information. 

25 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I understand.  When my NY girlfriend first visited Australia, she was only entitled to two weeks' leave.  I told her to tell her boss (who had met me) that I said it is too far to travel to Aust for two weeks leave.  He let her have three weeks' leave.  Unheard of.  Not that he wasn't generous.  He even gave me free travel dollars.  She is now coming out again in Feb.  4 days in Auckland, 4 days in Brisbane and 4 days in Sydney. So things haven't changed on the amount of leave front. 

Yes, we are lucky here aren't we?  Even in the UK I think it's only 3 weeks.  Your cruise sounds very interesting with the overnights.  We were on a Holland America cruise in March around NZ (so-so; not enough for us to do, I watched movies quite a lot and never done that on a cruise before!)  At Tauranga we hired a car and drove to Rotorua, but everyone who spent the day in Tauranga raved about it.

45 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

No I haven't looked at the Ap, but I'm going to book today on line so wish me well.  Any free cruise which includes Sydney is good value, as Sydney has gotten so expensive.  My 11 day cruise from Auckland to Melbourne has two nights each at Tauranga and Sydney, which was the hook.  Plus I'll spend 2 nights at Auckland before the cruise and four after at Melbourne.  Melbourne has great atmosphere in January because of the Aust Tennis Open.  I used to attend annually. Plus Aust Day in Melbourne is special.  Such a shame your daughter doesn't have enough leave to cruise with you.  Did she ask for leave without pay.  My daughter worked extra days because her small business was extra busy with Black Friday.  She elected to take leave without pay which she will take with the Christmas/New Year close down.  Both management and her were very happy with that arrangement.  

28 minutes ago, Colin 2905 said:

The Velocity points deal has ended, but info can be found at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2964836-velocity-points-for-virgin-cruise/

 

As for drinks, I'll probably take the maximum allowable number of cans of Zero Sugar Vanilla Coke in our carry-on, as I very much doubt that they'll have it on board. (I don't drink alcohol at all, and the odd shandy that my wife has is so weak that they usually only charge the softdrink price. 😄)

 

 

I’m pretty sure soft drinks are free on VV

Oh thanks - that will serve me right for not reading their emails! I don’t think we have any points at this stage anyway.  On velocity topic though, does anyone know how to add your velocity number to a booking? Or even if it’s necessary? I’ve been trying for two days to ring but get a message saying even cruise companies have to take a holiday (!?) tried live chat with no luck and have now emailed. Anyone else having a problem contacting VV?

36 minutes ago, Colin 2905 said:

The App seems to cop some flack over on the VV part of the forum, but I've found it not too bad so far. Have you looked at it yet?

 

We opted for the 6-night Melbourne-Sydney-Hobart-Melbourne cruise (1/2 - 7/2), to get the most value out of my Velocity points. Since I'm awash with Velocity points, I extended the offer to both of our (adult) children, and their partners. Unfortunately our daughter doesn't have enough leave available but our son and his girlfriend do, and have opted to join us on the same cruise. I told them that they were free to choose from the other dates, and they did consider them, but in the end they decided to get the maximum value out of my points too. 😄

 

We are Sydney-Hobart (and back! as their advertising has fun with) on the 11th Feb.

29 minutes ago, Colin 2905 said:

The App seems to cop some flack over on the VV part of the forum, but I've found it not too bad so far. Have you looked at it yet?

 

We opted for the 6-night Melbourne-Sydney-Hobart-Melbourne cruise (1/2 - 7/2), to get the most value out of my Velocity points. Since I'm awash with Velocity points, I extended the offer to both of our (adult) children, and their partners. Unfortunately our daughter doesn't have enough leave available but our son and his girlfriend do, and have opted to join us on the same cruise. I told them that they were free to choose from the other dates, and they did consider them, but in the end they decided to get the maximum value out of my points too. 😄

 

What's the Velocity Points deal?  I guess we have some - in fact I don't even know if we've added our Velocity numbers to the booking!  Re the app, we have both downloaded and chosen embarkation time and added all the personal info but am expecting problems.  In that second video, they mentioned taking a bottle of bubbly onboard which was delivered to the cabin; I thought I'd seen that they allow you one bottle (each??) but to take it on in carry-on bag.  We have a drinks package as part of our deal.  I believe they don't charge the extra gratuity other cruise lines do which is great.

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Burnie is great, a nice little town to explore but also a good place to explore the north coast and even Cradle Mountain.

We explored the coast thinking we would "do" Cradle Mountain during our Whisky Week tour in August, but still didn't manage it; so will have to go back again!

16 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Otherwise log on and we can do a quiz online in a cruise critic thread.

Hahahah........ enjoyed those two clips showing the ship (although no mention of trivia! but young Americans so possibly not their thing!)  Good to see that there is more than one pool.