being_there

4 minutes ago, Roneill76 said:

We just cancelled our cruise based on this. 

Ditto. Cancelled two bookings. 

"I like it but no similar examples $25 glass and $90 bottles."

At Sip, there are four Cognacs over $25 and four under: Hennessy VS $13, Henessy XO $65, Courvoisier VS $15, Courvoisier VSOP $21, Courvoisier XO $45, Remy Martin Louis XIII $395, Remy Martin VSOP $19, Remy Martin XO $77.

Also at Sip, there are two Champagnes by the glass over $25 and two under: Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut $21, Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Rose $25, Veuve Cliquot Rose $29, Dom Perignon 2008 $65.

All still wines by the glass are under $25, except for a Newton Cab which is $29 by the glass. 

As for by the bottle, all true Champagnes are over $90 per bottle. A bottle of Moet Brut is $95 and it goes up to Krug Rose for $445. There are six different sparkling wine selections that are under $90.  So for example, Victorian de Chastenay Cremant de Bourgogne costs $45. Also Chandon Brut, $48.  

The trend continues on other menus: almost all cocktails are under $25. At their Whisk(e)y bar, you see higher priced options for rarer whiskeys / bourbons / scotches, but most are under $25. I'm not going to list them all.

I pulled this from photos of the menus posted online. I had to squint, so may have gotten one or two prices wrong. 

It really is feeling like a pipe dream, isn't it?

Those new itineraries look nice. I would love to give both a try when this Covid nonsense is resolved. 

Bummer.

8 hours ago, chloe173 said:

- are things like the drag brunch bookable in the app for you guys at this point?

Stuff like that won't begin to become available until 45 days out, which is when VV says they send out materials for your cruise.

I've been wondering about dinner reservations also. While all the restaurants look lovely, it just seems like certain spots like The Wake are going to have massive demand which will make it harder to get in. Is it first come first served? Can a person make more than one reservation there if they want to, or will they limit you to one visit only to make availability for others? 

RockStar cabins seem to have earlier booking privileges than Sailors in standard cabins, but we are still waiting for clarification on what this time difference is or how it works. Also, there are Mega Rockstars who have even greater perks than basic Rockstars. So is this a two tier reservation system [sailors/rockstars] or a three tier system [sailors/rockstars/megarockstars]? And as long as reservations are based on cabin class, you could also ask if someone booked in a cheap single Insider cabin has less reservation clout than, say, a sailor booked in a more expensive Sea Terrace? 

There are a lot of questions like these that remain unanswered. It seems like a lot will continue to be in flux until time of sailing.

Your best bet will be to wait and hear reports back from those who are on the first successful cruises. I have downloaded the app for previous voyages (that were cancelled) but nothing was active in it besides being able to enter my required travel info, photo & passport info, and booking my embarkation time (you are given a time window ahead of time when it's your turn to board the ship).

I wouldn't be too concerned about being able to book your favorite reservations; they will probably be sailing at a maximum of half-capacity as part of the Covid compliance, so there will be a lot less competition to get into restaurants, etc. 

It's frustrating that there are so many questions with how all of this is going to work (especially if you're a first time cruiser like me), but this part of the adventure! At least that's what I keep telling myself. 

I am booked for May 9 -14, which is the first cruise currently scheduled. 

53 minutes ago, CroozFanatic said:

Why is may 14-19 more (slightly) expensive than may 9-14 or may 23 - 28...all 5 day cruises,?

I believe the pricing difference (among voyages of similar duration) is due to varying landing costs at different ports of call. After following this closely for a while, it seems the Mexico itineraries are less expensive for this reason, while other Caribbean destinations (especially the ones furthest East) are higher. 

timf2001, You are correct. Thanks for pointing this out; I did not intend to misspeak. 

My original reservations made in 2020 took advantage of the "Half Off All Deposits Offer" and required only 10% deposits. I forgot this was the case when I made my post. My most recent reservations were made during their current "2021 Wave Offer" and required 20% deposits. 

They have been running promotion after promotion (understandably), which kind of makes you wonder what new offer will crop up as soon as the current offer expires February 9th. 

For anyone who wants to dig into the history of VV offers, you can find details of all promotions to date (both current & expired) on the VV website under "Offer Terms & Conditions". 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/Web-Marketing/promotions-terms-and-conditions.html

Yeah, I can only imagine the stress for Branson and their management. What a time to start a cruise line!

Their current sale on new bookings (10% discount + up to $400 Sailor Loot through February 9th) is all about raising cash fast. Ditto for the BarTab promotion ($400 in future credit for $300 payment today through February 9th). The earliest sailings are cheaper but require full payment immediately. If they discount too much more, they make it harder to raise prices later (as well as damaging the upscale image they are going for by turning it into a cut-rate line).

I've noticed that their farther-out sailings now require higher minimum deposits (increased from 10% to 20%). If that gets raised too much, it defeats the purpose. Like, why would I decide to pay $675 deposit today for a $3,530 RockStar cabin voyage more than a year away? Just because it's 10% off and I get $400 SailorLoot? I'm not sure that's worthwhile. I'd rather not be locked-in and out-of-pocket. There will probably be future sales that can be taken advantage of closer to the sailing that don't require significant payments to be forked over now. 

Meanwhile, other threads have noted various perks that are being stripped from the experience to cut future costs. And of course they are offering upgrades & sailor loot incentives to encourage people with cancelled itineraries to make new reservations on future sailings rather than be refunded. 

I currently have two reservations with VV (one fully paid and one on 20% deposit). I'm doing my part to toss some money their way and take advantage of their current sales, but I'm also reminding myself that I am rolling the dice on an industry that is imploding... 

It's starting to sound like there are quite a few up-charges that, while possible to avoid, many will end up getting hit for. Up-charges like: Streaming WiFi (who knows if the complimentary wifi is decent enough, but there is a premium WiFi to purchase); drinks (obviously the alcoholic ones, but also specialty coffees, fresh juices, mocktails, etc); "Treat yourself" menu items like the $70 Grand Plateau & $65 Tomahawk Steak dishes at the Wake; ice cream & other non-included food like caviar at Sip; service charges for food delivered to cabins (only RockStar cabins get free food delivery); and of course Shore Things; Spa; Tattoos; and God knows what else. The more I learn, the more potential additional costs seem to start cropping up. 

I think its annoying that Bar Tab and Sailor Loot is separate. Why not just have one credit system? If I have $300 worth of Bar Tab (the minimum amount you can buy), I can only use that on drink orders. So the example would be, if I ordered a glass of champagne and some caviar at Sip, my Bar Tab is deducted only for the glass of champagne, but I would still need to have additional Sailor Loot or a credit card to pay for the caviar portion. It can't all just come off of the $300 bar tab. That's ridiculous and an unnecessary complication. 

An agent told me yesterday that Rock Star suites have the additional benefit of no delivery charge for food delivered to your cabin. Which means that standard rooms do have a delivery charge tacked on to what would otherwise be free food. So that's something to look into. I was surprised when I heard it. Perhaps they were mistaken. 

So I chatted with someone at Virgin about this topic last night. If you book a Rock Star cabin, you are given a choice of one set up which is included in the price of the cabin. Anything outside of the chosen setup or if you ordered additional bottles would be at additional cost. So far the four choices are: Option 1 - "Rose All Day" [4x 750ml bottles of Rose Wine]; Option 2 - "The Bubs" [4x 750ml bottles of sparkling wine]; Option 3 - "Grape Mix Master" [4x 750ml assorted wines including champagne, rose, red, white]; Option 4 - "Spirit Takeover" [5x 375ml Spirits bottles & some mixers]. 

They claim some substitutions & special requests prior to sailing may be possible. They claim they are working on putting together an additional non-alcoholic choice. I have to say, these choices are frustrating. As someone who is familiar with all these products (but no longer drinks), I would have a hard time deciding which of these to choose or be content with. It seems like the spirits option offers the most value.  

Specific Brands included in the four options are pasted below:

• Bertani Bertarose Italian Rose
• Chateau Minuty French Rose
• Cune Spanish Rose
• Decoy American Rose
•  
• Moet Imperial Champagne
• Villa Sandi Prosecco
• Honey Bubbles Moscato D'Asti
• Moet Chandon Brut Sparkling
•  
• Moet Imperial Champagne
• Decoy American Rose
• Caymus Conundrum White Blend
• Chalk Hill Pinot Noir
•  
• Belvedere Vodka
• Hendricks Gin
• Bacardi Superior Rum
• Buffalo Trace Bourbon
• Casa Noble Reposado Tequila
• London Essence Ginger Beer x 2
• London Essence Classic Tonic x 2
• Red Bull x 2
• Sugar Free Red Bull x 2