Jamesv281117

Interesting, hope is some announcement for the sake of everyone's planning!

There's no way the cruise through the Suez is happening as scheduled the question is where they redirect it to and the knock on effects on other voyages. Only know of Costa cruises sailing the ships empty through and then continuing European voyages as planned.

They show all kinds of sports usually at the Social Club so as a minimum it will be on there I would think

Wow that is soon not to have made any adjustments. Some cruise ships are doing the sailing through the red sea empty but as said with the houthis anything is a gamble and any passage at the moment will be tense and risky.

Nothing has been announced regarding the April voyages which I think is quite late to be honest but you'll also get a good clue from what they do with those for yours in October as well

I wouldn't cancel anything, if they change/cancel their itineraries it's likely to be accompanied by some incentives if other operators are anything to go by so you could stand to gain something.

Also a shout I stayed in Portsmouth before a virgin voyage and did the hover boat to the isle of wight and really enjoyed that, happened to be great weather which always helps

Also national express can take you from Heathrow and drop off at the international port..

I think if flying in with big suitcases I'd be tempted to fly to Heathrow and get the national express direct to Portsmouth, at least you know the suitcases will be going in the hold of the bus and can pay for additional if you need it.

Am sure you'll have a wonderful time! Sailing Virgin in the Mediterranean is a pleasure!

Definitely agree on that it needs to be soon, some of the repositioning ports are quite far flung so people are going to be eager to know what to do with flights etc. Someone at virgin voyages said today they haven't made any changes to the repositioning voyages and are assessing but surely they must be deciding behind the scenes.

If using public transport on landing there are direct trains from Gatwick airport to Portsmouth which might be convenient for you.

Unsure what it's like for a cruise from San Juan but having done another busy itinerary there was still a good amount of excursions available upon departure and we used loot to pay for a few. If you're flexible on the sort of excursion you're prepared to do I think is worth waiting.

They could have any number of ideas of making it work which could include a new itinerary for people to stay on around Africa, whatever way I think it would feel dodgy sailing that route and people would feel uncomfortable unless it is sure things are suddenly looking better. What makes this more challenging is it's not just an itinerary change as it has big impact on length of sailing.

Read an article this week saying it can add 10 days to the travel time but I guess this depends on the ship and any stops it's making enroute. If Virgin leaves Dubai as scheduled this is why I think the 10 day Greece/Croatia cruise will be vulnerable. Either way something will have to give with the itineraries which is why I think a decision needs making sooner rather than later for planning.

Ships have been having to go all the way around Africa recently - a very frustrating and long diversion!

I think they need to soon because of the knock on effects for everyone of pre-booked flights and accomodation and like I say I don't see a realistic situation where resilient lady is sailing the original route from Dubai to Athens

Interesting just wondering if there were any clues around as it's not that far away in terms of planning in the grand scheme of things. I was thinking the 10 day Greece and Croatia on 9th May could be the one to be scrapped if the ship has to take the long route back to Europe. It doesn't seem to be on sale but don't know if that's anything new.

Hi I'm just wondering if there's any thoughts on what might happen to schedules if Resilient Lady is unable to complete it's Dubai to Athens sailing as planned? Are there any clues from what other companies are doing as I can't see it being safe to travel through the Red Sea when it's due in April.