CruisingWalter

11 hours ago, Daruma said:

As you say... how many hours will I spend on a balcony? For me two hours per day at MOST.

Except that VV has the hammock. With that you will spend much more time on your balcony than any other cruise line. My wife will literally sleep at night in that hammock it's so comfortable. So in the case of VV, you usually spend more time on your balcony than you typically would.

16 hours ago, Daruma said:

Trying to decide between 2x Solo Insider cruises per year vs 1x Balcony cruise per year is basically what it comes down to for me. 

2 cruises per year wins for me over a balcony every time. 🙂 

On interesting tidbit in the terms, you can swap out the second sailor for each itinerary.

the primary passenger (“Sailor 1”) for all four itineraries in the Voyage Period

remains the same (the secondary passenger may change between itineraries as

long as the cabin remains at double occupancy);

12 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

 

And priority boarding and access to Richard's Rooftop....And my personal favorite, free laundry!

No mention of Priority Boarding in the actual terms of the offer.

Persons making an Eligible Voyage will receive access to the following exclusive

perks for the “Season Pass” voyages:

• Premium Wifi;

● Laundry Service (Wash & Fold) (one bag per itinerary);

● Early access booking window for dining and Shore Things;

● Dedicated pre-voyage concierge - to support all of your booking needs;

● Onboard RockStar Agent support;

● Access to Richard's Rooftop;

● Daily coffee credit ($10 for the cabin, Sailor 1)(coffee credit expires at the end of

each day and does not roll over to the next day); and

● Welcome bubbles (i.e., sparkling wine or non-alcoholic substitute) to kick off

celebration (one bottle in the cabin for the first itinerary of the Voyage Period).

14 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I gave up.  Got 3 ressies last night, managed to add 4 more today.  Also, they knocked my cabin mate off the app so all of our ressies are for 1 person.  I'm so over it.

And from the TAs I talk to, the booking engine is only slightly better than the app. I'm pretty done with everything IT from Virgin Voyages. For basically the same onboard inclusions but with even better food, Oceania has been my go-to of late.  

13 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

Be aware that it's two itineraries that each repeat once.

It's actually three itineraries.  Irresistible Med is slightly different than Med & Rome.  Not much, but you're still sitting at sea for a month in a central Sea Terrace for $2498/week for 2. And you're getting a bunch of Rockstar Benefits too. All in all a great deal. If the WiFi was rock solid in the Med I would totally be over there running my business while I enjoy those four itineraries. 🙂 

June, July and August are $9990, September is $10,990

Gunbae is my recommended venue for the first night of a VV cruise because it is a social night. You get to meet some of your fellow sailors on board. Usually it's one night for us. Razzle Dazzle and Pink Agave are two that we would do more than one time on a cruise. 

As noted above, they may show up on your app earlier but you won't actually be able to book them until the appointed time. Hopefully you were able to get the excursions you wanted. 

On 3/1/2024 at 8:02 PM, Giraffes said:

just booked February 2025 and there was no option for PIF discount. Agent said there is not talk of bringing it back. 🤬

Actually I will say there is 'talk' because TAs I know have had chats with North American execs about bringing the PIF discount back. Uniworld River Cruises has a Pay In Full discount that has been shown to the VV team as a model for how it can work in the future. With Uniworld if you pay in full at the time of booking, it's 10% off the cruise. But that's your only option for the discount, pay in full when you book, otherwise you pay the deposit up front and the full fare. 

The headache VV created for themselves was the loophole to book today with a 20% deposit but still be able to apply the PIF discount all the way up to final payment. That created an accounting nightmare. 

We'll have to wait to see if VV brings the offer back, but there is at least 'talk' happening behind the scenes. 

On 2/29/2024 at 6:07 PM, Freelancer3 said:

Pay in full discount is back. I got it today.

No, the Pay In Full Discount is not back. It's been a topic of discussion between some TAs and VV for a while now to bring it back in a different way. But as of today, there is no Pay In Full discount being offered by VV. 

On 2/29/2024 at 1:33 PM, jame_g said:

Anyone have any idea when Virgin might post sailings (Caribbean) for Nov/Dec 2025 based on past experience? Most cruise lines seem to have their early 2026 sailings already available, but Virgin cuts off at Oct 2025. Thanks!

Middle of the year most likely unless they surprise us this month.  The rest of the Resilient Lady's sailings for Oct/Nov that 'fill in the current gap' are supposed to be announced by the middle of this month. But most likely the middle of the year because Brilliant Lady should be rolling out by Q4 2025.  

On 2/29/2024 at 10:11 PM, CineGraphic said:

I believe only a certain level of agent gets the extra $100 per booking.

Maybe your agent lost their status.

No VV took away the ability to combine Gold Certified First Mate Sailor Loot with the MNVV back in January. It's still available for The Sea Terrace or above if you're not using an MNVV.

On 2/29/2024 at 7:48 PM, MisterBill99 said:

She did not offer me any this time and said that VV is no longer allowing it on bookings using MNVV. Is that true?

That is correct. The $100 Sailor Loot automatically given by Gold Certified First Mates is no longer combinable with the MNVV. Hasn't been since January I believe. 

On 2/29/2024 at 2:03 PM, Watchmen said:

I know the program is scheduled to end in 2024, but if you were to make an educated guess, will the program be extended into 2025?

We had a VV Rep on our YouTube Live back on February 4. She said the new loyalty program is coming "soon." No word on what it will be, but nothing for 2025 will show up until that program is introduced. No word on whether Status Match will return as well.  

12 hours ago, Patsy1921 said:

I have tried calling and emailing & they have blamed the travel agent, said it was the holding deposit, various reasons,

The amount you describe sounds like the balance of an MNVV Deposit where you purchased an MNVV from a TA who may not have paid the rest of the 20% deposit for whatever reason. That should have resulted in your cruise being cancelled. Any missing deposit amount should have resulted in your cruise being cancelled. 

Your TA should be able to provide a clear explanation because there is absolutely no reason for you to have been charged for a 'deposit' after the cruise has been completed. 

17 hours ago, CanadianCruiser21 said:

wow, I thought it would be Q4 2024, which is already a 1 year delay from the original date. 

They just took delivery of her a week or so ago, but have said they are 'still working on perfecting the itineraries.' With the announcement that Resilient Lady is going to San Juan in Q4 2024, that means she is taking the slot that was supposed to be for Brilliant Lady. My best guess is that they are working to get the West Coast lined up so they can bring her there during her first season. Getting port slots is not easy and very costly, I don't envy those folks who have to negotiate and buy those slots. 

1 hour ago, leck57 said:

Using the Red Sea problems as an excuse is just rubbish. As said above they would find a way if the area was profitable. The marketing was off the mark from the outset.

With only 3 ships sailing, they need to send them to the most profitable markets. If Australia had been a spectacular success with the sailings, they would have been coming back. The itineraries didn't look great and as a few of you have said, their marketing was off point, which seems to be a pattern for them. Not sure who their marketing team is, but they rarely get it right. 

9 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Let's face it. If they had done well in Australia, they would find a way to go back, but now in San Juan they can sell cabins for $3K instead of $600. They can't give the product away anymore.

Well they were following the same model they did here in Miami. Give away cabins cheap, get people interested in the brand and then raise the pricing once they're hooked. But it sounds like that model didn't work. With only three ships, they need to send them to the most profitable locations. There's a reason why every cruise line has 4 or 5 ships in the Caribbean every winter. 

Hopefully this will fix the woeful performance of the high speed WiFi on Valiant.  I've had no issues on Scarlet but Valiant has been dog slow each time we've sailed her.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/virgin-voyages-rolls-out-new-improved-internet-package-with-ses/

2 hours ago, Back to school said:

No canceling announcement for Resilient Lady, Barcelona - Athen October 11-20 2024.  Not available for booking months, nothing for up-to-date. 

That sailing is still on. VV updated their announcement this evening that 10/11 - 10/20 is still on. What comes after that is still unannounced. All we know that she starts in San Juan 12/6 and it's currently set to be an Athens to San Juan crossing. So perhaps she'll spend November in Greece and then come over.

2 hours ago, Back to school said:

Interesting take, I’m going to bet Athens-San Juan😀 

it will be Athens to San Juan, just not October 20. Sometime in late November to match with the Dec. 6 launch in San Juan. 

1 hour ago, wynkys said:

They got their initial marketing wrong for the local market and have been struggling to recover since then. 

I do wonder how many of their sailors paid the full sticker price?

That's been true of the entire brand from the get-go. Marketing was woefully off point from the get-go and every time they seem to be back on track, they shoot themselves in the foot with cancelled sailings and cancelled ships. 

I appreciate all the feedback from those of you who sailed in Australia.  It sounds like the season was marginally successful. 

8 minutes ago, Back to school said:

Interesting new itinerary October 20-?? 2024, Athens - San Juan.  

Nope because the San Juan sailings don't start till December 6. If the information is correct, the repositioning will be announced in Mid-March, so not the same day as the Southern Caribbean itineraries. 

6 minutes ago, Jamesv281117 said:

Are the specific itineraries listed anywhere yet?

Thursday. 

2 hours ago, wintrev said:

Thank you for the article. Virgin have lost my business. Will NEVER book a cruise with them again. Can’t believe how many Aussies will be annoyed about this. Has been an absolute joke how they have handled this.

 

 

Honest question for those of you who sailed in Australia.  How full were the ships?  From the little information I was able to glean, it didn't sound like the sailings in Australia were sailing full.  Just curious for those who actually sailed the ships in Australia, were the ships sold our or sailing light?