We're long time RCI cruisers with Diamond status looking at giving Virgin a try.
We opted to get our booking done in time for the Red Hot Booking Months deal. Struck me as odd that you can't submit your status proof and get the matching status until after you've already booked. I say this because a booking reference is a required field on the submission form. That said, I submitted the proof last night at about 8pm and had the confirmation by 7:30 the next morning.
I'm not a fan of not being able to choose your cabin. Fine that they try to choose the best given my cabin selection (like concert tickets), but I should be able to choose what I want if I don't like their option and I saw no way to do that. We're cruising with friends and like to choose cabins near each other on the same deck. As it stands, we're on 10, they're on 14. Our travel agent is trying to fix that.
Cruise is booked and the confirmation shows $100 sailor loot due to a promo they have going. I created an account on the site and linked my cruise, but the loot doesn't show there. According to information I got later, "sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't". Growing pains, I guess.
I've had questions about sailor loot, bar tabs, status matching, etc. I was working and had various calls scheduled, so I decided to give the website chat a try.
The chatbot was useless for what I needed. It has a limited number of multiple choice options and none of those is chatting with an actual agent. I typed, "I need an agent" directly and got put in the queue. I was number 12. The number slowly started ticking down. After 82 minutes, I was 5 when I got, "I'm sorry, no agents are available right now." Chat session was closed and I got phone numbers to call or an option to email. It also asked for feedback about the chat session, I chose the "Hated it" option. The feedback form where they ask for a reason is then limited to 140-characters. Barely enough to describe the issue I had with the chat queue. I can't imagine trying to describe a poor interaction with an agent within that limit.
Okay, not going well so far. The chat gave options to call or email. I chose the email option which took me to the "Contact Us" page of the website. That helpfully let me know they'll get back to me within 72 hours. That seems to be a pretty lousy response time, but okay. Then the text box for "Your message" is ALSO limited to 140 characters! People are trying to contact the cruise line to get information or resolve issues and they're limited to a tweet? That practically guarantees they won't be able to fully explain their issues or questions which will potentially result in an additional 72-hour window before their problem even begins to get addressed.
Fine, Virgin seemed to be driving me to actually call the phone line, even though that's less efficient for all involved, so I did. That was a very different experience. Call was answered by an agent almost immediately. There was barely time for the, "An agent will be with you shortly," message. She was extremely pleasant and helpful, giving me information and commentary beyond what was required to answer my question. That was where I learned it can be hit or miss on whether sailor loot actually shows up in your account online, but she assured me it showed up on the reservation. She explained that they are significantly ramping up support staffing and took my feedback about the problem with the chat and the seemingly arbitrary character limit when contacting them. Great example of how an employee's attitude can turn a customer experience around.
