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6 hours ago, kristinp36 said:

As a GenXer married to a Boomer we decided to wait and read some reviews.  I was initially really excited about vv and started following them on Instagram as soon as they were posting.  The marketing is geared towards a hipster crowd and really made me second guess booking with them.  Time will tell.

According to a personal in the travel industry who lives in South Florida and has attended seminars and training with VV just recently, the average age of passengers booked is 47.  At 57, I'm bringing that average up.  While I may choose not to lead the congo line or dance center stage, I sure enjoy watching and clapping to the fun all around with cocktail in hand.... just no avocado toast.

On 2/20/2020 at 10:21 PM, garymfreedman said:

If we even see an app--They have had YEARS to work on the app, yet they couldn't release it in December when it was supposed to be ready, and still have not.. They do not have the best app developers for sure..

YEARS?  More hyperbole?

6 minutes ago, resstation said:

At our meeting we did hit upon a slight snag. An agency had booked a group of 80 yr olds who are VERY interested in cruising with Virgin, but EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING will be done by smartphone. No documents to print, no flyers on your bed every night, no brochure racks. They only have flip phones. 

Will the group need their phones for Bingo and Trivia?

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Buy drink package: pay one flat fee up front before I cruise

Buy a la carte drinks: I pay for each individual drink

 

That's the difference between a package (for anything) and a la carte. I can buy a package up front, before I ever set sail, and not worry about individual costs of things while sailing. That is one of the main attractions of cruising for me. That is why I wish VV had a true drink package. So I could pay one cost up front and then just enjoy my vacation instead of stressing about budgets and the costs of individual things while cruising.

Jaime, it sounds like you should explore Crystal Cruises or Silversea Cruise Lines

Both offer one price that includes beverages.

VV is taking a much different tact.  And if it works, they'll never have a reason to offer a package.

3 hours ago, allyfrizzle said:

The fact they aren't doing a drink package is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. I'm not paying bar prices on a cruise I'm already paying more for. Include package options (doesn't even have to be unlimited, but a la carte is crazy)

The fact that you doubt VV's marketing & promo tactics is N-U-T-S!

Given the positive feedback so far, and  strong booking pace, they'll NEVER have a need to offer a beverage package.  Offering reasonably priced drinks inclusive of gratuity is gonna be a hit! 

2 hours ago, allyfrizzle said:

I assure you that their marketing is aimed 100% at people like me. DINKs who love to dance, drink, eat, get tattoos, see live shows, etc. 

There's one point you miss:  VV is looking to attract those willing to pay for beverages a la carte.  Given that you aren't willing to buy alcohol a la carte, I can assure you that you are NOT someone VV would consider a valued guest.

7 hours ago, resstation said:

Tell me about it! When I saw all the charges on my NCL tab I thought I was going to explode. They add up FAST and it doesn't help that they overcharge and apologize. I'm over it.

Probably the most laughable thing on my last NCL cruise (2018) was the welcome you get at the host stand when dining at Ocean Blue, their new at the time seafood restaurant.  I guess enough guests had already complained that before seating you, they explain that if you paid for the Dining Package then there would be an  extra charge to eat in Ocean Blue.  Additionally, there are a number of items on the menu that each have additional charges if ordered.

So it was the perfect Triple Play:  pay for specialty dining, pay extra for this restaurant, pay extra for this menu item.

7 hours ago, AlyssaJames said:

 
I mean, that seems reasonable enough, especially something ridiculous like shaved truffles. I just have PTSD over NCL’s a la carte pricing, I guess. 

I, too, took a sharp breath in when I heard the first mention of an upcharge.  Extra for a Tomahawk Steak?  Well of course:  that's a serious cut of meat, usually intended for two.  Locally, "Tomahawk Tuesday" dinner for two runs $135, so of course an upcharge should be expected.

But the real culprit to fear is the upsell:

• To go with your champagne, how about an order of Saint Agur blue cheese spread on wafers made from wheat grown...(blah blah blah)?  $12
• Truffle shaving to compliment your pasta? $15
• Our Cayenne Curry infused chocolate sauce is just $8 atop your dessert.

The delicious dining experiences that are sold as "all inclusive" should be just that.  We shouldn't have to pay extra to get the "Wow."

Thank you, Resstation.  The information is appreciated.

Resstation, did they mention any on board food or entertainment events that WILL have an upcharge, like a dinner show or cooking classes in Test Kitchen?  I don't mean the expected extras, like spa treatments.

3 hours ago, twodjs said:

Reasonable, yes, but I don't remember any instance on a ship where if the ship board credit is assigned to one person in the cabin, it could be transferred to anyone else. That is why I was wondering if my wife could use the app on my phone to buy a drink without my wrist band being there. That would make it so much easier and allow us to share the bar account.

While they've promoted the ability to shake you device to order Champagne, I don't think that means a device with their app can act as a payment method.  I'd bet when the champagne arrives, they'll still scan the band.

My actual experience with transfers was on Princess.  My credit card was paying for two separate rooms.  Each had a ridiculous amount of OBC and guest services volunteered to transfer between to consume the credits, stating that they saw my credit card paying for both rooms.  On another Princess sailing, I was sharing a mini-suite with two others for a short cruise.  All three of us had our own folios.

9 minutes ago, 70KToM said:

I spoke with them as well last night for clarification. The guy was very clear:

 

• Use it or lose it, the entire $300+$100 will not be refunded if it is not spent.
• This is bar tab only, not sailor loot. So no shop purchases, no excursions, no casino credit, etc.
• This is put in one person's name, not both, so if it goes on your account, you will need to make all purchases for your partner if you want to have it count towards that $400. I can see this easily going wrong and leading to dissatisfied cruisers who thought it would apply to both, and who end up with a bunch of charges on one account, and unused credit on the other. That seems like an error in judgment on Virgin's side; too much potential for misunderstanding.
• However, it does count for BARISTA drinks as well, so you can buy mochas and such with it!

While each guest has their own folio (or room account) most of the guest accounting systems allow individual charges to be transferred between.  While I can't say whether they will or won't, it just seems reasonable that a couple in a room could transfer between accounts to absorb the credit at the end of the cruise.

2 hours ago, timf2001 said:

One thing that stands out to me is it appears the dock is constructed to only allow ships to dock stern-first.  This works fine for a ferry which typically has a ramp in the stern to load and unload vehicles, but I'm not sure how a cruise ship could use this.  Perhaps they are doing some modifications to allow a side-loading ramp that would fit a cruise ship.

A ha!  The ARE going to Bimini March 13-14. (Found it on Instagram)

Whew!  

51 minutes ago, timf2001 said:

One thing that stands out to me is it appears the dock is constructed to only allow ships to dock stern-first.  This works fine for a ferry which typically has a ramp in the stern to load and unload vehicles, but I'm not sure how a cruise ship could use this.  Perhaps they are doing some modifications to allow a side-loading ramp that would fit a cruise ship.

At first it seemed to me that surely we'd dock, but now I'm not so sure after spending time on the internet.

The pier looks to be only 400 ft on it's long side.  Scarlet Lady is more than twice that length.  I also saw some shots of a cruise ship anchored offshore, quite a distance from the dock.  That pier was built for the casino's ferry which as a previous poster pointed out, docked stern-first.

So maybe we will be tendered. 

Actually now I'm hoping it's in the planned sailing from NYC south to head over to Bimini for a practice run.  Otherwise the morning of March 27th could be quite the entertainment.

23 minutes ago, OliviaAdventurer said:

Can we assume we can use this credit toward champagne delivery?  I thought I read somewhere that was going to be $90.  

 

Safe assumption, I'd say

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I guess I will take this one. 😛

 

I don't know that I have no plans to sail on VV ever, but I have reached the conclusion that I won't be doing so in the near future.

 

I also can't say that this is worse than any other beverage package, as I haven't had exposure to all of the other beverage packages on all of the other cruise lines.

 

I do think this is a significant improvement over *NO* beverage package, as one of my main worries about not having a beverage package was stressing about every drink purchased. This mitigates that issue somewhat, but obviously not completely.

 

If I have $400 of credit towards drinks on a 5 day sailing and cocktails average $10 a piece, then that works out to 8 drinks a day. I would say I usually average closer to 10 drinks a day on a cruise, so I still might exhaust my credit and have to pay per drink toward the end of the sailing. Definitely not the stress-free drink package I would like, but, as I said, a bit of an improvement over no package at all.

 

Looking forward to hearing from those of you doing the early sailings! I am still very interested in VV overall and I am hoping the reviews can sway me towards giving it a try at some point, despite my drink package concerns.

Jaime, I don't think that comment was aim at you or an attempt to poke at your position.  Instead, as another thread pointed out, it was a snarky jab at the group of CC members who condemn change or anything new.  In particular I recall threads on the Princess Cruises board when the line introduce their new restaurant concept:  SHARE.  Some droned on about how they would NEVER go because there was NOTHING on the menu that was even edible to them.  Feelings were so strong that I thought I'd find picket lines at the entrance of the restaurant.

As for beverage packages, I did recently look at your expanded signature where you've placed your cruise history.  NCL offers their beverage package as a freebie where you only pay about $20/day for the "beverage gratuity service charge" portion of the package.  Otherwise, it would cost $85-$100 a day for the duration of the cruise.  I know that Princess annually runs a "Sip n Sail" promotion where again, the beverage package is thrown in.  Otherwise it would cost $85 or more per day and must be purchased for the duration of the cruise.  Some lines require every adult in the same cabin to purchase, if one adult does, as a measure to prevent sharing one package.  I don't know the pricing for all the mass-market lines, but I'm sure they are competitive and withing that $85/day range.

Jamie, by your calculations, of the loot credit covering 8 or your 10 drinks a day, you're talking a difference of 2 drinks, $20/day or $100 for your cruise.  That must be a pretty tight budget to let a potential $100 variance on a several thousand dollar vacation stress you out!

But then again, this $100 credit is for a limited time.  The normal offering is a $50 credit, which I still think is a good offer.

12 hours ago, Kesali said:

Never mind my previous post.  I believe the person I spoke with was incorrect telling me I could use the $300 towards anything on board.  It looks like the money can only be used for drinks.  Hence, it's a drink package by a different name.  😄  I couldn't possibly drink $400 worth of drinks so I'm passing on this offer.

Yes, they were wrong.  In theory, their guest accounting system should be able to hold credits on your folio that can only be applied towards certain charge categories --such as beverage-- while excluding others, such as casino, gift shop, excursions.

My agent, at first, said the same:  it's good for everything.  Then just before posting the $2,100 I wanted to buy, he decided to read the fine print while I waited on hold.  To me, for my 3 day cruise, that would have been a great deal since I would have a $700 bonus which would have all be used in the casino (3 days at their $1,000/day max.)  I reasoned that if he was wrong and onboard I could NOT use it as was related, they would make an exception to the "use it or lose it" nature, for a refund, given no one at VV would expect a solo traveler to consume $2,800 of alcohol in 3 days.  

But returning from hold, he did backtrack and state it only works for bar charges.  I had been on the phone close to an hour, so I bought just one and did NOT ask if it's good at the coffee bar.

Note the language in their promo's states "Premium Drinks."  My BELIEF is they do not mean top shelf brands.  I think they simply make the distinction between "Basic Beverages" which are free, as described and "Premium Drinks" which must be bought.  Hopefully that includes specialty coffees.

9 hours ago, 70KToM said:

That's exactly where I suspected it would be, thank you for confirming! Good info about the long pier as well. The island is pretty small, so our thinking is that we will take some kind of shuttle to the end of the pier, then walk down to the southern end of the island, walk back up, and end up at the beach club towards the evening. Might stop by the ship first, drop off some stuff, and then take their transportation out to the beach club.

If you've been on Caribbean cruises in the past, you may have expectations of disembarking, walking along the pier and into either a village or huge Duty Free building, exiting to locals ready to pounce with their own tour and/or transportation offerings.  And let's not forget a Diamonds International in plain site.

Not so in Bimini.  That pier was built for the Resorts World Casino, so its super fast ferry could whisk boat loads of people daily the short 50 mile trip from Miami.  There were never plans for guests to spend any time at or around the pier; simply get them off the ship and to the resort.

I noted in a previous post that when I arrived there was a warehouse immigration.... well when I gave it more thought, that was actually on the ferry.  I recall that once docked, the immigration officials came on board and set up shop to do the immigration process in the vehicle/cargo space of the ferry as part of disembarkation.  Point is, there isn't space on the small pier.

I've looked at the current Google Maps satellite image, it it looks the same.  The rectangular pier is divided up into areas for cargo storage with a clear space where it appears the currently servicing ferry is docked.  (Tripadvisor guests reviewing the Hilton mostly note the ferry service is a disaster.  On point here is immigration leaving.  But that's with luggage, and hopefully as a cruise ship just day guests, it will be as smooth and carefree as other Caribbean ports.)

If VV is contracting to use the Resort's shuttle service, then it may be point-to-point:  pier to beach club without stops.  (Remember, they've got a couple of thousand people to move, and given the long visit, many people may make multiple trips.)

If you're lucky, they'll stop at the Fisherman's Village which is due east of the pier, and just east of the round-a-bout in the road.  That's where there is/were golf cart rentals (current reviews on TA price them at $75/$85 a day) and a few shops and restaurants.  From there the shuttle would head north past hotel, casino, on the way up to the beach club.

I did read somewhere a comment that it took 45 minutes to walk from the southern tip of the island up to the Hilton hotel.

Upon further thinking, it would be my guess that all the aquatic shore excursions would leave from Fisherman's Village which has a marina.  It could be that's the staging/meeting point for all excursions.  I remember a few queues for different shuttles (hotel guests, villa guests) so they might have beach club and shore excursions.  Also note that they are selling a $15 hop on hop off excursion stopping at 8 points, and the ones they mention, I'm pretty sure are all south of the pier, where you want to go.

Now if anyone had thought about spending time at the Hilton Resort or Resorts World Casino... this is for you.  There website is elaborate with plenty of short video clips of how beautiful it's supposed to be.  I was last there about three years ago when the hotel first opened.  The design of the hotel allowed them to open it in phases.  My room was beautiful, but the pools were not yet open.  I was there to gamble.  After reading recent reviews (and there are many of them) the resort is not being cared for.  The casino is only open Thursday to Sunday.  And only a few of the eight restaurants are open.  18% gratuity and 12% VAT is added to just about everything.  The hot tubs aren't operational and the 5th floor adults only pool is ice cold.  The main pool's water was reported by a few as not the crystal clear you'd expect.

That's a shame because I have to believe there's more than a few that would decide to avoid the crowds at the beach club for a quiet day at the pool.  Hilton could easily have offered a number of dine and play options that included a meal and access to their facilities.  

If you were planning a side visit, read the December 2019 to February 2020 reviews first.

Let me finish by saying that what I've written is based upon my experiences visiting Bimini twice, and what I've read.  How VV handles the experience may be different than my suppositions.   I'll find out for sure in 37 days.

(Alternatively, you could call VV to find out, but I'm sure the answer to your question will be:  "It will all be in the app.")

Attached is the actual email receipt that I received for my bar loot purchase.  

11 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I went ahead and called just now to take advantage of the offer... I was on hold for about 15 minutes, and only a couple of minutes later I was good to go. Another poster above stated that they were told that this was only good for "on the ship" bar purchases... I asked if it would also apply to Bimini, as stated in the promo, and they said that it was good for use on Bimini as well as on the ship. In addition, they said that this offer only applies to bar purchases, unlike the other "sailor loot" that I received as a booking promo.

I should have clarified that their print material clearly states Bimini Beach Club, so I didn't want to extend my call any longer for him to verify and confirm it was included contrary to what he had said.  I'm sure it will work at the Beach Club.

HOWEVER.... from reading reviews about the Hilton Resort Casino on Bimini, it does appear that the island imposes a 12%VAT on just about everything... including drinks.  So unless VV drops prices to make it inclusive of VAT... that loot won't go as far on the island.

The same goes for drinks prior to embarkation in Miami.  7% sales tax is added.  (NCL charges the tax on each drink served in Miami, even if you have a drink package.)

7 hours ago, kgelner said:

I disagree with the premise.  Virgin is not marketing towards millennials., they are marketing towards Bransonites.  That is to say, people similar to Richard Branson... there are a ton of middle aged or older people that enjoy a sense of style and fun.  Yes the people in the marketing images are young, also true of diamond or most other luxury advertising.

Age should be an attitude and lifestyle rather than a number.

I never quite understood how the several threads turned up claiming VV is targeting Millennial's.  

Contrasting expectations from VV compared to others... when it comes to age... we know one thing is for certain:  no one under age 18.  And my guess is there will be FAR LESS scooters on VV.

9 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

Yes but the ship isn't sailing with the public on board for a little while yet. It may or may not be active yet for the Sneak Preview cruises. 

 

The app doesn't have to be available until it's time for the first official cruise. 

It's almost as if you're making it sound like the Sneak-A-Peak cruises don't count.

The description of the Sneak-A-Peak cruises includes this:

I'm on the March 26th sailing, and the fare I paid for my suite is higher than the price for some of the Summer sailing five day cruises.  Their app is supposed to be an integral part of their cruise experience similar to NCL's onboard app which allows the booking of reservations.    Every time I speak with a telephone agent, I hear how the app will take care of whatever's in question.  We see that their account feature of the web is bare bones minimum-- and lacking.  There doesn't seem to be any efforts to build out the web account feature, indicating it will all be handled through the app.  So come cruise time, if there aren't alternatives, and the app still isn't ready, then what?

While an app on my phone is more convenient, it's not such a big deal if I have to use the TV in my stateroom or my laptop connected to wifi.  But to have NO METHOD, because the app isn't ready at sailing, well then where's that Virgin Voyages experience they are selling? 

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I have not heard anything that says those drinks can't be shared, since you bought and paid for them. Get together with a few folks to spread out those 17 drinks, along with the costs.

Indeed... especially a good bottle of wine.

1 hour ago, creativegenius said:

Thanks for the update.  

 

As for the App, no need really to release it until about 2 weeks before the first sail. I'm sure the technical team is onboard now testing the heck out the app to make sure it all actually works onboard. 

Yes, but wasn't it also supposed to let us complete the check-in process with passport info, make reservations and select shore excursions... perhaps purchase loot, in advance of the cruise?  

7 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

According to the social media response in Twitter, they will discuss that when you call.  Some already asked that same question in the Twitter thread.  

I called an purchased one.  These are "Use it or lose it" credits.  They are only valid for bar charges.

The will give you the date and time of your call, along with their name as a confirmation.  Currently they cannot email a receipt or any proof that you have purchased $300 and earned the $100 bonus.

In my case, I had my account open at the website.  When he posted the charge, the cost of my fully paid cruise went up $300 and reflected that I still owed $300.  Next he took my credit card information and posted the payment so that I am again fully paid.

There aren't any details on my dashboard or cruise details that breakout the bar loot.

He said it will all be in "The App"   (I swear!  They better have a Ticker Tape Parade when they finally release "The App"!)

As soon as I saw this offer announced here, I called.  That was a little more than an hour ago.  I wasn't bothered by the 15 minute hold time, but what happened afterwards was annoying.

First I was told that this "Sailor Loot" could be used for ANYTHING they sell:  gift shop, shore excursions, bar, and even casino charges.  There were back and forth hold times as the agent consulted with his internal resources.  

I was also told that I was not limited to one offer.  And when he confirmed that I could charge $1,000 a day in the casino, I asked to purchase 7 of the $300 credits, which he said would entitle me to $700 of bonus credit.  

Since this is "use it or lose it" at the end of the cruise, having $2,800 for my three day Sneak-a-Peek meant I'd still owe:  3 days at $1,000 per day in the casino plus drinks would exceed what I pre-purchased.

BUT THEN.... one last hold as he "double checked" before charging my credit card....  This time he read the fine print they have, to see that this is a "special kind of sailor loot" that can ONLY be used at bars on board.  (Despite the wording that specifically states Bimini Beach Club.)  Now he says it won't work for ANYTHING beside bar.

So it took 40 minutes to get the real answer.  I did buy one.  The initial hold time before speaking to him had me figuring out how I could drink $400 in basically 2.5 days....  Hmm at $9 a cocktail, $400 buys 44 drinks... to be consumed in 2.5 days.... that's 17 cocktails per day!  Not happening!  Instead, I'm sure I can find a few really good bottles of wine.... I hope.