Mattsudds

As the ship steels down, my wuestion is whether the ship is not fully operational. From the things that were closed or unfinished on the maiden voyage, I would welcome updates. 
 

Arena theatre and shows - I think at least one show is up and running, are they all? 
spellbound - is this open? 
Deck 19 amusements - Is it open yet? 
the done, including the entertainment - up and running? 
love by Britto - is this o[en yet? Anyone seen a menu? 

The summer 2025 gap is a Barcelona ship. Presumably that is where Brilliant Lady is going. I find it hard to believe she won’t sail until 2025 but nothing concrete indicates earlier sailings yet. Given all the reports suggesting she was getting ready to sail and being crewed up, this would imply Virgin have decided not to put the ship in service, rather than she is so far behind in construction. 

I see Disney just announced the ‘early 2025’ booking window and itineraries. The Disney Adventure is not listed, and the departures shown run through until May 2025. 

I have travelled with Havilla twice so far. And I have travelled many times with Hurtigruten. On both my Havila trips I was doing a part of the coastal voyage and I travelled in one direction on the Hurtigruten ships and so it gave me a good comparison. 

I found Havila to be my preferred operator in almost every sense. The food onboard the Havila ships is interesting and high quality, and I like the small plates concept in the restaurant which encourages you to try a variety of things. Havila are justifiably proud of this. 

The Havila ships are newer and this brings a range of advantages. Chief amongst them is that there feels like there are many more places to sit than on some of the ships on the route. Havila have chosen massive windows around all public spaces, and there are chairs on every level of the atrium for instance. 

The onboard prices for extras on Hurtigruten were often considerably higher than Havila. The service from the crew was uniformly friendly and it really felt as if the Havila staff were making more effort to offer the best service they could. 

There is one downside of the Havila ships we found. The embarkation gangway has a slightly different design than the Hurtigruten ships. This made is steeper and with a handrail which finished too early for the top of the staircase - bit of an odd design choice. 

3 hours ago, machotspur said:

We are planning to try all the restaurants across lunch and dinner (bookings made where needed), and as our TA is also onboard for this trip we are hopeful we will get to see a few suites in addition to the one we are in. 

I hope you have a brilliant time and any teething problems are gone by then. Out of curiosity, exactly how are you making the restaurant bookings. I keep looking at my booking through the website and there doesnt seem to be any obvious way to do it. This restaurant reservation thing seems to be central to so much criticism that I’m keen to sort it out before boarding if possible. 

Some good news has emerged from a usually very reliable Italian shipping website. https://www.shippingitaly.it/ The site says that MSC can take delivery tomorrow, which is in fact earlier than expected with the delay. This has been made possible after the builder, the manufacturer and the classification society did some fresh tests on the types of panels. It seems that based on those fresh tests and all other installed precaution/ prevention measures, the ship passes ‘class’. 

2 hours ago, Bongomeme said:

Steamboats , where do you find that info? I’m scheduled for sept 2 and I want to reach out to my TA with this info to see if he can find out anything from explora. Thanks!

https://www.portofkiel.com/files/pok/Downloads/Kreuzfahrerlisten/Kreuzfahrtliste.pdf
 

Explora 1 has an overnight call in Kiel on that schedule for 13,14 Aug.she is due be at sea on the way to Skagen, and then in Skagen on that day. At this stage it could be an itinerary alteration rather than wholesale cancellation.
 

later in the month, she no longer shows on the Hamburg port schedule but she is still on the schedule showing ships expected at different terminals. https://www.cruisegate-hamburg.de/terminals/cruise-center-altona/ 

Have a great trip. For travel from Heathrow to a hotel in London, it will depend on how much baggage you have and whether you are happy to use public transport. There are 3 easy options. 

The Tube will take you all through central London. It starts at the airport, but can get crowded and hot. 

The Heathrow Express Train takes you to Paddington Station. 

A new option which just opened is the ‘Elizabeth Line’ which is a train into the centre of London. For a public transport route to any hotel or any other location, you can use TfL.gov.uk. One tip for anyone with luggage, look for stations with a wheelchair symbol, Those have step free access train to street - handy with bags. 

Taxis are available but very very expensive. Uber is also an option. 

To get to Southampton, I would take the train. There are at least 2 per hour. Bear in mind that despite being a busy route and a busy cruise port, the trains have no separate luggage racks (crazy decision). The journey time takes usuall 70-120 mins max. If you book in advance it is very cheap. 1st class is not worth the premium, you get nothing extra for it. Southampton Central is a short taxi ride from the cruise terminals. Alternatively, the National Express Coach service can also take you to Southampton from London. 

Its a real shame that Virgin have cancelled Resilient Lady’s inaugural season, so close to the maiden departure. Virgin do a lot of cancelling unfortunately - I’m thinking of those people who were looking forwards to Valiant Lady from Portsmouth, only to find a lot of those departures cancelled at short notice. 

In the past when Virgin cancelled a trip I was on, they dealt with it well, and the compensation was very fair, the reimbursements quick. This time, the compensation offer is again pretty generous. However the communication and organisation is a bit shambolic. They send an email with links that dont work, the ‘indicate your choice’ form on the website doesnt work (goes into the wheel of doom when completed), you cant get through on the phones, and the ‘Chat’ function has been replaced by a robot which says it does not understand if you type ‘Resilient Lady’ or ‘Refund’. - Come on Virgin, you ought to do better than this. 

Virgin, as a new brand, is just establishing itself in the cruise market. And there is a lot of available blog material, reviews and other stuff which can help customers decide if this is the right line for them. If you read that the food is good, the ship is different, the staff are friendly and the entertainment is fun and different, its all true. I very much enjoyed Scarlet Lady. And I’ve just enjoyed Valiant Lady. 

So this probably makes what I’m about to say a bit odd. I had been seriously considering Resilient Lady for a cruise. But now having done both the first ships, I am changing my mind. The reason being - the products is good. Consistently good. But its too consistent. The restaurant menus were basically almost identical. The entertainment main events like the Duel Reality show and Scarlet Night were identical (they are both great on their own merits). The menu in the Galley is pretty much identical, every day. And so this leave me thinking that if I go on a Virgin Voyage more than once, I’m basically just going to relive the first great trip. I’m not going to experience anything new.  Good, interesting food, and good entertainment  and new experiences are an important part of why I choose a cruise. But just like I wouldn’t go to the same restaurant and same event every weekend night, I don't want to be living through Groundhog Day on holiday/ vacation. 

This leaves me wondering, if Virgin want repeat business, aren’t they going to have to change it up a bit? They can still surely offer the same quality, buzz, fun and interest. Just not exactly the same way one each ship and trip. Is consistency to this level more important for repeaters than variety?

This interview makes me think that a trip on Resilient Lady will be so similar as to be Groindhog Day - all over again. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/refurb-interiors/valiant-lady-fresh-art-installations-same-alternative-feel

No sign of the new ship in this Cunard programme through to Jan 2024. Of course if could be a separate announcement later too. 

Cunard have been telling travel agents that the 2023 programme will be published on 18 Jan. and bookable from 1 Feb. If the new ship is coming in 2023, it ought to be included one assumes. Below is the message 

==========

New Itineraries will be available to preview on our website starting January 18, 2022, on sale for Cunard World Club Members onFebruary 1, 2022, and on sale to the general public on February 2, 2022.

Virgin Red is the loyalty programme of the Virgin Group including Virgin Voyages. According to the Virgin Red website you can both earn and spend Virgin Points on Virgin Voyages. Has anyone managed to successfully link their Virgin booking to their Virgin Red account - I know that nobody has sailed yet, but just wondering if anyone has made the link. I have tried via customer service etc and it seems ~virgin Voyages have no idea what Virgin Red is - they thought it was a staff discount scheme. And Virgin Red can’t help apparently either. Very odd. 

I dont have any inside information or anything to verify so this is just an educated guess. But I would say you are probably right - 1st main season on the Western Med 7 night circuit. And eventually at least 1 of the class to be based in Miami. To me, the things that would back up that scenario are

1) MSC has deals for LNG bunkering for ships in the Med. https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/About-MSC/News/LNG-Powered-Cruise-Ships.aspx

2) MSC has a very big shiny new terminal under planning/ construction in Miami and all the artists impressions show one of this class of ship. 

There is some great info on this thread. Thank you to everyone who supplied it. And a special thanks to the pics of the ship under construction. 
 

now one question which I am sure someone will be able to answer. The ship enters service with an 8 night cruise on 17 Aug 2022. That cruise would end on 25 Aug. The next trip on sale is 3 September. Does anyone have any idea what the ship is doing from 25Aug - 3 Sept?  Isnt it a bit unusual for a ship to enter service and have an immediate gap in the schedule? Is there some reason a cruise for those dates is not on sale? 
 

thanks for all info. 

Thanks for the replies. I know it must have seemed like a strange question. After all onboard credit - the clue is in the name isnt it? 😉 But in fact some lines do let you use it for things you will use or consume during the cruise, regardless of when they are booked or arranged, and essentially they seem to define onboard as ‘things to be consumed onboard’.  

With all the cancellations, the offer for a cancelled cruise include onboard credit to be used on a new or rebooked cruise. I would like to know whether there is set out anywhere how onboard credit can be used. I have two specific questions

1) On a cruise I would often prebook some things before boarding. These might be drinks packages, specialty dining and shore excursions. If I booked those whilst onboard, I would assume the cost would be deducted from any onboard credit balance I had. My question is do Carnival allow you to pre book (before embarkation) things like the drinks, excursions and speciality dining from the onboard credit balance? If not would I basically be left with OBC only for the items bought onboard? If that sounds like an odd question, I ask because in the past on a different cruise line, -prebooked things were deducted from my OBC balance first.  I know that some people also prebook things so that they have less of a surprise bill at the end too. 

2) What things onboard cannot be charged against OBC? Does Carnival have a future cruise booking onboard opportunity and if so, could I use OBC as my deposit for instance? 

Thanks for your help. If anyone knows where Carnival put any official guidance on this it would be especially appreciated. 

I didn’t see the news piece but unless that came from Saga itself, I suspect this is 2+2=27. It comes about because Saga updated the stock market today about the trading conditions and the impact of COVID on their business. 

You can read it in Saga’s own words direct below. Basically what they are saying is that they have been preparing for a scenario where cruising might not be possible for 6 months. They explicitly say that this is not a prediction but they are updating the stock market to show how they are preparing for all scenarios. Saga have also been notified by Meyer Werft that delivery of the next new ship, Spirit of Adventure, will be delayed due to the impact of COVID on building operations. They say they still expect to take delivery within this financial year. Meyer have published in the past day a picture of the ship on their social media and the ship is structurally looking almost complete. 

https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/saga_limited1/rns1/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=852&newsid=1383851

Back to the thread. The cancellations have now been extended into May. The refund policy remains that you CAN get a refund if P&O cancel your sailing. But if P&O don’t cancel, you can basically only have a future cruise credit. This applies to the over 70s and those forbidden to/ advised against cruising including those with underlying health conditions. The refund option is accessed through a web form which is called ‘request a refund’ but which is titled on the page ‘forfeit of 125% future cruise credit’. Apparently the web form is the only route, and the call centre will not deal with refunds. 

Comment: I think P&O are being fair here with refunds and encouraging people to take Future Cruise Credit instead, even if I don’t like them being so manipulative in their explanations. However for those over 70 or with underlying health conditions who are now advised against cruising, the new policy will is still going to result in them losing out unless the cruising restriction is lifted before the expiration of the future cruise credit (and of course assuming they still wish to travel). 

———————————————— Below from the P&O website ————————

If you are not sure whether you will use your enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit offer which has been automatically applied to your account, please remember you have until 30 November 2020 to request a refund.  By completing the form below, you will miss out on the offer of 125% Future Cruise Credit and will instead receive a 100% refund. Please note we are only able to process refund requests via this online form due to the unprecedented demand on our Customer Contact Centre and wider business, and that refunds may take up to 60 days to be processed.  In the meantime, please do not call us but rest assured we will be working through this process as quickly as we can.

41 minutes ago, MickD said:

Apparently P&O call centre at the moment is refusing refunds stating they have taken advice from ABTA.

This is complete nonsense ABTA are lobbying the government at the moment to have the travel package act temporarily changed so that holiday companies can refuse refunds and give out credit notes or FCC’s with full protection on them incase the companies go bankrupt.

They are telling Boris that if everybody wants refunds many firms will go bankrupt.

At the moment the law still stands that they must give a full refund within 14 days if a holiday is cancelled by them.

But apparently P&O are not sticking to the law and don’t want to hand out refunds.

So best keep an eye on the abta website for any developments.

My cruise is due April the 12th so the day it’s cancelled will be emailing them for a full refund, and will be obviously keeping email with date on incase the law is temporarily changed after I’ve sent the email.

obviously if it’s changed before they cancel my cruise I will have no option but to take the FCC 

I hope that the difficulties getting refunds from the call centre are only for cruises currently still operating. If P&O or any other company were to refuse refunds for trips they cancelled, that would be a very different matter.  Thanks to P&Os disgraceful new policy, I think that the best advice is 

1) Pay nothing until you absolutely have to. Final payment only on the final due date etc. Watch out for this particularly if you booked via a travel agent because they often have to get your money weeks before P&O’s payment deadline. The sooner you hand over your money, the sooner you lose control of it. 
2) if you cruise is NOT cancelled but you think it will be, wait until it is cancelled and get your money back. Don’t feel the pressure for a future cruise credit unless you are really sure you want to cruise again. 
3) If your cruise is cancelled, demand the refund immediately. Before the rules change

4) If you book with any company that cancels and refuses a refund, dispute the charge on your credit card. I am not suggesting that P&O are in this category, but I would still consider immediately disputing this charge because I don’t think long refund delays are acceptable in the circumstances. Talk of 45-60 days to wait is too long. 
 

https://www.meyerwerft.de/de/presse/presse_detail/kreuzfahrtschiff_iona_arbeiten_an_bord_pausieren.jsp
 

Above is the link to the Meyer Werft press release saying that interior work and Sea Trials have been suspended as they moved to a minimal onboard team due to the Corona outbreak. 

i would assume this puts the delivery date and early cruises in jeopardy now, although this will of course depend on how long the outbreak lasts, and whether they have capacity to catch up. It seems that many other travel providers are now cancelling things all through May and some even June so there is a better than 50% chance that her sailings would have to be cancelled anyway I guess. 

21 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

 

 

Again that's fine, but for peace of mind, I would like to understand, if the cruise does go ahead in June, but, I cannot go because of the FCO recommendations on health conditions that were put in place after I originally booked the cruise, P&O would be forced to offer a full refund to those travellers over 70 etc.  I am not bothered about needing to contact them right away - I just want to know whether my money is at stake if the cruise goes ahead but I cannot go.  

 

 

If you cannot cruise because of the FCO health recommendations, but your P&O sailing is not cancelled, you have two choices. Either P&O keep your money because of the newly imposed, worsened, cancellation conditions, or P&O keep your money and you have to commit to a future cruise with them. Who knows if any when the health recommendations will change. This is truly awful customer handling by P&O, and especially after telling everyone there was no rush to cancel because they wanted to deal with those departing soon first. Anyone who listened to their plea and didn’t phone up immediately has lost out. 

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I know I have been guilty of opening a new thread in the past, but I do think that this thread is unnecessary,  and should be merged with the current cancellation thread. Mods, can you oblige? 

I started a new thread deliberately because the cancellation policy has this morning materially changed. I think it is easier for participants in discussion to see that and for reactions to the change to come in a thread on it. However if the mods view is that because these threads are all about cancellations and refunds, they should be together then so be it. 

P&O Know that there are a whole group of passengers who have been told not to cruise for the next 12 weeks and they are basically trying to force them to move the booking or lose some or all of their money. When everyone else is allowing full refunds, I am really shocked and disgusted at P&Os approach. I hope that they retract this new policy very quickly and go back to the much more balanced one that was in force just yesterday.