Chris86

1 hour ago, cantgetin said:

I've seen VV  cruises in a Sea Terrace range from $75 pp per night to $350 pp per night. The lower costs are becoming harder to find.

I haven't seen anywhere advertising 60% off.  I've seen 60% off second sailor in same cabin--very different!.  VV does include a lot that is "add on" cost on other lines, so you need to do a little work to get as good a comparison as possible.

Yes sorry I was referring to the promotion not meaning a hard 60% off the total price.

I wanted to fact check others stating the earlier you book the lower the price. After comparing 2025 sailings to 2024. I disagree 2024 is approximately 40% cheaper. However perhaps they bump the 2025 price up to justify the claim of 60% off the second sailor. I will be keen to see the pricing for the next sailing releases to see if booking then would achieve a similar rate to the current 2024 pricing.

Hey they heavily discounted the Australian sailings the day the ship arrived. My friends that had bookings paid triple the fare than those who booked last minute. Although these sailings were mediocre most 3 to 5 nights. I would much prefer upfront clear pricing so appreciate the information others have forwarded. My friends called had a partial discount and room upgrade so they were good on that front.

I would question though I note they are advertising 60% off for this years Caribbean and Europe sailings. Would you say these fares are aligned with the first launched fares? Then progressively increased then came back to that original amount. 

My most recent cruises have been with Oceania and they adopt a similar strategy. Always booked those sailings in advance and sailed without a re-fare required. Its a welcome relief to the many other cruise lines flogging and tracking fares etc

22 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

VV really needs to run like the boutique cruise line they are and learn from the other small cruise lines instead of emulating the large cruise lines. Oceania is a great example. They rarely run the exact same itinerary twice. They only have 6 or 7 ships so even when they spend the winter season in the Caribbean they'll run 20 sailings for a single ship but each one will be completely or slightly different. The following year you might see 1 or 2 of those itineraries repeated while the rest are altered. 

 

VV has got themselves in a rut with the same itineraries running in repeat. Especially in Miami with identical itineraries going on 4 years now, but even over in the Med. When you have over 20 ships you can run the same itineraries over and over because people can choose different ships. But when you have 1, sometimes 2 ships, you need to mix up those itineraries and offer something the rest of the cruise lines don't. Adult-only and all the inclusions will get people onboard. To keep bringing them back, you need some different itineraries to break up the rut. 

 

I'm wondering how 3 ships in the Caribbean are going to do this Winter. They're banking their entire winter season on three ships running in the same region with each one competing for the same Sailors. Someone in my social feeds noted that Resilient could have sailed a Trans Pacific from Australia to go to Los Angeles for the winter, the same thing Carnival Luminosa does each year for the Alaska season. That would have been a more interesting move in my opinion to open up the west coast of the U.S. for Hawaii, Mexican Riviera and California Coastal sailings. 

Yes agree! Pre pandemic I was more or less sailing with Oceania exclusively. Had an Azamara sailing booked which I had to cancel due to border closures. I haven’t cruised since the pandemic shut downs and more or less grew uninterested in crushing. However I’m starting to get the itch for a sailing. As a 30 something year old I would be all over Virgin. However I find myself far more interested in Celebrity and Azamara atm only for the sailings on offer. I was hoping VV pulling the Australian market off would have resulted in some further interesting sailings. Dubai to Singapore via India was interesting for example.

I tend to have the impression VV has some teething problems. Likely the delay in launch resulted in 3 ships suddenly sailing without the opportunity to build up staffing levels, quality of product, production etc. why else would they be delaying the 4th ship launch when it’s sitting ready. From what I have heard they are doing a good job on this front. However sailings seem to carry only 800 or so passengers. Test will be how well the product will hold up when the ships are full. Once they hit that mark they will really need to address the ports of call and sailing routes. Otherwise all the good work on the product will unravel.

I had a look at the Caribbean as I’ve never been. Mostly interested in the Southern Caribbean. It just isn’t really up there on my to do list. Not interested to visit the region otherwise and from Australia it would have to be a longer trip to justify the journey.

Generally I like the concept, however shame they want you to work while onboard ... haha. Unfortunately the ports don't interest me and is much of what I have already done in the past

On 3/8/2024 at 8:46 AM, Splatt2010 said:

The European voyages selling poorly once again it seems. 

Haha let's be honest. Virgin lacks in enticing voyages...They have a nice product which I really want to try, however there pricing is far too high for the mediocre journeys they take you on.

I noticed the same issue when looking for my friend who wants a single room. I believe the issue might be with the current promotion. 75% off the second guest. So the second guest is paying 25% of the fare. Now the single supplement is an additional 50% of the first sailor. Hence 25% more.

Life would be easier without endless promotions and just standard and discounted sailings. Although I guess dynamic pricing is a win for the company.

Thanks for the information, I feel also Virgin made the error of keeping fares eye watering up until the day they arrived

Hello, I went to check the sailings for the next Virgin Season in Australia. Haven't found them along with partner websites. I know the first season had poor offerings, perhaps they are reviewing the sailings and now realize Tasmania is not apart of the South Pacific?

If those plans the officers are holding up is the Vista. It appears Horizons is gone. Some sort of lounge by the mid-ship pool aka Viking setup? Also some tiering at the rear of the ship to suggest space for a rear pool or viewing area with lounges.

The staterooms don't appear very deep and more square in shape. It also appears plenty of space for interior rooms. Is Vista having any interiors?

Thanks,
Chris

On 12/4/2020 at 9:38 AM, ToxM said:

 

It sounds like we are making lots and lots of venues available for mass vaccination - even down to veterinary practices. We have a lot of testing centres and I expect a lot of those will be made available as well. If we can manage 500,000 tests per day I am pretty confident we can do at least that in vaccines. The NHS is a very very remarkably agile machine when it needs to be and we also have unused capacity at our Nightingale Hospitals. I think we will easily surpass 100k capacity per day once we get into our stride. 

 

The first wave of vaccinations looks to be the most vulnerable members of society, which by dint of demographics would include lots of us UK cruisers. Once people realise they are almost certainly going to be needing a vaccine to participate in society in any manner of the old normal we will get a large % of the population getting vaccinated. 

 

Once Joe Public realise they can’t book a holiday, go to a concert, travel on a plane, go to a different country on business, maybe even check into a hotel without proof of a vaccine the take up will soar. 

 

 

If the UK can manage to vaccinate as many as they test each day then yes. You could have 70% vaccinated in 6 months and all in 9 months. Fingers crossed

perhaps they will copy a similar concept to Viking. With some sort of enclosed conservatory that leads onto the main pool. This would be a better use of space of the current baristas and make it easier to access from the pool. It could also be a new speciality restaurant offering during the evening. Perhaps Peruvian? 

I was on Marina during Febuary and we commented how alot of space on the top decks are wasted and could be far better designed on the new ship. We even thought horizons could have a better connection with the pool. however perhaps this new Baristas will fill that void enough 

We have been cruising on Oceania the past few years. It doesn't bother us but we do stand out being mid 30s. We are interested in Virgin. Like the food focused non gimmicky, relatively inclusive offering. However the price point is similar to O but we are unsure if the same experience can be expected. The current cruise offerings are of no interest. We are looking to try Azamara for unique ports and destinations.

Love to try Virgin someday but at the current pricing we would expect an interesting and unique itinerary.

11 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

I'll ask our Itinerary team for you.

oh goodie. I was looking at this one. But traveling for a wedding tomorrow which utilised all my vacation leave I dedicated for this one. So yes I would like to know aswell :)

On 8/15/2019 at 2:11 AM, ORV said:

Everything I was looking at starts at about $1000 a day per couple for an inside with Olife and air. My Nov cruise is 1/2 that and my Sept cruise is $750 a day per couple. 

We have decided their is little benefit to booking O early going forward. We will wait for promotions or look elsewhere. Its a shame since the upfront fair pricing is one thing we enjoyed about Oceania.

A sailing we did in 2017 is triple the price in 2021. It isn't an overly interesting itinerary. Oceania struggled to fill the ship then so wonder how they will go now. We did enjoy it but more as a holiday sailing which doesn't go anywhere particularly difficult to get to. As for the more interesting trips they are far too expensive. The interior pricing is too expensive (average 10k for 10days). We aren't even going to bother looking at other categories.

Haven't travelled on Azamara. Oceania offers a great experience and look forward to our next sailing. However with O we are running out of interesting sailings. The ones which are interesting are being priced far too high. Seems you need 10k to 12k for a couple in an inside room going forward. We do not nessassaily wish to pay that nor being in a inside. Close in sailings on Azamara (1-6months) are more reasonably priced and interesting. So sure we will visit with Azamara soon enough.

I'm sure they are both wonderful products so travel with both!

Hello. 

We are booked in a balcony..we just considered upgrading to concierge or penthouse.

Tbh neither appealed to us. The only extra benefit we truly liked of concierge was the laundry and even then we thought isn't it just easier to use the coin operated machine on demand or pay for that service if we really wanted it. 

Then we were quite disappointed with the penthouse. Although the room is larger its in the wrong areas for us. We would prefer a deeper balcony not longer. A larger bathroom not walk in closet. Little need for two armchairs at the end of the bed.

I'm sure we will try it one day but for now not interested enough

Only my two cents 🙂

9 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Hi Chris86, which ship/2022 voyage are you trying to book? Please post here and I'll pass it along to the IT team to check.

Also, our LCV team would like you to email them with more information. They are standing by to help you!

leclubvoyage@azamara.com

 

 

Hi Bonnie,

Sorry don't mean to hijack this thread in regards to my booking. The online booking is still down but the phone reps secured the room. I have the room on hold. This is my first Azamara booking so new to the cancellation policy. I've read conflicting information. So would like to confirm.

Both Azamara reps confirmed on the phone that I will only be charged a $25pp aud fee to cancel. I can also switch to a promotion or upgrade my room up until final payment with no charge. After final payment the cancelation policy kicks in.

Now this is where I'm slightly confused. No mention of this $25 fee exists on the Australia terms and conditions which I pointed out to the second lady. It simply states $100aud per person is payable from 120 days plus. She said this is only after the final payment period.

I've also read deposits are non-refundable somewhere else.

Obviously Azamara constantly have promotions / fire sales so I assume I will be taking advantage of this at some point. Can you please confirm what the rep's have told me is correct.

On 4/23/2019 at 11:46 AM, BBMacLaird said:

I've heard from our LCV Ambassador that tomorrow (4/23/19) we will open all the new itineraries (2021 and Q1-2022) to the general public, and the itinerary details will be published in full on our Azamara website.

They will be available to all to book through your Travel Agent, by calling or online.

Hi Bonnie. I was just trying to book in a 2022 cruise with no luck. It lists my deposit amount at $0 and will not hold the room. Only 1 room left and I hope its still available tomorrow. I note it is now the 24th in the US. So should be fine to book.

Thanks,

Chris

9 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

Government’s endless quest for more revenue.

Interesting you point that out. Australia have an upcoming election and the Labour party are proposing many new taxes. Seems everyday they are discovering a new tax to charge. Already proposals to charge more taxes on our homes and now a deficit repair levy. Perhaps the opposition are looking at how well Labour are doing in New Zealand. If they win perhaps Australia will have a Visa fee for you aswell!

Mine stayed the same. I do notice a lot more promotions this year. I think Oceania have hit their ceiling

38 minutes ago, Pushka said:

In the case of the Concordia and now Sky, they were unable to use the lifeboats. So it does beg the question of what they can actually be used for in emergency situations like these two. 

In this case the ship isn't sinking so why would you take the risk of injuring further pax. Concordia is a different situation it capsized and large numbers of pax and crew onboard. I'm sure if they hit ground and the ship was taking on water they would be in a full scale evacuation. I'm agreeable with the slower air evacuation as a precaution in this scenario. It is rather questionable how the engines failed on a virtually brand new ship and would be interested to see what is investigated.

I've noted the various Oceania sales this year that haven't been offered in the past. Keep in mind 2019 is the year prices are notably higher than past. 30% off selected cruises atm and a decent  variety of sailings. Never seen Oceania offer 30% off. Perhaps the never ending price increases will result in more lucrative sales. Driving a more book later attitude vs book early

25 minutes ago, Mura said:

I find that surprising.  I've been on quite a few Marina cruises (and all the other ships at various times) and never saw such a scene as you described happened on your cruise. 

 

Sometimes when there's a big turnover in cruise at the start of a cruise, such things happen.

 

In our experience the maitre d' recognizes us and greets us by name.  He or she (or a designated waiter) takes us to our table.

 

Mura

Perhaps it was a fresh team. First time we had to wait a prolonged period for the table. which is fine on the first night. Other nights we noticed table seaters coming back and arguing that they were sent to the wrong table with the previous guest the maitre d' responding "if you see a table with empty seats just put them on it". Other times they would be pointing to the screen this table should be here or there. Always a fuss amongst them on entry. One night the table seater told us quite politely that it was his first night and he wasn't sure which table he was taking us to. He asked for assistance along the way. I could forgive the last guy but the others arguing amongst each other infront of guests was rather poor to see.

If we were to borrow one idea from celebrity it would be to split up the main MDR into a few smaller venues perhaps with a outdoor section such as Viking or similar to terraces. On our recent marina cruise we found more often than not confusion and argueing among staff on where tables were, what table was what , who would seat us etc. People generally take more pride in smaller, more intimate settings where they feel like it is their restaurant and not just the mdr

my sailing saw increases in the waitlisted categories only. Any category with availability stayed put. Increasing prices on waitlisted categories is only to encourage customers to book the next available category. (as the price difference is reduced). The whole system is designed to get as many bookings as early as possible. Sailings the following year have remained or only small increases.