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All NY Events Canceled

eroller

By eroller,
in Virgin Voyages

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rbt001

rbt001

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The prepared statement from Virgin makes it sounds like they want to avoid the possibility of any infection. 

 

I feel bad for those who made flight arrangements to attend.  I had contemplated flying up, and I'm not glad I didn't.

 

I hope that they STILL sail over to Bimini first, to practice, as was planned.  

 

And I wonder if they plan to cancel the FamTrip(s) scheduled for Miami as one member was invited to attend.  

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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1 hour ago, rbt001 said:

The prepared statement from Virgin makes it sounds like they want to avoid the possibility of any infection. 

 

I feel bad for those who made flight arrangements to attend.  I had contemplated flying up, and I'm not glad I didn't.

 

I hope that they STILL sail over to Bimini first, to practice, as was planned.  

 

 

 

 

Yes that is unfortunate for anyone who booked air.  I'm a flight attendant for a major airline so thankfully air was not an issue for me.  We are still planning to fly up for the day as we have tickets to see Chicago on Broadway.  I'm disappointed I won't see the ship but I won't lose any sleep over it.  There will be other opportunities.  

 

I'm guessing VV decided that that many people coming and going from the ship in NY was just going to be too risky.  Too much exposure and not as easy to monitor as simply embarking passengers for a regular cruise. 

 

Sounds like the stop in Bimini has been canceled.  My friends currently on the ship told me they will arrive into Miami on Saturday.  It's funny they were shocked when I knew about the itinerary change as they had literally just found out on the ship.  

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rbt001

rbt001

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2 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

Yes that is unfortunate for anyone who booked air.  I'm a flight attendant for a major airline so thankfully air was not an issue for me.  We are still planning to fly up for the day as we have tickets to see Chicago on Broadway.  I'm disappointed I won't see the ship but I won't lose any sleep over it.  There will be other opportunities.  

 

I'm guessing VV decided that that many people coming and going from the ship in NY was just going to be too risky.  Too much exposure and not as easy to monitor as simply embarking passengers for a regular cruise. 

 

Sounds like the stop in Bimini has been canceled.  My friends currently on the ship told me they will arrive into Miami on Saturday.  It's funny they were shocked when I knew about the itinerary change as they had literally just found out on the ship.  

If the ship is arriving Saturday, the 7th as you say, then there's still plenty of time for them to take a run over to Bimini.  That's a tiny pier, if they plan on docking.

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timf2001

timf2001

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The article claims they'll be sailing back to New York at a later date for introductory activities.  The problem is the ship is fully scheduled through July 2021.  Unless they plan on cancelling sailings, they wouldn't be able to do a New York launch until August 2021 at the earliest.  However, this would line up perfectly with my previous speculation that they could run a brief Bermuda season from New York in August-October 2021.

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AlyssaJames

AlyssaJames

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At this point, with potential cases under observation in Florida itself (watch for news from Sarasota tonight), I’m pretty much assuming my flights and cruise in a few weeks will not be happening. 
 

What an awful time to launch any ship ...

Edited by AlyssaJames
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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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1 hour ago, rbt001 said:

If the ship is arriving Saturday, the 7th as you say, then there's still plenty of time for them to take a run over to Bimini.  That's a tiny pier, if they plan on docking.

 

 

Sure they might after the Miami arrival I have no idea.  I was speaking of the current crossing where they will skip NY and head directly to Miami.  Originally after NY they were going to stop at Bimini prior to Miami. That is no longer the case.  

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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48 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

At this point, with potential cases under observation in Florida itself (watch for news from Sarasota tonight), I’m pretty much assuming my flights and cruise in a few weeks will not be happening. 
 

What an awful time to launch any ship ...

 

 

If it hits Florida, which of course it probably will, then I really fear for the cruise industry overall.  It will be a huge hit, but I think the cruise industry is resilient enough it can quickly recover.  Hopefully this virus will die out when warmer weather hits (in a few months time), and thankfully people (especially Americans) have short memories, especially if a great deal is offered.  The cruise lines may have to resort to bargain basement prices initially to fill ships again, but it won't be forever.  They may have a very poor quarter, maybe even two quarters, but I expect a bounce back.  The strong will certainly survive.  The same could be said for airlines and hotels.  Because of this, I don't think we will see many 2020 record profits in the travel sector.  Another positive is when companies survive something like this, they are usually better positioned and prepared to handle it in the future.    

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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46 minutes ago, eroller said:

   Another positive is when companies survive something like this, they are usually better positioned and prepared to handle it in the future.    

 

 

And I do hope Virgin Voyages survives this.  I think they will.  Hopefully it's a case of 20 years from now we read stories about the start up of VV, and they talk about how they almost didn't make it and had to cancel all inaugural activities, but pulled through and became one of the most successful niche cruise lines ever created.  That of course remains to be seen ... but it does remind me of another upstart, namely Carnival Cruise Lines who's only ship (the Mardi Gras) ran aground on its maiden voyage from Miami loaded with travel agents and media.  It was a disaster but we all know the outcome.  Carnival went on to become the largest and most successful cruise company in the world, and as they say the rest is history.  

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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15 minutes ago, garymfreedman said:

Virgin is probably pretty glad they cancelled NY: Just had confirmed covid-19 case in NY

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/01/first-coronavirus-case-confirmed-in-new-york-city.html

 

 

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we start to see cases here in South Florida, which will then impact the entire cruise industry even more.  I'm afraid this is probably going to get a fair bit worse before it gets better.  Depending on how things develop this week, Virgin may be canceling all Miami inaugural activities as well.  Really really crappy time to be trying to make a new splash in the cruise industry.  

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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For anyone that paid for any of the dining events in NY, expect your refund in 7-10 days to your original form of payment.  I received an email from VV this morning regarding it.  

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AlyssaJames

AlyssaJames

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Scarlet Lady left the Marche region of Italy less than three weeks ago.

 

61 confirmed cases in Marche now ... Italy itself is over 3000 cases and 100 dead. 

 

I'm assuming if anyone onboard was ill we might know about it, or they might at least be making a faster trip towards Miami ...

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resstation

resstation

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49 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

Scarlet Lady left the Marche region of Italy less than three weeks ago.

 

61 confirmed cases in Marche now ... Italy itself is over 3000 cases and 100 dead. 

 

I'm assuming if anyone onboard was ill we might know about it, or they might at least be making a faster trip towards Miami ...

Yikes! We're supposed to board on the 17th of March. Hope we hear more about what's happening between now and then.

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