Strongly urge anyone considering VV to reconsider

[Dontbookavirginvoyage]

I’ve never been on a a cruise before and I think I’m virgins demographic (35 couple no kids disposable income etc) currently on board for the NYE sailing and I’m thoroughly miserable about it. I would strongly urge anybody thinking about booking VV not to bother. It’s been absolutely awful so far. We arrived at the port yesterday at 1:45 and didn’t get on board the ship until after 5pm. We stood in hours and hours of lines, no communication, outside in the heat at some points, no water offered, nowhere to sit, total shambles, no apology at the end for the hours and hours we’d just stood waiting with no idea of how long we had left to wait. By the time we got on board we’d missed the safety briefings so I’ve got no idea where to go/ what to do in the case of an emergency. We missed dinner because we were so exhausted but even if we hadn’t been I wouldn’t have been able to find my reservation because the app isn’t working. For the 3 minutes it worked last night I was able to see every single show on every single night had already been booked so for the next couple of nights it looks like we’ll have no option. The app still isn’t working this morning but I’m so disengaged with this whole experience by this point that I can’t even be bothered going down to sailor services to see if they could fix it. My friend has been charged $250 to their credit card- no idea what this is for because we can’t check the app. 
 

Overall, awful service to the point that I’d never book another cruise with this company or any other. 

[pl281]

@Dontbookavirginvoyage

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic - I see this is your first post. Having been on many cruises myself - I can tell you what you experienced can happen on any cruise line. 

 

That being said - I wanted to touch on some of your items -

 

1) Arrival Time vs Boarding Time - I am assuming that you had a 1:45 check-in time based on what you posted. Even Pre-Covid you can find many posts about delayed boarding time - that was typically due to late arriving ship, housekeeping, shore side staff or tech issues - as well as too many people showing up early. Since there is also the testing now - that could delay things especially if they were at a higher capacity due to Holiday sailing

 

2) Safety Briefing - Since cruises resumed earlier this year, to the best of my knowledge all of the ships have done away with the traditional safety briefing where everyone gets together about an hour before the ship sail. Now you watch a video in your cabin or in the app - and then check in at the meeting area for your cabin.

 

3) Dining/Reservations - You mentioned the app wasn't working - One thing I've been doing for year with travel - even just air travel is to print / bring a paper copy in addition to the e-ticket - This way incase my phone goes dead or something happens I have a backup. YES Virgin needs to figure out why the app is so bad / so many people have issues with it

 

4) Your friend's charge - 100% absolutely go to guest services - there can be a number of reasons - sometimes it is a pre-authorization - in other words - they don't know how much you are going to spend so they do an authorization with the credit card for a small amount - if it is approved - then they know they will be able to collect it - if it doesn't then they may ask you to put cash on account or provide another card. - This is common practice.

 

Hope your trip gets better

 

 

[CroozFanatic]

The boarding problem was 100% check-in. Not sure what happened...COVID positive employees out sick? 

 

Done several cruises with VV.

[ociana]

The 250 is a pre-authorization that everyone is charged that first night, it is not an actual full charge but just a hold to cover on board charges during the cruise. 

The restaurants will try to seat you if you show up standby. If you prefer other food, the pizza place or the galley have excellent offerings.

 

I know there is a lot of stress in the travel and boarding process for a cruise and it can be worse if things do not go as planned... remember you are on vacation and it is now time to put that stress aside and enjoy yourself! 

[_tacocat_]

3 hours ago, Dontbookavirginvoyage said:

 For the 3 minutes it worked last night I was able to see every single show on every single night had already been booked so for the next couple of nights it looks like we’ll have no option.

All of the shows on my trip were "sold out," but there were standby lines at the venue, and it looked like they let a large number of people in from those lines for each show.

 

Re: app performance, try closing all of your other apps and restarting the VV one.  The app is a HUGE memory hog, so if other things like facebook/instagram/safari are open, it has issues.  Not an excuse and they definitely need to get a better/memory-optimized solution, but a useful workaround.  You can also ask Sailor Services for a paper copy of the day's events (and they're constantly scrolling on the TVs by the lifts).

 

Try to keep an open mind and explore all the stuff on board.  Pizza is open till 1am and I think the diner station in the galley is open until 4am if you want a late night snack.  There are trivia contests (with prizes!) and board games at the loose cannon, private karaoke in The Groupie/public karaoke in various locations.  The Happenings Cast is as close as VV comes to having a cruise director - about 12 people that are usually wearing clear mask/shield things whose job is to make sure you're having a good time.

 

Hope your trip experience turns around - we are the same age as you guys and had an absolute freaking blast!

[sid_9169]

My estimation is that you'd probably have a lousy time on any cruise line... Yes, the app is a piece of junk, but you're on a ship filled with a variety of excellent food and beverage options, as well as the greatest crew that I've ever encountered at sea... Hopefully things start looking up for you. I would certainly be willing to trade places with right now...

[The_Force]

My wife and I are currently on board Scarlet Lady and we couldn't be more impressed with VV! Other than a strange boarding experience... it was 2pm, and we collectively decided as a crowd that we were all going to stand up, get in line and board the ship in an orderly fashion without any VV representatives telling us it was time to board. That behind us, we love the dining options and the food is unlike anything we've experienced on any other cruise. The crew couldnt be more friendly and helpful. We are seasoned cruisers with Elite status on Princess. Up until now, we have cruised Princess exclusively. After only being on board Scarlet Lady for a little less than 24hrs, we're already considering booking another vacation on VV for our 30th wedding anniversary.

 

Remember, you're on vacation. Be happy and have a positive outlook and I'm sure your experience will turn around.

Edited December 30, 2021 by The_Force
Additional info

[CruzinMermaid]

The first day I boarded my app acted funky. I went to the tech desk, they took my phone, updated the app, apologized for any inconvenience, and all was well. 
 

I’m  pretty sure I’ll only sail with Virgin from here out. The food, ship, sailors, and crew were outstanding. Brand new ships don’t come along every day and new lines less so. There are going to be a few hiccups. 
 

the $250 is normal and they told us about it in advance. 
 

I hope you are able to get some sleep, a good meal, and enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

[xerenthar]

6 hours ago, The_Force said:

My wife and I are currently on board Scarlet Lady and we couldn't be more impressed with VV! Other than a strange boarding experience... it was 2pm, and we collectively decided as a crowd that we were all going to stand up, get in line and board the ship in an orderly fashion without any VV representatives telling us it was time to board. That behind us, we love the dining options and the food is unlike anything we've experienced on any other cruise. The crew couldnt be more friendly and helpful. We are seasoned cruisers with Elite status on Princess. Up until now, we have cruised Princess exclusively. After only being on board Scarlet Lady for a little less than 24hrs, we're already considering booking another vacation on VV for our 30th wedding anniversary.

 

Remember, you're on vacation. Be happy and have a positive outlook and I'm sure your experience will turn around.

want to get a drink?

[Jasukkie]

Do you know how to close apps running in the background on your phone? Have someone show you if you don't. The app works well if you do that. It's crap if you don't.

[coldweather]

22 hours ago, The_Force said:

My wife and I are currently on board Scarlet Lady and we couldn't be more impressed with VV! Other than a strange boarding experience... it was 2pm, and we collectively decided as a crowd that we were all going to stand up, get in line and board the ship in an orderly fashion without any VV representatives telling us it was time to board. That behind us, we love the dining options and the food is unlike anything we've experienced on any other cruise. The crew couldnt be more friendly and helpful. We are seasoned cruisers with Elite status on Princess. Up until now, we have cruised Princess exclusively. After only being on board Scarlet Lady for a little less than 24hrs, we're already considering booking another vacation on VV for our 30th wedding anniversary.

 

Remember, you're on vacation. Be happy and have a positive outlook and I'm sure your experience will turn around.

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying your cruise.  Like you, we have cruised many of the popular lines.  What do you like about VV?  What is different that attracts you?

[venicecruiser]

Some snarky folks on here.  ....The poster stated his observations, thoughts.  He's entitled to do that.  And for what its worth, I've cruised on many lines, many times, and from reading this Virgin board, wouldn't be the line for me either.

[Back to school]

On 12/30/2021 at 7:20 AM, Dontbookavirginvoyage said:

Overall, awful service to the point that I’d never book another cruise with this company or any other.

Good information.  Thank you!

[Virgin Voyages]

On 12/30/2021 at 8:20 AM, Dontbookavirginvoyage said:

I’ve never been on a a cruise before and I think I’m virgins demographic (35 couple no kids disposable income etc) currently on board for the NYE sailing and I’m thoroughly miserable about it. I would strongly urge anybody thinking about booking VV not to bother. It’s been absolutely awful so far. We arrived at the port yesterday at 1:45 and didn’t get on board the ship until after 5pm. We stood in hours and hours of lines, no communication, outside in the heat at some points, no water offered, nowhere to sit, total shambles, no apology at the end for the hours and hours we’d just stood waiting with no idea of how long we had left to wait. By the time we got on board we’d missed the safety briefings so I’ve got no idea where to go/ what to do in the case of an emergency. We missed dinner because we were so exhausted but even if we hadn’t been I wouldn’t have been able to find my reservation because the app isn’t working. For the 3 minutes it worked last night I was able to see every single show on every single night had already been booked so for the next couple of nights it looks like we’ll have no option. The app still isn’t working this morning but I’m so disengaged with this whole experience by this point that I can’t even be bothered going down to sailor services to see if they could fix it. My friend has been charged $250 to their credit card- no idea what this is for because we can’t check the app. 
 

Overall, awful service to the point that I’d never book another cruise with this company or any other. 

 

Ahoy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, and we're sorry to hear that your voyage didn't meet your expectations. From what you've described, we agree, this isn't what it means to set sail the Virgin Way. We're always looking for new ways to improve the Sailor experience, and we'd love to speak with you directly to learn more. If you're open to it, please send us a message with your name, booking info, a contact number, and the best time for us to give you a call. We look forward to hearing from you again ⚓️

[RNPJN]

On 12/30/2021 at 8:20 AM, Dontbookavirginvoyage said:

I’ve never been on a a cruise before and I think I’m virgins demographic (35 couple no kids disposable income etc) currently on board for the NYE sailing and I’m thoroughly miserable about it. I would strongly urge anybody thinking about booking VV not to bother. It’s been absolutely awful so far. We arrived at the port yesterday at 1:45 and didn’t get on board the ship until after 5pm. We stood in hours and hours of lines, no communication, outside in the heat at some points, no water offered, nowhere to sit, total shambles, no apology at the end for the hours and hours we’d just stood waiting with no idea of how long we had left to wait. By the time we got on board we’d missed the safety briefings so I’ve got no idea where to go/ what to do in the case of an emergency. We missed dinner because we were so exhausted but even if we hadn’t been I wouldn’t have been able to find my reservation because the app isn’t working. For the 3 minutes it worked last night I was able to see every single show on every single night had already been booked so for the next couple of nights it looks like we’ll have no option. The app still isn’t working this morning but I’m so disengaged with this whole experience by this point that I can’t even be bothered going down to sailor services to see if they could fix it. My friend has been charged $250 to their credit card- no idea what this is for because we can’t check the app. 
 

Overall, awful service to the point that I’d never book another cruise with this company or any other. 

250 is a hold for any purcheses all cruise lines do it   read the contract