Rebooking Woe - Oh, so Woe

[CrazyTrain2]

Booked a lovely voyage back in Summer for Oct 2023.  The new rates are significantly better so, I thought I would call VV and do a price adjustment.  Easy Squeezy with most cruise lines with a sailing this far out.

 

Woe, Oh so Woe!!

 

I made 2 rookie mistakes.

 

1. I booked directly with VV

2. I bought the cruise insurance

 

No real way to reprice inside VV's system.   You have to cancel and rebook.  Now, I've called twice and I get different answers on how the refund is processed.  So it's a crapshoot about what my actual refund will be.  Some say the insurance is money out the window, others are saying it is FCC.

 

Regardless the price difference is significant enough that I will be cancelling, calling a travel agent and rebooking with a travel agent.  So net, net - VV loses money and produces a poor customer experience.

 

The service team is enthusiastically friendly and seeming all under 30 years old, but woefully ignorant.

 

I'm not sure who is duct taping their computer system together, but uhhg....  It's needs a LOT of work.  It seems like they spent 90% of the budget on picking out good photos and very little on functionality.

 

Sail ON!

[cantgetin]

Booking thru VV is OK IF you transfer to a travel agent as soon as you book, but going thru the agent for all is easier.  They also have special numbers with better trained people.

 

IMHO, booking insurance thru any cruise line is a mistake.  In our case, it costs the same or more than private insurance, the coverage is less, and it will only cover things that you booked thru the cruise line.  Booking insurance privately in the US is based on age of the people traveling and the cost of the trip.  You can insure your flights as well as the cruise (flights are a lot more likely to be messed up than the cruise), as well as hotels if you come in a day early or whatever.  In particular, the medical coverage is a lot better.  There are good web sites where you can compare companies, and your agent can recommend one as well.  If you buy private insurance and rebook the cruise, the coverage can usually travel with you as it is tied to the first day of the booking; they never ask for my booking number!  The other thing is that I book insurance in enough amount to cover the cruise as soon as I book.  Then, after I book flights, I can increase the coverage amounts to cover them as well.  

 

We aren't allowed to recommend agents here as the site is owned by a travel company.  What I will tell you is that any agent allowed to sell VV has to have completed their training and knows the product.  It isn't like some other lines where if one agent in the company did training, they are all allowed to advertise as a  such and such line specialist or whatever.

The shoreside Sailor Services people are a lot better than they were a year ago!!!  y best guess is that you'll lose what you paid for the insurance, but I'll hope that I'm wrong.  It often depends on who you talk to!  Your agent might be helpful in this also.  Also, consider joining a social media group for your cruise, especially if it is 15 days long.

Edited December 31, 2022 by cantgetin

[Lustate]

Agents can also add extras for you to sweeten the deal. They get 16% commission on the cost of the voyage so they can give a little back with items such as a free bottle on board, or a few dollars of loot added to your account. 
 

The agents do need to complete training and there are several levels of “first mates” so the higher the level the more bookings and training they have done, plus the more loop holes they know to get you the best deal and secure your booking. 

[jon81uk]

You may have had the same issue with the travel insurance if you’d gone with an agent. As you’ve had use of the insurance (if you needed to cancel up to now and get a payout from the insurance you are covered) they won’t normally refund. 
I don’t think booking direct was the issue, it’s taking out single trip travel insurance linked to a specific booking.

[CruisingWalter]

17 hours ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

I'm not sure who is duct taping their computer system together, but uhhg....  It's needs a LOT of work.  It seems like they spent 90% of the budget on picking out good photos and very little on functionality.

 

Actually Virgin has one of the better booking engines in the cruise industry, super easy peasy to use. Booking through or transferring  your booking to an Agent would have helped your situation. Getting price reductions is one of the things they do best. And with all the specials going on these days, rebooking is your better option.

 

On the insurance, the VV insurance is not good at all, there is very little cruise line insurance that's worth buying. We always buy third party insurance. Much better coverage and it's usually cheaper or under $100 more than the cruise line's insurance. 

[CrazyTrain2]

Here is a simple request from the website - I would like to see my invoice.  No can do - call sailor services.

 

I cannot tell if the new price is better than the old price.

[Lustate]

16 minutes ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

Here is a simple request from the website - I would like to see my invoice.  No can do - call sailor services.

 

I cannot tell if the new price is better than the old price.

Simple…

 

open your booking you had emailed to you, and run a search on the website for the same voyage. You can see both prices side by side. 

[CruisingWalter]

1 hour ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

Here is a simple request from the website - I would like to see my invoice.  No can do - call sailor services.

 

I cannot tell if the new price is better than the old price.

 

Check the booking that was emailed to you. That's how you check your invoice from most any cruise line. 

[CrazyTrain2]

Yep, found it in the archives.

 

I'm working with a TA now rebooking and dropping the Insurance.  Thanks.  I'll have extra bar tab so I owe you all a few.  

[CrazyTrain2]

So after cancelling my previous booking to take advantage of last month's offer, I received no breakdown of the refund/FVC for my original deposit.  I called Sailor services and although the person on the call tried very hard it was clear the systems are all JACKED UP.   After 35 Minutes on the phone, with coffee house noises in the background, cars honking and an ambulance (on the sailor services side), I received a piece meal answer.  The was no place on any website I could see where the FVC is posted and I had to backtrack through my Credit card statements for any refunds.  I love the concept of VV and I'm sure I'll love the cruise - But the computer systems are HORRIBLE for information.  Plenty of pretty pictures and an interesting design but it is JACKED UP.  I cannot even locate on my booking the cabin number - I have to go back to the invoice.  Finally, the SS agent was able to send me essentially a screen shot of my FVC.  Hopefully I can apply it to my current booking.

 

Uhhhg,  I need a vacation from planning a vacation.

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by CrazyTrain2

[raphael360]

I agree with Virgin's funky computer system.  I booked a cruise for April (my 5th in 3 months) and discovered my Sea Rover status and Deep Blue Extras were not attached to this booking.  After spending 60-plus minutes with a chat rep, she couldn't find my Sea Rover status listed at all. She saw my status in a previous booking and said she was manually entering my Deep Blue Extras into this new booking (or at least I think she got in manually entered).

 

 

When I log into Virgin's website to manage my 3 current books, my Sailor Add-ons on all three bookings change several times during the course of a day.  I can only hope my Sea Rover status and Add-ons make their way to the ship.

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, raphael360 said:

I agree with Virgin's funky computer system.  I booked a cruise for April (my 5th in 3 months) and discovered my Sea Rover status and Deep Blue Extras were not attached to this booking.  After spending 60-plus minutes with a chat rep, she couldn't find my Sea Rover status listed at all. She saw my status in a previous booking and said she was manually entering my Deep Blue Extras into this new booking (or at least I think she got in manually entered).

 

 

When I log into Virgin's website to manage my 3 current books, my Sailor Add-ons on all three bookings change several times during the course of a day.  I can only hope my Sea Rover status and Add-ons make their way to the ship.

There is no status for April onwards as the current loyalty program ends 31st of March. The website states the deep blue extras are only through to March 31st

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sites/sailing-club

 

there will be a new loyalty programme but no one knows what that is or what the perks will be, I’m expecting an announcement during March.

[raphael360]

22 hours ago, jon81uk said:

there will be a new loyalty program but no one knows what that is or what the perks will be, I’m expecting an announcement during March.

My Sea Rover status badge has disappeared from my profile and I can't seem to get my Deep Blue Extras added to my Apr cruise. Virgin acknowledges the loyalty problem is in flux.

 

The Deep Blue Extras perk is the coin flip when making my decisions to pull the trigger and book and I will cancel my Apr cruise if this doesn't get resolved by the '45 days out' cutoff.

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, raphael360 said:

My Sea Rover status badge has disappeared from my profile and I can't seem to get my Deep Blue Extras added to my Apr cruise. Virgin acknowledges the loyalty problem is in flux.

 

The Deep Blue Extras perk is the coin flip when making my decisions to pull the trigger and book and I will cancel my Apr cruise if this doesn't get resolved by the '45 days out' cutoff.

Nobody is getting deep blue extras for April onwards so it’s not that you can’t seem to get it added, those benefits do not exist for 1st April onwards.

There will be a new loyalty programme. Once that is announced you may get those new benefits.

 

 

[cantgetin]

No one has a clue what will happen as of April 1.  The Deep Blue Extras and matching status deal was supposed to end 12/31/22 and was extended.  VV has given a few hints about the program they are developing, such as it will be based on the amount you've spent on cruise fares AND the amount of onboard spending you've done.

I had considered booking a quick cruise last December, but VV played games with the price (it nearly doubled for a week, then they put the special back on but when the price went up I canceled my flights.  And VV hadn't, and still hasn't said what the extra cruise would have gotten me in terms of status.  I rationalized that it would take an awful lot of ongoing benefits to equal the cost of an extra cruise + air.

[raphael360]

4 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Nobody is getting deep blue extras for April onwards so it’s not that you can’t seem to get it added, those benefits do not exist for 1st April onwards.

There will be a new loyalty program. Once that is announced you may get those new benefits.

 

 

This is good information to have.  I have cruises booked for next week and mid-March (both with Deep Blue extras). I will cancel my Apr. cruise while I'm still 45 days out.  I'll get the future cruise credit and hope the new loyalty rewards are as good as the current one.

[CrazyTrain2]

Update - My travel agent ended up getting sailor services to refund everything back to my CC except for the travel insurance (my mistake for getting it in the first place).

 

So all good, the best outcome came through but it was a journey - Or do I call it a voyage?

[cantgetin]

And the moral of the story is "Make your life easier by using a good agent."