What happened to Brilliant Lady

[BeasleysMom66]

Just now, AlaskaNewbie68 said:

I didn't see anything saying how long it takes to get refund? ANy experience with this? We paid in full and need that to now pay for my newly booked Celebrity cruise. Thanks!

 

I actually do have immediate relevant experience.  I submitted the refund form this morning at 9:30 am PST.  I just got an email now at 12:28 saying the refund has been processed and should arrive within 7-10 days.  I know when they cancelled me two years ago it did arrive back on my card that quickly so I am hopeful it happens again this time.

[c-boy]

impatient is the operative word of the day.

[HBCcruiser]

Passengers booked in the Mega- and Rockstar Suites got screwed if they were on the Holiday cruises that got canceled IMO. Those alternative itineraries are not nearly as good, and there are no suites available that I can see. We had Mega and regular Rockstar suites booked on the NYE cruise but cancelled right before the due date. People scoffed at me, but I am used to great communication with cruise lines especially when booked in a suite as the cruise gets closer. There was no communication from VV at all. They must have known the ship was not going to be finished months ago but wanted the $$ first before officially cancelling. I know other cruise lines (NCL) does this too, but it is never good for PR. Sorry to all impacted by this. I hope it works out positively for everyone. 

[BeasleysMom66]

18 minutes ago, c-boy said:

impatient is the operative word of the day.

 

Maybe for some people.  For me the operative word of the day is fed-up.  Given that they cancelled on me 2 years ago but I still opted to rebook to this cruise and got a suite at what is now a terrace price I was perfectly content to be patient and wait another 2 years for my cruise.  Not going to fall for it again.  There are millions of great travel options and I don't need to keep putting my life and my money on hold while VV makes bad business decisions.  4 years is patient enough.  

[BeasleysMom66]

1 minute ago, HBCcruiser said:

Passengers booked in the Mega- and Rockstar Suites got screwed

 

Yes we did and thank you for recognizing that.  I am one of them.

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

Yes we did and thank you for recognizing that.  I am one of them.

We might have been neighbors. Major bummer. 😔

[spookyfudge]

This would have been a third cruise with virgin, I am so angry we need to cancel our flights again.  If we don’t get our recommend cruise I am done with virgin, period.

[kwokpot]

Were booked on the 8 nt ECA VL Feb. 24th. We chose the 11/28/24 SL 16 Nt TA and sent the rebooking form in.

[trippingpara]

We had an XL Terrace on the TA.  We choose the Dubai to Athens leg of the RL repositioning cruise which is only a few days difference in the dates and sent in the rebooking form.  Hopefully this one will work out!

[ghostshark]

I had an 8-day VL cruise wiped out. Since that's the longest VV Caribbean itinerary, and there's no real benefit to rebooking the same or shorter cruise, I looked at Med cruises. But RS cabins for 2024 Med cruises are a bit hard to come by, and the 2025 Med schedule was not released. Australia is really hard to get to, so my options seem a bit bleak.

 

What happens if I don't do anything and just wait them out for 2025 Med before I rebook, so I can get the right cabin class and an attractive date/itinerary? There doesn't seem to be a "rebook by X date or else" in the cancellation email.

[CanadianCruiser21]

4 minutes ago, ghostshark said:

I had an 8-day VL cruise wiped out. Since that's the longest VV Caribbean itinerary, and there's no real benefit to rebooking the same or shorter cruise, I looked at Med cruises. But RS cabins for 2024 Med cruises are a bit hard to come by, and the 2025 Med schedule was not released. Australia is really hard to get to, so my options seem a bit bleak.

 

What happens if I don't do anything and just wait them out for 2025 Med before I rebook, so I can get the right cabin class and an attractive date/itinerary? There doesn't seem to be a "rebook by X date or else" in the cancellation email.

Depends if they release the itineraries this year. 
Should you decide not to rebook at this time, you have the option to request a full refund, or we will automatically process your refund after December 28th

[spookyfudge]

So I called after I made a choice to pick another cruise to get my money back.  They really wanted me to pick another cruise but we specficly wanted to cruise in January and as we talked about it we just got our money back.  They did say there were going to be more choices for alternative cruises after Sept 11 but I just dont want to flip our plans around just to help virgin, we just will not cruise with them again even though we truely enjoyed our previous cruises.

[ghostshark]

1 minute ago, CanadianCruiser21 said:

Depends if they release the itineraries this year. 
Should you decide not to rebook at this time, you have the option to request a full refund, or we will automatically process your refund after December 28th

Where did you get the December 28 date? A refund is the last resort for me, and would mean that I never consider Virgin again. I just want a Brilliant Suite for a non-Australia sailing that is more expensive than my cancelled sailing, and I don't think that's possible with their current schedule.

[CanadianCruiser21]

1 minute ago, ghostshark said:

Where did you get the December 28 date? A refund is the last resort for me, and would mean that I never consider Virgin again. I just want a Brilliant Suite for a non-Australia sailing that is more expensive than my cancelled sailing, and I don't think that's possible with their current schedule.

It was in the email, under option 2

[ghostshark]

Just now, CanadianCruiser21 said:

It was in the email, under option 2

yep, I never even read the refund option, because I really don't want to do that. I just got off the phone with Sailor Services who said 2025 Med cruises will be added to the rebook list on the 11th, so I'm just going to sit tight until then.

[BeasleysMom66]

13 minutes ago, ghostshark said:

I just got off the phone with Sailor Services

 

I am impressed you got a live person.  I couldn't get one to save my life and got so pi**ed off that I went straight for the refund.  My opinion is they should have had all hands on deck (no pun intended) in Sailor Services and all itineraries ready to go when they sent those emails today.  Telling customers you are cancelling their cruise(s) and they need to wait another 4 days for more options or take a refund isn't a good business plan.  

[ghostshark]

1 minute ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

Telling customers you are cancelling their cruise(s) and they need to wait another 4 days for more options or take a refund isn't a good business plan.  

yeah, this whole thing has been a real, um, shipshow

[Watchmen]

Meh. If you want to wait until everything is perfect then you might never get an announcement. At least some folks can start adjusting now; others may have to wait a few extra days. 

[rfsdvm]

was on the BL 3/23/24 from San Juan....cancelled and will likely

try for the VL San Juan to Miami, but any thoughts on it the itinerary

will be more like the BL Southern or more like the VL miami-miami one.

also, thoughts on advantages to submitting online request form vs trying

to call on 9/11 (and what time will they start taking calls?)

Thanks for input!

[CineGraphic]

We've decided to sail the 3/23/24 14 day sailing San Juan to Miami even though we don't know the itinerary yet. I called earlier today in hopes that someone would know, but no such luck. One thing's for sure, it' will be a Caribbean itinerary. lol.

We'll end up with $2200 in loot, for a sailing that set us back $2400. I'm not complaining at all.

[herdfans4]

6 hours ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

A great idea except I had a Rock Star Aft suite and none are available.  This is the 2nd time Virgin has cancelled on me.  I am done booking and wasting time with it.  I have a small window that I can do a cruise in due to my job demands and I need a more reliable line.  Sorry Virgin you just aren't getting it done.  Maybe when I retire one day.....

We are in the same situation.  We booked our January cruise last December and booked deck 13 sweet aft suite and have really looked forward to the amazing aft view.  no way these are available on any of these bookings. Not even sure if a rock star room will be available from what I see. 

 

so how will it work when absolutely no rooms in my category are available to rebook.  

 

 I am so mad right now.  

[fsdorado]

We booked VL on a six night sailing out of Miami on 3/3/23 last night.  This morning, we woke up to the e-mail that our cruise had been cancelled.  We submitted a request to move to a VL 3/2/23 seven night sailing out of San Juan, PR.  Our travel agent said that VV will honor the price we paid for the six night cruise and throw in an extra $300 OBC.  The seven night cruise is considerably more expensive so I think we lucked out.  We told my BIL about the six night cruise and he and his wife were very interested but they waited until this morning to call our TA.  The TA was surprised that he couldn't find any staterooms on the original cruise.  They will miss out on the extra OBC and the lower price.  It's all about timing...

 

 

Frederick

[def0715]

Having trouble resetting search dates on website. Can anyone help? I’ve clicked on reset numerous times. I can’t explore change options. Do bookings on website only go through October 2024? Thanks.

 

This was going to be my first time on Virgin. My cruise that originated in Miami now shows I’m on the 8-day sailing from San Juan (same dates) in the app. I haven’t changed anything.

[herdfans4]

6 hours ago, ghostshark said:

My first ever cruise, and it gets cancelled, so the boat I was scheduled to be on can go somewhere else and carry passengers scheduled for a different boat that isn't ready. Weird way to do business. 

I agree so all the VL are just out of luck and no real compensation for all this confusion

[Fogcityca13]

14 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

We've decided to sail the 3/23/24 14 day sailing San Juan to Miami even though we don't know the itinerary yet. I called earlier today in hopes that someone would know, but no such luck. One thing's for sure, it' will be a Caribbean itinerary. lol.

We'll end up with $2200 in loot, for a sailing that set us back $2400. I'm not complaining at all.

Is that a 14 day? I was looking at that but the PDF I’m seeing says 8. I can’t swing a 14 day.