What happened to Brilliant Lady

[Wildcatllamas]

19 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

We chose Portsmouth to Barcelona, so you'll be boarding her the day we disembark.

Now I need to decide which airport we'll fly into and where we'll stay.

I just booked that one on Tuesday. I have never been outside of the Western Hemisphere or gone from home as long as this one will be, but have to take that jump at some point in life. I was complaining about airfare from airports in Colorado to Miami. Well never again after pricing to Europe, although there are many sources that feel airfare to Europe will be coming down over the next few months. I am going to plan on going into London about 4 days early to do some sightseeing.

 

When I look back to the day I started this thread it has been a strange road we have all traveled on. And now that we all know "What Happened to Brilliant Lady?" do you think we could sell the movie rights?

[jamesv92]

I've also just got confirmation of being booked on to one of the 14 night repositioning cruises next year. The total price will end up being £1300 for central sea terrace with $1450 sailor loot and $700 bar tab, think I've got a decent result in the end lol.

Edited September 15, 2023 by jamesv92

[3eaglesfam]

My TA sent in my paperwork last Friday.  Got the email from virgin that they are "On it" with a case number.  1 week later and nothing. My TA called and opted for the call me back option and she has not gotten a call back yet.  I am hoping to change from my Feb 10. 8 day from Miami to the 7 day from San juan. SO far I am not holding out hope.  

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Well never again after pricing to Europe,

 

Don't book Colorado to UK......book your flights to the UK from a major hub that has more competitive pricing, like NYC, Boston, or DC, and then book a separate flight to the hub you'll be flying out of. You'll save lots of money this way.

[Yinster]

2 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Well never again after pricing to Europe, 

If you are ok with a no frills airline then check out Norse airline who have taken over from Norwegian air as the no frills airline between London and the states. You can get their version of premium economy for the price of economy on other airlines.

 

A lot of people who did our transatlantic cruise in May flew with them with no issues

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, h2owill said:

Then on my cruises they asked me to somehow forfeit the flight credit with Jetblue, I said I didn't know how to do that, but they wouldn't give a refund, so Virgin should be honoring the reimbursement.

If you're trying to get reimbursed for your flight JetBlue has no penalties you get flight credit so you really shouldn't be getting reimbursed from Virgin for that flight. 

[DrSch]

3 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

I just booked that one on Tuesday. I have never been outside of the Western Hemisphere or gone from home as long as this one will be, but have to take that jump at some point in life. I was complaining about airfare from airports in Colorado to Miami. Well never again after pricing to Europe, although there are many sources that feel airfare to Europe will be coming down over the next few months. I am going to plan on going into London about 4 days early to do some sightseeing.

 

When I look back to the day I started this thread it has been a strange road we have all traveled on. And now that we all know "What Happened to Brilliant Lady?" do you think we could sell the movie rights?

I am on that one as well.. Just got it arranged today.

[3eaglesfam]

Exactly one week after requesting the rebook I recieved the email today from Virgin with my new cabin and Extra Sailor loot.  

[gentscruising]

I sent in my rebooking request last Saturday, so 6 days ago, and we got our new cruise confirmation today!!! We were originally booked on the San Juan Mermaiden and are now on Valient New Year's Ahoy 8 night cruise out of Miami. Since we rebooked by Oct 11 we also got $1000 Sailer Loot to go along with the $600 Sailor Loot and $600 Bar Tab from our initial booking. Different ports but still some new to us ports and it'll be much easier to fly to Miami so we're thrilled!

Edited September 15, 2023 by gentscruising

[def0715]

$1,000 plus $600? Nice! I thought it was just $600 for rebooking by Oct. 11.

[kwokpot]

Just now, def0715 said:

$1,000 plus $600? Nice! I thought it was just $600 for rebooking by Oct. 11.

I assume the $1,000 was from your original booking for some reason? 

[CineGraphic]

4 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I assume the $1,000 was from your original booking for some reason? 

 

They were offering $1K for those on the cancelled Mermaiden voyage.

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, CineGraphic said:

 

They were offering $1K for those on the cancelled Mermaiden voyage.

Gotcha. What was special/different about that cruise? 

[gentscruising]

4 minutes ago, def0715 said:

$1,000 plus $600? Nice! I thought it was just $600 for rebooking by Oct. 11.

My original booking has $300 Sailor Loot for booking on our prior cruise and $300 Sailor Loot and $600 Bar Tab for the promo at that time.

I got $500 Sailor Loot for rebooking the cancelled cruise and an additional $500 Sailor Loot for booking before Oct 11. 

I'm not sure what we're going to do with that much money, but we're going to have fun trying to spend it 😀.

[def0715]

Have fun with that!

[librarylady19]

Woo hoo!! Got my confirmation for my rebooking (one week to the day). Very happy with the extra $600 sailor loot and the new cruise itinerary (Barcelona to Rome, 11/3/24). I'll be able to take lots of shore excursions with that. 

Thanks to everyone who has been on this thread for quite some time now. I would have really been in the dark without everyone sharing here. 😀

[jon81uk]

11 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Gotcha. What was special/different about that cruise? 

It was the maiden for Brilliant Lady and over Christmas. I’m guessing they felt cancelling a Christmas cruise deserves more compensation.

[PhilK2000]

Still struggling. Today I received an email from VV that they can't rebook me because there are no more RS on my requested Dubai to Singapore itinerary . However I have since Monday on hold such a suite in the same category I had on the cancelled April 20, 2024 TA. The person who is processing my cancellation obviously haven't seen the note that there is a cabin on hold. VV Sailor Services can't do anything beside to provide the info to the special department. My TA is taking care now the problem, my fear is just that the hold will be somehow released and then nothing can be done. I am so exhausted. 

[CineGraphic]

26 minutes ago, PhilK2000 said:

my fear is just that the hold will be somehow released and then nothing can be done

 

If they insist that your hold is going to expire, put a deposit down to. It can always be refunded.

[PhilK2000]

21 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

If they insist that your hold is going to expire, put a deposit down to. It can always be refunded.

I have only the option to do a full payment online . That would be over 5k . And then ? I would need to ask VV to return it to me once the rebooking is succeesfull. But you know how it is once money has been sent …. 

[CineGraphic]

18 minutes ago, PhilK2000 said:

I have only the option to do a full payment online . That would be over 5k . And then ? I would need to ask VV to return it to me once the rebooking is succeesfull. But you know how it is once money has been sent …. 

 

Things may be different refund wise between countries, just inform your TA to not let the suite go. There must be a way for them to extend the hold considering the circumstances.

[Don Kehote]

Well, my experience has not been spectacular so far.  I'm going to call in tomorrow as see if it's as bad as it looks, or if I'm just misreading.

 

Got notification that we're set to go on a replacement, and yes, there's bonus sailor loot and bar tab, which is great.  What is not great is that it appears that the $600 sailor loot that we originally had is now gone, as is $300 that we put down on board, and I don't really see the $300 discount either.

 

Somehow, we are now on an itinerary that's shorter, does NOT go to Curacao (weep for me), and yet we owe more and have less than expected.

 

I could be wrong, but if this is how it be, I'm absolutely rethinking this trip.

[librarylady19]

13 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

Well, my experience has not been spectacular so far.  I'm going to call in tomorrow as see if it's as bad as it looks, or if I'm just misreading.

 

Got notification that we're set to go on a replacement, and yes, there's bonus sailor loot and bar tab, which is great.  What is not great is that it appears that the $600 sailor loot that we originally had is now gone, as is $300 that we put down on board, and I don't really see the $300 discount either.

 

Somehow, we are now on an itinerary that's shorter, does NOT go to Curacao (weep for me), and yet we owe more and have less than expected.

 

I could be wrong, but if this is how it be, I'm absolutely rethinking this trip.

Are you seeing this in the app or website version of your account? When I got my rebooking, the app had less perks listed in add-ons than either the rebooking confirmation email I received from Virgin or the web version of my account. I called Sailor Services, and they sent me a copy of my folio so I have plenty of proof printed out of my actual perks ! I had read here that the app was rather wonky so want to be prepared. Good luck!

[Don Kehote]

3 hours ago, librarylady19 said:

Are you seeing this in the app or website version of your account? When I got my rebooking, the app had less perks listed in add-ons than either the rebooking confirmation email I received from Virgin or the web version of my account. I called Sailor Services, and they sent me a copy of my folio so I have plenty of proof printed out of my actual perks ! I had read here that the app was rather wonky so want to be prepared. Good luck!

So this morning, with a clear head, I logged into the First Mates site, and did some peering.

At this point, it looks like I've got $300 bar tab, and $1450 of Sailor Loot.  So that does appear to be correct.

What stinks is that this 6 day voyage is priced significantly higher than the 7 day better itinerary that was cancelled.  Since it was a MNVV, I did find the $300 discount off the fare applied deep in the invoice, and I can also see the $478 payment I made toward it to secure the booking, but the initial $300 that we gave VV to get the MNVV in the first place isn't reflected anywhere.

 

Guess I'm just frustrated.

[Ulsteinvik]

There are 6 new calls that came this week in Bergens and Alesunds list for Valiant Lady on summer 2024. They start on early July until the end of August, mostly with 10-11 day intervals.

Wondering what is going on, maybe Brilliant will take over the cruises out of Miami and Valiant heads to Northern Europe?