New Promo with Legit Price Drops

[CruisingWalter]

So the new promo started today, August 28, with Up to $900 Off and the return of the Bar Tab.  It looks like the Rock Star and Mega Rockstar pricing is unchanged for the most part, but I'm seeing some legit $100 to $400 price drops on other categories on some sailings. XL Sea Terrace on down to the Insider. I don't know that I have ever seen the price actually drop from one month to the next. 

 

VV doesn't really like to make rate adjustments, but if you have not made final payment, might be worth looking at your current cruise fare compared to what you paid.  If you're working with a TA, they can also check for you. Obviously any ships that are past 50% full probably will not have any impact and may have gone up. 

 

It's so rare for VV to actually drop the bottom line price I wanted to pass this along to everyone. 

[cantgetin]

It is worth checking.....but with the new "deal," one of my upcoming cruises has almost doubled in price and the other has more than doubled!

[CineGraphic]

Our suite category is sold-out.

[singleflyer]

I am trying a few but not seeing the bar tab included even on the dates that are advertised.  Anyone having any luck with getting it?

 

EDIT: Now I am seeing it.  Looks like one of the sailings I'm interested in includes $300 Bar Tab.  Plus $100 for Deep Blue Extras.  Not sure I could spend $400 on drinks for a 5 night cruise 🤢

Edited August 29, 2023 by singleflyer

[jon81uk]

4 hours ago, singleflyer said:

I am trying a few but not seeing the bar tab included even on the dates that are advertised.  Anyone having any luck with getting it?

 

EDIT: Now I am seeing it.  Looks like one of the sailings I'm interested in includes $300 Bar Tab.  Plus $100 for Deep Blue Extras.  Not sure I could spend $400 on drinks for a 5 night cruise 🤢

Assume you are travelling solo then? Across two of us we got through $600-700 in a seven night trip. 

 

But it means you can buy fresh-pressed juice instead of the free one and get more espresso based coffee instead of drip. Also the pairings at Test Kitchen are $45 so use a good amount of it too!

[aviators99]

Everyone seems to be making a big deal about the "return of the bar tab".  Am I right that it was only gone for 6 days???

[cantgetin]

4 hours ago, aviators99 said:

Everyone seems to be making a big deal about the "return of the bar tab".  Am I right that it was only gone for 6 days???

And thie is at least the second time VV has ended a promotion and then. a week later they reinstated it,  Different promotion, same "break" between specials.

[CruisingWalter]

5 hours ago, aviators99 said:

Everyone seems to be making a big deal about the "return of the bar tab".  Am I right that it was only gone for 6 days???

 

The Bar Tab was not available all sailings after April 2024 for the entire previous promo. This new promo extends it through the end of 2024. So if you purchased a cruise sailing after April 2024 you did not get an included bar tab, unless you purchased starting yesterday. VV does not add new promotional items to previously booked cruises. You can cancel your cruise and rebook to get the bar tab if you're not past final payment yet. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by CruisingWalter

[CruisingWalter]

10 hours ago, singleflyer said:

EDIT: Now I am seeing it.  Looks like one of the sailings I'm interested in includes $300 Bar Tab.  Plus $100 for Deep Blue Extras.  Not sure I could spend $400 on drinks for a 5 night cruise 🤢

 

Those purchases are good for coffee, mocktails, cocktails, beer, fresh pressed juice, basically any drinks you have to pay for. Also keep in mind you can purchase drinks for other people, none of that 'drink package jail' from the other cruise lines. And if they have enough stock, you can purchase bottles of liquor from the bars to take home on the last night of the cruise. They don't always have the stock to allow this, but if they do, that's also an option. 

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

You can cancel your cruise and rebook to get the bar tab if you're not past final payment yet. 

 

Seeing that our category is sold out, I'm not cancelling anything, risking losing our cabin.

[Lustate]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Seeing that our category is sold out, I'm not cancelling anything, risking losing our cabin.

 

I would recommend the same. We had an XL cabin booked and rebooked to get an offer. Sadly, the cabin we put back into inventory would not release back, and so we ended up on a total other deck in a less desirable place for us. 

[mfic246]

I'm booked on an Oct 2024 cruise and was able to cancel and rebook in a Sweet Aft Suite with the same room simply by calling.  Took a few minutes but worth $300 in bar tab (5 nighter).

[CruisingWalter]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:31 AM, Lustate said:

Sadly, the cabin we put back into inventory would not release back, and so we ended up on a total other deck in a less desirable place for us. 

 

It usually takes about an hour-ish for the booking engines to release a cabin. I don't know why but I've seen the same thing on other cruise lines as well. You can have better luck sometimes with your TA or calling directly to VV. They have ways of holding cabins while they cancel/rebook. 

[Grumpella]

Thank you CruisingWalter for taking the time to post about the great sales deals.  My TA was able to rebook my same room for $ 970 less for the 2 of us, plus I saved another $ 80 on the travel insurance from the price drop and got a $ 600 bar tab. Virgin waived the fee for me having to pay again for my travel insurance.  The only thing I lost was the extra $100 OBC that the TA was going to give us.

 

THANK YOU!

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, Grumpella said:

Thank you CruisingWalter for taking the time to post about the great sales deals.  My TA was able to rebook my same room for $ 970 less for the 2 of us, plus I saved another $ 80 on the travel insurance from the price drop and got a $ 600 bar tab. Virgin waived the fee for me having to pay again for my travel insurance.  The only thing I lost was the extra $100 OBC that the TA was going to give us.

 

THANK YOU!

Losing the $100 from the TA was not the TAs doing.  When a TA does a VV sponsored Zoom chat for their clients, VV kicks in the $100 (actually amount varies with type of cabin) for people who book within a limited time after the chat.  Once the TAs date has passed, the extra loot goes away.