Virgin fires a shot across Celebrity’s bow

[hubofhockey]

If you’re only booking Celebrity to chase points or status and believe that extra $350 of perks should drive your decision, you shouldn’t be reading this thread.  We probably won’t look at Virgin because our demographic doesn’t line up well, but they do things differently and it’s interesting to see what newer lines are doing.

[killaypirate]

Looked at VV website. Not many itineraries to tempt me but if I found one the quality food would be hard for me to resist. Might go dry for the cruise, don’t like bar tabs at the end!

Edited September 20, 2023 by killaypirate

[Cruise till you drop]

3 hours ago, aml3679 said:

Looked at Virgin but found that they are too $$$

I would have to agree with you on this as well as the comments made about their itineraries in that there nothing really there that’s too exciting

[bnurick]

Capitalism. ❤️ 

[Tyler414]

I got this same email and was thinking the same thing.  It is absolutely a shot at Celebrity.  I love it!!!

[numnums]

I'd like to try virgin once they have more diversity/longer sailings just for the for the experience and food.

 

I found celebrity entertainment to be quite bland usually so it'd be nice to see something really different.

 

VV just feels so pricy for it's short sailings sometimes, but I think I'll keep a look out anyway.

Competition is good and stops competitors from trying to slowly/secretly kill off their perks if they're desperate to keep their customers or gain customers, just a shame they're all in debt from covid and also desperately trying to climb out of that debt. But if you're gonna cut stuff & raise prices at the same time, don't be surprised if a new upcoming line is going to poach your custies.

 

 

[The_Big_M]

15 hours ago, markeb said:

Worth a look for sure. Weren’t they requiring payment way early at one time? Or am I confusing them with someone else? 

 

They offer an extra discount if you pay in full on booking. Which is a fair trade-off. But you can still book with the usual payment terms/timing and prices if you want.

 

Also got this email and liked it. It's nice to see some thought of competition now as it's too often the reverse - someone else reduces benefits/increases costs and then others jump in and copy that.

[rmedistro]

7 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

 

They offer an extra discount if you pay in full on booking. Which is a fair trade-off. But you can still book with the usual payment terms/timing and prices if you want.

 

Also got this email and liked it. It's nice to see some thought of competition now as it's too often the reverse - someone else reduces benefits/increases costs and then others jump in and copy that.

I saw that pay in full discount. Isn't it 10%?.

Edited September 20, 2023 by rmedistro

[chemmo]

Having looked at documentaries on Virgin I don’t believe it is the cruise line for us although I can see it’s strengths.

 

However, I am delighted see a rival cruise line highlighting the unpopular changes Celebrity has made over recent months…

 

Whilst not directly affected by either the removal of room service or reduction of butler service I felt both changes, without prior warning, showed a lack of understanding of their customer base and what cruise customers value….Perhaps they need a ‘third party’ to make them wake up and see that they have upset many loyal regulars…

[mjfship]

Hats off to Virgin's marketing team, as they have perfectly mastered the art of reaching out to a fresh audience seeking alternative choices.  I commend this bold strategy and can only hope that X would exhibit the same, if not greater, level of creativity without diluting the brand any further.  

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

4 minutes ago, mjfship said:

Hats off to Virgin's marketing team, as they have perfectly mastered the art of reaching out to a fresh audience seeking alternative choices.  I commend this bold strategy and can only hope that X would exhibit the same, if not greater, level of creativity without diluting the brand any further.  

 

 

 

 

 

I think it may appeal to newer Celeb cruisers..maybe ones who like Las Vegas which is the vibe I get , 

..but not the long term loyalists.  

[mjfship]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

I think it may appeal to newer Celeb cruisers..maybe ones who like Las Vegas which is the vibe I get , 

..but not the long term loyalists.  

Virgin's marketing is definitely exuding a Vegas/ Miami vibe and for a 7-nighter or less, huge demographic out there for this kind of experience.  Not my particular type of escape, however, it caught my attention!

[rmedistro]

9 minutes ago, hcat said:

I think it may appeal to newer Celeb cruisers..maybe ones who like Las Vegas which is the vibe I get , 

..but not the long term loyalists.  

Someone that recently cruised virgin, thought the same thing going in, but mentioned although the show selection was more upbeat, the cruise vibe itself was very laid back, and the "Included" restaurants had great quality. Everything subjective of course, but for those evaluating options for Caribbean/Med itineraries, worth looking at. We're going to try one Dec '24

[Cruise till you drop]

12 minutes ago, mjfship said:

Virgin's marketing is definitely exuding a Vegas/ Miami vibe and for a 7-nighter or less, huge demographic out there for this kind of experience.  Not my particular type of escape, however, it caught my attention!

I see that many of their Caribbean cruises are 5 days in length and perhaps would appeal to the people that take the 3-5 day Carnival drunk fest cruises.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Baggy178]

Tbh the thing that would put me off Virgin is that Richard Branson gives me the creeps.

[JustAPilot]

Wrong demographic to try and poach, Virgin is an adults only cruise and the vibe they try to portray is that Miami pool party look. Drop the adults only requirement, extend your cruises to longer than 5 days and I’m sure they will sell out. 

[numnums]

1 hour ago, The_Big_M said:

 

They offer an extra discount if you pay in full on booking. Which is a fair trade-off. But you can still book with the usual payment terms/timing and prices if you want.

 

Also got this email and liked it. It's nice to see some thought of competition now as it's too often the reverse - someone else reduces benefits/increases costs and then others jump in and copy that.

Agree, I feel that not only in cruise sailing but every other company just hand -shaking in cutting costs with food/ingredients/etc in general.😬 People at the top just collectively deciding what's what on their soft cushions while the workers and the consumers gotta pay for it!

 

No company would reveal their Data with what consumers are doing on their ship, testing the limits to see what would be just enough to squeeze $$ out of us while making sure they don't make us mad enough to stop going altogether! [The fine line of tiptoeing in maxing profits) The only cutting costs I can agree with is really with being environment friendly- or reducing Food waste like with smaller portions, etc (as long as they don't charge you for asking more!) 

 

But seriously, where can I get a nice genuine fruit smoothie or milkshake around here? I don't fancy popcorn, and I would have 100% went with VV if I saw they also had some milkshake machine or something! I got a serious sweet/fruit tooth!

 

Anyways, Right now. I'm seeing that VV might be more of a ship experience than a destination experience I suppose? I don't get on ports much so I don't mind. Sometimes I hear they might have too many fully booked activities or shows, so unless they manage that or pump out some more ships for their passengers to spread out more evenly, that would be nice. This is all my speculation on my part and reading other peoples thoughts though. I also like their website, and that they show the total price for the cabin and everything is already all inclusive!

[hcat]

7 minutes ago, JustAPilot said:

Wrong demographic to try and poach, Virgin is an adults only cruise and the vibe they try to portray is that Miami pool party look. Drop the adults only requirement, extend your cruises to longer than 5 days and I’m sure they will sell out. 

but that's Royal C  turf!

[AlaskaNewbie68]

We were all set on VV to give them a try in January. They cancelled our cruise. it's a mess there right now apparently with their new ship being delayed. So we booked on Celebrity Apex for the same week. 

[C-Dragons]

42 minutes ago, hcat said:

but that's Royal C  turf!

Not really. Royal welcomes families with children.

VV wants singles or couples. They don’t promote a family atmosphere.

 

This is from the VV website:

"Adult-only voyages. Luxuriously designed."

😉

[dabear]

1 hour ago, rmedistro said:

Someone that recently cruised virgin, thought the same thing going in, but mentioned although the show selection was more upbeat, the cruise vibe itself was very laid back, and the "Included" restaurants had great quality. Everything subjective of course, but for those evaluating options for Caribbean/Med itineraries, worth looking at. We're going to try one Dec '24

Glad to see you're trying another line. I look forward to seeing your comments.

[rmedistro]

2 minutes ago, dabear said:

Glad to see you're trying another line. I look forward to seeing your comments.

We've never been married to X. My wife unfortunately likes the NCL mega ships, only the Prima class, and they have to be new. That's why we have an Ascent X cruise booked in Dec.
I am more about ship vibe and amenities. But, we know who the boss is.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, numnums said:

Agree, I feel that not only in cruise sailing but every other company just hand -shaking in cutting costs with food/ingredients/etc in general.😬 People at the top just collectively deciding what's what on their soft cushions while the workers and the consumers gotta pay for it!

 

No company would reveal their Data with what consumers are doing on their ship, testing the limits to see what would be just enough to squeeze $$ out of us while making sure they don't make us mad enough to stop going altogether! [The fine line of tiptoeing in maxing profits) The only cutting costs I can agree with is really with being environment friendly- or reducing Food waste like with smaller portions, etc (as long as they don't charge you for asking more!) 

 

But seriously, where can I get a nice genuine fruit smoothie or milkshake around here? I don't fancy popcorn, and I would have 100% went with VV if I saw they also had some milkshake machine or something! I got a serious sweet/fruit tooth!

 

Anyways, Right now. I'm seeing that VV might be more of a ship experience than a destination experience I suppose? I don't get on ports much so I don't mind. Sometimes I hear they might have too many fully booked activities or shows, so unless they manage that or pump out some more ships for their passengers to spread out more evenly, that would be nice. This is all my speculation on my part and reading other peoples thoughts though. I also like their website, and that they show the total price for the cabin and everything is already all inclusive!

It was certainly an aggressive choice for RCI to ask if folks would continue to order pizza if there was a fee

[basil1]

I just looked at VV's site and they don't have much selection for itineraries. If I try them I'd like to start with a 7 day Caribbean sailing out of a US mainland port but they don't have that.

 

[numnums]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

It was certainly an aggressive choice for RCI to ask if folks would continue to order pizza if there was a fee

😬 And they'll keep trying to see if they can put a FEE on any item that is desirable enough for people to pay for... When will they reveal the person who launch these ideas, and the person/board that let it pass through?! The only thing I know VV for is that they provide some transparency (?) compared to other lines since I heard cruise passenger thoughts/voices were actually the one who helped them form their ideals such as the Bar Tab & having it be all inclusive, adult only, etc.

 

I suppose we will see how it goes later down the road when VV gets older (will it get corrupted? Who knows) And if they become successful post pandemic (sway other loyalist)