Jump to content

CruisingWalter

Members
  • Posts

    2,236
  • Joined

About Me

  • Interests
    Photography, Cooking, Videography, Christmas, Movies
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    The one I'm sailing today.
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Alaska, St. Maarten

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

CruisingWalter's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  • Great Review Rare
  • Great Review Rare

Recent Badges

  1. The wording I've been seeing from multiple cruise lines is a requirement for a gel battery for mobility scooters. If you can, I would suggest you take a look at the Whill power chairs. We've introduced those to multiple cruise guests after we had a chance to the visit the Scootaround offices here in Orlando. They're smaller than a standard 3 or 4 wheel scooter, easy to drive with a right or left hand joystick and fit into most any stateroom door. The batteries pop out for super easy charging. The C1 can be rented for cruises and while it's smaller it does not fold up. They also have an F model that literally folds up against the wall when it's not in use. Both come with a phone app that allows you to drive the chair via the app. The primary use of this on a cruise ship would be to park the chair out of the way after you sit down and to drive it back to you when it's time to leave. Here's my visit to the offices and the two chairs. Whill is the parent company of Scootaround. https://youtu.be/HjS6qhJIRUY
  2. The best is NCL. They alternate between One Guest Free! and 50% off Both Guests! It's the exact same offer, different words. And I'll get calls all the time, "Hey they changed the offer! Can we rebook to get the new rate?" I have to explain it's literally the same deal, bringing up the pricing so they can see it, just different wording. 🙂
  3. VV tends to go up in price as the sail date gets closer. I've seen it go up 2 to 3x the original cruise fare in the weeks and months before sail date. Our Thanksgiving cruise last November was 3x the original cruise fare a few months before sailing. VV's best pricing tends to be the day they open up. Note that if the pricing does go down, VV does not price match like other cruise lines. You'll have to cancel your cruise and rebook. When you do that, you will lose any promotion that was attached to the original sailing and be rebooked with any current promotions. Your MNVV can be cancelled and reused one time.
  4. I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise
  5. Actually your TA should be contacting the First Mates dept. directly. He should have asked you to send an email detailing the situation. Then the First Mates dept would be the first contact for that TA to fix the situation. If they could not get the situation sorted, then your TA escalates the situation directly to their business development contact from VV to get the situation sorted. That's one of the advantages of using a TA, having them go directly to their contacts if the situation has to be escalated. That is a very strange situation to be sure. It does sounds like you've been put into a Circle but even there, you would not see anyone else's personal information. .
  6. Thanks for the kind words. Every time I'm on a ladyship I get so many compliments on that particular video. And so many Sailors will tell me they tried Virgin for the first time because of that video. It's super cool.
  7. TAs make your life so much easier to be honest. We have cruised for almost 20 years and have always used a TA. The biggest advantage is not having to call the cruise lines ourselves to do anything. They take care of it. And if we really need to take things to a higher level to get a situation taken care of, they have direct contacts at all of the cruise lines. And in the case of VV, having them take care of our dining reservations is worth their weight in gold. VV's app can make it incredibly challenging to book dining reservations when they open. So long as the booking engine is working for the TA, they can usually make your reservations pretty quickly. And our TA never charges us a dime so why wouldn't we use their expertise and connections? 🙂
  8. They can cancel for any reason at any time. It's in section 9 of the contract. I believe 9.3.5 in VV's contract. It's in every single cruise contract on any cruise line. 300 days, 200 days, 100 days, 10 days, and even after the ship leaves port, itineraries can change for whatever reason at all. No itinerary is guaranteed, ever. If Toulon was that important to you, fly there, don't take a cruise. If any destination is so important it will ruin your cruise if it's cancelled, don't take the cruise. fly there. It's that simple. Everyone who is 'defending' the cruise line understands the cruise contract. We go into the cruise knowing the itinerary can change.
  9. There is no audacity on anyone's part. Itinerary changes are normal in cruising. It's in the contract. Those of us who have been cruising for 20 years know exactly how all of this works. Anyone who books through a travel agent knows that your itinerary is NEVER guaranteed on a cruise ship. If Toulon is the most important thing in the world to you, fly there. Don't take a cruise. That holds true of any cruise destination on any cruise line from the cheapest to the most expensive luxury cruise. If your vacation is going to be RUINED because the ship won't stop at XYZ port, don't take a cruise. Fly there. It's not audacious to understand itinerary changes. It's understanding the cruise contract and understanding that itineraries can and will be changed.
  10. VV reversed their decision. Toulon is back on the itinerary. Emergency is over.
  11. READ. THE. CONTRACT. You agreed to a cruise contract that say the cruise can be changed at any time. YOU. AGREED. TO. THIS. So you ordered a cruise that can be changed at any time and now you're complaining they changed the cruise which they said they might do when you booked the cruise. "I deserve a refund because the cruise line did exactly what they told me what they might do!" It's incredible how many people never read the contract, have no idea what they're agreeing to, and then scream bloody murder when their cruise is changed. I guess now that Toulon has been reinstated you can go back to being that amazingly wonderful person that the crew absolutely can't wait to welcome onboard the ship.
  12. Why should they apologize and why should they offer you a refund? You agreed to the cruise contract when you purchased the cruise. You agreed to essentially the same contract that every cruise line in the industry offers. Section 9 of the Ticket Contract for VV covers this including: 9.3.5. To omit, advance, or delay landing at any scheduled or advertised port; So no, not poorly handled by Virgin at all. It's part of cruising to have ports cancelled and itineraries altered. No refund or compensation should be offered other than the port fees, taxes and refunds for Shore Things.
  13. 60 days for Rockstars. 45 Days for Sailors. Since you've sailed on VV previously you should have known that your dining options were going to be slim to nil via the app booking 37 days out. All dining reservations are generally gone the day after the 45 day mark. It's great to score the 'best price available' 37 days out, but you know that booking that late on any cruise line will leave you limited options when it comes to reservations. That comes with the territory.
  14. I would not book a flight earlier than noon from Athens. You need to get there from the port and that's about an hour away. Then security lines, etc... Maybe 1p might be better.
  15. There is no rebate. You have to have your cruise cancelled and then rebooked to get the new fare. Any promotions that were attached to your original cruise will be replaced by the new promotions. I.e. there is no longer an included bar tab.
×
×
  • Create New...