Alegeeter

The crew was assigned but then that news was rescinded and Virgin stopped hiring efforts for new crew on older ships. My best guess is late summer 2024.

I love seeing those taking advantage of the situation and booking something listed for more money and getting a deal. For anyone looking at options that are cheaper, also take a look at what promotion you booked under (https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions) to make sure Virgin gives you the same promotion. Per their email these promotions should be honored in our replacement bookings.

On 9/9/2023 at 9:15 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

The rep I spoke with the other day assured me that everything you qualified for with the initial booking would be moved over to the new booking.

Now that I see the new prices, I'm curious.

the email we received states: "Plus, we'll still honor any previous promotions you had when you first booked, including your Bar Tab bonus. If the new date you choose costs less, we'll refund the difference if you’ve already fully paid."

Elsewhere on Virgin's site "bar tab" and"loot"  are called "add ons" and I'm wondering what's considered a "promotion"- when I booked the San Juan Mermaiden the fare was $2245 a person, but with the current promotion at the time and MNVV a lot was taken off so the total was $3300 for 2. With the new dates listed the fare is $1875 person with much less taken off for promotions so the total is the same. Will I get $0 back or will they reprice me at the $1875 but with all the discounts I got originally- depends how they define promotion.

I still had them on my URComped cruise even after that email from Virgin saying I wouldn't get it. VV doesn't exactly excel at technology so I wasn't surprised!

2 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

Sorry, I didn’t think to ask.  He did say that all perks will convey.  I’m working on the assumption that the $600 of Sailor Loot is included, but we’ll see if and when I get the confirmation.  Our DBEs were also not showing on the original booking.  He made a note to add them.

 

if this works out they are actually paying us to go on this cruise.  But that’s still an “if”.

I'm also wondering if we get to keep the Sail with friends referral bonuses. I booked my cruise back when they still have $50 per booking. I accumulated almost $800 in loot but now that the sailing is canceled we won't all be rebooking the same one.

38 minutes ago, David8965 said:

We were on the 13 Jan 8-dayer on Valiant from Miami. Really, really disappointed as we're probably Virgin's ideal target market and recruited a group of first time cruisers to join us. All now screwed by the decision to protect the BL itineraries. The offer of a refund or switch to another cruise is pretty useless when everyone has time off work booked and non-refundable flights UK to Miami booked. The only realistic 'options' are a 5 nighter from Miami or a 7 nighter from San Juan which is a real pain to get to. They will have known about this delay months ago and it's a disgrace they let us all go ahead and book with no intention of operating the sailings. Talk about bait and switch. Plenty of 'I'm alright Jacks' who think everyone should just suck it up but Virgin have behaved disgracefully and the offer of onboard credit is lame. We already have $1200 of onboard spend linked to our 8-night cruise booking. What use is another $600 we couldn't spend $1800 in a week if we tried so is just a false pretence of being generous.

I wonder if they'll let you use the $500 in travel expenses to get from Miami to San Juan. The email said it's for cancellation and change fees but perhaps given your circumstance they'll let you use it for an extra flight. Miami to San Juan flights should come in under $500. I'm hoping to move to 1/13 out of San Juan and hope to see you there.

5 minutes ago, CanadianCruiser21 said:

 

• Bonus Sailor Loot: Upon moving their booking, customers will receive an additional $300 in sailor loot. Moreover, those booked on the Mermaiden will receive an extra $500 in onboard credit.

 

$300 OBC for rebooking?! 
that’s the smallest amount of compensation I’ve seen so far, especially since a lot of these BL sailings are so soon. 

If this is true, it's complete garbage. I am on the Mermaiden and I don't need another $800 in loot - I already more than what can even spend in a week. We all paid a lot for this Mermaiden and did so almost a full year ago!

A friend just received an email from her travel agent saying "I just got off the phone with my Virgin BDM. Brilliant Lady is being delayed. You'll be receiving an email from Virgin later today with your options as far as rescheduling, moving to another ship, or full refund."

36 minutes ago, greenenvy said:

FWIW - this is what they offered when they postponed Resilient with two months notice. “Passengers with bookings have several options. They can get a full refund within seven days, or receive a 200% credit towards a future cruise with Virgin Voyages within the next 12 months. 

If they take the credit and rebook for 2022, they will get an additional free voyage on another Virgin Voyages ship.

The company is also offering refunds of up to $500 per passenger to cover any cancelation penalties or canceled flights.”

That was a generous offer then but like many have said here what we paid for these early BL voyages is a fraction of what VV selling them for now. In fact, what I paid for my San Juan Mermaiden is less than half of what most of the weeks are selling for so 200% FCC would pretty much  leave me exactly where I am. An additional complimentary voyage in 2024 would help make it right.

I guess VV has to look at what maximizes their earnings. It may make more sense for them to move a ship to San Juan rather than have 2 ships in Miami. The holiday sailings will sell out no matter what but if the BL San Juan sailings Jan-Apr were selling better than the doing better than the VL Miami sailings Jan-Apr I could see why they'd want to do a ship swap. Plus, if SL sailings aren't sold out they could move some VL people over (with a generous compensation package since SL voyages are shorter) or give them the option to move to BL if rooms are available. 

3 hours ago, DrSch said:

What I have seen so far, is that they are selling shore things for the Brilliant for both December, and January (as the days get marked off).  

I'm on the San Juan Mermaiden and they have not yet opened up shore excursions. Our app doesn't even work yet. 

2 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

@aviators99 @Libarary Lady----Hello, in the US, the VV website is not showing any Brilliant Lady cruises with the exception of the Dec 24, 2023 sailing. I have been on this thread since it started back in April. I generally check at least once, to multiple times a week. There have always been Caribbean sailings of the Brilliant Lady for sale, but now there is just one sailing. I am also booked on the trans-Atlantic. But now this really worries me.

I'm in the US and am able to see and mock-book BL sailings Jan-Apr. 

I still think those rumors in the 2024-2025 thread are true and the TA will be cancelled and the winter season will be replaced with VL- but for now at least I can still see every BL sailing available.

It's worth it on Excel class even just to have a quiet  place to sit. We walked up to main pool deck for lunch and it was such a circus we were thankful to have our private area. The pool may be tiny and pitiful but those main pools are so overcrowded. 

Another vote for the Epic. Quirky or not it’s a really great ship!

Love the Spirit class though and sailing the Pride in Europe this summer but only because of a great casino deal. 

The deck plans have been updated to show the one floor nightclub and the 5 new cabins (1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1250). But interestingly the rest of the deck plans have  not been updated (no Hero’s bar, still David’s and not Fahrenheit 555, etc)

The new cabins are available for my sailing in Europe. I wonder if they’ll look like newer Excel Class cabins or the same old cabins on this class.

I disagree. The terms say it can be combined with some discount offers but doesn’t clearly define which, and it can’t with % off ones. I booked with MNVV, not a % off discounr.

So to answer the original question, so that others know, no, this is not combinable with MNVV. 

19 hours ago, cantgetin said:

  There is a long list of exceptions on the 10% loyalty discount.  You might note that it does not say specifically whether it can be combined with MNVV.  The kicker may be in the "other select offers as defined."
 

2.4 The 10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit offer may be combined with 10% Pay in Full Now Discount, Bar Tab promotional offer, and other select discount offers as defined. It may not be combined with additional percent-off discounts; it may not be combined with open promotions as of 01 May 2023. The 10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit offer is additionally not combinable with the following offers, promotions, discounts, or credits: Contracted Circle Programs Casino Rates Interline Rates First Mate Rates Internal reduced rate programs Giveaway, Promotional, Reduced Rate, or Free Access Keys Any other previous offers

 

Yep, that’s the kicker. Now they’re saying “While we understand that you were hoping to receive the discount on your current booking, we would like to clarify that this promotion is not combinable with previous promotions. If we were to add this promotion to your current booking, it would replace out any existing promotion you currently have and give you today's prices, which would result in a higher overall price even with the 10% discount you will get.”

It’s the same run around, then making up rules as they go to make sure they don’t actually end up giving anything extra but can say they do. VV starting to look like other cruise lines already 😉

1 hour ago, Travel-and-See said:

How do you get the 10% discount on new bookings? 

From an email I got from my sailor services request. I don’t think the access keys have gone out yet:

”Loyalty Sailors will receive a unique one-time use Access Key to redeem their exclusive 10% off voyage fare discount. The code will be sent to the email ”

They said the 10% discount is for new bookings only. It’s kind of BS because they keep extending it, so if it was through 2023 back when I made my reservation I would have gotten it but because they keep fumbling the new loyalty program anyone who has booked anything already can’t take advantage of the perk. But like with anything, everyone should still try, maybe you’ll get a different response 

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

  There is a long list of exceptions on the 10% loyalty discount.  You might note that it does not say specifically whether it can be combined with MNVV.  The kicker may be in the "other select offers as defined."
 

2.4 The 10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit offer may be combined with 10% Pay in Full Now Discount, Bar Tab promotional offer, and other select discount offers as defined. It may not be combined with additional percent-off discounts; it may not be combined with open promotions as of 01 May 2023. The 10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit offer is additionally not combinable with the following offers, promotions, discounts, or credits: Contracted Circle Programs Casino Rates Interline Rates First Mate Rates Internal reduced rate programs Giveaway, Promotional, Reduced Rate, or Free Access Keys Any other previous offers

 

Has anyone tried to combine it with MNVV? I’ll give it a go and report back! 

I like our enhancement ideas better!

10 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

agree, no way Butterflies goes. It’s used constantly for tons of stuff, and the Spirit class Punchliner set up is the only one in the fleet where you don’t have to fight crowds relentlessly 

Which is exactly why they’ll get rid of it 🙂

They could get rid of the Butterflies Lounge to add rooms too. There are already rooms just behind it and that lounge is small for comedy anyway, moving comedy shows to the main theater.

If they were to scrap Butterflies I’d prefer a new dining option there than more rooms 😕

Hmm I think I overhyped these changes for myself. At the very least I hope cabin refreshes are part of “general maintenance.” The cabins as of now look rough!

It specifies 3% service charge for a transaction, which is using your card to essentially buy cash which you’ll then trade in for chips. Buying in with your own cash is not a “transaction”. It’s just semantics.