librarylady19

17 hours ago, chromered7 said:

Well hot off the press Celebrity are trialing hot cookies in El Bacio but you you have to pay $2. This confirms that everything and anything will be charged eventually, Celebrity this could be our death knell.

Host Andy has reported that this was discontinued after guest feedback - he’s on Equinox. 

3 hours ago, Lustate said:

 

Yer. The logic is there, but we are all just waiting for. 

 

Others have speculated that if there is going to be a big switch up and north Europe for the summer of 2024, they would want to make a splash this weekend on the special sailing,

Seems likely. Virgin is definitely on the official port schedules for Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Akeuryi and Reykjavik for summer 2024. 

On 8/6/2023 at 4:45 PM, Jumping Cruiser said:

Brilliant Lady is currently booked into several European ports throughout Summer 2024 and 2025, in addition to Iceland. These bookings are often the closest you can get to predicting future itineraries, but keep in mind that they can change. Despite this, it’s definitely looking like VV are planning to add Northern Europe to their destination list.

 

Here is the full list of ports where BL is currently booked in 2024/2025:

 

- Lerwick, Scotland

- Reykjavik, Iceland 

- Akureyi, Iceland

- Bergen, Norway

- Amsterdam, Netherlands (Homeport?)

- Zeebrugee, Belgium

- Leixoes (Porto), Portugal

 

Amsterdam appears to have the most calls, suggesting that this will be her homeport. There looks to be a varying length for cruises, between 4 and 12 nights from what I can tell, as a result of the wide variety of destinations she is planned to cover. 

I have been to all these places and they are all great (especially Lerwick in Shetland and Bruges). I just hope the BL TA gets confirmed soon as I'm booked on that and would like to firm up the rest of my travel plans.

3 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Wow I hadn't heard about Celebrity. I bet that is going to be a nightmare. I have even been using different browsers, going back and forth between my two laptops and work computer (don't judge me 😏and constantly clearing my cache and cookies. Just keep hoping.

But Celebrity gave people lots of notice, even before air schedules were available (unlike you know who!)

6 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Here we are on August 24th and still nothing. Brilliant still doesn't show up after the 20th of April. They aren't rolling out any new promos to speak of, so maybe tomorrow. Who knows.

Yep, checking website daily and nothing 😙 people were complaining when Celebrity just announced they were cancelling late ‘24 and ‘25 sailings! Jeez, that’s nothing compared to this obfuscation😒

15 hours ago, Crew News said:

It does indeed include those drinks with cups and lids.  Here is a link to what is included as of May 2023:  Beverage Packages Contents

We were surprised to learn - on Rotterdam in May- that we couldn’t upgrade from Signature to Elite once onboard.  Either way, HAL is much more reasonable with their drinks pricing than Celebrity and Royal. 

23 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Every marketing brochure I have seen has much younger (and better looking 🙂) people on it than the average Celebrity cruiser.

We joke that they just go out to South Beach and get some "models". Same with Virgin!

3 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I've seen the same complaints as well, actually watched a video on the changes on Princess cruises on how it didn't make sense to put in a package that you pay for something that last week was complimentary. So it seems like all the lines are making changes and not being taken well.

 

Companies aren't loyal to people so just shop around for what's best for you. Right now I have cruises booked with X, MSC and NCL. Based on places I want to go, cost and times that work for me.

That’s my approach too. Tried HAL this year (Rotterdam) and will be on Virgin for first time on December.  Just like there is little tangible benefit on being loyal to airlines anymore unless you e got top tier status, same goes for cruise lines. 

14 hours ago, swjumbo said:

Have a look at Gary Bembridge a youtuber who recently sailed in MSC Yacht Club.

It makes for interesting viewing.

Gary - Tips for Travellers - is a great source of information! I really trust his opinions as he pays for his own cruises and is my age 😀

2 hours ago, PhilK2000 said:

I can’t stop looking for some evidence . I should buy flight tickets as prices are ok now but that just gives me no peace . And I don’t want to lose the suite where I paid a ridiculous small amount . This all makes me crazy to be honest . 

I'd buy tickets if they are changeable/cancellable with no fees for sure. Hold on to your cruise reservation (have you paid in full yet?) since I expect we will get some kind of compensation if it's changed/cancelled even if it's just some FCC.

37 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

This is very interesting. Now I am really interested in seeing what other ports could be between 4/28 and 5/8. She isn't showing in Casablanca or Marrakesh. I'm not finding her in Southampton, Cherbourg or Le Havre either. Just trying to plot an ending destination based on what is showing. 

I was trying the same thing! No listings for 2024 for Barcelona or Civitivecchia which could be likely stops. 

Amsterdam recently invested millions in power infrastructure at the port and it was also mentioned that cruisers are only 1% of tourists so hardly the main problem. Another case of cruisers being targeted. ☹️

Interesting….thanks for posting this. Sure hope they decide to let us booked passengers know soon though. I’d take a repositioning as long as I can keep same price and perks for sure !

9 hours ago, notme2012 said:

I just booked tickets to SJU, as the award prices were so low. Only 10K each to fly into SJU, which I can cancel. But I am tired of this dragging on, and not being honest with us.

Me too. Was this on American?

And sometimes the airlines change plane types and you won’t get the class of seats you expected. We wanted to fly KLM’s new premium economy to Amsterdam, but it is not yet on all their planes as be aware that can always happen..

I (sort of) understand them altering itineraries, but what is so annoying is the lame excuses they are giving (a Virgin agent actually said the TA was sold out - as well as all future cruises on Brilliant Lady). Do they think we can't see that the ship has disappeared from their website, TA sites and port schedules!  It is insulting to our intelligence and costing both money and a missed opportunity to book any other TA for next spring at a reasonable price.

1 hour ago, Freelancer3 said:

Am I understanding correctly that the April '24 TA is not showing scheduled on the port dock reservations in Lisbon or the other stops prior?

Correct. Check cruisemapper:

Santa Cruz de Tenerife: (supposed to be 4/27)

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/santa-cruz-de-tenerife-port-94?tab=schedule&month=2024-04#schedule

Gran Canaria (4/28)

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/las-palmas-de-gran-canaria-port-1013?tab=schedule&month=2024-04#schedule

Funchal: (4/29)

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/funchal-port-741?tab=schedule&month=2024-04#schedule

Lisbon (5/1)

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/lisbon-port-65?tab=schedule&month=2024-05#schedule

No Brilliant Lady anywhere! If you search by ship name, there is also nothing for Brilliant Lady after the April sailings in the Caribbean (from San Juan)....

Right! How do they explain the fact that the ship is not scheduled to be in any of the ports on the TA or Lisbon.

3 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

Well darn! The friends who were going to go with me on this cruise got tired of waiting and booked one very similar on Princess. I hope that if this cruise happens that the fare is reasonable for a single.

Well it was a bargain - way back when - but I doubt it now. Look what's happening to the people booked on Celebrity Beyond's 24 TAs (sailing Caribbean year round now). Celebrity will move them for the "going rate" which is generally higher than when most people booked. 🤔

2 hours ago, montythecat said:

According to Celebrity CoCo Cay is “big news”. Well,

as far as I am concerned I couldn’t be more

underwhelmed. I don’t care one little bit whether or

not they go there but I am sorry for those whose

bookings have been summarily altered.

Well said. 

Since you mentioned Virgin, be careful! We booked the TA from San Juan to Lisbon on the Brilliant Lady (new ship) and the sailing (and everything after mid-April) has disappeared from Virgin's website and sites listing port schedules.

Multiple calls to Virgin by myself and others - and they insist that this TA ...and all subsequent sailings are sold out.  Come on....

Luckily I hadn't secured air fare and only have a small deposit on the line but my friends already paid in full.

As with this Celebrity situation, it's hard to find an alternative TA for spring 2024 at this point.

So I booked a bucket list Baltic itinerary on HAL for May (before those prices go any higher too). At least that was only a $25 deposit.

I also wonder if there will be a change of captains. Wouldn’t be surprised if Capt.. Kate is selected as the Captain for the yet unnamedEdge class  #5 as she’s their star!

7 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

You won't like it if you sit next to an American. On Virtuosa I had to put up with 12 days of Texan whinges about no lobster night and no fillet mignon in the MDR!

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

 

 

Whinging cruisers are everywhere 😮

Just checked the Virgin website and got the message 

“ We're making some updates to ensure smooth sailing.”

Maybe we will see some updates soon….fingers crossed. 

Just want to say thanks for your marvelous review and photos. I really appreciate all the time you put into this review, and the fact that you answered questions even while in your trip.