Are Virgin Voyages Over Priced ?

[Thequietone]

 

 

 

 

Any views or opinions on Virgin Voyages Pricing ?

 

Do they represent value for money?

[drewdawg199]

it's a premium product, some people will say yes, others no.

[Cruiser_1977]

I looked at them Pre-Covid as a solo for a balcony (sea terrace) and at that time I made the choice that the price wasn't "right" for me. There was no drink package.

I just looked and now that I'm a we the cost doesn't seem crazy for a XL sea terrace BUT to be charged by the drink or buy a prepaid $300 bar tab seems kinda nuts. I like a drink package so I don't really have to think about it. 6 days at about 2500 (there is a promotion; they include tips and a basic wifi) or 3000 standard is a bit high. I priced a similar cruise on Princess that included a drinks package and upgraded wifi and tips and it's only 2600.

 

I'm a big believer in value is in the eye of the beholder. Some folks are willing to pay a bit more for the experience of a new line/ship, no kids, and the "hip factor". 

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by JennyB1977

[benjaminnicholas]

Prices are reasonable.  I don't see what the problem is.

 

They're going for quirk, not luxury.

[ociana]

It depends on what you are looking for in a cruise.  There are upgraded elements in terms of the food, included wifi, basic beverages and included exercise classes that are part of the price.  Also, the staff come through as genuinely happy.  That, just like paying for unionized labor, is a value add to me that is worth any extra cost.  

[Chamoretta]

I think it is worth the cost.  I usually try to get a cruise to be around $100 per night per person.  If you take away additional cost for sodas, Wi-Fi, specialty dinning using competitors pricing per day  it comes out to be about $100 per night. I plan to do a cost value video in late January or February breaking it down.

[MarinerBoy]

1 hour ago, Chamoretta said:

I think it is worth the cost.  I usually try to get a cruise to be around $100 per night per person.  If you take away additional cost for sodas, Wi-Fi, specialty dinning using competitors pricing per day  it comes out to be about $100 per night. I plan to do a cost value video in late January or February breaking it down.

Except even the cheapest cabin is $1000 per person per 5 days so $200/night is VV while other cruise lines you can easily find $100 or under but VV is a premium product. 

[greenenvy]

On 12/25/2021 at 3:16 AM, MarinerBoy said:

Except even the cheapest cabin is $1000 per person per 5 days so $200/night is VV while other cruise lines you can easily find $100 or under but VV is a premium product. 

Have you checked current pricing with the current deal going on? Virgin charges per cabin not per sailor. So the prices may say 1500-2000 but that is for two people. And if you talk to a TA that’s been recently, they can likely offer a $300 discount too. Plus the 10% pay in full offer. With my sea blazers and on board promotion - my next cruise was about $750 pp. 

 

The other thing to note is the No Nickle and diming on the ship. My final bill with Virgin was 10% or 20% of what I’ve paid on other lines once all the gratuities, meals etc were added. You pay for a premium product and don’t have to spend anything extra on board (only if you want to!). 

[MarinerBoy]

4 hours ago, greenenvy said:

Have you checked current pricing with the current deal going on? Virgin charges per cabin not per sailor. So the prices may say 1500-2000 but that is for two people. And if you talk to a TA that’s been recently, they can likely offer a $300 discount too. Plus the 10% pay in full offer. With my sea blazers and on board promotion - my next cruise was about $750 pp. 

 

The other thing to note is the No Nickle and diming on the ship. My final bill with Virgin was 10% or 20% of what I’ve paid on other lines once all the gratuities, meals etc were added. You pay for a premium product and don’t have to spend anything extra on board (only if you want to!). 

 

VV product is severally underpriced at the moment because they don't know how to price such a new line, they have a massive amount of value which they quickly will.correct in 2022 with at least double the current costs.

[_tacocat_]

13 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

 

VV product is severally underpriced at the moment because they don't know how to price such a new line, they have a massive amount of value which they quickly will.correct in 2022 with at least double the current costs.

Doubtful.  If they're having a massive sale right now to stimulate purchases, that means there is less organic demand than the supply they are offering.  Increasing the price will not improve that.  I think it's actually priced fairly - it's above the price of a "normal" cruise line, but below the prices of super lux (old, formal, stiff?) cruise lines.  That plays well into their target demo - they seem to be primarily targeting millennials and Gen Xers as well as both older and younger folks with no kids and disposable income that want to have a good time. 

 

I actually wouldn't be surprised if some of the pricing comes down after everyone's gazillion dollars of future cruise credit from delays/rebooks gets spent.  I think the free money is artificially inflating demand for more expensive suites, as people have been able to trade up cancel-by-cancel from regular rooms up to mega rockstar suites with all of the free credit they got over the past 2 years.  We met a few folks that were in megas who were in that exact situation.

[Chamoretta]

I just purchased a seriously suite for $1630 out of pocket  for the cabin with all my discounts and a $300 credit.  This would come to about $163 per day.  If I take in consideration I would pay about $70 in extra per day on another ship where this is already included in the cost as well as gratuity in which most cruise lines do not include into the price of the cabins that they show you, I think this is well worth it.  With the suite I also get the first round in the mini bar included,  Richard’s roof top with free champagne and the private area in Bimini if I was to use it.

[CruzinMermaid]

A gf and I were going to take another line's trip to Alaska out of Seattle. We thought it was a great deal, discount, free this/that/and the other, etc. When I looked at our bill it was over $200/night and didn't include any of the fine dining experiences, or beverages and the per beverage costs were looking high.

 

I had, in the meantime, booked a solo adventure on Scarlet Lady in the least expensive cabin possible, solo insider. I also purchased the $300 bar tab, which came with a $125 bonus. I seriously doubted I'd be able to spend that much in bar tabs but because I could use it to purchase beverages for others I figured I'd get a round at dinner, or shake for champagne with friends. I managed to spend it all down by the time I'd disembarked.

 

I've since canceled the Alaska trip with my gf and convinced her to go VV in 2022 instead. While on board I booked an XL Sea Terrace, with various discounts offered at the time and because of booking on board it works out to $170/pp/day. I could have booked us in a different sea terrace for just under $100/pp/day.

 

The ship is extraordinary, modern, fresh, beautiful, fun. The food is extraordinary, as many on board commented, it is not "excellent for a cruise ship" it is simply excellent - dining experiences you would find in fine, big city restaurants around the world. The crew are outstanding, both on and off duty, and do a lot to make your cruise the best it could be.

[karmamule]

We like to book suites and 'ship within a ship' type experiences like MSC Yacht Club or NCL Haven. Looking at Virgin's rockstar and megarockstar suites they mostly fall in between those two in terms of typical prices we've seen. Given that Virgin has all-inclusive restaurants and fewer additional charges they seem like good value for us. 

[_tacocat_]

2 hours ago, karmamule said:

We like to book suites and 'ship within a ship' type experiences like MSC Yacht Club or NCL Haven. Looking at Virgin's rockstar and megarockstar suites they mostly fall in between those two in terms of typical prices we've seen. Given that Virgin has all-inclusive restaurants and fewer additional charges they seem like good value for us. 

We had a regular Rockstar earlier this month, and we've booked a back to back in a Mega for next year. 

 

It's not truly a "ship within a ship," but there are dedicated spaces for Rockstars, starting with check-in.  We were in a room of maybe 100 people, got through testing super quick, and sat there for a few hours waiting to board.  We were all whisked away together and boarded around 1:45 and didn't have to deal with any crowded rooms/other check-in pandemonium. 

 

We loved Richard's Rooftop on the boat (especially on crowded sea days) and the Rockstar Retreat at Bimini.  There's free champagne every evening at Richard's Rooftop (5:30-7 I think?), never a line at the bars in either areas, and PLENTY of space and quiet in both areas.

 

Rockstars get a Rockstar Agent, which is basically like a concierge.  They are assigned to a couple rooms, and you can text them directly via the app if you have any questions/issues (schedule, reservations, special requests, etc.).  We were wowed by the customer service we got as Rockstars, but I've seen mixed reviews saying that people didn't meet their Agents until day 3 or that their Agent never responded - I guess it really depends who you have assigned to your room, but ours was awesome.

 

Mega Rockstars get a Roadie, which is more like a butler and dedicated to your suite.  Most drinks are included (if I recall correctly, up to $25 per cocktail and 2 bottles of wine up to $90/bottle each day - so no shaking for free champs 😆).  Our Agent also told us that Megas are able to make multiple reservations for the same restaurant ahead of time vs. only 1 per restaurant for everyone else and that the restaurants hold tables for Megas so they can make last min reservations for you.

[karmamule]

@_tacocat_ thanks for sharing that! We're both really looking forward to that cruise. (Posh Suite so we'll get the megarockstar benefits. We're really happy about the included drinks built-in to the room cost)  It's not til April '23 so we have a bit of a wait. 😄

[RNPJN]

Hardly, for a suite on NCL vs VV &  ncl is double   I have sailed over 25 times with NCL    Looking forward to my VV cruise