Virgin Voyages email shows Celebrity missteps!

[Bejay219]

Gmail - Fair & Flexible Fares_ The value you should get elsewhere v2.pdfReceived an email from Virgin Voyages yesterday and it sounds like they are purposely talking about the difference in Celebrity and VV.  This is the 2nd email of this kind in recent weeks. You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on. 

 

 

[Swagner36]

14 minutes ago, Bejay219 said:

Gmail - Fair & Flexible Fares_ The value you should get elsewhere v2.pdfReceived an email from Virgin Voyages yesterday and it sounds like they are purposely talking about the difference in Celebrity and VV.  This is the 2nd email of this kind in recent weeks. You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on. 

 

 

Funny, I just compared the prices between the two for my Christmas cruise and they were more than twice the cost. Celebrity was 7 nights and Virgin was 6 nights

[Alakegirl]

Which one was twice the cost? Who is they?

[markeb]

And yet, the RCG CEO keeps making public statements that would put the corporation at risk from the SEC if not true that they have record bookings regardless of how much they raise the price. Apparently no one around here, but SOMEONE is booking Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Silversea. 

 

Just looked again. Twelve ships all under 1000 passengers. They can live by scooping up crumbs...

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Bejay219 said:

Gmail - Fair & Flexible Fares_ The value you should get elsewhere v2.pdfReceived an email from Virgin Voyages yesterday and it sounds like they are purposely talking about the difference in Celebrity and VV.  This is the 2nd email of this kind in recent weeks. You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on. 

 

 

I’ve seen enough videos to know it’s not for my Wife and I. 

[the penguins]

30 minutes ago, markeb said:

And yet, the RCG CEO keeps making public statements that would put the corporation at risk from the SEC if not true that they have record bookings regardless of how much they raise the price. Apparently no one around here, but SOMEONE is booking Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Silversea. 

 

Just looked again. Twelve ships all under 1000 passengers. They can live by scooping up crumbs...

who has 12 ships certainly not Virgin and the ones they do have are way bigger than 1000 passengers

[Bejay219]

I just thought some of the things they were pointing out as the differences were like "what they don't tell you is about all the nickeling and dining that happens after you book, and once again when you get on board". 

We would probably not go on VV, but I have to give them their marketing people, they are certainly not pulling any punches when it comes to this email and the last.  I can imagine they are watching the boards to see what the big negatives are and running with them.  Just a guess. 

 

[markeb]

15 minutes ago, the penguins said:

who has 12 ships certainly not Virgin and the ones they do have are way bigger than 1000 passengers

Head space timing issue. I was trying to be sure how many ships they had, and pulled up Viking. Stuff happens sometimes...

 

Need to close CC for a week!

Edited January 19 by markeb

[Alsmez]

2 hours ago, Bejay219 said:

You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on. 

 

Very interesting. I agree that VV is the most obvious Celebrity competitor and I'm not sure why Celebrity doesn't seem to agree. Say what you will about VV, their product IS different and has very specific features that hold immense appeal for their target demographic, which USED to be Celebrity's target demographic as well but no longer seems to be. Some of their head-to-head points are pretty silly (especially trying to compare soft drinks and alcohol packages separately, come on), but others would make good arguments IF the two lines' base prices were comparable. Which they aren't, at least on the sailings I have looked at recently. Virgin has cranked prices to the point where you can pay for all the extras on X and still come out ahead. We'll see if they come back to reality...

[hcat]

47 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I’ve seen enough videos to know it’s not for my Wife and I. 

Agree

Do not see the same demographic  overlap. At least not with long time Celebrity cruisers.

 

  Quite possibly an appeal to newer X cruisers coming from Royal C. .

[RTShaker]

A thread from last September...

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2964365-virgin-fires-a-shot-across-celebrity’s-bow/#comment-66127948

 

Edited January 19 by RTShaker

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, Bejay219 said:

I just thought some of the things they were pointing out as the differences were like "what they don't tell you is about all the nickeling and dining that happens after you book, and once again when you get on board". 

We would probably not go on VV, but I have to give them their marketing people, they are certainly not pulling any punches when it comes to this email and the last.  I can imagine they are watching the boards to see what the big negatives are and running with them.  Just a guess. 

 

virgin are famous/infamous for this sort of thing in the UK with every business they own. The reality often proves to be very different.

[Alsmez]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Do not see the same demographic  overlap. At least not with long time Celebrity cruisers.

 

  Quite possibly an appeal to newer X cruisers coming from Royal C.

 

Rather than long-time Celebrity cruisers (especially those who are 65+), I think VV is targeting the same demographic Celebrity has been targeting recently, i.e. DINKS (double income, no kids) in their 30s-50s who want a somewhat elevated experience in terms of food/service/entertainment, but still plenty of fun. As someone who took her first X cruise 13 years ago at the age of 33, I know I wasn't Celebrity's target sailor back then. However, their marketing (and the product) has changed significantly since then, and now at the age of 46 I feel like I am precisely who Celebrity is trying to attract - at least until their general marketing strategy fell to pieces. At this point they it's impossible to tell what kind of sailor they're after!

[NMTraveller]

VV is getting most of the Cruise Critic awards that Celebrity USED TO get ...

 

They are cutting back ...

 

 

Edited January 19 by NMTraveller

[Cruise Gopher]

58 minutes ago, Alsmez said:

 

Rather than long-time Celebrity cruisers (especially those who are 65+), I think VV is targeting the same demographic Celebrity has been targeting recently, i.e. DINKS (double income, no kids) in their 30s-50s who want a somewhat elevated experience in terms of food/service/entertainment, but still plenty of fun. As someone who took her first X cruise 13 years ago at the age of 33, I know I wasn't Celebrity's target sailor back then. However, their marketing (and the product) has changed significantly since then, and now at the age of 46 I feel like I am precisely who Celebrity is trying to attract - at least until their general marketing strategy fell to pieces. At this point they it's impossible to tell what kind of sailor they're after!

We are dinks ages between 42 and 53 and we have zero desire to sail on Virgin. Their rooms are horribly designed, ship outer decks are so unappealing, prices are sky high (even when considering the inclusions), itineraries in the Caribbean are timed poorly (who wants to embark mid-week?). 
 

VV could make some tweaks and we might consider them, but for now we’ll stick with Celebrity. 

[Alsmez]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We are dinks ages between 42 and 53 and we have zero desire to sail on Virgin. Their rooms are horribly designed, ship outer decks are so unappealing, prices are sky high (even when considering the inclusions), itineraries in the Caribbean are timed poorly (who wants to embark mid-week?). 
 

VV could make some tweaks and we might consider them, but for now we’ll stick with Celebrity. 

 

After giving VV a try, we're probably headed back to Celebrity too, at least until they make some changes or debut a new ship design. We enjoyed some parts of our VV cruise, but we really didn't care for the ship overall. Husband liked the whole experience less than I did, and I think both of us would have enjoyed it even less if we hadn't been traveling with friends who were very into the VV experience.

[blueslily]

Is that a real email? There are several grammatical errors. I'm not perfect at all when it somes to spelling and grammar, but I guess I would expect more from a professional marketing tool. 

[Bejay219]

7 minutes ago, blueslily said:

Is that a real email? There are several grammatical errors. I'm not perfect at all when it somes to spelling and grammar, but I guess I would expect more from a professional marketing tool. 

I downloaded the email as it was sent to me, only thing I deleted was my email address. 

[singleflyer]

3 hours ago, Bejay219 said:

I just thought some of the things they were pointing out as the differences were like "what they don't tell you is about all the nickeling and dining that happens after you book, and once again when you get on board". 

We would probably not go on VV, but I have to give them their marketing people, they are certainly not pulling any punches when it comes to this email and the last.  I can imagine they are watching the boards to see what the big negatives are and running with them.  Just a guess. 

 

 

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

virgin are famous/infamous for this sort of thing in the UK with every business they own. The reality often proves to be very different.

 

I'm not sure I understand @the penguins comment; but I'll say for VV they do NOT nickel and dime you (which is I really enjoyed my cruise with them).  Free internet, free water in your room, free specialty dining, no tipping, bingo where you actually can win, free premium ice cream, etc. 

 

I sailed with NCL and HAL last summer and felt WAY more nickel and dimed.  I'm sailing my first Celebrity this coming summer so will see.

Edited January 20 by singleflyer

[Swagner36]

4 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Which one was twice the cost? Who is they?

Virgin was a lot higher

[mom says]

5 hours ago, Bejay219 said:

You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on. 

Tell you what- actually take a cruise on VV,  then come back and tell us if you think the email lived up to its claims

[blueslily]

21 minutes ago, Bejay219 said:

I downloaded the email as it was sent to me, only thing I deleted was my email address. 

 

No problem. Just surprised by the text in the message. Thanks for the thread. 

[catskier]

2 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We are dinks ages between 42 and 53 and we have zero desire to sail on Virgin. Their rooms are horribly designed, ship outer decks are so unappealing, prices are sky high (even when considering the inclusions), itineraries in the Caribbean are timed poorly (who wants to embark mid-week?). 
 

VV could make some tweaks and we might consider them, but for now we’ll stick with Celebrity. 

I prefer mid week departures. The only reason I am doing a short Celebrity in Feb is for that reason. Ist time cruising with them. Regardless of reviews. I will have a great time. I love the dinks. Currently I’m a sink then, single income, no kid

[Moochi]

That’s funny. That $5,430 cost on “the other line” for a week in the Caribbean gives you Retreat on their glorious newest ship (the March sale). Retreat comes with:

- free PREMIUM internet

- unlimited drinks, $1,800 value

- real bed

- free specialty coffee that doesn’t taste like dish washing water

- a bathroom that is big enough for an adult

- a cabin that is big enough for two adults

- nice thick fluffy towels 

- icy towels and cold water at pier to welcome you back to the ship

- organized and pain less embarkation and disembarkation process

- no need to book any main dinning room or show, because there is always space available

- a real pool or two, maybe 

- can’t forget that, free lobsters 

 

I’m willing to give up the gimmicky red hammock for all these.

 

I like Virgin. I have another booked and will book more if the price is right. But there is no need to attack other lines. 

Edited January 20 by Moochi

[kathynorth]

3 hours ago, singleflyer said:

 

 

I'm not sure I understand @the penguins comment; but I'll say for VV they do NOT nickel and dime you (which is I really enjoyed my cruise with them).  Free internet, free water in your room, free specialty dining, no tipping, bingo where you actually can win, free premium ice cream, etc. 

 

I sailed with NCL and HAL last summer and felt WAY more nickel and dimed.  I'm sailing my first Celebrity this coming summer so will see.

None of this is free. You pay for the internet, water, specialty dining, tipping, etc in your cruise fare.