BRILLIANT LADY PRICES... 🤣🤣🤣

[-The-True-North-]

All I can say is... Virgin is Tripping!

 

Stay off drugs kids!

[jon81uk]

The MerMaiden voyages are silly prices, but others seem about right, most NY and LA are around £300/350 a night for seven or eight night trips which is cheaper than many of the Carribean cruises. The Panama Canal is expensive but not extortionate and seems comparable to Royal Carribean for similar itineraries. 
 

I do think VV are being a bit stupid expecting people to pay that large upcharge for the maiden voyages though.

[Lustate]

1 hour ago, -The-True-North- said:

All I can say is... Virgin is Tripping!

 

 

And thats if you COULD buy them. We tried to buy a suite, and in less than ten minutes, all sold out in every cabin type. Turns out agents had early access and had them before people at home who wanted to buy them directly could even open the site. 

[CineGraphic]

31 minutes ago, Lustate said:

Turns out agents had early access and had them before people at home who wanted to buy them directly could even open the site

 

Another reason why it pays to have an agent.

I was up at midnight Eastern Standard Time and at first, only the 3 Mermaidens were available, then around 1AM we were able to see the other sailings.

[CruisingWalter]

The pricing for the MerMaidens is high and they were expected to be high.

 

The rest of the pricing is about what I would expect. It was amazing to watch the Rockstar inventory disappear on the Panama Canal sailing. That was quick.  People are EXCITED! 

Edited May 8 by CruisingWalter

[Wildcatllamas]

I got the Nautical Northeast booked early this morning for a client who had expressed interest in it. Just waiting to hear back from them for the deposit. If they don't go I may just keep it myself since it sounds like a great itinerary. I got names put in for the Alaska FRONTier for two of my other clients and myself. 

 

I am so glad the friend of mine, who became my agent when I stepped back from it, convinced me to get back in the saddle. Yes the MerMaidens were expensive and I expected that due to all the excitement that has swirled around Brilliant Lady. But the rest of the pricing is very competitive.

[Jamesv281117]

3 hours ago, -The-True-North- said:

All I can say is... Virgin is Tripping!

 

Stay off drugs kids!

There's still value to be had in my opinion amongst these itineraries - Cali to Canada is a good price for 8 nights I think. 

 

Virgin are succeeding if they're getting people this excited about booking these new batch of voyages. 

[CineGraphic]

Pam and I booked the Canada to Miami leg.....back in 2017 we did a north-bound version of this itinerary on another line and loved it. Our friends wanted to join us, but they always sail as Rock Stars and balked at the price.

I was surprised to see that the 16 day PC sailing is $1K less for a sea terrace than the 13 day Canada -Miami sailing. I thought the canal tolls would make the price higher.

[Tralfaz1138]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

The pricing for the MerMaidens is high and they were expected to be high.

 

The rest of the pricing is about what I would expect. It was amazing to watch the Rockstar inventory disappear on the Panama Canal sailing. That was quick.  People are EXCITED! 

I'm curious how many of those suites on the Panama Canal sailing have actually been "bought".  I'm guessing most of that is just TA's reserving the suite and then turning around to sell it.  (To reinforce this, I saw a TA post something on Reddit saying they had 3 different types of Rockstar Suite available before they either deleted the post or the moderators deleted it.)  That said, someone posted the prices for those suites and they are way out of my price range anyway.  But the price for an XL or regular sea terrace actually seem reasonable.

[chefchick]

Just went to the site….i couldn’t find anything on the Panama Canal cruises….are they sold out completely already?

[jon81uk]

Just now, chefchick said:

Just went to the site….i couldn’t find anything on the Panama Canal cruises….are they sold out completely already?

Looks like it is fully reserved if not actually sold.

[chefchick]

Just now, jon81uk said:

Looks like it is fully reserved if not actually sold.

WOW…I always assumed they could do well on the West Coast, but all this excitement is pretty telling.  Good for them.  

[Tralfaz1138]

32 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Looks like it is fully reserved if not actually sold.

It's actually still up there.  The site has honestly been a bit of a mess with how to find voyages, but I just clicked on the "book now" button for the Brilliant Lady inaugural voyages graphic on the page and it was there.  XL sea terrace is sold out now, though, and the central sea terrace is now more expensive than the XL sea terrace was before it sold out.

[CruisingWalter]

59 minutes ago, chefchick said:

Just went to the site….i couldn’t find anything on the Panama Canal cruises….are they sold out completely already?

 

They took the sailing down for an hour to reprice it. It's back with limited availability.  

[gumshoe958]

11 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

They took the sailing down for an hour to reprice it. It's back with limited availability.  

And boy did they reprice it. Very glad I put a hold on earlier!

[CastleCritic]

Yikes yes looks like everything went up about $500 per person (at least for me viewing it as a solo).

 

I started looking when I got on and it was only really offering partial view sea terrace on deck 8 (not sure I want to listen to the manor every night on a 16 day cruise)and sea terraces on deck14.  I finally got it to spit out a deck13 dead midship and I took it. for $6200 solo (plus another $700 taxes).  That seemed like way high at the time.

 

I tried to put....something...I forget what...on hold and the page 404d both times.

 

Showing $7558 for the same room now.  I guess I can trash any thoughts of needing to watch for a lower price any time soon,

Edited May 8 by CastleCritic

[CastleCritic]

Finally found an online agent site that shows available cabins, theres still 100s of rooms left (no suites) so maybe there is hope they will reprice at least back down to where it started the day.  Cant say Im thrilled they took the opportunity to jack the price up after they saw the initial demand.

Edited May 9 by CastleCritic

[ceilidh1]

I was pleasantly surprised at the pricing (I wasn't looking for mermaiden voyages). I managed to grab the Panama Canal and the California to Vancouver at acceptable prices - both in central sea terrace. I often get initial sticker shock when I see the price, but then I remember that pretty much all the "extras" are included in that price (other than alcohol, of course). Compared to other lines that you need to add this in after the fact, I would say Virgin aren't too far off. I'm still debating the NY sailings, but I already have most of 2025 booked...

[CruisingWalter]

15 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

And boy did they reprice it. Very glad I put a hold on earlier!

 

I have a friend who booked 30 minutes before they took it offline. Saved about $1500. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

 Cant say Im thrilled they took the opportunity to jack the price up after they saw the initial demand.

 

Actually that's normal although most cruise lines have automatic triggers that change the rates on the fly. Not sure why VV had to make it so obvious by taking down the website.  But normally when inventory hits a certain threshold on a specific category, the rate adjusts automatically so it's a seamless thing.  No need to 'close the store and reopen.' 

[CastleCritic]

48 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Actually that's normal although most cruise lines have automatic triggers that change the rates on the fly. Not sure why VV had to make it so obvious by taking down the website.  But normally when inventory hits a certain threshold on a specific category, the rate adjusts automatically so it's a seamless thing.  No need to 'close the store and reopen.' 

Well certainly Im aware of other travel industries doing that (literally had to change what airport Im flying out of to get to London in the fall because I could get 1 ticket for $1600 but the next was $2700 for the same flight/class).

 

Yes I think its their wonky web site that doesnt help, I was still playing with it after I got my cabin and it first just refused to show pricing for rooms and then the whole thing suddenly went into an error state.  Heck it took me awhile to even find the sailing in the first place because it wasn't on the default list when you clicked the button off the home page

[Wildcatllamas]

I was on VV webinar yesterday afternoon and at that time all the suites were sold. This was at 3 PM their time. There were still some Central Sea Terraces left, but not many. 

 

Now with the 24 hour hold that was available there could have been some agents who grabbed up some when they became available and things may pop up today.

[CastleCritic]

24 minutes ago, Wildcatllamas said:

I was on VV webinar yesterday afternoon and at that time all the suites were sold. This was at 3 PM their time. There were still some Central Sea Terraces left, but not many. 

 

Now with the 24 hour hold that was available there could have been some agents who grabbed up some when they became available and things may pop up today.

Unscientific count on an online site says there are at least 300 central sea terraces alone still available for the Panama sailing.  All the suites were sold when I looked at it at 9am est yesterday.

[Wildcatllamas]

2 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

 All the suites were sold when I looked at it at 9am est yesterday.

With so few suites available it's not surprising how quickly they sell out. There are a lot of folks who love sailing in suites and there are only 78 suites. Those can disappear in the blink of an eye.

[britincanada]

Our first VV booking was made in Oct 2019, for Richard's Birthday Bash July 2020. We paid $3500 for a 4 night cruise on Scarlet Lady (the Key West/Bimini itinerary).

 

Obviously we didn't get to go in July 2020, and eventually sailed in May 2022 in a Gorgeous Suite on a 5 night cruise (Dominican Daze) using our 2x credit for rebooking - it was booking #3.

 

The Brilliant Lady prices do seem high compared to what we paid for an 8 night cruise last Nov, and a 7 night cruise in Mar 2025 - but they are definitely no worse than what we originally paid before the ships even launched!

 

We really want to go to Alaska, but as much as we love VV we are waiting to see what the itineraries are before committing, we'll only go once I would think so want to get the best Alaska experience - even if we have to put up with a different cruise line for a week!