genian_travels

This doesn’t seem like an issue Virgin has had with some of their restaurants… this is an issue you have with one of the restaurants… it’s personal preference. People complain the menus never change - but when Virgin change it people complain their “favourites” were removed. They can’t win. You can’t please everyone. Agreed. But when the majority of cruises Virgin has sailed since its launch are typically 3-5 days, that isn’t much of an issue as they are plenty of other places to eat. I didn’t try Gunbae until my second VV cruise and it wasn’t until my third that I had managed to try every main restaurant. I’ve done six now, including two transatlantics, and still haven’t eaten at Noodle Around in the Galley yet, had a salad at The Daily Mix, nor eaten anything savory from The Social Club. Maybe I’ll get round to it on my transatlantic next year.. 🤔

There is enough dining capacity during the dining period. There isn’t capacity if everyone wants to eat at 7pm - as there isn’t on any cruise line - hence me saying flexibility is key.

@kaysha2004 Your post is contradictory and unnecessarily scaring the OP. You say the OP should be concerned and it’s an “epic failure” on Virgin’s part - and yet you got everything you wanted. You waited a total of 18 minutes to be seen. If the whole process took 40 minutes, then that means you spent 22 minutes with the crew member rearranging your own reservations for a 6 night cruise. What knock-on effect did that have for everyone in the queue behind you? It’s disingenuous to say there was “only 4 staff doing the bookings for 2500 guests”. There clearly wasn’t a line of 2500 people behind you trying to make dinner reservations and a significant number of people would already have made them online. You say you feel bad for those that boarded later and didn’t get the dining reservations they wanted. How many people was that? Do you have the numbers? @CruisingDaff There is enough dining capacity for everyone onboard. Don’t worry about it 🙂 As every restaurant on board is a specialty restaurant, they should be treated as such, in terms of availability, like on other lines. The key is being flexible. If you always eat at 7pm without fail, then you may be disappointed. But have some flexibility and you’ll always get a table. Enjoy your cruise 🙂

Have you heard about the secret invite-only loyalty club that’s reserved for the most loyal/frequent passengers and limited to 99 people? Richard is the 100th member apparently. Word is this still isn’t the finished loyalty product and some more revamping may happen. Over time I expect more levels will be added and goal posts will be moved…

This has come from a TA who was given the info. The website is currently undergoing maintenance - I assume to be updated with all the details. I rebooked a 2025 cruise over the weekend and spotted Deep Blue Extras with promo bar tab was on my booking. I had assumed it was an error, but it appears they added it before the official announcement. Headlines are you join the club after first sailing, you start receiving perks (Blue Extras) on your third sailing and then the highest level of perks (Deep Blue Extras) on your fifth sailing. Existing Sea Blazers/Sea Rovers will still receive Deep Blue if you sail in 2024/25. Status match also resumes from today. Sailors who join via matching will get Blue Extras on their first sailing. Blue Extras perks per qualifying sailor on their third lifetime voyage: ● Dedicated Sailing Club Sailor Services support ● Cocktail Event ● Laundry Service (1 bag of laundry) ● Speciality Coffee (one per day, not monetary credit) Deep Blue Extras perks per qualifying sailor on their fifth lifetime voyage: ● $100 promotional Bar Tab ● Unlimited Premium Wifi (where available) ● Priority Boarding: a dedicated embarkation queue ● Dedicated Sailing Club Sailor Services support ● Cocktail Event ● Laundry Service (2 pressed items, 1 specialty cleaned item, 1 bag of laundry) ● Speciality Coffee (2 per day, not monetary credit)

Yes, this would be the second rebooking. The T&Cs say only one date change/cancel and rebook is allowed with a MNNV. But my TA is investigating 🤞🏼

And so we see now the free bar tab promo is over and prices have indeed fallen, my suspicions/assumptions were correct and not so “big” after all… 😜

My 2025 sailing is now $1200 cheaper than it was 2 weeks ago. It had already dropped $700 which I cancelled and rebooked - and now the free bar tab promo has ended another $500 has been knocked off. I don’t drink so I’d rather have the saving, but not sure I can get the extra reduction as I have a MNNV. Great price now for a transatlantic though.

I wouldn't say it's a "big" assumption. Assumption, yes. But a "big" one? Given that this is the pricing strategy many other cruise lines adopt, it's not too much of a stretch to suspect it may also be the case in this instance. Either way, we'll see next week...

I booked 2 VV cruises in January - one sailing in August and one for May 2025. The prices had been steadily rising, with the sailing next year going up by almost $1000. This past week however, the prices on both have fallen lower than what I originally paid - August’s sailing by $200 and May 25 by $700. Called my amazing TA who repriced and my add-ons including sailor loot from my MNNV transferred over. And I saved almost $1000 too 😃

I suspect you’re right - and that prices will go down relative to how much the free bar tab is worth, ie if a sailing had $300 free bar tab before 27 Mar, after 27 Mar the sailing will be $300 cheaper… 🧐

I was lucky and won the spa raffle, so I didn't have to pay for my treatment (nor did I want to pay over-inflated prices for anything extra). I spent $100 on the arcade and stuff in the shop, so was left with $150 still to spend on the last day that I kept being refused. Ended up buying 2 of the most expensive bingo packages just to not forfeit it...

What has other's people's experience been using their shareholder benefit obc? On my last cruise I had $250 and found I was refused the use of it on a number of occasions. The terms on the shareholder benefit website only say it "may not be used toward onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities" - so I understood this to mean I would be able to use my credit for anything else I wished. But no. First I was told I couldn't use it in the casino. Two days before the end of the cruise I purchased a future cruise deposit and then a day later, when it hadn't been deducted from my credit, was told by guest services I couldn't use it for that either. It seemed ironic that I couldn't use the benefit given for investing in NCL, to continue my loyalty with the company and place a deposit on a future sailing... As it was by then the last full day of the cruise, I was told it was too late for me to use the credit by cancelling and re-booking an excursion I had pre-booked for disembarkation day. This meant I was left with a reasonably large amount of credit I had to use, or it would be forfeited. As I had already had a drinks and meal package, free internet, been to the spa, used the arcade, bought a souvenir in the shop and spent other sums, there was nothing else I needed - or wanted - to purchase. To avoid totally losing the credit we ended up playing bingo for the sake of it - which seemed contradictory to not being allowed to use it in the casino as it was still gambling, and winnings were paid out by the casino... Guest services told me the reason I couldn't use my credit any way I wished was because I had been given "non-refundable" onboard credit. I showed them the terms on the shareholder benefit site, but they just shrugged and said they didn't know anything about it.... It was generally a frustrating experience. I emailed investor relations when I came back to query it and they never responded, even after a follow-up email. Has anyone else come unstuck using their benefit?

Good grief, where to begin….? Firstly, I was on the transatlantic this was filmed on in April. I’m so tired of hearing people banging on about how JLo “inconvenienced 4000” people. I’ve posted at length already on the relevant thread about what actually happened and why, so won’t repeat it all - but the reality is sailors on the previous cruise were required to disembark an hour earlier than usual - ie by 9am instead of 10am - and boarding for the transatlantic began at 3pm instead of 2pm. The sense of entitlement that this hour change massively inconvenienced people at the start of their 15-night cruise is staggering. Two weeks’ notice was ample. The “mess” people complained of at the port was because people ignored the advisory to not arrive before 3pm, and just turned up anyway whenever they wanted - causing huge numbers of people everywhere to deal with. Not Virgin or JLo’s fault at all. Some negative experiences mentioned on CC were related to specific needs and not representative of the general experience. So onto the commercial and the AI tool. Given they only had 12hrs to film everything in all the various locations, with filming set ups and hair/make-up/costume changes - at least 7 I could see - I wouldn’t expect anything more than what was delivered and impressed they managed what they did. My name isn’t in the database - but then it’s never on mugs or keychains or other souvenirs. Others in my situation have likely accepted it by now and this instance isn’t going to spark any rage that will turn them off the brand. Yes it’s a gimmick - they’re jumping on a popular trend that young people enjoy - but if you think it’s off-brand and not aimed at the right people, you probably don’t understand the brand or target market - and you’re probably not the target market either. In terms of trying to be different and unique… well, no other cruise line is doing it… People who complain Virgin should be spending money on fixing tech rather than marketing campaigns… there isn’t only one pot of money across the whole company. It’s split across multiple departments and marketing can do as they wish with theirs - as can tech dev. They likely won’t have a clue what the other is doing. And for all you know, the latter is working on fixing on tech. I think a lot of comments about JLo are clearly clouded by personal opinion - but her role with Virgin is akin to celebrity godmothers on other lines. They serve no real purpose other than a photo and marketing opportunity - but at least JLo has more skin in the game.

You mean you expressed an opinion and didn’t expect anyone to oppose it?! 😜 Sometimes you don’t even have to express an opinion here - merely just sharing your experience will lead people to accuse you of lying or try to gaslight you… We had money stolen from our cabin on a Celebrity Cruise a while back and when I shared the experience on here I was staggered at the number of people who just wouldn’t believe it happened. One person even went so far as to suggest my husband had a secret gambling habit and he was the one who had taken money…! (Spoiler: the cabin attendant stole it)