jamesv92

3 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Assuming by next year you mean 2024 that must be an error as Scarlet Lady has cruises on sale for the Mediterranean. She is scheduled to be in Toulon on the 3rd June 2024 and Marseille on the 5th August 2024.

With virgin's track record on cancellations and itinerary adjustments I wouldn't rule anything out! 

Being nosey on port schedules and noticed Scarlet Lady is booked in to Haifa for a long day on 3rd June and 5th August next year.

Would like to see some different destinations for virgin on European itineraries so would be quite excited if they're heading to Israel! 

Also in Funchal 8th May 2025 10:00-19:00

3 hours ago, Ulsteinvik said:

Cruisemapper is not an official port site where official port announcements can be viewed. Cruisemapper copies all trips from the homepages of the cruise line. Therefore, you should look for the right port sources. But here also no good news for the Brilliant Lady TA. Unfortunately, the Brilliant Lady has actually disappeared from the Funchal 2024 official list.. -> https://www.apram.pt/site/index.php/en/ports/wharf-reservations?page=6

Interestingly though on these same listings Brilliant Lady is in port from 8am on 29th October 2024 and leaving 31st October at 2pm.

1 hour ago, mmsoko said:

Travel companions booked excursion with their cc.  We have lots of On board credit.  Is there anyway to use that credit for these excursions? 
 

change once onboard? Etc?

We had this situation on a recent virgin voyage and waited til boarding to look through excursions and choose from what was available. Thought it was pointless looking beforehand and wanting one only to watch it sell out by the time of voyage.

5 minutes ago, ChrisLDN said:

Hi everyone - long time reader, first time poster to this forum. 
 

Does anyone have a secret contact email or phone number where I can escalate an issue to? I need some help and I’m all out of options. 

 

Here’s my issue (it’s long…):

 

I’m booked on the November Singapore to Sydney voyage, which was paid for using a 200% FVC from last year’s cancelled Resilient Lady sailings and the balance topped up with cash. I’ve got my email receipt from August last year confirming it’s fully paid. A few months back, my account changed to show I now owe £1800 balance. My first email to Rockstar agent was replied to, and they confirmed I owed this money, but didn’t take into account any of my evidence as to it being fully paid. That was my last email response. 

Nine emails later, to both Rockstar and Sailor Services, I’ve had no response in writing. And it’s not like I’m rushing things, these emails are over the course of two months. 
 

I’ve spoken to Sailor Services twice and both times they’ve been fairly helpful, but haven’t been able to resolve anything other than to say “we see there’s been a glitch and it’ll be updated on your account in a few days”. It hasn’t been…

 

The latest issue is that I’ve received an email about a level upgrade that I haven’t submitted - I’ve been sent an email with my name attached to a totally separate booking, complete with someone else’s contact information and booking reference. Clearly a data problem, right?

 

So, I’m on the phone again, this time insisting that I’m put through to someone senior who can deal with this. The response was pretty much “meh, not an issue”. And then they proceeded to tell me I’ve got an outstanding balance of £1800 that needs paid. So cue the whole conversation again and now I’m told that the issue is because they applied a double FVC in error (except it was *meant* to be 200%, because that was the deal) and as a “gesture of goodwill”, they’ll discount £1000 but I still owe £800. 
 

Of course, I argued this and have asked to be called back by someone who can sort me out, but I’m not holding my breath. 
 

It’s quite the catalogue of errors. And it’s so frustrating, because I’ve been on four voyages so far and they’ve all been epic. I was a big supporter of Virgin but this has made me feel very differently about them. 
 

Hence my request on the forum - is there any other way of contacting Virgin where they might actually help me?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Chris 

Have you tried social media? I've had low success rate speaking to virgin by phone/email but they always respond within a day on twitter.

Should check how many ships are in during your day there but I found last time there it was just pleasant walking around independently and along the beach front 

15 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

No because they will have four ships for the first time. And we will have one ship that can go through the Panama Canal opening the West Coast. From what my TA told me, VV was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Valiant and Scarlet in Miami together. I was told VV is taking a good long look at how to maximize their brand globally. And if you look at other cruise lines, there are limited schedules after Dec. 2024 so everyone in the cruise industry is rethinking their ship deployments. Celebrity just suddenly pulled Beyond from the Med and moved her to year round Caribbean, probably as an answer to VV. 

 

It's getting increasingly difficult to get port schedules together because the cruising world is getting crowded. Berths are secured 2 to 3 years in advance. VV is new to the game so they don't have the longstanding relationships of the other major players. It's probably there are itineraries they are trying to negotiate space or looking at ports that are growing with more space.

 

I've read some articles in the past about port scheduling and it's a job I would not wish on anyone. It's easy to whiteboard new itineraries all day long. It's a much different matter for the negotiators who have to deal with hundreds of calls and meetings to try to make those ports happen. 🙂

 

From what I've read and heard from others, mid to late August sounds like when we'll start to see itineraries show up. 

Interesting thank you 🙂

2 hours ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

We are being told new itineraries are to be released this month, so hopefully we will see something in the next couple of weeks. 

Interesting 🤔 Also hoping for some new itineraries/areas as have done a few of what they offer and would love to see them venture somewhere different.

Hi

Does anyone else find it strange there's nothing to book beyond October 2024?

I'm not sure what other timescales companies run on but I would expect to be able to book something for end of next year..

There's lots of speculation that brilliant lady transatlantic isn't happening so guess they need to confirm that part first

Thanks a lot for these extensive updates, has given me a great taste of what to expect on our upcoming trip doing the same itinerary 😄

8 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

 

They listened, the pool on Resilient is larger. They reduced the shallow area on the forward side so the overall foot print is the same on deck but the pool itself is probably close to 50% larger. It's still not big enough, but so glad they did something! 

That's exciting to hear!!

Just bought the points to book on to Greek Island Glow for July from Virgin Red, total cost £1185 which is amazing, so excited!

As others have said Virgin Voyages is way above rivals in my opinion for the onboard experience. It's so appealing to have drinks, WiFi and tips included and the food is high quality and varied. The cabins are amazing and comfortable with tech which we love.

All I would improve is the pool, wish it was bigger or more than one and their customer service off the ship can be hit and miss. The staff on it seem happy and chilled though which must say something..

49 minutes ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

The Scarlet Lady TA doubled in price a couple days ago. This past weekend was looking at prices in the $2,400 range and now they are close to $5,000 😭

I've noticed this as well, they might be preparing to announce the cancellation and preempting that people will want to move to the other transatlantic. Looks dodgy!

4 hours ago, cantgetin said:

200%.  Yes, do mean twice what you paid as a future cruise  credit.  Many people used that to get suites....or multiple. cruises.

To be honest we used a resilient lady cancellation compensation to get a great suite on a med voyage so there would be silver lining. Like others though this was the more interesting itinerary compared to the Miami to Barcelona one.

I would definitely vote yes, we sailed in one in September and it's a wonderful space 

18 hours ago, twodjs said:

Valiant Lady has been canceled through May 1, 2022! 

Apparently valiant is sailing from the UK in spring 2022 I've just seen, don't think that was always going to happen was it?

I've had problems with the app but have also been able to book restaurants and activities for our 6th August sailing