2 minutes ago, eroller said:

if you think this is somehow beneficial to VV you are sadly mistaken.  They will be lucky to survive.  I hope they have some non-skidish investors with very deep pockets.  

It was intended as a joke, and nothing more, but like all good jokes, there is a grain of truth to it. 

8 hours ago, creativegenius said:

 

I have been one of the biggest defenders of the pricing and the value here on these boards, but after re-running the numbers, I have to say even I am questioning the value.  

When a new cruise line starts, they can charge whatever they want to, and if ships are full, why shouldn't they. Eventually the ships won't be full, and VV will have to decide to reduce prices and run half-full.  I would NEVER sign up for a cruise when the sailings haven't even started, not even mentioning the coronavirus in that. You haven't read even one honest review yet, and supply-and-demand is definitely not in motion. Its like a stock IPO or like a new building development before sales go on the open market. The "REAL" price is not really known. Wait a few months and you'll see the actual price sailings go for. At this point you are just lining Richard's pocket so you can be "first." 

On 3/4/2020 at 4:00 PM, ownedbypets said:

 

I'm not young, wealthy or skinny and my knees aren't great but I do travel with little luggage and have a strong aversion to swimming pools. I will be cruising on Scarlett Lady.

Now that the CDC has recommended that those over 50 or those with some health issues not cruise, it looks like what Virgin is trying is not so crazy at all. 😬

Virgin Trains

Here's Virgin.

6 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

The virus is, in most cases, arriving and spreading in countries via people getting of planes, not cruise ships. Why aren't people making the same comments in relation to the airline industry? 

Hmmm.. Not so sure. Cruise passenger infects Hawaii

Just now, zedd said:

Please define "older adults" I'm 59 but by no means some little old decrepit bent over falling apart old guy. I'm pretty spry for my age.

They define it as 60, but its something you will have to define yourself.

Maybe this will help...

New CDC guidance says older adults should 'stay at home as much as possible' due to coronavirus

1 hour ago, BigGuy25 said:

Out of 46 people tested, 21 test positive ... 19 crew and 2 passengers.   Ship will be brought to port and all passengers to be tested.

 

Won't be docked in San Francisco, but will be brought to a non-commercial port.

Testing sounds great, but testing all the passengers and crew on just this ship would be more tests performed than currently have been tested across the U.S. to date. (Although 400,000 test kits have been promised for several weeks now.)

For comparison, South Korea is reporting that 150,000 test have been performed to date.

3 minutes ago, DCL2RCI said:

They're not illegal per se, they just have to be done on a ship that is flagged in the US - like the Pride of America from NCL that circles around Hawaii.

 

That stops in Ensenada, Mexico. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Grand-Princess-697

It did not.

Grand Princess Voyage

52 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886

 

"In accordance with this law, cruise lines that operate foreign-flagged vessels are fined $778 for each passenger who boarded such a vessel in one U.S. port and left the vessel at another port. The cruise lines typically pass this cost on the passengers who "jump the ship". Exemptions are available in the case of family emergencies etc."

And how about cruises like the Grand Princess, San Francisco, Hawaii, than San Francisco.  Don't see any foreign ports there. 

2 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

I just checked all 7 cruises I have booked thru till 3/22, everyone of them is more now (with less bennefits) than my original pricing.  No biggie, just interesting....

During "normal" times, prices drop to fill ships, so they lower prices but make it up in volume. Ultimately, cruise companies win.

Today, many won't go on a cruise because of the virus. You could lower prices, and its not likely more people will cruise because of lower prices. But at the same time, cruise companies are really hurting financially. So maybe they are thinking, for those that want to cruise now, charge them more, why not. We live in different times now, so cruise companies might be reacting. 

32 minutes ago, Loreni said:

Some report that the theater shows were cancelled, but the casino remained open.  Why?

I have a feeling that you know the answer to that one.

1 hour ago, spyro1952 said:

Test kits are still not readily available despite what the government is saying, especially enough to test 2500 passengers and crew.  There have only been about 150 tests performed in the US so how are they going to suddenly test 2500+ .  This is going to be another dilemma there will be asymptomatic passengers who are + when they are eventually tested and what happens?  Do they just let them off the ship into the community?  The only good thing is that they're not in Japan.

Arizona, like many states have set up their own testing. In AZ they have the capability to test 450 people a day. The test gives same day results if done before noon. CA must have a much higher capacity than AZ as the state is much bigger. 

Latest Corona Death

When you break it down, EVERY cruise line wants the same thing, they just have different ways in achieving it.

What ALL Cruise Companies Want:

-Ships always full of people who willing to spend lots of money.

-People that are manageable, don't cause fights and damage.

-People that will have a good time, and when they leave, hopefully promote the brand to others.

In the-end, VV or any other cruise line couldn't care less if their ships were filled with all 90-year olds or 20-year olds IF they achieved the above.  That is what ALL cruise lines want.

No, what about VV "marketing?"  The marketing, advertising, furniture choice, food, pricing, etc. is in place to hopefully attract an underserved group, so that this group helps achieve the three items above. This underserved group seems to be younger folks, maybe those that never have cruised before that don't feel they "fit in" on the other mega cruise lines.  VV is hoping to fill their ships with this demographic.  OK got it, understand that.  

The CHALLENGE for VV, is while attracting this underserved group, is to NOT turn-off everyone else to VV. I, for one, do not believe there are enough people of this targeted demographic to fill their ships full. I felt that BEFORE the Corona virus "problem"  this was the case. Unfortunately for VV, events like the "Diamond Princess incident" will likely scare away their target demographic from cruising even more than older experienced cruisers. If you see the Diamond Princess on TV, and have never cruised, would you start now? I wouldn't.

What will be interesting to watch, is when VV finds that their ships are not full, is how they will change their marketing to be more inclusive to the 50 - 80 crowd that makes up the lion's share of cruising.  

Don't get me wrong, I never said that VV is trying to discourage the 50 - 80 group from going on their ship(s). As it says above, they like EVERY cruise company want as many people as possible to fill their ship, but they just aren't "marketing" to them as much because VV doesn't think it NEEDS them.  But I do think their marketing will have to change.  Maybe their furniture will change too. 

I really give VV credit for having the vision, and sticking to it. Like having architects who have never been on a cruise ship design it. Sounds cool and all (and maybe wacky). But when it comes down to reality, I think it will turn out a bit different. Especially in the VERY competitive cruise environment we are in today.  I hope VV succeeds, but I think they will need to make some changes to survive. 

On 2/27/2020 at 1:25 PM, sid_9169 said:

Hmmm... Doesn't seem to be one yet for Android...

Sir Richard must not think Android is cool enough. ☺️

Most of the main cruise lines (not VV) have a name for gratuities. They call them crew salaries. If you don't pay the "voluntary" gratuity, the crew doesn't get paid. 

On 2/29/2020 at 7:20 AM, healthworker said:

Cfar insurance is not available to people from Quebec or Puerto Rico so we are unable to purchase

Its also not available in New York State, and where its available, its very expensive.  It might be 50% of the price of a cruise. So lets say I cancel and lets say they DO give me a 100% refund. I get all my money back right? Yeah, do the math. The cost of the insurance IS NOT refunded if you use it or not.  There is no free lunch. 

Great article on CFAR here....

Cancel For Any Reason Insurance

But do they include the gratuities on the free drinks?  On a recent cruise, the gratuities on the "free" drinks cost us more than the drinks would have.

46 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Great. They will either serve me way more of something than I want or not enough. It's already slow enough going through the buffet lines without each passenger having to say, "A little more please - oooh wait, that's too much, take some back", etc.

Actually you can say how much you want. And they will do what you  ask.  There is probably less food waste overall, because people take more than they can (should) eat. Yes, its a bit slower, and strange at first, but by the end of the cruise, it wasn't bad at all, and a step more classy than scooping up your dinner with a spoon that 500 other people have handled. 

On 2/24/2020 at 3:54 PM, Pyro Tec said:

Exactly what I was going to say!

On most of the cruises I go on, I ask people I meet if they know what "Cruise Critic" is?  Less than 10% do. (This is people while ON a Cruise.)

6 hours ago, timf2001 said:

 

Again, if you aren't dishing out the food yourself, it's not a buffet.

I don't know. Oceania serves everything to you and they call theirs a buffet. 

8 minutes ago, eroller said:

They don't need anymore bad publicity or people will start avoiding ships like the plague.  

Interesting choice of words.

17 hours ago, eroller said:

I'm guessing before Virgin lowers prices (if they even have to), they will add incentives to spark bookings. 

Prices have already been dropping, and they haven't even sold their first drink yet. That old supply-and-demand part is hard to overcome.  

I feel bad for Virgin. As luck would have it, this wasn't the best time to launch a new cruise line. 

With all the comments on all the aspects of this ship, I see very little mention of the decor. I love everything I have seen about VV so far with a few exceptions, but is it only me turned off a bit by the 60's retro look in most areas?  Maybe I'm one of the few here to remember the 60's. Actually I was just a baby them, but I do remember it. I'm sure Richard thinks its cool but to me, its the biggest turnoff of the ship.