CruisingWalter

The lack of emphasis on tips is another refreshing part of sailing on VV. In general we just leave some cash for our room steward as we do on all of our cruises. But as mentioned above, VV crew are among the highest paid crew in the industry, they get free WiFi and they are allowed to eat in the same venues that we all enjoy, depending on the capacity of the guests onboard. And that dining rule includes everyone all the way down the line, not just those in guest visible positions. Despite some of their setbacks, they really are a great company to support.

The big difference difference with VV is the pool. Very very small pool with essentially a plunge area for the deep section. It's designed for lounging, not swimming. The area around the pool is quite small as well with the Deck 16 sundeck being the overflow area. The secondary Gym and Tonic pool is essentially a huge hot tub but without the heat. It's just a big circular jetted 'pool' that has bench setting all along the outer and inner edges. Basketball cage is about a half court, they do full on dodgeball in there at least once per cruise. Great gym and outdoor workout area. The ship is very social with lots of seating and lots of opportunities to mix and mingle. Music is amazing throughout the ship, they have some of the best visiting musical acts. As for suitable for an 18 year old, that depends on how open you are. The Diva (drag queen) is one of the highlights for us and her shows are heavily laden with sexual innuendos, jokes and physical comedy. She's probably the most overtly sexual of anything on the ship unless they're running the new show that's supposed to replace NSA. Your 18 years old will be allowed to be served alcohol once the ship is in international waters.

With the amount of people who submitted requests, I would suspect you will be hearing back from VV between today and Wednesday on the results. Good luck! 🙂

Except for Brilliant Lady. We still have not seen photos of how they are altering the lifeboat configuration for the Panama Canal. All we know so far is that the lifeboat configuration has been altered. I'm hoping we'll see some pictures soon enough of what that means.

I think once you get onboard, you'll have a great time. VV IS a great product. They are terrible at delivering ships on time, but then so is everyone else these days. But I think once you get onboard to experience the product firsthand, you'll see why so many of us are willing to let them slide. 🙂

Because if you set a procedure and a policy, then your team should follow that procedure and policy. According the emails from VV, their systems will be set on Monday to start the process. Jumping the gun and having Sailor Services do whatever they feel like creates chaos and aggravation such as we've been seeing across social and these forums. Set a policy, we're going to start on Monday, and then follow that policy. That's dropping the ball when you don't follow policy.

Unfortunately, nobody knows that until tomorrow and all spaces will be filled on a first-come first-served basis by the Sailor Services support team starting tomorrow morning. Keep in mind that those VL sailings were first filled by Sailors who were originally booked on the Brilliant Lady. I've heard from multiple friends they were automatically switched to the same cabin on VL from their BL sailings.

Actually Virgin Voyages will transfer you booking to a travel advisor at any time so long as you have not gone past the final payment date. Yet another thing VV does differently and is super cool. When you do that with a Gold Certified First Mate, you will automatically get $100 Sailor Loot added to your booking if you have a Sea Terrace or above. 🙂

This is because you booked a currently available sailing. For those trying to book a future cruise that's not been released, you have to wait till Monday. And actually ALL rebookings were supposed to have waited until Monday. They are dropping the ball at VV.

It is confusing when people assume "$600 off" the cruise fare, it is not. $300 paid to purchase the MNVV. This is applied to your 20% deposit. If your 20% deposit is $450 you will only pay $150 at the time of booking. $300 off the Cruise Fare. If your cruise fare is listed as $2300 you will pay $2000. $600 in Sailor Loot. This sailor loot is combinable with most TA offerings and most Virgin Voyages offerings such as the $300 - $600 Bar Tab. A lot of people get confused and assume it's $600 Off the cruise fare. It is not. It's $300 total off the cruise fare with your $300 initial payment going towards your deposit.

The Cabin Category is the specific cabin category you booked. Central Sea Terrace = Central Sea Terrace.

People are calling in but essentially the Sailor Services are filling out the same form and they get 'added to the pile.' Nobody who is calling in is actually getting a booking. They might be told they are getting a 'booking number' but absolutely nothing is booked or confirmed until Monday.

I didn't see this link in the thread, admittedly we have 29 pages now, but VV did post extended information about the new itineraries. https://www.virginvoyages.com/l/new-2025-cruise-destinations-itineraries

It will not be rebooked until Monday morning at the earliest. It's actually in the email right above the "Offer Request Form" button that "Starting September 11...." the rebookings will begin.

They cannot do any bookings or 'move requests up' via phone. They are literally going to be handled in the order in which they were received. They have an entire team ready to go starting Monday to work through the requests as quickly as possible. You will receive the booking notifications as your requests are turned into bookings. Then if you want to change your cabin position, your TA can go into your booking and reposition you based on availability so long as you originally booked with a TA. All new bookings are automatically being assigned to the same TA as the original booking.

You only need to submit the form. The forms will be processed on Monday in the order in which they were received. Once you're on the ship, your TA can look at the cabin situation and reposition you on the ship if desired.

Most likely the system was overwhelmed with folks trying to access their accounts. My guess is this will work itself out.

The sailings are already available to view for those who were affected. Go to that Offer Form and go down to the dropdown list where it says "select your voyage" or something like that. All of the voyages into 2025 are there. I've been helping folks who reach out to me figure all that out and it is there. No full itinerary but the dates and lengths are there for you to peruse. An 8 day sailing out of Miami already exists and has for 2 years. Eastern Caribbean Antilles, we're sailing that itinerary on November 18. Puerto Plata, San Juan, St. Croix, Bimini Beach Club with 3 sea days. As for 'being screwed' yes it sucks your cruise was cancelled. But there is no other cruise line that has come close to this kind of an offer for a cancellation. We've been cruising nearly 20 years and typically you get a refund and maybe 125% future cruise credit. That's it. The opportunity to take any sailing, any length plus the onboard credit is amazing. But if you can't find anything at all, then take the refund and find another sailing later. At the end of the day, Virgin Voyages offered the best solution to a terrible situation. You're welcome to complain about this all you want, but know that if this had happened to you on any other cruise line, your offer would not have been close to what you're getting here.

The forms are going through right now if you submit them. TAs are submitting them already on the client's behalf.

If you click the "Offer Form" you should be able to see all the new itineraries today. The general public will see them tomorrow .

From what we were just told by our TA, don't expect FVC. In lieu of that they're allowing you take any Virgin Voyage in its place. You can trade the 7 day Southern Caribbean for any other voyage out there plus $1000 - $600 Sailor Loot. I have no problem with that at all because it's essentially the same as FVC. The money you paid is protected and how much more of a cruise you take is completely up to you.

Oh my word, y'all who are affected are getting a killer deal on your next cruise. Take ANY cruise, no matter the length, you don't pay another dime. Plus $600 - $1000 Sailor Loot. Holy crap, I kinda wish I was booked on Brilliant Lady.

I just pinged a UK agent I've become friends with on Social Media and he says they have nothing. Not sure where you're hearing that but they're waiting on the new releases as well.

Supposedly today, Sept 7, we're getting the new itineraries. That's according to a quote from VV in an article published last week. Once those new itineraries are live, Brilliant Lady should function in the app.

I may be wrong, but I believe anything you book is tied back to your cabin number in addition to the Sailor and that may be why you cannot book anything. That is the downside to booking a Guaranteed cabin, you have no idea where your cabin is until you have an assigned cabin number. If you're working with a travel advisor, and we always recommend working with travel advisors / agents, they have a direct line to VV they can get your questions answered. They can also book Shore Things for you as well. If you're not working with a TA, then call VV Sailor Services to see if they are able to do any of the bookings for you. Have a list ready of what you want to book.