Alegeeter

The crew was assigned but then that news was rescinded and Virgin stopped hiring efforts for new crew on older ships. My best guess is late summer 2024.

I love seeing those taking advantage of the situation and booking something listed for more money and getting a deal. For anyone looking at options that are cheaper, also take a look at what promotion you booked under (https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions) to make sure Virgin gives you the same promotion. Per their email these promotions should be honored in our replacement bookings.

Now that I see the new prices, I'm curious. the email we received states: "Plus, we'll still honor any previous promotions you had when you first booked, including your Bar Tab bonus. If the new date you choose costs less, we'll refund the difference if you’ve already fully paid." Elsewhere on Virgin's site "bar tab" and"loot" are called "add ons" and I'm wondering what's considered a "promotion"- when I booked the San Juan Mermaiden the fare was $2245 a person, but with the current promotion at the time and MNVV a lot was taken off so the total was $3300 for 2. With the new dates listed the fare is $1875 person with much less taken off for promotions so the total is the same. Will I get $0 back or will they reprice me at the $1875 but with all the discounts I got originally- depends how they define promotion.

I still had them on my URComped cruise even after that email from Virgin saying I wouldn't get it. VV doesn't exactly excel at technology so I wasn't surprised!

I'm also wondering if we get to keep the Sail with friends referral bonuses. I booked my cruise back when they still have $50 per booking. I accumulated almost $800 in loot but now that the sailing is canceled we won't all be rebooking the same one.

I wonder if they'll let you use the $500 in travel expenses to get from Miami to San Juan. The email said it's for cancellation and change fees but perhaps given your circumstance they'll let you use it for an extra flight. Miami to San Juan flights should come in under $500. I'm hoping to move to 1/13 out of San Juan and hope to see you there.

If this is true, it's complete garbage. I am on the Mermaiden and I don't need another $800 in loot - I already more than what can even spend in a week. We all paid a lot for this Mermaiden and did so almost a full year ago!

A friend just received an email from her travel agent saying "I just got off the phone with my Virgin BDM. Brilliant Lady is being delayed. You'll be receiving an email from Virgin later today with your options as far as rescheduling, moving to another ship, or full refund."

That was a generous offer then but like many have said here what we paid for these early BL voyages is a fraction of what VV selling them for now. In fact, what I paid for my San Juan Mermaiden is less than half of what most of the weeks are selling for so 200% FCC would pretty much leave me exactly where I am. An additional complimentary voyage in 2024 would help make it right.

I guess VV has to look at what maximizes their earnings. It may make more sense for them to move a ship to San Juan rather than have 2 ships in Miami. The holiday sailings will sell out no matter what but if the BL San Juan sailings Jan-Apr were selling better than the doing better than the VL Miami sailings Jan-Apr I could see why they'd want to do a ship swap. Plus, if SL sailings aren't sold out they could move some VL people over (with a generous compensation package since SL voyages are shorter) or give them the option to move to BL if rooms are available.

I'm on the San Juan Mermaiden and they have not yet opened up shore excursions. Our app doesn't even work yet.

I'm in the US and am able to see and mock-book BL sailings Jan-Apr. I still think those rumors in the 2024-2025 thread are true and the TA will be cancelled and the winter season will be replaced with VL- but for now at least I can still see every BL sailing available.

It's worth it on Excel class even just to have a quiet place to sit. We walked up to main pool deck for lunch and it was such a circus we were thankful to have our private area. The pool may be tiny and pitiful but those main pools are so overcrowded.

Another vote for the Epic. Quirky or not it’s a really great ship! Love the Spirit class though and sailing the Pride in Europe this summer but only because of a great casino deal.

The deck plans have been updated to show the one floor nightclub and the 5 new cabins (1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1250). But interestingly the rest of the deck plans have not been updated (no Hero’s bar, still David’s and not Fahrenheit 555, etc) The new cabins are available for my sailing in Europe. I wonder if they’ll look like newer Excel Class cabins or the same old cabins on this class.

I disagree. The terms say it can be combined with some discount offers but doesn’t clearly define which, and it can’t with % off ones. I booked with MNVV, not a % off discounr. So to answer the original question, so that others know, no, this is not combinable with MNVV.

Yep, that’s the kicker. Now they’re saying “While we understand that you were hoping to receive the discount on your current booking, we would like to clarify that this promotion is not combinable with previous promotions. If we were to add this promotion to your current booking, it would replace out any existing promotion you currently have and give you today's prices, which would result in a higher overall price even with the 10% discount you will get.” It’s the same run around, then making up rules as they go to make sure they don’t actually end up giving anything extra but can say they do. VV starting to look like other cruise lines already 😉

From an email I got from my sailor services request. I don’t think the access keys have gone out yet: ”Loyalty Sailors will receive a unique one-time use Access Key to redeem their exclusive 10% off voyage fare discount. The code will be sent to the email ”

They said the 10% discount is for new bookings only. It’s kind of BS because they keep extending it, so if it was through 2023 back when I made my reservation I would have gotten it but because they keep fumbling the new loyalty program anyone who has booked anything already can’t take advantage of the perk. But like with anything, everyone should still try, maybe you’ll get a different response

Has anyone tried to combine it with MNVV? I’ll give it a go and report back!

I like our enhancement ideas better!

Which is exactly why they’ll get rid of it 🙂

They could get rid of the Butterflies Lounge to add rooms too. There are already rooms just behind it and that lounge is small for comedy anyway, moving comedy shows to the main theater. If they were to scrap Butterflies I’d prefer a new dining option there than more rooms 😕

Hmm I think I overhyped these changes for myself. At the very least I hope cabin refreshes are part of “general maintenance.” The cabins as of now look rough!

It specifies 3% service charge for a transaction, which is using your card to essentially buy cash which you’ll then trade in for chips. Buying in with your own cash is not a “transaction”. It’s just semantics.