drewdawg199

28 minutes ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

 

It's all about the algorithms. Virgin feels that even if every one of the passengers that were screwed on Valient never came back, that it would be worth it for the exposure and new revenue the TV exposure will produce.

 

Personally, if I were Richard, I would have refused to dump those that were showing good faith, and booked my new ship. I would have them cordon off areas to shoot in and that's that. Take it or leave it. He doesn't realize that the good generated by doing that would cement more loyal customers (and excellent word of mouth) than what he'd get from The Bachelorette demo. The ship looks like earth after a nuclear holocaust. It was downright eerie. There are literally thousands of crew just sitting in their cabins doing nothing. Go figure.

I think if they tried to have paying customers and the production, neither would be happy with areas blocked off etc.  I’m sure they got an insane check to rent out the entire ship.

For those that don't want to find it buried on the VV site.

While negative COVID tests are no longer required for the majority of our Sailors, we may require tests for a number of reasons, including unvaccinated Sailors and recovery cases within 90 days.

Virgin Voyages accepts the following tests that have been supervised/administered by a health professional - doctor, nurse, clinician, pharmacy technician, or live telehealth professional - within 24 hours of the voyage:
PCR: A polymerase chain reaction molecular test, commonly called a “PCR test” or “NAAT test”
Antigen: An antigen test, also called a rapid antigen test or a lateral flow test

The terms and conditions say the $100 offer is available through end of Agustin 2022.  I don’t think the bar tab offers will get better because the highest bonus I’m aware of is for sailors that sailed in 2021 (initial year), called Sea Blazers, and they get a $125 bonus on a $300 bar tab…lifetime…forever.

Enjoy your wait, in the meantime I’ve done 4 VV no issues, 5th and 6th coming up soon 🙂

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Just got a figure of about 1100 for the current cruise. 

It was either 1,600 or 1,800 for Richards Bday 

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Last night you were able to able gamble with your own cash or from the onboard ATM. The slot machines were not busy at all but the table games were. Supposedly there were hundreds of customers on a gambling cruise that weren't in the system and had issues. 

Yes, we were given a red tassel for the bracelet signifying free drinks at the casino bar. You don't have to be actively playing to get a drink. 

Did they proactively give the tassel to you or provide instructions to get it?  Curious how it works because I have family traveling on a casino comp later this year.

2 hours ago, dippyblond said:

So .... - I have 2 cruises coming up this year - if I were to put down the $300 deposit on each cruise I would be able to combine that to book a cruise for next year??

And would I be able to use my FVC also for same booking??

Can’t combine two My Next Voyage offers, one each per cabin per cruise.

26 minutes ago, NDUK said:

Is the $100 bonus on the Bar Tab purchase confirmed as a promotion in August?

I guess nothing is confirmed until by VV on August 1, just reporting what I saw on FB.

Just saw on Facebook that the upcoming August 1 sale for the Bachelorette also excludes suites ugh.  It’s buy first person get second person in cabin for 50% off…so just a 25% off sale I suppose, with $100 bar tab bonus on a $300 tab, but meh.

Solo cabins also 50% off so that’s pretty good I guess.

36 minutes ago, 3rdCoastFan said:

I've been eyeing a cruise for next winter and was ready to put down a deposit for a suite during the "Sail Kid Free" offer but was too late. The next offer, "Never Too Late To Sale" expressly excluded suites, along with the current "Last Chance to Sale Away". Fingers crossed that a promotion including suites could come back. 

 

Virgin keeps a running tally of every promotion they've offered so far at the link below. It looks like suites were typically included in previous promotion, right up until mid-June. 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotions-terms-and-conditions 

Thanks.  Have to watch that site closely because I think VV quietly adjusts the T&Cs, although they do have the "update date" at the top of the page.

Can anyone confirm if I am going crazy, I swear when I was checking prices last week this offer applied to all categories of cabins and suites, the below language was updated as of 7/20/2022.  Is the last line new to anyone that was also checking and pays attention to the T&Cs?  

Thanks

2.  Offer Terms. Virgin Voyages will add a variable (20% - 25%) discount, depending on how far one books in advance, to provide a cumulative discount of up to 40% off all retail (base) voyage fares when this offer is combined with the Virgin Voyages “Book Early, Save More” Offer and “Lock It In Rates” Offers on voyages purchased between 12:00am midnight EDT following 29 June 2022 through 11:59pm EDT on 31 July 2022 for open cabins on Eligible Voyages. Suites are not included in this offer.

I don't disagree, we didn't get off the ship in Costa Maya and are on the ship right now while we are in Cozumel.

spoke to the Tom McAlpin, the CEO, last night onboard, specifically asked him about west coast.  He said there are no good ports on the west coast (I tend to agree), so it didn't sound like they were even considering it anytime soon.  I also asked about Cuba, he said if the Gov't opens up Cuba, they will be there the next day.

2 hours ago, AndyUK said:

Ok thanks. It's $25 limit per glass also. Anyone have knowledge on what the daily bar tab is? Aka how many glass you can have?! 

unlimited, but I would keep it to 2 per round if you have 2 guests total in your cabin, otherwise they may try to charge you for the extra drinks.

6/29 was about 850, 7/3 was a little over 1,000, 7/8 is about 1,200 and Richards Bday on 7/17 was at about 1,800 a week ago, but I think that may keep ticking upwards.

We heard 1200 on today’s sailing and increasing to 1800 (currently) for Richards bday, and still selling that one.

On 7/2/2022 at 11:31 AM, FlyingCruiser2 said:

Mega rockstar band has a gold anchor clasp, while rockstar one has silver.  Both bands are black..

FYI the gold comes off after a day at the beach/pool, nobody can tell the difference anyway.

4 hours ago, Bxmt54 said:

Totally off topic but very important to me.  Does the ship have Coke or Pepsi products?  You know how they say it’s the little things that count..?😉

Coke, a thousand people have already asked and answered this.

1 hour ago, Gerko said:

So is moet the only drink served?

That’s what is free from 5:30-7pm daily, full bar available for purchase with great bartenders.  
 

there are two hot tubs and plenty of relaxing quiet space if you want a break from the main pool deck, but it’s not a party atmosphere, at least not to date.

Did you book the “lock it in rate”? If so I would assume possibly not until boarding.

21 hours ago, misguy said:

We are onboard now, and I will say that the experience has been different in a good way from what we expected.  We are in our late 60's and were not sure this was a good fit, and we are having a great time.  I will be glad to answer questions.  We will also try to eat at all 20 restaurants and provide reviews.  We will be doing videos of cabin types and ship tour videos as well.

How’s the deck 5 toilet situation going?

2 hours ago, voyager1964 said:

Do you mean the terrace is that private? On other lines there are always some gaps between the walls for your neighbors to peek 😞

yep, at least deck 11 cheeky corner, 100% private, just stay a few feet back from the railing if standing up.

I believe they may have free bubbles of some sort during sail away party for free.  Not sure for standard cabins, but rockstars have Moet every evening on Richard's Rooftop.

does anyone have a booking for Richards Bday Bash on 7/17 from Miami that would be willing to share their booking number so that I can share some loot? Forgot to use a referral link earlier today and there are no other rooms in my category available so I don't want to cancel and rebook.  My email address is drew118811 at yahoo dot com .

Thanks

19 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

In my best estimate, anything could happen... Since it's been cancelled for the first couple of years, it's completely new territory for them. I would guess that Richard himself might be on board...

I would hope so, quite presumptuous to have a birthday cruise and not even show up, just have other people celebrating you from afar.  
 

Other than the maiden voyages I think this is the first official theme/special voyage