phoenix1975

Thanks - they hadn't considered that they are still going to the ports before Colombo 🙂

Yes they will be contacting their TA but will depend on the terms and conditions of that booking as it's a Cruise Holiday company rather than a normal TA. They've been offered the $500 OBC but not the 15% FCC that is on the Cunard information at the top of this thread. I just wondered if anyone else had been offered a full refund.

My dad and partner are booked on this cruise through a Cruise Holiday company and are also wondering if they can get a refund in full, mainly because of the amount of sea days.

The terms and conditions say that it's just an extra 5% off in addition to the 35% that's on the current promotion. See here: https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions?item=d3f51577-12c6-4af2-8d18-7bf8a85ae07f

Is there anything you particular want to know about? I sailed on Valiant Lady in the summer and just booked back to back sailings for this summer on Scarlet Lady.

I'm not part of the Brilliant Lady rebookings - just had put a deposit down when I was on VL last month and hoped to use it next year. I'm a teacher though so quite limited to which weeks I can go. My fallback is SL for the Barcelona via Toulon itinerary but it would be good if BL appears by the summer and offers some itineraries in Europe. I was hoping to do a longer than 7 night cruise next summer or failing that a 7 night VV cruise and find a similar length cruise with a different company that I can do sort of a back-to-back or 1 or 2 days in between.

I'm just going to hang fire and see what is available next year. I'd rather use my deposit and the accompanying Sailor Loot on a 7+ night holiday than go from Portsmouth to Amsterdam and back, particularly as I'll be travelling alone.

Dates and itineraries (not individual ports yet) for all new cruises on the 3 ships has been posted on the VV Insider website here: https://vvinsider.com/full-itinerary-details-2024-2025-sailings-virgin-voyages/

When I was on board VL this summer I put a deposit down for another cruise thinking that I'd have a fair amount of choice in Summer 2024 but looking at the form they have sent out (on the Brilliant Lady thread), there's now limited choice. I have a 6-week holiday window in the summer and can't take holidays outside of this. Resilient Lady finishes the Athens itineraries just before my holiday window starts so they are a no-go, then it seems that Virgin have allowed full charters of RL from 4th - 23rd August - although it might be financially better for VV, it's not for people who want to take a holiday in the summer. Even with living in the UK, it looks like the UK to Amsterdam or Zeebrugge cruises are going to be really short so not worth going on - not convinced that many from the UK will want to do them unless they just want a taster. There was the potential here to do 7 night cruises. I'm not flying to the US/Caribbean to do a few nights' cruise so that leaves Scarlet Lady for the 2 cruises from Barcelona, one which I did this year. Just disappointed really so unless Brilliant Lady appears and does something in the Med/Europe, it will likely have to be the one out of Barcelona that I haven't done.

Interested to know - when it becomes a charter to a different company, does the company charge the same prices as VV or will it be different? Out of interest, what is the company for this cruise? If you went on the cruise booked through the company, would you get any VV perks that you get if you had booked with VV?

Virgin are aiming their cruises at the 30s-60s age range predominantly but there were people in their early 20s and someone who was 89 on my cruise recently. However, they say their cruises are for those who are 'young at heart'. As others have said, if you are looking for a traditional cruise line, Virgin isn't it. But as you have said, Virgin has a refreshing new approach and I found it easier to fit into (I'm 48) than other cruise lines as they catered better for solos, have a wide range of food styles, different entertainment rather than traditional theatre shows and overall a really nice vibe. Also service was excellent, partly due to the fact that all the crew can see any comments you write on surveys during the cruise and can react straight away to them to make sure you enjoy your cruise. I found that I did more activities, etc. than I have done on other lines as these too are a break from the traditional e.g. no line/ballroom dancing, but a 90s boy band dance class and 80s video workout; and workshops such as a Tequila & Mezcal tasting, and one where you learn to plate food and take photos of it, etc. Going forward I'll definitely be cruising with Virgin again, and will only be going on other lines if it's a cheap deal/has an itinerary I want to go on.

So this might be something or nothing but looking at the cruise port schedules for Reykjavik, Akureyri (Iceland) and Alesund (Norway), Scarlet Lady is appearing on the schedules for July & August next year; and there seems to be a pattern to it with Reykjavik serving as a turn-around point. Brilliant Lady's overnights in Amsterdam generally fit into this pattern too so it maybe that the naming of the ships isn't fully correct on the port schedules and it could either be SL or BL (more likely BL). Scarlet Lady is showing as: July - 5th Akureyri, 7th-9th Reykjavik (so possibly overnight stop at end of one cruise, and overnight at start of next cruise); 11th Akureyri, 13th Alesund. 23rd Alesund; 26th Akureyri, 28th Reykjavik, 30th Akureyri, 1st August Alesund August - 14th Alesund; 16th Akureyri, 18th-20th Reykjavik, 22nd Akureyri, 24th Alesund But as I said, this might be something or nothing - just me being inquisitive looking at ports and where cruises are going next year (trying to decide where I'd like to go).

You wouldn't have been able to take a train from Barcelona to Lisbon unfortunately - you'd think it was easy but you'd have to get a train to Madrid and probably stay overnight and then a 3-train combination for 8 hours to get from Madrid to Lisbon! Would have to be a flight.

I was on VL recently as a solo cruiser. Went to the solo meet-up on the first evening and there were about 35 solos. We each introduced ourselves (name, where we're from and an interesting fact/info about ourselves) and were given a glass of bubbly. A QR code for the solos WhatsApp group for the week was then shared - it was such a simple but genius idea that I hope they keep. The group actually expanded to over 40 solos that week and we were regularly messaging on the group to invite each other to dinner, activities, going ashore, asking questions, etc. It was a really great experience from that point of view and the best I've had from any cruise line in terms of being solo.

I don't think Amsterdam will be the home port as BL is shown as doing overnights on some days on the port schedule. Portsmouth is possible as they've just extended the cruise terminal and berth there (finished this week) and they are saying they expect calls to the port to rise to over 100 in 2024 with a potential extra 250,000 passengers.