Chrish2

If asked to step off-board in an non-emergency situation I would want firm plans that I considered adequate. In my mind "emergency" generally means there is no time to pack bags and/or accommodation is uninhabitable. I have a feeling they have first focused on minimising the number of people disrupted, and then been tight with money. The latter part sadly just how P&O operates now but my take is given the likely cost of this incident anyway it will turn out to be a false economy long term (passenger retention, bad publicity etc.). Arvia maiden comes mind, late delivery of ship resulted in maiden been the high expectation Christmas/New Years cruise. No doubt they knew it was fully booked with staff going to struggle far beyond usual. They also knew they had high staff isolation due to covid. They could have pre-empt the situation by pre-refunding a percentage of fare, or even given refunds (can you imagine the publicity "Christmas comes early for thousands of P&O passengers with a free luxury cruise"). The inbuilt good would have alleviated most of the complaints before they started. Instead they delayed addressing passengers for quite some time, dropping OBS compensation quite late into the cruise etc.

Logistically I can see Amsterdam been an inconvenience but the image in @DrSch's post hinted Mediterranean islands from Portsmouth. Just reviewing some of the present options. Sea day count if you are pushing to get into the Mediterranean appear equal when looking at Liverpool and the South Coast. E.g. cases with La Coruna, Lisbon or Malaga as either initial or final calling points. La Coruna <-> 1 sea day <-> Liverpool (Fred Olsen) La Coruna <-> 1 sea day <-> Southampton (P&O, Celebrity) Lisbon <-> 2 sea days <-> Liverpool (Fred Olsen) Lisbon <-> 2 sea days <-> Southampton (P&O, MSC) Malaga <-> 2 sea days <-> Liverpool (Fred Olsen) Malaga <-> 2 sea days <-> Southampton (Celebrity) Obviously I have no idea what this does to the financial viability when you factor fuel costs along with other operational concerns. I know Virgin Voyages Caribbean itineraries go slow / don't really go anywhere for some time during their schedule.

Kinda disappointed with Portsmouth. There is enough south of England cruise departures already. Liverpool would capture a significant market from and was important enough to be one of the first points of call for the press preview of Scarlet Lady. Obviously has to be balanced with fuel considerations too.

If P&O are expecting to pocket full fares of those returning home and deal with compensation via future cruise credit/discount then that is not on. Their own terms say they "will, where appropriate, compensate the Guest". Curtailment by operator should really give at-least a pro-rata refund of fare. It's how I would expect a credit card company to consider it; bought x night holiday, only got y nights, chargeback of x minus y nights due. > ALTERATION AND CANCELLATION BY P&O CRUISES AFTER DEPARTURE > 43. After departure, P&O Cruises does not guarantee that the ship will call at every port on the itinerary or follow every part of the advertised route or schedule or that every part of the Package will be provided. P&O Cruises reserves the absolute right to decide whether or not to omit any such port(s) and/or to call at additional ports and/or to change the advertised route, schedule or Package. If P&O Cruises is unable to provide a significant proportion of the Package, it will make suitable alternative arrangements, at no extra cost to the Guest, for the continuation of the Package. If the Guest does not accept them, for good reasons, or if it is impossible to make suitable alternative arrangements P&O Cruises will, where appropriate, provide the Guest with transport back to the place of departure or to another place to which P&O Cruises and the Guest have agreed. In both cases P&O Cruises will, where appropriate, compensate the Guest. P&O Cruises accepts responsibility for providing all the elements of the advertised Package but if it fails to do so, the Guest must inform P&O Cruises without undue delay if it considers that any of the Travel Services have not been performed in accordance with the Contract. Failure by the Guest to notify P&O Cruises about any lack of conformity of the Package may be taken into account when determining any price reduction or compensation for damages where such notice would have avoided or reduced the damage. P&O Cruises shall remedy any lack of conformity of the Travel Services under the Contract raised by the Guest unless it is impossible to do so, or will incur disproportionate costs, taking into account the extent of the lack of conformity and the value of the Travel Services affected. Please note that compensation will not be payable if an alteration is not significant or if P&O Cruises is not able to provide a significant proportion of the Package due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

Do they still have Corkcicle onboard? Any pics? Loads of sailer loot coming up for next months voyage and was hoping to not pack mine and grab another onboard to use and bring back. Also, what are prices like? Inflation added much to prices since last year?

Is there any shipyard pictures showing the aft? The Wake isn't what I expected them to change however the steps down do feel a little odd. It makes me wonder if Deck 6 might be reconfigured to provide more prominence to the restaurants from main circulation (the roundabout). Of course all speculation.

The devil in the detail. The EU currently† word it like this "If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a passport: valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting, which was issued within the previous 10 years," https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm And have use the the following example in the past "A British tourist arriving on 1 December 2021 for a 20-day stay in the EU with a passport issued on 2 December 2011 and valid until 2 April 2022 will be allowed entry" https://twitter.com/EUdelegationUK/status/1537339481539346432 The UK gov currently† explain it with the following "If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must follow the Schengen area passport requirements. Your passport must be: issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’) valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)" https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements#passport-validity And P&O Cruises currently† say: "P&O Cruises guests can board and travel to EU countries* if their passport was issued less than 10 years before the day of embarkation and still has at least three months left before the date of expiry of the passport, as at the date of disembarkation (regardless of whether or not the passport has an extension period)." https://www.pocruises.com/help/passports-and-visas It might sound like splitting hairs but highlighting as these small differences are a matter of been allowed to travel or not. † If you are looking at anything about this topic I would discard anything written/experienced before May 2022. Earlier than this there was what could be described as "official confusion". Industry and government harmonisation was finally in about a year ago with UK gov pages been some of the last to change. (see https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/foreign-office-passport-validity-europe-travel-b2077606.html )

I've just checked the two voyages I've been on. One time there was unused loot ($11), the other was a small loot overspend ($0.51). Both generated an email however the underspend arrived much later after disembarking. In both cases within 24 hours. The email comes from folio_no_reply@virginvoyages.com with the subject in the format of Virgin Voyages Folio Invoice for [SAILOR_NAME] - [SHIP_NAME]

I can see the idea of tokens been exchangeable with Virgin Red (and vice versa) been well received. And compared to long hall flights it probably is a lower taxes situation. VV could also use the limited number of reward cabins per sailing to manage commitment like how limited reward seats per flight work.

Deep Blue Extras now extended until the end of 2023. New "10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit" has appeared in terms. Valid for sailings up to and including 31 May 2024. Book by 31 October 2023.

I've set up alerts with a tool called https://www.followthatpage.com/ to monitor two pages on Virgin's site https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club and https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions It seems as well as extended deep blue extras they have also: Added a number of cruise lines they will match to the official list (Azamara, Disney, Holland America, Oceania, P&O, Windstar) Deleted details about Red Hot Booking Months along with details how tokens work for bookings that had made during that period It should also be noted the earnings tables for tokens had also been removed in an earlier update to the Saling Club page. It still has reference to earning tokens for $ spend.

Slight update to the Sailing Club page. It has moved URL (previously https://www.virginvoyages.com/sites/sailing-club now https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club). I also think some of the wording has changed along with the table showing how tokens worked disappearing.

The last updated date on https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotions-terms-and-conditions is also worth keeping an eye on

Do you not thing it's nicer not to have to bribe staff to place you above paying guests onboard?

It's funny as the only downside we found was some of the American passengers acting entitled and rude to staff. 🤣 The one that stands out the most was sailer services had to be physically closed off whilst a "security incident", a woman was screaming at staff, was resolved. I'm really surprised they haven't gone more out their way to push get get more British passengers given the design and setup. They could be running "Fly-drive-and-cruise" type deals that would be appealing to this market.

Heard direct from VV that after the 28th price will be going up. Messaging on this seemed well prepared in sailor facing "marketing talk" linking it with groceries going up etc. Who knows if keeping the VV Sailing Club details under wraps is partly about offsetting these increases. Deep blue ends at the end of March and you would expect on balance not announcing is probably going to have an increasing detrimental effect on bookings from existing sailers. The effect will get worse as the remaining weeks roll on. Personally I'm expecting something this week but they really do like to keep things down to the wire.

There does seem to be a problem with the UK status match process. I convinced a family member less tech savy to do the status match but was really surprised when they got Classic given the current website is all about "Status Match PLUS". They hanv't even been matched never mind been boosted. Full comments in the linked post. This single experience wont put myself off sailing but it will put me off recommanding them to others as I simply can't guarantee a consistent level of service. More generally my question is: What are you doing to get a better consistency of service?

FYI, they keep track in their system what status and program they have “matched” you with. I assume this is so they can later match you correctly when launching the 2023 version.

Off the back of this I convinced a family member to apply with their P&O Peninsular Club Mediterranean Tier. The whole P&O Peninsular Club is a little convoluted: They issue 10 points for every night (why can't they just say night?), Only issue any membership/status after racking up 150 points, (so if you book a 14 night and 14 night you get no benefits, book a 15 night and then book a 14 night you do get it for your second cruise!) Tiers are not named with common loyalty tier names but after the oceans and seas their ships sail. They are order from largest to smallest (Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Baltic, and Ligurian) It has a split top tier (Baltic Tier & Ligurian Tier) that also factors how many nights (yes nights now an not points) you have had in the last 3 years. MSC have decided to match P&O Mediterranean to MSC Voyager Classic! Maybe MSC spotted "Mediterranean" and thought "entry level" based on their own name! Have worded a challenge back regarding this. Based on the travel history if the same was on a MSC ship they would already be at least MSC Voyager Gold.

Just thought, anyone new probably doesn't want to read 19 pages of "hey use my link if you want $50" they can use so started a new thread for the new promo

As the the posts in the Share the Love Sailer Loot thread the past refer a friend has now (14th Feb 2023) been replaced with a new offering and an optional Experience Package. Instead of continuing to clutter a 19 page thread with the info I thought it would be useful to start a new thread. ---- Now We're Voyaging Together https://www.virginvoyages.com/l/celebration-cruises Main info Book or link cabins for a free "bottle of fizz" (max one per cabin on both sides). Groups of 8 or more get a "dinner concierge service". New "Experience Package" called Splash for your Bash. $250 per cabin of two people (unsure if they pro-rata that for cabins more or less). Upgrades the fizz to moat. One free bottomless brunch at wake or Razzle Dazzle. One "Celebratory Dinner" with a venue specific Chef selected sharing menu for the group, Venue specific curated beverage package for the group that compliments the selected menus, and a Celebratory Dessert. The focus is really back onto group trips with copy talking about Anniversaries, Bachelor(ette) parties, Birthdays, Family reunions, friend trips etc. Old referral links take you to the old promo but with no ability to start booking a cabin. ----

I read the terms as as long as 2 cabins go for it you can have it even if the rest don't. The terms are a bit vague IMO in this area. It really rests on what a "group" is > 2. “Splash for Your Bash” is limited to the first fifty (50) groups to buy the package per voyage with a group size minimum of (2) cabins and maximum of (9) cabins. Package may be purchased up to 48 hours prior the day before the voyage sets sail. Group dining is subject to availability. Package may be canceled, with a refund, up to 24 hours before the voyage departs. Should the voyage date change, the package may be transferred to the new voyage.

The replacement is now live "Now We're Voyaging Together" https://www.virginvoyages.com/l/celebration-cruises Main info Book or link cabins for a free "bottle of fizz" (max one per cabin on both sides). Groups of 8 or more get a "dinner concierge service". New "Experience Package" called Splash for your Bash. $250 per cabin of two people (unsure if they pro-rata that for cabins more or less). Upgrades the fizz to moat. One free bottomless brunch at wake or Razzle Dazzle. One "Celebratory Dinner" with a venue specific Chef selected sharing menu for the group, Venue specific curated beverage package for the group that compliments the selected menus, and a Celebratory Dessert. The focus is really back onto group trips with copy talking about Anniversaries, Bachelor(ette) parties, Birthdays, Family reunions, friend trips etc. Old referral links take you to the old promo but with no ability to start booking a cabin.

Two more reasons for the silence on this occurred me me last night 1. Loyalty scheme isn't finalised and/or requires sign-off from the Virgin brand it's self before it can be promoted. 2. They might be afraid the launch might put off people booking for "deep blue extra" perks in favour of whatever is coming. Most of the promos seem to focus on going in the next three-six months (short term) and this will be the pivot to converting them short term to long term objectives.

I'm sure I read somewhere they was using a point-to-point ship-to-shore system which would explain why no wi-fi on the transatlantic. They might have a fallback to satellite but maybe they cut it back to save costs?