wintrev

Ahoy First Mate, I just wanted to reach out and thank you for making our inaugural season in Australia such a huge success. In no uncertain terms, the warm welcome we received from Aussies was because of how deeply you championed us. This made for an incredibly brilliant season — with rave reviews and record bookings. And the love is very much mutual. With the safety of our Sailors and Crew remaining our #1 priority, and on the heels of our recent changes to Resilient Lady’s Spring ‘24 repositioning voyages, we’ve conducted a full safety and security review of future repositioning voyages through the Red Sea with a range of experts. Given the circumstances, unfortunately, she will instead be sailing in her temporary home of the Caribbean starting next October. We love Australia and have every intention of traveling back in the future when we can safely do so. While we’re sad to have had to make this choice for now, we are very much looking forward to getting back there as soon as possible. But in the best interest of your Sailors, we’re making these adjustments now in order to avoid disruptions in the future — giving them more time to think through alternatives. Thank you again for making our first season so unbelievably outstanding — we’re deeply grateful for that and your continued love and partnership. In the meantime, we want to make sure we can still get your Sailors who loved us in Australia escaping the winter and sailing the gorgeous waters of the Mediterranean aboard that very same award-winning ship that made such a splash. It’s safe to say the experiences at sea are even better when Aussies are on board. Gratefully, Nirmal Saverimuttu CEO, Virgin Voyages

I only included the airline as didn’t he give away cruises on a plane trip? Once again Aussies get the short end of the stick. They will put the ship in the Caribbean because they make tons of money on them as Americans treat them as party boats not cruise destinations. The whole drama with Brilliant Lady failing to start leaves a big question mark over their entire business dealings.

Thank you for the article. Virgin have lost my business. Will NEVER book a cruise with them again. Can’t believe how many Aussies will be annoyed about this. Has been an absolute joke how they have handled this.

Don’t care who it is really - he was the face promoting the brand and seeing he has been getting on the other ships whilst in the Caribbean his head is the first people are going to attack. It is disgusting that they continued to sell these cruises for weeks when they knew they were going to cancel. They claim to be different but in reality they are no different to all money grabbing companies. I for one will be telling people to never book with them if they ever decide to return to Australia.

URGENT There has been a post on the Virgin Voyages page that all 2024/2025 Australian cruises are cancelled. The poster put up a link to a vvinsider article. i have not received an email from Virgin to confirm. If this is true Virgin is about to be sunk - will never consider a cruise or flight with them again! Bad move Richard!

Steelers0854 thanks for your honest review. We are loyal Princess cruisers also and tried Virgin over Christmas last year from Australia. Will never do a Christmas cruise on any other line as they are completely overrun with children and their parents who seem to not care what they are doing. Hubby and I boarded with no expectations so that we would not be disappointed. We were very happy with some things and disappointed with others. The crew were nothing but totally professional and happy to make our cruise a memorable one. Virgin are NOT a mainstream cruise in any way and you need to forget how things are done on any other line. However we did complain about the barista coffee club being shut down at 8.00 pm each night. The bar staff were woeful in making a coffee. We explained that after coming out of the shows it would be nice to grab a coffee to which we were directed to The Galley to drink the brewed coffee - yuk! Obviously they didn’t research how much barista coffee Australians drink! We enjoyed the food but as we are not people who dine out found ourselves looking for some plain food with more hot vegetables not covered in different sauces. Overall would we book again - yes we did but are now regretting that! There is currently so much uncertainty about Resilient Lady coming back for the 2024/2025 season especially as she is booked into St Maarten at the same time as here in Sydney. We understand the world is a mess but if Virgin think we are going to fly to America to use a cruise credit they are about to see how much you don’t want to deal with some grumpy Aussies. It was wonderful to sail on a newer ship - something we don’t get in Australia.

Correct but they were still on sail at the beginning of this week - That is why we are complaining. They would have known this was in the pipeline so sales should have been suspended immediately. We won’t get coverage with travel insurance as it is now an act of war as per CruisingWalter’s comment and that is the problem. I am not going to fork out thousand of dollars in airfares to fly to America/South America to catch a ship to use my cruise credit!

Exactly. Yet Virgin has continued to sell the Australian 2024/2025 itineraries knowing that they may not go ahead as per discussions on these boards. Surely under consumer laws this is illegal? Regardless Virgin is doing itself no favours by treating Australian customers this way.- has left a sour taste in my mouth and will definitely not book ever again with Virgin regardless of their decision.

Agree but if that is the case then Australia would not be getting any cruise lines visiting us for a very long time. There are other ways to get to Australia - yet again we miss out just like getting the oldest ships always sent to us. It was nice to go on Resilient and experience a new ship.

Whilst it is important for all those people travelling in the next few months to know what is happening it is also just as important for us Australians who were what now looks as stupid enough to purchase a cruise for our summer later this year and start of 2025. To take down all the cruises doesn’t give me much confidence that they will now go ahead especially as Resilient Lady is marked down to be in St Maarten for December 2024. I will not be accepting any cruise credit if they cancel and expect a full refund along with other travel expenses I have outlaid already. Most Australians will not travel halfway around the world to use a credit and perhaps Virgin is hoping for just that!

Just checked the VV app and my cruise is still listed but I can’t accept the Voyage contract. Says it has hit a snag and try again later. It has been this way for the last month. Get no ticks when filling in any other information such as payment, pregnancy, photo etc. I wonder if they are blocking this until the decision is made??

Thanks arxcards - I missed that post🤦‍♀️ I would contact them but it seems that VV customer service is hit and miss at times. Hopefully theses boards will reveal the truth eventually. So disappointing that they continue to sell cruises that may not go ahead.

Well the plot thickens. Over on the VV thread it has been pointed out that Resilient Lady is listed as visiting St Maarten in December 2024! We are booked on a cruise starting 12/12 from Sydney which is still selling on the VV website. Wish they would clarify things ASAP. If they cancel are they expecting all of us to travel halfway round the world to get on a ship to use a cruise credit? I won’t be - refund will be expected plus my airfares and hotel costs.

This topic is also being discussed on the Australian and New Zealander Cruisers thread. We are booked on a 4 day cruise in December on 12/12 from Sydney. So the ship is now listed on two cruise schedule ports. Have checked the VV website and they are still selling the same cruise and all Australian/NZ cruises for 2024/2025. If they are going to cancel it is going to cost them - we have already booked our flights and a hotel before the cruise so will be expecting them to refund that cost as well. I am not interested in a cruise credit - who is going to pay for airfares to travel halfway around the world just to use it. Just wish they would clarify ASAP.

Oops - just read the topic title and didn’t realise it was for Mega.

We were on the Resilient Lady for the Christmas cruise as rockstars. When we were told about the mini bar in our room I asked the rockstar agent what happens if you don’t drink any of it and were told that we can take the lot home. The only thing we left in the fridge was the 4 red bull cans and 4 beers. Packed everything in our suitcase and have it here at home.

Not according to the future cruise people on Resilient Lady - they were very clear that this had to be done by December 31 this year or you miss out. We got off there today so it will be interesting to see what happens.

We just returned from the Resilient Lady Christmas cruise - we booked another cruise whilst on board and even got them to book friends via phone at the same time. When I asked about status matching for our friends she informed me that it had to be done before December 31 this year or they would not get it. So confusing as to wha they are sticking to!

We returned this morning from the Resilient Lady Christmas cruise and yes we received a box with a male and female Nutcracker decoration in it. Nothing was mentioned and there was no note attached just the box on the cupboard.

Well no new app being launch day Down under - oh that will be right - it is not the 1st in the US!

We booked 12 Day Southern Australia on Discovery on 28/02/26. Web site is displaying no prices at the moment so can’t check anything else.

Sorry about the spelling mistakes - auto correct!

My husband and 8 did a couples massage in January this year on the Grand. On day one in the afternoon a charge appeared on our folio from the spa. We went to Guest Services to ask what is was for and they told us that this was the gratuity huge for our upcoming spa. We informed them that we thought this was inappropriate to take the money before the massage has actually happened as we could still cancel. Their reply was it is their practice to do this nd if we canceled just come back to sort it out. So no your gratuity for spa services is not included with your Plus or Premier package. BTW we had a plus package. Hope that helps.

Sorry to hear that - never had that problem. I still can’t get travel documents. Only thing I can suggest is to delete the app and reinstall it. Hasn’t worked for several of us who can’t get Step 2. but anything is worth a try.