Drinks Package?

[garymfreedman]

 

It will not be only younger people on the ship-For one, most of them don't have the money to cruise, they are still paying off student loans.. And another thing, because there are no KIDS on this ship, MANY people will enjoy this type of cruising..

[AlyssaJames]

I think this is newish text added to the page with the drinks pricing:

 

Cheers to fair pricing.

We heard you, Sailors. No complicated drinks packages with unreasonable rules here. Just good value for all. 

 

They've also added some more booze types to "cocktails": Herradura Plata, Mount Gay, Tanqueray, Jack Daniels

This implies that they did some market research on what people wanted. 

 

[hotsauce126]

I think the brands listed are supposed to just be examples anyway. For example they have a custom beer brewed by Wynwood Brewing in Miami but they don't list it on that section about beer on the website

[rbt001]

56 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

I think this is newish text added to the page with the drinks pricing:

 

Cheers to fair pricing.

We heard you, Sailors. No complicated drinks packages with unreasonable rules here. Just good value for all. 

 

They've also added some more booze types to "cocktails": Herradura Plata, Mount Gay, Tanqueray, Jack Daniels

This implies that they did some market research on what people wanted. 

 

Actually, I look at this text as pure spin.  I believe they made the decision on reasonably priced drinks, a la carte, quite some time ago, and are sticking with it.

 

This thread was started by a Millennial who-- based upon the comments she's posted-- has taken VV off her list for now since a "No Drinks Package" cruise is a deal breaker (posts #1, #3, #6, #15, #101, #107, #111), because keeping track of how much she drank would cause undue stress (posts #24, #45, #52, #140).

 

I can remember my first cruise as an adult and recent college graduate in 1984.  There was NO SUCH THING as a Drink Package.  And even on my college-style budget, there wasn't any hesitation on ordering the morning eye opener at the bar:  cocktails were... "reasonably priced" --- even for a college kid.(No, mommy & daddy, were NOT sponsoring any part of the trip!)

 

Perhaps VV is taking us back to those more gentler times where not ordering another was simply a product of "I've had enough" rather than "I can't afford it at those prices."

 

This also makes me remember a Princess cruise a few years back.  Five of us sat in the lounge off the atrium for pre-dinner cocktails, our cards out to pay.  Meanwhile two ELDERLY couples plopped down at a nearby table and were greeted by their cocktail server, ready to take drink orders. 

 

TheFoursome:  "We want you to serve us the free stuff," from the party in the atrium.

Server:  "Well, sir, that won't begin for another 20 minutes.  Would you like something else in the meantime?"

TheFoursome:  "No.  We'll wait for the free drinks!"

 

Perhaps even that foursome will splurge for a cocktail --and no worry of tipping-- with VV's reasonable prices!

[CruisingWalter]

Today they announced you can "Preload your Bar Tab" with $50 - $100 added to every $300 pre-loaded.  Doesn't seem to be a way to do this online but in a tweet:

 

Give us a ring at 954 488 2955 to speak with our Sailor Services Crew and setup your Bar Tab today! Cheers

 

[twodjs]

So 25% off drinks that were already reasonable. That sounds like a great deal! Thanks for the post.

[Whitefacekat]

1 hour ago, creativegenius said:

Today they announced you can "Preload your Bar Tab" with $50 - $100 added to every $300 pre-loaded.  Doesn't seem to be a way to do this online but in a tweet:

 

Give us a ring at 954 488 2955 to speak with our Sailor Services Crew and setup your Bar Tab today! Cheers

 

But do you get a refund of unused funds?   day trip I would be dead if every drink was $10 or less 

 

[CruisingWalter]

1 minute ago, Whitefacekat said:

But do you get a refund of unused funds?   day trip I would be dead if every drink was $10 or less 

 

 

According to the social media response in Twitter, they will discuss that when you call.  Some already asked that same question in the Twitter thread.  

[rbt001]

7 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

According to the social media response in Twitter, they will discuss that when you call.  Some already asked that same question in the Twitter thread.  

 

I called an purchased one.  These are "Use it or lose it" credits.  They are only valid for bar charges.

 

The will give you the date and time of your call, along with their name as a confirmation.  Currently they cannot email a receipt or any proof that you have purchased $300 and earned the $100 bonus.

 

In my case, I had my account open at the website.  When he posted the charge, the cost of my fully paid cruise went up $300 and reflected that I still owed $300.  Next he took my credit card information and posted the payment so that I am again fully paid.

There aren't any details on my dashboard or cruise details that breakout the bar loot.

 

He said it will all be in "The App"   (I swear!  They better have a Ticker Tape Parade when they finally release "The App"!)

 

[CruisingWalter]

Thanks for the update.  

 

As for the App, no need really to release it until about 2 weeks before the first sail. I'm sure the technical team is onboard now testing the heck out the app to make sure it all actually works onboard. 

[rbt001]

1 hour ago, creativegenius said:

Thanks for the update.  

 

As for the App, no need really to release it until about 2 weeks before the first sail. I'm sure the technical team is onboard now testing the heck out the app to make sure it all actually works onboard. 

 

Yes, but wasn't it also supposed to let us complete the check-in process with passport info, make reservations and select shore excursions... perhaps purchase loot, in advance of the cruise?  

 

 

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

Yes but the ship isn't sailing with the public on board for a little while yet. It may or may not be active yet for the Sneak Preview cruises. 

 

The app doesn't have to be available until it's time for the first official cruise. 

[rbt001]

9 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

Yes but the ship isn't sailing with the public on board for a little while yet. It may or may not be active yet for the Sneak Preview cruises. 

 

The app doesn't have to be available until it's time for the first official cruise. 

 

It's almost as if you're making it sound like the Sneak-A-Peak cruises don't count.

 

The description of the Sneak-A-Peak cruises includes this:

Ahead of our inaugural season, we're giving you a chance to preview the Virgin Voyages experience.

 

I'm on the March 26th sailing, and the fare I paid for my suite is higher than the price for some of the Summer sailing five day cruises.  Their app is supposed to be an integral part of their cruise experience similar to NCL's onboard app which allows the booking of reservations.    Every time I speak with a telephone agent, I hear how the app will take care of whatever's in question.  We see that their account feature of the web is bare bones minimum-- and lacking.  There doesn't seem to be any efforts to build out the web account feature, indicating it will all be handled through the app.  So come cruise time, if there aren't alternatives, and the app still isn't ready, then what?

 

While an app on my phone is more convenient, it's not such a big deal if I have to use the TV in my stateroom or my laptop connected to wifi.  But to have NO METHOD, because the app isn't ready at sailing, well then where's that Virgin Voyages experience they are selling? 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

It's February 18th.  If the app isn't working when you get onboard then you can certainly complain. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by creativegenius

[rbt001]

Attached is the actual email receipt that I received for my bar loot purchase.  

[crazycatlady11]

I'm waiting for someone with no plans to sail VV to drop in with comments on how much worse the bar tab with bonus is than any other beverage package.

[twodjs]

We bought one for each cruise (we're doing a B2B in November). Any balance (like that's gonna happen!) cannot be transferred to the next cruise. The $300 (+$100 bonus) goes into one account assigned to one sailor. But that sailor can buy as many drinks at once as desired ( not just one at a time) and those can be shared. Wonder if the app (on a phone) can be in one part of the ship while my wrist thing is in another - with the ability to order from either? 

[AlyssaJames]

2 hours ago, creativegenius said:

Yes but the ship isn't sailing with the public on board for a little while yet. It may or may not be active yet for the Sneak Preview cruises. 

 

The app doesn't have to be available until it's time for the first official cruise. 

The last time I checked earlier today, March 26’s button to book onboard experiences still isn’t working. 

[CruisingWalter]

31 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

The last time I checked earlier today, March 26’s button to book onboard experiences still isn’t working. 

 

I pinged one of the travel reporters who is going onboard in Dover to ask about the app if he thinks about it. I'll let you all know if he replies. 

[AlyssaJames]

4 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

I pinged one of the travel reporters who is going onboard in Dover to ask about the app if he thinks about it. I'll let you all know if he replies. 

Thanks! I tweeted at Virgin a few days ago, and they said something like “call us to book shore things!”.

 

Since I wasn’t trying to book shore things, I let it slide. 🙂

 

I’m not too worried about it, I mostly just want to get a drag brunch booked.

[CruisingWalter]

1 minute ago, AlyssaJames said:

I’m not too worried about it, I mostly just want to get a drag brunch booked.

 

And of course the phone lines close at 9pm eastern time so calling now is useless.

 

The drag brunch is the one thing I want to make sure we get booked in August too. 

[JamieLogical]

12 hours ago, crazycatlady11 said:

I'm waiting for someone with no plans to sail VV to drop in with comments on how much worse the bar tab with bonus is than any other beverage package.

 

I guess I will take this one. 😛

 

I don't know that I have no plans to sail on VV ever, but I have reached the conclusion that I won't be doing so in the near future.

 

I also can't say that this is worse than any other beverage package, as I haven't had exposure to all of the other beverage packages on all of the other cruise lines.

 

I do think this is a significant improvement over *NO* beverage package, as one of my main worries about not having a beverage package was stressing about every drink purchased. This mitigates that issue somewhat, but obviously not completely.

 

If I have $400 of credit towards drinks on a 5 day sailing and cocktails average $10 a piece, then that works out to 8 drinks a day. I would say I usually average closer to 10 drinks a day on a cruise, so I still might exhaust my credit and have to pay per drink toward the end of the sailing. Definitely not the stress-free drink package I would like, but, as I said, a bit of an improvement over no package at all.

 

Looking forward to hearing from those of you doing the early sailings! I am still very interested in VV overall and I am hoping the reviews can sway me towards giving it a try at some point, despite my drink package concerns.

[rbt001]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I guess I will take this one. 😛

 

I don't know that I have no plans to sail on VV ever, but I have reached the conclusion that I won't be doing so in the near future.

 

I also can't say that this is worse than any other beverage package, as I haven't had exposure to all of the other beverage packages on all of the other cruise lines.

 

I do think this is a significant improvement over *NO* beverage package, as one of my main worries about not having a beverage package was stressing about every drink purchased. This mitigates that issue somewhat, but obviously not completely.

 

If I have $400 of credit towards drinks on a 5 day sailing and cocktails average $10 a piece, then that works out to 8 drinks a day. I would say I usually average closer to 10 drinks a day on a cruise, so I still might exhaust my credit and have to pay per drink toward the end of the sailing. Definitely not the stress-free drink package I would like, but, as I said, a bit of an improvement over no package at all.

 

Looking forward to hearing from those of you doing the early sailings! I am still very interested in VV overall and I am hoping the reviews can sway me towards giving it a try at some point, despite my drink package concerns.

 

Jaime, I don't think that comment was aim at you or an attempt to poke at your position.  Instead, as another thread pointed out, it was a snarky jab at the group of CC members who condemn change or anything new.  In particular I recall threads on the Princess Cruises board when the line introduce their new restaurant concept:  SHARE.  Some droned on about how they would NEVER go because there was NOTHING on the menu that was even edible to them.  Feelings were so strong that I thought I'd find picket lines at the entrance of the restaurant.

 

As for beverage packages, I did recently look at your expanded signature where you've placed your cruise history.  NCL offers their beverage package as a freebie where you only pay about $20/day for the "beverage gratuity service charge" portion of the package.  Otherwise, it would cost $85-$100 a day for the duration of the cruise.  I know that Princess annually runs a "Sip n Sail" promotion where again, the beverage package is thrown in.  Otherwise it would cost $85 or more per day and must be purchased for the duration of the cruise.  Some lines require every adult in the same cabin to purchase, if one adult does, as a measure to prevent sharing one package.  I don't know the pricing for all the mass-market lines, but I'm sure they are competitive and withing that $85/day range.

 

Jamie, by your calculations, of the loot credit covering 8 or your 10 drinks a day, you're talking a difference of 2 drinks, $20/day or $100 for your cruise.  That must be a pretty tight budget to let a potential $100 variance on a several thousand dollar vacation stress you out!

 

But then again, this $100 credit is for a limited time.  The normal offering is a $50 credit, which I still think is a good offer.

[OliviaAdventurer]

Can we assume we can use this credit toward champagne delivery?  I thought I read somewhere that was going to be $90.  

 

[rbt001]

23 minutes ago, OliviaAdventurer said:

Can we assume we can use this credit toward champagne delivery?  I thought I read somewhere that was going to be $90.  

 

Safe assumption, I'd say