What an overpriced, overhyped, arrogant line.

[Daveywavey70]

One of our agents was booked onto one of the preview cruises. They refused point blank to change the agent that we were sending  with the most condescending and arrogant attitude that I have ever encountered. Considering that Virgin have already  alienated most of the travel industry with their previous policies, I was quite amazed at their continued arrogance that wishes to reject an upcoming cruise specialist that is trying to promote them. Good luck to them, but they will never receive any bookings from ourselves. Instead of receiving many positive YouTube videos from an avid cruise blogger, they have recruited an agency that will switch sell at every opportunity. Arrogance is not a quality that inspirers loyalty. 
 

[rbt001]

Feel better now that you've aired your laundry?

 

All of us will be in the other threads, excited about the great cruise experiences we intend to have on Virgin Voyages.

 

Bu-bye!

[Jonkingskey]

I don´t want to sound overly rude as I´m new here. In fact Virgin will be my first ever cruise later this year. 

 

However, it does seem because you couldn´t get your own way you have thrown your toys out the pram. We all get upset over small things and later regret it but to now say overpriced, overhyped etc etc because something didn´t go your way is a bit much.

 

If they had changed the name and you had your own way you wouldn´t have thought those things? That seems to be the sticking point which has changed your view, seems a little unreasonable. 

 

This style of cruise may not be for everyone and that is ok. There are many other lines with an offering to suit everyone. 

 

I never wanted to cruise before for reasons which others may love and wouldn´t change it but this has really caught my attention and I am doing a 4 night later this year in advance of longer sailings in the med. 

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

2 hours ago, Jonkingskey said:

I never wanted to cruise before for reasons which others may love and wouldn´t change it but this has really caught my attention and I am doing a 4 night later this year in advance of longer sailings in the med. 

 

Welcome aboard to the world the cruising! I'm so glad that Virgin caught your eye and encouraged you to give cruising a try. Scarlet Lady will be our 14th cruise and 8th cruise line overall. She's certainly THE most different of any ship we've sailed and we're excited to see what she has to offer. 

 

The fact that she is so different has turned off many die hard cruise fans who want the same old, same old but with a Virgin twist. Virgin twisted up the entire ship instead. People who are expecting to be treated with 'respect' because they've been around cruising for so long are in for a rude awakening. Yes Virgin is brash, yes they are arrogant and yes we all know that going in. They don't care about the establishment and that's what is so appealing.

 

The fact of the matter is no ship is perfect, no cruise line is perfect, no cruise is perfect. But you're at sea being waited on hand and foot for the entirety of your stay. You roll with it and as long as you're flexible and understand that things change, things happen, you'll have a great time. If you have a bad cruise it's because you worked really hard at it. 🙂

 

I really hope you enjoy your first cruise and that this is the start of something new. 

[hotsauce126]

I hope you feel better now that you've gotten that off your chest. I don't think it's going to affect anyone else's opinion

[70KToM]

LOL @ entitled "bloggers"

[OliviaAdventurer]

I think most travel agents are a little bitter because aren't they becoming obsolete?  I haven't used one in years...

[Mahogany]

22 hours ago, OliviaAdventurer said:

I think most travel agents are a little bitter because aren't they becoming obsolete?  I haven't used one in years...

I travel 4 months a year, and when something goes wrong, my TA is my go-to person. Though I do most of the basic research, she does the finalizing and interaction with international companies. Sure, I could do all the grunt work, but why? "Obsolete", maybe somewhere. " A little bitter" , maybe some. "haven't used one in years",  your choice, not mine.

Forgot to add, used her for my VV booking.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Mahogany
forgot something

[philsuarez]

• I think Davey was just reporting on the attitude of the booking staff which considering this was a preview you would think they would be keen to engage with the travel agents

[AlyssaJames]

2 minutes ago, philsuarez said:

• I think Davey was just reporting on the attitude of the booking staff which considering this was a preview you would think they would be keen to engage with the travel agents

 

I just don't understand why he was surprised:

 

"Considering that Virgin have already alienated most of the travel industry with their previous policies ..."

[eroller]

I'm not a travel agent but I know VV has some policies that make them very travel agent friendly.  One is NCF's, or "non-commissionable fares".  Almost all cruise lines take out a percentage of the cruise fare and make it non-commissionable.  It's a shady way for them to cut their distribution costs.  This is in addition to the port taxes and government fees which are always non-commissionable.  No one knows exactly what the NCF's are, or how they are determined but they exist none the less, and they are a sore spot for travel agents.  Virgin Voyages announced no NCF's to the delight of their travel partners.  Not only do they not want to nickel & dime their passengers, but the same applies to their travel partners.  

[Daveywavey70]

The reason that I posted this is due to the absolutely rude and arrogant response that we received when we called them to make the name change, not the fact that they wouldn't make the change The attitude of the agent was that the waitlist is very full and you are going to the back of the queue. She obviously had better things to do than take this call.  She was extremely dsmissive and gave the impression that we were wasting ber valuable time,  Had they have even offered a slight apology that the request could not be accommodated then we would not have been quite as offended.  Anyone in the industry knows about Virgins arrogance when it comes to TAs. The fact remains that they are charging more pppd  than Silversea or Seabourn to sail on a vessel that looks like a road closed ahead sign.

[Daveywavey70]

On 2/24/2020 at 5:27 PM, OliviaAdventurer said:

I think most travel agents are a little bitter because aren't they becoming obsolete?  I haven't used one in years...

If they believe that they are going to fill their new ships without the assistance of Cruise agents then  I Would  be very surprised, especially considering Coronavirus.

[2NOLAcruisers]

Boohoo.  

 

If this means you are not booking your like minded clientele, then great!

[Daveywavey70]

5 hours ago, 2NOLAcruisers said:

Boohoo.  

 

If this means you are not booking your like minded clientele, then great!

 Are you referring to people that expect common courtesy? 

[poidog81]

[Expat Cruise]

OP  You need to get the message here,   Virgin does not believe they need travel agents. No reason to pay agents who really add no value to a cruise, just give the guests a better product at a lower price, because of the savings of not paying travel agents.  I happen to agree with this Travel Agents add nothing to Cruise Travel.

 

But I do have several issues with the ship and what they have done. The standard cabins without real beds is a stupid choice of design. That in the standard cabins no double, queen or king size beds will hurt them, single beds only. The bathrooms are really small. I been on private boats under 50 feet in  size that have bigger bathrooms, this is a big missing of the mark.  And the ship has no pool, the little thing they are calling a pool would not even be considered a pool for a tiny private home.  

 

They did not use people who cruise when they designed the ship and made many errors that can be seen just from the PR information. The other mistakes will not be known after a cruise.  I do find the pricing to be reasonable considering all the things included.

 

[AlyssaJames]

17 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

That in the standard cabins no double, queen or king size beds will hurt them, single beds only.

What? The single beds can be made into a double, just like many other cruise line beds with multiple configurations. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by AlyssaJames

[*Miss G*]

On 2/25/2020 at 9:20 PM, Daveywavey70 said:

The reason that I posted this is due to the absolutely rude and arrogant response that we received when we called them to make the name change, not the fact that they wouldn't make the change The attitude of the agent was that the waitlist is very full and you are going to the back of the queue. She obviously had better things to do than take this call.  She was extremely dsmissive and gave the impression that we were wasting ber valuable time,  Had they have even offered a slight apology that the request could not be accommodated then we would not have been quite as offended.  Anyone in the industry knows about Virgins arrogance when it comes to TAs. The fact remains that they are charging more pppd  than Silversea or Seabourn to sail on a vessel that looks like a road closed ahead sign.

 

It sounds more like an encounter with someone who should not be in customer service as opposed to the arrogance of an entire cruise line.

[Daveywavey70]

19 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

It sounds more like an encounter with someone who should not be in customer service as opposed to the arrogance of an entire cruise line.

 

Unfortunately Miss G, when you represent a cruise line you are placed in the unfortunate position of representing a cruise line. She was the the most arrogant person that I have ever dealt with. With regard to other points, I was so taken in by the hype of how individual the line was going to be I was so looking forward to seeing what they had done differently, Unfortunately, most of the videos coming through are showing just how wrong VV have got things in so many respects. All of the previews seem to have been shambolic and they are still refusing to show anyone the single cabins. Whilst I completely respect the decision to have the ship designed by people that have never cruised, it might have been an idea to have them just looked over by people that have that could have made  few suggestions. Yet again, arrogance reigns over common sense.

[Daveywavey70]

Expat cruise , I'm afraid I must disagree with you. A Knowledgeable TA is able to find the right line and the right cruise for a first time cruiser that will suit them, EG Put someone on Cunard that doesn't like wearing a tux when they are told, they aren't going to enjoy their cruise. Direct them to NCL or similar. Find out a bit about them and what they enjoy then you will find the match for them. I Hear from a lot of people that would never cruise again for the pure reason that they have been on absolutely the wrong cruise for them, , booked with little knowledge. Thank you to the tr*lls that believe that TAs have no place in the 2!st century.  If you had any understanding of the industry beyond your own opinions, you might understand that many people do need a little assistance choosing the best way to spend their time and money and are quite pleased to receive a little expertise.

[*Miss G*]

12 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

 

Unfortunately Miss G, when you represent a cruise line you are placed in the unfortunate position of representing a cruise line. She was the the most arrogant person that I have ever dealt with. With regard to other points, I was so taken in by the hype of how individual the line was going to be I was so looking forward to seeing what they had done differently, Unfortunately, most of the videos coming through are showing just how wrong VV have got things in so many respects. All of the previews seem to have been shambolic and they are still refusing to show anyone the single cabins. Whilst I completely respect the decision to have the ship designed by people that have never cruised, it might have been an idea to have them just looked over by people that have that could have made  few suggestions. Yet again, arrogance reigns over common sense.

 

Your points are well taken and I absolutely agree with you that a poor attitude reflects negatively on the company.  Being far from perfect, myself, I try to give the benefit of the doubt and move on.  (She may have just received devastating news and could have been doing all she could to hold it together.)  I am not excusing the behaviour; just guessing on causalities.

 

I do hope that Virgin is successful in their product.  It does seem to fill a niche.  Only time will tell.

[mizLORInj]

I'm excited to try out Scarlet Lady.   Sad the NYC visit was cancelled though as we had dinner scheduled for this upcoming Saturday on Scarlet Lady.

 

Anyway, yes, they will be different.  Will we love it?  I hope so.  If not, there are other lines still available for us to book.

 

And yes, we used a TA and got onboard credit.   We always book with a TA and always get some kind of perk.  

 

 

[pc_load_letter]

On 2/21/2020 at 5:35 PM, Daveywavey70 said:

One of our agents was booked onto one of the preview cruises. They refused point blank to change the agent that we were sending  with the most condescending and arrogant attitude that I have ever encountered. Considering that Virgin have already  alienated most of the travel industry with their previous policies, I was quite amazed at their continued arrogance that wishes to reject an upcoming cruise specialist that is trying to promote them. Good luck to them, but they will never receive any bookings from ourselves. Instead of receiving many positive YouTube videos from an avid cruise blogger, they have recruited an agency that will switch sell at every opportunity. Arrogance is not a quality that inspirers loyalty. 
 

Let me guess...was this probably a freebie cruise? I laugh at food, travel, XYZ bloggers (and travel agents) who think they deserve something because of their job field.

 

Virgin doesn't really need you. If the ship gets good reviews...it will sell and they don't need you. Travel agencies are a dying concept and will go the way of the dodo.

[pc_load_letter]

On 2/25/2020 at 8:23 AM, Mahogany said:

I travel 4 months a year, and when something goes wrong, my TA is my go-to person. Though I do most of the basic research, she does the finalizing and interaction with international companies. Sure, I could do all the grunt work, but why? "Obsolete", maybe somewhere. " A little bitter" , maybe some. "haven't used one in years",  your choice, not mine.

Forgot to add, used her for my VV booking.

 

Mind telling us your age? Retired? Wife and I are in our 40's and when something goes wrong, we are capable enough to figure things out ourselves.

 

We had to come back from Europe once when my brother had a heart attack. It was not difficult to cancel, book and make those last minute arrangements to get home.