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September 22, 2021 first sailing out of Miami cancelled


Duke95
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Just got an email that our 9-22 sailing out of Miami is cancelled. No idea how many cruises after us are cancelled too.

 

Decent investment since I just booked last month. 😀

 

ETA: Just read that the first three cruises in September all got cancelled. The first cruise is now on October 6.

Edited by Duke95
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Details for impacted sailings on Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady

07 Jul 2021

As we await final confirmation on the official sail dates for our fleet of lady ships, we’ve made the decision to cancel our sailings on Scarlet Lady (departing September 22nd through October 1st, 2021), as well as sailings on Valiant Lady (departing November 14th through May 1st, 2022). If your voyage has been impacted by this, please take a look at the details below so you can choose an offer that works best for you.

For Sailors canceled for the first time:

Double Your Value Option 

You’ll automatically be credited 200% in Future Voyage Credit of the amount you’ve paid to date toward your voyage fare, which you can apply to another sailing, rather than a refund* — which is double the value of your existing paid voyage fare. The FVC is valid for redemption up to a year after the original voyage start date for any sailing with open inventory through 2022.

Refund Option

Or if you'd prefer a refund, we'll refund everything paid along with a Future Voyage Credit equal to 25% of your existing paid voyage fare to be used on a future sailing. Please note that you must request a refund from Sailor Services by August 26th, 2021**

For Sailors canceled more than once:

Your Full Future Voyage Credit:

Your full Future Voyage Credit will be restored to use toward a future sailing, and our standard cancellation policies will apply. The FVC is valid for redemption up to a year after the impacted voyage start date and can be applied to any sailing with open inventory through 2022.

*The double your value option will only apply to the amount that was actually paid, not any additional value credited to you.

**Taxes, fees, and pre-voyage sales will be fully refunded to your original form of payment within 30 days if paid in full.

 

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I've now been cancelled on by them SIX TIMES... I'm "this close" to just giving up on them as a cruise line altogether. The ship has been completed for a year and a half now, but they claim they need 15 more days, and THEN they'll be able to sail. I sat on hold with them through my entire lunch break, and then I had to give up and get back to work. I also have flights and hotel that I have to cancel again FOR THE SIXTH TIME... 

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37 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I've now been cancelled on by them SIX TIMES... I'm "this close" to just giving up on them as a cruise line altogether. The ship has been completed for a year and a half now, but they claim they need 15 more days, and THEN they'll be able to sail. I sat on hold with them through my entire lunch break, and then I had to give up and get back to work. I also have flights and hotel that I have to cancel again FOR THE SIXTH TIME... 

 

I was on one of the canceled cruises as well. I understand it's extremely frustrating to have been canceled SIX times (whew!) but try not to be angry with Virgin about it. They don't control the pandemic or the ridiculous games government is playing with each other. I really do believe this has to do with Florida's little rule. Virgin does not cater to customers with children so they have had zero incentive to do test sailings in order to not require vaccines. However, they may need to throw some together now. 

 

Also, when I called the main customer service line today (just after 10AM Eastern), I was given the option to receive a call back instead of waiting on hold. They called back within 5 minutes. I just want to let people know it's not always crazy hold times. You can also contact them via email and they will get back to you within 72 hours. As a travel agent, this is the BEST experience I've had this whole pandemic with a cruise line, airline or any other supplier. It was like a breath of fresh air. I've regularly been on hold lately for more than five hours at a time with other suppliers (10.5 hours straight one time!) with no options for a callback. 

 

EDIT: I understand this doesn't explain the Valiant Lady cancelations. However, I think there's a lot that goes into getting a cruise line going than what any of us can really fathom. There's a whole boatload of things the public doesn't know or understand about operations of not just cruise lines but also airlines, hotels, etc. Everyone is definitely entitled to be frustrated, angry or feel any feelings they do! Let's just try to remember that we don't know every little thing going on. And most importantly, let's not take it out on the customer service agents, they are just the messengers. 

Edited by PiperHolliday
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I have three cruises on Valiant Lady that are now cancelled - Nov 14, Jan 29 and May 1. I have already had five dates prior to these all get cancelled. As much as I want to go on Virgin I am pretty much done with them until they get their sh*t together to be honest. I get that Covid  has affected everything and was beyond their control but to announce the cancelling of all  Valiant Lady sailing up to and including May 1 - that  sounds alot like financial difficulties to me and that means I am asking for a refund for the first time instead of taking the 200% Future cruise credit.  Between that and their crappy app still not working I just have lost faith in this business. 

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Any official reason for the cancelations? Is it just not enough bookings so they decided to cancel? Don't know how ships sitting empty and handing out 200% credits helps the bottom line. 

 

If that is the case they canceled due to low bookings Virgin has the most incompetent marketing team in the cruise industry. Could they have not just discounted further? Like offer 50% off for health care workers for example like MSC is. Offer better incentives for travel agents. You can't find Virgin on any travel agent sites including the big ones that have every other cruise line. 

 

If people won't book a cruise now after being locked down for so long are they going to book Virgin 6 months later with the same incentive and incompetent marketing? Sending out the same email about $600 in "free stuff" over and over for 2 years is not going to get it done. Makes me wonder if they will ever sail. 

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I’m frustrated just like everyone else, as much by the lack of explanation as anything. My first instinct was to cut my losses and just request a refund. But now I’m reading the email where it says that you can get a refund if this is your first cancellation, but if it’s your second cancellation they’re offering future credit. Are they trying to say that I’m now not even eligible for a refund? 😡

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I wasn’t even booked on anything yet and this is still disappointing. I’m most concerned about the Valiant Lady cancellations because it can’t be related to anything going on right now. Maybe they’re going to launch the ship from another country. It just seems unlikely that they aren’t going to sail at all if in fact things continue to decline with the pandemic.

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2 hours ago, westguy99 said:

Any official reason for the cancelations? Is it just not enough bookings so they decided to cancel? Don't know how ships sitting empty and handing out 200% credits helps the bottom line. 

 

If that is the case they canceled due to low bookings Virgin has the most incompetent marketing team in the cruise industry. Could they have not just discounted further? Like offer 50% off for health care workers for example like MSC is. Offer better incentives for travel agents. You can't find Virgin on any travel agent sites including the big ones that have every other cruise line. 

 

If people won't book a cruise now after being locked down for so long are they going to book Virgin 6 months later with the same incentive and incompetent marketing? Sending out the same email about $600 in "free stuff" over and over for 2 years is not going to get it done. Makes me wonder if they will ever sail. 

 

I was canceled for the Valiant Lady New Years 8 night sailing. Looking at the Scarlet Lady 4 night News Years sailing the ship is about 15% booked based on the cabins still available. When I checked before the 4 night sailing had been selling better than the 8 night. 

 

My conclusion they canceled all these sailings because they weren't selling. Too many empty cabins so they cut capacity by canceling sailings. They should have dropped prices. New Years is the most popular time of the year to cruise the Caribbean and if they can't sell that then there is a problem. Bottom line poor marketing and obviously people see poor value in what they are offering. 

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1 hour ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

I wasn’t even booked on anything yet and this is still disappointing. I’m most concerned about the Valiant Lady cancellations because it can’t be related to anything going on right now. Maybe they’re going to launch the ship from another country. It just seems unlikely that they aren’t going to sail at all if in fact things continue to decline with the pandemic.

 

I would think the long cancellation for the Valiant Lady means that they aren't even going to bother brining the ship over here anytime soon and figure they can run some short trips to Greece or more cruises to nowhere. 

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According to the guy that I just spent an hour with on the phone, they're just trying to get off the ground safely right now... Of course, the ship has now been ready for over a year now, so who knows... I'm now booked upon the Scarlet Lady for the seventh time now...

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18 hours ago, twodjs said:

Valiant Lady has been canceled through May 1, 2022! 

Apparently valiant is sailing from the UK in spring 2022 I've just seen, don't think that was always going to happen was it?

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13 hours ago, LincolnLog said:

I’m frustrated just like everyone else, as much by the lack of explanation as anything. My first instinct was to cut my losses and just request a refund. But now I’m reading the email where it says that you can get a refund if this is your first cancellation, but if it’s your second cancellation they’re offering future credit. Are they trying to say that I’m now not even eligible for a refund? 😡

 

Almost all the other cruise lines are not allowing you to get a refund if you have already taken the FCC from a previous cancellation.  So, it would not surprise me that VV is doing the same.  

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18 hours ago, LincolnLog said:

I’m frustrated just like everyone else, as much by the lack of explanation as anything. My first instinct was to cut my losses and just request a refund. But now I’m reading the email where it says that you can get a refund if this is your first cancellation, but if it’s your second cancellation they’re offering future credit. Are they trying to say that I’m now not even eligible for a refund? 😡

Just wanted to confirm that you can get a refund even if you have taken the 200% FCC in the past. We had three cruises cancelled on Valiant Lady and I called yesterday and requested a refund. They had to go back to the absolute beginning in Feb 2109 when I booked the first of the many other cruises on Scarlet Lady that were cancelled to figure out what the actual amount was we paid. That is the amount that you will receive back and there are no 25% FCC if you have booked and cancelled more than once already. 

 

 

Edited by janbear
fixed typo
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19 hours ago, westguy99 said:

 

I was canceled for the Valiant Lady New Years 8 night sailing. Looking at the Scarlet Lady 4 night News Years sailing the ship is about 15% booked based on the cabins still available. When I checked before the 4 night sailing had been selling better than the 8 night. 

 

My conclusion they canceled all these sailings because they weren't selling. Too many empty cabins so they cut capacity by canceling sailings. They should have dropped prices. New Years is the most popular time of the year to cruise the Caribbean and if they can't sell that then there is a problem. Bottom line poor marketing and obviously people see poor value in what they are offering. 

 

I hope someone will post the actual reason(s) for the cancellations.

 

My guess is Valiant Lady was cancelled for financial reasons and Scarlet Lady for bureaucratic, logistical, or staffing issues.

 

Did not see this coming.

 

I figured they were saving money by not doing any marketing.

 

Rep I spoke with on the phone several months ago said Virgin was hoping to get some positive likes/mentions/reviews from the British series of sailings that would help sell the US voyages.

 

Actually, that made sense and made me feel like Virgin had a product that would sell itself once consumers could see it.

 

 

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22 minutes ago, CroozFanatic said:

 

I hope someone will post the actual reason(s) for the cancellations.

 

My guess is Valiant Lady was cancelled for financial reasons and Scarlet Lady for bureaucratic, logistical, or staffing issues.

 

Did not see this coming.

 

I figured they were saving money by not doing any marketing.

 

Rep I spoke with on the phone several months ago said Virgin was hoping to get some positive likes/mentions/reviews from the British series of sailings that would help sell the US voyages.

 

Actually, that made sense and made me feel like Virgin had a product that would sell itself once consumers could see it.

 

 

I agree I definitely did not see this coming. I assumed booking a cruise in May 2022 was safe from being cancelled. Now that we know Valiant Lady is (supposedly) only starting to sail in March in Europe, it lends credence to the financial issues thought. A ship sitting idle from now until March - well that just creates a ton of questions in my mind. 

 

While they may get some good reviews from British sailings, they have certainly succeeded in changing the attitudes of their existing US based clients already booked. I certainly won't be booking anything on Virgin until I see Scarlet Lady here sailing for a month or two. 

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I think its fair at this time to wonder about the short term viability of this product and not just the long term viability. I am going to have think hard about whether i just take a refund or take the 200%.

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