They set everyone's expectation high but failed to deliver yesterday!

[Exvirginstaff]

In total from arriving at the port until we got on the ship we waited 6 hours!! Complained onboard and was told they aim for 'rockstar service in everything we do because that's the Virgin way' (the crew member's excited words), well yesterday was NOT 'rockstar service' and was definitely not the 'Virgin way', other UK Virgin companies (Virgin Atlantic) have spent years perfecting the Virgin Way in everything they do and Virgin Voyages come along and don't even deliver the Virgin Way on the first day of there maiden Voyage.

[dippyblond]

Seemed to be rather chaotic! Lots of disgruntled comments on FB from people waiting hours.

Lets hope this is not repeated on Monday!

I do wonder if people were arriving well before their allotted 1 hour slot??

[Exvirginstaff]

Just now, dippyblond said:

Seemed to be rather chaotic! Lots of disgruntled comments on FB from people waiting hours.

Lets hope this is not repeated on Monday!

I do wonder if people were arriving well before their allotted 1 hour slot??

It was horrendous, definite not the Virgin service that all Virgin Companies pride themselves on.

 

We arrived on time not early and still was 6 hours from arriving until we got onboard.

 

Once aboard there was a PA from Tom Mcalpin though and we all got free drinks for that one night only!

[teabear]

25 minutes ago, Exvirginstaff said:

In total from arriving at the port until we got on the ship we waited 6 hours!! Complained onboard and was told they aim for 'rockstar service in everything we do because that's the Virgin way' (the crew member's excited words), well yesterday was NOT 'rockstar service' and was definitely not the 'Virgin way', other UK Virgin companies (Virgin Atlantic) have spent years perfecting the Virgin Way in everything they do and Virgin Voyages come along and don't even deliver the Virgin Way on the first day of there maiden Voyage.

I have a friend on board and she called me yesterday to tell me about the complete mess they had made off the testing/embarkation setup - I am on Monday's cruise and although I dont normally have mobility issues,  my rebuilt pelvis (horse went east, I went west) will never allow me to stand in lines for hours.  Called Virgin Customer Care = spoke to a lovely man in the US who couldnt apologise enough and assured me that they were flat out fixing things as we speak so that this doesnt occur again - he did mention that they were concerned that lots of people would try turning up way too early than the 1 hour prior to their boarding slot and if that happens, they will be asked to leave and return at the correct time.   Not sure the roads around the testing site can cope with large numbers parking and waiting??  I offered to go get at test prior to arriving at the port,  at my own cost, he stated that there was no protocol for this at this time - read into this as you will.   

Hope the rest goes well for you and you end up having a rockstar experience

[Exvirginstaff]

Spent all last night dodging drunk passengers because they made all bear and wine free for the night!

[ChipLondon]

Sorry you had a poor experience, but to say “everyone” is simply not correct, my experience has been awesome. Yes I accept there were problems at the Testing Centre, but that is run by and outside company not VV, once people got onboard the staff fell over backwards to deliver service to all. Hate the way complainers dont even mention that the company management accepted things could have been better and offered bot free Wine and Beer as well as OBC for everyone. Thanks Scarlet Lady you are a great ship that presents Cruising with a difference.

[Solent Richard]

4 hours ago, teabear said:

 - he did mention that they were concerned that lots of people would try turning up way too early than the 1 hour prior to their boarding slot and if that happens, they will be asked to leave and return at the correct time.   

And there's the old chestnut again. Why can't people follow simple instructions particularly during these trying times.

[Solent Richard]

2 hours ago, ChipLondon said:

Sorry you had a poor experience, but to say “everyone” is simply not correct, my experience has been awesome. Yes I accept there were problems at the Testing Centre, but that is run by and outside company not VV, once people got onboard the staff fell over backwards to deliver service to all. Hate the way complainers dont even mention that the company management accepted things could have been better and offered bot free Wine and Beer as well as OBC for everyone. Thanks Scarlet Lady you are a great ship that presents Cruising with a difference.

Well said and cheers for that one. I hear P&O are turning away passengers who arrive early for the Iona sailing in Southampton today.

[gumshoe958]

2 hours ago, ChipLondon said:

Sorry you had a poor experience, but to say “everyone” is simply not correct, my experience has been awesome. Yes I accept there were problems at the Testing Centre, but that is run by and outside company not VV, once people got onboard the staff fell over backwards to deliver service to all. Hate the way complainers dont even mention that the company management accepted things could have been better and offered bot free Wine and Beer as well as OBC for everyone. Thanks Scarlet Lady you are a great ship that presents Cruising with a difference.

@ChipLondonI agree.

 

Look, there’s no two ways about it: the testing process yesterday was a disaster. From what the CEO said last night their outsourced testing provider had staffing issues, and I see no reason to disbelieve him: very few UK businesses haven’t been impacted by the “pingdemic” in the last few weeks.

 

But rather than put their head in the sand and go on the defensive, VV have promptly acknowledged that they let us down and sought to make amends with free drinks and extra OBC. For me, that was a sincere and welcome gesture although I guess there’ll be some who will demand more.

 

Having said all that, clearly VV must learn lessons and I’d hope and assume that management are spending the weekend drawing up contingency plans to ensure there’s no repeat as it simply can’t be allowed to happen again.

[gumshoe958]

4 hours ago, Exvirginstaff said:

It was horrendous, definite not the Virgin service that all Virgin Companies pride themselves on.

 

We arrived on time not early and still was 6 hours from arriving until we got onboard.

 

Once aboard there was a PA from Tom Mcalpin though and we all got free drinks for that one night only!

My sympathies - 6 hours is appalling. I took just under 3, which felt quite long enough.

 

Let’s not pretend, though, that the rest of the Virgin empire is flawless. The way Virgin Atlantic handled refunds for the first few months of the pandemic was equally appalling. I’m sure there were reasons for it - furloughed staff, cashflow issues etc - but it’s cost them a lot of goodwill and potentially future ticket sales.

 

All businesses get things wrong. Particularly new ones that don’t have years of experience to draw on. That’s life. What counts is how they resolve them and learn from them to ensure they get things right in the future.

[fubarbloke]

4 hours ago, teabear said:

I offered to go get at test prior to arriving at the port,  at my own cost, he stated that there was no protocol for this at this time - read into this as you will.   

 

That's interesting. I just flew Virgin Atlantic. They have what seemed to be a well oiled system for verifying private, pre-departure tests, which are required. When I flew, they, along with BA, also piloted a system for checking vaccination status of people, like me, who weren't vaccinated in the the UK. Worked fine.

[Exvirginstaff]

I'm enquiring about a partial refund after the cruise!

[Exvirginstaff]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

@ChipLondonI agree.

 

Look, there’s no two ways about it: the testing process yesterday was a disaster. From what the CEO said last night their outsourced testing provider had staffing issues, and I see no reason to disbelieve him: very few UK businesses haven’t been impacted by the “pingdemic” in the last few weeks.

 

But rather than put their head in the sand and go on the defensive, VV have promptly acknowledged that they let us down and sought to make amends with free drinks and extra OBC. For me, that was a sincere and welcome gesture although I guess there’ll be some who will demand more.

 

Having said all that, clearly VV must learn lessons and I’d hope and assume that management are spending the weekend drawing up contingency plans to ensure there’s no repeat as it simply can’t be allowed to happen again.

Your right it simply CANNOT happen again!!

 

The CEO should have offered more compensation really!

[ChipLondon]

12 minutes ago, Exvirginstaff said:

I'm enquiring about a partial refund after the cruise!

So can I ask exactly what partial refund would you find satisfactory, sure you may have been inconvenienced for say 4 hours, therefore about 7% of your time on the ship. So would 7% refund be suitable, surely the OBC already offered covers that for most guests. 

[Solent Richard]

33 minutes ago, Exvirginstaff said:

Your right it simply CANNOT happen again!!

 

The CEO should have offered more compensation really!

Good luck with that.

 

What do we want?

 

Compensayshun. 😂

 

(that's my spelling not a typo by the way)

[ownedbypets]

12 hours ago, Exvirginstaff said:

Your right it simply CANNOT happen again!!

 

The CEO should have offered more compensation really!

 

Sounds like you have already made up your mind that your entire cruise will be awful. Ex Virgin employee looking for revenge??

[LeLe_Is_Me]

Not sure if this is new but I’ve not seen it before now. 
All sailors now have to go to park and ride first regardless of how you are getting there 

more info here under antigen testing tab

https://www.virginvoyages.com/email/pre-sail-landing-hub#UK-Sailings

Edited August 8, 2021 by LeLe_Is_Me

[gumshoe958]

Yes, that’s new. The Park & Ride is on the other side of the motorway junction, about a 5 minute walk to the testing centre.

 

The big question is: have they addressed the fundamental problem which, as far as I could see, was not enough testing capacity?

 

If not, all they’ve done is shifted the problem elsewhere. The wait won’t be any shorter, it’ll just be in another location, presumably in your own car rather than standing in a long queue. Which presumably doesn’t look as bad on Instagram …

[les37b]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

Yes, that’s new. The Park & Ride is on the other side of the motorway junction, about a 5 minute walk to the testing centre.

 

The big question is: have they addressed the fundamental problem which, as far as I could see, was not enough testing capacity?

 

If not, all they’ve done is shifted the problem elsewhere. The wait won’t be any shorter, it’ll just be in another location, presumably in your own car rather than standing in a long queue. Which presumably doesn’t look as bad on Instagram …

 

Agree. So they are saying don't arrive before 1am at the park and ride. I get they might not have the means to board before 2, but it they started earlier, people would be ready to board earlier....rather than delaying sail away by 3 hours because they haven't the capacity. Also that park and ride has limited capacity and used by others.

 

Anyone know how many it sailed with on board?

 

What's the WiFi like?

[LeLe_Is_Me]

Surely it will speedy up the process by ensuring the people going to the testing site are going at the correct allocates time. 
 

the issue before looked to me more like there was no checking so people were queuing before their test time for eg someone with a 2:30 time got there too early caused pushing back someone with a 2pm testing time who got there in time.

 

my concern is people on foot are sat in a waiting bus at P&R before the test time.  Then all transported across to the test site.

what if someone on the bus is unknowingly positive. This surely contaminates the whole bus of people going across?

 

im sure it will all work out just so many uncertainties.

 

tonorrow will be interesting to see. 🤞

[LeLe_Is_Me]

I’m also thinking if I’m getting a lift can they then wait for me so I can wait In The car, then they can drive across to the test then drop me at the port.

 

[Solent Richard]

3 hours ago, LeLe_Is_Me said:

Not sure if this is new but I’ve not seen it before now. 
All sailors now have to go to park and ride first regardless of how you are getting there 

more info here under antigen testing tab

https://www.virginvoyages.com/email/pre-sail-landing-hub#UK-Sailings

Interesting wording which could leave something for misinterpretation. 

 

We have free parking and with instructions that are somewhat different. But hey, we are staying flexible as everything changes almost daily.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Solent Richard

[Solent Richard]

Things can only get better.

 

Here's an extract from my good friend and fellow cruise blogger who is currently onboard...

 

https://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2021/08/scarlet-lady-postcard-2-sea-day-1/

[LeLe_Is_Me]

4 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Interesting wording which could leave something for misinterpretation. 

 

We have free parking and with instructions are somewhat different. But hey, we are staying flexible as everything changes almost daily.

Where is that? I’ve not seen anything about free parking 

[LeLe_Is_Me]

6 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Things can only get better.

 

Here's an extract from my good friend and fellow cruise blogger who is currently onboard...

 

https://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2021/08/scarlet-lady-postcard-2-sea-day-1/

This is a great read ty 😊

 

I’m very excited to board 😆 

this will be mine and bubba first ever cruise 😬😃