Virgin Bar Tab lament

[Wildcatllamas]

I had to call Virgin about a couple of things and the wonderful woman who helped asked if I would like to add the Bar Tab to either the first or second leg of my trip. I explained that if I could carry it over to the second leg or get a refund if I don't use it all I would do it in a heart beat. She was very sympathetic about it when she said that neither could be done but added that we could use it to buy fresh squeezed juice, coffees as well as drinks. I told her that for my friend and I when we did the math figuring 2 coffees apiece per day, 2 drinks a day at lunch and 2 glasses of wine at dinner that we would still have money left over since our first leg is only 4 nights. She understood then.

 

Now this is the big selling point I have with my clients. Most don't want to lose the money if they don't use it all. I wish that Virgin would do what other lines do when there is refundable OBC and non-refundable OBC. The non-refundable is used first and then the refundable is tapped. Oh well. Guess I will buy a bottle of wine to bring on board.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Wildcatllamas
misspelled word

[fubarbloke]

It's not entirely clear to me that the bar tab is being accounted for separately. On the first leg of my B2B the app showed everything together -- drinks and other extras, like a massage, were all listed together, along with the bar tab credit.

 

OTOH, I haven't yet received a final invoice for the first leg, when I had extras,  but I did get a final invoice for the second leg couple of hours after I got off the ship today -- no extras, so the invoice just showed the bar tab and the drinks applied to it. So it could be just another symptom of the effed up IT system.

[Wildcatllamas]

15 hours ago, fubarbloke said:

OTOH, I haven't yet received a final invoice for the first leg, when I had extras,  but I did get a final invoice for the second leg couple of hours after I got off the ship today -- no extras, so the invoice just showed the bar tab and the drinks applied to it. So it could be just another symptom of the effed up IT system.

Oh the joys of starting up a new system. I definitely don't envy their IT department. I know what goes on, when the place I work at, gets a new system or an upgrade. It is mass chaos - kind of like Mercury Retrograde on massive amounts of steroids.

[pa-annie]

On 11/21/2021 at 9:43 AM, Wildcatllamas said:

I had to call Virgin about a couple of things and the wonderful woman who helped asked if I would like to add the Bar Tab to either the first or second leg of my trip. I explained that if I could carry it over to the second leg or get a refund if I don't use it all I would do it in a heart beat. She was very sympathetic about it when she said that neither could be done but added that we could use it to buy fresh squeezed juice, coffees as well as drinks. I told her that for my friend and I when we did the math figuring 2 coffees apiece per day, 2 drinks a day at lunch and 2 glasses of wine at dinner that we would still have money left over since our first leg is only 4 nights. She understood then.

 

Now this is the big selling point I have with my clients. Most don't want to lose the money if they don't use it all. I wish that Virgin would do what other lines do when there is refundable OBC and non-refundable OBC. The non-refundable is used first and then the refundable is tapped. Oh well. Guess I will buy a bottle of wine to bring on board.

 

Now I'm confused.  So you need to pay for juice and coffee, thought they were included?  Agree, if you get the "prepaid" bar tab you would have to drink a whole lot to break even on a 4 night cruise, and I don't get why you can't at least carry it over on a B2B.  If you don't prepay a bar tab, your OBC would go towards paying for drinks though, right?  - BZ

[dcgrumpy]

54 minutes ago, pa-annie said:

 

Now I'm confused.  So you need to pay for juice and coffee, thought they were included?  Agree, if you get the "prepaid" bar tab you would have to drink a whole lot to break even on a 4 night cruise, and I don't get why you can't at least carry it over on a B2B.  If you don't prepay a bar tab, your OBC would go towards paying for drinks though, right?  - BZ

Regular drip coffee and juices are included. There is an extra charge for specialty coffees and fresh squeezed juice. 

[mbfrenc0586]

I just got off the ship on Sunday and for my cruise the bar tab was treated just like sailor loot and could be used for anything.  I paid for the upgraded internet, a photo/drink making class and they came right off the bar tab no problem.  I had at least 1-2 specialty coffees each day that were 4-7 each.  

 

Cocktails at the pool were typically $9-13 each.  At the restaurants they were more like $12-15.  And at the specialty bars were $13+.  I was able to used my $425 (Sea-Blazer Promo) no problem in a 4 night cruise.

[Back to school]

5 day cruise, Sea Blazer, I thinking about double ($425 +$425 = $850).  

 

[resstation]

The Bar Tab is for those who know they would use it all up, no question. Otherwise, purchase by the drink. I'm not sure what the confusion is. They do have promotions where if you buy a Bar Tab, you get $50 (or sometimes $100) extra, but if you don't drink that much, extra doesn't matter. I think it is FAR better than the cruise lines who insist that everyone in a cabin purchase a drink package and they're usually ridiculously expensive.