Will Virgin Voyages ever come to the West Coast?

[atanac]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

I agree - if they want repeat cruisers, they will have to switch up ports a bit. I, personally, sail more for ship than itinerary, but the majority of folks don't. West Coast has the opportunity of short cruises (3-5 days), longer Mexico 7 or 10 days, California Coastals and Hawaii. Why wouldn't VV want to do those?

...and don't forget Alaska!

[ceilidh1]

Just now, atanac said:

...and don't forget Alaska!

I'm not convinced the VV ships would do well on cold weather cruises...lol

[atanac]

5 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I'm not convinced the VV ships would do well on cold weather cruises...lol

Well, that postage stamp size pool probably wouldn't hold anyone back from booking Alaska. 😉

[_tacocat_]

On 7/25/2022 at 11:11 AM, Raiders4Life32 said:

On our Virgin Voyage this past May, we just stayed on the ship and treated it like an at-sea day.

Shhh don't give these secrets away 😉  We did the same in Costa Maya and Cozumel in June/July, and having a 90% empty ship was an absolute delight.  Plenty of room on the pool deck/in the pool, no lines at bars, fun mid-day trivia game.

 

We did Cozumel last year and were underwhelmed.  I didn't want to sign up for a 12 hour bus tour to only have 2 hours at ruins in the buggy, humid summer weather. 

[Fogcityca13]

On 7/27/2022 at 8:22 AM, _tacocat_ said:

Shhh don't give these secrets away 😉  We did the same in Costa Maya and Cozumel in June/July, and having a 90% empty ship was an absolute delight.  Plenty of room on the pool deck/in the pool, no lines at bars, fun mid-day trivia game.

 

We did Cozumel last year and were underwhelmed.  I didn't want to sign up for a 12 hour bus tour to only have 2 hours at ruins in the buggy, humid summer weather. 

Only time I had to pier run was a ruins tour out of Cozumel. Luckily there were 30-40 others on our group. Folks were not prepared for that much walking in the heat and took an extra hour to get back to the bus.

[gkbiiii]

Well they are sending a ship to Australia & New Zealand.

[Altermood]

It would also be nice if they did some sailings out of NY. I would love to not have to fly anywhere, as we have done with other cruise lines. They could do Bermuda and Canada (not that exciting but just to cruise would be nice) from here

[crusinthrough]

Royal Caribbean was reluctant to put a ship on the West Coast supposedly due to low demand.  The Navigator was finally redeployed in 2020 and it seems to sell out.  The Navigator has been renovated but you can still tell it's older.  Princess, Carnival and NCL all have newer ships.  VV would be do well as a new ship.  At this point, it's the only mainstream cruise line not sailing from the West Coast. If VV follows the money, there will be a ship there when the late 2024 and later itineraries are released.  

[cantgetin]

We spent quite a while looking for a cruise that interested us from either LA or San Diego (preferably LA).  We never found the right combination of dates, ports, line, etc....so ended up with a flight to try VV.  At this point, they are still growing the brand.  Only Richard's birthday bash has come anywhere near to approaching capacity.  But it certainly makes sense to not sail 2 ships, each half empty in the Caribbean for the winter.  The only way that might make sense is Scarlet Lady is doing shorter cruises while Valiant is doing longer ones.

[Fogcityca13]

We were just on Navigator in May. Not a bad upgrade, the rooms are still really dated.
 

The SF port is so underutilized, LA would probably draw more of a crowd though. It’s so nice just talking a car to the port.

[_tacocat_]

On 10/11/2022 at 1:04 AM, Fogcityca13 said:

We were just on Navigator in May. Not a bad upgrade, the rooms are still really dated.
 

The SF port is so underutilized, LA would probably draw more of a crowd though. It’s so nice just talking a car to the port.

i would go literally monthly if they sailed out of LA.

[Roz]

On 7/18/2022 at 10:06 AM, drewdawg199 said:

spoke to the Tom McAlpin, the CEO, last night onboard, specifically asked him about west coast.  He said there are no good ports on the west coast (I tend to agree), so it didn't sound like they were even considering it anytime soon.  I also asked about Cuba, he said if the Gov't opens up Cuba, they will be there the next day.

 

As someone who regularly sails on Alaska and Pacific Coastal cruises, this is BS.

[Roz]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:04 AM, Fogcityca13 said:

The SF port is so underutilized, LA would probably draw more of a crowd though. It’s so nice just talking a car to the port.

 

I just did a Pacific Coastal from Vancouver to San Diego.  This was the 2nd time we stopped at SF.  A big, beautiful cruise terminal that's underutilized, IMO.  Toured SF and then went over to Sausalito for lunch.  Afterwards sat on my balcony and watched the Blue Angels practice.  It was Fleet Week.  Air show the next day canceled due to fog.  Who knew SF got fog?  😂

[Fogcityca13]

1 hour ago, Roz said:

 

I just did a Pacific Coastal from Vancouver to San Diego.  This was the 2nd time we stopped at SF.  A big, beautiful cruise terminal that's underutilized, IMO.  Toured SF and then went over to Sausalito for lunch.  Afterwards sat on my balcony and watched the Blue Angels practice.  It was Fleet Week.  Air show the next day canceled due to fog.  Who knew SF got fog?  😂

Fun fact about SF fog, the bay was discovered by a Spanish land expedition in 1769. The mouth of the bay was always fogged in when ships sailed past. Also the seas are pretty nasty due to a confluence of strong currents just off the coast. We usually have great weather in September/October. Glad you got to enjoy some of their flights. 

[Wildcatllamas]

Below is my comparison of the Princess Discovery to Scarlet that I shared on a thread on Princess. Some were receptive and then a couple found the worst reviews on Virgin and posted links to them. I spoke with quite a few folks on the ship about Virgin and many were interested until they found out that they were only sailing out of Miami. I was thinking that if you wanted to do some place that isn't the tried and infamous cruise stops on the West coast there is La Paz or Loreto. Some of the other lines stop there but only on longer trips. My parents used to live in San Carlos which is part of Guaymas on the mainland on the Sea of Cortez. After they moved back to the states there was talk of starting to bring in cruise ships. I think they are actually doing it with a Mexican based cruise line. So some options that are totally out there for someone like Richard Branson to take on make totally unique.

 

I was on the Discovery last week and Virgin back in December. On the Discovery I was in a mini-suite and on Virgin a terrace (aka balcony). 

 

So first off the bathroom - in reality they are both the same size. I measured the area where the toilet and basin are and the tub/shower versus large shower with the rain shower head. But on Virgin it does seem smaller. Optical illusion. 

 

I am in my late 60s and loved Virgin. Now I only caught part of the "Never go to bed alone" show. Not my cup of tea so I left. Don't go if you don't like that kind of stuff.  But the Dual Reality show and the pop up performers were really different, edgy and with Dual Reality it was great. Plus Virgin has a huge selection of movies available to view in your cabin. Many were recent releases versus a couple of years or more on Princess.

 

Both Princess and Virgin stink on their beds. Way to firm for me and my joints that at times hate me. The layout of the bed and bed/couch is definitely doable. The steward will gladly strip the beds down so you can use it as a couch during the day and remake them into beds at night. We just had him leave them as beds.  

 

Attire - I was on a B2B on Virgin and everyone was very respectful of dressing nicely to eat in the restaurants. And on Scarlet night talk about dressing up - it was so much fun to see all the beautiful dresses and suits in red. Now a couple of the nights I did wear shorts to dinner but that was because I got back late from being ashore and was pushing my dinner reservation time.

 

Food - hands down Virgin all the way. Even in the Galley (aka buffet). Now here is the plus on the Galley - wander around and see what you like. Then go and sit down. One of the Galley attendants will come and take your order for your food and beverages and they will be brought over to you. Want something more - just let them know. No need to sit at a table in shifts while others grab food. The Wake steakhouse was way better then Crown Grill. Extra Virgin Italian makes Sabatines  look pathetic. Pink Agave is just an amazing take on Mexican. And don't miss out on the Test Kitchen. Gumbae is fun and good food. Razzle Dazzle has some wonderful dishes. Their breakfast pizza is a round slab of watermelon with a vegan whipped cream topping and lots of other fresh fruits. The pizza place on Virgin is comparable to Gigi's but Virgin Ice Cream (free) is way better then Gelatos. We would order a pizza and while waiting have a scoop of ice cream. Then we would take the pizza over to the one bar to watch the football game and eat pizza. There is the soda/candy shop. Free hot dogs, pretzels and all sorts of candy. The alcoholic floats are yummy and run about $9. The Dock is a tapas bar on the back of the ship. The food is all free and no one pressures you to order a drink. Although the Blackberry Sangria isn't bad.

 

Wifi - Virgin definitely. Even their slow free wifi was better then what I paid for on Princess. I was always able to log in and do anything I needed to do on my laptop on Virgin. It took me 6 times to log on while on Princess just to do my payroll for 7 employees. Lots of dead zones and marginal areas on Princess.  

 

With gratuities, wifi, all non-alcoholic beverages and no upcharge restaurants included it does make a difference.

 

And Richard Branson has a staff that follows many social media sites looking for complaints and they start working those issues out. Folks complained about not having a sports bar and they were in the process of changing out one of their bars to be a sports bar. Folks complained about more storage places and they have made changes. I don't see Princess doing that. NCL used to.

 

So to each his own on cruises. This Princess cruise wasn't as nice as my one in 2019 - but then Covid happened. If flights weren't so expensive to get from where I live to Miami it would be Virgin hands down.

[cantgetin]

A good comparison to Princess by WildCatllamas.  Totally agree with everything!  I'm on VV now, and there have been some significant improvements in storage, etc. from a year ago.  THey ARE listening to feedback.  When there is a problem, the crew is encouraging us to "tell corporate."  Crew knows where the remaining issues are, but the solutions are beyond their pay grade.

 

We were at Extra Virgin tonight--you are right, it makes Sabatini's look like Olive Garden.  We've seen decreasing quality from Princess over the years to the point that I'm only considering them if I want a location that other lines don't do.  I also really like the pricing structure at VV.  No, it isn't an "all inclusive," but what is included is the stuff that I want included.

[Wildcatllamas]

I had someone tell me last night that posts that seem to stay on top of headings are the ones that catch the eye of the folks looking for feedback for corporate. So maybe we need to find other folks that we know who would love to see Virgin come to the West coast to hop on and post to this thread.