raphael360 Posted April 23, 2023 Author #76 Share Posted April 23, 2023 One week away from Deep Blue Extras ending. Not a word from Virgin about the future of their Sailors Club loyalty program or its future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruisingWalter Posted April 23, 2023 #77 Share Posted April 23, 2023 On 2/5/2023 at 7:05 AM, raphael360 said: Several posters have been discussing the future of the Sea Rover loyalty program in other discussion posts on this board. The consensus of most is: the Sea Rover program is or may be ending on the first of April and being replaced with a yet-to-be-disclosed new loyalty program. The future of Deep Blue Extras is also TBD. Nobody in the Virgin customer service department (either by chat or phone) is aware of what Virgin is planning. I asked about the loyalty program while onboard the Scarlet Lady two weeks ago. Future Cruise Desk said they are expecting a permanent loyalty program to be announced by the end of this month (April). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael360 Posted April 23, 2023 Author #78 Share Posted April 23, 2023 43 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said: I asked about the loyalty program while onboard the Scarlet Lady two weeks ago. Future Cruise Desk said they are expecting a permanent loyalty program to be announced by the end of this month (April). Same info I got on my April cruise. No one at VV knows anything about the future of the Sailor's Club. Even my TA can't get a straight answer. It's not that Sailor Club perks are huge, but things like priority boarding make a real difference when deciding to jump on a cruise or not. Next week is my 5th cruise in 3 months but I'm going to take a break until this gets sorted out. (If it gets sorted out.). Good news is welcome, the bad news is acceptable but NO news is totally unacceptable, in any business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted April 23, 2023 #79 Share Posted April 23, 2023 2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said: I asked about the loyalty program while onboard the Scarlet Lady two weeks ago. Future Cruise Desk said they are expecting a permanent loyalty program to be announced by the end of this month (April). Let's all pretend that we haven't heard that before....maybe it will happen this time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael360 Posted April 26, 2023 Author #80 Share Posted April 26, 2023 On 4/23/2023 at 9:39 AM, cantgetin said: Let's all pretend that we haven't heard that before....maybe it will happen this time. I'm boarding 1 week from today but still in the dark about what to expect when I arrive at the port of Miami. Are priority boarding and free premium wifi gone? Is the Sea Rover program now defunct?? No one knows. Not even my TA who is currently on board Scarlett. I want to get excited about my upcoming 6th VV adventure but, even now, I'm hating the 'not knowing' experience. I'm hoping for a last-minute announcement from VV but I'm preparing myself for disappointment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted April 26, 2023 #81 Share Posted April 26, 2023 1 hour ago, raphael360 said: I'm boarding 1 week from today but still in the dark about what to expect when I arrive at the port of Miami. Are priority boarding and free premium wifi gone? Is the Sea Rover program now defunct?? No one knows. Not even my TA who is currently on board Scarlett. I want to get excited about my upcoming 6th VV adventure but, even now, I'm hating the 'not knowing' experience. I'm hoping for a last-minute announcement from VV but I'm preparing myself for disappointment. The bottom line is that no one knows. Last time, they didn't announce the extension of DBE until the day it supposedly expired. Premium wifi is available for $10 per day if you don't get it free, regular wifi is free. Priority boarding exists for suites, Romance at Sea package, and a few other deals, not sure about DBE (again) Boarding at Miami is normally a piece of cake provided JLo isn't around. Show up 30 minutes before your assigned time and you'll be on board within a few minutes of your time. Laundry is available for $30 per huge bag if not on DBE......so nothing is going away; it is just a matter of whether you pay or not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael360 Posted April 26, 2023 Author #82 Share Posted April 26, 2023 (edited) 25 minutes ago, cantgetin said: Boarding at Miami is normally a piece of cake provided JLo isn't around. Show up 30 minutes before your assigned time and you'll be on board within a few minutes of your time. I booked this next cruise 'last minute' so my boarding slot is 3:30. The difference between Sea Rover priority boarding is: being in my cabin at 1:45 (and booking show reservations) or standing in the hot 3:30 queue and being in my room after 4 PM (only to find all shows sold out). That is a "HUGH" deal and is the difference between my ever booking more last-minute VV cruises or never booking another VV cruise again, ever. FYI I could give a crap about premium wifi or laundry. Edited April 26, 2023 by raphael360 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted April 26, 2023 #83 Share Posted April 26, 2023 31 minutes ago, raphael360 said: I booked this next cruise 'last minute' so my boarding slot is 3:30. The difference between Sea Rover priority boarding is: being in my cabin at 1:45 (and booking show reservations) or standing in the hot 3:30 queue and being in my room after 4 PM (only to find all shows sold out). That is a "HUGH" deal and is the difference between my ever booking more last-minute VV cruises or never booking another VV cruise again, ever. FYI I could give a crap about premium wifi or laundry. The trouble is if everyone has priority boarding then in effect no one does as everyone is just turning up at the same time. I would expect for the new version of the Sailing Club that’s the perk which will be reserved only for the higher spenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael360 Posted April 26, 2023 Author #84 Share Posted April 26, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, jon81uk said: The trouble is if everyone has priority boarding then in effect no one does as everyone is just turning up at the same time. I would expect for the new version of the Sailing Club that’s the perk which will be reserved only for the higher spenders. On my past five cruises there were about 20 to 30 sea rovers out of 1800 passengers so it hardly represents “everyone”. But I do agree that they’re probably going to start with the higher spender rewards versus frequency rewards. Edited April 26, 2023 by raphael360 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted April 26, 2023 #85 Share Posted April 26, 2023 2 hours ago, raphael360 said: On my past five cruises there were about 20 to 30 sea rovers out of 1800 passengers so it hardly represents “everyone”. But I do agree that they’re probably going to start with the higher spender rewards versus frequency rewards. Ah on last years October transatlantic which is the only cruise we’ve done since the new benefits came in last September there was more like 200+ passengers at the special Sailing Club sailaway, which would be about 20% of all passengers that were onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted April 26, 2023 #86 Share Posted April 26, 2023 2 minutes ago, jon81uk said: Ah on last years October transatlantic which is the only cruise we’ve done since the new benefits came in last September there was more like 200+ passengers at the special Sailing Club sailaway, which would be about 20% of all passengers that were onboard. October 2022, 1400 Sailors boarded the ship, and I agree, about 200+ Sailing Club. This TA, 1813 sailors boarded the ship, ballpark 300 Sailing Club. Once the status match is gone, I expect fewer people to qualify....but I do know people who have done more than 10 VV cruises already! The nice thing is that the extension thru April 30 qualified us as Sea Rovers....and the only known benefit for that is $100 bonus on bar tabs purchased for sailings thru 2024. I expect other benefits will be announced when DBE ends. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael360 Posted April 27, 2023 Author #87 Share Posted April 27, 2023 6 hours ago, jon81uk said: last September there was more like 200+ passengers at the special Sailing Club sailaway You are right about the percentages of passengers being sailing club members. My 20 - 30 Sea Rovers number was in reference to how many of us were in terminal V's pre-boarding lounge waiting to check in and how it related to the 'everyone' comment. There were maybe 20 of us Sea Rovers checking in at 1:30 along with about 50 Romance Package sailors. Surprisingly few... Rock stars had their own lounge and entrance. I didn't do the sail away event party thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrish2 Posted May 1, 2023 #88 Share Posted May 1, 2023 Deep Blue Extras now extended until the end of 2023. New "10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit" has appeared in terms. Valid for sailings up to and including 31 May 2024. Book by 31 October 2023. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabucsfan1 Posted May 4, 2023 #89 Share Posted May 4, 2023 On 5/1/2023 at 6:18 AM, Chrish2 said: Deep Blue Extras now extended until the end of 2023. New "10% Sailor Loyalty Booking Benefit" has appeared in terms. Valid for sailings up to and including 31 May 2024. Book by 31 October 2023. I see you are sailing on the Sept 6 sailing... I just booked that itinerary on Monday of this week, and VV applied the 10% loyalty benefit for me on Tuesday when I called. The refunded $$ has already hit my credit card. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbox2428 Posted May 8, 2023 #90 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Did everyone got their 10% access code? I can't find anything in my emails yet, I was assuming they all will be sent out in a couple of days.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqlollipop Posted May 8, 2023 #91 Share Posted May 8, 2023 I did not, but I do see my DBE showing up on my upcoming trip, so I know they know I'm a Sea Rover. I'm not worried about it because I figure if I want to book something I'll just have my travel agent sort it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare sid_9169 Posted May 8, 2023 #92 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Sailing in a little less than two weeks, and this is what I see on the app. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted May 9, 2023 #93 Share Posted May 9, 2023 If what you see is what you expected, great. If not, it is usually corrected within 24 hours of boarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianCruiser21 Posted May 12, 2023 #94 Share Posted May 12, 2023 I just got my status match approved! I didn’t bother doing it before because I thought the program was ending. Question: will I get my 10% off access code? It sounds like the codes have already been sent out to those who were eligible when the offer started. I hope they send out another round of emails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted May 12, 2023 #95 Share Posted May 12, 2023 I have not received a code, but my "First Mate" is on top of it.If I qualify, she'll get it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamespaton Posted May 16, 2023 #96 Share Posted May 16, 2023 Did anyone ever get their 10% email? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YXU AC*SE Posted May 16, 2023 #97 Share Posted May 16, 2023 28 minutes ago, Jamespaton said: Did anyone ever get their 10% email? Not yet -- I Vivi-chatted and left a message inquiring about the same a couple of days ago and am awaiting a reply from Sailor Services. Looking to stack on with a MNVV booking. Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted May 16, 2023 #98 Share Posted May 16, 2023 32 minutes ago, Jamespaton said: Did anyone ever get their 10% email? Yes, we got the codes on the 2nd May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbox2428 Posted May 16, 2023 #99 Share Posted May 16, 2023 I never got one and have reached out to Virgin a couple of times. No answer received so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabucsfan1 Posted May 16, 2023 #100 Share Posted May 16, 2023 41 minutes ago, jon81uk said: Yes, we got the codes on the 2nd May. Same... and I was able to layer it on a MNVV that I had booked on May 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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