What happened to Brilliant Lady

[cantgetin]

7 hours ago, def0715 said:

Looks like there’s a 14-day Singapore to Dubai.

 

What is supposed to be released Monday? More Caribbean sailings? Other itineraries?

More fall 2024 cruises...Rome to Miami TA, etc.

[CruisingWalter]

18 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

How is processing something earlier than promised dropping the ball?

Because if you set a procedure and a policy, then your team should follow that procedure and policy. According the emails from VV, their systems will be set on Monday to start the process. Jumping the gun and having Sailor Services do whatever they feel like creates chaos and aggravation such as we've been seeing across social and these forums. Set a policy, we're going to start on Monday, and then follow that policy. That's dropping the ball when you don't follow policy. 

[Tolkmit]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

Because if you set a procedure and a policy, then your team should follow that procedure and policy. According the emails from VV, their systems will be set on Monday to start the process. Jumping the gun and having Sailor Services do whatever they feel like creates chaos and aggravation such as we've been seeing across social and these forums. Set a policy, we're going to start on Monday, and then follow that policy. That's dropping the ball when you don't follow policy. 

 

I mean... this is pretty much should be expected. They had a plan in place for over a year, that those who booked on Valiant would sail on Valiant, those who booked on Brilliant would sail on Brilliant. They threw that plan out the window; the fact they didn't then view a plan that was only in place for a day or two as locked in and adjusted when and in what order re-bookings would happen, is not a surprise in any way. None of what is happening is according to plan, procedure, or policy; there is no procedure or policy for this they are making it up as they go.

[indybelle]

Thank you for further clarification on what happened.  I am actually sending an email to Sir Richard Branson - for all the good that will do - to let him - or somebody - know how disappointed I am that Virgin Voyages so summarily throw me to the curb.  I thought his brands were different.  I was wrong.  I won't be rebooking after being treated so shabbily.

[jon81uk]

34 minutes ago, indybelle said:

Thank you for further clarification on what happened.  I am actually sending an email to Sir Richard Branson - for all the good that will do - to let him - or somebody - know how disappointed I am that Virgin Voyages so summarily throw me to the curb.  I thought his brands were different.  I was wrong.  I won't be rebooking after being treated so shabbily.

Richard Branson has zero to do with the running of Virgin Voyages. Tom McAlpine is the CEO so is the person ultimately responsible for the company. Virgin just owns 49% of the business and Richard owns Virgin. He might be on the marketing but he won’t be signing things off day to day, that’s for the board of Virgin Voyages.

[jon81uk]

3 hours ago, Tolkmit said:

that those who booked on Valiant would sail on Valiant, those who booked on Brilliant would sail on Brilliant.

Or you can look at it as those who want to sail from San Juan are sailing from San Juan irrespective of the ship they are on.

[CineGraphic]

4 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Tom McAlpine is the CEO so is the person ultimately responsible for the company.

 

He's retiring and being replaced...announced at the same time as the new itineraries.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virgin-voyages-announces-550-million-in-funding-led-by-ares-management-to-further-accelerate-growth-301921522.html

 

 

 

[Tolkmit]

1 minute ago, jon81uk said:

Or you can look at it as those who want to sail from San Juan are sailing from San Juan irrespective of the ship they are on.

 

This comment has zero relevance to the point that was being made. Why take one sentence out of context then try to respond to it's out of context meaning? Or are you claiming that the plan wasn't for people booked on Brilliant to sail on Brilliant, that Virgin always views booked itineraries as fluid as to which ship will take them? Because... that's just factually incorrect.

[jon81uk]

3 minutes ago, Tolkmit said:

 

This comment has zero relevance to the point that was being made. Why take one sentence out of context then try to respond to it's out of context meaning? Or are you claiming that the plan wasn't for people booked on Brilliant to sail on Brilliant, that Virgin always views booked itineraries as fluid as to which ship will take them? Because... that's just factually incorrect.

Stating that people booked on Valiant will sail on Valiant isn’t really relevant either. I’m not claiming to know what the plan was,  but my guess is there were more people booked to sail from San Juan and therefore the business decision is to keep the San Juan itineraries and cancel the Miami ones.  But as we don’t have access to the sales data we have to assume that VV decided to make the decision which makes them the most money.

[jon81uk]

8 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

He's retiring and being replaced...announced at the same time as the new itineraries.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virgin-voyages-announces-550-million-in-funding-led-by-ares-management-to-further-accelerate-growth-301921522.html

 

 

 

Yep but still therefore closer to the running of the business than Sir Richard.

[Tolkmit]

6 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Stating that people booked on Valiant will sail on Valiant isn’t really relevant either. I’m not claiming to know what the plan was,  but my guess is there were more people booked to sail from San Juan and therefore the business decision is to keep the San Juan itineraries and cancel the Miami ones.  But as we don’t have access to the sales data we have to assume that VV decided to make the decision which makes them the most money.

 

How is that not relevant in response to a post about Virgin not following through with their stated intentions?

[indybelle]

Sir Richard may have zero to do with the day to day running of the company, but he started it and it is definitely his brand. He may not be interested, and that's fine.  But if hundreds of us wrote to him, he might at least know we're unhappy.

 

If it was a question of more people signed up for the San Juan embarkation, why didn't those on Valiant get first crack at change of itinerary.  It's likely most of us would have taken that change since it wouldn't necessitate such draconian schedule shifting.  In my case, the window to change was small, the availability of RS Aft suites was almost nil, so I was looking at into next year or heading to Australia - been there, don't want to go back right now.  And next year is booked with other commitments.  I think because in this case the product didn't live up to the hype is why  I'm so upset over the cancellation.  Somehow, naively, I expected better.  Now I know.

[Back to school]

On 9/7/2023 at 11:15 AM, Swells1 said:

I just got moved to VL. 

Excellent!

[Back to school]

Dupe sorry, two hours , New York time, new itinerary open?  12 o’clock.?

 

[Back to school]

good itinerary:

 

3 November 2024

Dubai Delights to Singapore Sights

16 nights

 

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, Back to school said:

Dupe sorry, two hours , New York time, new itinerary open?  12 o’clock.?

 

More likely 8am Eastern time.

As to McAlpin....chair of board means fat salary, little day to day work, and can still hang out with Jlo as long as VV pays her.

Edited September 11, 2023 by cantgetin

[jon81uk]

7 hours ago, Tolkmit said:

 

How is that not relevant in response to a post about Virgin not following through with their stated intentions?

Depends how you look at the stated intention, they intended to run cruises from San Juan and they still are running cruises from San Juan. When booking a flight you book to go from New York to London, it doesn’t so much matter if it’s a 747 or an A380 transporting you. It could be looked at that way here, people booked to cruise from San Juan and they still are. Unfortunately due to the availability of the new ship they can’t run as many cruises from Miami as planned

[jon81uk]

5 hours ago, indybelle said:

Sir Richard may have zero to do with the day to day running of the company, but he started it and it is definitely his brand.

Virgin is his brand but Virgin Voyages was started by Nirmal Saverimuttu and Tom

McAlpin. Writing to the Virgin Voyages CEO is likely to go to the escalations team within the cruise company rather than just getting lost within the wider Virgin group. 
 

5 hours ago, indybelle said:

f it was a question of more people signed up for the San Juan embarkation, why didn't those on Valiant get first crack at change of itinerary.  It's likely most of us would have taken that change since it wouldn't necessitate such draconian schedule shifting.  In my case, the window to change was small, the availability of RS Aft suites was almost nil, so I was looking at into next year or heading to Australia - been there, don't want to go back right now.  And next year is booked with other commitments.  I think because in this case the product didn't live up to the hype is why  I'm so upset over the cancellation.  Somehow, naively, I expected better.  Now I know.

Effectively by completing the from aren’t those who have been displaced getting first crack at rebooking? If you are happy with sailing from San Juan instead of Miami one suggestion would be to not worry about a suite and just get an XL sea terrace instead, the room is almost as big as an aft suite and there are significantly more of them so chance of booking one is much better, there are only seven aft suites. Then get a refund on the fare difference and see if you can talk the agent into giving you additional onboard spend to make up for the loss of the in-room bar benefit.

[Alegeeter]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:15 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

The rep I spoke with the other day assured me that everything you qualified for with the initial booking would be moved over to the new booking.

Now that I see the new prices, I'm curious.

the email we received states: "Plus, we'll still honor any previous promotions you had when you first booked, including your Bar Tab bonus. If the new date you choose costs less, we'll refund the difference if you’ve already fully paid."

 

Elsewhere on Virgin's site "bar tab" and"loot"  are called "add ons" and I'm wondering what's considered a "promotion"- when I booked the San Juan Mermaiden the fare was $2245 a person, but with the current promotion at the time and MNVV a lot was taken off so the total was $3300 for 2. With the new dates listed the fare is $1875 person with much less taken off for promotions so the total is the same. Will I get $0 back or will they reprice me at the $1875 but with all the discounts I got originally- depends how they define promotion.

[CruisingWalter]

1 minute ago, Alegeeter said:

Will I get $0 back or will they reprice me at the $1875 but with all the discounts I got originally- depends how they define promotion.

 

A promotion is the current public offering from Virgin Voyages. Currently it's $900 off Med sailings, $500 off Caribbean Sailings with up to a $600 Bar Tab. As for how they will handle you being rebooked onto a lower priced sailing remains to be seen. We will all know starting today as the first notifications are sent out. Here in the U.S. the offices should now be open as of 8am ET. 

[WatermelonSugarHigh]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:59 AM, ghostshark said:

It's this kind of attitude that enables poor treatment of customers.

Actually, it’s being able to understand and accept what we can not change, in order to better handle the situation at hand to adjust plans. 

[WatermelonSugarHigh]

10 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Virgin is his brand but Virgin Voyages was started by Nirmal Saverimuttu and Tom

McAlpin. Writing to the Virgin Voyages CEO is likely to go to the escalations team within the cruise company rather than just getting lost within the wider Virgin group. 
 

Effectively by completing the from aren’t those who have been displaced getting first crack at rebooking? If you are happy with sailing from San Juan instead of Miami one suggestion would be to not worry about a suite and just get an XL sea terrace instead, the room is almost as big as an aft suite and there are significantly more of them so chance of booking one is much better, there are only seven aft suites. Then get a refund on the fare difference and see if you can talk the agent into giving you additional onboard spend to make up for the loss of the in-room bar benefit.

There were very few or zero XL Sea Terraces available out of San Juan during January February and March. I checked right before the change in ship. I believe there was one sailing in all of four months Jan - April with them remaining. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by WatermelonSugarHigh

[librarylady19]

Anyone who submitted a form online for a BL cancellation get a confirmation yet from VV?

Edited September 11, 2023 by librarylady19

[CineGraphic]

We've changed our minds regarding which substitution sailing to book twice since I submitted our form the other day. Our TA tried all morning to get in touch with VV with no luck.

Edited September 11, 2023 by CineGraphic

[Tazluli]

On 9/7/2023 at 1:22 PM, AlaskaNewbie68 said:

If I understand correctly: The 1-13 cruise to Puerto Rico, St Croix, etc, is still ON but they removed us and gave it to those who were on the Brilliant Lady?

I think that is correct. A co-worker of mine had her trip cancelled out of Miami and the ship will be for the Brilliant Lady passengers.