What happened to Brilliant Lady

[CineGraphic]

11 minutes ago, TYCruise said:

Reddit is not the best source for information.  At 125ft wide all of the lady ships can easily fit through the Panama Canal new locks which are 180 ft wide.

 

Here is a link to the ship builder website which mentions the ship is identical.

https://www.fincantieri.com/en/media/press-releases/2022/fincantieri-brilliant-lady-floated-out-in-sestri-ponente/

 

 

 

Here's a quote from the following link:

 

 

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/virgin-voyages-building-a-brand/

 

 

 

[TYCruise]

9 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Here's a quote from the following link:

 

 

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/virgin-voyages-building-a-brand/

 

 

 

Still makes no sense, as the Norwegian Bliss which is much larger in every dimension has sailed through the canal.

[_tacocat_]

35 minutes ago, TYCruise said:

Reddit is not the best source for information.  At 125ft wide all of the lady ships can easily fit through the Panama Canal new locks which are 180 ft wide.

 

Here is a link to the ship builder website which mentions the ship is identical.

https://www.fincantieri.com/en/media/press-releases/2022/fincantieri-brilliant-lady-floated-out-in-sestri-ponente/

 

 

The smaller ship size can fit through the older (cheaper) locks/canal/whatever you call it.

[TYCruise]

11 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

The smaller ship size can fit through the older (cheaper) locks/canal/whatever you call it.

Certainly passengers prefer the older historic locks, so maybe that's what they're going for. It would be a big change through as a ship can't be wider than 106 ft.

[notme2012]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:15 AM, FFMilesJunkie said:

The Scarlet Lady TA doubled in price a couple days ago. This past weekend was looking at prices in the $2,400 range and now they are close to $5,000 😭

The promos they had have ended. I suspect there will be a new promo. 

[notme2012]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:05 AM, jamesv92 said:

I've noticed this as well, they might be preparing to announce the cancellation and preempting that people will want to move to the other transatlantic. Looks dodgy!

I suspect you are right. I know a group of people, who all booked suites on Brilliant Lady 4/20/2024 sailing. Everyone of them booked a "cheeky corner suites" for about $1200 person, or $2400 per suite. All of the suites have been sold out since last Sept. 2022.

 

[notme2012]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:18 AM, jon81uk said:

I would expect anyone currently booked would get a free rebooking anyway. Issue might be that the XL rooms and suites are sold out currently for Scarlets TA.

Don't count on any rebooking help. VV's customer service standards, plain out suck! The agents are clueless! I will predict that service recovery for this cancelation will be measly! Don't count on getting a cruise credit and an extra cruise.

[notme2012]

On 5/23/2023 at 3:31 PM, HBCcruiser said:

That is what the Prima's Captain was referring to. I guess the Aft Overhang (whatever that is) prevents the Prima from transiting the canal. I am glad to hear that the VV ships do not have that issue. Thanks for the article! 🤗

See that deck that sticks out?!   That is the overhang!  The first is a pic from the VV website of the Brilliant Lady!  I am guessing that VV web bozos picked the wrong pic, because the 2nd pic is the Scarlet Lady. The ships look the same. The 3rd pic is supposedly the Brilliant Lady. Do you see the difference?

 

The new locks in the Panama Canal, do not use electric mules to pull the ships thru the locks. Instead they use tug boats to push and pull the ships into and out of the locks.

[_tacocat_]

2 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

See that deck that sticks out?!   That is the overhang!  The first is a pic from the VV website of the Brilliant Lady!  I am guessing that VV web bozos picked the wrong pic, because the 2nd pic is the Scarlet Lady. The ships look the same. The 3rd pic is supposedly the Brilliant Lady. Do you see the difference?

 

The new locks in the Panama Canal, do not use electric mules to pull the ships thru the locks. Instead they use tug boats to push and pull the ships into and out of the locks.

Hmmmm that would mean no wake restaurant in here!  Guess we’ll find out soon enough later this year when she launches!!!

[notme2012]

14 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

Hmmmm that would mean no wake restaurant in here!  Guess we’ll find out soon enough later this year when she launches!!!

There still seems to be tables in the graphic. The overhang is how that back deck sticks out on the sides. The lifeboats also do not stick out at all.

[_tacocat_]

3 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

There still seems to be tables in the graphic. The overhang is how that back deck sticks out on the sides. The lifeboats also do not stick out at all.

The wake is in the big windows right below the outside aft deck area (the dock). Looks like thats missing from brilliant rendering!

[TYCruise]

That third pic is an old rendering they've been using since at least before the Valiant Lady launched.

Edited May 31, 2023 by TYCruise

[TYCruise]

The link below has an actual pic of the Brilliant Lady at the ship yard.  It looks like they may have eliminated the aft overhang on the sides of the ship as well as the mid-ship overhangs that are just outside the roundabout on deck 7 ( I liked that area but it seemed to be rarely used).

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3500062?page=1&navList=homePhotoFooter&list=latest&timestamp=1669732500

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, notme2012 said:

Don't count on any rebooking help. VV's customer service standards, plain out suck! The agents are clueless! I will predict that service recovery for this cancelation will be measly! Don't count on getting a cruise credit and an extra cruise.

When they cancelled Valiant Lady for the Bachelor charter a year ago they were very generous, I think it was 200% credit plus a refund. They have also been generous recently with refunds such as when the ship turned around after a passenger had an accident. I would expect anyone who gets a cancellation for 2024 to get at least another free cruise and a full refund based on past performance.

[Chrish2]

Is there any shipyard pictures showing the aft? The Wake isn't what I expected them to change however the steps down do feel a little odd. It makes me wonder if Deck 6 might be reconfigured to provide more prominence to the restaurants from main circulation (the roundabout). Of course all speculation.

 

[CineGraphic]

10 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

Hmmmm that would mean no wake restaurant in here!

 

I don't think they would entirely eliminate it. It might just be a smaller venue. They could also make up for the lost footage by expanding inward.

[CineGraphic]

Here's another shot of the back of the ship

 

 

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3486734?

 

 

[_tacocat_]

36 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Here's another shot of the back of the ship

 

 

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3486734?

 

 

Ah the wake still looks like it’s there!  That’s their highest capacity restaurant, so I would have been really surprised if they canned it.

[CineGraphic]

18 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

Ah the wake still looks like it’s there!  That’s their highest capacity restaurant, so I would have been really surprised if they canned it.

 

Yeah....you don't let views like that go to waste.

[Fogcityca13]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

Here's another shot of the back of the ship

 

 

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3486734?

 

 

Nice find! Definitely some differences. Exciting to see my cabin for my March trip.

[notme2012]

19 hours ago, TYCruise said:

The link below has an actual pic of the Brilliant Lady at the ship yard.  It looks like they may have eliminated the aft overhang on the sides of the ship as well as the mid-ship overhangs that are just outside the roundabout on deck 7 ( I liked that area but it seemed to be rarely used).

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3500062?page=1&navList=homePhotoFooter&list=latest&timestamp=1669732500

The pic you posted looks just like the 3rd one I posted. Nothing sticks out over the edges of the ship.

[notme2012]

11 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Here's another shot of the back of the ship

 

 

 

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3486734?

 

 

It does appear that the area, in question, is flatter than on her sister ships.

[notme2012]

19 hours ago, jon81uk said:

When they cancelled Valiant Lady for the Bachelor charter a year ago they were very generous, I think it was 200% credit plus a refund. They have also been generous recently with refunds such as when the ship turned around after a passenger had an accident. I would expect anyone who gets a cancellation for 2024 to get at least another free cruise and a full refund based on past performance.

Not one Brilliant Lady cruise is in final payment. Most people have less than $1000 paid. If I get 200%, I get $1000. That is nothing for the efforts that I have go thru, to cancel all the other arrangements that I have made for this trip. Again, I am not holding my breath. It would be nice, but I sincerely doubt that VV will be as liberal as they were in the past.

[TYCruise]

 

48 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

The pic you posted looks just like the 3rd one I posted. Nothing sticks out over the edges of the ship.

On the aft yes, but the mid ship in the renderings has the bump outs on deck 7, while it looks like they have been eliminated in the final build. VV didn't really take advantage of that area the way NCL and MSC did with pools and hot tubs, so I'm thinking it won't be too big of a loss.

Edited June 1, 2023 by TYCruise

[CanadianCruiser21]

 

39 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

Not one Brilliant Lady cruise is in final payment. Most people have less than $1000 paid. If I get 200%, I get $1000. That is nothing for the efforts that I have go thru, to cancel all the other arrangements that I have made for this trip. Again, I am not holding my breath. It would be nice, but I sincerely doubt that VV will be as liberal as they were in the past.

Someone on FB just posted that Virgin chartered their cruise for World Poker Tour. This gives a sense of what they are offering for cancellations a year out. 

 

I found this online “WPT Voyage onboard Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady March 31st to April 6th 2024 - Full Ship TAKEOVER!”

 

The FB poster said  “Virgin Voyages offered either a 100% refund of what you've paid OR 150% of what you've paid towards a future voyage”.

 

I really hope this Brilliant Lady TA doesn’t get cancelled because that’s totally shitty considering how much prices have gone up since people initially booked the Brilliant TA. 
Even 200% would be shitty since prices have more than doubled. I don’t think VV will ever have fares as low as they were in 2022. 

Personally, I’ve spent way too many hours planning travel around this cruise and stressing about it being cancelled. The reward flight ticket I was going to book is now sold out too. Overall, pretty disappointed. Even a 100% refund would be shitty because I paid in a different currency (used a TA for MNVV and the deposit was in USD), so I’ve fully paid and I’ll definitely take a hit on the conversion rate. 

Does anyone know how the MNVV works in the case of a refund without rebooking? Will I also get that $300 deposit back?