Warning: If your cancelation re-booking is on hold.

[DAP2]

TL;DR             Call Virgin and make sure your rebooked cruise is still active and didn't expire.

 

Hi, all. I rebooked my canceled cruise on Saturday. I received the booking number, cabin number, and email that said it was 24-hour hold. The agent assured me it would not cancel but was awaiting the displacement team to apply the sailor loot, credits, etc. Our friends did the same and got the cabin next to ours and the same assurances. 

 

I have not been able to access my account on a computer or via the app since the cancelations were announced. I read something on another site that made me decide to call this morning and make sure my hold was still active. It was not. The hold expired at 24 hours. I gave the agent my friend's booking number, and their hold from Saturday was still active. Their agent on Saturday put in the correct code to make the hold seven days, not 24 hours (although the generic email always says 24 hours). The agent reactivated my booking and assured me my place in line was still with the Saturday bunch as it was based on the case being created, not the cruise itself being on hold. I received my new re-booking email with the same new booking number and cabin as Saturday.

 

Next, I called back and selected tech support. They were able to get my phone app working so that I can at least check in now and see my rebooked sailing. She checked the booking and reported that the agent this morning STILL hadn't put the correct code in to keep the hold for seven days!! She assured me that she had entered the code and that I should see it now in my app until I get the final confirmation with credits. The desktop still isn't working, so they put a ticket in for that. I'm going to feel a lot better over the next few days logging in and seeing that cruise.

 

I'm starting to wonder if $600 credit isn't adequate for the time/effort/energy this process is taking 😏. Here's to hoping we all get final confirmations soon. 

 

 

[CanadianCruiser21]

I have the same concerns. 
I received the email saying I am rebooked, but it was just the text email so I am unable to see if it’s actually booked and not just a hold. In addition, I have another cruise that I need to pay the deposit for. 
However, I cannot access my account on the website to make the full deposit. My TA put down the MNVV for me, but it’s not quite 20%. 
 

I guess I will call them. 

[CanadianCruiser21]

I called and was told a lot of people couldn’t access their account so they think it’s a website problem on their end and to give it a few days. I got them to pay my deposit over the phone though. 

[Giraffes]

@DAP2Good Afternoon! I wonder if we had the same agent.😖 The same thing happened to me. I called and rebooked on Thursday evening and by Sunday morning received an email from VV that my hold had expired! I called in a panic and the new agent said that the original agent did not enter the rebooking correctly. Luckily it was able to be fixed but I was hesitant to believe that there would not be another issue because if it happened once, it could happen twice. I am still waiting for the confirmation that everything is 100% a go. 🤞🏼

[3eaglesfam]

My TA called and I recieved an email shortly after on Friday. But I have not heard anything from virgin since.  My TA called yesterday but could not get through.

 

Your request has been received, Catherine.

We’ve received your request (Case #XXXXXXXX) and our team is diligently working on it now. We’ll be in touch within the next 7 days with more information — so don’t worry, you’ll be hearing directly from us soon.

 

Booking Number: VLXXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXX

The Virgin Voyages Team

[DAP2]

Ya, if I read more post implying I should have used a TA...

 

As your experience shows, that's not the answer either. I read one post on FB where an agent asked customers who felt comfortable to handle the rebooking/cancelations on their own, because the TA was so overwhelmed with the number they needed to process.

 

I don't think I noticed the "don't worry" in the email in the emails before. Sure, sure, I'll just turn off the worry center in my brain...lol.

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/14/2023 at 9:43 AM, DAP2 said:

As your experience shows, that's not the answer either. I read one post on FB where an agent asked customers who felt comfortable to handle the rebooking/cancelations on their own, because the TA was so overwhelmed with the number they needed to process.

 

There is literally nothing for the TA to do other than assist their sailors with the Offer Request Form. From what we've been told, all TAs have been instructed not to call because it does nothing for the Sailors. If you call in and talk to Sailor Services you are apparently just 'added to queue' with all the Offer Forms, you are not getting ahead of others, despite what some people are being told on the phone. That's what has been relayed by our TA, it's literally out of their hands other than to make sure all of their Sailors have an Offer Request Form in. 

[cantgetin]

I know that my agent has book on the phone essentially all day trying to speak with her clients after they got the VV email and an email from her.  She was at a theme park in FL when the stuff came out and gave up her day in the park to call clients, which was, of course, the right thing to do,

I had a TA previously who played the "you just deal with it and let me know if there are any issues" bit.  Suffice it to say that the person is no longer the agent I use.  But I do appreciate Walter's post above telling us that in this case there is very little the agents can do;  the best ones are still keeping in touch with their clients and offering what they can,

[CruisingWalter]

19 hours ago, cantgetin said:

But I do appreciate Walter's post above telling us that in this case there is very little the agents can do;  the best ones are still keeping in touch with their clients and offering what they can,

 

Yep, the best thing the TAs can do right now is to remind their Sailors to hang tight and when the re-bookings come through, immediately look at the cabin assignments. Those can be changed easily. It does seem like the re-bookings are picking up the pace over the past few days from what I've been seeing in my various social feeds. 

[DAP2]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

It does seem like the re-bookings are picking up the pace over the past few days from what I've been seeing in my various social feeds. 

 

I'm starting see the first of the rejections too. It's sad seeing people who aren't getting on the alternative cruise they selected or the RS suite they originally booked. Sure, no one is directly out money,  but the time, effort, and planning loss is sad when people have to start over at this point on a different line. 

[CruisingWalter]

23 hours ago, DAP2 said:

I'm starting see the first of the rejections too.

 

That's interesting. I wonder which sailings they were asking for because there is a lot of inventory across the board on VV. I even have friends who got the Valiant Lady Ahoy New Year's this coming December. That's a bummer these folks are not getting their first or second options.