Cancelled Cruise 29/09/24 Portsmouth UK???

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Hello,

After last few days of uncertainty surrounding Resilient Lady for future cruise on 29/09/24. I decided to call Virgin Voyages, because if it is cancelled I need to change leave, pay for another etc. Time is money as the saying goes. Have incurred costs already on flights and hotels all non refundable.

 

So just a few mins ago the following happened..

 

Call 1 - I was told the cruise was cancelled, I said what happens next. I will receive email detailing terms etc. I was then told the cancellation was not official. Clearly should not have told me that. Then back peddled. I asked to speak to a manager, place on hold. Line went dead.. Rage!!!
 

Call 2 - After explaining all again, was told that it had been removed because it has sold out. I said I did not believe this was case. Time for another different answer it’s now under review. Possibly going ahead. But not cancelled today….so many contradictions. 

 

First time with Virgin, I fully appreciate that the world is mad at the moment and things change. But do not lie!!! Don’t say it’s cancelled then change your mind…but if you read between the lines!!!
 

We both work, need to plan leave, etc, Making these calls has only added to the confusion.

 

If anyone has not booked flights, hotels etc relating to above cruise…I would wait!!!

 

Cheers 

[jon81uk]

Call centre staff often don’t know the full picture. VV have taken a lot of Resilient Lady cruises off sale while they work out the Red Sea issue. An update will be provided by the end of the month. 
 

“With the very likely continuation of this escalated regional conflict top-of-mind, and in an effort to minimize further disruptions to our passengers’ future vacation plans, Virgin Voyages is now conducting a full review of other geographically similar repositioning voyages and linked sailings. We will provide an update before the end of February on any further changes we will need to make.”

from https://www.virginvoyages.com/travel-advisories/stories/resilient-lady-repositioning-update

[Jamesv281117]

9 hours ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Hello,

After last few days of uncertainty surrounding Resilient Lady for future cruise on 29/09/24. I decided to call Virgin Voyages, because if it is cancelled I need to change leave, pay for another etc. Time is money as the saying goes. Have incurred costs already on flights and hotels all non refundable.

 

So just a few mins ago the following happened..

 

Call 1 - I was told the cruise was cancelled, I said what happens next. I will receive email detailing terms etc. I was then told the cancellation was not official. Clearly should not have told me that. Then back peddled. I asked to speak to a manager, place on hold. Line went dead.. Rage!!!
 

Call 2 - After explaining all again, was told that it had been removed because it has sold out. I said I did not believe this was case. Time for another different answer it’s now under review. Possibly going ahead. But not cancelled today….so many contradictions. 

 

First time with Virgin, I fully appreciate that the world is mad at the moment and things change. But do not lie!!! Don’t say it’s cancelled then change your mind…but if you read between the lines!!!
 

We both work, need to plan leave, etc, Making these calls has only added to the confusion.

 

If anyone has not booked flights, hotels etc relating to above cruise…I would wait!!!

 

Cheers 

Defo not sold out but off sale, I'm also waiting on the outcome of this but they have provided an end of February guideline at least 

[AlyssaJames]

I've been waiting to see if I lose this one, I got a fantastic deal on it when it went live. Probably the last actual bargain I will ever get from VV. It's still showing up on my dashboard for now, but I've been wondering since the day they tripled the prices whether they will try to nuke and re-sell these dates. 

It doesn't seem to be 'geographically similar' to the troubled itins ... 

Edited February 12 by AlyssaJames

[jon81uk]

32 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

It doesn't seem to be 'geographically similar' to the troubled itins ... 

It’s linked to ones that are. Resilient Lady is planned to go back to Australia in October. Before that it goes Portsmouth to Barcelona, then Barcelona to Athens. If they decide the risk to too high and Resilient Lady won’t make it back to Australia via the Panama Canal and Red Sea, then it might not need to go to Athens first and they could decide to do other voyages before either

going round Africa or over to the Caribbean instead.

 

So although the Portsmouth to Athens trips are geographically similar, they are linked to repositioning of Resilient Lady so they need to work out the final destination first before decided how to get there.

 

That being said, Barcelona to Athens in October is probably more at risk of changes than the Portsmouth to Barcelona leg.

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Good afternoon, 

The same cruise next year has been taken off the website also. As I said earlier they told me it was cancelled yesterday then changed their minds. It’s pretty shambolic at best. I got a friend to call to check availability they said it was sold out!!! Just need to know sooner rather than later. I’m already out of pocket on some flights and a hotel. The price was good, we even invited our daughter along too…

 

 

 

[CineGraphic]

We scored a great deal on an aft suite for this one after having our Brilliant TA cancelled, and we've spent several grand on flights and hotels at this point.

1 hour ago, AlyssaJames said:

but I've been wondering since the day they tripled the prices whether they will try to nuke and re-sell these dates. 

 

I think this is a bit of a stretch. If they do end up cancelling, the offer will most likely be similar to what they offered us when the cancelled our TA on the Brilliant: Book any cruise, any length, same cabin category, at the exact same price.

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

So if they cancel, they will offer you too book any cruise at the same price as what you had booked this cruise for. The only problem is that there are not many lengthy cruises 12+ nights. 
Or get your money back??

I was so excited ish to go with Virgin for the first time.,,not sure if that sounds right!! After NCL, RC and others. Like most things it’s great if it works.., but at this moment in time I’ve found their customer service etc truly appalling. 

[AlyssaJames]

I thought more recent cancellations had much worse offers, like you had a choice of only 3 replacement itineraries (one of which was only 7 days) or a full refund. 
 

(sorry, on mobile or I’d quote/provide links.)

[Tralfaz1138]

I didn't get one of the Brilliant Lady rebookings but still got a great price on a Brilliant Suite for this cruise, so I do really hope it's not cancelled.  However, if they do offer the same deal they did with Brilliant Lady's delay I'd hopefully be able to find a reasonably comparable alternative (though it might push our vacation back to 2025).

 

I'm a little concerned the other thing they could do is something similar to the current repositioning cruises.  So maybe end in Casablanca and shorten the cruise before either going trans-Atlantic or back around Africa.

 

Luckily I hadn't booked flights or other arrangements yet so I guess I'll be waiting until next month to do all of that.

[CineGraphic]

18 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

I thought more recent cancellations had much worse offers, like you had a choice of only 3 replacement itineraries (one of which was only 7 days) or a full refund. 
 

(sorry, on mobile or I’d quote/provide links.)

 

All of the previous cancellations and offers are listed here:

https://www.virginvoyages.com/travel-advisories/stories

Edited February 12 by CineGraphic

[CineGraphic]

My TA is on the phone with the "displacement department" at this very moment.

This is what she just sent me, "they say so far it's going. Confirming it's sold out. First person I spoke to said it's cancelled but I was transferred to Displacement, and they say otherwise. Went to supervisor. Sailing not cancelled but ship is full."

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Exactly what they told me..,however next years cannot be sold out!!! This Year’s is not sold out either I check regularly for price changes etc… they are lying!!!

[AlyssaJames]

2 minutes ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Exactly what they told me..,however next years cannot be sold out!!! This Year’s is not sold out either I check regularly for price changes etc… they are lying!!!

It might have ended up sold out after the recent round of cancellations last week. (i.e., people taking their refund and rebooking to this sailing). 

[Jamesv281117]

The cruise went off sale on the day they made the announcement regarding the cancelled repositioning voyages and said they were reviewing future voyages.

 

I checked earlier on the day and before and there was still availability in multiple cabin categories so would be very strange if it had sold out that quickly.

[AlyssaJames]

Welp. I hadn't quite booked my flights yet (this is a big trip for me / pushing pretty far out of comfort zone), although I had been planning to get the flights locked in in the next few weeks. I suppose I'll hold off for a bit. Fingers crossed, everyone. 

[CineGraphic]

6 minutes ago, Jamesv281117 said:

checked earlier on the day and before and there was still availability in multiple cabin categories so would be very strange if it had sold out that quickly.

 

In the past, on longer sailings they have chosen not to sail at 100%. "Sold out" in this case is just a term.

[jon81uk]

As per the travel advisory everything for Resilient Lady has been taken off sale (so it appears as sold out even if it isn’t) while they work out what is going on due to the Red Sea troubles. 
 

They have said there will be an update by the end of February. I wouldn’t get too worried yet, but I am also holding off booking any flights or hotels connected to our October sailing until they do make a decision.

[jon81uk]

53 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

I thought more recent cancellations had much worse offers, like you had a choice of only 3 replacement itineraries (one of which was only 7 days) or a full refund. 
 

(sorry, on mobile or I’d quote/provide links.)

I think as these current changes are not the cruise lines fault, it’s war / terrorism that’s caused them to reroute round Australia they aren’t being as generous compared to the Brilliant Lady cancellations due to their ship not being ready. 

[Wildcatllamas]

I will be watching closely since I am booked on this cruise as well. I also have a friend and his son who have now booked. He added his son this morning and there were no problems.

[CanadianCruiser21]

8 hours ago, jon81uk said:

I think as these current changes are not the cruise lines fault, it’s war / terrorism that’s caused them to reroute round Australia they aren’t being as generous compared to the Brilliant Lady cancellations due to their ship not being ready. 

I’ve seen reports that people from the Brilliant Lady cancellation who chose one of the 3 cancelled itineraries can choose any new itinerary and keep their add-on loot, and are not restricted to the 3 replacement cruises. 

[Lisa353]

7 hours ago, CanadianCruiser21 said:

I’ve seen reports that people from the Brilliant Lady cancellation who chose one of the 3 cancelled itineraries can choose any new itinerary and keep their add-on loot, and are not restricted to the 3 replacement cruises. 

I really hope that is correct.  We are on the sailing after this one, so the Barcelona to Athens.  We were originally on another Resilient Lady cruise but with the Brilliant Lady cancellation, our cruise was cancelled and we were able to pick any cruise we wanted so we picked the Barcelona to Athens one as it has some of the same ports as our original cruise.

 

The 3 options that they have provided for coming over from Australia, if they decide to do the same going back the way, then none of the options would suit us.  The closest one to our cruise would be the 5 night one and we really don't want to go from a 9 night to a 5 night.  At the same time we don't want to lose the massive bar tab and loot we have.

 

 

[Jamesv281117]

As mentioned elsewhere I'm pretty sure they would let you move to any other cruise if this does get cancelled. The recent repositioning cruises have technically been rerouted which is why I think they just offered the choice of 3 or a refund.

[Lisa353]

23 minutes ago, Jamesv281117 said:

As mentioned elsewhere I'm pretty sure they would let you move to any other cruise if this does get cancelled. The recent repositioning cruises have technically been rerouted which is why I think they just offered the choice of 3 or a refund.

So it will be probably be better for all of us if it either goes ahead as normal or gets cancelled fully.

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, Lisa353 said:

The 3 options that they have provided for coming over from Australia, if they decide to do the same going back the way, then none of the options would suit us.  The closest one to our cruise would be the 5 night one and we really don't want to go from a 9 night to a 5 night. 

For the April changes the Barcelona to Athens five night is needed to get the ship to Athens in time for the next cruise from Athens and avoids a further cancellation this May.

 

If they cancelled the October Barcelona to Athens it wouldn’t get replaced with a five night, because the ship is in Athens and would either need to go to Cape Town and onwards again, or it would do something else entirely. 

It’s more likely they would try to bump people into Scarlet Lady instead as that ship is doing Mediterranean itineraries in October. Personally that would be the worst option for me as I’ve done the Scarlet Lady entertainment options and want the new stuff on Resilient again.