Virgin Voyages Master Thread (do NOT post referral codes – use other thread)

[Travel Strong]

Short answer: Unknown.

Long answer: 1) The ones on virgin red had been around a while and ran their course. So I would not read in to those ending. 2) We’re currently in the busiest season for holiday bookings, so it would make sense for them to wait and see which cruises have the most spare capacity. 3) Ultimately they are very unlikely to fill all sailings in what is really only the 2nd year of proper operations. 4) There seems to be plenty of people willing to hand over ~£1k of points to fill spots who would not sail otherwise (I am one… I’ll sail for a 100k points offer, but I can’t see myself sailing longterm … Or for cash). 5) Their strategy to date seems to be to fill empty spots attracting these non-cruisers … So it depends if this strategy continues / is still useful.

[markdhayes]

Annoying that the cruises are back for points but only for US residents. Anyone know a workaround?

[JohnG]

markdhayes wrote:

Annoying that the cruises are back for points but only for US residents. Anyone know a workaround?

Short of waiting for them to open it up I think you’d have to move your Virgin Atlantic account to the US which may not be straightforward. Virgin Voyages do seem to be entirely focused on US customers sadly; the offers, loyalty scheme dates etc are all timed around US schedules, so it doesn’t suprise me that they’ve only opened this up to the US for now.

Unless you are sitting on a lot of Virgin Points it’s questionable whether it makes sense to spend points on these redemptions now. There is a lot of onboard credit for normal bookings that you won’t receive on a redemption now; if you do have a lot of points though it probably still makes sense.

[samgwaters11]

I messaged Virgin Red about the offers a few weeks ago (mid January) and they replied:

We are hoping to bring more Virgin Voyages offers this year but I don’t have anything set in stone to tell you at the moment. These are always very popular so I can’t imagine we’d not have offers.

Keep an eye on the app as these may pop up at some point.

I was quite optimistic after this response, however after seeings Marks comment I realised I hadn’t specified I was a UK member, so I just messaged them and they responded with:

Please note that we have not been informed of similar offerings for UK members at the moment.

However, we don’t want you to miss out if it becomes available, so please keep an eye out for offers on the app.

For now I’m going to keep my points in the bank, and remain optimistic they’ll be bringing some offers out to us. I’m pretty sure that previously virgin have offered UK Red members cruises and excluded USA members from the offer, so I remain cautiously optimistic they will give us something later in the year. Fingers crossed!

[markdhayes]

I DM’d them too and they just got back saying they are coming for UK residents soon and to keep an eye out.

I’ve got a good stack of virgin points and I consider 100k great value for the cruise even if you have to fund your drinks yourself.

[stevenhp1987]

Just got off our third VS points funded cruise yesterday (Western Caribbean Charm).

Still the best value redemption out there.

If this offer comes this side of the pond and it’s only from Barcelona or Miami (not Athens) then I’d be tempted to go for an itinary we’ve already been on before!

Got a cash booking out of Athens… Would be nice to make it a back to back!

[samgwaters11]

Great news Mark!

I’m hoping they release something for the Athens cruises, i’d love the Croatia/Montenegro one.

Steven, If they don’t offer Athens and only offer Barcelona do you think I should jump on the chance? I’m tempted to wait as I’ve seen plenty of Spain/France/Italy but never Croatia or Montenegro. At the same time I cant ignore a cash free points only cruise around the med!

[markdhayes]

I’m in the exact same thing, would prefer the Athens one but can’t turn down a ‘free’ one, even if it’s from Barcelona again.

[Mart]

This was easily the best points redemption we have done if it comes again we will be on it.

[Pinocent]

Hopefully the points redemption returns, but the ‘Future Voyage Offer’ on board ended up being a cracking offer for us. $300 deposit for a placeholder + $300 off your next cruise + $600 onboard credit.

We found a cruise from San Juan for £2800 cash price for a sea terrace room. Not discounted at all because it’s a 2024 sailing. Logged into the website to change the future cruise placeholder, just to get a quote, the cash price reduced to £1125! 7 nights! Absolute bargain with the onboard credit.

[Ash]

Pinocent wrote:

Hopefully the points redemption returns, but the ‘Future Voyage Offer’ on board ended up being a cracking offer for us. $300 deposit for a placeholder + $300 off your next cruise + $600 onboard credit.

We found a cruise from San Juan for £2800 cash price for a sea terrace room. Not discounted at all because it’s a 2024 sailing. Logged into the website to change the future cruise placeholder, just to get a quote, the cash price reduced to £1125! 7 nights! Absolute bargain with the onboard credit.

How does the future voyage offer work…you take a points cruise and they give you 600usd credits on your next cruise? How did the 2800 reduce to 1125? The website reduced the price for a repeat customer?

[Ash]

Ports and flights aside….is there a difference between the Carribbean and Med cruises… facilities on board, make up of the passengers (families, seniors, etc), age of the ships, standard of food offerings.

Definitely would like to do one, regret not doing the first round at 95k.

Too early to ask for a referral for on board credits?

[stevenhp1987]

@Ash,

I’ve done three Virgin Voyages cruises on the Valiant Lady (all VS funded!). 2 Mediterranean & 1 Caribbean (disembarked 3 days ago).

The food offering on the 2 Mediterranean cruises was superior to the Caribbean offering. On the Caribbean one they swapped many food & drink items for US based products.

This was most noticeable in their cheese boards. Delicious on the Mediterranean cruises but completely awful on the Caribbean ones. Said cheese though was much nicer when baked on their pizza though! The sailaway “champagne” was noticeably not champagne on the Caribbean cruise (it was awful). They used the same “champagne” for the frequent cruiser party which was a shame.

All three cruises were totally worth it though! The service is top notch, there are no kids, great food offerings (despite lower quality products in the Caribbean) – brand new ships.

If anything it’s too late to ask for a referral. The referral programme ends today (It was abused by most passengers).

A cruise worth £3-4k for ~125k points & £0 taxes is the best value redemption I’m aware of!

[Pinocent]

Ash wrote:

How does the future voyage offer work…you take a points cruise and they give you 600usd credits on your next cruise? How did the 2800 reduce to 1125? The website reduced the price for a repeat customer?

I booked a points cruise last summer around the med. Onboard they push to place a $300 placeholder booking for a future cruise within 24 months. As part of the offer, they give you an extra $300 off and $600 sailers loot.

You simply go into your online account and amend the placeholder to the cruise you want.

How it came to £1125 is beyond me though. My calculations should’ve been around £1800 at least. When I tried to get a price for a Rockstar room, the discount didn’t appear at all… Very strange!

[Paul B]

I reckon it’s coming back, especially with the upcoming launch of their new ship, however at a few more points than last year. I think 135k+ will be the norm and gone will be the days of 95k

[markdhayes]

I’m getting less confident the points offer is coming, despite Virgin red telling me to keep my eyes out in the very near future 2 weeks ago

[samgwaters11]

Did you/they specifically mention UK when you messaged Mark?

[markdhayes]

Yeah they did:

Hi Mark,

Thanks for getting in touch.

There are currently no offers available to UK residents, however, offers will be added in the near future, so keep an eye out.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,

[samgwaters11]

Hmm thats strange. The February offer ends soon, so fingers crossed they do something after then. For now I’m gonna keep points in the bank incase, but you’re right its not looking as hopeful.

[samgwaters11]

Hi all,

Just wondering what peoples thoughts on the chances of this coming back are. I’ve given up almost all hope that we will get something for this summer now

[RebeccaLondon]

samgwaters11 wrote:

Hi all,

Just wondering what peoples thoughts on the chances of this coming back are. I’ve given up almost all hope that we will get something for this summer now

Losing optimism… However we booked for a September voyage in August last year using points so maybe they’ll be a late offer?

We’ve done two on points so far and are keen to do a third. Fingers crossed eh.

[samgwaters11]

Ive just contacted virgin red support and asked whether it was worth using my points on something else. They told me to still keep my eye on the app, so surely something will come up at some point.

The US offer offered cruises up until the end of June this year, so I’m speculating and hoping that they will return for UK members from July onwards. We will see I guess.

[stevenhp1987]

It’s back!

80k VS points on the Resilient or Valiant Lady, available for sailing during 1st June to 31st July. Absolute bargain… If only I wasn’t already booked in on cash!

https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/spend-virgin-points/seven-nights-in-the-med-between-june-and-july-16042

[oxforddoc]

stevenhp1987 wrote:

It’s back!

80k VS points on the Resilient or Valiant Lady, available for sailing during 1st June to 31st July. Absolute bargain… If only I wasn’t already booked in on cash!

https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/spend-virgin-points/seven-nights-in-the-med-between-june-and-july-16042

Share the exact same frustration!!!

[nectar collector]

Reward flight availability or decent cash flight prices look a bit scarce for matching dates to BCN and ATH given the short notice……anyone found anything?