Virgin Voyages Master Thread (do NOT post referral codes – use other thread)
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Lock it in rates are back and the virginvv access key seems to apply successfully. Is it ok for members of the general public to use this, or is it just for agents (first mates)? Thanks.
Lock it in rates are back and the virginvv access key seems to apply successfully. Is it ok for members of the general public to use this, or is it just for agents (first mates)? Thanks
It wasn’t ever for First Mates – it was from a pop-up to the general public on TripAdvisor
Nice one, many thanks!
Our last cruise was free with points, and capacity was low. This time it’s over 95% full, and we regardless still have good seats anywhere we like including shows, and the boat doesn’t feel much busier which is great.
However, our room was dirty on arrival — hairs & stains in sheets and orange juice left in fridge from previous guest (told it was because they were rushing to clean this morning…) — and a restaurant greeter whose key role really is to welcome and seat us looked very pissed off to see us and refused to seat 3 of us despite there being enough room shortly after 2 of our party sat down. I’ve found the Starlink premium WiFi also isn’t strong enough for streaming despite being $150, and restaurants that previously offered vegan off-menu alternatives now won’t do so.
We will still have a great time, we always do, but won’t be returning — I think we were probably too spoiled last time but also I don’t think VV can cope with the influx of passengers.
That is a shame, especially for the experience to have downgraded to the extent where you won’t return.
Many of the 2022 sailings were absolutely rammed (with press, travel agents, and may more invited aboard) – and they coped fine with high passenger numbers back then.
My fear is that they are straying in to ‘cost cutting’ territory, and cutting on staffing/shows/classes. This definitely happened on my 2023 cruise – it was noticeable that the original itinerary of activities had been trimmed and it seemed like the crew were stretched thinner.
In my view, what sets VV apart is the level of OTT/WTF/Wow! extravagance.
And if you cut back on that, you cut back on the entire experience.Their original points cruises seem to have resulted in a lot of returning paying customers… but I’ll only return if the experience is maintained (or elevated!)
In my view, what sets VV apart is the level of OTT/WTF/Wow! extravagance.
And if you cut back on that, you cut back on the entire experience.Yes, very true. I think across most of Virgin’s brands, they have great marketing but a product that struggles to keep up with appearances. Sometimes a brand’s marketing can be too good and set expectations too high, and I think Virgin’s entire offering is probably a world-class example of this.
Surely you can’t beat around £1250pp inc flights from LHR to ATH, overnight 4star stay Athens, 7 night cruise , return flight BCN? Is this deal to good to be true with cruise.co.uk?
We paid £1400 total for 2 plus Avios flights with the lock it in promo, plus 2 nights in a gorgeous Athens Airbnb at £175 total so yes definitely possible to beat!
@ executiveclubber
Where do you get these lock-in deals?@gordog01 — We added the VirginVV promo code that @travelstrong shared in this thread then scrolled down the cabins to find the “lock it in” rate
I don`t suppose anyone has any intel. on whether point bookings will continue into summer 2025 do they? I have paid with points for the last 3 years and trying to decide whether to book now for next year before the 10% discount expires or keep my fingers crossed and hope that another point offer appears. Thank you.
We are travelling on the positioning cruise from Barcelona to Miami at the end of October. So we have bookings opening up in September at midnight. Is that midnight BST? GMT? or something else?
Thanks in advance for your helpMidnight US Eastern Time, so probably 5am BST.
Access Key VVBILT looks to be the new ‘virginvv’ style discount, until 1st September. Untested, just passing on facebook group info!
Had to laugh yesterday. I had booked the really cheap, probably error fare, for the 11th October sailing on Resilient. Hadn’t appreciated at the time that it was a lock it in rate. I booked what I thought was a guaranteed sea terrace. Yesterday was allocated a limited view (think view of lifeboats) on deck 8 right above the red room and manor (think bass until 2am)….contacted sailor services who said they can put me in any sea terrace room and I can’t be moved as it’s a full sailing. To add insult to injury, within 10 mins of getting my cabin number, I got an email offering me 15% off an upgrade, including an upgrade to a regular sea terrace at £160 😂
@Tracy- It looks as if this has also happened yesterday to another sailor ( who had NOT booked a lock it in rate ) on a FB group I belong to (they have been bumped from a booked sea terrace to limited view and are tightly very unhappy).
The original invoice will show what you booked at the time of original booking .I think they’ve still got problems as there appear to be sailors who are still unassigned cabin wise . I moved to the other sailing (as was worried as it looked very overbooked) and VV are being a PITA regarding the monies for changing flights etc … I’m just reminding myself of how much of a bargain it was though 🤣🤣🤣@Dragonlady, not convinced I booked a lock it in rate either. At time of booking I am sure I remember seeing an address at sea on deck 14. This then changed to a guarantee cabin when I received the booking confirmation… however, like you I am reminding myself it was a bargain. Whether I will still feel like that on board every night at 2am remains to be seen 😂 still hoping sailor services will take pity on me and try to change my cabin 🤞
@Tracy -another person on the same group is reporting this morning a downgrade from sea terrace to sea view. She’s been offered some financial recompense and loot and bar tab ( she’s not happy at all) .She’s stated she was told by VV that was lucky to get a cabin allocated at all…
Might be worth going back to VV and asking for some form of compensation ?Thanks @Dragonlady, managed to get sailor services to move me to a regular sea terrace on deck 10. Maybe I should have held off and asked for compensation instead 😂
I’ve got my first ever VV voyage coming up having booked one of the Travelzoo deals over the summer- I noticed things on the ship seem to be billed in USD, so I was wondering when they charge this to my card if this is charged in USD or if they convert it to the original currency I paid in (GBP in this case)? Thank-you!
I’ve got my first ever VV voyage coming up having booked one of the Travelzoo deals over the summer- I noticed things on the ship seem to be billed in USD, so I was wondering when they charge this to my card if this is charged in USD or if they convert it to the original currency I paid in (GBP in this case)? Thank-you!
I just got off – it’s charged to your card in USD. Your card will convert it if its a non-USD card.
I’ve got my first ever VV voyage coming up having booked one of the Travelzoo deals over the summer- I noticed things on the ship seem to be billed in USD, so I was wondering when they charge this to my card if this is charged in USD or if they convert it to the original currency I paid in (GBP in this case)? Thank-you!
I just got off – it’s charged to your card in USD. Your card will convert it if its a non-USD card.
Thank-you! I’ll add a card which doesn’t charge me for forex in that case!
d the really cheap, probably error fare, for the 11th October sailing on Resilient. Hadn’t appreciated at the time that it was a lock it in rate. I booked what I thought was a guaranteed sea terrace. Yesterday was allocated a limited view (think view of lifeboats) on deck 8 right above the red room and manor (think bass until 2am)….contacted sailor services who said they can put me in any sea terrace room and I can’t be moved as it’s a full sailing. To add insult to injury, within 10 mins of getting my cabin number, I got an email offering me 15% off an upgrade, including an upgrade to a regular sea terrace at £160 😂
When did you book? We originally booked the 9 day cruise on the 11th and were contacted in May to say it was overbooked and would we like to go on the 13th instead and get 2 extra days for free in addition to money behind the bar and $1000 for flights, so they were obviously very busy in May!
a selection of carribean virgin voyages have been added to virgin red for redemption (specific sailings from now til the end of the year only) :
20 Oct 2024-5N – Riviera Maya: Halloween
175,000 Points3 Nov 2024-5N Mayan Sol
175,000 Points17 Nov 2024-5N- Riviera Maya
175,000 Points30 Nov 2024-6N One-Way San Juan Sojourn
210,000 Points1 Dec 2024-5N- Riviera Maya
175,000 Points11 Dec 2024-4N- Fire & Sunset Soirées: Holiday
140,000 Points14 Dec 2024-7N- Saint (Isles) & Seas of the Caribbean
245,000 Points14 Dec 2024-8N-Eastern Caribbean Antilles
280,000 PointsBeen crunching the numbers to see if there is a set value-per-point, based on the lock-it-in rates for the Sea Terrace cabin.
It doesn’t appear that there is.It looks like the standard price for a short itinerary (8 days and under) is 35k points per night, and for longer itineraries (the repositioning cruises) is 20k per night.
The shortest 4-day cruises are the worst value at the current prices, with the 5-6 day cruises seeming to offer the best value.
The purpose of all this maths is me trying to work out if it’s worth going hard on collecting Virgin points over the next 6 months or so in the hope of using points for a cruise next year, when I will be much cash-poorer due to having my kitchen done right now. (Of course Builders never take credit cards – so no points windfall to be had from the £20k spent on that!)
I have just over 133k points right now, and can upgrade to the Rewards+ card to boost that up to c. 165k what with CC spend and train travel and a bit of Tesco shopping. Fingers crossed for a few more points-earning opportunities to crop up in that time, if not buying the last 10k is do-able – if they stick to this price point.
The points cost of these cruises has definitely crept up since the summer, presumably because of the loads increasing – if they keep doing so I think I’ll be chasing the unattainable, and then be stuck with a difficult-to-use stash of Virgin points. Although I guess with the changes to the flights availability coming in I’d be at least able to fly somewhere!
I had a lovely time in 2023 on the Greek Glow cruise, but that was when it was only 80k!
If I don’t go hard on Virgin points, I’ll be re-focusing on Avios and getting the Barclaycard, saving up for the longer term.
What to do….
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