Virgin Voyages Master Thread (do NOT post referral codes – use other thread)
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@Rob Have the competition winners been notified yet?
Worthwhile checking your Virgin Voyages marketing emails, they send quite a lot but hidden away was one sent on the 29 Sep titled ‘share what matters to you’ – its a 20 minute survey and they award you 200 dollars onboard credit to use on your next cruise as a thank you. I sailed onboard over summer so you would need to be a previous customer to receive one.
Never got one, shame. Maybe because I already booked for 2024? *shrug*
Question for anyone who’s tried for an MSC status match to hotel status. Did you receive confirmation when you submitted your request form?
I submitted request (on iPad) over a week ago and not received a thing. Did they receive it?
I submitted again (this time on desktop)a few days ago and still not heard a thing!Mine was sorted out in 4-5 working days I believe, my partner’s took a few days more than that.Hopefully you have yours now!
Thanks. Having waited nearly three weeks I emailed them and asked if they’d received my submitted form. Came back to me the next day to say they and and confirmed my match was successful!
Hey all,
So upset i missed this deal last summer. Any word on the street on whether they’ll do another 80k points for a cruise deal???
Anyone remember when this deal went live last year?Hey all,
So upset i missed this deal last summer. Any word on the street on whether they’ll do another 80k points for a cruise deal???
Anyone remember when this deal went live last year?The deal went live around mid-May last year, I think.
No idea if they’ll run it again. The reason they ran it in the first place was to fill the European itinerary’s that weren’t selling. Thats why we didn’t have a Caribbean points offer last year, as those ships were running pretty much full.
Cash prices are quite high across the board for Virgin Voyages at the moment, so maybe that’s a sign they are selling well? I think it’ll just be a waiting game, if there will be an offer I’d guess it’ll be close to or after they’ve already started sailing in Europe againI received a promotional email this week with the following offer, applicable to all cruises bar their new Australian route:
“Book a Virgin Voyage instore or call us by 31st January for 70% off your second sailor, up to £600 in free drinks, £300 of sailor loot, and an incredible 10,000 bonus Virgin Points to use for your next adventure.”
I received a promotional email this week with the following offer, applicable to all cruises bar their new Australian route:
“Book a Virgin Voyage instore or call us by 31st January for 70% off your second sailor, up to £600 in free drinks, £300 of sailor loot, and an incredible 10,000 bonus Virgin Points to use for your next adventure.”
Interesting… I got the exact same offer, with the exception of the 10k Virgin Points. It seems a lot of their offers are targeted. A friend of mine who has been before on a solo cruise, got a solo sailor offer a few days ago rather than the 70% off second sailor.
Be aware that like lots of cruise companies ships relocating from Australia and/or the far East will face some significant delays and reroutes in the next 3 months as ships previously destined to come through the Suez Canal will divert around Cape Horn.
Virgins Vailent Lady is due to come through mid April coming up from Dubai to Athens. That is likely to be canned. The one before from Singapore to Dubai could be changed as could the Athens cruise on the 9th of May (which is the one I am on)……
I have been looking to book a Virgin cruise however I couldn’t keep up with all the offers which in the end amounted to the same offer disguised differently, however the latest one is making it clear that this is the last best offer for this year…..
As the end of this gloomy month looms, so does the end of Our Most Inclusive Offer of the Year — your last chance to get 70% off your 2nd Sailor and up to $600 in free drinks. Whether you’re looking to bask in the Barcelona sun or enjoy a glass of vino in France’s coastal Bordeaux region, hurry up and book by 31st January 2024, before this offer sails into the sunset.
Then after that I got one stating “use your deposit discount for last chance to match it with best offer for the year”
Feels like a lot of desperate marketing from Virgin but I assume they can’t say there won’t be any offer better than the current one and then offer one?
I was hoping for a points offer this year but now I feel if I don’t book this deal they will only get worse…
We have done these cruises with cash and points
Obviously the points were ridiculously good value.
Feel like the prices are creeping up and I’m not sure it’s worth it.
4 bookings in the space of last 2 years food and shows basically the same.
Ships more or less the same.
Need to add more varietyThere are some problems in the cruise industry at the moment, causing plusses and minusses.
The biggest issue is that the biggest market – US tourists – is very risk averse. A hint of trouble and they don’t want to travel. So “trips of a lifetime” to “the Holy Land” – or indeed the very eastern end of the med, Jordan etc are now off.
And then there is the hassle with Houthies. I had noticed that many cruise lines had started offering cruises around the Gulf states as part of their seasonal repositioning. But that’s now off the cards too as they re-route via the Cape.
As a result, the Caribbean is really busy – we were stuck in a cruise ship “holding pattern” at Miami in December due to bad weather closing the port for a few hours! It is a nice warm safe easy predictable holiday. But a lot of price competition. I have heard one line has decided to move another ship from the Caribbean to the Western/mid Med for next winter due to the unexpected popularity of this year’s cruises there.
We are looking at Antarctica, which has more and more ships heading there. But the Hurtigruten ship we were thinking off had its bridge windows stove in and controls flooded by a North Sea storm and had to be taken by tugs back to port. Puts me off it for the infamous Drake Passage!
And the tiny Pandaw operator in Laos, Cambodia, India, Vietnam is pretty much sold out.
And, of course, the huge number of new (and huge!) ships that have come on line.
I have been looking to book a Virgin cruise however I couldn’t keep up with all the offers which in the end amounted to the same offer disguised differently, however the latest one is making it clear that this is the last best offer for this year…..
I was hoping for a points offer this year but now I feel if I don’t book this deal they will only get worse…
I wouldn’t take anything written in offer emails as definitive; the general trend has been prices going upwards but they manipulate underlying pricing as well as offer discount rates so there’s no guarantee a better offer for specific cruises / rooms etc won’t show up.
We have done these cruises with cash and points
Obviously the points were ridiculously good value.
Feel like the prices are creeping up and I’m not sure it’s worth it.
4 bookings in the space of last 2 years food and shows basically the same.
Ships more or less the same.
Need to add more varietyI agree. Imo they made a mistake by not having at least one dining venue differ between ships, or doing more to vary menu options between ships and/or sailings. We’re about to do our 3rd in 3 years, each on a different ship, and it’s a good job we like almost all the food options because we’ve had basically everything already. The pricing has increased considerably now but to be fair to VV the current pricing is still very competitive vs other cruise options; for me personally it’s reached a point where I feel I will get better value out of normal holidays again though.
Looks like this was a one off deal then. I expected if we were going to have the cruise for 80k points return for this summer we would’ve heard by now
Looks like this was a one off deal then. I expected if we were going to have the cruise for 80k points return for this summer we would’ve heard by now
Last year the promotion didn’t appear until the end of May . If it does I’m not sure it’ll be at 80 k miles again though ….
Looks like this was a one off deal then. I expected if we were going to have the cruise for 80k points return for this summer we would’ve heard by now
No, the points cruises do not have much notice.
If they haven’t sold up in the 1 – 2 months before then they could open it out to points bookers.
We are seat fillers (a good virgin cruise is a busy cruise with atmosphere and well attended shows/classes/excursions etc.) who happen to bump up the spend on drinks and excursions on the side.
I guess virgin voyages also receive a payment from virgin red, but they will want the cash bookings firmed up first.80k is the minimum to keep aside if you are interested in jumping in, but I’d budget for 120k just in case.
Although you can always buy points later if need be.Indication from rob and others is that USA cruises are selling well, but European ones not so much, and prices are dropping now that the Q1 holiday booking rush is over. So there may be some chance of a europe redemption (and yes, I’m being optimistic 🙂 )
Was reading a professional travel advisor’s email today and saw this promo for Virgin Voyages – essentially 4 B2B cruises.
“Forget “Work from home”, how about “Work from the Med”? Starting at $9990 per cabin – yes, that’s a 30% savings value— two Sailors will enjoy four weeks at sea in the iconic Central Sea Terrace cabins from June through September. Travel Advisor Math: That’s only $178 per person per day for a sea view terrace, amazing food, fitness classes, and the opportunity to really escape daily life!
For a month’s long stay, we’ll provide the comforts of home — Premium Wi-Fi, a $10 daily coffee credit per cabin, Wash & Fold laundry service — as well as prepare them for the thrills of the unknown — early access to book dining and Shore Things, onboard RockStar support, access to Richard’s rooftop, and a complimentary bottle of bubbly to welcome you aboard.
Only a limited number of ‘Scarlet Summer Season Passes’ are available.”
Was reading a professional travel advisor’s email today and saw this promo for Virgin Voyages – essentially 4 B2B cruises.
“Forget “Work from home”, how about “Work from the Med”? Starting at $9990 per cabin – yes, that’s a 30% savings value— two Sailors will enjoy four weeks at sea in the iconic Central Sea Terrace cabins from June through September. Travel Advisor Math: That’s only $178 per person per day for a sea view terrace, amazing food, fitness classes, and the opportunity to really escape daily life!
For a month’s long stay, we’ll provide the comforts of home — Premium Wi-Fi, a $10 daily coffee credit per cabin, Wash & Fold laundry service — as well as prepare them for the thrills of the unknown — early access to book dining and Shore Things, onboard RockStar support, access to Richard’s rooftop, and a complimentary bottle of bubbly to welcome you aboard.
Only a limited number of ‘Scarlet Summer Season Passes’ are available.”
I got that same email, I imagine everyone who has been on a cruise before did.
Someone on FB just posted that they were targeted for a Virgin cruise 100k offer, 8 nights in the Caribbean or 7 night Med cruises sailing unil 31 August
Someone posted on a FB group that the Virgin Red offer is back. 100k this time for a 7 day Med or 8 day Caribbean cruise, for sailing up to 31 August. It looks like a targeted offer unfortunately
Do we know if they were targeted via email? In the Red app? Had they done a Virgin Cruise before? Cash or points?
Re Voyages – Virgin Red dropped us a note to say that this is not true. The offer posted on Facebook is for an offer from March 2023. It’s not clear why it has been reposted now and presented as current.
I’m tracking this as well. We went on a VV Barcelona cruise for 95k points in 2022 and loved it so much we took up the on-board MNVV offer and paid for the greek islands “mermaiden”cruise last year, which was just as good. We have another MNVV to use now and waiting to see if the points offer comes back (maybe April/May). If it does we plan to treat our siblings and take a larger group. It’s an amazing ship, great food, wonderful staff and very different vibe to other cruise lines we’ve been on.
I’m still hopeful the offer will come back – as another data point, we have several friends who work for airlines (not Virgin) and have access to the Touchdown discount travel portal, apparently VV are offering some heavily discounted deals there if you qualify. I guess VV think they’ll make the discount back from the extra loot spend 🙂
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