Virgin Voyages Suspension: Updated October 27, 2020

As we continue to navigate what’s going on in the world, we’ve made the decision to cancel our December sailings.

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages continues to offer one of the very best cancelation and re-booking policies in the cruise industry. Virgin maintains they will be sailing at some point, it’s simply a matter of time. At the beginning of this process I wondered if that would be true, but at this point, I believe they will sail when it becomes possible. They have continued with plans for additional ships, ports, and itineraries, which is a positive sign.

This latest Virgin Voyages suspension has a lot of details and options that can be confusing especially when it comes to understanding future cruise credit. If you’d like unbiased assistance and information, or if you’d like to (re)book your next cruise (or some other type of vacation) use the contact form or call me at 844-483-6669.

• Double Your Value Option: 200% in Future Voyage Credit of the amount you’ve paid to date toward your voyage fare, which you can apply to another sailing, rather than a refund. That’s double the value of your existing paid voyage fare. (The double your value option will only apply to the amount that was actually paid, not any additional value credited to you.)
• Refund Option: A full refund of everything paid along with a Future Voyage Credit equal to 25% of your existing paid voyage fare to be used on a future sailing.
• Taxes, fees, and pre-voyage sales will be fully refunded to your original form of payment within 30 days if paid in full. 
• For Sailors canceled more than once: Your full Future Voyage Credit will be restored to use toward a future sailing, and our standard cancellation policies will apply.
• If Sailor is Paid in Partial, they are able to pay in full and receive 200% Future Voyage Credit.  (See deadlines below.)
• If Sailors took advantage of our WAVE Onboard Credit offer, we will honor this on their next booking.

Key Dates For The Latest Virgin Voyages Suspension

• The Future Voyage Credit is valid for redemption up to a year after the original voyage start date for any sailing with open inventory through 2022.
• If you book before December 10th, 2020, for any sailing in 2021 or 2022, you’ll be able to take advantage of our flexible booking policy — which allows you to cancel up to 48 hours before the voyage date and receive full credit.
• If Sailors prefer to receive a full refund, they may call or email before Dec. 30, 2020, to select a full refund of voyage fare + Future Voyage Credit for 25% of the voyage fare in place of the 200% Future Voyage Credit.

Virgin Voyages Suspension: Update September 29, 2020

Before reading too much into the decision — I’ll do that below the formal announcement — Virgin Voyages just announced the cancellation of their November sailings.

As we continue to navigate what’s going on in the world, we’ve made the decision to cancel our sailings for November. We understand that this is disappointing news to Sailors who are so excited to set sail. We are, too. But we’re committed to doing what’s best for our Sailors and Crew, and we’ll only head out to sea when we believe the time is right.

Virgin Voyages

So, the question on everyone’s mind is: will all the other cruise lines follow Virgin Voyages lead? Is this insight into what the CDC might decide to do with the current no sail order? And, of course, what about the guests who were booked on one of the November voyages?

First, it’s important to remember that Virgin hasn’t even had one cruise. The crew hadn’t even had the chance to really get up to speed on the original Virgin guidelines and policies which, of course have all changed due to the Covid pandemic. So it’s not surprising that Virgin Voyages has more logistics to work out with their ships, crew, and policies than a cruise line that has an experienced crew waiting to get back to work.

So, while we’re still waiting to hear from the CDC — which to me it’s “no news is good news” — the other cruise lines haven’t made any announcements but they’ve also indicated that the first cruises would be short cruises — 3 and 4 night — from Florida. At the moment (9/29/20 at 3:45 pm Eastern) there’s no reason to think the Virgin Voyages suspension is the beginning of the next round of “global suspensions” for the other cruise lines.

One thing about Virgin Voyages, they do things differently. That includes their offers to guests impacted by the latest Virgin Voyages suspension update. Their incentive shows how much they want you to experience a Virgin Voyages cruise.

Deadlines/Key Dates:

Virgin Voyages Suspension: Update August 6, 2020

Cruises in 2020 are becoming less likely with each extension of the voluntary suspension. Today the Virgin Voyages suspension was extended to October 31, 2020 in alignment with CLIA’s announcement from earlier this week.

Based on the recent CLIA extension of the voluntary suspension of sailings through October 31st, 2020, our first four sailings have been impacted. While it only affects a few sailings, we understand how disappointing this is.

Our Crew is continuing to keep an eye on developments related to this extension and various other travel restrictions. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be working on any impact this may have to our upcoming sailing season, and we’ll share any updates with you as soon as we have them.

We can’t wait to finally get out on the water with you.

Virgin Voyages

This announcement hints at the cancellation policy but doesn’t spell out what it is. The last round of cancellations included a 200% future cruise credit or a refund plus 25% cruise credit as an incentive. As far as I know that is still the case but everything travel related changes rapidly. If you’re on one of the suspended sailings, contact your travel advisor for more details. If you booked direct and want unbiased assistance, contact me using the contact form.

Read the entire Virgin Voyages suspension announcement

Virgin Voyages Suspension Update: May, 21 2020

We’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our sailings through October 15th, 2020. We’ve been working hard to find a way to set sail by August, but that hasn’t turned out to be possible.

We appreciate how many of you were excited to sail with us, so we understand how disappointing this news is. But we trust you’ll understand our decision given the evolving global health challenge we’re all up against.

As of right now, our first sailing is planned for October 16th, 2020. We’re focused on being ready to get back on the open ocean with some exciting innovations focused on protecting the well-being of both our Sailors and our incredible Crew — which we’ll update you on soon.

For Sailors impacted by this change, we’re offering the most flexible and fair options out there. In the next few weeks, we’ll be auto-crediting double the amount you’ve paid to date toward your voyage fare. And if you book your next sailing before June 30th, we’ll even give you up to $500 to spend on board. But if you’d prefer a refund, you can call or email us anytime between now and December 31st, 2020.

One more piece of news we’d like to share is that we’re launching our new Smooth Sailing program for 2020. We recognize the difficult economic environment that many people are experiencing, so we’re bringing new introductory pricing to Sailors — while offering (even more) flexible booking policies.

For sailings through December 16th, 2020, we’re moving final payment dates to 60 days (from 120 days) before you sail, and you can cancel up to 48 hours before your voyage and receive a 100% voyage credit. We want you to feel confident about making plans, while knowing that if anything changes, we’re always on your side.

We’re excited about getting to sail with you when the time is right. Until then, we wish you and your loved ones health and happiness.