Virgin Voyages has reached out to cruisers who were upset about not only a recent itinerary change but the way it was handled. Acknowledging their misstep, the line essentially promised to do better moving forward.
Why Some Cruisers Are Upset
Rarely are those about to set sail happy to hear about itinerary changes, as they tend to be less desirable than the originally scheduled route. That was most definitely the case for most passengers booked upon the Valiant Lady’s April 6 sailing out of New York City.
Originally intended to be a five-day trip to Bermuda, passengers were informed a few days before embarkation that they would, instead, be sailing north to Canada due to a possibility of bad weather. Adding insult to injury, at least in the eyes of some, was the borderline cheeky way in which Virgin addressed the itinerary change.
“St. John will feel a little bit different from Bermuda,” read one segment of the letter, “with crisp, coastal air and a completely new backdrop to explore. You may want to bring a few extra layers.”
Of course, for some cruisers, the warning came too late as they had already flown into New York City from other locations. While many did their best to roll with the proverbial punches, some made their complaints public — with a few related Instagram vids garnering a whole lot of attention.
“We’ve Seen Your Messages”
Facing the situation head-on, if a tad after the fact, Virgin Voyages posted a response to unhappy sailors via their Instagram page. “Welp,” it began. “That Bermuda-Canada email really wasn’t it. We’ve seen your messages, and we get it.”
The missive continued: “This wasn’t the trip you were planning for — and we should have spoken to that reality. We understand why you’re disappointed. We agreed we need to do better, and next time we will.”
It concluded by saying, “Itineraries can change for safety, but you deserve us to be real about it when they do.”
“This Situation Is Not Funny to Me”
In a separate Instagram post featuring a photo of the dark side of the moon, Virgin again addressed the original email. And as is their wont, they did so in a typically sardonic manner. “We missed the mark. So NASA, if you want to fly our team to the moon next, we’ll gladly stay there and hide behind some moon rocks. (We’ll make sure to bring extra layers, too.)”
Not everyone however, saw the humor. One commenter acknowledged it was a “fun social media post” before asking “But what are you doing to make the situation right? This post alone just feels like you’re making fun of the situation.”
One passenger who’d been on board the Canada-bound sailing didn’t see the humor in the situation. “I was on that voyage and extremely disappointed,” they wrote. “I feel that the refusal to issue refunds and $100 per person [onboard credit] per person was wholly inadequate… you should have cancelled the cruise or allowed us to get a refund. Sorry, but this situation is not funny to me.”
