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Just as Brilliant Lady, wound up her iconic journey from Miami to Los Angeles.
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It started two weeks of headline grabbing news across the Virgin Voyages brand.
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Virgin Voyages have made some big updates and changes that we all
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need to know about as Sailors.
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If we haven't met before.
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My name is David from VV Insider, Which is a website that's all about Virgin Voyages.
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All of the news, the updates, the guides that you'll need to know to plan
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the perfect Virgin Voyages vacation.
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We do these regular news updates called the Virgin Voyage Insider Update because
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there's always news to keep on top of at Virgin Voyages and the past couple
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of weeks has been no exception at all.
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So we're gonna take a look at Brilliant Lady's first couple
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of weeks in Los Angeles,
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including a star studded press event, and the Los Angeles Mer As part of
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our countdown to the new Valiant Lady when she leaves her dry dock.
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We have an important glimpse at a space that's gonna be changing,
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we're also gonna share the details of the Eat & Drink Festival for 2026.
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This year, Virgin Voyages Iconic Food and Beverage event
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is called Festival of Senses.
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we're gonna walk through what that means and what to look forward to on board.
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We're gonna take a quick look at Virgin Voyages Semi-Annual Sale and how you
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can use this sale to save money on your next Virgin Voyages booking.
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There also looks to be an upcoming change to the way reservations work
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for restaurant bookings, including the ability to book shared tables.
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We're gonna dive into what we know so far and what we need
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to look out for in the future.
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Crucially, we're gonna take a look at a headline grabbing piece of news
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that Virgin Voyages have been involved with over the past couple of weeks,
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which all revolves around an itinerary change from a sailing
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from New York to Bermuda.
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We're gonna take a look at why this particular itinerary change has
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caused so much discussion online.
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So as you can see, there's so much to dig into.
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So let's get started.
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So Brilliant Lady's iconic crossing of the Panama Canal came to an end
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just a couple of short weeks ago.
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And as those guests departed, they gave away to a very special
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media preview event for Brilliant Lady on the west coast of the US.
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As Brilliant Lady was alongside at the Los Angeles World Cruise Center.
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It gave the opportunity for Virgin Voyages to invite media and to travel advisors
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on board to show them what Brilliant Lady is all about on the West Coast.
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for many in the region this was their first taste of the
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Virgin Voyages experience.
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With a very special Scarlet Night being hosted on that media night, it
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gave everyone an opportunity to see what Virgin Voyages was all about.
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There were also some crossover appearances from the Virgin Atlantic
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brand seen here, joined by Katrina the Balancer, and Kara Kature The Diva.
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Once the festivities of the night, were all over and done with that kicked off
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the LA MerMaiden for Brilliant Lady.
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This continues Virgin Voyages tradition of having a MerMaiden
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voyage, A special voyage for every new sailing from a new home port.
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This means there's only one left with the current roster of ships and that
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will be in Seattle later this year.
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Looking now to what will become a regular feature of VV Insider over
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the next few weeks, which is revealing some new things to look forward to
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with Valiant Lady when she comes out of her dry dock in May this year.
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This update in particular actually takes us to The Galley, and although the
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eateries in The Galley will remain the same post dry dock, it's actually a change
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to do with the Grounds Club Too, which is the coffee shop inside of The Galley.
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It's been revealed that Valiant Lady will be the third ship in the fleet to
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take on the new Look Grounds Club Too.
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This is an example of what we're talking about.
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The Old Grounds Club had a coffee bean shaped style metal fixture above it.
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I've hit my head on that a number of times, but that's gonna be removed
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and replaced with the Grounds Club Too design that we see across
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other ships in the fleet, including Brilliant Lady and Scarlet Lady.
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Personally, I think this is a very welcome update Indeed.
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The seating around this area is much more comfortable and the
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whole coffee bar experience is much improved on those two ships.
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Part of the reasoning behind these changes is to make Grounds Club Too into more
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of a nighttime space as well with more comfortable seating and bar style seating,
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so you can enjoy a late night cocktail in a more casual venue than maybe some of
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the bars on the lower decks of the ship.
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The New Grounds Club Too in The Galley is also a very popular place for people to
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set up their laptops to work throughout the day as well, with lots of seating
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options with tables and plenty of chargers it is a really practical space on board
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and it's really good to see that this new design is coming to Valiant Lady
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If you wanna read any more about the updates coming to Valiant Lady Post Dry
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Dock, then head over to vvinsider.com where over the next few weeks, we're
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gonna be releasing some more information about what to expect when Valiant
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Lady comes out of the dry dock in May.
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All of these changes, including the brand new Indian restaurant Ariya will be
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launching with the first itinerary outside of the dry dock, which will be taking
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place on the 25th of May out of Rome, ending in Barcelona six nights later.
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There's still really good availability for that voyage, and if you are looking
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for a bargain, the prices has come down significantly on that one as well.
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So if you're looking to snag a deal, head over to vvinsider.com/book and you can
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get on that particular sale link for under $1,500 for an Insider for two people.
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Now onto something very exciting for those that enjoy the food and beverages
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offered on the Virgin Voyages ships.
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And that is the details about the new Eat & Drink Festival for 2026.
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So as we reported ahead of time, the Eat & Drink Festival for 2026, will
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be taking place from the 27th of August till the 28th of September.
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This is the fifth year that this very special food and drink event has been
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hosted on the Virgin Voyages fleet.
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Well, this year has a very special theme, and this one is
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all about the Festival of Senses.
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This is where the culinary team has really dug deep to bring together an experience
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that's meant to engage all five senses when it comes to this Eat & Festival
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of Senses will look at how food and drink can be experienced at all levels,
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where the experience is designed specifically to show off
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food and drink without just concentrating on just the flavor.
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This promises to blend culinary storytelling, interactive spaces
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and brand new events as well.
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the biggest addition to the Festival of Senses Eat & Drink Festival
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is a brand new culinary event that will be taking place in The Manor.
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This event is gonna be called "A Feast for the Senses".
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And this promises to be an immersive sensory experience where a short
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film will be played alongside the food and drink options available.
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It's already known that we don't need reservations for this experience,
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so this probably won't be a sit down meal, but more of an amuse-bouche
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or hor d'oeuvres style setting.
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the idea here is that Sailors will freely move around The Manor and experience
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different stations as they go through.
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So if you're expecting this to be a sit down style dinner show, like
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you would see with "It's A Ship Show" or "Another Rose" or "Up With
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A Twist", it's not quite like that.
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This will be a very different type of experience.
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But as you'll know, if you've been along to one of these Eat & Drink Festivals
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before, or you've read about it on vvinsider.com, you will know that there
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will be some new offerings available on the menus across the entire fleet.
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The lineup this year has already revealed that there will be new offerings
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available at The Wake and The Dock.
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This is always welcome news for those of us that have sailed with Virgin Voyages
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a few times in the past, and we'd like to see the menu shaken up a little bit.
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So it's always nice to see some new additions there.
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There will of course be some new events available across the fleet
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during this Eat & Drink Festival.
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One highlight for this year is called the Sensory Dinner Series, which is a limited
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capacity bookable dining experience.
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which will feature four courses and curated drink pairings.
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This will also feature guided storytelling by guest winemakers,
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brewers and distillers.
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This particular experience is brought to Virgin Voyages, courtesy of husband
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and wife team behind Caputo's Kitchen.
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foodies might recognize them as the authors of "The Flavor Matrix".
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What we know already is that this will sit around 18 to 20 Sailors per event,
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we know that bookings will be handled as events, not as dining.
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So if you're looking for this particular experience, as we get closer to the
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time on those sailings, make sure you look in the lineup for events.
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There's also a ton of other events that have been announced for this
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Eat & Drink Festival this year.
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So if you're looking to read more about them, head over to our
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article on vvinsider.com where we break them all down for you.
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If you are heading on a sailing that starts between the 27th of August or ends
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before the 28th of September, you'll have the Eat & Drink Festival available on your
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voyage, if you're yet to book one of these particular sailings and are interested
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in the Eat & Drink Festival, we have a list of eligible voyages on vvinsider.com
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and we'll show you all the best prices available as well with some exclusive
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perks if you book through our link.
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So make sure you head over to the article for more information on that.
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Speaking of getting on board, Virgin Voyages have announced a semi-annual sale
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with prices from just $89 per Sailor, per night.
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And the great thing about this sale is that it applies across a huge number of
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itineraries and sailings around the world.
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So if you are looking for a great deal on a Virgin Voyage, now
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is a really good time to do it.
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If you head over to our article, we list out all of those eligible voyages.
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and don't forget if you hit the "Book Voyage" button on our website, You'll
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also see a list of all the voyages where we can give you extra Sailor
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Loot when you book using our link.
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This is a really good way to get some extra free onboard credit before you
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sail, which you can use to spend on anything onboard, including shore
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excursions, spa treatments, you name it.
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all the details for that can be found at vvinsider.com/book.
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A really interesting feature that we saw popup, if not just for a moment, was a
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new option provided on the Virgin Voyages website when you go to book a restaurant.
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And interestingly, this showed up as an option to book a shared
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table rather than just a private table like you could before.
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Here's a quick example of what that looked like in practice.
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so there are times listed where you can book a table as a standard
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booking, just as you do before,
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But you'll see a purple option here, which allows you to book a shared table.
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you'll see in this example in Gunbae where the tables are a lot larger,
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is that actually there's a lot more availability for a shared table
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rather than a standard booking.
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now, it's important for us to mention that this is no longer on the website,
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so it does look like they were testing this feature out just for a limited time,
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so it looks like this might be a glimpse of something that they
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might be launching in the future.
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So we'll keep an eye out for any news that we have on that.
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but we did see a lot of discussion and a lot of opinions being shared on
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our Facebook page about this change with many people, assuming that shared
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dining would now be the default option like it is on other cruise lines.
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Well, we didn't really get that impression when we saw this pop up.
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We think that this might be provided as an alternative to the standard
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style of booking, But like I say, we don't have all the details yet,
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but do make sure you follow the news on vvinsider.com and stay subscribed
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to this channel for any such changes.
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We'll keep you up to date with anything that you'll need to know, especially
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when it comes to restaurant reservations 'cause that's a hugely important part
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of your Virgin Voyages experience.
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Just a quick mention.
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If you're looking to get on board and you're not ready to put your
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money down yet, don't worry.
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We have a free voyage giveaway on the go at the moment.
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So if you'd like to be in the runnings for this free five night cruise in September
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from Miami, onboard Resilient Lady, then make sure that you head over to our
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website at vvinsider.com/giveaway all the information you'll need about entering
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the draw will be available on there.
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It doesn't cost you anything at all to enter, and one lucky winner will win a
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cabin for two on board of that voyage.
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now for something that's been catching some headlines, and this is all about an
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itinerary change that happened a couple of weeks ago from a sailing that was supposed
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to leave New York and head to Bermuda.
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Well, as we covered back on the 4th of April, there was a change
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made to this due to bad weather.
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This happens all of the time in the cruising industry.
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Ultimately it's up to the captain of the ship and the cruise line in
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general to decide whether it's worth heading somewhere, if it's gonna make
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a miserable experience for Sailors or put anyone in harm's way, well, the
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decision was made that this particular sailing on the 6th of April was gonna
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be rerouted and the new port was gonna be in New Brunswick in Canada,
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Now, as you can imagine, that is very different from
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Bermuda, very different indeed.
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And as I say, sometimes these type of things are unavoidable.
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Well as Virgin Voyages are attracting a new breed of Sailors that might
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not have sailed on other cruise lines before and are maybe slightly unfamiliar
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with this idea of itinerary changes,
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some of those new Sailors might just have a very big social media following,
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and this was the case when it came to Sailors on board that particular voyage.
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This couple with a TikTok account called @themccues, posted a video
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explaining the experience of receiving this email, telling them
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that this itinerary has changed.
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as you can imagine, the shift between Bermuda and Canada as potential vacation
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opportunities is quite the contrast.
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Monday morning we board a cruise ship.
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We sent our luggage packed and ready to go for our destination We're going
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with his family to celebrate in Bermuda.
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And we leave in, what, what is that?
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We just got an email.
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"AHOY Sailor wanted to share an important update about your upcoming voyage.
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Due to forecasted weather, it's become necessary to adjust our itinerary to
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keep things smooth, safe to comfortable.
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Instead of Bermuda, we'll be heading to Northern Canada in St. John New Brunswick,
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this is my favorite line of the whole email.
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Right here in writing Virgin Voyages, St. John will feel a
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little bit different from Bermuda.
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St. John will feel a little bit different from Bermuda with crisp coastal air and
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a completely new backdrop to explore.
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You may wanna bring a few extra layers.
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Thank you for rolling with us.
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We've added $100 to your account
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make this voyage an incredible one.
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Now with a little Canadian twist.
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this video has now over 3 million views on TikTok.
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with viewers opting to share this with other people over 65,000 times.
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this video actually went live a few days after that sailing had already started.
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so actually what started as a fairly quiet news item, sharply became
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something that was on everyone's lips.
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which meant that just a few days ago, Virgin Voyages were forced
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to respond to this situation with some social media posts.
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This included this apology message put on Instagram
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which reads "Welp! That Bermuda to Canada email really wasn't it!"
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This, of course, follows that very Virgin tone-of-voice that we're very
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used to seeing from Virgin Voyages.
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But again, as this messaging was heading to a brand-new audience
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which aren't quite familiar with this type of tone-of-voice, started
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a new level of conversations around how this situation has been handled.
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there continues to be a lot of discussion around this particular video.
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with that original TikTok account, still posting about their experience from
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that voyage a few days after the fact.
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So it'll be really interesting to see what they actually thought of the
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voyage once they're fully caught up.
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And as ironic as it is, Virgin Voyages are actually set to host a
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very special TikTok themed cruise starting tomorrow on the 19th of April.
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This is an invite only voyage that is specifically for TikTok creators.
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This is an official partnership between Virgin Voyages and TikTok.
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So we're expecting to see many, many TikTok'ers onboard that
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particular voyage starting tomorrow.
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It'll be really interesting to see how that conversation that started on TikTok
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from that New York to Bermuda to Canada sailing back at the start of this week
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will actually end up with thousands of new TikTok videos hitting from this
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very special invite-only TikTok Cruise.
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We'll be keeping a close eye on the output of this very special sailing
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and seeing how the conversation goes over on social media.
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as you can see, the updates and news across Virgin Voyages is a bit of a
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moving feast, and sometimes it's a little tricky to keep up with all of this,
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you're best to subscribe to this channel so you can get updates just like this.
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We're in our final preparations for a very special sailing that we're
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heading on in just a couple of weeks, so you'll be seeing some new content
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from us directly from the ships.
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So I'm excited to capture that for you and bring this to the channel.
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For those of you that have been kind enough to make it to the
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end of this video, I'm gonna tell you what this is all about.
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I actually had a bit of a workplace accident with the arm that holds this
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screen up and it hit me straight in the face and left me with a very sore nose.
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But I'm absolutely fine.
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It's healing okay, but it is probably gonna be sticking around for the next
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couple of videos to get used to it.
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Otherwise, I've been working on a very cool tool that we're gonna be
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launching on the website very shortly.
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So if you haven't ever been over to vvinsider.com, the website that we run,
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which is the main part of all this.
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These YouTube videos really are an extension to all of that, then do please
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head over, we have some real cool tools on there; Including a way to calculate how
17:56
much Bar Tab you need before you set sail.
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You can also look up the cabin that you're gonna be sailing in to see
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whether it's a good one or whether you might wanna make a change.
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we also have all of the restaurants and bar menus and
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all the deck plans there as well.
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It's a real one-stop shop if you're planning your next Virgin Voyage
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and it's about to get even better.
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I'm not ready to reveal all the secrets of our new tool 'cause
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there are a lot of people out there that love to steal what we do.
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But as soon as it launches, I'll be letting you know on this YouTube channel.
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So again, make sure you stay subscribed and help support the work that we do.
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I'll be back with you with a brand new video guide next week.
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So I'm looking forward to putting that together for you.
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But until I see you next week, happy sailing!
