- Virgin Voyages cancelled their October repositioning of the Resilient Lady.
- The announcement means that the upcoming Australian and New Zeeland sailing season is also cancelled.
- No date when those itineraries will be restored.
Ongoing Violence has forced Virgins’ hand
On Monday, February 26th, Virgin Voyages sent out a press release regarding major changes to their sailings. The announcement stated that they will not be repositioning their Resilient Lady ship this fall to Australia. With the Resilient Lady the only ship of Virgins’ fleet that operated those voyages, the 24-25 sailing season is effectively nixed in those waters.
As travel agents, we’ve been monitoring the situation and we’re not surprised by Virgins’ decision. The decision impacted several of our clients and we’re already working with them on changes. If you were impacted when Virgin Voyages cancelled these sailings, reach out to your travel agent for help in rebooking or refunding.
The disappointing news will certainly dampen the spirits of many cruisers in the region as Virgin was very popular in both Australia and New Zealand. We heard firsthand from sailors and crew alike that they loved sailing those itineraries. Adding a bit more sting to the statement is that there is no set date to resume those cruises.
At issue is the fact that Houthi rebels are carrying out attacks on commercial vessels in the region. The attacks from the Houthis have been going on since November of 2023 and continue to disrupt travel and trade in the region.
With obvious and considerable dangers in the Red Sea, it makes sense that Virgin Voyages cancelled the repositioning of the Resilient Lady. Although this means that Virgin must eliminate the scheduled cruises, it is the responsible choice to make for the safety of passengers and crew.
Why Did Virgin Voyages Cancels Cruises So Far Out?
Some might be wondering why Virgin Voyages cancelled the repositioning now, when October is still more than half a year out. It simply comes down to customer service – they wanted to give people enough time to change plans. When you cancel all the itineraries for an entire region, it makes sense that you want to give as much of a heads-up as possible.
There is some good news though. Virgin has not ruled out a return to the Asia Pacific region for the 2025 season. They still feel there is the possibility to reposition if the situation improves. Further, if you booked one of these cancelled sailings, you have priority to move onto any sailings that become available.
Of course, any passengers impacted by these changes can either rebook to another sailing or receive a refund. For those wondering, we’ve included links to Virgin Voyages cancellation policy and their itinerary change policy.
You can read the complete text of the update below, and we’ve linked to the offical posting here.
With the safety of our passengers and crew as our number one priority, Virgin Voyages recently shared a change of course for our early 2024 repositioning voyage from Australia to the Med. On the heels of these recent changes and based on the regional and government advice we have received, we remain very concerned about potential escalations in the Red Sea over the next 12 months. This significant and ongoing conflict puts unacceptable risks for safe passage through the region for our Sailors, crew and vessel (Resilient Lady). As a result, we have been left with no choice but to cancel our 2024/25 voyage season plans for Resilient Lady, impacting the late 2024 and early 2025 repositioning voyages between Europe and Australia and a second sailing season in Australian waters.
Resilient Lady will now complete her Mediterranean sailing season on October 20th, 2024 and divert course sailing to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a new Caribbean season offering 7, 8, 10 and 11-night voyages visiting St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Colombia, and Dominica. We are currently reviewing Resilient Lady’s repositioning routes from Athens to San Juan, and we will share these as soon as they’re ready, but they will feature stunning ports including Catania, Casablanca, and Tenerife.
Virgin Voyages was embraced by the Australia and New Zealand markets with a warm welcome and celebrated an extremely successful inaugural season – the love was mutual. To say that we are disappointed to have come to this tough conclusion is an understatement. These adjustments are happening now in order to minimize potential future disruption to our passengers’ holiday plans knowing there is a high likelihood that changes would need to happen in the future. Our customers and travel agent partners asked us to ensure we give them as much time as possible to make alternative plans. We appreciate the time and energy that goes into planning a holiday, and we are focused on your safety as well as giving you certainty.
We are currently working through options to return to Australia and the Asia Pacific region once regional repositioning opportunities become more tenable. We will share updates on future itineraries across the fleet as soon as possible, and in the event that we return for the 25’ season, existing booked Sailors will have priority to move onto these sailings. In the meantime, we know how much Aussie and New Zealand tourists enjoy visiting Europe and with two ships taking in standout destinations from our home ports in Barcelona (Spain), Athens (Greece) and Portsmouth (UK) we look forward to welcoming sailors to Europe so they can experience it the Virgin way.
Impacted Sailors will have the option to rebook another voyage or opt for a full refund given the change in plans.
Virgin Voyages – February 26, 2023
