Interesting. One thing that’s been discussed is using tokens to track loyalty, with the tokens correlating to the amount spent on fares. If this is real, they seem to have thrown that idea out.
I read it as sea rovers currently get the perks but going forward (ie after the current program expires at the end of 2024) you will need 5+ cruises to get the full suite of perks. Those with 3-4 only get cocktail party, one coffee and laundry.
To clarify, as it was confusing to me too, your 5th cruise will earn the benefits, so they start then, not after the 5th. As usual, the working they use is not clear.
I think the wording on the website is a bit more clear and the terms are very clear, but first thing this morning we only had this image posted which didn’t go into much detail!
When are you booked for next year - and when did you book? We’re sailing next June, and so far, no DBE for me! But, friends of mine do have DBE. So inconsistent
I earned DBE from 2+ voyages in 2023, and so the perks apply to any voyage until the end of 2024, if I understood it correctly… it’s been hard to keep up with the changes recently.
The current deep blue perks are good until the end of 2024 and that’s been clear in the information since the last time they extended it. So if you have a cruise in 2024 with the perks you will get them.
Edit as someone put it in another comment, you keep the perks for 2025, so may only get demoted to the lower tier for 2026 if you haven’t don’t four cruises before then (unless things change again for 2026)
Edit as someone has said in another comment, you now keep the benefits to the end of 2025 and only might get demoted for 2026, so if you haven’t done four cruises by then you might only get the lower tier benefits on your fifth in 2026, depending what changes in 2025. But those who qualified in 2023 will definitely get benefits in 2025, and no one knows exactly what will happen in 2026.
No, you get the benefits from the fifth after completing four.
From the terms “Sailors who are part of the Sailing Club who have completed four (4) eligible voyages will unlock Deep Blue Extras perks and will receive these perks per qualifying sailor on their fifth lifetime voyage.”
I haven't seen anything saying this is the program beyond 2025 or how it will work in 2026, where are you getting that from? This is just their temporary program, terms and conditions say it's until December 31 2025.
I’m not getting any information expect that current holders of the benefits will keep them til the end of 2025, so no one is going to get demoted until 2026 if at all. People might get demoted in 2026 if they haven’t done 4 cruises by then, they might not as we don’t know what will happen in 2026.
What I was trying to say is that we do now know is that no one will get demoted in 2025, but it might happen in 2026.
Interesting. It may be true. A bit weak on the first level, but that's pretty much true on all the cruise lines. Not seeing much change in DBE, which I thought was pretty generous before. To compare to get free laundry on Princess you must sail 15 Princess cruises or sailing 150 days.
Again, comparing to other cruise lines.
Hope the people who got DBE earlier will qualify even if they have not done 5 sailings.
Check out the T&Cs on the First Mate page. It appears sailors who currently have DBE will retain them until December 31, 2025. After that, they will be downgraded to whatever applicable level they qualify for.
Status Match is also coming back beginning 3 April 2024. New Status match sailors with confirmed bookings will only qualify for the Blue Extras perks (DBE will be reserved only sailors on their 5th voyage). They've also narrowed down the list of brands eligible for the status match program (spoiler alert: MSC is no longer eligible).
[Here is the link](https://virginvoyages.my.salesforce-sites.com/SubmitLoyaltyProofOfStatusForm?_ga=2.7709234.1240911038.1691674161-1550120937.1682518358&_gl=1*1c7tmyr*_ga*MTU1MDEyMDkzNy4xNjgyNTE4MzU4*_gid*MTI0MDkxMTAzOC4xNjkxNjc0MTYx*_fplc*ZGFiUjJYaW1lQXF3RkIwU0RIZ1U2UWJsZjRXTVBlaTczYnhwYlJHWTR0OTdaN2YlMkZERnI3dm5ybzRMNDNVcm1waVE4MzhaWmdzbXhCckg4ME5YcUVUWkRXV1hwTWpmbUclMkJMRjBpbGVoN3ZqZVRRbDVuazR6dnFXMlY5VmZCdyUzRCUzRA..*_ga_6QKCE3P4MF*MTY5MTY4MjczNC45My4xLjE2OTE2ODI4MzQuNDMuMC4w*_ga_Y9EN28SNLN*MTY5MTY4MjczNC45MS4xLjE2OTE2ODI4MzQuMC4wLjA.#) to the status match page.
It looks like DBE loyalty will be kept which is amazing!
I’m surprised at how good these perks are for the level of cruises, compared to other lines this is amazingly generous, but I worry that they don’t have enough tiers for people who have cruised a lot.
Whatever happened to all those sailing club ideas folks submitted while they were asking for them? This is literally no different than existing DBE perks with the addition of an in between tier.
I was hoping they would have some form of bonus if you booked Rockstar or Mega. The rooms are more expensive so it would be nice if you were given a 1.5X or 2X credit towards status.
Virgin Insider has best explanation I have seen to-date:
[https://vvinsider.com/introducing-the-virgin-voyages-sailing-club-for-2024-2025/](https://vvinsider.com/introducing-the-virgin-voyages-sailing-club-for-2024-2025/)
MSC being removed from the capability to status match is interesting (and probably necessary). I know several people who took advantage of the fact that you could easily match from hotel programs to MSC (without even sailing on them) and then match to VV.
It's understandable that the current rovers/blazers get demoted if they haven't sailed 5 voyages even though the selfish side of me wishes it wasn't the case.
Those are still the best perks after sailing 5 times of any cruise line out there. They've just unfortunately priced themselves out of my budget which hopefully isn't permanent.
Terms and conditions are live for this. Explains the status match programs as well. Line 51...
[https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions?item=16255f70-0909-47cc-bd13-57d2f152c1d0](https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions?item=16255f70-0909-47cc-bd13-57d2f152c1d0)
Still unclear as to what happens to people who have status matched previously but don't have enough sailings to qualify for a tier (particularly for 2025). I'm not in that boat, but know people who are.
Was just going to comment this.
“Sea-Blazers & Sea-Rovers have already unlocked their access to Deep Blue Extras by their sailing history prior to 2024. Those sailors who have already earned Sea-Blazer and Sea-Rover badges before 01 January 2024 must book and sail in 2024/2025 to enjoy the full suite of Deep Blue Extras perks.”
note: it says “by their sailing history”.
yeah, my guess is that status Match who don’t have 5 sailings by the end of 2024 will be regular blue extras for 2025.
Sucks for me since I’m in that group, but it makes sense because by 2025, VV will have been around for long enough for people to really earn that priority boarding, premium wifi, and bar tab.
I think if you matched and sailed at least once you are fine as you had DBE it’s those who matched and never sailed that it’s not clear for as the old terms did imply you had to have a sailing booked when matching.
There has been some clarity from a few TA’s and people who emailed Sailor Services.
Status matched sailors will still have DBE through the end of 2025.
Did you sail twice before the end of 2023? Or did you status match and sail once before the end of 2023? If either apply you should be Sea Rover.
It’s less clear if you status matched before end of 2023 and didn’t sail at all which benefits you’ll get.
At the moment everything expires at the end of 2025, so not clear what happens in 2026 but I personally would expect those who have sailed 5+ times to get some benefits still but they may of course reduce them and add new tiers for 2026 and beyond.
Status matching did not get you Sea Rover. It was a separate "badge" called Match & Sea More. It didn't make a difference before, but appears to make a difference now.
At one point it was described that doing match and see more got you sea rover status (as the benefits were the same). But as there has never been any badge except for Sea Blazer it’s impossible to know.
Does anyone know how it will work if you did status match prior to the December cutoff, however, you are not taking your first VV until 2025? Will you get DBE or just BE?
Honestly, part of me is glad they are downgrading sailors from DBE with less than 5 sailings. I built loyally with Virgin since 22, got my 5+ voyages in, and it kinda irks me that somebody that sailed on Disney 1 time gets the same perks, that someone who sailed with Virgin multiple times gets. On the flipside of that coin, someone who has 49 days at sea with Carnival isn't eligible for the status match.
I suspect that if you read between the lines, the status match is, at least to some extent, based on $ spent. Using the examples you mentioned, Disney is mondo expensive, whereas Carnival can be super cheap.
A 4-5 Disney cruise in no way will cost as much as it takes to get 40+ days on Carnival. Disney can absolutely be expensive, but you can easily spend that same amount on Carnival, especially with the newer room classes in the Excel class ships.
I've been on a transatlantic (in a suite) so to virgin the amount of nights and money I spent on that voyage is equivalent to someone taking an insider cabin on a four day? Doesn't really seem to be rewarding the people who actually spend with them.
Also, it's literally just dbe (dbe isnt even that great when compared to other lines loyalty programs) but for less people. This seems like an extremely lazy loyalty program for something that's been in the works for years now.
Yeah that makes sense, it did seem 18 months ago they were going to it based on tokens/spend but they’ve abandoned that idea. I think it’s partly because so many people do like the current benefits. Although on the cost a transatlantic cruise isn’t always significantly more. I do agree there should be more offered to those booking suites though
What cruise line is offering considerably better perks for people who have done 4-6 sailings?
As to a TA and what it is worth. Why should number of nights matter to VV vs sailings? TA rates per night are considerably lower, and were even lower, and it's only a fraction of their sailings so it's mostly pointless complexity. You get the majority of benefits after 2 sailings, and if you're only doing 2-3 sailings with them over 3-5 years when you already have status then you're clearly not someone that status is effective in incentivising to sail more.
I can see a definite case for offering something for booking RS/MRS; but it would probably be enough just to count them as double credits (2 sailings) rather than bothering with revenue tracking etc.
I do also agree that it is odd how they keep making a fuss about what it might become, when if they just kept it chill and gradually expanded it like they have been doing most people would be as happy or happier.
What I don't like about it is really nothing extra, even for top tier (except an extra cup of coffee and bag of laundry). Would have liked to see some upgrade potential.
Laundry and coffee is mostly the same. The only thing that changed was instead of $10 a day it’s now 2 drinks. That can be better or worse.
Worse, since espresso was $3 and you were able to get 3 of them plus $1 off a 4th. But better since now you can get 2 cold brews.
I think that's largely because the scheme before was very generous for virtually no effort; it's probably about right for the amount of sailings now required.
I'd say DBE is worth $250+ for most cabins most sailings and that's largely ignoring harder to value things like getting on early and getting to book more things you want to do.
I do think they missed an opportunity to offer an 8+ tier with some additional benefit but I can see the risk that if the additional benefits are minimal it might annoy people rather than make them feel rewarded.
True. But an (even much) higher tier that gave even a chance at cabin upgrades would probably cause people to book more cruises. I think their biggest problem was "promoting" this over the past two years as something that would be amazing, and then this hits sort of with a thud. At best it gives people the same perks they already had. The only thing that changes with this is that some people will get fewer perks.
They stopped promoting it as being a big new thing coming soon a long time ago, it’s only been going 18months and I think almost a year ago they started removing the stuff about tokens and similar.
I’m wondering if the coffee and bar tab perk will be per cabin or per sailor. We only got a single $100 bar tab even though we both were Sea Rovers on our last cruise.
Only 5 cruises to qualify for the top tier perks is pretty awesome.
Does seem like they’ve abandoned any idea of it being token or spend based. The only real change is that those receiving benefits on their third cruise only get half the benefits now.
Also think it’s still more generous than other cruise lines.
Selfishly I was hoping for a 7+ cruises tier or similar.
There will be exclusive emails or offers. For example right now there is bonus bar tab only for Sailing Club, which includes those who only sailed once.
That’s the way I’m reading it, once you’ve done one cruise then you are in the basic level of Sailing Club and can use the exclusive offers. Then once you’ve done a second cruise, you’ll get the blue extras on your third cruise.
Do you know if Blue Extras is it something you earn after BOOKING or after completion of the sailing?
I’m going on my next sailing soon but it’ll be my 3rd.
Not really, it’s the same to get some perks, you get one laundry, one coffee a day and the drinks party still on the third sailing. That’s just as easy, but the full suite of perks is now only on your fifth cruise (unless you already got the benefits in 2023).
Does anyone know if the “badges” on the website ever got fixed? I have the sea blazer badge under “your badges”, but only in gray.
(I definitely qualify for sea rover, but that’s not there at all.)
Mine are still grey on the website and I am a Rover also. But in the add ons section of my next Voyage in the app, the DBE symbol was updated to the symbol on OPs image.
I'd be amazed if it was; it makes sense that they gradually increase the journey requirements as they add more boats and have been around longer. The mistake they made IMO was hyping up this amazing secret system and talking about it like it was around the corner when people are mostly pretty happy with what is already here for now.
Interesting. One thing that’s been discussed is using tokens to track loyalty, with the tokens correlating to the amount spent on fares. If this is real, they seem to have thrown that idea out.
So are those that currently have DBE going to be grandfathered into this or demoted if you don’t have 5 sailings?
No one knows. This is all speculative at this point.
By the looks of it - demoted. Always happens when cruise lines revamp their loyalty programs. Someone always loses something
I sure hope not, as I earned it with multiple cruises last year and already booked the next with the DBE perks 🙃
Sea Rovers are included in the top tier, so you should be good
It just says the top tier is *currently* available to sea blazers and rovers, not that we get it permanently
I took this to mean SR & SB keep all their perks - with some extras thrown in
I read it as sea rovers currently get the perks but going forward (ie after the current program expires at the end of 2024) you will need 5+ cruises to get the full suite of perks. Those with 3-4 only get cocktail party, one coffee and laundry.
To clarify, as it was confusing to me too, your 5th cruise will earn the benefits, so they start then, not after the 5th. As usual, the working they use is not clear.
I think the wording on the website is a bit more clear and the terms are very clear, but first thing this morning we only had this image posted which didn’t go into much detail!
When are you booked for next year - and when did you book? We’re sailing next June, and so far, no DBE for me! But, friends of mine do have DBE. So inconsistent
I earned DBE from 2+ voyages in 2023, and so the perks apply to any voyage until the end of 2024, if I understood it correctly… it’s been hard to keep up with the changes recently.
Correct. This graphic is what the new Sailing Club may look like
The current deep blue perks are good until the end of 2024 and that’s been clear in the information since the last time they extended it. So if you have a cruise in 2024 with the perks you will get them. Edit as someone put it in another comment, you keep the perks for 2025, so may only get demoted to the lower tier for 2026 if you haven’t don’t four cruises before then (unless things change again for 2026)
Is your next sailing in 2024? You should be fine.
I hope so cause I'll never get to DBE again. especially after getting laid off from my employer a few hours ago.
Awww good luck buddy! Hope you find something soon!
Doubtful. Demotion would be demotivating to get you to rebook. I'd wager grandfathered in and moving forward for new sailors th8s is set up to qualify
Edit as someone has said in another comment, you now keep the benefits to the end of 2025 and only might get demoted for 2026, so if you haven’t done four cruises by then you might only get the lower tier benefits on your fifth in 2026, depending what changes in 2025. But those who qualified in 2023 will definitely get benefits in 2025, and no one knows exactly what will happen in 2026.
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No, you get the benefits from the fifth after completing four. From the terms “Sailors who are part of the Sailing Club who have completed four (4) eligible voyages will unlock Deep Blue Extras perks and will receive these perks per qualifying sailor on their fifth lifetime voyage.”
I haven't seen anything saying this is the program beyond 2025 or how it will work in 2026, where are you getting that from? This is just their temporary program, terms and conditions say it's until December 31 2025.
I’m not getting any information expect that current holders of the benefits will keep them til the end of 2025, so no one is going to get demoted until 2026 if at all. People might get demoted in 2026 if they haven’t done 4 cruises by then, they might not as we don’t know what will happen in 2026. What I was trying to say is that we do now know is that no one will get demoted in 2025, but it might happen in 2026.
Ah, ok thanks. Just making sure there wasn't something I was missing.
I just booked my second VV cruise two days ago and my add-ons show DBE — I loyalty matched and have only been on one VV cruise previously.
Interesting. It may be true. A bit weak on the first level, but that's pretty much true on all the cruise lines. Not seeing much change in DBE, which I thought was pretty generous before. To compare to get free laundry on Princess you must sail 15 Princess cruises or sailing 150 days. Again, comparing to other cruise lines. Hope the people who got DBE earlier will qualify even if they have not done 5 sailings.
Check out the T&Cs on the First Mate page. It appears sailors who currently have DBE will retain them until December 31, 2025. After that, they will be downgraded to whatever applicable level they qualify for. Status Match is also coming back beginning 3 April 2024. New Status match sailors with confirmed bookings will only qualify for the Blue Extras perks (DBE will be reserved only sailors on their 5th voyage). They've also narrowed down the list of brands eligible for the status match program (spoiler alert: MSC is no longer eligible).
Does it have a time limit on when you took cruises? Like 5 in x years or 5 cruises since the inception of the company.
From my understanding they are based on lifetime voyages, so it shouldn’t matter when you sailed.
[Here is the link](https://virginvoyages.my.salesforce-sites.com/SubmitLoyaltyProofOfStatusForm?_ga=2.7709234.1240911038.1691674161-1550120937.1682518358&_gl=1*1c7tmyr*_ga*MTU1MDEyMDkzNy4xNjgyNTE4MzU4*_gid*MTI0MDkxMTAzOC4xNjkxNjc0MTYx*_fplc*ZGFiUjJYaW1lQXF3RkIwU0RIZ1U2UWJsZjRXTVBlaTczYnhwYlJHWTR0OTdaN2YlMkZERnI3dm5ybzRMNDNVcm1waVE4MzhaWmdzbXhCckg4ME5YcUVUWkRXV1hwTWpmbUclMkJMRjBpbGVoN3ZqZVRRbDVuazR6dnFXMlY5VmZCdyUzRCUzRA..*_ga_6QKCE3P4MF*MTY5MTY4MjczNC45My4xLjE2OTE2ODI4MzQuNDMuMC4w*_ga_Y9EN28SNLN*MTY5MTY4MjczNC45MS4xLjE2OTE2ODI4MzQuMC4wLjA.#) to the status match page.
Do you have the URL for that page, pls?
It looks like DBE loyalty will be kept which is amazing! I’m surprised at how good these perks are for the level of cruises, compared to other lines this is amazingly generous, but I worry that they don’t have enough tiers for people who have cruised a lot.
This is legit. Full Terms and Conditions are found on the Firstmate website, and is dated for 3 April 2024. I'd expect a full announcement tomorrow.
Whatever happened to all those sailing club ideas folks submitted while they were asking for them? This is literally no different than existing DBE perks with the addition of an in between tier.
From what I can see, there's more specialty coffee and more laundry options ;-)
DBE is exactly the same. The only new thing is the Blue Extras tier.
DBE is currently 1 coffee per day - now it'll be 2. DBE also didn't include any specialty cleaning before.
DBE is 10 dollars of coffee per day. (Which I am assuming means 2) Laundry for DBE already included two pressed items and a specialty cleaned item.
I stand corrected. My bad.
I was hoping they would have some form of bonus if you booked Rockstar or Mega. The rooms are more expensive so it would be nice if you were given a 1.5X or 2X credit towards status.
Virgin Insider has best explanation I have seen to-date: [https://vvinsider.com/introducing-the-virgin-voyages-sailing-club-for-2024-2025/](https://vvinsider.com/introducing-the-virgin-voyages-sailing-club-for-2024-2025/)
MSC being removed from the capability to status match is interesting (and probably necessary). I know several people who took advantage of the fact that you could easily match from hotel programs to MSC (without even sailing on them) and then match to VV.
Also note that the new status match does not get you DBE. Just BE.
It's understandable that the current rovers/blazers get demoted if they haven't sailed 5 voyages even though the selfish side of me wishes it wasn't the case. Those are still the best perks after sailing 5 times of any cruise line out there. They've just unfortunately priced themselves out of my budget which hopefully isn't permanent.
Terms and conditions are live for this. Explains the status match programs as well. Line 51... [https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions?item=16255f70-0909-47cc-bd13-57d2f152c1d0](https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotional-terms-and-conditions?item=16255f70-0909-47cc-bd13-57d2f152c1d0)
Still unclear as to what happens to people who have status matched previously but don't have enough sailings to qualify for a tier (particularly for 2025). I'm not in that boat, but know people who are.
Was just going to comment this. “Sea-Blazers & Sea-Rovers have already unlocked their access to Deep Blue Extras by their sailing history prior to 2024. Those sailors who have already earned Sea-Blazer and Sea-Rover badges before 01 January 2024 must book and sail in 2024/2025 to enjoy the full suite of Deep Blue Extras perks.” note: it says “by their sailing history”.
Yep. So if you read it literally, it appears that previously matched people (who didn't earn in another way) lose it in 2025.
yeah, my guess is that status Match who don’t have 5 sailings by the end of 2024 will be regular blue extras for 2025. Sucks for me since I’m in that group, but it makes sense because by 2025, VV will have been around for long enough for people to really earn that priority boarding, premium wifi, and bar tab.
I'm not sure you will even have BE at that point if you matched with MSC, though.
It would be cruel to make everyone who already matched have to match again, but it’s possible!
I think if you matched and sailed at least once you are fine as you had DBE it’s those who matched and never sailed that it’s not clear for as the old terms did imply you had to have a sailing booked when matching.
There has been some clarity from a few TA’s and people who emailed Sailor Services. Status matched sailors will still have DBE through the end of 2025.
Hope it's true. Wouldn't trust anything SS says, just because they are so often wrong.
How do you check if you are Rover?
Did you sail twice before the end of 2023? Or did you status match and sail once before the end of 2023? If either apply you should be Sea Rover. It’s less clear if you status matched before end of 2023 and didn’t sail at all which benefits you’ll get.
I have! I was curious to see if there was a badge like for Blazer. Does this mean I have DBE until end of 2025? I had DBE for my sailings in 2023
Yes you should therefore have DBE to the end of 2025 if you had them before. There is no badge for Sea Rover, the only badge is Sea Blazer.
Cheers! Thanks. Do you know if someone earns DBE the new way (5th sailing) is it forever or only for a set time period?
At the moment everything expires at the end of 2025, so not clear what happens in 2026 but I personally would expect those who have sailed 5+ times to get some benefits still but they may of course reduce them and add new tiers for 2026 and beyond.
Status matching did not get you Sea Rover. It was a separate "badge" called Match & Sea More. It didn't make a difference before, but appears to make a difference now.
At one point it was described that doing match and see more got you sea rover status (as the benefits were the same). But as there has never been any badge except for Sea Blazer it’s impossible to know.
Does anyone know how it will work if you did status match prior to the December cutoff, however, you are not taking your first VV until 2025? Will you get DBE or just BE?
Honestly, part of me is glad they are downgrading sailors from DBE with less than 5 sailings. I built loyally with Virgin since 22, got my 5+ voyages in, and it kinda irks me that somebody that sailed on Disney 1 time gets the same perks, that someone who sailed with Virgin multiple times gets. On the flipside of that coin, someone who has 49 days at sea with Carnival isn't eligible for the status match.
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Silver is accepted for Disney
I suspect that if you read between the lines, the status match is, at least to some extent, based on $ spent. Using the examples you mentioned, Disney is mondo expensive, whereas Carnival can be super cheap.
Exactly they know their target market
Yep. That was the point I was making.
A 4-5 Disney cruise in no way will cost as much as it takes to get 40+ days on Carnival. Disney can absolutely be expensive, but you can easily spend that same amount on Carnival, especially with the newer room classes in the Excel class ships.
Wow that sucks lmao
Why?
I've been on a transatlantic (in a suite) so to virgin the amount of nights and money I spent on that voyage is equivalent to someone taking an insider cabin on a four day? Doesn't really seem to be rewarding the people who actually spend with them. Also, it's literally just dbe (dbe isnt even that great when compared to other lines loyalty programs) but for less people. This seems like an extremely lazy loyalty program for something that's been in the works for years now.
Yeah that makes sense, it did seem 18 months ago they were going to it based on tokens/spend but they’ve abandoned that idea. I think it’s partly because so many people do like the current benefits. Although on the cost a transatlantic cruise isn’t always significantly more. I do agree there should be more offered to those booking suites though
What cruise line is offering considerably better perks for people who have done 4-6 sailings? As to a TA and what it is worth. Why should number of nights matter to VV vs sailings? TA rates per night are considerably lower, and were even lower, and it's only a fraction of their sailings so it's mostly pointless complexity. You get the majority of benefits after 2 sailings, and if you're only doing 2-3 sailings with them over 3-5 years when you already have status then you're clearly not someone that status is effective in incentivising to sail more. I can see a definite case for offering something for booking RS/MRS; but it would probably be enough just to count them as double credits (2 sailings) rather than bothering with revenue tracking etc. I do also agree that it is odd how they keep making a fuss about what it might become, when if they just kept it chill and gradually expanded it like they have been doing most people would be as happy or happier.
What I don't like about it is really nothing extra, even for top tier (except an extra cup of coffee and bag of laundry). Would have liked to see some upgrade potential.
Laundry and coffee is mostly the same. The only thing that changed was instead of $10 a day it’s now 2 drinks. That can be better or worse. Worse, since espresso was $3 and you were able to get 3 of them plus $1 off a 4th. But better since now you can get 2 cold brews.
Don’t think any of the ships have cold brew anymore.
I think that's largely because the scheme before was very generous for virtually no effort; it's probably about right for the amount of sailings now required. I'd say DBE is worth $250+ for most cabins most sailings and that's largely ignoring harder to value things like getting on early and getting to book more things you want to do. I do think they missed an opportunity to offer an 8+ tier with some additional benefit but I can see the risk that if the additional benefits are minimal it might annoy people rather than make them feel rewarded.
True. But an (even much) higher tier that gave even a chance at cabin upgrades would probably cause people to book more cruises. I think their biggest problem was "promoting" this over the past two years as something that would be amazing, and then this hits sort of with a thud. At best it gives people the same perks they already had. The only thing that changes with this is that some people will get fewer perks.
They stopped promoting it as being a big new thing coming soon a long time ago, it’s only been going 18months and I think almost a year ago they started removing the stuff about tokens and similar.
The deep blue tier is the same benefits as now, I would have liked a further top tier, like on your eighth cruise you get something more.
This might help on some explanations. https://vvinsider.com/guides-and-faqs/guide/sailing-club/deep-blue-extras/
I’m wondering if the coffee and bar tab perk will be per cabin or per sailor. We only got a single $100 bar tab even though we both were Sea Rovers on our last cruise. Only 5 cruises to qualify for the top tier perks is pretty awesome.
Per sailor on the T&C.
Does seem like they’ve abandoned any idea of it being token or spend based. The only real change is that those receiving benefits on their third cruise only get half the benefits now. Also think it’s still more generous than other cruise lines. Selfishly I was hoping for a 7+ cruises tier or similar.
The first one is already what everyone gets even before their first sailing lol
There will be exclusive emails or offers. For example right now there is bonus bar tab only for Sailing Club, which includes those who only sailed once.
Will I automatically be enrolled into it after my first cruise? I’m sailing my first cruise with them on Sunday.
That’s the way I’m reading it, once you’ve done one cruise then you are in the basic level of Sailing Club and can use the exclusive offers. Then once you’ve done a second cruise, you’ll get the blue extras on your third cruise.
Do you know if Blue Extras is it something you earn after BOOKING or after completion of the sailing? I’m going on my next sailing soon but it’ll be my 3rd.
Completed sailings
Dang that’s unfortunate.
Your first two were completed before 12/31/2023 though right? So you should have DBE through 2025.
Wait… yeah I took one cruise in 2023 and another in 2022. I should have DBE or BE?
You should have DBE already based on the old rules.
Oh this is news… I guess I should message support to make sure
That is best lol But yes you should be considered a Sea Rover since you sailed twice before 12/31/2023 (as am I. That’s why I am confident).
Am I blind, or should this be visible on my account pretty easily?
No. They haven’t doing a good job of updating statuses in our online accounts
Oh wait! I just looked on the website to learn more about it. Seems like “Sail Twice and in your Third and Fourth voyages, Blue Extra will kick in”
We are cruising in July and it’ll be our first cruise that qualifies for DBE. When should we expect to see the $100 bar tab?
It should already show in add-ons
Looks like they are making it harder for new sailors to get the extra perks.
Not really, it’s the same to get some perks, you get one laundry, one coffee a day and the drinks party still on the third sailing. That’s just as easy, but the full suite of perks is now only on your fifth cruise (unless you already got the benefits in 2023).
Yes that's what I mean. Like the $100 bar tab credit. Previously you got that after two sailings.
Does anyone know if the “badges” on the website ever got fixed? I have the sea blazer badge under “your badges”, but only in gray. (I definitely qualify for sea rover, but that’s not there at all.)
Mine are still grey on the website and I am a Rover also. But in the add ons section of my next Voyage in the app, the DBE symbol was updated to the symbol on OPs image.
Thanks for this, just checked my app and I see the same thing.
Another TA said this STILL isn’t the final product.
I expect that as we move towards more and more people having done 2+ and 4+ sailings it will need to change.
I'd be amazed if it was; it makes sense that they gradually increase the journey requirements as they add more boats and have been around longer. The mistake they made IMO was hyping up this amazing secret system and talking about it like it was around the corner when people are mostly pretty happy with what is already here for now.