A woman who won a free Virgin Voyages cruise said she would have to spend $8,000 on flights to claim the prize
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- An Australian woman who won a cruise said she would have to pay thousands of dollars to redeem it.
- Her Virgin Voyages cruise was canceled due to Red Sea tensions, forcing her to rebook.
- The cruise line offered Europe or Caribbean trips, but she said flights were too expensive.
An Australian woman who won a Virgin Voyages cruise said she and her partner would have to pay a combined $8,000 for flights due to a change in the ship's itinerary.
The woman, who spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) under the pseudonym Morgan, said the flights to the cruise ports are more expensive than the value of the adults-only cruise.
Morgan said she was traveling on a Virgin Airlines flight from Melbourne to her home in Tasmania in November when the passengers on board were told they had won a cruise.
In a video shared to Virgin Voyages' Instagram account in November, a flight attendant FaceTimed with Virgin founder Richard Branson to announce the prize.
"I am pleased to gift each adult on board a free Virgin Voyages cruise," Branson said.
The video showed passengers excitedly cheering as flight attendants handed out cruise vouchers.
It is not known if this video is from the same flight that Morgan was on.
Morgan's voucher was for a twin-share cruise out of Australia or New Zealand on the cruise line's newest ship, Resilient Lady, which debuted in May 2023, as shown in a photo of the voucher published by ABC.
Morgan said she was initially "thrilled" as she and her partner used the twin-share voucher to book a cruise out of Brisbane. However, in February, the cruise line announced its upcoming Australia voyages were canceled due to tensions in the Red Sea, according to ABC and The Independent.
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As a result, Morgan was told her only option was to redeem her voucher for a Europe or Caribbean voyage — which could cost thousands in flights.
Virgin Voyages has various Caribbean itineraries sailing out of San Juan and Miami, with ports in Tortola, Basseterre, St. John's, Fort-de-France, Castries, Kingstown, and Philipsburg.
Morgan said two return flights from her home to the Caribbean would cost $8,000, which is more than the $7,000 value on the cruise voucher.
"When I clarified this with Virgin's PR team they stopped responding," she said.
ABC did not provide the dates and details of the flights Morgan referred to.
According to return flights on Skyscanner viewed by Business Insider, travel from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, to San Juan can take up to 46 hours across multiple flights.
Prices for return flights varied throughout 2024 and 2025, with the most expensive being just over $2,500.
Virgin Voyages' Europe cruises have itineraries in Ireland, Scotland, and the Mediterranean. Similarly, travel from Hobart to Portsmouth, a cruise port in England, can take up to 44 hours across multiple flights.
BI viewed return flights from Hobart to Portsmouth as costing more than $1,200 on multiple dates throughout 2024.
"We were genuinely shocked, we thought Virgin would provide us with an alternative prize like a flight credit… or they would allow us to rebook on a later season," Morgan said.
"They sort of gave up on us … like 'you're a bit of a problem now,'" she said.
The cruise line's brand could be at risk, says marketing expert
"We apologise to our winners who can no longer redeem their prize due to the cancellation of Virgin Voyages' Australian and New Zealand cruises amid the conflict in the Red Sea," a spokesperson for Virgin Australia Group said in a statement obtained by BI.
They added that "safety is always our number-one priority" and that Virgin Voyages had offered all impacted guests complimentary cruises on its other international sailings.
Balkrushna Potdar, a marketing lecturer at the University of Tasmania, told ABC that Morgan's story could potentially damage Virgin Voyages' brand. The company could gain a reputation for using untrustworthy marketing tactics, Potdar said.
Potdar said the company could make things right by "covering the cost of flights to Europe or the Caribbean."
Virgin Voyages has been widely celebrated for its child-free cruises, which cater to millennial travelers. The company's first ship, Scarlet Lady, set sail in 2021 after being delayed due to the pandemic.
In September 2023, Virgin Voyages announced it had secured $550 million in funding managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares Management.
The funding will be used to enable the cruise line to support the brand's "rapid expansion into international markets, with a relentless focus on creating an outstanding and innovative customer experience," according to a press release.