Virgin Voyages

V Cruises US, LLC[1]
Virgin Voyages
Formerly
 Virgin Cruises
LLC Subsidiary
Industry Tourism
Founded December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04)
Headquarters Plantation, Florida, USA
Area served
 Caribbean Sea
Key people
  • Tom McAlpin
  • (President and CEO)
  • Frank Weber
  • (vice president of operations)
Products Cruises
Parent
Website virginvoyages.com

Virgin Voyages, formerly Virgin Cruises, is a cruise line with an office in Plantation, Florida, USA.[2] It was formed as a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital; the latter have a majority shareholding.[3]

Virgin Cruises planned to targeting non-cruisers as Bain's research indicated that 85% would give it a try.[4]

History

Virgin Group announced the establishment of Virgin Cruises on December 4, 2014 with financial backing from Bain Capital. The cruise line would be led by CEO Tom McAlpin, would have two new large ships built and be based in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.[2][5] In March 2015, the company was sued by former Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Colin Veitch over accusations of design theft for two 4,200-passenger “ultra ships.”[2]

On June 23, 2015, Richard Branson announced that three new ships were intended to be built by Fincantieri. The cruise line is scheduled to begin operations in 2020 out of Port of Miami with the delivery of its first ship.[4] By July 3, 2015, the county commission was expected to vote on a five-year preferential berthing agreement with an optional five-year extension with the cruise line.[2]

On October 18, 2016, Virgin Cruises was rebranded as Virgin Voyages[6] as "cruises" seemed "pretty dull and boring" for Branson. A finalised contract was also recently signed for ship construct.[7] On March 22, 2017, Fincantieri began construction on the company's first ship.[8]

Virgin Voyages has commissioned three mid-sized cruise ship, with an expected capacity of approximately 2700 passengers each. The first ship is expected to debut in 2020, operating week-long cruises in the Caribbean.

Harding Retail will be the sole retail provider for Virgin Voyages.[9]

Management

Virgin's inaugural President and CEO is Tom McAlpin, a founding member of the launch team for Disney Cruise Line and later its president. Prior to being appointed to head Virgin, McAlpin had most recently served as CEO of The World, a residential cruise ship.[5]

Fleet

On June 23, 2015, Virgin announced that it had signed a binding letter of Intent with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of three cruise ships to be delivered in 2020, 2021 and 2022 -- mid-sized vessels of 110,000 GT each with 1,150 crew, and 1,430 guest cabins capable of hosting a total of more than 2,800 passengers.[3][10]

The final contract for the construction of the ships is expected to be signed by the end of 2015, and the total cost of the project would be under US$2 billion.[11]

According to Tom McAlpin, the three ships will be a premium product, with a high percentage of balcony staterooms. They would differ from other cruise vessels by their "design, size and program onboard" and be targeted to the "young at heart."[4]

Virgin's first ship will be home ported initially at PortMiami, Florida, and it will operate a range of seven-day Caribbean Sea itineraries departing each Sunday.[10][4]

Virgin was the first major cruise line to purchase Climeon Ocean clean energy system for its ships that generates energy using heat from the ship engines to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In 2016, McAlpin announced that Virgin had signed a building contract with Fincantieri, an Italian shipyard, that included three 110,000-ton, 2,700-passenger ships.[6]

Future fleet

Nameyard numberYear (planned)Gross TonnagePassengers[2]ShipyardNotes
Scarlet Lady[12]62872020110,000 GT2,700Fincantieri Genoa[13]construction started March 22, 2017[8]
Keel laid on 31 October 2017[14][15]
TBA2021110.000 GT2.700Fincantieri, Sestri Ponenteconstruction started on 20 July 2018[16][17]
TBA2022110.000 GT2.700Fincantieri, Sestri Ponente

References

  1. ↑ "Detail by Entity Name". Sunbiz.org. Florida Department of State Division of Corporations. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sampson, Hannah (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises to base first 2,800-passenger ship in Miami". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Cox, Martin (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises To Build Three Ships With Fincantieri". Maritime Matters. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Golden, Fran (June 23, 2015). "First Virgin Cruises ship to sail from Miami in 2020". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Stieghorst, Tom (December 4, 2014). "Richard Branson to enter cruise business". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Virgin Cruises will now be Virgin Voyages, with promise to shake up cruise industry". Miami Herald. October 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ Arlene Satchell (October 18, 2016). "Virgin Voyages: New name, new ships for cruise line". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Forgione, Mary (March 24, 2017). "Virgin Voyages cruise line steams forward. Virgin America airline gets ready to fade away". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Harding: Cruise retail set for epic sea change on Virgin Voyages". www.dfnionline.com. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  10. 1 2 Gibson, Rebecca (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises signs Fincantieri to build three new mid-size ships". Cruise&Ferry.net. Retrieved June 24, 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  11. ↑ Satchell, Arlene (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises plans to launch in early 2020". Sun-Sentinel. Broward County, Florida. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Ship shape: we've named our leading lady". Virgin Voyages. July 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ Drescher, Cynthia (March 23, 2017). "Virgin Voyages Begins Construction of First Cruise Ship". Condé Nast Traveler. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Virgin Lays Keel in Style, More Details on Brand". 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  15. ↑ "First Look: Virgin Voyages Ship Renderings". 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  16. ↑ "FINCANTIERI BEGINS WORK IN GENOA ON THE SECOND SHIP FOR VIRGIN VOYAGES". 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  17. ↑ "Virgin Voyages Celebrates Dual Milestones on New Cruise Ships". cruisefever.net. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
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