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Virgin Voyages

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This article is about the cruise line. For the cruise division of Virgin Atlantic Holidays, see Virgin Holidays Cruises. For the Virgin Voyager trains, see British Rail Class 220.

V Cruises US, LLC[1]
Virgin Voyages
FormerlyVirgin Cruises
Company typeLLC Subsidiary
IndustryTourism
FoundedDecember 4, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-12-04)
Headquarters
Plantation, Florida
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Tom McAlpin
  • (Chairman)
  • Nirmal Saverimuttu
  • (President & CEO)
ProductsCruises
Parent
Websitevirginvoyages.com

Virgin Voyages is a cruise line headquartered in Plantation, Florida and a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital.[2][3]

As of April 2024, Virgin Voyages has three ships in the fleet, with one more on order, all with an expected capacity of approximately 2,700 passengers each. The first ship, Scarlet Lady, began sailing August 6, 2021 from Portsmouth with UK only itineraries. Scarlet Lady began operating from PortMiami in October 2021,[4] sailing mainly four-to-five night cruises in the Caribbean.[5][6][7]

History

[edit]
Virgin Voyages Terminal V at PortMiami (March 2024).
Scarlet Lady sailing from the Port of Genoa, 2020

In 2011, Nirmal Saverimuttu, a Virgin Group executive, and Tom McAlpin, then-CEO of The World, conceptualized the idea for a cruise line inspired by the Virgin brand housed under the Virgin Group umbrella.[8] Saverimuttu later collaborated with Bain Capital to begin market research and found that there was potential in the cruise industry for a new line to emerge and also identified a large, young demographic yet to experience cruising that could become the brand's target market.[8] Over the next three years, Saverimuttu and McAlpin raised US$700 million from Bain Capital, which had become lead investor, and other institutional and private investors, and also borrowed an additional US$1–1.5 billion.[8] After the financial backing, on December 4, 2014, Virgin Group announced the establishment of Virgin Cruises. The cruise line would be led by Tom McAlpin, who was named president and CEO.[9]

At time of establishment, Virgin announced the new cruise line's fleet would consist of two ships and its headquarters would be based in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.[2][9] In July 2015, the Miami-Dade County Commission granted Virgin Voyages approval to berth at PortMiami,[2] and the company's first contract for three cruise ships was finalized on October 18, 2016, the same day that Virgin Cruises rebranded as Virgin Voyages, in an effort to strengthen its marketing aimed at the younger demographic and new cruisers.[10][6]

In February 2018, Virgin Voyages debuted its headquarters in Plantation, Florida.[11] In November 2018, Virgin Voyages expanded its commitment to Miami by announcing it would build Terminal V, a new 100,000 square-foot terminal at PortMiami estimated at US$150 million, with a scheduled completion in November 2021, and also sail the cruise line's first two vessels from Miami through 2022.[12][13] In February 2019, Virgin Voyages announced it would design a new private destination called The Beach Club, located on the Bahamian island of Bimini. The resort would be developed in partnership with Genting Group's Resorts World Bimini and would feature a variety of local cuisine offerings and scheduled activities for guests.[14] In September 2019, Virgin Voyages had been granted a 30-year berthing rights agreement at PortMiami.[15]

Virgin Voyages' official debut had originally been scheduled for April 1, 2020, with the maiden voyage of Scarlet Lady,[16] but the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the cruise line's launch, having had to initially postpone the voyage until August 7, 2020,[17] and ultimately, October 16, 2020.[4] The first sailing with paying guests commenced on August 6, 2021, from Portsmouth.

In December 2023 Virgin Voyages launched services in Australia with Resilient Lady arriving in Sydney. Richard Branson was at attendance at the launch. Despite the media interest, Virgin Voyages cancelled the ship's 2024/25 Summer Season because of the Red Sea crisis.[18][19]

Fleet

[edit]

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][20] The final contract for the construction of the ships was signed in October 2016, with the total cost expected to be under US$2 billion.[21][10] McAlpin explained the ships would be designed differently from existing ships in the market, targeting the "young at heart."[22] The fleet uses a stern design which maximizes “billboard value” visibility of the red Virgin logo, visible up to 2 nautical miles away.[23] A fourth ship was ordered in October 2018 for delivery in 2023.[24]

In November 2016, Virgin Voyages announced it had partnered with Climeon for its clean energy system to be deployed on its ships to generate energy from the engines' cooling water to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.[25] In February 2019, Virgin Voyages also revealed it would ban all single-use plastics from its fleet.[26]

In February 2024, satellite operator, SES announced that Virgin Voyages will be the first cruise line to deploy its SES Cruise mPOWERED + Starlink PRO satellite internet service that for the first time uses satellites in both Low Earth Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit to provide passengers with internet, social media and video calls at up to 1.5 Gbit/s per ship anywhere in the World.[27][28]

When launched Brilliant Lady will be the first and only ship in the Virgin Voyages fleet capable of traversing the Panama Canal, enabling access to the west coast of the USA and notably Alaska.[29]

Current fleet

[edit]
Name Flag Entered service Gross tonnage Guest capacity Shipyard Notes Image
Scarlet Lady[30]  Bahamas 2020 108,192 GT 2,700 Fincantieri
(Sestri Ponente)[31] 		Debut delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic[4]
Valiant Lady[32]  Bahamas 2021[33] 108,192 GT 2,700 Steel cut on 20 July 2018[34][35]
Keel laid on 8 February 2019[36]
Floated out on 20 May 2020[37]
Resilient Lady[38]  Bahamas May 2023 108,232 GT 2,700 delayed until Q2 2023[39]

Future fleet

[edit]
Name Flag Scheduled entry into service Gross tonnage Guest capacity Shipyard Notes Image
Brilliant Lady[40]  Bahamas September 5, 2025[41] 108,232 GT 2,700 Fincantieri, Sestri Ponente Debut delayed [42][43]
Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady at Civitavecchia, Italy
Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady at Civitavecchia, Italy

References

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  1. ^ "Detail by Entity Name". Sunbiz.org. Florida Department of State Division of Corporations. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Sampson, Hannah (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises to base first 2,800-passenger ship in Miami". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Cox, Martin (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises To Build Three Ships With Fincantieri". Maritime Matters. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Simms, Richard (May 21, 2020). "Virgin Voyages Won't Set Sail Until October 16". Cruise Radio. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Cripps, Karla (January 21, 2019). "Scarlet Lady: Cruise like a rock star aboard Virgin Voyages' first ship". CNN. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Virgin Cruises will now be Virgin Voyages, with promise to shake up cruise industry". Miami Herald. October 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  7. ^ "Virgin Voyages Will Sail 4 and 5 Night Cruises to the Caribbean". Cruise Fever. January 31, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Garcia, Jason (April 27, 2016). "Virgin berths: Creating a cruise line for Virgin Group". Florida Trend.
  9. ^ a b Stieghorst, Tom (December 4, 2014). "Richard Branson to enter cruise business". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Sheivachman, Andrew (October 18, 2016). "Virgin Cruises Rebrands as Virgin Voyages, Finally Signs Deal for Three Ships". Skift.
  11. ^ Lyons, David (February 14, 2018). "Virgin Voyages unveils Plantation HQ, pledges to create 300 jobs". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018.
  12. ^ Leposa, Adam (November 28, 2018). "PortMiami To Build New Terminal For Virgin Voyages". Travel Agent Central.
  13. ^ Hanks, Douglas; Dolven, Taylor (September 19, 2019). "PortMiami creating 'Terminal V' for Virgin Voyages cruise ships". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019.
  14. ^ "Virgin Voyages designing beach club on Bimini: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  15. ^ Arrojas, Matthew (September 27, 2019). "Virgin Voyages releases more renderings of its first ship, coming in 2020". South Florida Business Journal.
  16. ^ Saunders, Aaron (November 15, 2019). "Virgin Voyages to Offer Pre-Inaugural Preview Cruises on New Ship Scarlet Lady". Cruise Critic.
  17. ^ Kalosh, Anne (March 12, 2020). "Virgin Voyages postpones inaugural season until July 15". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Frame, Chris (March 12, 2023). "Virgin Voyages Arrives in Australia". Chris Frame Official (Maritime Historian). Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  19. ^ Ellis, Alice (March 12, 2023). "Ship wrecked: Virgin Voyages adult-only cruises have cancelled all Australian trips". Time Out. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  20. ^ Gibson, Rebecca (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises signs Fincantieri to build three new mid-size ships". Cruise & Ferry. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  21. ^ Satchell, Arlene (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises plans to launch in early 2020". Sun-Sentinel. Broward County, Florida. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  22. ^ Golden, Fran (June 23, 2015). "First Virgin Cruises ship to sail from Miami in 2020". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  23. ^ "Public Private Partnership: Media Consulting to Negotiate Maximum Visibility and Value, Marketing Case Study". Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  24. ^ "Fincantieri Will Build Fourth Ship for Virgin Voyages". Fincantieri. October 31, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  25. ^ "Virgin Voyages embraces Swedish Climeon as one step to reverse climate change". Climeon. November 15, 2016.
  26. ^ Zhang, Benjamin (February 21, 2019). "Virgin Voyages CEO explains what makes Richard Branson's new adults-only cruise line stand out from the crowd". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019.
  27. ^ Virgin Voyages Rolls Out New Improved Internet Package with SES Cruise Industry News. 26 February 2024. Accessed 27 February 2024
  28. ^ "Virgin Voyages Powers Fastest Internet at Sea with Industry-First Integrated MEO-LEO Service from SES" (Press release). SES. February 26, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  29. ^ "The Ship The World Has Been Waiting For - Brilliant Lady Hits the High Seas September 2025" (Press release).
  30. ^ "Ship shape: we've named our leading lady". Virgin Voyages. July 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  31. ^ Drescher, Cynthia (March 23, 2017). "Virgin Voyages Begins Construction of First Cruise Ship". Condé Nast Traveler. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  32. ^ Staff, C. I. N. (November 19, 2019). "Virgin Voyages Unveils Valiant Lady; 2nd Ship to Sail in Europe". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  33. ^ "Fincantieri Celebrates Double Milestone for Virgin Voyages". July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  34. ^ "FINCANTIERI BEGINS WORK IN GENOA ON THE SECOND SHIP FOR VIRGIN VOYAGES". July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  35. ^ "Virgin Voyages Celebrates Dual Milestones on New Cruise Ships". cruisefever.net. July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  36. ^ "Scarlet Lady Floats Out, Second Virgin Ship Construction Well Underway". Cruise Industry News. February 8, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  37. ^ "Fincantieri Completes Float Out of New Cruise Ship Valiant Lady". The Maritime Executive. June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  38. ^ "Virgin Voyages Announces Ship 3 Name and Itineraries". Cruise Industry News. March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  39. ^ "Resilient Lady's introduction delayed until Q2 2023". June 8, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  40. ^ Kalosh, Anne (April 25, 2022). "Virgin Voyages names its fourth ship Brilliant Lady". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  41. ^ "Brilliant Lady is coming: New Cruise Ship in 2025 | Virgin Voyages".
  42. ^ "Virgin Voyages Delays Launch of Fourth Ship, Brilliant Lady". VV Insider. Miami FL, USA. September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  43. ^ "Virgin's Brilliant Lady Will be Delayed - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".
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