First Impressions: Virgin Voyages Positions Itself for Sea Change

Sir Richard Branson, chairman and CEO, Virgin Group, and Tom McAlpin, CEO, Virgin Voyages. // Photo by Susan J. Young
Sir Richard Branson, chairman and CEO, Virgin Group, and Tom McAlpin, CEO, Virgin Voyages. // Photo by Susan J. Young

In a scene that could have been set on Miami Beach, two swimsuit-clad ladies positioned their beach chairs, soaked up the sun and enjoyed the good life, as a cabana boy blew by with towels and drinks.

But it wasn’t your typical cabana boy. Rather, it was Sir Richard Branson, chairman and CEO, Virgin Group, who after the brief flamboyant skit on the stage of Miami Beach’s Faena Hotel, joined Tom McAlpin, CEO of Virgin’s newest venture – Virgin Voyages, to explain what’s up with the new line.

Journalists including this reporter, local VIPs, suppliers and the Virgin Voyages team were eager to hear about the latest news from the new line, which launches in 2020. It’s a new partnership between Virgin Group and Bain Capital Private Equity. The line's first ship will be based in Miami. Here are a few takeaways from the Tuesday event:

Not a Cruise But a Voyage

Branson was quick to point out that his new line won’t promote and sell cruises, but rather “voyages.” He told the audience that he’s never fancied going on a cruise ship, but “I do fancy going on a voyage.”

“The name ‘cruise’ is pretty awful,” he believes. “I don’t like that. It’s pretty dull and boring.”

He made it clear that Virgin Voyages will bring a new perspective to the cruise marketplace. Just how it will do that, however, remains unknown as yet.

Branson said thousands and thousands of consumers have gone to the line’s website to provide their intel about what they desire to see in a cruise. So the line is taking those ideas, mulling them over, and using them as a basis for what the new line will be.

Clearly, Branson doesn’t wish to give industry competitors too much advance notice of the type of product Virgin Voyages plans, but he described the ship design as “exciting.”

Virgin clearly hopes to appeal to those who don’t want a traditional cruise – broadening the market for cruising to include many first-timers and more Millennials.

And, if Virgin Hotels, Virgin Records or Virgin Atlantic Airways are any indication of how the company’s thought process goes in product delivery, the new “voyage” line will field a decidedly distinctive product.  

McAlpin said the new line will usher in “what I call a sea change to the industry” and offer “a departure from the ordinary getaway."

“It should be bold, it should be romantic, and it should be glamorous, and it should be all about you,” McAlpin told the crowd. “It should never be just about getting from Point A to Point B.”

The new Virgin Voyages logo. // Photo by Susan J. Young
The new Virgin Voyages logo. // Photo by Susan J. Young

Steel Cutting Early Next Year

“This is a multibillion-dollar financing contract, so clearly this is a significant transaction," said McAlpin. 

Virgin Voyages has signed a contract with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard, for three 110,000-grt ships to debut between 2020 and 2022.

The line has pretty much completed a multi-billion dollar financial agreement with its lending partners, including CDP and UniCredit, to build the ships. McAlpin said the line is just waiting for a stamp of approval from the Italian export agency SACE.

Steel for the line’s first ship will be cut in February, according to Branson. Agents can expect the keel laying for that Miami-based vessel by the end of 2017. Each of the new ships will carry 2,700 passengers.

There is no word yet on where the second and third ships will home port. Branson indicated the line is looking at Caribbean ports, but that too could expand.

Cutting Edge Technology

When it comes to the environment, the line will clearly have an approach that appeals to environmentally conscious consumers. McAlpin announced that Virgin Voyages will partner with Climeon, a Swedish-based clean energy company.

Each ship will have six Climeon Ocean system to convert low-grade energy into clean electricity. “This means that up to 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide will be saved on an annual basis [per vessel].”

To put that in perspective, it would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb that much carbon dioxide. So the ships will be “green,” which also will appeal to Millennials as well as others concerned about a cruise ship’s carbon footprint.

Branson’s entry for this second major announcement event was jazzy, but a bit less “lifestyles of the rich and famous” than last year, when he arrived by helicopter on the grounds near the Perez Art Museum Miami. Still, it was a crowd pleaser.

Last year, he cut off the ties of some Virgin team members, in a show of how to be different and casual. At this event, the male members of the Virgin Voyages team arrived in sport coats without ties.

Virgin Voyages also introduced the audience to a new promotional video, in which the new brand gave a sneak peek about what agents may begin to expect from the line. It laid out a cruise experience that’s designed for “free spirits, for you pirates, you explorers, you mermaids.”

It also said the line will provide a vacation that’s not predictable, where “irresistible style is finally found at sea.”