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V Cruises US, LLC

Trade name	Virgin Voyages
Formerly	Virgin Cruises
Company type	LLC Subsidiary
Industry	Tourism
Founded	December 4, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-12-04)
Headquarters	Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Key people	Tom McAlpin (Chairman) Nirmal Saverimuttu (President & CEO)
Products	Cruises
Parent	Virgin Group Bain Capital (majority)
Website	virginvoyages.com

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

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, sailing mainly four-to-five night cruises in the Caribbean.

History

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. 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. 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. 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.

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. In July 2015, the Miami-Dade County Commission granted Virgin Voyages approval to berth at PortMiami, 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.

In February 2018, Virgin Voyages debuted its headquarters in Plantation, Florida. 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. 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. In September 2019, Virgin Voyages had been granted a 30-year berthing rights agreement at PortMiami.

Virgin Voyages' official debut had originally been scheduled for April 1, 2020, with the maiden voyage of Scarlet Lady, but the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the cruise line's launch, having had to initially postpone the voyage until August 7, 2020, and ultimately, October 16, 2020. 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.

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. 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. McAlpin explained the ships would be designed differently from existing ships in the market, targeting the "young at heart." The fleet uses a stern design which maximizes “billboard value” visibility of the red Virgin logo, visible up to 2 nautical miles away. A fourth ship was ordered in October 2018 for delivery in 2023.

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. In February 2019, Virgin Voyages also revealed it would ban all single-use plastics from its fleet.

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.

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.

Current fleet

Name	Flag	Entered service	Gross tonnage	Guest capacity	Shipyard	Notes	Image
Scarlet Lady	Bahamas	2020	108,192 GT	2,700	Fincantieri (Sestri Ponente)	Debut delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic
Valiant Lady	Bahamas	2021	108,192 GT	2,700		Steel cut on 20 July 2018 Keel laid on 8 February 2019 Floated out on 20 May 2020
Resilient Lady	Bahamas	May 2023	108,232 GT	2,700		delayed until Q2 2023

Future fleet

Name	Flag	Scheduled entry into service	Gross tonnage	Guest capacity	Shipyard	Notes	Image
Brilliant Lady	Bahamas	September 5, 2025	108,232 GT	2,700	Fincantieri, Sestri Ponente	Debut delayed

References

1. "Detail by Entity Name". Sunbiz.org. Florida Department of State Division of Corporations. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
2. ^ Sampson, Hannah (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises to base first 2,800-passenger ship in Miami". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
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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
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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.
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43. "Virgin's Brilliant Lady Will be Delayed - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".

External links

• Official website

• Cruise lines
• Transport companies established in 2014
• Virgin Voyages
• 2014 establishments in Florida
• Bain Capital companies