Virgin Voyages

This article is about the cruise line. For the cruise division of Virgin Holidays, see Virgin Holidays Cruises.
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
Products Cruises
Parent
Website virginvoyages.com

Virgin Voyages, formerly Virgin Cruises is a cruise line with an office in Plantation, Florida, USA.[1] It was formed in a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital; the latter have a majority shareholding.[2] Virgin Group announced the establishment of Virgin Cruises on December 4, 2014; it is scheduled to begin operations in 2020.[3]

Management

Virgin Cruises' 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 Cruises, McAlpin had most recently served as CEO of The World, a residential cruise ship.[4]

Fleet

On June 23, 2015, Virgin Cruises 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. The ships will be 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.[2][5]

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.[6]

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."[7]

Virgin Cruises' first ship will be home ported initially at PortMiami, Florida, and operate a range of seven-day Caribbean Sea itineraries departing each Sunday.[5][7]

References

  1. ↑ Sampson, Hannah (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises to base first 2,800-passenger ship in Miami". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Cox, Martin (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises To Build Three Ships With Fincantieri". Maritime Matters. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ Dake, Shaun (December 4, 2014). "Virgin Cruises Announced As The World's Newest Cruise Line". Maritime Matters. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Stieghorst, Tom (December 4, 2014). "Richard Branson to enter cruise business". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  5. 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)
  6. ↑ Satchell, Arlene (June 23, 2015). "Virgin Cruises plans to launch in early 2020". Sun-Sentinel. Broward County, Florida. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Golden, Fran (June 23, 2015). "First Virgin Cruises ship to sail from Miami in 2020". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
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