Richard Branson Jets into Miami to Announce New Cruise Line Name Change
Sir Richard changes Virgin Cruises to Virgin Voyages
It’s been almost a year and a half since Sir Richard Branson made his dazzling helicopter arrival into Miami for the premier announce of his new cruise line, Virgin Cruises.
Earlier this week, this quintessential renaissance man paid another visit to Miami. This time the event was planned to announce the name change of his cruise line, from Virgin Cruises to Virgin Voyages.
Sir Richard went on to say that Virgin Voyages had officially signed the ship building contract for three vessels with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. He proudly stated that Virgin Voyages will be the first cruise line to adopt a new clean energy system, Climeon Ocean.
Climeon Ocean is described as a clean energy innovator and has developed a system that can transform low-grade energy (carbon emissions) into clean electricity. Virgin Voyages is the first major cruise line to partner with Climeon Ocean and will have the system installed on all three of his new ships.
Steel cutting on the first Virgin Voyages vessel will begin early 2017, with the keel laying ceremony in Genoa, Italy, towards the end of 2017.
In total, Virgin Voyages will build three mid-size ships at about 110,000 gross tons to launch in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Described by Sir Richard as smaller, boutique ships, they will be built to accommodate 1,430 staterooms and over 2,800 guests. Not exactly petits bateaux but not behemoths, either. The first ship will homeport in Miami. Virgin Voyages will offer a range of Caribbean itineraries to ports geared specifically to deliver unique and very social experiences.
Sign up at Virgin Voyages to follow the progress of this new cruise line.
