Richard Branson to launch Virgin Cruise Line
Richard Branson and the Virgin Group and currently negotiating finance in order the build 2 new cruise ships to add to their current leisure portfolio and they say that they are planning to shake up the market and do things differently
“We’re trying to create the kind of cruise ship that would be attractive to the kind of people who would never consider a cruise at the moment,” Branson told The National, an Abu Dhabi newspaper.
The plan is to aim at a younger market that are new to cruising and have been put off by either high prices or the perceived image of cruising.
This is all very well but I think he may be a bit blind that other cruise lines aren’t already trying to this. Royal Caribbean are already providing a product that doesn’t fit the image of cruising, with DreamWorks characters on board, surf simulators and dodgems in order to attract young people and families and NCL offer ships with freestyle dining and sophisticated drinks venues for those who don’t like traditional style cruising. Stelios Haji-Ioannou also provided the low cost option with his EasyCruise concept that offered budget cruises aimed at the twenties market, however his product failed to attract enough people and ceased to trade in 2010.
Richard Branson though is a man who knows what he is doing and the Virgin Group has huge brand image. If you’re booking a Virgin product you know what you’re getting and customers will book Virgin on name alone.
The plan is to launch the first ship in 2019 and to base her out of Miami. I assume he will sell the cruises linked with his airline so should be able to offer a very attractive price to the UK market. I for one am excited to see what she offers and will keep you posted as I get more news.
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