You’ve heard it before: the best way to get a good deal is to buy it now. But take a closer look at what you’ve read, and you’ll find it’s not always easy to get your hands on a deal you’ll be happy with. Take a look at Virgin Voyages’ latest promotional campaign, and you’ll find an offer that sounds too good to be true.
Virgin Voyages has apologized for the delay of the Miami debut of the company’s new fleet of ships. The super-luxury cruise line said that it was hoping to bring the new fleet into service in June, but the first ship is now expected to arrive in Miami in August.
Earlier this month, Virgin Voyages, the world’s largest cruise line, announced that it was postponing the maiden voyage of its new ship, the Vista, by a number of weeks to January 2019, following months of delays. The Vista is the first new ship in Virgin Voyages’ fleet since it was founded in 2007, and it is the first passenger vessel to use the world’s first hybrid gas-electric propulsion system.. Read more about us cruises and let us know what you think.
With a trendy new adults-only cruise offering, Virgin Voyages had huge ambitions to upset the cruise industry. Instead, the worldwide epidemic has repeatedly thwarted the ambitions of the Richard Branson-backed cruise company.
The start-up company, which was founded in 2016, has postponed late summer sails from Miami, marking the sixth time it has had to postpone the maiden sailing from its Florida homeport.
Lady Scarlet (Photo courtesy of Virgin Voyages)
Virgin’s maiden ship, the Scarlet Lady, will now make her long-awaited Miami debut on October 6, 18 months later than planned. If everything goes well, a series of six three- and four-night sailings around the UK coastline from Portsmouth will follow in August. Those excursions are only accessible to UK citizens.
The line also announced a six-month delay in launching its second ship, Valiant Lady, which was delivered to Virgin last week at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. All Valiant Lady sailings previously scheduled to depart between November 14, 2024 and May 1, 2024 have been canceled.
READ ALSO: Virgin Voyages Says It Will Have Plastic-Free Cruise Ships
The ship was supposed to start sailing in Europe in May and then traverse the Atlantic to the Caribbean in November. With both of those programs now canceled, the Scarlet Lady’s sister will begin sailing from Barcelona in May of next year.
Another Virgin Voyages vessel under construction — the third of four in the line’s original order — was floated out at Fincantieri only a day after Valiant Lady was delivered. The 110,000-ton, 17-deck Resilient Lady, like her sisters, will transport up to 2,770 passengers (dubbed “Sailors” by Virgin) and 1,160 crew members (dubbed “First Mates” by Virgin). She’ll make her debut in the summer of 2024.
The good news for passengers on the canceled cruises is that Virgin Voyages has been generous with compensation over the last 16 months, providing a full refund plus a 25% credit toward a future vacation, or a future cruise credit worth 200 percent of deposits paid.
Lady of Courage (Photo courtesy of Virgin Voyages)
The recent announcement from Virgin underlines that a complete industry recovery is still many months away at a time when cruise lines are returning to limited activity in both the United States and Europe.
Despite a lengthy history of delays and disappointments, there is still a lot of excitement for a cruise line that promises an out-of-the-box experience. The Virgin Voyages experience is aimed at a younger demographic who may not otherwise consider a cruise holiday.
It offers a buffet-free atmosphere with up to 20 different eating choices. Virgin’s adult-only ships will include dance parties, DJ sets, and late-night dodgeball instead of Broadway-style plays. Each ship will even include tattoo parlors, which is a first in the cruise industry.
Virgin Voyages’ cost is all-inclusive, including all restaurant meals, basic non-alcoholic beverages, non-streaming WiFi, group exercise sessions, and gratuities.
Rather of providing “complex drink packages with arbitrary restrictions,” the line provides a “Bar Tab” option that guarantees “fair” pricing, with beer priced at $5-6, basic cocktails at $9, and a broad variety of wines by the glass under $10.
READ MORE: Virgin Voyages Debuts New Wearable Technology
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