Will Virgin Cruises be on par with Celebrity?

As far as 'premium' lines go, X is my favorite by far. However, as a fan of Richard Branson and the Virgin brand, I am very intrigued by what Virgin Cruises has in store. And it would seem that Virgin Cruises will be after the same market that Celebrity caters to. In my mind, healthy competition increases quality across the board. So with Virgin Cruises soon to be entering the market, what innovations will Celebrity employ to retain their base? How will Virgin change the industry? Will you try Virgin Cruises?

Michael

I am afraid I do not share your admiration for the Virgin brand. I know many do but I cannot understand why. Virgin Trains have a dreadful reputation here.

Virgin Trains managed to sell me not only tickets but also seats on trains that did not exist a few months ago. When Virgin took over our cable TV [originally Cable and Wireless] the customer service was dreadful. And on our only [return] flights with Virgin not one crew member smiled at us from check-in to landing.

I am afraid any company that fails three times does not get another chance with us.

Until they provide some concrete details on their ships, facilities and attraction I really find it hard to speculate. Intrigued to hear more though!

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Michael

 

I am afraid I do not share your admiration for the Virgin brand. I know many do but I cannot understand why. Virgin Trains have a dreadful reputation here.

 

Virgin Trains managed to sell me not only tickets but also seats on trains that did not exist a few months ago. When Virgin took over our cable TV [originally Cable and Wireless] the customer service was dreadful. And on our only [return] flights with Virgin not one crew member smiled at us from check-in to landing.

 

I am afraid any company that fails three times does not get another chance with us.

Stateside Virgin doesn't have quite the hold across many industries as it seems to over there across the pond. Here we have the airlines of course. And a lot of press releases about Virgin Galactic. No trains, no cable. At least not under the 'Virgin' brand.

I think Virgin Atlantic tends to be innovative at the premium end but lack-lustre and distinctly average the further back down the plane you go.

I travel a lot on the UK rail network for work and I do find Virgin trains better than average. Their Pendolino trains were advanced (for the UK) at the time and I do feel Branson tried to modernise an industry still using 30 year old stock and the dreaded Pacer trains. Whilst their fare structure (like virtually every other rail company) is complex, cheap fares are available - unlike Cross Country which I find poor and expensive. Virgin certainly excels (IMO) with its First Class offering with nice cabins, premium seats, tasty food, free drinks etc as well as good to excellent facilities at a lot of stations.

Virgin Broadband we find fast and reliable - but its a never ending battle of renegotiation every year to keep prices from rocketing up on the various packages. Not sure their packages are any better than Sky.

If I were a better person my guess is that Virgin Cruises will offer something great for Premium Guests. For its regular guests it will be more marketing and bright colours than anything substantial.

As mentioned if the Airline and trains are anything to go by think Thomson cruises!!

I like the brand too. Have always had excellent service on their planes and trains. So I would certainly look at their cruise offering.

I think they will be on par with P&O

Looking for options for a new cruise experience. Maybe Virgin will be fresh and entertaining. Many cruise lines are great the first time you cruise on them. As you take more and more cruises on the same line, it becomes somewhat dull. After my recent cruise, I decided not to cruise more than once a year on Celebrity. The menus don't change. The nightly entertainment productions don't change. While I had a nice relaxing cruise, I would be very interested in a new cruise line.

Competition can be good and bad. It's nice if it promotes outstanding service and amenities. It is bad if cruise lines cut too many items in order to keep their fares low. As in everything, supply and demand rules. There seems to be a lot of new ships coming out soon. Can they all survive?

Michael

 

I am afraid I do not share your admiration for the Virgin brand. I know many do but I cannot understand why. Virgin Trains have a dreadful reputation here.

 

Having tried nearly all the UK train services, I'm not sure I agree with you that Virgin trains have a terrible reputation, this survey would seem to support that

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/travel-and-leisure/reviews-ns/best-and-worst-uk-train-companies/best-train-companies-overall/

London Midland, Arriva Trains Wales, Abellio, and Thameslink - are especially poor in my experience.

Virgin was the first company to offer automatic refunds for delayed trains, rather than the awkward and complex process employed by other companies designed to deter you from claiming.

Virgin has also recently announced, bravely, that it will be adopting the much stricter National Rail punctuality measure to decide whether a train is on time or late rather than the public performance measure which allows trains to be up to 10 minutes late and yet still be classified as "on time". If other companies adopted this I'm sure punctuality of trains would improve.

As mentioned if the Airline and trains are anything to go by think Thomson cruises!!

They're all quite separate companies, so drawing such conclusions is not really helpful.

Stuart

I would hazard a guess that, at the least, Virgin Cruises will be a bit (if not a lot) more innovative than Celebrity, for better or worse.

Similar size and passenger load as Celebrity, so crowding may not be an issue. Food? Who knows? We find Celebrity food, at best, middling in the mass market cruise lines so not a huge hurdle to jump. Have a hunch that entertainment might be interesting, but only a hunch.

We would be willing to try, but what kills Virgin for us is that the first ship, in 2020, will sail the Caribbean where we have =0= interest.

Have to agree with the post re Virgin Airlines...

Flying First is fantastic, from check in, lounge, on board experience...all excellent...

However, the further you go backwards in the plane the more standard the offering....We have flown Premium Economy and Economy too. If you equate that to a cruise it looks like the suites could be fantastic, mid range rooms OK and the rest just standard....

Seriously, I have read very little about Virgin cruises although through their 'holiday' set up they have been offering cruises for many years. We did a 'Star Cruise' from Singapore as part of a Virgin Holiday package many years ago....

I look forward to seeing what they offer, their target market...I tend to think they will be looking at cruises as part of a combined package. For example, flights, a week in an AI in the Caribbean followed by a 7 night cruise....

It would take a lot to take us away from Celebrity now....Sometimes you find a brand that does just 'fit you'. Not too formal, not too staid, peace and quiet but plenty to do....

I will look out for further information and not dismiss them off hand but I do tend to think they will be aiming more at a 'package' market.

As mentioned if the Airline and trains are anything to go by think Thomson cruises!!

You have got to be joking, Thompson cruises -Rust Buckets,

Virgin Upper class is first class

I can't comment on the service on the other sides of the world, but Virgin America is a phenomenal airline. It's the most pleasant experience I've had on an airplane in twenty years.

So of course, they're going to be merge with, and be ruined by, Alaska Air.

TBH, I had no idea Virgin had a train system. So wish they would do that here!!

I think they will be on par with P&O

Hopefully not

Having tried nearly all the UK train services, I'm not sure I agree with you that Virgin trains have a terrible reputation, this survey would seem to support that

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/travel-and-leisure/reviews-ns/best-and-worst-uk-train-companies/best-train-companies-overall/

 

My comment about their reputation is based on what I hear on Radio 4.

As I said, I have only experienced them once and I will avoid like the plague in future. What would have been a 2 hours car journey took 6 hours by train [and replacement bus service that there was no advance information about online although had, apparently, been long planned] when all I was trying to do was be more environmentally responsible.

I fully accept that I am out of step with the majority of this country in my dislike of Virgin as a brand. Unfortunately, all my experiences have been bad. When I read Virgin Cruises in the original post, EasyCruise immediately sprung into my mind. I am sure, for most, it was the iconic Virgin Atlantic TV ad image.

Love flying on Virgin Atlantic - even in Economy.

Really looking forward to Virgin Cruises! Just wish they would sail out of Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami......

Claudia

When the announcement first went out for Virgin cruises I signed up for their newsletters, that was several months ago. To date, I have received no updates. I found it a bit of a surprise.

Have to agree with the post re Virgin Airlines...

 

Flying First is fantastic, from check in, lounge, on board experience...all excellent...

 

However, the further you go backwards in the plane the more standard the offering....We have flown Premium Economy and Economy too. If you equate that to a cruise it looks like the suites could be fantastic, mid range rooms OK and the rest just standard....

 

 

Seriously, I have read very little about Virgin cruises although through their 'holiday' set up they have been offering cruises for many years. We did a 'Star Cruise' from Singapore as part of a Virgin Holiday package many years ago....

 

I look forward to seeing what they offer, their target market...I tend to think they will be looking at cruises as part of a combined package. For example, flights, a week in an AI in the Caribbean followed by a 7 night cruise....

 

It would take a lot to take us away from Celebrity now....Sometimes you find a brand that does just 'fit you'. Not too formal, not too staid, peace and quiet but plenty to do....

 

I will look out for further information and not dismiss them off hand but I do tend to think they will be aiming more at a 'package' market.

My experiences with Virgin Atlantic have been good in all 3 classes. Economy is exactly what the name suggests and can't be worse than BA economy (which I flew last year) Yuck!

My experiences with Virgin Atlantic have been good in all 3 classes. Economy is exactly what the name suggests and can't be worse than BA economy (which I flew last year) Yuck!

Flown BA a few times...

Only ever lost luggage...same flight where they apologised they had only one meal choice...

Another long haul flight as I went to sit down the flight attendant told me to wait a minute because my seat was broken and she needed to 'prop' it first with a spare pillow!

Last flight we had to run a marathon through T5 to get our connection....Only to be greeted by a really sullen air hostess saying 'you are lucky we waited'.

Dread to think what their idea of on board service would be.

As you say, nothing wrong with Virgin economy!

Until they provide some concrete details on their ships, facilities and attraction I really find it hard to speculate. Intrigued to hear more though!

 

 

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True, too little known.

I think competition is healthy for the industry.

I just cannot see Virgin competing only against X but also any and all other lines, being new, people may want to test the new line. It would need to establish itself and people will soon rank it against the corresponding cruise line whether that be budget, deluxe or luxury.

I think competition is healthy for the industry.

 

I just cannot see Virgin competing only against X but also any and all other lines, being new, people may want to test the new line. It would need to establish itself and people will soon rank it against the corresponding cruise line whether that be budget, deluxe or luxury.

Agreed! Sure look forward to hearing more about this new competitor ...they are known to enter a market with a bang, or maybe a splash in this case!

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