Virgin Voyages Seeking New Funding

[JT1962]

Not sure if this is normal business or there may be some issues. 
 

https://www.cruisehive.com/richard-bransons-virgin-voyages-seeks-new-funding/97963

[jon81uk]

It’s not the first time VV have sought investment, I think the line is doing well and they see it as a good time to get investors following the news of winning all the cruise critic  awards.

[cantgetin]

I read about Branson's problems a few days ago, but he has only a minimum investment in Virgin Voyages.  Virgin Voyages had serious growing pains due to Covid, but my guess is that they are getting on their feet now as many cruises have more than 2000 passengers on board and they closed bookings for at least 4 April sailings as they determined that the ship was at the capacity where they could give good service (over 2000, but nowhere near the 2700 max).

Of course they were losing money when the ships were sailing with 1000 on board, but I think that period has ended.  They've also figured out who their real audience is, which is somewhat different than the target audience in their initial marketing.  Obviously they will continue to tweak it and make improvements, but they seem to have landed on their feet.  But with 2 more ships launching this year, money in reserve is a good thing,

 

[CineGraphic]

I believe they are in a much better position then the likes of CCL, with tons of debt, and cost-cutting measures. Virign is is doing a great job attracting customers from other lines with their status-match program, and I believe they are attracting more 1st-time cruisers than the other lines.

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

and I believe they are attracting more 1st-time cruisers than the other lines.

My first ever cruise was on Virgin for one of the UK staycation cruises August 2021 and I’ve done three more since. Can’t see me easily doing a different line, no kids, no announcements, no tips, soft drinks included, nice modern looking cabins. 
 

I get some people love the cruise director making announcements on other lines but I’m quite able of working out what I want to do myself.

[_tacocat_]

4 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

I believe they are attracting more 1st-time cruisers than the other lines.

i was a second-time cruiser when i sailed on VV in 2021!  i took 1 really terrible NCL cruise like 10 years before that and was absolutely turned off by the whole experience.  less than a year and a half later, i've been on 11 virgin sailings so far and will never set foot on a "mainstream" ship.

[CineGraphic]

42 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

i was a second-time cruiser when i sailed on VV in 2021!  i took 1 really terrible NCL cruise like 10 years before that and was absolutely turned off by the whole experience.  less than a year and a half later, i've been on 11 virgin sailings so far and will never set foot on a "mainstream" ship.

 

As you know, we've cancelled all of our bookings on other lines, but the other day I spotted a fantastic fare on the Queen Elizabeth around the time of our 25th anniversary next year. My wife and I sat down and watched a vid about the ship on Youtube and looked at each other and said, "Who are we kidding, this isn't us!"

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

i was a second-time cruiser when i sailed on VV in 2021!  i took 1 really terrible NCL cruise like 10 years before that and was absolutely turned off by the whole experience.  less than a year and a half later, i've been on 11 virgin sailings so far and will never set foot on a "mainstream" ship.

We got off our first VV sailing with 3 more booked (not certificates, selected dates).  We had done at least 45 cruises on 5 lines before, but none compare to VV at this stage in our lives.

[nimbex1970]

almost 20 cruises in on other lines, now booked with VV, so no.  Not first time cruisers.  Kinda experts that want what VV is offering. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 4/5/2023 at 1:07 PM, CineGraphic said:

and I believe they are attracting more 1st-time cruisers than the other lines.

 

Nobody attracts more first time cruisers than Carnival and Royal Caribbean. But VV is a great cruise line for first timers. Though they will be spoiled by having so much included in the cruise fare vs. the other lines.

 

As for the funding round, normal course of business. Always need to have cash in reserve and if there are any plans for ships 5 and 6, they'll need a starting point. My hope is they use some of the cash for a proper ordering system in The Galley. Just lift exactly what NCL has been doing for years first in Food Republic and now their Indulge Food Hall with the iPad ordering system. Or move the ordering to an app.

 

And that NCL Indulge Food Hall looks like The Galley 2.0 based on the food offerings and reviews I've seen in a few of the video vlogs I follow. Good Indian food for one would be a welcome addition anywhere. 

[curlstravel]

We just went on our first virgin cruise and have a second booked. I’m not sure if I would want to book more than that. It seems like it would be boring after a while plus their beds are not comfortable at all.  The other cruise lines have a lot of different ships with a lot of different things going on on a ship. Virgin will have to have a lot more variety to keep us longer than two voyages.

[jon81uk]

13 minutes ago, curlstravel said:

We just went on our first virgin cruise and have a second booked. I’m not sure if I would want to book more than that. It seems like it would be boring after a while plus their beds are not comfortable at all.  The other cruise lines have a lot of different ships with a lot of different things going on on a ship. Virgin will have to have a lot more variety to keep us longer than two voyages.

Resilient Lady for the Athens cruises has pretty much all-new entertainment so I think they’ve realised they need more variety. 
I’m expecting at least one all new menu on that ship as well.

 

I would expect some changes to Scarlet Lady for 2024 to keep things fresh too but will see what happens. 
 

I’ve got our fifth VV cruise on Resilient in June and sixth on Scarlets transatlantic in 2024. They will have to keep adding brand new to make us was to book a seventh, but also the transatlantic trips are good value. 

[curlstravel]

We are going on a transatlantic cruise too and hoping for new entertainment and different food options.  

[jon81uk]

4 minutes ago, curlstravel said:

We are going on a transatlantic cruise too and hoping for new entertainment and different food options.  

If you are doing this months TA I wouldn’t expect anything different compared to what Valiant Lady has been doing for the last few months. 
 

we did the transatlantic last October and there was three additional guests acts on top of the normal entertainment. Also the diner counter and burger counter in the Galley had lunch specials most days. 
 

I think there will be more changes by 2024 and of course Brilliant Lady will be an entirely new ship.

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, curlstravel said:

We are going on a transatlantic cruise too and hoping for new entertainment and different food options.  

No  word of any food item changes, but there are 6 entertainers being brought on board for the crossing according to the schedule on the app.  These are things like a comedian, a mentalist, etc.  In a cruise group someone looked them up and posted links to their websites.  NSA has been replaced by MisBehavin', I believe....not sure what of the other evening shows might be different.

As to "special," several outlets in The Galley had "specials" on many sea days.  These were available in the burger, salad, and noodle place, and possibly others.  The special in the burger place often were not burgers.  These did not show up on any menu and the servers did not tell us about them.  We started walking around the outlets looking for specials before deciding whether to do lunch at The Galley or brunch at one of the restaurants.  

[CruzinMermaid]

Virgin Voyages is a startup, starups typically seek additional funding during the first 5 - 7 years to give themselves time to demonstrate to funders they are viable. This is normal.

 

My upcoming sailing, transatlantic appears to be sold out - no cabins have been offered for a few weeks now. As much as I loved sailing less than half full, I'm delighted that more and more sailings are sold out.

[cantgetin]

Other than the Med cruises this summer, most VV sailings are nearing the max capacity they currently want to book.  That's not 2700 cruisers, but it is well over 2000.  

THey have just begun offering "no single supplements" in the Med this summer.