Virgin Voyages began with a vision of disrupting the cruise industry. The cruise line entered the market in 2020.
That put the cruise line in immediate danger because as it was getting off the ground, the Covid pandemic hit. Cruise lines were forbidden from operating out of the United States for over a year and a half, which stalled Virgin’s launch.
Related: Royal Caribbean keeps stopping in controversial port
After finding its footing, however, the cruise line had a record year in 2024. That included sailing with many full ships and establishing itself as an adults-only cruise brand.
Virgin Voyages looked at all aspects of cruising and made changes where Virgin founder Richard Branson and his team thought things were broken.
That included dropping the buffet in favor of a European-style dining hall and offering all-included specialty restaurants instead of a traditional main dining room.
The cruise line does have some unique touches, like its onboard tattoo shops and its unique entertainment offerings,
Branson and Virgin Voyages CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu sat down for an extensive interview led by the cruise line’s COO Michelle Bentubo.
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Virgin Voyages celebrates its success
Michelle Bentubo: Hi everyone, my name is Michelle. I’m Chief Operating Officer here at Virgin Voyages. I’m very privileged this morning because with me we have our founder and original visionary Richard Branson, and then our Chief Executive Officer Nirmal Saverimuttu too, and they’re going to spend a little time with us this morning talking about Virgin Voyages, the year ahead, and any extended plans that we might have coming up.
So we wanted to share that. I’m really excited, so thank you both for spending time with all of us here this morning. Richard, I’m gonna ask you something.
That is a conversation that I had over the weekend with one of our sailors, and they had asked, given the fact that we, this concept, this idea has been in a you know a making period over the last probably 12-15 years. The question was for us, how different is it? So I’m obviously going to put this to you. So as you came up with the idea, you envisioned what the product was going to be and what we could be offering.
How similar is our experience and what we’re delivering every day or how does it differ from what you imagined?
Richard Branson: I would like to take credit for every little bit of Virgin Voyages because we dreamt of creating the best cruise line in the world. Obviously the best cruise line, adults only cruise line in the world. And we put on paper what we hoped it would end up like.
And honestly, having been on it many times, I don’t think there’s anything I would change. I’m sure Nirmal’s got a few things on his hit list. But everything about the ship is very Virgin.
And I’m just incredibly proud of what all the teams, the designers, the creators, the people in charge of restaurants, everything, every single thing that came out is just brilliant.
So Virgin Atlantic, 40 years ago, walking on that plane, I had that same feeling. I mean, it was unique, it was special.
And nobody gave us more than a year. Everybody assumed that we wouldn’t last 12 months. We had one second-hand 747.
But because the team had done such a great job 40 years on, it’s still, I think, the best airline flying across the Atlantic. And it’s survived and thrived. And I think Virgin Voyages will do exactly the same.
Bentubo: Yes, you continue to prove them wrong time after time. And we’re incredibly proud of the product. So Nirmal, you joined that journey a few years after Richard.
What about for you from what that initial inception was going to be? Because I know that we’ve changed just in the nine years that I’ve been here.
Nirmal Saverimuttu: Yeah, look, it’s been a tremendous journey. I’ve been lucky to be around the Virgin group 18 years now.
I remember when I joined 18 years ago, there was talk of wanting to start a cruise line. Richard, you said the story right of how you dreamt it up for your 20s and then your 30s. And we finally got around when to celebrate your 70th birthday.
So we got there just in time, Richard, for the birthday of them all. But it’s been a real journey for us. And I’m just so proud of what we’ve been able to create, so proud of.
And we’ve been able to create something that really is true to Virgin, make someone like Richard so proud. You know, the biggest thing for me, Michelle, there’s the proof points, right? We won all those awards last year in particular, right? We won Travel & Leisure, we won Conde Nast a few years in a row. And just the feedback we’re getting from our customers and our crew is phenomenal.
You know, funny story. You know, I told the story a while ago, but Virgin America, when they launched, won Best Airline in their first year of operation. Virgin Hotels won Best Hotel for our Chicago property when we first launched.
And I remember at the time when they won those awards, apart from being very, very happy with the brand, and very happy, very happy. Richard, I did have, I think my first thought was actually not a great thought, Michelle. My first thought was actually, oh, ship.
It’s like, anyway, you’re the team delivered. So that’s all that matters. Yeah.
Virgin Voyages ships offer a 24/7 diner.
Image source: Daniel Kline/ComeCruiseWith.com
Success raises the bar for Virgin Voyages
Bentubo: I do recall us talking about the pressure we were now feeling.
Saverimuttu: Yes. Look, at the heart of any great business is a culture, right? And Richard will tell you this, right? Why has Virgin been so successful for 50 years, starting with Virgin? You know, it’s because of the very special culture we have to create this business, which really has been success of Virgin from day one.
And I know that I just am so proud of the culture of this business, because the number one thing I hear when I get on my ships, yes, they love the fact that it’s no kid, they love the food, they love all the great things we’ve touched on. But ultimately, what they love is our crew. And they love the way our crew are, they love the service interactions they have, they love the fact there’s an unmistakable Virgin experience on board these ships.
And that’s what makes me so proud. And that’s what makes me keep going back over and over again. And so when we look back at what we’ve achieved, that, for me, is probably the most special thing we have to do.
Bentubo: So let me say it, you’ve been here 18 years now, so you’ve been around the Virgin companies. Is that the special ingredient? Is the crew? Would you say that that like, what is the, is there something? Yeah, I’ll let Richard chime in. But Richard has always said, right, what makes, what makes Virgin special is people, right, Richard? And that, I think you see that on Virgin Voyage.
Saverimuttu: But I’ll let Richard chime in on that. I know it’s funny.
Branson: I mean, we’ve got, I think, crew from 84 different countries on board.
So almost every country in the world seems to be represented on Virgin Voyages. And, you know, the spirit of the crew is fantastic. And I think that, you know, that’s what makes any company special.
You know, with Virgin Atlantic, you know, the British Airways have the same planes that we have and, you know, not that dissimilar seats. But it’s the crew that make it, make it sparkle. And the same applies to Virgin Voyages.
Bentubo: Yeah, we hear a lot. I mean, the great thing for me is when I get to read sailor comments and feedback and emails, they rave about our crew. You know, the product is fantastic, but it really is for them over and over again as to how amazing our crew is.
So join in your pride with the team that we have. I want to switch, this is, you know, it’s January. And it’s an incredible time in the industry right now.
So this is the industry time. So when as I look at trying to reach out to sailors and to our crewmates, why is this, Nirmal, the right time to be looking at us and making a booking?
Saverimuttu: Well, look, you know, last year, as I said, was a real important year for us. I think last year was the year when people finally started to realize that, you know, who’s accustomed to Virgin Voyages? Well, it’s anyone traveling without kids.
It’s really that simple. Like if you are looking to take a kid-free holiday, if you’ve got kids and you want to take a break, if you don’t have kids and you’re looking for a kid-free escape, we are just the perfect travel option for that. And that, for me, is something that I keep hearing over and over again, and to which, you know, we should talk about this, right? You know, we have to start the business from scratch, and we’ve been building our momentum.
But now that’s all we hear from people is that if you’re looking for a kid-free break, and let’s face it, we’re all looking for a break of some sort, particularly some of us want to get away. And we are a perfect travel option for that. And right now, people are really planning their fall holidays.
And so we’re a perfect time to come think about Virgin Voyages.
Bentubo: Yes, it is now. Now is the time.
And I’m, you know, just before here, I was looking at our, looking at the call volumes in our web traffic, and people are hearing you, even though they’re, even though they’re not, they don’t even see this video yet. They hear you.
Saverimuttu: I think that, you know, if we’d done this interview, two years ago, you know, we would have been begging people to book.
Now we’ve got a situation where quite a lot of trips are actually selling out. And so we can be a little bit more, well, maybe you should get in there before your particular dates have gone. Because yeah, I mean, I think the feedback from people who travel on Virgin Voyages is so positive and so good that people are, I think something like 60% of our travellers rebook almost immediately when they’re on the ship.
And yeah, anyway, it’s got, finally, it’s going really, really well.
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Bentubo: So Richard, along those lines, what would you say? So when you’re on a Virgin Atlantic flight, and when you’re in your travel adventures, what would you say to someone who said, I’ve never tried Virgin Voyages?
Branson: That’s why we’re called Virgin. I, you know, give it a try and we’ll change the name of our company.
No, I think just try to talk to people who’ve actually been on a Virgin Voyage, if you think that’s the best way to make a decision about whether you want to go do something is by recommendation from somebody else.
And now we’ve had, I think, enough travellers where people are going to be able to find somebody who’s actually been on a Virgin Voyage and they can discuss it and recommend it. But everything, you know, everything about Virgin Voyages is how we dreamt about it years ago when we were thinking of setting up a cruise company.
You know, whether it’s, you know, as you walk on just the immediate, wonderful feeling you get when you walk on the ship, the wow factor, the fact that it’s not sort of massively overcrowded, like, you know, some of these massive, you know, monster ships that we’ve, I think the team got it absolutely right, getting it right bang in the middle there.
All the wonderful restaurants that people can go to, you know, not big buffet services as there are in a lot of these ships, beautiful waitress service. Magnificent workout areas, which I like to keep fit and healthy, running tracks, you know, pickleball.
And yeah, wonderful sort of massage areas as well. And gyms and, you know, wonderful, wonderful dancing and, you know, Red Night, it’s one of my favorite nights. And then my wife and everybody else dress up, dress up beautifully on Red Nights.
So there’s lots of fun reasons to be there. Plus a hundred, I think a hundred different destinations.
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Branson remains Virgin Voyages’ inspiration
Bentubo: We channel you a lot.
I want to make sure that you know that. And I don’t know if the team has ever shared with you, but we refer to you as dad around here. I hope that’s okay.
Oh, we do. But often we’ll ask ourselves when we are thinking of what a particular experience or how should we speak it, or we got that. The comment we’ll hear around the table is, well, “What would dad think? “What would dad think about this?”
So you shape much of this, much of this product with us every day, even though you’re not sitting at the table with us.
Saverimuttu: Well, I would add, I think that’s a really important part, right? Because one of the things I hear over and over again is anyone feels welcome, right? And that’s something that, you know, we’ve been working a lot at, which we talked about two years ago when people were asking about Virgin Voyages, they weren’t sure, right?
And any great Virgin business is a very welcoming business. One of the wonderful things that I see is you’ve got all ages. You can be in your twenties and thirties and have a great time.
You can be in your sixties and seventies and have a great time, which is celebrated as 72nd birthday on Virgin Voyages. You know, you just feel it’s such a welcoming environment. And, you know, one of the reasons for that, I think is our crew.
But, you know, we don’t have a dress code. We don’t have any stuffy formalities. You know, Richard, nowadays, as you know, and how you live your life, people want to dress up for dinner every night, right? We want to go to dinner in jeans and a shirt, right? We don’t want to dress up.
There’s a relaxed vibe on board our ships. It means that everyone feels welcome. And so anytime I hear feedback from people that say, oh, I’m not sure if Virgin Voyages is for me, I always say to them, it’s one of the most welcoming places you’ll ever be in.
Give it a go because no one feels out of place on a Virgin Voyages. There’s something for everybody, right? If you want to read a book, you know, I’m actually reading a book right now, Michelle, as you know, but it’s, you know, I can’t put it down. I had to put it down just with this interview.
Bentubo:I wondered what book you had with me. No, no, Richard, he’s not sucking me up at all.
Saverimuttu: If you want to read a book in the hammock, you can do that. If you just want to enjoy Scarlet Night, you can do that. But look, everyone loves great food.
Everyone loves more boutique-like experience like our ship. So that’s why I say it really is. If you’re traveling with our kids, it’s great.
You know, it’s a great experience and you won’t regret it. The other thing that I love about, you know, Richard being on our ship, which he’s on our ships a lot, is that he is often playing chess on our ship. So I always get a note saying Richard’s playing chess right now.
And, you know, I always think to myself, okay, well, that’s great because when it’s happening is after chess, is I’ll get a note myself about all the things that we can improve at Virgin Voyages, which, by the way, I actually thought people always say to me, like, do you like hitting the note? And I actually say we do because we love hearing feedback. We love being able to improve the product. And that’s one of the ways that I know I get feedback from Richard because he could say he plays chess.
So while he’s playing chess, are you doing it to distract them so you can beat them at chess? Or like, why do a feedback session over chess out of interest?
Branson: No, I mean, I love chess. I love talking to our customers and getting feedback and talking to our staff and getting feedback. And as you know better than anybody, that’s how you make a company as near perfect as you possibly can.
It’s the little details, it’s getting all those little boxes ticked and ironing out the details. And that makes for Virgin Voyages. Yeah, and if I talk about who we are,
Saverimuttu: Michelle, I don’t know if you know this Richard, but Michelle told me a long time ago, she said, you know, she loves the gifts.
And so I get a lot of gifts from Michelle, Richard, along my journey with her.
Bentubo: Yes, but just like a gift, you can choose to open it or not. And so we choose to open those gifts around here.
You know, it’s funny you say that because just this weekend, with sailors and first mates, I heard you say, we are building this brand together. And it’s true, it like really resonated. I’m not just with me, but I saw it and I saw that like reaction from the room.
And as you think about ahead to 2025, we’ve received lots of gifts over the last couple of years, and we are heading into a milestone. So 2025 is in fact the milestone year for us. We will very proudly have all four ships sailing the seas with sailors on board.
But as we look ahead to 2025, and I’m knowing you’ve had lots of gifts along the way, what excites you, Nirmal, around about 2025 and what we’ve got ahead of us?
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Virgin Voyages looks ahead
Saverimuttu: Well, 2025, we’ve got our fourth Brilliant Lady launching, and she’s coming online in September. That’s phenomenal stuff, because it really completes the picture for us here at Virgin Voyages, Michelle, as you mentioned, right? We’re now sailing in all the destinations people want to sail in. Currently we’re sailing in the Caribbean, sailing the Med.
When Brilliant Lady comes online, we’ll be out in New York, we’ll be in LA, we’ll be in Alaska. There’s tremendous excitement about our Alaska voyages. So I’m just really excited about completing that.
I know I hear that over again from our sailors. In terms of some of the feedback we get, the big piece of it is, we would love to sail with you in different places. I would love to come back, right? I want to come back quickly.
I don’t want to do it in the Caribbean. I want to go somewhere else. So whether it’s the Med or somewhere else, Brilliant Lady allows that picture to be completed.
So I’m really excited about that going forward. We’ve got four Mermaidens coming up for Brilliant Lady. So we have some sailors on all four of those Mermaidens.
We’ve got new food concepts coming out. We’ve got entertainment concepts coming out. All the things that are on those lists that we get from people, we’re really going to address this year and try to think right now.
Then, you know, the one thing that we are going to address, you know, we don’t like shying away from feedback, Michelle, as you know, is we are going to be launching a new HR app. Richard, I think that’s the one thing that we hear about Virgin Voyages is we need a better app. We’ll be looking at that this year and hopefully that’ll be the last piece of the puzzle to make sure that all the feedback is nothing but positive.
But, you know, I’m not afraid of feedback because you’ve got to be open to feedback. I think that’s a great part of why we’ve been so successful. Yes.
Bentubo: Richard, you were also talking about destinations and where we’re going, and we have so many new itineraries coming up. Any bucket list destinations that we need to be thinking about in the future?
Saverimuttu: One of the things I forgot to mention, actually, Michelle, was, you know, one of the things that we’ve been talking about really lately also is completing the itineraries. It’s also things like being in New York.
And, you know, this year in particular, we are really focused on making sure we connect all the Virgin brands. And so we think about going out to New York. You can get on a Virgin Atlantic flight.
You can stay in a Virgin hotel in New York. You can get on board a Virgin Voyage. And you can use Virgin points to fund all of those purchases.
We kind of connect brands more with Virgin Red this year, which is a huge initiative for us and across the Virgin group to make sure that all our Virgin customers around our different businesses feel recognized and rewarded for their loyalty to Virgin.
I know it’s a project that’s very, very passionate about, but Virgin Red is going to be a key part of our future in 2025 and 2026.
Branson: When you fly back to London, yeah, you can also obviously fly back to the Atlantic, but you can then go to a new Virgin hotel in London, which is rather dreamy as well.
Bentubo: Yeah, many travel brands. We are going to look to see how it is that we are working together because there is an end to end experience, as you both just mentioned, that we can easily create that experience for all of our sailors and our guests.
But Richard, as you look at all of the brands across the group, and you think of the purpose from a Virgin, what it means to proudly have that Virgin brand, do you have any thoughts or visions or how all of our brands, regardless of their travel or not, how we can work together from a Virgin purpose aspect? How do we continue to do good as a collective group?
Branson’s Virgin brands give back
Branson: Virgin doesn’t sort of shout about it too loudly. But we have set up 20 not-for-profit organizations, which all the different Virgin companies contribute towards tackling everything from drug reform to climate issues, to planetary issues, to carbon issues, and so on and so forth. We use our entrepreneurial skills that we’ve used in the past to build companies to try to tackle some of the seemingly intractable problems in this world. Obviously, what’s going on in Ukraine, what’s going on in Israel, Palestine, all these sorts of issues.
We are working behind the scenes to see if we can help a bit. Each Virgin company plays its part. A lot of Virgin companies also have more localized charities.
We’ve drawn a circle around it. Within that circle, we’ve been helping with schools, we’ve been helping with health, we’ve been helping with the seas. That’s what we do with all our properties.
It’s the basis for how we inspire our crew and our own communities. There’s fantastic work that our shipboard crew look forward to when we go into the different communities on the islands that we visit, and determine how we best have an impact, even if it’s just one, two, four, ten, impact the lives in the communities that we are sailing to. Thank you.
Bentubo: We’d love to have the Virgin brand and quite proud of being part of that ethos along with you.
Saverimuttu: Yeah, Virgin Voyages, we’ve taken that principle. We’ve called it the FTC change for all here at Virgin.
The idea that we should be trying to make a difference and do better across all the different communities we visit, whether it’s the communities we see, the partners we work with, our sailor crew.
At the end of the day, for me, Michelle, it’s really simple about just really caring about people and working out how we can do that. Richard, you talked about those circles, right? Those small circles we build around ourselves and how can we help the people around us, places around us, partners around us in some small way, which has always told a lovely story about you build your circle and everyone builds their circle and suddenly you’re covering a very big area.
And that’s been a wonderful thing for us at Virgin Voyages because we’ve been able to take our ships in lots of different places, lots of different communities and have our crew get involved in really championing this effort for change for all, which we believe is a really, really important part of any business.
Branson: A few months ago, I was just bumped into 50 crew members in the BVI planting mangroves. And this was their day off.
They just come to Portola and it was their day off and they all volunteered to go and plant mangroves. And anyway, they all had a smile on their face. They were loving what they were doing.
Bentubo: Yeah, our crew asked for those opportunities, by the way, as well. They look for, to your point, Richard, on our day off, is that, hey, we’re going, what can we do? Which is just another reason why we love to do so much.
Saverimuttu: Yeah, hearing those kind of stories, Michelle, it’s the reason why you and I are just so passionate about this business, right? I mean, we have such an incredible team, an incredible group that are in this business, building this company with us.
And just to hear them, you know, taking days off to go do some community work, just makes me so proud of what an incredible culture this company has.
Saverimuttu: And this year, we’re going to add about 1,600 more crew with the launch of Brilliant Ladies. So very excited.
In fact, we’re out doing recruiting tours right now to bring on that next set of amazing crew. So as we wrap up in the next few minutes, anything exciting that anyone wants to unveil for 2025? We have lots happening.
Saverimuttu: I’m not allowed to unveil anything until everyone tells me.
But I know Richard just, he just goes rogue and unveils what he wants. So I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve. But I know I don’t have anything up my sleeve.
None of the teams have allowed me to say anything. Although I have lots to say with Michelle, I just only want to tell that. So Richard, maybe you have something up your sleeve.
Branson: No, I think that, I mean, the most exciting thing for Virgin Voyages is the fourth ship. And, you know, I mean, some of this is the third ship, some of it’s the fourth ship. But I think, you know, Panama, Alaska, New York, a whole lot of new, wonderful destinations.
I think you must be doing about 125 destinations now.
Saverimuttu: Over 100.
Branson: How many?
Saverimuttu: Well over 100.
Branson: I think you’re right. Well over 100. Anyway, yeah.
Probably more accurate than I am, actually. But I think you’re probably 125, so it feels about right. They, and then, and then, you know, I think that the next, the next thing will be for Nermal to order the next four ships, but.
Bentubo: All right, from, we’re recording this, right? Very exciting, yes. 100 new destinations, 100 destinations and really over 25 new ones. I’ll just tell you a funny story.
Branson: I’m not sure whether it’s appropriate. I think it’s okay. So since we’re looking at, you know, 1,200 new crew, there was, there was, I was doing a reality TV show a few years back.
And I asked people who wanted to appear on the show to send in a one-minute video. And there was this one video where this girl looked at the camera, then she turned her butt to the camera and she went, I’m going to make women’s butts look better. And, and she flashed her butt, not literally flashed it, but she wiggled her butt at me.
And, and I thought, yeah, this, she seems like she’s got spirit. I’ll take her on. So we took her on and she finished the reality TV show.
She launched something called Spanx and, and it’s done pretty good, pretty good since. And that was Sarah, Sarah Blakely. So you never know who, who’s going to apply for a job at Virgin Voyages.
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Bentubo: And she did. I’m grateful you gave her that chance. I mean, she has made women’s butts look better.
But we’ve got a crew all over the head now. Yeah, let’s get on that one, gentlemen. I want to thank you both.
I really appreciate you taking the time. I know that you’re both incredibly busy. I’m, but I thought I was the only one who could talk endlessly about our product, but I’ve, I’ve been, I’ve been outshone by the two of you.
So thank you again. Appreciate you being here. And Richard, we’ll see you on board soon at one of our new destinations.
Branson: Thank you both. Cheers. See you soon.
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