CEO Shares the Secrets Behind the Surge

It’s no secret that Virgin Voyages, Sir Richard Branson’s adults-only cruise line, has taken the cruise world by storm.

Certainly, the cruise line has grown tremendously since Scarlet Girl formally introduced Virgin Voyages to the excessive seas in August of 2021. Valiant Girl sailed her maiden voyage in March 2022, with Resilient Girl formally launching in Might 2023.

Since then, the corporate has shortly expanded to supply extra ports of name and itineraries lasting from a number of days to a few weeks throughout its fleet of three Girl Ships.

With Good Girl now poised to hitch the fleet in September of this 12 months, and the model experiencing skyrocketing bookings throughout the first half of 2025, I bought the chance to talk one-on-one with Virgin Voyages CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu in regards to the cruise line’s development and secrets and techniques to success as he appears ahead to the longer term.

The two,762-guest Good Girl’s arrival is especially thrilling, as a result of for the primary time, Virgin Voyages may have a ship that homeports out of Los Angeles for a portion of the 12 months.

From Los Angeles, she’s going to supply a mixture of 6-night “California (and Mexico) Dreamin’” itineraries, 7-night “Hollywood Sunsets & Mexican Horizons” sailings, and 8-night “LA Lights & Vancouver Vistas” voyages.

Nevertheless, her first LA-based crusing will probably be a 5-night “MerMaiden” voyage to Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ensenada, Mexico, embarking on April 7, 2026.

She’s going to spend the remainder of her time in New York (crusing to Bermuda and Canada), Miami (cruising the Caribbean), and Seattle (voyaging to Alaska).

Homeporting in Los Angeles is feasible for the primary time as a result of the brand new addition is the primary ship within the fleet that’s Panama Canal compliant, and the model is wanting ahead to sustaining a deployment on the West Coast for the foreseeable future.

“I feel the product will resonate very well in LA. Folks in LA love nice meals, they love leisure, they love nice design. These ships are designed to really feel like a boutique lodge on the ocean so I feel it will likely be an excellent match with what persons are used to in LA.” Saverimuttu informed me.

He went on to debate how the relaxed vibe onboard, with no set eating occasions or strict costume codes, is a pure match with the extra relaxed nature of the Los Angeles group, too.

“I imagine the Good Girl is among the latest ships to name into LA, which I feel is thrilling as a result of the LA cruise market is an excellent market.”

“It’s an excellent market however it’s a market that sometimes doesn’t have plus merchandise crusing immediately out of LA. So, we’ve determined to offer the folks a Virgin choice but additionally a model new ship choice as properly,” he continued. 

Talking of the expertise onboard, Virgin Voyages frequently works to boost the leisure and eating expertise onboard. Saverimuttu had me salivating as he informed me about plans to evolve the eating experiences with new and ever-changing menus throughout the fleet.

“We really constructed our ships purposefully across the meals expertise, as a result of let’s face it, once we journey these days, the very first thing we take into consideration is the place we’re gonna eat,” Saverimuttu noticed. 

“We don’t have any massive eating halls on our ships. Our greatest eating places have 200 seats. We don’t have any massive buffets onboard our ships. And what this enables us to do is to create devoted kitchens and dedicate government cooks to each one in all our eating places,” he added. 

This additionally implies that all meals is made to order, which helps guarantee high quality and stop extra meals waste.

With frequent repeat clientele, the cruise line adjustments up the menu every night time in The Galley so that there’s all the time one thing new to attempt, whereas the menus within the different six signature eating places are mounted.

Good Girl will function Rojo by Razzle Dazzle as one instance, which will probably be a Spanish-inspired restaurant that may tantalize the style buds. The menu will function a Spanish-American twist, with Sailors capable of order delicacies a la carte that will probably be served in an off-the-cuff and relaxed ambiance.

The 110,000-gross ton ship may even have its personal Pink Agave restaurant, which elevates the expertise after darkish by turning right into a salsa membership after 10 p.m. 

Extra menu updates fleet-wide may even be coming quickly, and there’ll nearly definitely be ongoing evolution for the model and the expertise onboard as an entire, too. 

The Secret to Success

Virgin Voyages launched in file time within the wake of an industry-halting pandemic and is holding its personal in opposition to main gamers within the cruise world who’ve been round for many years. So, what’s driving their success? 

First, Virgin Voyages has recognized a distinct segment available in the market by providing adults-only cruises at an affordable price. This makes their sailings extra accessible to a youthful crowd, whereas different adults-only cruise traces are likely to veer additional into luxurious territory with the next value level. 

“We constructed the bespoke kid-free expertise and it’s the primary purpose folks ebook us,” Saverimuttu stated. “Persons are realizing that there hasn’t been a child free journey choice in cruising round this value level.”

Virgin Voyage sailings are likely to value round $250 to $300 per night time relying on the itinerary however are mostly all inclusive. Important drinks (waters, sodas, juices, tea, and drip espresso) and fundamental Wi-Fi are free when you’re onboard.

There are additionally no prices for specialty eating such as you would possibly discover on different manufacturers, although a number of “Deal with Your self” objects like a tomahawk steak and boss am can be found for an additional particular expertise. 

This brings up the following side to the model’s success, which is that the management retains Sailor suggestions in thoughts and appears to eradicate the weather (like onboard bills) that annoy their prospects.

“Generally we could be a bit extra ahead considering and say that is the suitable factor to do, so it simply is smart for us to do it,” Saverimuttu defined. 

“The concept of together with nonetheless and glowing water. Once more, it’s simply the suitable factor to do,” he gave for instance. “Together with Wi-Fi, it’s simply the suitable factor to do.”

Final however not least, Virgin Voyages appreciates the efforts of the crew that work day-in and day-out to offer friends the absolute best expertise onboard. 

For instance, Virgin Voyages re-branded its special Celebration Voyages – through which Sir Richard Branson and firm management are onboard for particular activations – into Purple Scorching sailings. 

However whereas the expertise has been improved for friends, Saverimuttu stated that the crew are additionally celebrated throughout these particular voyages. 

“Actually what they’re is a approach to have a good time our crew, who do such a improbable job for all our Sailors,” the CEO said. 

“Behind the scenes, we really take a second to have a good time all of our crew, ensure that they understand how a lot we worth them as a part of the Virgin household, and acknowledge how arduous they work and the way particular they’re to us. For me, any Virgin celebration wouldn’t be a celebration if we weren’t celebrating our crew.” 

Learn Additionally: How to Make Each Cruise a Unique Experience

In line with stories from crew members who turned influencers, comparable to Lucy Southerton from Cruising As Crew, Virgin Voyages is understood to offer extra versatile and fascinating circumstances for the crew members whereas they’re working onboard. 

I requested Saverimuttu what was coming subsequent for the cruise line, and for now, the main focus is on perfecting Good Girl and getting ready for her launch. 

However with a singular area of interest and a people-forward mindset steering the ship (actually and figuratively), the longer term will undoubtedly proceed to be vibrant for Virgin Voyages.