Richard Branson Virgin Cruises — Richard Branson

Virgin rebrands cruise line Virgin Voyages

By Cruise Adviser Last updated Jan 10, 2017

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has announced that its cruise line will be called Virgin Voyages.

The venture, which is backed by venture capital money, will be launching the first of three ships in 2020 after signing a deal with Fincantieri.

Sir Richard said that each ship would be capable of holding 2,700 passengers. The company will also be the first to adopt Climeon Ocean, the clean energy system.

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“Thousands of future sailors and travel professionals shared their thoughts with us and tasked us with delivering the most irresistible vacation at sea and that our name alone should leave them dizzy with anticipation,”

Sir Richard Branson said. “I’m excited to reveal we are now Virgin Voyages, and while we have lots of work ahead to build out three ships, we can’t wait to welcome you aboard the ship of things to come.”

Tom McAlpin and Sir Richard Branson at the launch

Tom McAlpin, Virgin Voyages CEO, added: “Our world class partners like Bain Capital Private Equity, Virgin Group and Fincantieri as well as financial powerhouses like Cassa depositi e prestiti, UniCredit, SACE and SIMEST, showcase Virgin Voyages’ strong backing and commitment to developing an incredible product. This is anything but just another cruise or holiday, it will be a transformational experience delivering a very ‘Virgin style’ of adventure.”

According to a release: “Climeon Ocean is a system that will transform low-grade energy into clean electricity on all three of its ships. The resulting environmental impact will be an estimated 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide saving annually per ship – an amount that would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb.”

“The Climeon heat power system is an environmental breakthrough, and working with Virgin is of major importance to us,” Climeon founder and CEO Thomas Öström said. “We are excited that Sir Richard Branson and Virgin, with their focus on sustainability, have decided to become a pioneer of this technology. Transforming hot water to electricity will be a major source of energy production going forward.”