Skip to main content

Thank You 500,000 readers

Cruise - VIRGIN VOYAGES unveils details of its first cruise ship

VIRGIN VOYAGES has revealed its first cruise ship will be adult-only

The decision to not allow children on board was taken after consulting travel professionals and "future sailors" - VIRGIN VOYAGES´s term for passengers.
"We’ve been excited about our first ship for some time now. After lots of planning and design, the latest in a series of reveals took place with our inaugural keel laying ceremony. `Getting laid we’ve heard of, but what on earth is a keel?´ you ask. Totally valid question." VIRGIN VOYAGES
To be unique in a crowded market you need to be imaginative and leave old paths. The VIRGIN VOYAGES new aproach will rattle the me-too filled cruise industry.
by Earl of Cruise
VIRGIN VOYAGES is setting a new standard - not only for ocean voyages, but all travel.
Because to VIRGIN VOYAGES, travel isn’t about mere escape.
Instead, the new VIRGIN VOYAGES Lady Ship, and following sister vessels, aim to be vessels for transformation.

VIRGIN VOYAGES keel laying of the first of its Lady Ships

In short, the keel is the foundation of a ship. In the olden days, it was when shipbuilders first placed the backbone of a vessel. Today, ships are built in prefabicated blocks or sections; 399 on the new ship of VIRGIN VOYAGES to be precise. The keel laying was the lowering of the first section into the drydock. The VIRGIN VOYAGES officials also welded newly minted coins into the keel for good luck. You never know ...

Cruise - VIRGIN VOYAGES unveils details of its first cruise ship
VIRGIN YOAGES design for its LADY SHIPS - VIRGIN VOYAGES
"Our future sailors are as passionate about our voyages as we are, and we haven’t even started sailing yet. That’s why we’re offering a head start." VIRGIN VOYAGES

A CGI of the way the new Virgin Voyages First Ladyship will look. Song is Explosions sung by Ellie Goulding- Source: YouTube
VIRGIN VOYAGES three-ship fleet will be known as the "Lady Ships", a play on the term "your ladyship", which VIRGIN VOYAGES said is a nod to British heritage.

Bill Panoff chats with Virgin Voyages President and CEO, Tom McAlpin, about his career in the cruise industry, memorable cruise moments, and the future of cruising - Source: YouTube

Cruise - VIRGIN VOYAGES unveils details of its first cruise ship
Keel laying at FINCANTIERI - courtesy FINCANTIERI
Let us face it, even parents could use a holiday from their little ones sometimes, even if parents have the greatest love for their children. Parentship can be a brutal stress.

VIRGIN VOYAGES Lady Ships design

The ship’s design, which was unveiled at a keel-laying ceremony at FINCANTIERI´s shipyard in Genova, Italy, will feature a silvery-grey hull, with smoked glass and splashes of red, while a mermaid design will feature on the bow of the ship. The first vessel is due to be delivered in 2020.
The new ships will be designed with the glitter and glam of a yacht, the ship’s livery stands out on the high seas. The ship glides with a unique level of sophistication paired with an unapologetic aire of mystery. A design meant to excite and inspire sailors to want to explore every corner.
Group founder Sir Richard Branson and VIRGIN VOYAGES president and chief executive, Tom McAlpin, arrived at the ceremony via a 200-foot crane drop, while the whole keel laying ceremony was held in true VIRGIN style.
Cruise - VIRGIN VOYAGES unveils details of its first cruise ship
VIRGIN mermaid - courtesy VIRGIN VOYAGES
Staying true to its promise of breaking with tradition, the line is calling cabins with balconies “sea terraces” and passengers will be referred to as "sailors". McAlpin said: "VIRGIN VOYAGES is creating a sophisticated ship and a transformational experience that offers our sailors a place where rejuvenating day-life meets exciting nightlife and everything in between."
Ninety-three per cent of cabins will have an ocean view and more than 80 per cent will have a terrace. The ship, on paper, appears sleek and yacht-like. With its quirky funnel, silvery girth and smoked-glass windows it doesn’t scream cruise ship.
Cruise - VIRGIN VOYAGES unveils details of its first cruise ship
Voyage is the new Cruise - courtesy VIRGIN VOYAGES

VIRGIN VOYAGES reducing the carbon footprint

Beside breaking with old traditions, VIRGIN VOYAGES is partnering with CLIMEON to realise a clean and enviromental friendly energy for the new ships. Reducing the carbon footprint of pleasure ships is a further breaking with rules.

This video presents how the clean tech company CLIMEON and Sir Richard Branson aim to change the way we produce electricity today. CLIMEON makes 100% clean electricity from waste heat and recently announced its partnership with Richard Branson's new cruise line VIRGIN VOYAGES

Virgin Voyages will have six CLIMEON OCEAN machines on each vessel (three ships in total - 18 CLIMEON OCEAN machines). The resulting environmental impact will be an estimated 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide savings annually per ship - an amount that would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb.

Watch this video for everything you need to know about integrating the Climeon Heat Power system - Source: YouTube

With that VIRGIN is the first cruise company in the premium market to be green, and shows it is possible and feasable within a strict accounting. This move is a clear vision on the one hand, but on the other a clear statement it is possible to be green as possible and being profitable!
With more and stronger storms as Irma and such the latest of the "normal cruiser" will realize, that it is 2 minutes to 12:00 to save our clima, despite fake news of a Chinese or Communist propaganda coup!

VIRGIN VOYAGES brings a new attitude, style and vision to the seven seas

"By using `business as a force for good´ is at the heart of who we are. We aim to be the best in class with social impact and crew well being. We sail with a sustainable mindset, optimize renewable energy initiatives and invest heavily in our people." VIRGIN VOYAGES
From dining and entertainment to wellness and rejuvenation, nearly every single element of the VIRGIN VOYAGES journey will bring a unique VIRGIN Style to the high seas - and not just for the 2,800 Sailors on board, but also for the 1,150 crew members who will reside there and make amazing happen.
"There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions - in a way that serves the world and you."
Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin
VIRGIN VOYAGES is the first in the industry to partner with the clean energy start-up, CLIMEON to effectively turn heat waste into energy, saving stacks of CO2, making the VIRGIN ships as ocean friendly as possible.


Sir Richard Branson has fronted media in Miami to firm up details of the VIRGIN GROUP´s entry into cruising holidays, unveiling VIRGIN VOYAGES and revealing plans for three ships to debut by 2020 - Source: YouTube

Comments

  1. I didn't get it, why is it adult only? Where are we suppose to leave our kids when we opt out for the Virgin Voyage?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - ss LA BOURGOGNE - Women and Children last

What had happend on sinking LA BOURGOGNE? Why had been so few women and children been rescued ? by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise ss LA BOURGOGNE - editors collection From our viewpoint of today we see this disaster of ss LA BOURGOGNE as one of egoism and the right of the stronger, with no "heroism", or stepping back for the weak to be saved. And we blame the crew for not doing their duty ... Are we allowed to judge? Are we allowed to chide? Are we alowed to claime it as typical ... for the seamanship of France - I have heard and read so! - ?  No, we have not been on board.  This tragedy is not the place to be chauvinistic! And looking in todays world we see a lot of chauvinism again and egoism! The ss LA BOURGOGNE was a 7,395 GRT French ocean liner built by the FCM in Toulon for the Transatlatic mail and passenger service of Cie. Gle. TRANSATLANTIQUE and completed in 1886. She was an iron and steel construction, 150 metres long, had two funnels an...

Expedition Cruises - ULSTEIN© embarks on expedition cruise market

Embarking on the expedition cruise market and following the ULSTEIN © motto - "Stay different" by Earl of Cruise "Stay different." The niche of ULSTEIN , their credo, even when embarking in the expedition cruise market. Years ago, attending the SMM in Hamburg, a friend of mine and me got an idea, when seeing the X-Bow of the ULSTEIN models of Offshore vessels , " Couldn´t this be the right bow for expedition cruise vessels? "  We got into a heated discussion. Me pro, he contra. In his opinion it was too far off from the mainstream what a cruise passenger is expecting from the design of his cruise or expedition ship.  We had been discussing too the up-and-down discussed freak wave casualties. Stay different." The niche of ULSTEIN ©, explorer cruise vessel with X-Bow - courtesy © ULSTEIN "Stay different." The niche of ULSTEIN © , explorer cruise vessel with X-Bow - courtesy © ULSTEIN The expedition cruise market had...

F&B, Style - A Beautiful Jug, a Cup and a Bucket

About a jug, a cup, a champagne bucket. by Richard Arebalo for the Texas Wine and Food Foundation editing by Earl of Cruise I’ve collected antique silver for many years, but lately the pace has accelerated and the size of the collection has grown the more I am inspired by the beautiful scenes in Downton Abbey. While watching my guilty pleasure, I am particularly drawn to the details of preparing, presenting and serving the food and wine. In every kitchen scene depicting frantic food preparation, there is always a gallery of beautiful copper pots and dessert molds in the background. In the dining room, be it breakfast or dinner, table settings and service pieces are stunning and, thanks to the show’s historical advisor, Alastair Bruce, meticulously accurate for the period. top and below, Tastevin - courtesy TEXAS WINE & FOOD I can definitely imagine seeing Mr. Carson, the butler, using a couple of my recent wine-related purchases--an Edwardian wine ewer fr...

Heritage - Boabdil the last Muslim King in Spain

Abu `Abd All āh Mohammed XII, the Spanish name him Boabdil, is the last Muslim king in Spain and at the very end of a 700 year lasting, most fruitful realm. Based on original research, and drawing attention to the connections between the medieval Moorish king Boabdil , actually Abu `Abd All āh Mohammed XII, and current social and political concerns in Europe today, Cambridge academic Elizabeth Drayson presents the first full account in any language of the Moorish sultan of Granada, and head of the Nasrid dynasty. As historian I am fascinated by the once liberal cultur of al-Ándalus . It was once a thriving center of cultural exchange between christian Europe and the Arabian world and knowledge, that Arabian cientists, doctors, astronomers, historians and intelectuals saved from ancient times and developed further on. by Earl of Cruise Especially the knowledge and developments in navigation, shipbuilding and rigging, made it possible for the comming age of discovery. As well the...

ss NORMANDIE 1935-1942 XIII - Le NORMANDIE the great triumph and tragic end of the greatest ship of France

NORMANDIE at sea - courtsey coloured by Daryl LeBlanc Le NORMANDIE , the greates ship of France, was a great triumph for the French industry, economy the most gracious ambassador of France - a symbol of cultur and Savoir de Vivre. NORMANDIE never surppassed by any liner. But whom the gods love, they beat him to a tragic ending. In case of NORMANDIE the gods let do their dirty job by careless, ignorant and arrogant US Navy officials and their sub contractors.   by Earl of Cruise   NORMANDIE had 4 years of living and the chance to bring Glitz, Glamour and Luster into a world that was just in front of an abyss since October 1929. Sailing with NORMANDIE , created to cater primarily the First Clas clientele, and enjoying life on board seems to me today, as a Dance on the Volcano, that errupted in 1939. Longitudinal cutaway of PARIS - own collection copy from a CGT broshure ÎLE DE FRANCE , Cie Gle TRANSATLANTIQUE provoking ART DÉCO liner - own collection  ...

Ships of State - BREMEN the shocking modern German Greyhound

When BREMEN , the first of the two, the world shocking last German Greyhounds , and ` Ships of State ´, was introduced in 1929 - BREMEN had provoking radical new streamlined lines and broke with any traditions. When asking todays public: what is a typical liner, BREMEN is named among the first five. Only ten years after the Versailles Peace Treaty , with 20,000,000,000,000.00 Goldmark anual reparations for the next 58 years, an occupation of the Ruhrgebiet , a raging inflation till 1923 (then introduction of the Rentenmark ), the resurging Germany and NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD back at the top again. And BREMEN and EUROPA had been financed private! Bank loans from German and US American banks, plus the liberation of frozen LLOYD capital from pre WWI. by Earl of Cruise BREMEN, in her first years with the squat funnels - courtesy coloured by Daryl LeBlanc The difference to EUROPA are the paired windows in the front of the promenade deck and the big ventilators, the last remains o...

Deluxe - The Best Luxury Cruise Ships

Each year, and each magazine is printing or posting in the web their list of the 10 Best Luxury Cruise Ships. So do I now, with my view about their luxury ... Latest with the press releases at ITB in Berlin, we know, there is a stronger demand for luxury / luxurious cruises.   by Earl of Cruise SILVER EXPLORER, the former PRINCE ALBERT II, ex WORLD DISCOVERER of SOCIETY EXPEDITIONS, she was the expedition cruise vessels for SILVERSEA - Source: Wikipedia ( original seize ) Most it is a copy paste story, as all the time the same ships/cruise companies appear ... and sometime the described vessels are are nothing else than mass market ships, with an added first class space for the "wanna-be´s" in the mass market. So the YACHT CLUB of MSC, the CLOUD 9 at CARNIVAL, the QUEENS GRILL at CUNARD, etc. And this "luxury" areas are promoted as the top of the notch ... still a cramped affair on a high density vessel. Compared to the quarters of the emigrants that had ...

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

HISTORY - HAMBURG-SÜD and the CAP express liner

The CAP express liners of HAMBURG-SÜD, CAP FINISTERRE, CAP TRAFALGAR, CAP POLONIO and CAP ARCONA, are known worldwide for their luxury, renowned service on board and grandeur. Their successors of the 60s, the CAP SAN vessels, have not been that elegant, but truly first class and were known as the "White Swans" of the Atlantic. by Earl of Cruise HAMBURG-SÜD´s SANTA TERESA in Santos - courtesy HAMBURG-SÜD Since its formation in 1871, HAMBURG-SÜDAMERIKANISCHE DAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTS-GESELLSCHAFT ( HSDG or HAMBURG-SÜD ) has evolved from a conventional freight and passenger shipping company into a global operating transport logistics organisation. Today, it ranks among the world's ten largest container shipping lines and is one of the leading providers in the North-South trades. T ill recently it was a member of the successful Oetker Group, one of the largest and best-known family enterprises in Germany. The heirs and owners sold HAMBURG-SÜD to the Danish MAERSK Group ...