Virgin Cruises To Build Three Ships With Fincantieri
In a flurry of press releases today, it is announced that Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri will build three cruise ships for Virgin Cruises.
“– FINCANTIERI S.p.A., world leader in cruise ship construction, and Virgin Cruises, brand of Virgin Group and new cruise operator, have signed a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) for the construction of three cruise ships. The agreement, subject to the satisfaction of the usual customary conditions, is expected to be finalized in Q4 of 2015.”
The new vessels are listed at 110,000 gross tons each with 1430 guest cabins to host more than 2800 passengers on board, and 1150 crew. The delivery is scheduled respectively in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In a release from Virgin Cruises today Sir Richard Branson, (founder of the Virgin Group), announced today that Virgin Cruises has selected Miami, Florida as the home port for its first cruise ship that will set sail in 2020.
“Emerging through a cloud of iconic Virgin red smoke, Sir Richard flew across Miami’s Biscayne Bay via helicopter landing at Museum Park. Joined by Virgin Cruises’ President and CEO Tom McAlpin, the two raised a Virgin Cruises flag to mark the cruise line’s official arrival in Miami.”
“This is a very exciting day for Virgin and travelers around the globe,” said Sir Richard. “We now have the right partners in place to build a world-class cruise line that will redefine the cruising experience for good. The Virgin Cruises approach will appeal to cruisers and non-cruisers alike, and we look forward to being in Miami and delivering an experience for people who want a new way to cruise.”
Virgin Cruises plans to offer a range of seven-day Caribbean itineraries, with a Sunday sailing date.
“Virgin Group announced the formation of Virgin Cruises in a venture with Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private investment firms, in December 2014. Ryan Cotton, a Managing Director of Bain Capital, and Virgin Cruises board member said: “As lead shareholder, Bain Capital is excited to contribute our deep experience in building and growing great consumer brand companies. We believe there is a large, underserved market and strong growth prospects for a cruise line that delivers a superior experience for young-at-heart customers. We’re very pleased to be partnering with the other important shareholders who share the same long term vision, and together we will provide a strong and broad support base for Virgin Cruises.”
Virgin expects the experts at Fincantieri to bring these ideas to life. Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated: “I am honored our company is the selected partner for Virgin Cruises for such an important development in the cruise industry. I’m convinced this choice will contribute to the expansion of the cruising audience, especially considering the market segment still has wide growth margins. I am sure that together, our teams will create cutting edge ships that deliver a memorable guest experience.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez noted, “With the largest cruise port in the world, Miami is an exciting city that offers companies and brands an excellent environment for business. We are delighted to be selected by Virgin Cruises as their home port and I can’t wait to see their beautiful ships become part of Miami’s spectacular skyline.”
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Oh I do love cruise line press releases. The last refuge of 1990s phases like “world class”, “cutting edge”, “iconic”, “long term vision”… written by someone who most assuredly wasn’t even alive in the 1990s.
Peter – my fav tag line, back in the 1980’s, Home Lines, for both ATLANTIC and HOMERIC prior to their maiden sailings was
ATLANTIC or HOMERIC “The Crest in the New Wave of Cruising” that summed it all up, in those days. And indeed thy were a cut above and the cats pajamas back then. Disco and Dynasty and who killed JR and all!
Unless there’s going to be a London Eye on these ships I can’t imagine what they’ll do that hasn’t already been done. And we still have the Celebrity Cruises new-builds to consider when it comes to upping the ante. My closest guess is that the Virgin Cruises vessels will be a mix of NCL and Celebrity Cruises with a little RCI thrown in there for good measure. It will be fun to see all of these ships develop over the next several years.
It’s a shame they are going with the Italian builder instead of the German yard they were rumoured to be in talks with.
In order to get a great ship from Fincantieri you need to be very specific about what you want from them.
Fingers crossed that Virgin are prepared to do this.
How about this for a good start and an excellent publicity stunt. Purchase QE2 from Dubai refit and use it to cruise alongside the new fleet. Commercially, probably not a sensible “but who knows” idea and illogical and difficult but sooooo cool. Virgin wasn’t able “allowed” to purchase any concorde but wouldn’t this be even more outrageous. If anyone could do it, its Virgin. Or even if she couldn’t be put to sea have it as an HQ or something. I think the majority of QE2 lovers wouldn’t mind a colour change.
Sod it might as well grasp at straws for a happy ending.
Virgin said they could make the concorde commercially viable wouldn’t this just be the same albeit a slightly 😉 bigger challenge.
How about it Sir Richard Branson……..At least crunch a few numbers.
Going with Fincatieri is what business is all about – price and who gets the BID, nothing sentimental here and specifics the main name of the game after money. Sir Richard Bransion is a shrewd financial business perfectionist, and knows what he is doing, expects, demands and will see in the finished product. What is it with some people about having the rag on for certain ship yards?
@Kenneth: A part of many people’s problem with Fincantieri is probably simply the fact they are the biggest, very similarly to the reactions Carnival get. They’re the biggest, therefore they must be bad. (I admit to also having a soft spot for smaller players, but I hope that does not cloud my judgement of Carnival that much).
But that said, many people who work on or with passenger ships professionally (regardless of their own nationality) have told me that in general, the fit and finish on Fincantieri-built ships is poorer than on products of German or Finnish yards. The impression given to me is that Fincantieri are cheaper than the Meyer group, but the reason for this is that their work simply isn’t as high quality. I’ve little doubt that Virgin have chosen the yard they thought best. But was it the “best” because it was the cheapest or for some other reason?
Kalle I knew you would have the answer, the one that makes sense, the one I share.
I was just hoping for some a-cluistic digit to respond. LOL
I’m sorry for being so quick in providing a sensible answer. From entertainment point of view I should have held my tongue for a while longer, I admit. 😉
Kalle,
don’t apologize – you’re absolutely spot-on. Whilst, obviously, Fincantieri build what their customers specify, there is not the “pride of finish” you get with other – particularly German and Finnish – yards.
That is why P&O’s Oriana (II) at 20 years old, is in better condition than Arcadia (IV) at 10 years old. The reason? Oriana came from Meyer Werft, Arcadia from Fincantieri (or “Tincantieri”, as we used to call them when I served at sea).
The Italians are very good at the cosmetics, but not with the “behind the scenes” aspects of ship-building. A classic example of this, is that in the German-built vessels, all cable runs are dead straight, with cables laid in neatly, one alongside another. This makes it easy to trace them from one side of a bulkhead penetration to the other, as they do not change their order. In the Italian-built ships, cables are “bunged” through the penetration any old how, so it is very difficult to identify them.
There are also issues with quality of welding and steelwork in general.
One of the very best Fincantieri ships are I have seen illustrated, is the new Viking Star. On the surface she looks marvellous, but I do wonder what she is like underneath.
This is the most interesting statement I have ever read on this site.
I had indeed heard Fincantieri referred to as Tincantieri but it is interesting to get a bit more background to it. Thank you.
As far as quality workmanship may be concerned with Fincantieri with regards to cruise ships, as noted above may well be true.
Italy does in deed manufacturer and design some of the most luxurious and handsome items known to the world, except in many cases it would seem, things of a mechanical nature.
One need look at the Italian auto industry, one where so many autos are beautiful to look at, and are as we say here in the states “garage cars”, meaning, always in the mechanics garage with break downs and such of some sort or another. There may be exceptions, and may well be with the new STAR for quality as well, exceptions, that is.