Virgin Voyages Is Booming: 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.
Indeed, the cruise line has grown tremendously since Scarlet Lady officially brought Virgin Voyages to the high seas in August of 2021. Valiant Lady sailed her maiden voyage in March 2022, with Resilient Lady officially launching in May 2023.
Since then, the company has quickly expanded to offer more ports of call and itineraries lasting from a few days to a couple of weeks across its fleet of three Lady Ships.
With Brilliant Lady now poised to join the fleet in September of this year, and the brand experiencing skyrocketing bookings throughout the first half of 2025, I got the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Virgin Voyages CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu about the cruise line’s growth and secrets to success as he looks forward to the future.
The 2,762-guest Brilliant Lady’s arrival is particularly exciting, because for the first time, Virgin Voyages will have a ship that homeports out of Los Angeles for a portion of the year.
From Los Angeles, she will offer a mix of 6-night “California (and Mexico) Dreamin’” itineraries, 7-night “Hollywood Sunsets & Mexican Horizons” sailings, and 8-night “LA Lights & Vancouver Vistas” voyages.
However, her first LA-based sailing will be a 5-night “MerMaiden” voyage to Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ensenada, Mexico, embarking on April 7, 2026.
She will spend the rest of her time in New York (sailing to Bermuda and Canada), Miami (cruising the Caribbean), and Seattle (voyaging to Alaska).
Homeporting in Los Angeles is possible for the first time because the new addition is the first ship in the fleet that is Panama Canal compliant, and the brand is looking forward to maintaining a deployment on the West Coast for the foreseeable future.
“I think the product will resonate really well in LA. People in LA love great food, they love entertainment, they love great design. These ships are designed to feel like a boutique hotel on the ocean so I think it will be a great fit with what people are used to in LA.” Saverimuttu told me.
He went on to discuss how the relaxed vibe onboard, with no set dining times or strict dress codes, is a natural fit with the more relaxed nature of the Los Angeles community, too.
“I believe the Brilliant Lady is one of the newest ships to call into LA, which I think is exciting because the LA cruise market is a wonderful market.”
“It’s a great market but it’s a market that typically doesn’t have plus products sailing directly out of LA. So, we’ve decided to give the people a Virgin option but also a brand new ship option as well,” he continued.
Speaking of the experience onboard, Virgin Voyages continually works to enhance the entertainment and dining experience onboard. Saverimuttu had me salivating as he told me about plans to evolve the dining experiences with new and ever-changing menus across the fleet.
“We actually built our ships purposefully around the food experience, because let’s face it, when we travel nowadays, the first thing we think about is where we’re gonna eat,” Saverimuttu observed.
“We don’t have any big dining halls on our ships. Our biggest restaurants have 200 seats. We don’t have any big buffets onboard our ships. And what this allows us to do is to create dedicated kitchens and dedicate executive chefs to every one of our restaurants,” he added.
This also means that all food is made to order, which helps ensure quality and prevent excess food waste.
With frequent repeat clientele, the cruise line changes up the menu each night in The Galley so that there is always something new to try, while the menus in the other six signature restaurants are fixed.
Brilliant Lady will feature Rojo by Razzle Dazzle as one example, which will be a Spanish-inspired restaurant that will tantalize the taste buds. The menu will feature a Spanish-American twist, with Sailors able to order cuisine a la carte that will be served in a casual and relaxed atmosphere.
The 110,000-gross ton ship will also have its own Pink Agave restaurant, which elevates the experience after dark by turning into a salsa club after 10 p.m.
More menu updates fleet-wide will also be coming soon, and there will almost certainly be ongoing evolution for the brand and the experience onboard as a whole, too.
The Secret to Success
Virgin Voyages launched in record time in the wake of an industry-halting pandemic and is holding its own against major players in the cruise world who have been around for decades. So, what is driving their success?
First, Virgin Voyages has identified a niche in the market by offering adults-only cruises at an affordable price. This makes their sailings more accessible to a younger crowd, whereas other adults-only cruise lines tend to veer further into luxury territory with a higher price point.
“We built the bespoke kid-free experience and it’s the number one reason people book us,” Saverimuttu said. “People are realizing that there hasn’t been a kid free travel option in cruising around this price point.”
Virgin Voyage sailings tend to cost around $250 to $300 per night depending on the itinerary but are mostly all inclusive. Essential drinks (waters, sodas, juices, tea, and drip coffee) and basic Wi-Fi are free once you’re onboard.
There are also no charges for specialty dining like you might find on other brands, though a few “Treat Yourself” items like a tomahawk steak and boss am are available for an extra special experience.
This brings up the next facet to the brand’s success, which is that the leadership keeps Sailor feedback in mind and looks to eliminate the elements (like onboard expenses) that annoy their customers.
“Sometimes we can be a bit more forward thinking and say this is the right thing to do, so it just makes sense for us to do it,” Saverimuttu explained.
“The idea of including still and sparkling water. Again, it’s just the right thing to do,” he gave as an example. “Including Wi-Fi, it’s just the right thing to do.”
Last but not least, Virgin Voyages appreciates the efforts of the crew that work day-in and day-out to give guests the best possible experience onboard.
For example, Virgin Voyages re-branded its special Celebration Voyages – in which Sir Richard Branson and company leadership are onboard for special activations – into Red Hot sailings.
But while the experience has been improved for guests, Saverimuttu said that the crew are also celebrated during these special voyages.
“Really what they are is a way to celebrate our crew, who do such a fantastic job for all our Sailors,” the CEO stated.
“Behind the scenes, we actually take a moment to celebrate all of our crew, make sure they know how much we value them as part of the Virgin family, and acknowledge how hard they work and how special they are to us. For me, any Virgin celebration wouldn’t be a celebration if we weren’t celebrating our crew.”
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According to reports from crew members who became influencers, such as Lucy Southerton from Cruising As Crew, Virgin Voyages is known to provide more flexible and desirable conditions for the crew members while they are working onboard.
I asked Saverimuttu what was coming next for the cruise line, and for now, the focus is on perfecting Brilliant Lady and preparing for her launch.
But with a unique niche and a people-forward mindset steering the ship (literally and figuratively), the future will undoubtedly continue to be bright for Virgin Voyages.
Virgin Voyages Is Booming: CEO Shares the Secrets Behind the Surge