Steel-cutting for the first ship is scheduled in early 2017, followed by a keel-laying in Genoa during the fourth quarter of the year.
Branson appeared Tuesday at an event in Miami Beach with two performers who danced on deck chairs in front of an audience of international news media, Miami politicos and business leaders.
Accompanied by Virgin Voyages president and ceo Tom McAlpin, Branson said thousands of people had shared their wishes for an 'irresistible vacation at sea,' and the new name came from that input.
Virgin Voyages is backed by investors Bain Capital Private Equity and Virgin Group for the multibillion-dollar newbuild deal, with financing expected to be finalized shortly. The lead lending partners are Cassa depositi e prestiti (Cdp) and UniCredit, and the loan will be backed by Italian export credit agency SACE and supported by SIMEST, both subsidiaries of Cdp.
'This is anything but just another cruise or holiday. It will be a transformational experience delivering a very "Virgin style" of adventure,' McAlpin said. Details, though, remain elusive.
It was revealed, however, that Virgin Voyages is the first major cruise line to partner with Climeon, a renowned clean energy innovator. Virgin will install Climeon Ocean, a waste-heat recovery system that transforms 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 savings annually per ship—an amount that would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb.
Virgin Voyages’ first ship is due to arrive at PortMiami in 2020, hosting more than 2,700 'sailors' and 1,150 crew. It will offer a range of Caribbean itineraries to ports that Virgin said will deliver 'unique and very social experiences.'
Tuesday's news was the first peep from Virgin about its cruise line in 15 months, since Branson and McAlpin announced the plans for a trio of 110,000gt newbuilds during another rollicking Miami news conference in June 2015.
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