Last month, Nirmal Saverimuttu became Virgin Voyages' second CEO. It
was also announced in September that the company had secured an
additional US$550 million in funding. Travel Weekly USA co-editor in
chief Arnie Weissmann spoke with Saverimuttu about plans for the money,
the line's delayed fourth ship and some marketing missteps.
After two years sailing, what's working well? What's not?
The onboard experience is working well. If you look at the
satisfaction ratings, rebooking rates, reviews, awards -- it really
resonates with people. What didn't work well was that we struggled to
find our voice and positioning. We allowed certain misperceptions to
take hold, such as that we're for millennials or for people who had
never cruised. The reality is we designed the product for modern
preferences, and that's not just young people. The average age of guests
is in the late 40s. We have people celebrating their 65th birthday or
25th wedding anniversary onboard.
Why is the Brilliant Lady delayed?
Virgin Voyages had been scheduled to launch the week after the
pandemic was declared. We had new ship orders spaced 18 to 24 months
apart, and they were delivered on time. So, we came out of the pandemic
as a new cruise line with three ships rather than our planned, orderly
build of capacity over four years. Occupancy levels are rising, and
prices are increasing. We haven't announced the date, but she'll be
coming very soon. We're focused on patiently holding price and building
occupancy as we digest all the capacity we put into the market.
I recently received an email offering 25% off for booking. That suggests to me that demand is still soft.
Our industry is very focused on making sure that people feel they're
getting great value for money, so when you see promotions like that,
it's less about softness than making sure consumers feel there's great
value. We're actually seeing strengthening demand. September was our
second-highest booking month ever, closely behind January.
What are you going to do with the $550 million?
A lot of it will be geared around expansion, into new ports, new
itineraries. People kept asking for more exciting itineraries, more
product on the shelf. We've already announced 27 new ports and 19 new
itineraries. We're really thinking about more immersive, longer
itineraries. And we're focused on expanding source markets, into the UK
and Australia, in particular. We're also expanding our reach in North
America. We have a goal to increase the number of travel advisors we're
working with. A lot of the money is going into training and support and
making sure we maintain high service standards for them. In just the
first half of this year, we've had more than 22,000 advisors put their
hand up to do business with us, and we want to make sure we're truly a
pleasure to do business with.
You had developed a reputation for putting on edgy, even
risque entertainment and publicly embracing diversity. Given the acute
political polarity we're living with, do you think this created backlash
among potential cruisers?
We had some adult comedy shows that perhaps went a bit too far, and
although it was a small part of the experience, it tended to dominate
the conversation. We allowed a misperception about entertainment to take
hold. We've introduced a more balanced offering. Yes, some things will
push some people out of their comfort zone, but one thing we're playing
on is nostalgia. We've got '80s dance parties. We've got a VHS workout –
that stands for video, headbands and Simmons – with Richard Simmons
videos.
The world is more polarised than we would like it to be, but people
are comfortable with nostalgia. It's not about your view of the world,
it's about just being able to have a great vacation, a really good time.