Branson's Virgin brand entering the cruise industry with "mid-size" ships

[OlsSalt]

Got a kick out of the announcement today that Branson's Virgin brand is introducing Virgin Voyages and commissioning HAL ship builder Fincantieri to build a "mid-size" ship due in 2020: mid-size means 2,700 passengers.

 

Mid-size is also the marketing term of choice for many present HAL ships - 1200 -2000 passengers. (God love them) But in today's ever larger cruise ship market, 2,700 passengers are now "mid-size". :loudcry:

 

Maasdam .......... please, don't ever leave me.

 

In light of the fact our well-loved "midsize" Maasdam may soon be gone, we are adding 18 days to our VOV cruise on the Rotterdam just to have her take us home from Boston via Panama back to San Diego, since she is in port the same day we return after the VOV.

[jhannah]

Well, that should be interesting. Branson has his own unique vision for his businesses. I hope he's successful.

[bUU]

There are cruise ships with dozens or hundreds of passengers; there are cruise ships with six or seven thousand passengers. 2,700 is in the middle.

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

I will be watching to see how this business of his goes.

Thank you for the information.

[DeeniEncinitas]

I agree with you guys! I love the size of HAL ships. From The Ryndam to our Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam and of course all the in between of HAL ships 2700 passengers humm.

Will be on The Maasdam for 28 days on 2/25/2018!! Hope she stays but it is not in the cards😟!

Denise:)

[navybankerteacher]

There are cruise ships with dozens or hundreds of passengers; there are cruise ships with six or seven thousand passengers. 2,700 is in the middle.

 

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"Dozens of passengers" means maybe 50 to 100, let's say 75 - while "six or seven thousand" means, let's say, 6.500. The "middle" between 75 and 6,500 is 3,287 -- not 2,700.

 

Sorry: small is 800 or under - middle is not that well defined - but, sadly, there are very few being built now which carry much less than 2,700 - which, while might be "mid-sized" in today's world, are still too damn big.

[bUU]

Nah. Hardly big enough. A mid-sized ship with 2,700 passengers has more activities and therefore more likely to have activities that appeal to a wider range of interests. Nothing like the big ships, but still. Smaller ships can't hold a candle to the larger ships in terms of variety of interests served.

 

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[cruisemom42]

Unless there is some very good reason, I plan to avoid cruising on any ship larger than about 1,000 passengers, more or less. My last cruise on the Regal Princess has convinced me the larger ships just aren't for me.