--- title: Richard Branson's Dream Project Comes Closer to Being a Reality description: Under the leadership of Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Virgin Cruises plans to "shake up the cruise industry" with the launch of three newly built ships by 2020. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2015-06-24T18:20:36.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:17:48.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - cruises - Entrepreneurs - Transportation - Travel word_count: 350 canonical: https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson](https://img.money.com/2015/06/150623_em_virgincruises.jpg) *Sir Richard Branson* Richard Branson, the iconic, eccentric entrepreneur at the helm of the Virgin Group, seems to do pretty much whatever he wants. If he wants to give his employees [unlimited vacation](https://time.com/3431284/business-magnate-richard-branson-gives-his-staff-unlimited-vacation/) or a full year of paternity leave, he'll do it. Heck, he'll even give the greenlight to putting the Sex Pistols on credit cards because … why not? At a press event on Tuesday in Miami, the man who has already helped launch successful airlines on multiple continents and is even venturing into [space travel](https://time.com/3653358/richard-branson-virgin-galactic-crash/) offered details about his latest travel operation. "It's no secret that I've dreamed of starting a cruise line for a very long time," Branson said. But before Branson spoke to the press, he had to make an appropriately Bransonesque entrance at the event, held at Miami's Perez Art Museum. "With characteristic flair, Branson arrived at the event in a helicopter that took off in a cloud of bright red smoke," the industry publication [Cruise Critic](http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6421) reported. "When he landed, Branson emerged wearing red shorts, a white shirt and a red captain's hat while waving a Virgin Cruises flag." This week's event was actually the second time Branson has introduced the forthcoming launch of Virgin Cruises. Last December, the [Virgin Group](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virgin-group-announces-plans-to-make-waves-in-the-cruise-industry-284731061.html) said it would soon be "making waves" in the cruise industry with the new line. "We plan to shake up the cruise industry and deliver a holiday that customers will absolutely love," Branson said at the time. "They'll be sailing on the latest ships offering great quality, a real sense of fun, and many exciting activities all delivered with the famed Virgin service." On Tuesday, Branson and Virgin Cruises President Tom McAlpin offered more details about the operation. The plan calls for three newly built Virgin Cruises ships to be deployed by around 2020, with the first based in Miami and Fort Lauderdale for weeklong itineraries exploring the Caribbean. Many of the specifics haven't been announced—and apparently, quite a few haven't been decided upon. Branson is asking interested travelers to visit [VirginCruises.com](http://www.virgincruises.com/) to offer input on anything and everything they want in a cruise line. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Richard Branson's Dream Project Comes Closer to Being a Reality" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/", "name": "Richard Branson's Dream Project Comes Closer to Being a Reality", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-06-24T18:20:36.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:17:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Richard Branson's Dream Project Comes Closer to Being a Reality", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/06/150623_em_virgincruises.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1385, "caption": "150623_EM_VirginCruises" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-06-24T18:20:36.000Z", "description": "Under the leadership of Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Virgin Cruises plans to \"shake up the cruise industry\" with the launch of three newly built ships by 2020.", "abstract": "Under the leadership of Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Virgin Cruises plans to \"shake up the cruise industry\" with the launch of three newly built ships by 2020.", "@id": "https://money.com/virgin-cruises-richard-branson/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:17:48.000Z", "wordCount": 350, "keywords": [ "cruises", "Entrepreneurs", "Transportation", "Travel" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Travel", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel" ] } ] } ] } ```