Virgin Voyages claims chaos in the travel industry led to its decision to push back the first cruise of its third cruise ship until May next year.
The Richard Branson-led cruise operator's 110,000-gt Resilient Lady (built 2022) was scheduled to enter service in August on a series of cruises out of the Greek port of Piraeus, but the company has notified customers that all sailings scheduled until May 2023 have been cancelled.
A series of Caribbean cruises scheduled for the winter months has also been cancelled.
Virgin cited “global challenges still impacting the travel industry” as the reason for the decision to cancel the cruises.
“There are a number of global challenges that affect travel and particularly the cruise industry, including supply chain issues, crewing challenges and regional uncertainty,” the company said.
“Every decision we make is driven by our commitment to creating a safe and inspiring environment for both crew and sailors, and we never want to put ourselves in a position where we could negatively impact our sailor experience or crew's well-being.”
Virgin calls its passengers sailors to differentiate its product from the mainstream cruise industry.
Cruise sources tell TradeWinds that the industry is facing problems sourcing crew, while at the same time, limited air travel capacity is making it difficult to get seafarers on board ships, especially from Asia.
The decision to cancel the inaugural season will be a costly one for Virgin.
Compensation options offered to cancelled customers include a future voyage credit in the amount of 200%, an additional free cruise for customers rebooking on another Virgin cruise, or a 25% future voyage credit for customers who opt for a full refund.
In addition, Virgin has offered to reimburse customers up to $500 for travel penalties incurred due to the cancellation of their cruise.
The launch of Virgin, a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital, has been badly hit by Covid-19. Its first ship, the 110,000-gt Scarlett Lady, entered service just days before the cruise industry was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
As a result, the Scarlett Lady only sailed on its first commercial voyage in August 2021.
An identical sister ship, the Valiant Lady, was completed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in July 2021 but was put in lay-up until entering service in March this year.
Virgin has a fourth identical cruise ship on order at Fincantieri that is due for delivery in October 2023.
