5th Ship

[rrehman]

Ok. TBH I try not to watch the repeats of the bad news channels so I probably missed it. This was the first I heard of Virgin getting into the cruise business, and was surprised to see Toms name there.

I first saw it on CNN's website, and ironically it was stated during the DIS weekly updates too, and they stressed Toms name.

 

[pjacobi]

By definition, cruise ship are international, so Disney could not build a more Asian or more European ship. Disney could build a ship with more international features, which could appear to some Americans as being "more Asian".

-Paul

 

[Quellman]

I'm excited to see what Virgin will offer. I am hoping for a Disney like experience at a Carnival price. I love cruising with Disney, but its hard to pay their prices. From a business standpoint, great for them. If people pay their prices, they keep them high. Once the Oasis class moves to PC, I hope it puts a big dent into Disney's bookings and forces them to lower their prices to be more affordable.

Virgin is a premium service with a specific guest in mind. The airline is notches above legacy carriers. They have a small fleet with limited destinations in the US. But you can bet that there will be lots of technological marvels on the ship and a very hip design to it. I would imagine based on their announcement that families won't be the biggest group to sail initially. I wouldn't count on budget prices from the older carnival ships for certain. I'm going to guess you'll be paying more in line with Oasis class ships, especially based on the size projected.

 

[michellekcm]

By definition, cruise ship are international, so Disney could not build a more Asian or more European ship. Disney could build a ship with more international features, which could appear to some Americans as being "more Asian".

-Paul

Yeah, I had no idea what a redesign to appeal to an Asian market would involve...but it might involve things like beds able to be separated, maybe the addition of a hose in the bathroom, etc. (Just trying to think of things that I've seen as routine in hotels in Asia that I don't see back home.)

 

[rrehman]

Cruise Radio's podcast that was released yesterday (Wednesday) talked about Richard Branson launching Virgin Cruises.