Prior to sailing on Virgin Voyages’ new Brilliant Lady for its “MerMaiden” launch from New York, we sat down with two of the line’s executives to learn more about what makes the brand tick.
Here’s what Michelle Bentubo, chief operating officer, and John Lovell, board member and senior advisor shared.
What cruise lines do you consider to be direct competitors of Virgin Voyages?
Bentubo: I don't think that there is one, if you think of our [complete] experience. Everybody’s got a ship; you’ve got to have entertainment; you’ve got to have food. But for me, it's the way that those individual parts of the experience are woven together by our crew that makes [our] experience unique.
Lovell: The crew is happy; they're very welcoming and very inclusive of everyone.
And since we're just targeting the adult market, we don't have to worry about creating shows that appeal to a 10-year-old and to a 60-year-old. We don't have to worry about the palates of an 8-year-old or a 15-year-old. [We] just worry about the palates of adults.
Bentubo (left) and Lovell of Virgin Voyages
Credit: 2025 Virgin VoyagesViking [is also] adults-only, but do I see them as a competitor? No. Our average age is 47 to 50. Viking is not that.
Bentubo: We're a different product. You can be an advocate of Royal [Caribbean] and of Virgin. I take my family on Royal, but when I go alone with my partner or just my friends, I [go on] Virgin. They serve different purposes.
What cruise category would you put Virgin in?
Lovell: I would call it premium luxury, definitely. The hardware is beautiful; it rivals anybody else’s. But the onboard experience — the quality of the food, the quality of the entertainment, all the activities [available] for free — deliver a luxury experience. I truly believe it, and our price points show that, as well.
Why did Virgin decide to expand to Alaska, and what’s next for the brand?
Bentubo: Why not Alaska? The experience is unique from other destinations or other regions. We know that our sailors want to go there … and it really is an adult-focused region.
[In terms of what’s next], we have upwards of a 60% repeat rate. We have to continually evolve in order to keep it fresh [for our guests]. We’ve got four vessels right now and none on order at this point, so that’s going to be the places we go.
We're also going to have to change up our menus, so that repeat cruisers are coming back and getting more experiences with us. It’s why on Brilliant Lady, we’re launching five new shows.
Are any other specific destinations on the horizon?
Bentubo: I think that we still have places in the Caribbean we need to explore. Our sailors are telling us they want longer cruises. They want to spend more time with us. So, we're looking at how we can couple destinations together.
Have you thought about leaning any more into a ship-within-a-ship experience, such as expanding Richard's Rooftop?
Lovell: I think that would kind of go against the grain of what the [line] is about.
Bentubo: We want a community feel. We understand that there needs to be some offerings that make people want to price up, if you will, into that experience. But I think overall, you want the ship to feel like a community.
Will Virgin eventually launch bigger ships? Or smaller ships?
Bentubo: I would hope we never do. We don't want to be a mass product. We don't want 6,000 people. We like the [existing] size. We like that 2,500- to 2,700-sailor feel. It's right in the middle. Not too small, not too big.
I think [for any] new ships, we had some learnings along the way. We probably wouldn’t go much smaller [or] much bigger — other than the pool. On sea days, it gets pretty crowded out on the main deck. We know that we have to redo that pool area.
