OMG tasteful friends - check out Richard Branson's new 17 storey cruise ship

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Does it come with the Coronavirus pre-installed?

This will be as successful as Virgin America Airlines or Virgin Records...

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Looks stupid.

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Not seeing the 17 stories. Looks more like 6.

There hasnt been a "beautiful" cruise ship since the 1960s . They are all garish .

How is this going to stay upright in a freak tidal wave?

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interiors by IKEA!!

boy, he picked the wrong time to enter that industry.

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[bold]On the entertainment front, Sir Richard and his team have pushed the boat out. Travellers are told to 'grab your glad rags, throw on your dancing shoes and be prepared to be amazed'. [/bold]

Poor guy, his timing is as awful as his taste.

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Offer Americans 24-hour, all you can eat buffet and they will forget all about whatever epidemic is raging that particular year.

It's not just the ugliness of the ship (inside and out) -The itineraries and pricing are awful, too. The ship only runs short, party cruises, and will mostly attract first-time cruisers and heavy (straight) partiers. I'd rather be on a Princess ship with the coronavirus...

R7 looks like a Fuddrucker’s

This isn't labeled 'luxury' is it? It looks downright cheap compared to modern ships. I thought at first he was taking a more subtle approach, but nah, it's just cheap and lower end.

Not feeling very optimistic about this one.

Is this the new one that doesn't allow kids? Yay!

Not my idea of luxury, more like a 1990s Australian vision of a Miami Vice themed airport lounge.

Damn think of the baby bounce I could have got from 17 stories!

The prices aren't lower end at all. $900 per person for a three-night cruise??? $2450 for an inside cabin on a five-night cruise??? I envision a ship full of Republican junior stockbrokers with gold chains and Jersey Shore fraud in leopard prints...

it looks top heavy...no thanks. I'll stick to cheap Royal Caribbean

The exterior looks like a floating gaol.

[quote]I envision a ship full of Republican junior stockbrokers with gold chains and Jersey Shore fraud in leopard prints...

They can hold the next Fyre Festival on board.

As someone who grew up in England he'd take over places like cinemas and I'd expect them to improve, be cool and they were never very nice.

Same with his record stores they were never as nice as HMV and Tower.

And I didn't like his airplanes either.

Or his fuckin' sodas.

Death Barge

This is going to tank, as is the cruise industry. No one wants to be on a death boat.

On the bright side: If there were a coronavirus outbreak, you'd be so relieved.

Tacky.

Never.

He's hired Raquel as Activities Director

[quote]If there were a coronavirus outbreak

Imagine being stuck on it for weeks and weeks in some dock in Korea or somewhere.

No worries there. It only sails the Caribbean.

He's going to be building a new one every single year til 2024.

I don't understand these mega cruise "ships". I went on a Holland America cruise in 2003 because my best friend wanted to do that- so his partner, mine and another close friend flew down to Ft Lauderdale for the cruise. The ship looked like a boat and it was pleasant. We had a good time because we just laughed and carried on like evil sisters with our spouses in tow. But the abundance of food, between meals junky food, obese shipmates (no one on board had waists smaller than their chest or even shoulders), and altogether tacky feel of the ship (and Holland American is a bit more expensive than most of these lines) made it a one time event for me. Perhaps if I was 22 I might think a gay cruise was fun- but I'll bet one would do. When I see these moving hotels on the water I think to myself it's Caesar's Palace in Vegas tipped over on the ocean with pretty much the same crowd as Vegas. Not for me.

R38, I had a friend who described it as “the Bronx emptied out onto a ship”. Hahaha. (She was from the Bronx, so she’s allowed to say that.)

Everybody say, "Oh my my, oh my my!"

R38, I kind of agree with you. When I was looking at the pics, I heard the old Herb Alpert song “Casino Royale “ in my head. The ship evokes the worst of the 60s, 70s, and the 90s. It’s like an Austin Powers movie at sea. The difference between Caesars Palace and that ship is that you can walk away from Caesars any time you want. You are stuck on that awful “Swingin’ London at Sea” until the cruise is over. Or Norovirus or Coronavirus kills you.

Any cruise ship that BANS CHILDREN, is my kind of cruise ship.

Branson knows what people want.

These ships are like floating shopping malls.

I went on The Oasis of the Sea to be nice -- because a group wanted to go.

Never again.

Every time I think I want to go on a cruise I read DL threads and change my mind. I like relaxing vacations.

Agree with the Caesars' Palace view that you can always walk away and find a more calming place to chat with a friend, and there are plenty in Vegas.

The Rock Star suites are evocative of Planet Hollywood Las Vegas hotel rooms. Dark and tacky and decorated with sticky, dusty memorabilia. So dated.

Cruises are very relaxing and low-key -If you stay away from the mega ships like Oasis. They are too big, plain and simple. Don't listen to the snooty trolls like [R38]. The kind of passengers you meet on ships varies by price of cruise, cruise line, and port of departure. The longer and pricier the cruise, the older the passengers will be. Try an LA departure and you'll see lots of hot guys/people.

Just remember that a cruise is a relatively inexpensive vacation, so you shouldn't go expecting five Michelin stars, and service like first class on the Titanic. Choose a good line, like Celebrity, and expect very nice food, excellent service, comfort and decor similar to any modern resort, and the opportunity to visit places without a lot of hassles. Power down your phone and see how nice it is to take a long stroll on deck after dinner...

R45 - I know. So predictable and tacky to have guitars on the wall. Seriously, this is some of the worst design (for something new) that I've ever seen.

Why do people keep investing into this guy's stuff? What original idea has he had that worked besides the record company? Seems like he makes shit versions of everything else - record stores, cola, trains, planes, etc.

These replies are so typically DL..neurotic and critical, just what I expect when I visit and brings a smile to my face, especially when I read the responses quickly. A good DL thread always has these elements!

[quote]Seems like he makes shit versions of everything else - record stores, cola, trains, planes, etc.

I think the planes have been successful for years.

OMG back in the 80s people thought they were cool cos they played pop videos on the screens as you entered and exited the planes.

Those European river cruises on PBS look kind of nice.

Where are the CoronaVirus isolation suites?

The sort of people who go on cruises will love the tack.

I read his autobiography. He set up a gay helpline in London back in 1968!! He also financially backed some major gay clubs very early on. He was just a student or maybe it was just after he was a student. He thought nothing of it.

This is the only quote I can find:

"they built a hotline system for kids with STDs and kids who were homosexual ..."

As far as the coronavirus, the real villain here is the Japanese government. They are the worst of the worse xenophobic racists assholes IN THE WORLD. I hope the Japanese government is shamed in an extensive and costly lawsuit covered in for months on end in the Daily Mail. They should have let those people off that ship, but they didn't, and the result has been disaster.

Wow, that's one of the ugliest ships I've ever seen.

Don't they value making beautiful things anymore?

Cruises are for trash.

And still passionately PRO-gay

[quote]There are four things business leaders can do immediately to fight anti-LGBTQ laws

[quote]Virgin is proud to be a founding member of Open for Business, a wonderful platform that was set up specifically to fill the void and build and champion the business case for LGBT+ inclusion.

Where's the baby?..

[quote]Don't they value making beautiful things anymore?

Not so much.

That ship looks like the floating cattle car that it is.

[quote]On the entertainment front, Sir Richard and his team have pushed the boat out. Travellers are told to 'grab your glad rags, throw on your dancing shoes and be prepared to be amazed'.

Gee, I hope someone shoots a video.

Why the battleship grey?

Everything's grey these days, hadn't you noticed?

I heard that they were trying to market to a younger (30 - 40's) age group, but most of the people making reservations are older.

Quelle horreur! Why didn't he take his billion and recreate le grand paquebot Normandie?

I'll stick to the Oasis class on Royal Caribbean. Now those are beautiful ships. This looks like a tacky 90s movie.

The gray IS ugly and is already looking dated.

[quote]I'll stick to the Oasis class on Royal Caribbean.

OMG! I don't think I've ever seen pics of it before.

Why go on a ship that looks like a vast Vegas hotel?

"influencer" and DL fave, Joel, of Joel & Lia was invited on for the day even though the boat never left the Dover dock.

This is the entrance to the nightclub it seems, which he says was "sick".

Those rooms at R5 all come with 4 guitars? What if people steal them?

Just what the world needs. Yet another cruise ship to fuck up even more the fragile marine eco-system.

[quote]Those rooms at [R5] all come with 4 guitars? What if people steal them?

Gentle Reader, leaving aside the fact that people with that much money can afford their own guitars, you can't so much as steal a towel from a cruise ship.

That said, this seems like the Fyre Fest of cruise lines.

I think they're just decoration R70 - you probably can't remove them from the wall.

Imagine the noise if, considering, 4 guitars to every one of those 78 Rock suites had people plugging them in for mini rock sessions.

[quote] 4 guitars to every one of those 78 Rock suites had people plugging them in for mini rock sessions.

They're probably decorative and don't work or cheap knockoffs that you wouldn't want.

I'm kind of flummoxed about who exactly they're attempting to target.

I mean, given everything, I think it's upper-middle class and richer up to about 45, which puts them most directly in competition with Celebrity, who seems to be aiming at the same SES 30s-50s. But I can't believe that specific market is going to drop that kind of coin seemingly specifically for getting to hang at an Instagrammable beach club on Bimini. Even if you do get to stay in the finest hotel in Miami in 1987.

Ugh. Celebrity is offering the goop at Sea cruise.

They. are. canceled.

[quote] Just what the world needs. Yet another cruise ship to fuck up even more the fragile marine eco-system.

Actually, modern day cruise ships are very eco-friendly.

They compost and recycle everything, they run on clean energy, and they treat sewage before expelling it from the ship.

Being eco-friendly actually works to the benefit of the cruise line, and it also saves money.

They're also starting to switch over from diesel fuel to natural gas, so that's at least a bit greener as well.

They can power this barge from our natural gas.

[quote]This is the entrance to the nightclub it seems, which he says was "sick".

"Sick" is not a word we want to hear on a cruise ship, Joel.

I think it's pretty funny they invited Joel on board.

Actually, however trashy the boat, it's incredibly bad luck it should be launched right now.

But I don't really care, it's such an hommage to excess and bad taste.

[quote]How is this going to stay upright in a freak tidal wave?

I'm amazed it can stay upright at the dock.