Sir Richard Branson loves a new business venture, with the entrepreneurial wizard one of the most recognisable faces in the world as a result of his successes.
But there is one major regret with it comes to his cruise line, Virgin Voyages. And it concerns sex toys.
Now 74 years old, Sir Richard began his business venture back in 1970 when setting up Virgin Group. A parent company to his many business ideas, it has served as the umbrella organisation for the likes of Virgin Records, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Rail, Virgin Galactic, and the aforementioned Voyages.
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Now worth more than $2.6 billion, which is just north of £2 billion back in his native United Kingdom, he is still very much active despite being of pensioner age, with Virgin Voyages set to launch its latest cruise ship in 2025.
He's also launched a new £94,000 annual cruise pass to sail around the world on his ships whenever you feel like it.
Things were very different a decade ago, though.
Virgin Voyages and 'adults only'
When Virgin Voyages was launched in 2014, it came with a tagline of being an 'adults-only' cruise holiday.
A lot of innuendo came alongside this, with the cruise line being eyed up by many within the swinging community. To this day, you can still find upside down pineapples and pink flamingos across cabin doors.
For those unaware, these are symbols used within the swinging community to show your status to others who like to share sexual partners.
Speaking to The Telegraph, one Virgin cruise passenger said: "The last cruise I did was pretty crazy. The ‘upside down pineapple gang’ were literally in full swing at the pool party and there was a lot of partner swapping going on around.
"I spoke to some swingers, who were very open about it all. There were lots of people wearing pineapples on their clothes."
Sex toys for free
Launching back in 2020, Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady took to the seas for the first time. And, in keeping with the company's 'adults-only' theme.
Those on the ship quickly discovered that each room was equipped with free sex toys. All boxed up, there was a vibrator, $30 vegan lubricant, and condoms.
Come the launch of the Resilient Lady in 2023, the free sex toys were not to be seen.
'We made some mistakes... and that's okay'
"I’d be the first to admit that when we launched the brand we made some mistakes," so says Virgin Voyages' CEO, Nirmal Saverimuttu.
"Our biggest challenge has been the misperceptions about us. But we probably didn’t do ourselves any favours in not allowing those misperceptions to build.
"We were not thoughtful about certain choices we were making around some of the on-board programming and small details that ended up getting so much amplification that they ended up defining what the product was."
Saverimuttu added: “I think the issue with the adult entertainment was that it fed a narrative that this was a very narrow product with a very risqué kind of feel to it.
"And paired with the fact that we didn’t have kids on board, it painted a picture of something that was very exclusionary, rather than being inclusive."
Saverimuttu says that Branson's ethos allows for this, with him telling staff: "Sometimes things don't work out and it's okay."
Topics: Richard Branson, Cruise Ship, Travel, Holiday, Sex and Relationships
Tom Earnshaw