British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson reported that he has secured US$1.7 billion funding to launch Virgin Cruise.
“It’s true that we are looking to set up Virgin Cruises and most of the money is now committed,” Branson told media in Dubai.
“We will start by building two large ships from scratch, we think the Virgin brand will work very well for cruises," he is quoted as saying. "We have airlines, holiday companies that send a lot of people on cruises, we have a concept which is very sexy and hopefully it will be the kind of cruise ship I'd like to go on and the type my children will go on."