Virgin Voyages celebrates First Mates for making ship happen
Not even 20 minutes before the doors opened for the Virgin Voyages First Mate Ink Awards on Valiant Lady on Friday night, I ran into CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu in the stairwell sporting a rather casual outfit.
By the end of the brief encounter, the challenge of stepping up his look with a sparkling blazer was on — after all, in his own words, the Ink Awards are “the Academy Awards of the travel advisor industry.”
When he sauntered on stage a short while later in a white dress shirt as the celebration for the cruise line’s top 100 travel advisors a.k.a. First Mates kicked off, I thought the mission had failed and he went for an approachable and relatable look instead. However, as the festivities got underway, chief brand and marketing officer Nathan Rosenberg suddenly flocked to the stage to present Saverimuttu with a glittery black sequinned blazer.
“We always have some surprises up our sleeves,” Saverimuttu told PressToday, after the awards wrapped up, acknowledging the success of the challenge. Mission accomplished!
Celebrating the Top 100 with a save-the-date for next year
Now in its third year, the First Mate Ink Awards not only recognize the top 10 First Mates with octopus-shaped awards but also highlight advisors who have significantly increased their sales within their first year of selling Virgin Voyages and those who drove innovative sales strategies and were passionate about the brand and making bookings.
“We are here to celebrate you — all the amazing success you’ve had over the past year that’s made our brand very successful. The awards we’re winning, we can’t do it without you bringing those sailors onboard and believing in us,” John Diorio, vice president of North American sales for Virgin Voyages shared during the awards. “What I love about these awards and this event is that it’s competitive. I love that every body wants to make the Top 100. As I said earlier in the week, over 21,000 First Mates made a booking with us this year — you’re the Top 100.”
Dubbed the First Mate Spectacular Soirée, the celebratory event even won an award for being the best live travel advisor event in the industry last year.
“This brand wouldn’t be what it was without the support of all the North American trade and particularly you guys who are our Top 100,” Saverimuttu added. “We’ve had a real journey over the last three years. Last year was a real banner year for the brand. I think it’s the year when everyone really fully started to understand who is the Virgin Voyages customer? If you’re sailing without kids, you are the Virgin Voyages customer. Full stop… we are proud of creating the best kid-free holiday out there.”
Of note, the dates for the next First Mate Spectacular Soirée was announced for Jan. 7-11, 2026 on Scarlet Lady, which recently went through a dry dock with a slew of enhancements like Lucky Lotus by Razzle Dazzle, a new restaurant offering.
“There’s your target!” Diorio said. “If you want to make the Top 100 next year, these are the dates. We want to see you all back. It may get harder but that’s okay because you guys have such an amazing work ethic. You’ve done an amazing job this past year and we can’t be prouder of everything you did.”
Over the past five days, agents and their plus ones were invited to take part in the Fire & Sunset Soirées itinerary, with stops in Key West and Bimini, Bahamas, which concluded yesterday.
Seas the bookings
For those wanting to attend next year, Sean Mills of Revolution Travel, the only Canadian agent to make the Top 100 two years in a row, recommended that travel advisors work their database to connect with clients they haven’t heard from in awhile.
“You have to create a strategy to market to your clients,” he said. “I would start by recommending them to your clients with older kids, they’re probably your Royal Caribbean or Norwegian clients who have gone on several family vacations and now they’re looking to do something without kids.”
To grow their Virgin Voyages business, Mills also suggested First Mates take advantage of the current Canadian resident offer, which works out to 50 per cent off of a Sea Terrace booking with up to $300 in bar tab available depending on the length of the cruise. The “strong” promotion is only on until the end of the month, so act quickly.
“When they announced it, my sales like doubled the next day,” he noted, adding that it’s also a great product for first time cruisers. “I pride my business on service. Once you get a client it’s your responsibility to keep them. I think I do a very good job of that, of always being responsive, always being available, getting back to them quickly. The referrals I have gained from that has also helped keep me in the Top 100.”
For more on Virgin Voyages, keep a look out for upcoming editions of Canadian Travel Press and Travel Courier.
