Virgin Voyages unveils plans for proposed PortMiami terminal

New terminal would be home to 2 Virgin Voyages cruise ships

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Richard Branson has big plans for Virgin Voyages in Miami.

The London-born founder of Virgin announced Wednesday that he wants to build a new terminal at PortMiami to house his fleet of cruise ships.

Virgin Voyages teamed with Miami-based architecture and design firm Arquitectonica to create the look of the proposed terminal. Arquitectonica is responsible for designing the American Airlines Arena and Brickell City Centre.

"Miami's become a very important place to us," Branson told Local 10 News after a news conference in Miami Beach. "We've also managed to get permission to take our cruise ships to Havana, which is very convenient for here. We've got a beautiful island, which is soon to be announced, where people will be going to in the Bahamas. So it's very convenient."

Branson and his team also unveiled renderings of what the new cruise terminal would look like if approved.

This is a rendering of how the Virgin Voyages terminal would look at night.

A storm-proof glass façade would allow natural light to flow into the building by day, and the Virgin Voyages logo would illuminate the Miami skyline at night.

It would be home to two Virgin Voyages cruise ships -- the Scarlet Lady, arriving in 2020, and a yet-to-be-named ship.

This is a rendering of the Virgin Voyages terminal's VIP entrance at ground-level with the Scarlet Lady in the background.

The 100,000-square-foot terminal would be located on the west side of the port at the site of an old ferry terminal currently being used by the U.S. Coast Guard and port police.

"By constructing a new cruise terminal at PortMiami, Virgin Voyages is signaling its confidence in our thriving community, which is not only the cruise capital of the world, but also the gateway to the Americas," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said. "We are honored that Virgin Voyages has chosen PortMiami as its home starting in 2020."

If approved by Miami-Dade County commissioners, the new terminal would be completed by late 2021. Commissioners will vote on a memorandum of understanding Dec. 4.

Virgin Voyages will begin accepting bookings on Valentine's Day.


About the Authors:

Trent Kelly is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined the Local 10 News team in June 2018. Trent is no stranger to Florida. Born in Tampa, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he graduated with honors from the UF College of Journalism and Communications.