Virgin Voyages, the new cruise line in Sir Richard Branson’s virgin Group of companies, said it has decided to postpone the commencement of operations until mid- October.

Scarlet Lady, the first ship of the line, is now scheduled to sail on 16 October.

Following the announcement on Twitter, the Miami based company said in the same medium: “We are expecting an incredible amount of incoming calls and change requests. We appreciate your patience as we work to service every affected Sailor in the order they contacted us.”

“As we are dealing with a high volume of affected bookings and a variety of payment types, we kindly ask that you wait at least three weeks before following up on any expected refunds after you have been serviced,” Virgin Voyages said.

The company is offering a full refund or future cruise credit for passengers affected by the situation.