Table Of Content
On the cabin's long wall, there was a cloth headboard and a narrow white platform with one thick armrest. I am generally not a fan of cruise ship buffets, but a five-night cruise on Scarlet Lady gave me new appreciation for them. The public spaces on the ship invite you to grab a friend, a drink and chill for a while. But if you, like me, are tired of (or turned off by) the same-old cruise ship formula, this ship might just offer the cruise vacation you didn't know you were looking for. The ship does not have a buffet or a cavernous banquet-style dining room.
Be the first to get our exclusive deals + onboard happenings
Sailor wellbeing is our priority – we want you to feel your absolute best. A dose of ‘Vitamin Sea’ is naturally intertwined across the entire ship, with a mix of high-energy moments coupled with relaxation and rejuvenation. I hadn't heard of Cochinita Pibil before my cruise, but now, it's one of my favorite Mexican dishes. The pork seemed to melt in my mouth, and the pico de gallo was a refreshing touch to the otherwise hearty entrée. For lunch one day, I went to The Pizza Place, where you can build your own pie or select from their menu. During my visits to the lounge, there was always enough empty seating to settle into a spot where I couldn't see or hear anyone else.
All that cabin jazz
Inside Virgin Voyages' newest cruise ship, the Scarlet Lady - New York Post
Inside Virgin Voyages' newest cruise ship, the Scarlet Lady.
Posted: Tue, 21 Sep 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Balconies wrap around the back and sides of the ships, and offer the same furnishings as the Sweet Afts but with the hammock tucked away in the side corner. If you love your hammock so much you can't live without it, you can buy one on board. The custom-designed hammocks are handwoven by women in rural Thailand and sold by Yellow Leaf, an organization focused on community transformation and female empowerment. The room is laid out like a standard Scarlet Lady cabin, but on the far wall, where a window would be, there's a red, round art piece evocative of a porthole. Scarlet Lady also brings guest comedians and performers on board, and the ones I saw were top notch, including a young Latina pop group called Bella Dose.
At the same restaurant, I had fancy doughnuts for dessert.
I appreciate how the line has hired diverse performers in terms of race, size and gender expression, and how its shows do not shy away from mature language and sexual themes (both gay and straight). If you want to feel like a rockstar, you can rent one of the private cabanas on Deck 16. Each costs $250 for a full day and can be reserved at Sailor Services on Deck 5. Inside, you'll find daybeds for lounging and a drinks cooler prepped with fresh-pressed welcome juices. I did not have the normal dinner experience at Extra Virgin, the ship's Italian restaurant, due to the themed sailing I was on, but I still got to try some of the venue's popular dishes. Previous cruisers tell me Extra Virgin is a surprise favorite because Italian restaurants are so ubiquitous, but Virgin's version delivers with fabulous dishes.
"It's so much easier to do for ships than it is for airplanes," Branson said. "I would be surprised if ships are not either using alternative fuels, as Tom says, or hydrogen-based fuels within 10 years." "We didn't build behemoth ships. We built mid-sized ships, and that allows us to create a more intimate experience, and the size of the ship allows us to do things that others can't," McAlpin says. "The whole part of the building of this business was orchestrated in a way that makes sense to the type of customer that we're trying to attract." The Virgin Voyages fleet are also "adult-by-design," welcoming guests only 18 years and older, with a capacity of approximately 2,700 passengers per ship.
You can also order sweets like cake pops and steal candy out of a jar (except it's not stealing if it's free and meant for you to take). But the real casual-dining winner is The Pizza Place, churning out oven-fresh pizzas day and night in a light and airy space. I was a fan of the white truffle and egg pizza; the amusingly named "pretty fly for a white pie" also had staunch supporters. Grab a premade salad and take your pie out to the adjacent open-air patio to enjoy it in the Caribbean sunshine. Scarlet Lady also has a supper club experience called It's a Ship Show, which takes place in The Manor. Virgin describes the experience as a mashup of an old-school variety show and a late-night talk show, with dinner, comedy and music.
Scarlet Lady is peppered with restaurants and bars, and it's possible you won't be able to try them all in one sailing. Do your research in advance because some venues are easy to miss if you're not looking for them. Dining and drinking are highlights of your time on board, so you'll want to visit as many bars and restaurants as you can.
feature a Sea Terrace hammock
While more announcements aren't the answer, I'm sure Virgin Voyages could figure out unobtrusive ways to give sailors a helping hand. The minimum age to sail Virgin is 18 years old, and the ship embraces its adults-only status. You won't find kids on board, yet you will find board games, an arcade, swings and unlimited pizza and ice cream. Before the tour, you should start thinking about how to stock your bottomless bar for stargazing in the hot tub —because there's no dream that this suite, and your RockStar Agents, can't make a reality. No one understands what voyaging with us is like better than our Sailors. So instead of going on about everything that makes sailing with us an epic experience, we’ll let them do the talking.
Hot stone massages, hydrating skin treatments, and indoor pools can all be found on deck five at Virgin Voyages' Redemption Spa. Sparkling details like light projections in the elevator and iridescent panels along the staircase made me feel luxurious while getting around the ship. In August 2023, I took my first cruise with Virgin Voyages, a relatively new luxury cruise line I've heard about from friends and other travelers for the last couple of years.
If you want to get a buzz at a venue that's buzzing, choose one of these for your nightcap. You will certainly have many opportunities to spend your Bar Tab on board, whether that's wine with dinner, a morning latte or a cocktail at On the Rocks while you listen to live music. Drinking is a key component of Scarlet Lady's nightlife, but as far as I saw, most people embraced the fun but drank responsibly.
"We're not going to be a fleet complete of 30 ships, but we certainly believe that we can grow beyond four ships. We think 10 is probably the right place," McAlpin says. "But we'll do it very systematically, and at the right channels at the right time as we continue to build awareness and build that repeat base of customers." "To launch the business, we did a lot of work in talking to our prospective customers about what they were looking for, and wellness resounded very well," McAlpin says.
You'll find treatment rooms for massages here, as well as the thermal suite. Outside Training camp is a boxing ring, props for alfresco body weight exercises, a sports court for basketball and an adult playground with swings and a seesaw. Above on Deck 17 is a jogging track and a space for outdoor yoga.
During the day, the sofa is meant to encourage socializing between passengers. The VIP lounge was quieter, emptier, and more shaded than the outdoor communal spaces for all passengers. Crew members checked in with guests often to see if they wanted more refreshments. Wellbeing, in all senses of the term, is at the forefront of the onboard experience. What's notable is that while these firms are responsible for some of the most stylish boutique hotels and resorts across the U.S. and Europe, none of them have ever designed for the cruise industry. What’s notable is that while these firms are responsible for some of the most stylish boutique hotels and resorts across the U.S. and Europe, none of them have ever designed for the cruise industry.
First, I should probably hit the 225-meter track or boxing ring to work off all this iniquity. Second, I’ve got to stop washing my hands a dozen times a day, lest I snooze and lose again. So, champagne we did, at Sip Lounge, where the effervescent soul-stirrer runs from $9 a glass to $1,000 for a vintage bottle. Sure, you could order the old-fashioned way, but you’ll have more fun using the Sailor app’s “Shake for Champagne” feature, where a quick rattle of your phone summons a bottle delivery anywhere on the ship.
While Virgin Voyages' first cruise won't set sail until April 2020, the excitement is already palpable. On Saturday in Genoa, Italy, representatives from the cruise line showed off the first "Lady Ship" — called Scarlet Lady — to members of the media. Though it's just one year away from its debut, there's still an awful lot of work that needs to be done until Scarlet Lady is in its final form. Like her three sisters Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, and Resilient Lady - Virgin Voyages has chosen a name that represents the values and beliefs it holds.
Scarlet Lady succeeds in creating intimate spaces onboard a big ship, and I loved all the inviting nooks I found on board. Sometimes, those nooks were tucked-away bars, like the Dock House Bar, just slightly off the main thoroughfare. Or, perhaps they were cute seating areas, like the curtained-off tables at the Sip bar or day beds on the open-air decks. There are other small changes, too, though they're probably not groundbreaking enough to lure anti-cruisers.
No comments:
Post a Comment