Earlier this year I got to take an incredible trip to London and Italy to see Virgin Voyages‘ beautiful new ship, Scarlet Lady, as she was being built, as well as see the unveiling of the crew uniforms during London Fashion Week! Scarlet Lady is nearly finished and will be ready to set sail in April 2020. If you had asked me before I took this trip I would have said that I would never even consider going on a cruise. This trip honestly changed my perspective on cruises — and that’s all thanks to Virgin creating what it set to be an immersive, design-led, adults only experience at sea. Passengers will be referred to as Sailors (super cute!) and they will be able to order Champagne at the flick of a wrist with a Champagne app from their phones. Seriously! On board you’ll be able to open the app, shake, and a bottle of Moët will be delivered to you wherever you are on the ship.
My trip started off in London with the crew uniforms being revealed and I love how bold they are, especially with the striped tees. The uniforms were designed by Gareth Pugh and really tie into the whole ethos of the ship — bold, happy and energetic. Check out this video to see all the uniforms. You guys know I’m fully obsessed with the V tees, natch!
It’s not just the uniforms that are different from what has come before in the cruise market — everything on this ship is different from what you would usually expect from a cruise. Here are the top three things that I learned:
Passengers aren’t passengers they are ‘sailors’
Virgin Voyages are calling us all sailors from when we step onboard, which I think sums up the whole experience perfectly, from eating in their many restaurants to relaxing or working out (there’s a running track on board!) on deck. From touring the ship as it was being built I know that the moment Sailors step onboard they are in for an experience that’s totally immersive. From the amazing gym to the on-board tattoo parlor; even through to the tiny touches like how you can order champagne anywhere on board, which I think will make Sailors feel like they are truly part of an experience, rather than just a generic passenger along for the ride.
Cabins designed for the real world
I am not going to lie I would love to be in one of the Rock Star suites – check out the pictures below, they get as big as 2147 sq ft.! Some of these mega rock star suites have outdoor hot tubs and personal music rooms, which TBH couldn’t be more fabulous nor Virgin if they tried! The benefits keep rolling with the rock star suites, from a fully stocked bar and access to the spa facilities to a personal agent who will arrange all of your reservations onboard.
Ok, so we can all dream, but don’t worry every cabin will make you feel like you are on a yacht. The cabins have been cleverly designed so that if you want sleep, binge watch or even host friends it’s all possible. The cabins have been designed to be able to stream to the TV from tablets, the beds can rearranged into sofas, and mood lighting has been installed to get you in mood for partying or help settle you off to sleep. Also, every sailor gets wifi, all their food included and group workout classes at no extra fee.
Sneak-a-peak
I love that Virgin Voyages are offering a mini trip for those, who, like me are new to sailing the high seas. This trip was my first time on a ship like the Scarlet Lady, and it really got me excited for taking a trip onboard.
One of my favorite things about the ship were the design details, from the bold red stripes in Razzle Dazzle to the Tom Dixon designed Wake restaurant. (Pst! Check out some of my favorite spaces on Scarlet Lady in this post. I think it’s super smart of Virgin Voyages to be offering shorter sails because they understand that you might not be ready to take a long trip or simply don’t have enough vacation days left! If that’s the case for you, why not jump on one of their sneak-a-peek trips and take a three night trip.
This blog post was created in partnership with Virgin Voyages; all views are my own.
