Launching Virgin Voyages

Richard Branson on board Virgin Voyages' ship, looking out of the window across the sea
Image from Virgin Voyages
Virgin Galactic
Richard Branson's signature
Published on 21 February 2020

Thrilled to show off Virgin Voyages’ first cruise ship Scarlet Lady to the world for the first time.

I’ve wanted to launch a cruise line since I was in my 20's and I’m so excited that it’s finally happening. Waking up in one of the Rockstar Suites this morning, I really had to pinch myself.

I’m so proud of the Virgin Voyages team and everything that has been achieved with their first ship. At Virgin, we’ve spent the last 50 years disrupting other industries, such as aviation and hotels, by putting the customer experience at the heart of everything we do. Bringing together the lessons and experience from our other businesses is what makes this one feel so special.

Richard Branson sitting at a bar insidethe Scarlet Lady
Image from Virgin Voyages

It’s so exciting to see Virgin Voyages redefining the cruise industry by bringing the luxury of a boutique hotel to sea travel. The spaces are tasteful and thoughtfully designed for adults. Walking around the ship, I lost count of the amount of times I said: ‘Wow!’ It really is one of the most beautiful ships in the world.

There’s so much to do onboard. There’s more than 20 restaurants to suit all tastebuds and every mood. There’s also a big focus on health and wellness, with a beautiful spa, gym classes, yoga, and spin studio that looks out onto the ocean. If you want to stay up late, there’s also an incredible nightclub, which will have the world’s best DJ's, a theatre with entertainment you won’t have seen before, and wonderfully designed bars to sip cocktails in.

Richard Branson on board the Scarlet Lady drinking tea
Image from Virgin Voyages

We know if we have the best crew onboard, they’ll look after our sailors and create a really wonderful experience. One of the lovely things about the ship is the variety of people working onboard – with more than 1,500 crew from nearly 60 countries. It’s been great to meet so many of our crew on the visit and see their enthusiasm for the brand and the ship. 

Virgin Voyages are also committed to having one of the cleanest fleets at sea, and we will offset all our carbon emissions from day one and there will be no single use plastic on board.

We haven’t built a cruise, we’ve built a Voyage. Come join us.