Virgin Voyages in Miami

Welcome to Miami, Scarlet Lady.

I’ve been to the city many times in recent years to celebrate milestones with the Virgin Voyages team, from launching our brand, to breaking ground on our new terminal, to spending time with the team.

So it was a wonderful moment to be able to see our first ship, Scarlet Lady, docked in our beautiful home port.

Virgin Voyages

I had goosebumps getting on board, knowing this is where so many adventures will begin.

It was such fun sailing Scarlet Lady into New York earlier this month, and giving the UK a sneak peek with our Summer Soirée. But Virgin Voyages and Miami is a perfect match, and we love being a part of the cruising community here (even if we are intent on shaking it up!)

There are so many people who travel to Miami - it’s long been one of Virgin Atlantic’s most popular destinations - and we’re sure everyone is going to love sailing with Virgin Voyages from here too. In fact, Virgin Atlantic gave Scarlet a sky-high welcome with a flyover.

What great timing with the US opening up borders to international travellers too – we can’t wait to welcome Virgin Atlantic customers onto our cruise ships too.

They will get to experience so much on board, which I took in first-hand during my trip. There’s so much to see and do, from the restaurants to the entertainment to the workout spaces (which we’ll share more of very soon). In the meantime, here’s a real whirlwind view around the trip.

One part that isn’t featured is the bridge, where I was fortunate to meet some of the team.

Virgin Voyages

I was proud to show off to my wife Joan as she joined us on board and got to see some of the ship’s incredible design features up close. I’m pleased to say she gave lots of good feedback! We had a delicious meal at The Wake – and I think she might even try out the piercing parlour when we go sailing together soon…

There is such a great energy on the ship, all started by the fantastic crew, and continued with our sailors getting into the spirit of things. We were thrilled to be joined by some of Miami’s sporting stars, and I enjoyed meeting Byron Jones, Brennan Scarlett, Xavien Howard, Victor Oladipo and Jeff Foster. Victor even convinced me to check out our on-board karaoke rooms - The Groupie – for a rendition of Like A Virgin. Let’s just say the photos are better than the video!

We were also delighted to have the Miami-Dade County’s Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, join us on board the ship. After a meeting with yours truly and Tom McAlpin, Virgin Voyages’ CEO, we enjoyed some toasts on the deck. As we celebrated with the County Commissioners and many of the people who have made it all happen, I was surprised and honoured to learn that our new terminal has been given a very special address: 718 West Cruise Boulevard. 7/18 just happens to be my birthday. Now that sounds a good date to go on a voyage…

In the meantime, Joan and I are looking forward to experiencing Scarlet Lady in action on a cruise soon. I hope many of you get to join the fun and book your own Virgin Voyage.