Sarah BretzOne of the newest cruise lines on the market, Virgin Voyages ships splashed onto the scene when the first vessel, Scarlet Lady, began sailing in 2021. Building onto the Virgin brand, Virgin Voyages set out to be a unique adults-only cruise line that turned the concept of cruising on its head. Indeed, the line nixed the usual way of doing dining at sea, has more inclusions than mainstream lines, included hammocks on nearly all of its cabin balconies, and introduced the world’s first tattoo shop on a cruise ship.
If you’re considering a cruise on Virgin Voyages or are just looking to learn more about this unique brand, here’s our guide to Virgin Voyages ships from newest to oldest.
Quick Summary
- There are four ships in the Virgin Voyages fleet. The newest vessel, Brilliant Lady, debuted in 2025.
- Virgin Voyages’ ships are all the same size, gross tonnage-wise, coming in at 110,000 gross tons. Brilliant Lady is slightly narrower than the first three vessels in the fleet.
- The oldest Virgin Voyages ship is Scarlet Lady, which debuted in 2021.
- Unique things about Virgin Voyages include the fact that it’s a fully adults-only cruise line, most cabin balconies feature a hammock, and ships have their own onboard tattoo shops.
- The main ways that Virgin Voyages ships differ from each other are in their entertainment offerings and cabin interior design.
- In spring 2027, Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady will begin the line’s second-ever season in Alaska.
Who owns Virgin Voyages?
Virgin Voyages is a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital. Virgin Group is a venture capital company founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell; the current owner of the company is Richard Branson. The company is headquartered in Plantation, Florida.
How many Virgin Voyages cruise ships are there?
There are four Virgin Voyages cruise ships: Scarlet, Valiant, Resilient, and Brilliant Lady. The first ship, Scarlet Lady, set sail on her maiden voyage in fall 2021. The fourth, Brilliant Lady, began sailing in summer 2025.
How big are the Virgin Voyages ships?
All of the Virgin Voyages ships are the same size, coming in at 110,000 gross tons. By modern standards, they are considered medium to large sized cruise ships. The vessels are about 900 feet long and have 17 decks. All ships except Brilliant Lady hold 2,770 guests (at double occupancy) and 1,160 crew members. Brilliant Lady is slightly narrower than her sister ships in order to pass through the Panama Canal easier; she can hold 2,700 guests at double occupancy.
What is the newest Virgin Voyages ship?
The newest Virgin Voyages cruise ship is Brilliant Lady, which operated her maiden voyage in September 2025.
Virgin Voyages Cruise Ships By Age: Newest to Oldest
- Brilliant Lady — 2025
- Resilient Lady — 2023
- Valiant Lady — 2022
- Scarlet Lady — 2021
How are the Virgin Voyages ships the same?
Virgin Voyages’ ships are nearly identical, with minimal differences between them. For example, the ships offer almost all the same restaurants, including The Wake steakhouse, Italian cuisine at Extra Virgin, modern Mexican fare at Pink Agave, casual fare at The Galley, The Pizza Place pizzeria open from morning to late at night, and more.
Menus may vary slightly between ships, especially if new menus are being rolled out for a particular venue, but they are largely the same — especially across Scarlet, Valiant, and Resilient Lady.
One restaurant that has more recently morphed into something different on each ship is Razzle Dazzle. While the first three ships all debuted with the same Razzle Dazzle venue, Virgin Voyages started to mix it up with Brilliant Lady by giving the venue a different theme and menu, calling it Rojo by Razzle Dazzle. This Spanish-inspired restaurant offers an elevated dining experience complete with pintxos, tapas, platos grandes, and more.
Now, the line has also retrofitted Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady with their own unique versions of the restaurant. On Scarlet Lady, Razzle Dazzle transforms into Lucky Lotus by Razzle Dazzle in the evening. There, guests can enjoy Chinese-inspired dishes with a modern twist. On Valiant Lady, the space has been rethemed to Ariya by Razzle Dazzle, which serves a menu of Indian-inspired dishes in the evening. The space remains the classic Razzle Dazzle restaurant on Resilient Lady.
Another thing that’s different is that each ship has its own signature dessert, so be sure to keep an eye out (or ask a crew member about it!).
Virgin Voyages’ ships are largely the same structurally, except that Brilliant Lady is a bit narrower and has a redesigned Roundabout (atrium) with more conversation-friendly seating areas.
Bars on the ships are pretty much the same, with watering holes including the Mediterranean-inspired Dock House, The Loose Cannon inspired by seaside bars in Brighton, Sip champagne lounge, and On the Rocks right in the middle of the action in the evenings — among several others. You’ll also find The Grounds Club, Virgin Voyages’ café serving Intelligentsia coffee and baked goods.
The gym, fitness equipment, and spa are other areas where the Virgin Voyages ships are all essentially the same. They all offer a traditional indoor fitness center; outdoor Training Camp equipment like a boxing ring, punching bags, and monkey bars; and a running track at the top of the ship. The spa features a thermal suite as well as a beauty salon, barber shop, and many treatment options.
All four Virgin Voyages ships also feature the line’s popular Scarlet Night celebration that culminates in a high-energy deck party (or an indoor party if there’s inclement weather or the ship is sailing in a colder location like Alaska) as well as the evening pajama party towards the beginning of the cruise.
How are the Virgin Voyages ships different?
The two main ways that Virgin Voyages’ ships are different is in their entertainment offerings and staterooms. They also operate different itineraries.
Is the entertainment the same on Virgin Voyages ships?
While some shows cross over between vessels, the entertainment offerings are perhaps the area where Virgin Voyages’ ships differ the most. While multiple ships featured Duel Reality — a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a circus twist — in the past, it remains only on Brilliant Lady. Valiant Lady features Untitled DanceShowPartyThing, a music-video-meets-club-scene dance party.
Brilliant Lady also features a time-traveling show called Out of Time, which blends music and history as the main character races to fix her time machine, as well as fun cabaret-style shows Murder in the Manor and Love Love Love with The Hostess.
Valiant Lady has a unique show called It’s a Ship Show! Where The Manor turns into a supper club in an old-school variety hour meets late-night talk show experience.
Resilient Lady has unique entertainment too; it debuted several shows that were brand-new to Virgin Voyages. Lola’s Library is part cocktail soirée and part immersive cabaret, while Another Rose tells an acrobatic love story.
Both Resilient Lady and Valiant Lady feature a never-the-same-show-twice game show called Miss Behave.
One show that debuted aboard Resilient Lady can now be found on another ship. Persephone — a classic Greek history meets modern theater show — is available aboard both Resilient and Scarlet Lady.
Are the cabins the same on Virgin Voyages cruise ships?
One of the most obvious ways that the Virgin Voyages ships are different — specifically Resilient and Brilliant Lady vs. Scarlet and Valiant Lady — is in the staterooms.
While the same categories are available, the décor on Resilient and Brilliant Lady boasts a more Mediterranean, organic type of feel than the first two ships. For example, instead of having an ombré curtain that’s red and blue, the curtain in front of the windows on these ships is a natural rattan. Instead of having a sleek, shiny white lamp on the desk, the lampshade is wicker.
Moving outside to the balconies, repeat Virgin Voyages guests may notice a new stateroom category on Brilliant Lady called (Slightly) Smaller Sea Terrace. The interior space is the same as other balcony cabins, but the balcony is smaller (this is due to the ship being more narrow). These (Slightly) Smaller Sea Terrace cabins do come with a bonus to make up for less outdoor space: two balcony hammocks instead of one! And not to worry, if you still want a regular balcony, regular Sea Terrace cabins are still available on Brilliant Lady.
Functionally, the cabin interiors are essentially the same across all four ships.
Other Differences Between the Virgin Voyages Vessels
The Roundabout (Virgin Voyages’ word for the ship’s central atrium) is a bit different on each ship. You will find slightly different shops or venues in different locations, including the popular tattoo parlor Squid Ink. There are also very slight interior design differences, like in décor around the ship, or the fact that under the Roundabout stairs on Scarlet Lady there’s a bench, but it contains a statue on Valiant and Resilient Lady.
On one of the main walkways next to The Grounds Club on Scarlet Lady, you’ll find small swings in front of fake portholes for a photo op. On Valiant and Resilient Lady, the swings were replaced with carousel animals that you can pose on for a photo instead. On Brilliant Lady, guests can pose in front of an underwater-inspired wall art piece.
The Social Club and Social Club Diner is a spot where you can grab a casual bite to eat at the counter, play board games, and participate in activities throughout the cruise. This space is largely the same on Scarlet and Valiant Lady, but was expanded on Resilient and Brilliant Lady.
The furniture setup is also a bit different. On Scarlet Lady, there’s a tabletop shuffleboard game located in the walkway next to the venue. On Resilient Lady, shuffleboard is located in the main dining area and tables for playing board games are located in the through-way.
2027 Scarlet Lady Itineraries
Scarlet Lady is spending the winter sailing from Miami, offering four-day cruises to Key West and Bimini. Five-day voyages visit destinations including Amber Cove, Grand Turk, and Costa Maya. Each of the five-day cruises includes a visit to Bimini (which is where Virgin Voyages’ beach club is located) along with one of the other ports listed.
In May 2027, the ship will set sail for Europe, and will spend the summer operating seven to 12-night Mediterranean cruises from Piraeus (Athens), Barcelona, and Civitavecchia (Rome).
In October, the ship will return to the Caribbean for the fall and winter, this time operate six to eight-night cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2027 Valiant Lady Itineraries
Valiant Lady is spending winter 2027 operating six to eight-night Caribbean cruises out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Itineraries vary, but ports visited this season include Aruba, Curaçao, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Thomas, Martinique, St. Kitts, and Tortola.
In April, the ship will reposition to Miami, spending the rest of 2027 offering mostly four and five-night cruises to Key West, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, and Bimini.
2027 Resilient Lady Itineraries
For the winter and part of spring, Resilient Lady is scheduled to sail from Virgin Voyages’ Terminal V in Miami. The ship will operate four to eight-night cruises through April, with different itineraries including destinations like Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, Ocho Rios, Nassau, the Dominican Republic, San Juan, and Bimini.
In May the ship will head across the Atlantic to begin a schedule of seven to 11-night Mediterranean cruises — mostly from Barcelona — for the summer season.
2027 Brilliant Lady Itineraries
The start of 2027 sees Brilliant Lady sailing from Miami, offering short four-night cruises to Key West and Bimini as well as longer 10-night adventures to ports including St. Croix, Tortola, San Juan, and the Dominican Republic.
At the end of March, the newest ship in Virgin’s fleet will set sail on a 16-night Panama Canal voyage to Los Angeles. From LA, the vessel will offer a few Mexican Riviera cruises before heading up the coast.
In May 2027, Brilliant Lady will kick off Virgin’s second season in Alaska. Voyages will be mostly seven nights, visiting Ketchikan, Sitka, and Prince Rupert.
In September, Brilliant Lady will move back down the coast to LA, sailing a variety of Mexican Riviera cruises before heading back through the Panama Canal to Miami. The ship will finish out the year offering three to 10-day Bahamas and Caribbean cruises.
Comments
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