Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Review: this post is a paid partnership with Virgin Voyages. All views and imagery are entirely my own.
Last week I spent the night on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady. Docked in Liverpool, we wined, dined, pampered and slept on what can only be described as an adult playground. Take everything you know about cruises and throw it out of the window. The ship is young, vibrant and sexy. Where on most cruises my trepidation is not wanting to leave the destination, on the Scarlet Lady my biggest concern would be having to leave the ship. It’s a floating mecca if your idea of the perfect holiday incorporates sun (less so in Liverpool but...), great food and top-deck sunbathing. Maybe an evening aperitif in a marble and copper clad champagne bar? Let’s face it, who’s isn’t?!
On board
Let’s get right down to business. Every ship has cabins but most of them don’t look like a bouji hotel room. Redefine your expectations from cramped dorm to super yacht pad. There’s mood lighting, plenty of storage, modular beds (they turn into a sofa during the day time!) and spacious balconies with handmade hammocks. They spare no detail.
Ship-wide wifi is included as standard on board for all of your devices. It’s just as well because the Scarlet Lady is basically floating Instagram porn. You’ll definitely want to ‘gram your dinner from one of the twenty plus different restaurants that are all inclusive within your booking.
Foodies unite
The food was probably the biggest and most pleasant surprise on board. You won’t find a single beige buffet or awkward dining room. Instead there are speciality restaurants from a huge range of cuisines and menus that you’d happily pay a lot for at a top central London restaurant. We tried ‘Extra Virgin’, the Scarlet Lady’s upmarket Italian restaurant. Think cheese and charcuterie, crispy calamari and fried artichoke. Not convinced yet? How about truffle gnocchi, ox cheek ragu ravioli (divine) and New York strip steak? It was hard to equate the standard of food with pre-conceptions of a cruise ship.
If that doesn’t float your boat (see what I did there?) then I’m sure one of the other twenty something eateries will. From sushi to Mexican to a steak and seafood house and even an actual Korean BBQ restaurant, you certainly won’t get bored.
The drinks policy
As for drinks, filtered water, soda, juice, tea and coffee are all inclusive. The bars – from Sip the bouji champagne lounge to top mixologists to a laid back beer house – are extra. Also, you can purchase a pre-paid bar tab to keep yourself a float (they just keep getting better and better…) and you’ll currently find a bonus $100 credit winging its way into the booze fund for every $300 tab.
What else?
If you happen to get tired of all the eating and the sunbathing, the luxuriating in boho lounges with a book or partying the night away in the onboard night club then the Redemption Spa is for you. Sweaty floors and crowded hot tubs be gone. The spa is a marble-clad vision. It features sensory rooms include pine steam, hot mud and an actual salt cave and the treatment list is extensive. You could even swap the spa for one of the gyms or the top-deck running trap. I won’t judge you, whatever…
But what about the planet?
In terms of it’s duty to the environment, Virgin Voyages have banned single use plastics on board. YAY. You will not find a straw, bottle of water (it’s all provided filtered instead) or shopping bag in sight. Further, Virgin Voyages have partnered with Climeon, a Swedish technology company, with the goal to significantly reduce carbon emissions by converting engine waste into clean electricity. Furthermore, as for waste, which can be a big problem on cruise ships, they’ve signed a pledge with Scanship, providers of advanced waste management. The goal is to significantly reduce ocean damage by turning waste into energy.
Hell, there’s even a tattoo studio on board. They have quite literally thought of everything. If it’s this good floating in Liverpool docks on a wet, grey February day then count me in for the Caribbean.
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Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Review: this post is a paid partnership with Virgin Voyages. All views and imagery are entirely my own.
