Virgin Voyages revised the schedule of its 3rd liner - Resilient Lady and will defer the upcoming launch to 2023-Q2.
Initially scheduled to debut from Athens-Piraeus (Greece) in mid-August 2022, Resilient Lady will remain at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente shipyard in Genoa Italy getting onboard work completed, hitting the high seas in spring 2023.
As part of the ambitious launch sequence, Virgin is now operating 2 ships - Scarlet Lady in the Caribbean, and Valiant Lady in the Mediterranean. Despite challenges stemming from the COVID crisis, the new brand also launched its new Terminal V at PortMiami Florida in February 2022.
Virgin Voyages said the company had not landed on that decision lightly, and despite making tremendous strides alongside the cruise industry as a whole, the brand was not immune to the global challenges the world was facing, such as "supply chain obstacles, a level of regional uncertainty for international travelers in countries in East Europe, crewing challenges based on government regulations and restrictive COVID entry requirements back into the US."
Over the next days, all guests and travel advisors impacted by the cancellations will be contacted by Virgin directly with options, subject to applicable terms and conditions, including:
- 200% Future Voyage Credit (FVC)/a full refund of the amount paid, plus 25% FVC
- Those who choose the 200% FVC and rebook in 2022, will get the option of another free voyage (*excludes taxes and fees)
- Assistance with travel changes/penalties
- Commission protection for travel partners on funds paid.