Virgin Voyages will empose no extra charges for eating at any of the 20-plus dining venues onboard its first ship Scarlet Lady.
The cruise company “does not believe in paying more for great food”, so it is ditching traditional supplements that are levied when dining in onboard speciality restaurants.
All eateries aboard Scarlet Lady have been designed “to offer exceptional made to order eats”. The line has opted to include all restaurant food in the cruise fare.
Virgin Voyages bans single-use plastics for guests and there is no buffet onboard. The company claims it is able to significantly reduce waste as well as reinvest savings into quality products for travelers and clean technology.
The 2,770-guest Scarlet Lady is due to enter service on Caribbean voyages from Miami FL in 2020 as the newest cruise ship sailing to Havana on selected itineraries. Virgin aims to throw out traditional cruise dining, with no main dining room, no buffet, no forced formal wear, and no assigned dining times or seating.
Restaurants are due to be open until late into the night - some until the morning's early hours.
Scarlet Lady's dining option include:
- The Galley (the main space for casual and quick meals) is modelled on popular food halls. Guests can taste food from various restaurantshere via more than 8 shops and food carts like a panini shop, bakery and pastry shop, taco shack, noodle bar, burger grill, sushi bar with bento boxes, soup and salad stand, as well as a 24-hour American diner.
- The Test Kitchen (laboratory-like eatery) features “avant-garde cuisine”. It is part restaurant and part cooking school. Chef-driven set menus are presented in the form of ingredient list to guests who discover how the chef combines the flavours throughout the course of each meal.
- Wake (5,866ft2) is located at the aft and features views of the ship’s wake. It serves “theatrical take” on steak and seafood inspired by The Grill-New York and The Wolseley-London.
- Razzle Dazzle offer vegan, vegetarian food and a juice bar. Its interior scheme nods to the namesake, bold camouflaging of ships from WWI using patterns of black & white paint.
- Geonbae (Korean barbecue restaurant) is “hosted by the loudest servers at sea”. Meals begin with complimentary soju for the table with guests encouraged to take part in Korean drinking games.
- Pink Agave (Mexican) is designed to be a shared plate experience with DJ music until late.
- Extra Virgin (trattoria) serves regionally-inspired Italian food including handmade fresh pasta.
- Dock (beach club-inspired) offers Mediterranean small plates, dips, mezzes and salads.
- The Pizza Place (beach club-inspired) is where passengers can design their pizzas.