Resilient Lady

The 2023-built MS Resilient Lady cruise ship is the third vessel in the Virgin Voyages fleet. Her name was officially announced on March 8, 2021. The ship’s inauguration was rescheduled for May 2023 (postponed from August 2022). Resilient Lady’s three sisterships, all built to the same design, are Scarlet Lady (February 2020), Valiant Lady (May 2022), and Brilliant Lady (March 2024).

All Virgin cruise ships were constructed at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard (near Genoa Italy).

These liners are marketed as “Lady Ships,” a play on the term “your ladyship” reflecting Virgin Group’s British heritage. A number of renowned designers were selected to create a new cruise ship style and an “adult cruising” vacation concept. For Resilient Lady’s interior design, Virgin Voyages contracted the marine architecture and design studios Roman and Williams (NYC), Concrete Amsterdam, Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio (London UK), Gem Srl (Italy), Softroom (London UK), WORKac (NYC), Knibb Design, HL Studio (UK), HKS Architects (Dallas USA), and PearsonLloyd (London UK).

Virgin Voyages (formerly Virgin Cruises) is a new cruise line company headquartered in Plantation, Florida (USA). The brand was created in December 2014 as a joint venture between Virgin Group Ltd (UK-based multinational holding company, 49% stake) and Bain Capital LP (USA-based multi-asset investment company, 51% stake). Virgin Voyages is an adults-only cruise line (minimum passenger age 18) and officially commenced operations in April 2020.

The vessel (IMO number 9805348) is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311001056) and registered in Nassau.

Resilient Lady is owned by VC SHIP THREE LTD and managed/chartered by VIRGIN VOYAGES LTD.

Decks and Cabins

MS Resilient Lady staterooms total 1408 passenger cabins, including 78 suites, 1030 balcony cabins, 95 oceanview cabins, and 105 interior cabins. The entire staff and crew complement (1160 people) is accommodated in 813 crew cabins.

The ship has 17 decks, of which 13 are passenger-accessible and 9 contain cabins.

In mid-January 2019, Virgin Voyages announced details of the RockStar Suites. These staterooms were designed by Tom Dixon Design Research Studio (interior, product, and design consultancy). All cabins are “smart,” featuring mood lighting and sensors that automatically adjust lighting according to passenger movement. The ship has a total of 78 RockStar Suites, including 15 Mega RockStar Suites (9 Gorgeous, 2 Posh, 2 Fab, and 2 Massive). Most are located on Deck 15, while Deck 16 houses one RockStar Suite Sailor (bow-facing Owner Suite).

The décor follows a music (rock-and-roll) theme with a retro-futuristic design and a color palette of deep blues accented by iridescent dichroic elements in the bathroom. The Massive Suite features a separate bedroom that doubles as a music room, fitted with electric guitars and an amplifier. The bow-facing terrace is equipped with a Jacuzzi, dining area (six-seat table with built-in steps), lounge area (circular sofa with low table), padded sun loungers, two hammocks, an outdoor shower, a catamaran net (canopy partially covering the terrace), and live plants. In keeping with the music theme, each of the 78 suites features a record player.

All RockStar Suite categories (SB-Brilliant, SG-Gorgeous, SP-Posh, SF-Fab, SM-Massive) feature marble-clad bathrooms (with hot tub, premium-brand bath products, rain-shower head, and multi-colored dichroic glass doors and windows / Peek-a-Boo shower), Terrazzo flooring, Tom Dixon furniture, large mirrored vanity tables, modern L-shaped sofabeds (for two), low tables, cabinets, three-door wardrobes, large 55-inch smart TVs, vinyl turntables (gold-plated players with a curated record collection), complimentary full bars (with nautically themed barware kits), brass and leather finishes, and chaise lounge chairs in the bedroom.

RockStar Suite passengers enjoy exclusive access to Richard’s Rooftop (VIP club lounge located forward on Deck 16). RockStar Suites also include a wide range of complimentary perks and services such as airport-to-ship transfers via private drivers, priority helicopter arrangements, luggage assistance, private walk-down service (express VIP pathway) at the Virgin Voyages Miami Cruise Terminal upon arrival, anytime boarding, early access to special shipboard events, complimentary laundry service, clothing pressing, nightly swimsuit drying, RockStar Agents (dedicated butlers per stateroom), dedicated hair and makeup crew upon request, complimentary Thermal Suite access at Redemption Spa, all-inclusive premium drinks in all shipboard eateries and bars, a personalized bottomless in-room bar at no extra charge, and the option to curate in-port activities.

All Virgin cruise ship staterooms feature standard amenities including a European king-size bed (premium linens and plush bedding), wall-mounted reading lamps, bedside tables, a mirrored vanity table/writing desk with stool, large wardrobe, electronic safe (in the closet), 4K smart Ultra HDTV with infotainment system, and a large balcony furnished with padded loungers, low table, two-seat sofa, Yellow Leaf hammock, and a dining table (custom-designed champagne table sized to fit an ice bucket). Balcony access is via floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors.

Every cabin is equipped with a custom-designed “seabed” and mood lighting system familiar to customers of Virgin America (part of Alaska Airlines). Cabin lights automatically adjust based on passenger movement. The ship also offers staterooms designed for groups (each with four bunk beds) and single cabins for solo travelers. Staterooms are divided into 21 categories. Balcony cabins feature a “sea terrace” (private step-out veranda) and are serviced by RockStar Coordinators (personal assistants), while dedicated wardrobe teams provide luggage packing and unpacking services.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Dining aboard Virgin Voyages ships is fully included in the cruise fare, with no additional charges applied to any of the 20-plus onboard dining venues. The company eliminated traditional specialty restaurant surcharges, offering all eateries on Resilient Lady complimentary, made-to-order cuisine.

As part of the company’s sustainable travel policy, Virgin Voyages banned single-use plastics and eliminated buffet dining. All shipboard food is prepared to order to reduce waste and lower energy consumption and emissions. The resulting savings are reinvested in fresh, locally sourced ingredients, highly trained staff, and clean technologies.

Virgin Voyages does not follow traditional cruise dining concepts. The ships do not have a main dining room, buffet restaurant, formal dress code, or assigned dining times or seating. Instead, these elements are replaced by intimate, boutique hotel-style eateries offering more than 20 dining options, all included in the cruise fare.

Below is the complete list of Resilient Lady restaurants and food bars.

• The Galley (main venue for casual dining and quick meals) is modeled after popular food halls, offering selections from eight shops and carts, including a panini shop, bakery and pastry shop, taco shack, noodle bar, burger grill, sushi bar with bento boxes, soup and salad island, and a 24-hour American diner.
• The Test Kitchen is a laboratory-style eatery with metallic furniture, beakers, and test tubes, offering avant-garde cuisine. Part restaurant and part cooking school, it presents chef-driven menus as ingredient lists, allowing guests to experience how flavors are combined throughout each course.
• Wake (5866 ft2 / 545 m2) is a steakhouse and seafood restaurant located aft, featuring views of the ship’s wake and serving cuisine inspired by The Grill (New York) and The Wolseley (London).
• Geonbae (Korean barbecue restaurant) is “hosted by the loudest servers at sea.” Meals begin with complimentary soju for the table, with guests encouraged to participate in Korean drinking games.
• Pink Agave (Mexican restaurant) offers a shared-plate dining experience with DJ music late into the evening. The venue features porthole windows, metallic lighting fixtures, large tables, an elongated curved seating area, a separate bar in the Lobby, and a private dining room for special events.
• Extra Virgin (trattoria restaurant) serves traditional Italian specialties, including handmade fresh pasta.
• Dock (220 ft2 / 20.4 m2 beach club-inspired venue) serves Mediterranean small plates, dips, mezze, and salads, and features wooden deckchairs, daybeds, and loungers.
• The Pizza Place (beach club-inspired restaurant) offers complimentary oven-baked gourmet pizzas by the slice.
• Razzle Dazzle is the ship’s vegan-vegetarian restaurant. Part of the venue is the Red Bar, a juice bar serving fresh-squeezed juices, tonics, and crafted cocktails from a nightly rotating menu. Twice per cruise, Razzle Dazzle hosts Drag Brunch with live entertainment.
• Sun Club Cafe (outdoor eatery).
• The Sip is the ship’s wine bar lounge and champagne house, also offering traditional British Afternoon Tea service.

Virgin Voyages Sailors are offered complimentary filtered and sparkling water at all onboard bars and dining venues, as well as at water stations located throughout the ship.

Through the Sailor App, a hidden “Champagne button” allows guests to order Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial (750 ml) delivered anywhere onboard in an ice bucket with two glasses. This service is known as “Shake for Champagne.”

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Each Virgin Voyages ship features 93% oceanview staterooms and 86% balcony cabins (called “sea terraces”), along with a casino and multiple live entertainment venues comparable to traditional theater lounges.

Signature onboard venues include:

• Athletic Club (training center) is an outdoor gym area with a boxing ring and gym equipment, located aft on the top deck. The Sports Deck also features a raised jogging track (Runway Track, red-and-white colored), an open-air sundeck lounge with double daybeds and semi-circular loungers, a triple netting area (220 ft2 / 20.4 m2) overlooking the decks below, 10 private cabanas, beverage service from the outdoor Sports Bar, foosball tables, a swimming pool, and showers.
• Sun Club (Sun Worship Sanctuary).
• MyBeast, an outdoor playground and poolside gym area.
• The Crow’s Nest (aft sundeck) offers 360-degree views and is furnished with loungers and mats in Virgin’s signature red, hosting sunrise and sunset outdoor yoga classes.
• The B Complex, an indoor fitness center with Technogym ARTIS equipment and separate studios for cycling, yoga, cardio, and spinning classes.
• Gym and Tonic Bar serving cold-pressed fresh juices.
• Aquatic Club Sundeck (Poolside Oasis and Aquatic Club Bar).
• Two swimming pools, including the Well-Being Pool, the ship’s main pool surrounded by the MyBeast adult playground and fitness apparatus.
• The Manor, a two-deck-high disco nightclub designed by Roman and Williams, inspired by Richard Branson’s first Virgin music studio and serving as a venue for innovative entertainment, music, and dancing.
• The Dock, an outdoor lounge aft on Deck 7 with cushioned wooden furniture.
• Richard’s Rooftop, a top-deck VIP sundeck reserved for suite passengers, furnished with daybeds, deckchairs, circular loungers, large umbrellas, and colored crystals.
• Ministry of Ground and Ministry of Ground Too, specialty coffee bars serving Intelligentsia coffee (Virgin Voyages Blend) and handcrafted beverages by expert baristas.
• Redemption Spa complex on Deck 5, offering a full wellness experience including thermal facilities, treatment rooms, salons, and evening DJ events.
• The Scene event space.
• Squid Ink tattoo studio, operated in partnership with World Famous Tattoo Ink.
• The Red Room, the first transformational multi-form theater at sea, capable of four different configurations.
• The Groupie, a privately bookable karaoke room that also doubles as a cinema and VIP casino.
• The Den Flex event space.
• Live performances by local DJ celebrities at ports of call.
• Voyage Vinyl record store with listening stations and live DJ performances.
• JLo Beauty onboard shop selling Jennifer Lopez’s skincare brand.
• Draught Haus, the ship’s taproom serving craft beers.

Draught Haus offers eight draft beers, boilermakers, bottled craft beers, shots, and shot cocktails. Growler service allows passengers to take beverages throughout the ship, including public areas and cabins.

MS Resilient Lady also serves Virgin’s own brand of craft beer (English Pale Ale), created by Wynwood Brewing Company (Miami), brewed using English yeast and American malts and hops.

Virgin cruise deals

Virgin Voyages operates under a “No Tipping” policy, with all gratuities included in the base cruise fare. Also included are beverages, all dining venues, and group fitness classes. The company does not charge change fees or penalties. Guests can hold staterooms for 24 hours with no payment once a 20% non-refundable deposit is placed, and benefit from a 7-day grace period to modify bookings. Cruise departure dates and passenger names can be changed without fees.

In February 2019, Virgin Voyages announced an all-inclusive pricing policy, selling cruises by cabin rather than per person. Fares include dining, unlimited WiFi, and all fitness classes, varying only by the number of occupants. For five-day itineraries, fares start from approximately USD 250 per person per day (excluding taxes and fees).

Itineraries

Resilient Lady’s inaugural cruise season (2022) was originally planned for Eastern Mediterranean deployment, followed by Caribbean homeporting in Puerto Rico for winter 2022–2023. However, the program (36 departures) was canceled in June 2022, and the ship’s inauguration was postponed to May 14, 2023. Details are available in the ship’s Wiki section.

In March 2021, Virgin Voyages announced two 7-night roundtrip itineraries from Piraeus-Athens Greece, covering the Greek Isles and the Adriatic and Greek Islands.

Following the Mediterranean deployment, Resilient Lady repositioned to the Caribbean via an 11-day transatlantic crossing from Lisbon to San Juan Puerto Rico.

The Caribbean 2022–2023 season featured 7-day roundtrip itineraries from Puerto Rico, visiting destinations such as St Kitts, Martinique, Curacao, Aruba, Tortola (BVI), Guadeloupe, St Lucia, and Barbados.

In April 2022, Virgin Voyages announced Resilient Lady’s deployment to Australia and New Zealand for the 2023–2024 season, with homeporting in Melbourne QLD and Auckland NZ. On February 26, 2024, the company canceled the 2024–2025 Australian program due to security concerns affecting scheduled Suez Canal repositioning voyages. After completing the Mediterranean season in October 2024, Resilient Lady was reassigned to the Caribbean, homeported in San Juan, offering 7- to 11-night roundtrip itineraries to destinations including St Maarten, St Vincent, Colombia, and Dominica.

On March 8, 2021, the name of Virgin’s third ship, “Resilient Lady,” was officially announced. Like her sisterships, the vessel (IMO number 9805348, Fincantieri yard/hull number 6289) was constructed at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente Shipyard (near Genoa Italy). The ship’s name honors International Women’s Day and was chosen “in celebration of women and their achievements, strength, leadership, and resilience.”

The cruise ship was launched (floated out from drydock) on July 2, 2021, and was originally scheduled for delivery on July 1, 2022. Resilient Lady was officially delivered to Virgin Voyages on December 8, 2022.

In March 2022, the ship’s hull was painted with the mermaid (the ship’s emblem and guardian), designed by Jodie Herrera (a contemporary oil painter from New Mexico).

The following timelapse video shows part of Fincantieri’s Virgin ship construction (block assembly) process.

Virgin ship technology

Virgin cruise ships have a passenger capacity of 2750 (plus 1150 crew), gross tonnage of 110,000 GT, and are powered by ABB Azipod XO propulsion systems (electric drive motors with off-hull submerged azimuth thrusters and 360-degree rotating propellers). These units provide excellent maneuverability (allowing in-port navigation without tug assistance) and minimal vibration and noise. By positioning the propulsion units outside the hull, the Azipod system frees up space for additional lower-deck staterooms. ABB Ability technology is based on a network using real-time data transferred to remote centers that monitor and analyze propulsion system performance and provide remote technical support.

These vessels stand out for their innovative design solutions and the latest marine technologies aimed at energy recovery and environmental impact reduction. The ship’s cleaning energy system is supplied by the Swedish company Climeon Ocean. This technology reduces CO2 emissions by converting heat generated by diesel engines into electricity (capacity approx 1 MW) for onboard use. Each Virgin liner has six such units, saving approximately 5400 tons of CO2 annually. The waste processing system is provided by Scanship.

Wartsila (Finnish marine technologies corporation and former shipbuilder) was contracted to supply the ships’ powerplants. Each liner is powered by two 8-cylinder and two 12-cylinder Wartsila 46F marine diesel engines. Wartsila’s Hybrid Scrubber System operates in both open- and closed-loop modes and uses seawater to remove SOx from the vessel’s exhaust, while also significantly reducing NOx emissions. The Wartsila-made navigation and automation control systems are from the company’s latest NACOS Platinum series.

Alternative power is provided by four-stroke engines driving four electricity generator sets, each equipped with TPL-C turbochargers (by ABB).

In February 2020, Virgin announced “The Band,” a smart wearable technology introduced on Scarlet Lady (April 1). The device is made from recycled marine plastic (a sustainability initiative) and was developed in partnership with The Bionic Company. The lightweight RFID wristband is mailed to all passengers as a complimentary keepsake. The Band is activated upon boarding and is used for onboard purchases and payments (beverages, casino gaming), booking tours, cabin access (room key), room service ordering (pinpointing the guest’s current location), and VIP access (Richard’s Rooftop).

Inaugural cruise itineraries 2023

The ship’s inaugural season (2022) was planned for Eastern Mediterranean deployment (summer 2022) and Caribbean itineraries (winter 2022–spring 2023). However, in early June 2022, 36 voyages were canceled (read more on the ship’s CruiseMinus page), and the Maiden Voyage was rescheduled from August 14, 2022, to May 14, 2023.

In April 2022, Virgin Voyages announced only two itineraries for Resilient Lady, both 7-night Mediterranean roundtrips from Piraeus-Athens Greece (homeport).

(MAIDEN VOYAGE 2023/first cruise) 7-day “Greek Island Glow” itinerary

(inaugural 2023) 7-day “Adriatic Sea and Greek Gems” itinerary

Later, the ship’s Caribbean 2022–2023 schedule was announced to include two roundtrip itineraries from Puerto Rico and two transatlantic crossings/relocation itineraries (RepositionCruises.com).

(Transatlantic crossing 2022/canceled) 11-day voyage from Europe to the Caribbean (from US$800 / GBP 610 / EUR 720 pp)

(inaugural Caribbean 2022/canceled) 7-day “Southeastern Caribbean Isles” itinerary (from US$940 / GBP 715 / EUR 845 pp)

(2022/canceled) 7-day “Sunsets in the Lesser Antilles” itinerary (from US$1880 / GBP 1430 / EUR 1695 pp)

(inaugural Suez Canal transit/2023) 14-day voyage from Athens to Dubai

Godspeed!

Virgin Cruises’ private island resort “Bimini Beach Club” (Bahamas)

The liner Scarlet Lady was the first cruise ship to call at “Bimini Beach Club” (Virgin Group’s private island resort in Bimini Bahamas). This exclusive destination allows Virgin’s Sailors to enjoy world-class entertainment from a rotating cast of DJs led by Mark Ronson.

Virgin’s Bimini Beach Club offers premium cuisine with locally sourced ingredients and traditional Bahamian favorites such as banana leaf-wrapped queen snapper, conch and mango salad, and Bahamian rum cake. The complex features six bars, outdoor lounge areas with hammock groves, beach loungers, water sports activities, and optional (at extra cost) private poolside and beachside cabanas for rent.

RockStar Suite passengers benefit from complimentary food service, an exclusive bar and outdoor terrace lounge, and VIP beach cabanas. The 7-mile (11-km) long island offers exceptional activities such as boating, snorkeling, and wreck diving. The partially submerged wreck of SS Sapona (a concrete-hulled steamship that ran aground in 1926) is located just a few miles off the island’s southern coast.

Virgin’s private resort is located on North Bimini Island, a short bus transfer from the docking pier. It was built in partnership with Resorts World Bimini and is part of a 750-acre (3 km2 / 1.2 mi2) beachfront resort-casino-marina-hotel complex operated by Genting Group (a Malaysia-based multinational corporation). North Bimini lies approximately 68 km (42 mi) east of Miami. The resort’s estimated construction cost is USD 220 million.

Virgin’s Bimini Beach Club overlooks the sea and features a large lagoon-style swimming pool. The “resort experience” also includes morning open-air exercise sessions (yoga and meditation), afternoon poolside DJ parties, nighttime beach bonfires, and live musical performances.