Valiant Lady

Whilst Covid has been wreaking havoc on the travel industry I have been helping all my existing clients through all the changes and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally the time has come that we can start travelling again and seeing what our industry pals have been doing behind the scenes. It’s true that a new ship takes time to design and build and construction began on Valiant Lady with the steel-cutting ceremony held in July 2018. The keel-laying ceremony was held in February 2019 & she was due to start service in 2021 but we all know why she arrived later than planned!

I was invited to meet Valiant Lady in Tilbury and arrived on a chartered Uber Boat. From the water you can see that she’s light grey rather than white and looks very stylish with her trademark Virgin mermaid and red & black detailing. It’s fair to say that the style of the ship is contemporary through and through with some very unique features. She will home port in Barcelona in the Summer and Miami in the Winter so opportunities to see new ships in the UK are not to be missed.

We were able to book one of the 20+ eateries to have lunch in and chose ‘Razzle Dazzle’. With a nod to maritime history the décor is bold zebra stripes. The staff were young and enthusiastic and looked after us well. The theme is vegetarian but there are meat cheats available as well. This is also the home of the ‘Drag Brunch’ for a couple of days each week where you can be entertained in style whilst you eat. Each restaurant has its own bar and signature cocktail so we had to give it a try whilst we waited for our food, which was excellent and freshly prepared.

No ship visit is complete without a tour and we set off to see the cabins, suites and other facilities in the couple of hours we had before showtime. Every cabin with a balcony has a hand-made hammock in Virgin’s signature red. The massive suite has an amazing deck space including a table you can officially dance on and a cinema room complete with guitars. The mini bars are not ‘mini’ and the cabins have very subtle energy saving features. Virgin Voyages are adult only and will definitely appeal to the free spirited. We couldn’t get the full feel for a voyage in just a few hours but I think we all left wanting to try one!