In recent years, working from home has become increasingly popular. But who says your remote office has to be in your house or apartment?
Earlier this year, Virgin Voyages introduced its “Summer Season Pass” to allow remote professionals to work and sail onboard Scarlet Lady for up to a month at a time throughout summer of 2024. With Virgin’s fleet of four fully equipped with high-speed Starlink internet access, working from sea is just as easy as working from home.
The new program is already extremely popular, prompting the Florida-based cruise line to expand the offering not once, but twice.
Beginning in June, guests are now invited to work in paradise for up to four weeks at a time onboard the 2,770-passenger Valiant Lady as she spends the summer sailing around the Caribbean.
“We launched the month-long work abroad program on Scarlet and Resilient, but after nearly selling out and being met with such enthusiasm, we’ve decided to expand the program’s horizons once again,” read an email from Virgin Voyages.
“We heard from travelers in North America who wanted the option to sail the stunning Caribbean and stay a bit closer to home while working in a similar time zone. To that we say, OK… bring on Valiant Lady’s Summer Season Pass!”, the message continued.
The cruise line is offering four new “Summer Season Passes” onboard its 111,000-gross ton vessel for the 2024 season. The date ranges offered are June 7 to July 5, July 5 to August 2, August 2 to August 30, and September 4 to October 1.
For more traditional passengers, Sir Richard Branson’s second cruise ship will be offering shorter 4 to 5-night cruises throughout the region, sailing to destinations like Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; Bimini Islands, Bahamas; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Puerto Plata/Amber Cove, Dominican Republic.
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Cruisers who choose to sail on Valiant Lady this summer, which entered service in March of 2022, will get to join the young ship in a historic period of her career. In her less than two years at sea, she has primarily sailed to destinations throughout Europe, including Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands, as well as the Mediterranean.
Her arrival in the Caribbean comes as the younger vessel is taking over the 4 to 5 night sailings previously offered by her sister ship, Scarlet Lady, which is due to enter dry dock to undergo some upgrades and routine maintenance.
The ship’s debut in the Caribbean has already come with a string of once-in-a-lifetime milestones and inaugural port calls to destinations, such as Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) – an occasion which marked the first appearance of a new cruise line in the BVI in 2024.
The cruise ship also celebrated milestone visits in Bridgetown, Barbados; the Antigua cruise port; St. Kitts and Nevis; and Nassau, Bahamas.
Pricing for the “work from helm” experience in the Caribbean begins at $12,000 for up to two passengers.
Virgin Voyages Summer Season Pass Met With High Demand
In March of 2024, Virgin Voyages made waves with the announcement of the “Scarlet Summer Season Pass,” which invited cruisers to live and work on Scarlet Lady in 4-week increments throughout the Summer of 2024.
Throughout the summer, the 2,770-passenger ship will be sailing on 7-night cruises throughout the Mediterranean, including calls at destinations like Cannes, France; Ibiza, Spain; and Rome, Italy. The ship will alternate between two itineraries, which remote workers onboard will get to experience twice during their month onboard.
In addition to access to high-speed internet, the all-inclusive remote work package includes a champagne welcome, Central Sea Terrace accommodations, early access to book shore excursions and make specialty dining reservations, daily coffee credit for brews and teas from The Grounds Club, wash and fold laundry services, RockStar access, and a dedicated concierge to help plan the unique, extended experience.
The package, which is designed for two, is priced as $9,990 per person and has already nearly sold out.
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Prior to offering the “Summer Season Pass” in the Caribbean, the cruise line extended the program once before because of the enthusiasm the initial announcement received.
“We saw incredible demand – more than 2,000 inquires and voyages selling out in less than 48 hours,” said a Virgin Voyages spokesperson.
Only a couple weeks after the first announcement, Virgin responded to the surge in demand by including Resilient Lady in the offering, which will spend the summer homeported in Athens, Greece.
From her base in Athens, the 2,770-passenger ship will sail to bucket-list destinations like Santorini, Greece; Rhodes, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Bodrum, Turkey; Split, Croatia; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and more.
