Although vaccines have been released and are being administered widespread, the fight is not out the pandemic just yet. This means Virgin Cruises has been forced to cancel even more voyages for its first vessel, Scarlet Lady.
The cruise line is offering guests a wide range of opportunities to rebook or be refunded. The cruise line offers additional benefits to those passengers who have seen their cruises canceled more than once.
One Year To Date
It has been exactly one year since Virgin Cruises was first forced to cancel its inaugural season in New York City. The company was one of the first to do so last year and has, like other cruise lines, been forced to postpone its maiden season multiple times.
Cruises have now been canceled from May 9th through June 30th, 2021. Guests that this latest round of cancellations has impacted have two different options unless their voyage has been canceled before.
The first option for guests is to avail of a 200% Future Voyage Credit of the amount paid to date towards the voyage fare, which can be applied to another sailing, rather than a refund.
That’s double the value of their existing paid voyage fare. The FVC is valid for redemption up to a year after the original voyage start date for any sailing with available inventory through 2022.
The second option for affected guests is a refund option, which means a full refund of everything paid along with a Future Voyage Credit equal to 25% of the existing paid voyage fare to be used on a future sailing.
For those unlucky guests who have seen their voyages postponed multiple times now, Virgin cruises offer a third option, where the line re-instates any previous Future Voyage Credit to be used on any open voyage through 2021 and 2022.
Virgin Voyages Fleet
Delivered in February 2020 by Fincantieri in Italy, Scarlet Lady is the first of four new cruise ships constructed for Virgin Voyages, which offers an Adults-Only and Rebellious Luxe cruise experience, according to its website.
Scarlet Lady comes in at about 110,000 gross tonnes and is 278 meters long by 38 meters wide, with 1,400 guest cabins for a capacity of 2,770 passengers and another 1,160 crew members. Scarlet Lady‘s sister ship, Valiant Lady, is currently in the final construction stages at the Fincantieri yard in Italy. Valiant Lady is scheduled for launch in November 2021.
Delivery of the remaining two vessels is anticipated in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.
Scarlet Lady is now scheduled to sail on her maiden voyage at the beginning of July. Her first cruise, which will see the ship sail from Port Miami, will be a 5-day voyage to Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and a stop at Virgin’s The Beach Club at Bimini’ for the inaugural celebrations.
From mid-October, she will be homeporting in the new Terminal V that Virgin is building in Miami. The 200,000 square feet new terminal building is set to be completed by November, just in time for the arrival of Virgin’s second vessel, Valiant Lady.
Main Photo Credit: Felix Mizioznikov / Shutterstock.com