VOYAGES

Scarlet Lady VIRGIN VOYAGES

Virgin’s much-anticipated entry to the cruise sector brings energy, razzle dazzle and a touch of rebellion to the sea.

Words: Ayesha Khan • Photography: Courtesy of Virgin Voyages

Although the latest venture of Richard Branson had a shaky start – she launched as the world was on the verge of lockdown and reluctantly went back into hiding – Virgin Voyages’ first ship is here and ready to party. Scarlet Lady, as she is so aptly named, is touted as the antithesis to the modern-day megaship.

With Virgin having already stamped its signature-red on a range of products and services, from trains and aeroplanes to health clubs and hotels, the burgeoning cruise sector seemed the next logical step. But this wasn’t to be just any cruise line; in true Richard Branson-style, Virgin Voyages confidently announced it would redefine how the world views sea travel. “Virgin has always avoided stuffy formalities and brought a lot of excitement and a bit of rebelliousness to our customer experiences,” Branson is quoted as saying, and the group’s first vessel is no exception.

While many of today’s megaships do everything they can to not look like a ship, Scarlet Lady was founded on a mantra of recalling a nautical spirit. “We wanted to celebrate the modern romance of sailing, and to enjoy the beauty of a ship and how it is built,” recalls Dee Cooper, Virgin’s Vice President of Design. Cooper’s second MO was to assemble a veritable roll call of interior and experience designers, ones

The vast array of facilities on board includes no less than 20 restaurants and bars as well as retail outlets, a tattoo parlour and blow-dry salon

that have brought new hotel concepts, vibrant restaurants and bars with a buzz to the world’s cities. “We stood back and asked, ‘what does a modern, young-at-heart customer want from a cruise holiday?’ Our customer likes hanging out in London or New York, loves staying at Ace or Soho House, and lives that modern, designmedia-fashion-orientated life. We wanted guests to feel like they were part of that club.” The line-up includes a wide range of names, some with a proven track record in cruise ship design, others complete newcomers. Bringing 40 years of experience, Giacomo Erasmo Mortola of GEM was enlisted as head architect. The ship’s livery was conceptualised by Magpie Studio in London; RWD created the iconic red Virgin funnel; and the Scarlet Lady herself, a beautiful mermaid, is designed by artist Toby Tinsley. Inside, Roman & Williams, Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio and Concrete Amsterdam, amongst many more, brought the interiors to life. Tying the collective together was Volume Creative, an independent agency of product and interior designers, artists and architects, who worked closely with Cooper and the individual teams to ensure the look and feel was on-brand. Headed up by Callie TedderHares, formerly in-house at Virgin Atlantic, Volume took on the design management and creative direction of the entire ship, as well as the design of the retail spaces and development of the art strategy.

Along with the impressive design talent, a key differentiator from the passenger perspective is the facilities on offer. The Virgin Voyages brand is entirely adult-only, so no kids running around, no overly-themed entertainment and no wild attractions. And there’s no buffet lines either. With a grand total of 20 F&B offerings, Virgin sought to throw the cruise ship dining playbook out the window. The first order of business was to do away with the vast dining room that often serves generic cuisine en masse. Perhaps the most stately of the venues is The Wake, designed by New York-based Roman & Williams of Boom Boom Room and Ace

Public spaces include Test Kitchen, Pink Agave and The Manor, and feature lighting by Chelsom and Tom Dixon, and furniture by UHS

Hotel fame. Interiors recall the glamour of Art Deco with a decidedly 21st-century ethos. “The Wake restaurant’s glamorous entrance flows down the stairs in a Titanic-inspired moment, with elegant brass and pink marble stairs complemented by a 3.6m-high conical Lasvit chandelier,” Cooper explains, truly invoking the cinematic experience and explaining how she sees sailors as “the star of their own movie.”

Equally glamourous is Pink Agave, the ship’s Mexican restaurant, which shuns the cantina aesthetic for more of an urban chic look. For the design of this space, Cooper solicited the retrofuturistic prowess of British design superstar Tom Dixon. Past an entrance portal decked out in no fewer than 60 of Dixon’s signature Melt lights, sailors are surrounded by blush pinks and cobalt blues that combine with mood lighting, while a backlit tequila and mescal feature wall recalls the bar carts of the 1960s.

Over at Razzle Dazzle, the ship’s quirky vegan and comfort food outpost, guests are entertained by drag queens among a room decked out in monochrome zigzag. “Razzle Dazzle is a pattern that’s all about the art of being so visible you become invisible,” explains Lisa Hassanzadeh, Partner at Concrete, the Amsterdam-based design and experience powerhouse behind pod hotel brand Citizen M. “It was used in World War 1, where ships were painted in this striped pattern to be so disturbing and confusing that they became invisible to the enemy among the waves and horizon.” Concrete painted diagonal zigzags on every surface they could find and arranged furniture on a dynamic diagonal to bring energy to the space. To the back of the room, a bar covered in Virgin red is equally fun. Everything from tiles and tile grouts to the mirrored walls and ceilings is doused in the vibrant hue, making for a sultry, late-night drinking experience. Concrete is also behind The Test Kitchen, a laboratory-like restaurant that also serves as a cookery school.

Of course, the key to any cruise holiday is the time spent worshipping the sun on the upper decks. Known for its own brand of health club,

Cabins feature the Seabed, which converts from a L-shaped sofa to a king-size bed at the touch of a button

Virgin sought to bring the athletic experience to Virgin Voyages in a new way. Concrete were on hand once again to bring this desire to reality and started with the pool. “The pool itself was limited in size and depth so we extended it visually with a 10cm-deep wet perimeter called the beach,” Hassanzadeh explains. “We wanted to bring the feeling of a luxury yacht to the deck and so introduced leather seats featuring bespoke stitching and inbuilt champagne holders,” she adds. The pool deck also boasts a catamaran net suspended over the water and the largest Jacuzzi at sea. Encircling this deck and perched right over the water is an extensive jogging track inspired by New York’s High Line. An extensive athletic club pays homage to 1930s New York, where men would see and be seen, and indulge in delicacies like oysters while sweating it out and showing off their buff bods. Other facilities on board include a world-first tattoo studio; the Redemption Spa – with hydrotherapy pool, mud room, salt room and cold plunge pools – designed by Knibb Design; a mani-pedi spa; and an upscale barber shop created by Softroom.

And finally, after all the sensory overload, sailors can retreat to their cabins, which, in typical Virgin fashion, are the antithesis to your typical cruise ship cabin. Given both Virgin’s and Cooper’s background in aeronautical design, Virgin Voyages know a thing or two about maximising small spaces. They enlisted the help of Pearson Lloyd, who famously designed the airline’s seat, to create the ingenious cabins that convert from comfy lounge by day to tranquil sleeping chamber by night. “We thought about the things that aren’t ideal about cruising, and found it was the fact that you’re in a small room that tries to behave like a morning, evening and nighttime space,” recalls founder Luke Pearson. “In the daytime, you want to get rid of the bed, and at night, you don’t need the sofa,” he adds, speaking to the genesis of the iconic Seabed, which, at the touch of a button converts from L-shaped sofa to king-size bed. “It allows people to have much more fun and bring people back to their cabins,” Cooper adds. By moving the Seabed closer to the window or balcony wall, Pearson Lloyd were able to give more space to the room and bathroom, which features a generous walk-in rainshower – quite a novelty on a ship. Designed by Tom Dixon, the 78 elite Rock Star suites feature larger spaces clad in Tom Dixon’s signature retro-futuristic design complete with dichroic mirror accents throughout and smart lighting by Chelsom. There’s also marble bathrooms, where some lucky sailors can take a peek-a-view shower, which allows them to bathe with stunning ocean views. And in the case of the aptly-named Massive Suite, there’s even an array of guitars to play while lounging on the huge circular sofa.

“We have combined brilliant design and Virgin Voyages’ epic sailor experience vision to create a completely new version of luxury – Rebellious Luxe – which is at the intersection of luxury and a rebellious attitude that makes everything we do different,” explains Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAplin, perfectly summarising Scarlet Lady in all her glory. Scarlet will soon be joined by her three sisters, due out of Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard over the next three years. ON DECK Route: Caribbean Owner: Virgin Group Operator: Virgin Voyages Architecture: GEM Interior Design: Volume Creative, Roman & Williams, Design Research Studio, Concrete Amsterdam, Softroom, Knibb Design Flag State: Bahamas Shipyard: Fincantieri www.virginvoyages.com