Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson's cruise brand is coming to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson's cruise brand is coming to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Virgin Voyages has announced its newest ship Resilient Lady will be homeported in Melbourne.
Richard Branson's freshly chartered cruise company has set course for Australia and New Zealand with its unique brand of 'adults only' cruising.
The most anticipated venture into cruising for the last decade, the company couldn't have chosen a worse time to debut.
The Flagship Scarlet Lady launched in 2021, sailing straight into the headwinds of a global pandemic.
Phoning from Virgin Voyages' Florida Headquarters President and native Sydneysider, Nirmal Saverimuttu said he was excited to be sending a ship to his home country.
"This was always part of the road map for us," he says. Launching a fleet of four pleasure cruisers was a natural follow-on from Virgin's history in tourism and aviation, in the US, UK and Australia.
The company refers to the fleet as the "lady ships".
Sydneysider and Virgin Voyages' President Nirmal Saverimuttu is pleased to be sending a ship to Australia and New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
After the racy Italian-built Scarlet Lady, the naming of her sister ships took a different tack.
"I think for us the name Resilient was really a hallmark of the times we've been through," he said.
With Australia's cruise ban only recently lifted, the ship's homeporting in Melbourne is a vote of confidence in the return of cruising to the region.
"Australia and New Zealand was a natural extension of the brand," says Saverimuttu . "It's very high in the list of where consumers wanted to sail and also where consumers want to sail from."
The repositioning from Athens to Sydney next year in December 2023 is already 50 per cent booked.
"The majority of that demand is from Australian and Kiwis who are going to fly into Athens, pick up that voyage and sail back into the region."
The Well-being Pool aboard Resilient Lady. Photo / Supplied
The high-end, adults-only cruises have already attracted rave reviews from those sailing on ships Scarlet and Valiant.
You won't find children. You won't find buffets. Neither will you find butlers valets or dress-codes.
Saverimuttu says that it is the kind of luxury-end sailing experience that appeals to the sensibilities of Aussie and Kiwi guests.
"We don't have stuffy formalities," he says. "The ships are designed to feel like superyachts with deck hammocks and outdoor exercise space."
Scarlet Lady's adult-only cruises have been hugely popular. Photo / Supplied
The biggest restaurant is 200 seats with all meals made to order. Most popular with guests has been the style of itinerary, which he calls "stay late and stay overnight", with long ports of call at destinations and facilities available at all hours. Something that also enables the Resilient Lady to hook into shore-power and reduce its fuel consumption and emissions.
It's a jeans and business-casual kind of luxury.
It's only natural that when Virgin Voyages announced that it wanted one of the 'Lady Ships' stationed in Australia, it did not follow the other cruise lines to Sydney.
"Melbourne was a natural place for us to think about," he says. "We do tend to have our own twist on things."
It's an alternative that is likely to be very appealing as Australia and New Zealand reopen to cruise, some of the last countries to do so.
The cruise line has been working with CLIA in Australia and New Zealand to navigate the restart.
"Travel is coming back in different places and at different paces," he says, but vaccinations and Covid-19 protocols for ships have given them a path out of the pandemic.
"We have created something that is close to the safest way to travel as more jurisdictions start to acknowledge that, and see these protocols you'll see things relax".
When the Resilient Lady reaches Melbourne in 2023 Picton, she already has stops scheduled at the New Zealand ports of Napier, Tauranga, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin - by which time Virgin expects the cruise ban under New Zealand's covid-time Maritime Border Order to be ancient history.
The Ministry of Health says that this cruise ban is still under review.
Sir Richard Branson onboard Virgin Voyages ship Scarlet Lady. Photo / Supplied
"These restrictions, including how they apply to cruise ships, are under active consideration as part of the overall review of the Maritime Border Order. There is no timeframe yet as to when a decision will be announced."
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand said he was looking forward to when the ship can sail into New Zealand waters:
"Australia and New Zealand has a very special place in my heart and we can't wait for them to meet our Resilient Lady."
