Unpacked: Richard Branson Is Making Me Have Second Thoughts About My Second Thoughts About Cruises

It’s that time of year again when the power goes out and the ice cream you thought would get you through the dog days is now melting over the pages of celebrity magazines, half-obscuring photos of the rich and famous like Jeff Bezos and turning their smiles into inadvertent smirks as they cavort on big yachts.Those sleek barques are synonymous with a devil-may-care lifestyle that few aside from discredited oligarchs and figures from the high-tech firmament can afford — or observe without cringing, depending on one’s outlook. For the rest of us, there are two comparable options: leafing through an atlas with an Aperol spritz in hand or taking a cruise. The second option is a cinch for some but problematic for others, such as this correspondent. And it is not only because of enthusiasm for an unfairly forgotten essay, undimmed by the passage of time, about supposedly fun things one wouldn’t necessarily want to do again. It is because of what cruise ships represent — scripted travel experiences and the risk of touristic bloat afloat. Consider that Venice has blocked, at least officially, large cruise ships from entering its lagoon, and the city of Amsterdam has banned them altogether. Yet cruise ships are a fact of life, a $20 billion a year industry globally, by some estimates. Obviously some people love them, and love is as strange a thing as people who do not like mint ice cream on a hot summer’s day. When recently at the historic port of Piraeus a certain silvery-toned ship with deep red accents made my jaded head turn, it was intrigue at first sight. Upon closer inspection I could discern the name of the vessel: Resilient Lady, replete with splashy depiction of a red-tailed mermaid clasping a banner with the classic Virgin logo. Maybe others knew that Sir Richard Branson had branched out from the skies to the seas, but it was news to me. So I checked in with the communications manager of Virgin Voyages, Michelle George, who told me that Sir Branson’s cruise line launched in 2021 with the Scarlet Lady. Each ship in the fleet is known as a “Lady Ship,” which Ms. George says is “a play on the term ‘your ladyship’ from Virgin Atlantic and gives a nod to Virgin’s British heritage.” The Virgin fleet consists of two additional ships: Valiant Lady and Brilliant Lady.In what will be music to the ears of many, these cruises are for grown-up ladies and gentlemen only: if you’re under 18, ask your parents to park you at Disneyland. Being exclusively for adults is “one of the biggest draws for our target audience,” Ms. George said, adding that Virgin leverages this offering across its marketing and advertising campaigns, like the latest one with Jennifer Lopez. Called Jen A.I., it encourages “Sailors,” which is how Virgin describes its passengers, to invite their friends aboard while highlighting the amenities geared toward adults. What motivated Sir Branson to dip his toes in the world of cruising in the first place? His fondness for his private island in the Caribbean is well known, after all. Yet it was not that. “Virgin is known for disrupting the industries it enters, and that’s exactly what Sir Richard Branson did upon entering the cruise industry. He’d never been on a cruise before, but was determined to create a new, reimagined experience that would shake things up and feel more like a mega yacht or boutique hotel at sea,” Ms. George said. One of those differentiating factors is fine dining: “We introduced 20-plus eateries with six signature restaurants featuring menus curated by Michelin-starred chefs,” she added.The environmental impact of cruise ships is a concern for some communities, but for Virgin “restoring ocean health and building positive relationships in our communities is part of our brand’s DNA,” Ms. George said. That effort includes the elimination of single-use plastic on-board and emphasizing the use of recyclable and reusable materials across the ship. She added that Virgin Voyages has also partnered with three alternative fuel companies in an effort to become carbon neutral by 2050.“Never a ship sails out of bay but carries my heart as a stowaway,” Roselle Mercier Montgomery once wrote, and I concur, especially when it comes to aircraft carriers. I still begrudge a French buddy of mine for not getting me a day pass to board Charles de Gaulle when he joined the nuclear-powered warship for a ride from Souda Bay at Crete to an undisclosed location. The food on board was pretty good, he latterly informed me. But where had that gleaming Resilient Lady come from? Where was it going? Turns out the “Greek Island Glow” itinerary makes stops at Santorini, Rhodes, and Bodrum in Turkey, and makes an overnight stay at Mykonos. The “Adriatic Sea and Greek Gems” itinerary includes stops at Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia, Kotor in Montenegro, and Corfu, the Greek island that is closer to Albania than Athens.Resilient Lady will make its debut in Australia and New Zealand later this year. During her repositioning voyage, she will be making stops in an array of ports like Dubai, Singapore, and Bali before arriving at Sydney in early December.Unpacked is a periodic travel column from Mr. Grant in which he highlights or otherwise deconstructs a destination or experience of potential interest to today’s curious traveler.

Unpacked: Richard Branson Is Making Me Have Second Thoughts About My Second Thoughts About Cruises

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