Trip log, day one. Miami, Florida.
4-Night Bahamian Fire and Sunset Soiree (Bahamian) from Miami, Florida
February 4, 2026
Your Day at a Glance (The Daily Schedule)
Scarlet Lady Deck Plan
Welcome back to an all new trip report as we are once again sampling a new offering from Miami as we set sail on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady for a 4-Night Bahamian Fire and Sunset Soiree cruise to The Bahamas. During this extended weekend voyage, we will be sailing to Key West, Florida and Virgin Voyages’ signature Beach Club in Bimini, Bahamas.
I hope you enjoy this non-Disney Cruise trip report, as we continue to expand our cruise experiences seeing what other lines and ships offer to get a better perspective on the cruise industry. This trip report will range from what we did each day to direct comparisons to our Disney cruising experiences, obviously from an adults only perspective, which is not uncommon on DCL. Again, no hard feelings if this is not the content you are seeking by visiting a blog primarily focused on Disney Cruise Line. For those of you remaining, thank you for following along! Now, let’s embark on this trip report.
According to the cruise line, Virgin Voyages’ first fleet is known as the “Lady Ships,” a play on the term ‘your ladyship,’ giving a nod to Virgin’s British heritage. The fleet includes Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, Resilient Lady, and Brilliant Lady. Scarlet Lady, the line’s first ship, was delivered on February 14, 2020, and entered service in August 2021. The Virgin Voyages fleet is exclusively adults only (18 and up). Scarlet Lady is a little smaller than the Dream-class ships coming in at 110,000 GT with 2,770 passengers based on double occupancy with 1,100 crew members.
Virgin Voyages was founded with seasoned leadership expertise sourced from Disney Cruise Line as well as The Walt Disney Company. At the top is Tom McAlpin, a founding member of Disney Cruise Line’s original management team who served as Vice President of Finance and Business Development, Senior Vice President of Operations, and for his final 5 years with Disney Cruise Line, served as President. In 2015, McAlpin joined Virgin Group as the founding CEO of Virgin Voyages, leading the brand through ship design, construction, and launch. He retried from the role of CEO in 2023 and now serves as Board Chairman for Virgin Voyages.
Up next from Disney is Michelle Bentubo, Virgin Voyages’ Chief Operating Officer (appointed in 2023) originally joining the line in 2016. Bentubo previously held executive roles at Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line. Upon her start with Virgin Voyages, Bentubo established a technology vision from startup through launch, creating a digital-first experience with a focus on customer-centric design through technology.
Time to level up on technology with Andy Schwalb who serves as Chief Information Officer & Chief Technology Officer. Schwalb was Senior Vice President and head of technology initiatives at The Walt Disney Company where he worked on bringing the MagicBand experience to life before joining Virgin Voyages in 2015.
Batting cleanup, is Anders Karlsson the Vice President of Hotel Operations (since June 2021). He started at Disney Cruise Line in 1998 and progressed through key hospitality roles, including Restaurant Manager, Dining Manager, and Senior Manager of Hotel Operations, before joining Virgin Voyages in 2016 as Director of Hotel Services.
Not a bad lineup, right? These executives brought their Disney honed expertise in finance/operations, guest experience, technology, and hotel/dining operations to help shape Virgin Voyages’ innovative, adults-only approach. According to their respective LinkedIn profiles, they bring over 60 years of combined experience from The Walt Disney Company.
Our trip to Miami started with a quick ride over the Orlando International Airport where we boarded a Brightline train for a relaxing trip to South Florida.
PortMiami is minutes from the Miami Brightline station and we simply requested a Lyft as it was cheaper than Uber. In our recent trips, it seems that Lyft is cheaper in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Boarding for Virgin Voyages generally starts in the afternoon after 2 o’clock. We selected a 2:30PM arrival time when checking in online and arrived at the terminal at 2:50PM. At this time, the wave of 2:30PM arrivals subsided and the exterior queue was holding guests for the 3PM window. This allowed us to walk right in the front door without a wait!
Between the Lyft and the check in area, the handle on a well traveled carry-on bag broke. Thanks for the memories, your Disney Fantasy inspired and easy to find design will be missed.
The arrival and check-in process was a breeze. While there was a line inside the terminal, there were plenty of staff available to check in the arriving parties.
Each guest, or in Virgin’s world, SAILOR is provided with The Band – a simple wearable rope bracelet with an RFID tag to use across the ship. Think of this like a DisneyBand+ (MagicBands) or a Key to the World Card. Now, I very much dislike wearing MagicBands on ships or at the theme parks. I am perfectly content using the plastic card which always works. Anyway, this rope bracelet was forgettable in a good way and I did not mind it at all. You can even remove the RFID section and have a nice little anchor bracelet as a souvenir.
The security line moved extremely fast and they didn’t even question our (2) allotted wine bottles in our broken carry-on bag. We were sailing in calm water between waves of arriving guests, which meant there was a clear path to the ship, but there is a nice little waiting area with plenty of outlets to charge your devices in the terminal.
In about 25 minutes after walking into the Terminal, we were boarding the ship! The first order of business was to complete the muster drill. However, I failed and didn’t pre-watch the required video assuming that it was required at the stateroom level.
Once the video completed, we checked in at our assigned muster station and now we are officially free to enjoy the ship.
From what I’ve read, staterooms are normally ready when you board the ship and this was indeed true today. We dropped off our stuff and one suitcase was already waiting outside the door. Let that sink in… Ok, maybe not the best word to use on ship, but we dropped our luggage with a ported outside roughly 40 minutes ago and it beat us to the stateroom. Efficiency at it’s best!!!
We initially booked an inside stateroom, but we submitted a bid in the Level Upgrade program at the lowest bid for a balcony stateroom and it was accepted! Inside the room, we found a bunch of informational documents on the desk such as a copy of the Your Day at a Glance printed schedule and times guide!
There was also a letter welcoming us back as part of the line’s loyalty program Virgin Voyages Sailing Club. But isn’t this your first Virgin Voyages cruise? Yes, it is our first Virgin Voyages cruise, but we took advantage of the Sailing Club Status Match available for Platinum and Pearl level Castaway Club members when we booked back in December of 2024 as well as other eligible loyalty programs giving us Blue Extras status. While this is awesome, the Status Match promotion window ended at the end of February 2026. However, it may be worth keeping an eye out on that linked page if they open it back up again (which they frequently do).
We weren’t alone on this cruise. We had friends sailing in other staterooms. One of them, whom we’ve cruised with several times, including with our kids (who are back on campus during this time), was sailing solo and received an invitation to a solo sailors meet-up. The letter also provided information on solo dining opportunities.
The room was also adorned with some fun accessories such as a sextant bottle opener and wine corkscrew, an octopus, and information on beach towels when going ashore.
We unpacked our carry-on and suitcase, although we were still on the lookout for my suitcase – which seems to be a common occurrence regardless of cruise line.
The staterooms are smart with a tablet available to control the lights, TV, curtains, look up ship information, order room service, and make stateroom requests such as more towels. There is a dedicated charging stand on a shelf above the desk.
I am perfectly content in an inside stateroom, but my favorite part of this stateroom is not even inside the stateroom; it’s the chair hammock on the balcony which can be purchased onboard pending availability, directly from Yellow Leaf Hammocks or from our Amazon affiliate link.
Once our luggage was unpacked and we gave up on waiting for my suitcase, we set out to explore the ship. Starting with an afternoon stop for caffeine at The Grounds, which had a stack of Your Day at a Glance printouts available. We discovered these were available in a few places around the ship to supplement the information available from the Virgin Voyages app. If you are a regular reader, you already know I prefer a printed schedule and only use the app when absolutely necessary. Well, at the time of our check-in for the cruise, the app was required. I attempted to check-in on my computer and the option was not available, however, I am now seeing it can be done on a computer… Will report back next time (because yes, we didi book another sailing).
Regular Disney Cruiser, Chris and his wife were sailing in the Mega Rock Star Suite, and invited us for a tour, conversation, and pre-sail away drinks.
The room is cool, but there is only 1 shower, which has a glass wall into the master bedroom. I guess this is the rockstar life, but if you are sharing the room with others, or your adult children, this requires scheduling for privacy.
We made our way to the upper decks for the sail away from PortMiami which offers an amazing view as you depart compared to Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.
I was a bit worried when I saw the beach towels in the stateroom, as I cannot stand the checking out/in of towels on cruise ships. However, I was happy to see Virgin just like Disney offers grab and go towels near The Aquatic Club which is also near the gym.
Complimentary sail away prosecco? Please and thank you!
Above the Aquatic Club, you can spot the Fincantieri 6287 hull plaque noting the ship’s origin from the Genoa Sestri Ponente Shipyard in Italy. Meyer Werft gets all the headlines nowadays with Disney Cruise Line, but Fincantieri was Disney’s first shipbuilder, constructing both the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder.
An interesting feature about the Scarlet Lady, it does not feature a dedicated main dining room or rotational where you are assigned a place each night. There are multiple restaurants and quick service locations available, but we did schedule times each night before the sailing. For our first night, we are heading to Gunbae for a Korean BBQ inspired dinner.
A social, hands-on, interactive, fun dining experience, Gunbae features specially engineered flameless grills built into each table so Sailors can grill meats to their desire paired with their favorite banchan. Arguably the most energetic eatery on-board, each meal begins with a complimentary round of soju for the table and throughout the evening, Sailors are encouraged to take part in lively Korean drinking games.
Below is a sample of the menu from Virgin Voyage’s website, it is slightly different from the menu we had at our table, but it provides a good overview of what you might expect during a future cruise.
Our server was quite energetic welcoming us to the restaurant, and providing an overview of the menu. We ordered cocktails and essentially went with his recommendation to bring a little of everything for the table to share while still being attentive to the allergy issues at the table.
He proceeded to teach us the drinking game printed in the menu. It was fun once you got the hang of it.
Dinner is included in the price of the cruise, but cocktails are a separate fee.
The food began to arrive in multiple mini-course and overall everything was well seasoned and enjoyable.
After dinner, we walked around more of the interior spaces we did not get to earlier and for the early evening we were pleasantly surprised by the abundance of seating in the various venues and bars.
The Social Club is a central venue for group events and activities and there is a large selection of games, cards, and even puzzles available!
The Social Club also features some light bites and sweet treats, all included in the cruise fare.
Nearby, tucked in a corner is The Loose Cannon, a nautical bar with ample seating.
I noticed a limited edition Powder Keg souvenir shot glass listed on the menu, and eventually spotted one behind the bar in bubble wrap. I guess not all ships can print money with souvenir vessels.
While it is not uncommon to find a ship-exclusive beer, I do love when the beer is available in cans, which, if you are careful, you can bring home as a bonus souvenir to add to a growing collection of cruise ship beer cans.
Tonight in The Social Club was a Know-it-All session of Salty Trivia with random questions, think of it like the Potpourri category on Jeopardy.
After doing so-so in trivia, we meandered around stopping by the pizza shop which offers grab and go salads and a selection of pizzas. Plus, there is a spot where you can quickly grab a beverage and pay for it at the counter! The estimated wait for a pizza was running about 30-minutes as each is made to order, so grabbing a quick slice is not really an option.
Down a deck on 6 is the shopping district, High Street, with a mix of offerings from clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, a tattoo parlor, and a dedicated cruise line shop where we picked up a new carry-on bag to replace the suitcase that broke on arrival. You know how some designers have different sizes to make you feel better about your size… Well, I am now the proud owner of medium Virgin Voyages hooded sweatshirt.
Down on deck 5 is Sailor Services (guest services), where we found a stack of printed schedules as well as a deck plan brochure that ended up being extremely helpful to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the ship. The stairwells/elevator lobby also provide a good deck by deck venue summary. One of the first recommendations I have for anyone heading out on a cruise is to look over and study the deck plan. However, in practice I never do this as I like to play the game of how long will it take me to figure it out on my own as a test of sorts to see how the ship is set up. Moving around the ship was easy, deck 7 became the most visited spot, specifically area around The Social Club and The Grounds which became my North Star for navigating the ship.
I was relieved to see my suitcase waiting outside our stateroom as we turned in for the night. I have no idea when it arrived at our room and was not really worried after seeing the AirTag inside showing up on the ship when I looked right before dinner.
All sailors get a basic Wi-Fi package included with the cruise fare, and for included (free) it was good enough to do simple tasks such as email and social media apps. I did not put it to the test, but it felt like if I needed to do some real work online, I would need to upgrade to a different plan.
There was a nice selection of free on demand movies in the stateroom all browsable from the tablet. With the tap of a button The Hangover was playing on the stateroom TV! We called it a night and plan for a relaxing day at sea tomorrow!
- Day 1 – Miami, Florida
- Day 2 – At Sea
- Day 3 – Key West, Florida
- Day 4 – Bimini, The Bahamas
