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Suitcase Divas: Travel Agent Tips, Tricks & Travel Tales
Join co-hosts Denise and Cheryl as they chat about the journey of life and how travel plays an intricate role in navigating its twists and turns. Whether it's sharing travel tips, swapping stories over a glass of wine or mimosa, or welcoming special guests, there's always something new to explore! Grab your suitcase, pour a drink, and let’s dive into the adventure of life together—because travel makes everything better!
Suitcase Divas: Travel Agent Tips, Tricks & Travel Tales
Virgin's No-Cruise Cruise Will Change How You Think About Sailing
Think you know cruises? Think again. This week, the Divas are flipping the script on everything you thought cruising was – and trust us, it's not your grandma’s buffet boat. We’re joined by Tracy from Virgin Voyages, and she’s here to spill the tea on why this adults-only escape at sea is truly the ultimate “uncruise” experience.
No kids. No formal nights. No buffets. Just a floating boutique hotel bursting with personality, world-class dining, and bold, come-as-you-are vibes. Tracy takes us behind the scenes of Virgin’s refreshingly inclusive philosophy – from crew members rocking tattoos and piercings to "sailors" (that’s what they call guests!) dancing barefoot under the stars on Scarlet Night.
Let’s talk food. With six Michelin-level restaurants included in your fare – from Korean BBQ at Gun Bay to steak and seafood at The Wake – this is gourmet living without the upcharge. Oh, and did we mention gratuities, Wi-Fi, and basic drinks are all included too? Yep. No surprise bills here.
Virgin Voyages is attracting everyone from 30-somethings to 70+ adventure-seekers, all loving the intimate-yet-energetic feel of these stylish ships. With overnight stays in places like Ibiza and edgy entertainment that pushes creative limits (hello, Dual Reality!), this is cruising – redefined.
Plus, Tracy gives us a sneak peek at what’s next: Alaska in 2025, a fresh new app, and the arrival of Brilliant Lady. Whether you're a cruise skeptic or a travel junkie looking for something new, Virgin Voyages might just be your next obsession.
Ready to sea it differently? We’re Gold Level First Mates and would love to help you plan your own “uncruise” adventure.
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Hey guys, so welcome welcome. We have Tracy from Virgin Voyages today, so welcome, Tracy.
Speaker 2:Hey, thank you. Thanks for having me, ladies. This is exciting. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're so happy to have you with us, so let's spill the tea, get started. What got you started in the travel industry and what led you to Virgin Voyages?
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a long story. It may take all of our time Give us the condensed version.
Speaker 2:I'm old ladies, let's do the Reader's Digest version, okay, 1991. Let's go back to that timeframe, graduating from college with a degree in political science, which will take you nowhere. I had my girlfriend at the time who became my fiancee, who's now my wife of 32 years. We were talking about it. She was a year behind me. I said you know, I'm going to take my gap year at the end of college before I really start working. Right, we didn't have gap years back in the 90s. We didn't even hear that, right? So I got a job as a tour guide with a small tour company here in Western North Carolina. They'd never hired anybody 22 years old. Back then. There was no technology like this stuff where people could look up the answers to things. So I was a bus tour guide, starting in 91, for a few years actually, and then we got married and I kind of left the road but actually stayed on working with that company internally, did some HR work for them. That company internally did some HR work for them, and so anyway, long story short, that's how I got started.
Speaker 2:2017, let's just fast forward. I left that tour company. I actually left that company three or four times over the years to go make more money because they were a family-run business. You know how that goes. So they don't know how to give you a raise unless they miss you and appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I left, but in 2017, had the chance to make a change to a BDM role with the Travel Corporation and that's who I went to work for. First guided vacation business, but very high end, luxury, gold and inside vacations, very good products. And then eventually, when COVID hit, it kind of got combined. I went over to Uniworld, river Cruising, coming out of COVID with still with TTC. I kept my job, thankfully, and then, two and a half years ago a little more than that I made the change from Uniworld to Virgin Voyages and never thought I'd work for an ocean cruise brand. I never really thought that was something I would, you know, really gravitate toward. But when I saw what Richard Branson was doing with this, I'm like, yeah, I got to be a part of that. So my career trajectory completely changed and I'm so glad I made the change to Virgin. So that's the short version of a long story.
Speaker 3:I love it. Yeah, yes. So that leads us into what makes Virgin Voyages different from other cruise lines. What's the magic?
Speaker 2:Wow I would use and I don't think our marketing team has ever used this phrase but we are the closest thing to an uncruise as you can get, compared to what the other cruise lines are like. Nothing against what the other cruise lines do. Let me be clear we're very proud of the fact that there's Carnival and Royal and NCL and MSC and all those great cruise lines out there. Trust me, they have paved the way for what Mr Branson decided to do with us. But Mr Branson never was a big fan of traditional cruising either, starting way back in the 70s and 80s when he was building his empire. So about 10 or 15 years ago they said we don't want to start a cruise brand, but let's do something different, let's completely disrupt the industry. So that's really what Virgin is about.
Speaker 2:We're not building huge mega ships of 6,000 or 7,000 people. Our ships are 2,500 to 2,700 passengers. They're all four just alike right now. It doesn't mean they'll be that way in the future. When we announce those future ships and I'm not spilling that tea today I wish I knew, actually, but I don't.
Speaker 2:But beautiful ships, more boutique, more yacht style Even with that many people, you can create a yacht type experience. The food is off the chart. Incredible Michelin star dining all included, your tips are included, your Wi-Fi is included. The things that Mr Branson says, hey, people are going to pay for this anyway, let's just go ahead and include it in the cruise fare. So it's more like a floating boutique all-inclusive resort at sea. I love it. So that's sort of where we fit, and I'm not going to say anything disparaging about the other cruise lines, because they do a great job with what they do. Right, if you're looking for something different and maybe you're wanting to elevate your experience a bit, we fall into into that premium space of a really nice boutique cruise experience with no kids, and that's the first starting point.
Speaker 1:That was what was going to lead me into the next question. So what about this? Adults only, that's.
Speaker 2:I mean no other cruise line has done this, like adults only. Yeah, I mean, there is one other cruise line that kind of leans in that direction, of course, and they start with a V as well. They're known for their river cruising and they do a great job at that, but we're on the far end of the spectrum of adults only from each other, right from that other.
Speaker 1:There are two different types of travelers.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, absolutely. We have casinos on our ship. They don't we have lively entertainment. I'm not saying that they don't have lively entertainment. We're more of a Vegas type experience that higher end, high energy, as we said, adults only but a more progressive adults only experience in the sense that we're open to try new things and do some fun, exciting things and break new barriers and embrace everyone. The thing I love about the Virgin culture is we want everyone to feel included and welcome, from our sailors, which are our guests, to our crew as well, and you'll notice that our crew. We allow them to be themselves, we allow them to express themselves through their ink or hair or piercings or whatever, and we encourage them to interact with the sailors too, and that's a big difference, I think, in the cruise industry as well.
Speaker 3:And welcoming having your sailors be welcomed by someone that they can relate to, because they can vibe with their crew people. So what kind of travelers really thrive with virtual voyages? What would be the ideal sailor?
Speaker 2:You know there's not a and people try to break things down into demographics of age and you know all that kind of thing. It's really not an age thing with us. It's typically. The average passenger for us is between 30 and 70. 61% of our sailors are between 30 and 70, actually probably more than that. Uh, there are more people over 65 than under 25 on our ships, even though we're adults.
Speaker 2:Only we tend to still gravitate toward that empty nester group, the forties and fifties. Yeah, who in the house is in that group right now? We have, as adults, or even older kids. You know, 50, some percent of our sailors are leaving kids at home and they may. I don't know what they're doing with them. I hope they're feeding them or having someone watch after them. You know. So a lot of our people still have kids at home, but they want to get away for that, you know. Adult getaway where it's just them, they can reconnect, they can, you know. Or girlfriend getaways, small groups, celebrations. We really gravitate to people looking to have a good time and to celebrate life, if you will.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love the brand features. Like what you said, richard says it's a no-cruise attitude, so no buffets, no formal nights. I love how Virgin has recreated this wheel. What would you say for food wise? What would you say is like, give us, like, what is the one place you would love to go every night? I mean because the food is what everybody talks about too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, once people kind of get over the fact there's no kids, and then they start talking about the food. It's just, and I can't really specify one particular restaurant. It depends on what you're in the mood for that night. And I've talked to some of my friends who've never sailed with us and they say, well, describe how you do that. And I tell them, if you ever go to a really nice world-class city, let's just name one out there, say New York or San Francisco or LA, wherever you want to say a world-class city, and you're going to be there for several days, let's say you start in advance of thinking about the restaurants you want to really enjoy at that place, and one night it might be an Italian restaurant, because that's what they're really.
Speaker 2:One night it might be a great steak and seafood, one night it could be Mexican. That's the way our ship is. We have six different specialty restaurants that are included in your cruise fare and it depends on your mood that night. Now a lot of folks gravitate immediately toward the wake, and the wake is our steak and seafood because that's safe, right?
Speaker 2:You know, everyone loves a good steak and everyone likes, you know, a good piece of seafood, whatever it might be. But then you get on board and you're like man, that pink agave, that Mexican place looks amazing. And then you see, oh, the extra virgin, that's the Italian place. And then you hear people talking about Gun Bay Korean barbecue at sea Nobody's ever done that where it's prepared right in front of you. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:And then the test kitchen. You're like well, I'm a foodie, I love to watch the Food Network and I love to see how they make stuff and it's really a high level tasting menu. Throw in the test kitchen in there. So. And then Razzle Dazzle. Each of our ships is going to get a little bit of a special. You know flair at Razzle Dazzle, based on what we want that ship's atmosphere to be. So on Scarlet, now that's Lucky Lotus. At Razzle Dazzle. On Brilliant, when she comes out in September, it's going to be Roja. And then let's see Valiant Lady's going into Dry Dock for a short couple of weeks. May of next year She'll come out with her own little twist on Razzle Dazzle too.
Speaker 3:So we're giving a little bit of a unique layer to each restaurant.
Speaker 3:So, along with all those amazing features you've already talked about. So, along with all those amazing features, you've already talked about, one of the I think one of the interesting things is entertainment, because it's it's a variety. But what I also liked and I think it goes right along with the adults only cruise is that they can be spicy. I love that there is some spice to some of that entertainment. So what's the? What kind of shows and entertainment can guests expect to experience?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's going to vary by ship, but it's all going to have very similar. You know themes. Now I want to say this too from the beginning. You know, I started almost three years ago. The brand is still evolving. When we came out, we were really making that splash Like we're adults only and we're going to prove it to you, right? So there was an early show called Never Sleep Alone and that show was really sort of that in your face. You know the love and marriage show that everyone else does on their cruise lines, but they don't say the words. That kind of go with that. They use code terms like whoopee or whatever. Well, on our show, never Sleep Alone, we use the words and we just came right out there and said you know?
Speaker 3:and it was good.
Speaker 2:It was well received. But it also would catch some people who maybe came to us from other cruise lines with a little bit of a oh gosh, that's a shock factor kind of thing. So we pulled back a little bit on the over the top risque, if you want to look at it that way. But our general entertainment the show called Dual Reality that we do on almost all of our ships right now that is an award-winning show that's actually been taken to land from the sea. It's Cirque du Soleil meets West Side Story, so it's like two teams that are competing, but they're acrobats and they're on, they're flying all over the place and it's just really cool. And the ending of that show, which I won't give away, is exactly what our country and our world needs, the way to see that show ends. It's just people coming together the way they should, and I think it's a great story for us to take off the ship as well.
Speaker 2:Another great show that I just love. It's only about an hour long. It's called Persephone. I just love it's only about an hour long. It's called Persephone and it's based in Greek mythology. And you talk about Vegas. There are sparkly, mirrored, sequined body suits in this show I would try to get one because it looks awesome. There's Hades and then there's, you know, the heaven area for Greek mythology. It's really a cool story, yeah.
Speaker 3:You ladies would fit.
Speaker 2:Which one would be. In which area Do y'all oh, we take turns.
Speaker 3:It depends on the night or the atmosphere, but we definitely take turns.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Or the cocktails and don't get me wrong, the cocktails are definitely helpful, but the shows are just edgy enough for you to know hey, this is an adult's only experience, just different to know that no other cruise line would do anything like this. This is so cool and our space that we do the shows in are so flexible and usable. We have a show called the Untitled Dance Show Party Theme. That is the name of the show Untitled Dance Show, dance show party thing. Stages move around you as you move around and dancers move around and it's like the wildest looking dance show you've ever seen. And, yes, you participate, you can do the line dancing. It's just a lot of fun that sounds awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it does sound awesome.
Speaker 1:Um well, you that red is my signature color.
Speaker 2:It's beautiful because it goes very well.
Speaker 1:I know I could be your brand ambassador and I've been told I give mermaid siren vibes, so we'll talk about that after the interview, but so Scarlet Knight always makes a splash, right. Yes, can you walk us through that experience for those of us that have not been on there?
Speaker 2:I have to say, you know you hear people talk about things in life that you have to experience one time. Maybe it's running with the bulls, maybe it's, you know, just one of those really cool life-changing experiences. Scarlet night's kind of one of those things to me. You know you need to experience the full measure of Scarlet Knight at least one time. Now every ship does the same programming, if you will, but every crowd has a different vibe and so there's a different feeling. I've experienced Scarlet Knight ten times now in the last three years and each of those ten times has been somewhat different than the others, even though the programming is very much the same.
Speaker 2:It's where our ship is totally taken over by the happenings crew, which is our answer to cruise directors. There's 12 different happenings crew members. We start with a fun little episode in the roundabout area where we actually have a wedding and it's all a contrived fun little wedding, and then there's a reception and then we're moving throughout the ship, there's all kind of pop-up activities and it finishes with a beautiful dance party up around the pool until two in the morning. Nobody does a party like Virgin does a party and the lights. It's like being in a discotheque the best discotheque you can think of, but floating at sea with open stars above you. It's just off the charts. And dress in your red, or don't? You don't have to. It's scarlet's the theme. Yeah, it's all optional. Dancing in the pool is not? You are required to dance in the pool at some point I'm writing that down right now.
Speaker 2:Memo that'll be part of your um interview to be the next mermaid on our future show, oh yeah, so that's.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of different things that you've talked about so far that Virgin offers outside of other cruises, but what's something that you would say that they're first time sailors on Virgin are most surprised by?
Speaker 2:I think they're most surprised by the amount of information they receive without it being forced upon them. You know we have a cool app and just a little bit of tea. A new app is coming out this summer, because that's been some things that people complain about Apps are always glitchy and things like that Brand new app. I just got off a call this morning that there's a brand new app launching this summer. We use that exclusively. You don't have to have a lot of paperwork, you don't have to bring anything with you to our terminal. We're very progressive in that sense.
Speaker 2:And then when you get on the ship, there's no announcements. Nobody's screaming at you every five minutes that bingo is starting here or that's going on there. But you still feel like part of a big community because there's information flowing to you all the time and you get to know other sailors, you get to know crew members and they talk about the activities that are happening. Hey, don't forget, we got a show happening tonight at this time. Or there's a pop-up music group at the On the Rocks event coming up, or you know, it's just one of those. You feel like you're part of a family, but even funner than a family when you get on that ship, that everybody's there together to have a great time and make sure other people have a great time.
Speaker 2:So the sense of community once you get on board, I think, is something that surprises people, because a lot of times people cruise just to get away and do their own thing and kind of just, you know, be in their little two-person bubble. You can do that with us. But the feeling on board is just such a collaborative you know cooperative feeling. When you're laying by the pool you're like, hey, I'll watch that for you if you need to run back to your cabin for a minute. I don't know who you are, but we're all here together having a great time. And that's really, I think, what a lot of people don't realize until they step aboard the ship and I will the way you explain.
Speaker 3:That is kind of the way I felt when, when we were going through our training which I will say y'all have amazing training for us, tas um it the thing that kind of I was like wowing over was the less structure and formality of cruising, because I know I've been on cruises where I'm looking at okay, what is the typical itinerary? What time dinner do I have to? Should I be selecting the shows, the theme nights? And what kept coming across over and over again is we're going to give you Virgin Boys, are going to give you that experience. If that's what you want, you can go and schedule a sit down type of dinner if you want, or you can just pop in when it's free. Wear what you want. Like that was a big thing, because a lot of people worry about what do I wear on a cruise? Do I have to dress up? Do I have to wear? Do guys have to wear their khakis? Can they wear short? Like it was such a very different. Come relax, you're coming to a family cookout kind of vibe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you ever meet Mr Branson, he puts that off as a person he is. You know. He's a billionaire, of course, and he owns thousands of different businesses and companies or whatever, but his personal vibe is like you be you, I be me, we be us together, and there's no formality in all of that. Just be comfortable in your skin. Now, being comfortable means you want to wear a tuxedo. Wear a tuxedo, I don't care. But being comfortable means you're wearing cutoff jeans and a t-shirt. That's fine too.
Speaker 2:It's not about the pretense, it's about the substance of each person and acknowledging and recognizing those beautiful qualities that each person has, be it a sailor or a crew member, and we're all on there together celebrating that, and that's just such a warm feeling when you step on board and you can feel like that I can be my authentic self, I can relax and realize no one here is judging me and from there I can enjoy great food, great show, quiet time, peaceful places or party till 2 am it's my choice. My option is for party till 2 am. It's my choice, my option.
Speaker 1:I do love that, I love, I love that. This is amazing, yeah. So our like, I'm very blingy, some people are down cutoffs. It, everybody's welcome, right? I love that attitude. So our audience does love a little luxury, a lot of fun. No judgment, I love it. So which Virgin Voyages? I'm going to give you a couple different because you know the itineraries. So I'm going to give you a couple scenarios because anybody can enjoy a Virgin Voyages vacation. So for what would you recommend? For, like, a girl's trip? What voyage maybe for a girl's trip?
Speaker 2:Well, oftentimes when you're dealing with a lot of ladies having to come together, you've got to be mindful of schedules and sometimes people don't have the same amount of time off. The most popular girl strip would probably be our Fire and Sunset Soiree, which is out of Miami. It's five days. Yeah, it's five days, four nights. Traditionally it's around Wednesday through Sunday, but I think we're scheduling that over to Thursday to Monday and that still works with a lot of people's schedules. But yeah, and it's really.
Speaker 2:Key West is a great destination, don't get me wrong. You know we got a day at sea after we leave Miami. Then we pull into Key West on that Friday or Saturday and you spend the whole day. If you want to go get Kermit's you know key lime pie, or go see the southernmost point or visit Hemingway's house, or just get Sloppy Joe's and Hogs Breath and all the great bars, you can do that. Key West is great.
Speaker 2:But then you come back on the ship and then you've got that evening another day at sea and then your beach club at Bimini is your last day before you come back home. It's just a perfect little shorter time frame for the girlfriends to get away. Have two days at sea, to lay by the pool and have your cocktails, have a great stop at Key West and also at Bimini, and it's a shorter time frame Now, if you ask me, if you all can get the time, go further and maybe even sail out of San Juan and go down to the eastern Antilles and some of the ABC Islands and some of the further destinations that a lot of the other larger cruise ships can't get into, if the ports are really important to you. But oftentimes, typically with girlfriend getaways, they're not worried about the ports, they're worried about their time together and one of those shorter four or five night sailings are perfect for that, and we see a lot of that on those shorter sailings out of Miami.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Awesome, yeah, well, so, and I was going to say like well, what about like a midlife birthday blowout? It sounds like you just talked about that going down to the ABC Islands, but do you have any kind of like? So I know you have a five day cruise. What are some of your longer cruise? If you wanted to just have a like a next level pate, send us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you're thinking anywhere in the world, let me just tell you my favorite place for a longer type sailing Get on a plane and fly to Athens and jump on a ship out of Piraeus, the Athens port there, go over and, if you want to, if it's on your bucket list to do Mykonos, santorini, crete, bodrum, turkey, all those great spots they're fantastic. But for me, my personal favorite is go the other way and head toward the north and west and go up to Croatia and check out Dubrovnik and check out places like Corfu. Montenegro is a great little stop that we do and they are pulling into that port. It's like you're going into a Scandinavian city with all the mountains on each side. You don't expect to see that on the Adriatic Sea. That's not something that's going to go.
Speaker 2:And so for me, those little hidden gem type destinations, you can do a seven night or you can do a 12 night sailing to that part of the world and extend that Croatian spots sailing over into, like Santorini and Mykonos too. So for me, that's sort of my favorite areas. We got great stuff out of Barcelona that starts in Barcelona and goes over to Rome. It does the beautiful ports there along Italy and Sicily and these spaces. The coast of France, of course, is popular. Ibiza. We spend the night in Ibiza on a couple of different itineraries and if you wonder why we do that, just Google Ibiza, you'll find out. It's a place you want to stay all night.
Speaker 1:Party.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so those are my bucket list type places. If you want to get away with you and a significant other or a small group, look at those Mediterranean and even Northern European. We have stuff out of the UK that goes up into Amsterdam and further north, up into the Orkney Islands and places like that, northern Scotland and Ireland, and eventually we're going to do Greenland and Iceland and all these places as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, nice yeah yeah. I can't wait for that. Come to find out. I just got my DNA done. I'm 29% Scottish.
Speaker 2:Oh, well, then you need to pop in. You know, maybe go over and stay at the Virgin Hotel in Edinburgh and then jump on the ship and tour around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, when I'm in a brand ambassador, I'm going to be everything we're going to call you a mermaid in waiting.
Speaker 2:How about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I do want to comment on the overnight stay, because that is not something typically done and I think that is such an amazing opportunity when you can spend the night like see the nightlife of the port that you're in, because usually you're sailing out, you're seeing the sunset as you're leaving a port or it's even a little bit later, but to be able to experience the nightlife in those areas is probably amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a key part when Mr Branson started talking about this. You know why do we want to leave right at the time that a destination is starting to wake up and come to life, you know. So if it's one of those destinations, you need to be there to see the nightlife. We will spend the night. A lot of times. We spend the night in Amsterdam, we spend the night in Reykjavik, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland. We spend the night in Mykonos, on the island of Mykonos. I'm sorry, Denise.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, I didn't need to interrupt. I just heard Iceland, northern Lights. A lot of people like all about the Northern Lights. So people that want to see Northern Lights, iceland, where are you saying that's the cruise for you?
Speaker 2:That's exactly right. We have some amazing voyages to see the eclipse and the Northern Lights at the same time, in 2026 as well. Those marvelous voyages, yeah.
Speaker 3:Nice. Yeah, what's something that you wish every travel advisor like our travel that we knew about Virgin Voyages, that we can make sure we're getting that out there for us that we might miss, yeah.
Speaker 2:The biggest obstacle I see to travel advisors or first mates we call them is that they oftentimes will pigeonhole us into just a party vibe only for 20 to 35 year old kids to experience. Here's the deal If you're over 18 and you're not traveling with kids, you should consider us, because we offer everything you might want and I don't care if you're 80. There was a great recent a little blogger, young lady, I call her young, she's almost 30. My daughter's 28. So I can kind of relate, she's still young.
Speaker 2:Just did a recent great little blog that I saw where she was on the ship with seven family members and 80th birthday party for her grandmother and the whole three, four generations had a fabulous time time. And so that just tells me to let first dates and travel advisors know doesn't matter the age, it doesn't matter the maturity level, as long as you're over 18 and you're ready to have a great time, give virgin a shot. You know, here in the south too, we have to kind of overcome that stigma that sometimes attached to you know adults only people think, oh, that's a little bit too risky.
Speaker 2:I grew up Southern Baptist guys, so I get it. We're a little little conservative about things sometimes, but when you get on that ship you just realize everybody can do their own thing. Nothing's being forced on you whatsoever.
Speaker 1:You don't have to go to the drag show. Yeah, we had the diva on the ship I was going to mention.
Speaker 2:You know people are like oh, I don't know if I'll be around a drag queen, you don't have to be. I've spoken to all of our wonderful drag queens, be it Dixie Crystals or Titi Kaka or any of our wonderful drag queens, they get it. There are some people who just, which is a very small percent, and they're fine with that. That's cool. There's 2,500 other people on this ship who are into it, so it's perfectly fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I do love that. So, that being said, are there any upcoming promos, fam trips, new itineraries? I know we're going to talk about Alaska, right, because hello.
Speaker 2:Alaska's doing fantastically well for us. People are so excited about the virgin twist on Alaska starting next year, of course, and that's going to be on the newest ship she's launching here in September, brilliant Lady. She'll be in the Northeast for a bit. You know she'll do a couple stints out of New York City and then on up to Quebec and then she'll even come a nice 13-day sailing from Quebec down to Miami along the whole East Coast, popping even into Charleston, south Carolina down here, which is kind of cool. So we're excited about Brilliant.
Speaker 2:There are some good promotions specifically for Brilliant sailings this fall and winter. So if you're interested in maybe getting on our newest ladieship, check out your first mate. Make sure to talk to you guys about these wonderful new quick promotions we've got going on. But through the month of May right now, 75% off the second sailor, plus there's some cash incentives out there, depending on the particular sailing and how long it might be up to $500 instant savings on a lot of those. And you'll see we'll run some little flash things happening here in the next, you know, month or two as well. So just keep an eye out and stay in close contact with your first mate so that they can give you the heads up when something special might drop. Sometimes we'll run a little weekend sale and things like that which, cheryl and I are your first mates.
Speaker 1:We are gold level. Yes, we can help you book anything you would like to book. I did see the new brilliant lady had an option, if you sail out of New York, to have a stay over at the Virgin Voyage Hotel, which is fabulous.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that was a limited thing. I don't know if all the rooms are gone yet because obviously the hotel only has limited space. So if you're interested in that, reach out ASAP because I'm sure some of the dates may have already sold out of all the rooms they have in a block there. But those little cute promotions are great where we can kind of cross brand with our Virgin Hotel partners and let folks experience both the land and sea with us as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, yeah, well, going forward. So what's next for Virgin Voyages? Is there any other exciting teasers, anything? Anything you can offer us?
Speaker 2:Yeah there'll be some new announcements throughout the summer that I can't get in depth on, but talking about some more of these new shows and giving you little sneak peeks on like our Murder Mystery Dinner show that's coming out, that's my jam.
Speaker 3:Murder Mysteries are my jam. That's my jam. Murder Mysteries are my jam.
Speaker 2:There'll be some shows where maybe you pick the ending. As sailors, you guys get a chance to pick how you want the show to end. It's very interactive with our sailors. There'll be a time machine music show debuting and stuff like that too, and then even some sneak peeks onto some of the tweaks that we're making on Brilliant Lady, since she will be going to Alaska. We're kind of creating some cool viewing areas and things like that on Brilliant, so there'll be a little bit of a difference on her compared to the other three ships we have out there. So we'll be dropping teasers on all that throughout the summer.
Speaker 2:The new app that we're excited about, too, is going to be popping up and that I saw a preview of it today. It's going to be so easy to book your dining, to connect with other sailors, to go ahead and book. You don't have to book shows, but you can put them into your calendar. Those are free, but you'll know exactly your whole daily schedule. There's a great little planner on that new app and things like that coming too. So we're tweaking things and making it better for our sailors and we're taking their feedback and letting they're letting us know what they'd like to see. You know, change, improved or updated. Some new menu items are coming out too, and our eat and drink festival is happening in july. So if you're sailing in july, you're going to get some really cool cocktails, food and appetizers and really fun stuff with eat and drink as well nice, that's awesome joke to Note to self sail in July Right.
Speaker 2:Any sailing you can get on in July, you're going to be impressed with some cool food options for you. But the 2026 Alaska, there's going to be an eat and drink festival sailing that's just dedicated to eat and drink in Alaska and that's a cool itinerary you might want to check out for next year.
Speaker 1:I certainly will.
Speaker 3:I'm assuming they're going to or maybe I shouldn't assume that cuisine that would be from Alaska, like more. Oh, that's exciting.
Speaker 2:We always try to tie into that local destination. So even during Eat and Drink Month in the Mediterranean there'll be like Opa hours and some fun things tying into the Greek, you know, food and tradition there, maybe Spanish, coastline, italian, all that kind of stuff for those sailings throughout Europe too. So those eat and drink festivals are a lot of fun and they tie into that local culture.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, all right, so we have a fun little rapid fire we're going to do real quick First thing that comes to mind Okay, your favorite port. Athens oh favorite port, athens. Oh, awesome, your go-to cocktail on board.
Speaker 2:Let me go back to favorite port Dubrovnik, actually out of Athens. So Dubrovnik is my favorite port, but I love anything we do out of Athens, so all those ports around there. Favorite cocktail oh gosh, I had a cocktail called a Yellow Bird one time. That was amazing on the rocks. It was one of their specialties. They were running and I would get it every night. Not sure if it's still running right now, but it had some ginger beer, some vodka. It was really a unique color. It had a beautiful flower in it and everything.
Speaker 2:So that was my favorite cocktail on the ship. We make a mean margarita everywhere. I'm a margarita guy.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Best tequila, best mezcal anywhere is on Virgin, especially at Pink Agave. So go get you a margarita there, even if you're not having dinner. It's great.
Speaker 1:That sounds amazing. All right, a margarita there, even if you're not having dinner. It's great.
Speaker 2:That sounds amazing all right, so pool side chill or party till sunrise, pool side chill. But I'll get up at sunrise and go take a walk around the walking track.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah so rock star or sea terrace rock star yeah hello yeah, but sea terrace is not too shabby sea terrace is a great second choice, but right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, give me an agent who's going to take care of things for me.
Speaker 2:Put me in a rock star suite.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right which in the rock star suite. I don't know that if you haven't sailed virgin, they do they not have guitars that you can literally play there if you're a musician? I just want to put that out there. They also have a tattoo parlor. What are some other things that are just like next level? Yeah, I mean that you don't just see anywhere yeah, the massive suites on our ships.
Speaker 2:They're 2150 square feet large. That's bigger than most people's homes. They do have a music room with four different guitars that you can play if you like at any point. There's a bathroom you can play baseball in. I think you can get 25 people in the shower in there Not that I'm encouraging people to do that. You know, it's not that cool Bucket list challenge. Just never know.
Speaker 2:If you're a mermaid in waiting and you're in that suite, you got to have friends come over, but the suites are next level. I just got to tell you we take such good care of our mega rock star people. They get a red glove service, we call it. They get their in-room bar curated for them. So if there's a special type of gin or tequila or whiskey, whatever, we'll make sure they have it. You know they're very taken care of.
Speaker 2:Tattoo parlor at sea, correct? If you want to get a tattoo, we have amazing artists on board and you can make a reservation as soon as you step on the ship. We have a place for manis and pedis called the Tune Up. We have beautiful places for your hair and stubble and groom for the guys. Great shopping on High Street, even a vinyl record shop on our ships for those folks who want to buy vinyl records for the suites, because all the suites have record players in them. So just that next level of detail. Attention to detail. Each of our different bar areas have a completely different vibe to them. Sip champagne bars are a great place for that high-end martini or glass of champagne. We even do high tea there in the afternoon. If you'd like to pop in and have tea, have a macaroon and a nice little spot of tea because of our British heritage there. So just little touches that you don't even realize till you get on board the ship that those things are happening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it all adds up to fabulous Like yeah, it's an amazing cruise line that I think is kind of next level, that unless you've experienced it, you won't understand exactly what you're talking, what we're talking about. But I think that Virgin Voyages is just an amazing cruise line that everybody should put on their bucket list Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I've got to tell you, in almost three years I've been there, I've seen such a change in the recognition of who we are. You know, three years ago people like now who are you again? What are you about? You know that adult thing and we're not so sure to just now. Oh man, we went on, or we heard someone else went on and they had a fabulous time. We can't wait to try it out so that you know. Public recognition is coming. More and more people are finding out about us. Our sailing club is filling up because once you sail twice with us on your third sailing, you're a member of our sailing club. You get these deep blue extras and little perks and things that we add to you, uh, and then you get special invitations to things and stuff like that. So, and people are now sailing so many times that our sailing club is becoming a big deal and very popular as well.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's fabulous. Well, I appreciate. Do you have anything else that you want to add? Because I mean, how else could we make it like? This is an amazing? Yeah, how can you like?
Speaker 2:what else?
Speaker 1:what else do we need to tell you, like, get your ass on this cruise I didn't even touch on the fitness side that we have.
Speaker 2:You know we talk about food and parties and all that fun stuff because I love the fitness side yeah, the best fitness facilities of anybody at sea. We do the bungee classes. If you ever want to have those bungee fitness classes we do a lot of. We even do a little show, a class called the vhs workout that stands for videos, headbandsbands and Simmons. You remember the old Shake Weight commercial? It's got a little bit of an innuendo to it.
Speaker 2:I guess we have a fun workout class called VHS where you wear your old leotards from the 80s, you know, and your sweat bands and your best Richard Simmons imitation and we just have a great time with that. But you can sign up for other fitness classes. There's outdoor fitness areas. So you know it's not just a one dimensional thing, it's like open to all aspects of you know who you are. If you you want to stay out late and party, that's fine, but you want to get up early and get a good sweat in, you can get them both done yeah.
Speaker 1:That's awesome and I know that with group cruises, you know, depending on how you know if you're looking into a group cruise or something like that, I know that the fitness classes are there. They do a specialized fitness class for you and your group, you know it depends yeah, it depends on how large it depends on how long you're there. If you it, or if you they will work with you, is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 2:Like they are so good with working with any group, it's all about the sailor experience and so anything we can do to enhance that, be it an individual or a group and we love to have groups, don't get me wrong. We have a lot of them, we call them circles. Where you've got, you know, 10 or 12 cabins at least kind of sailing together, we do a special dinner for that group alone. You know, and you ladies, as first mates, can arrange all of that for folks who might want to reach out and say, hey, want to get 10 or 20 cabins together. What kind of deal can you give me? You guys can get on 10% off, you can get some extra perks added to their booking.
Speaker 1:So tell us about Sailor Luke.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have two different things out there One called Sailor Luke, which is really just onboard credit, and you probably hear us refer to it both ways. Onboard credit it's nicer as sailor loot. Yeah, I know you feel like. You feel like you've got, uh, you've uh, you've raided a small village and you're taking some loot with you, um, so yeah, sailor loot is basically onboard credit used for anything shore experiences or anything you purchase on the ship a hairdo, a hair appointment or tattoos or whatever. You can use it for that.
Speaker 2:And then bar tab is something you can purchase prior to sailing, and it's dedicated just to any beverages that have to be made for you, so it doesn't have to be alcoholic beverages.
Speaker 2:It can be a mocktail, it can be a coffee, it could be a smoothie which we do great at our bars up around the workout areas or it can be alcohol, and so you can purchase from $200 to $1,000 worth of bar tab and we throw some extra money on top of that and you use it just like you would at a bar at home. You got a tab running and you just scan your band and once it's gone, it's gone, and so it's a really cool way of letting people prepare in advance for any type of purchases they want to make. You guys can do it for them, or people can purchase it for them in advance. If they want to give a little gift, say, buy them some bar, tavern, sailor loot and let them spend it as they wish when they get on board the ship. Yeah, everything else is included. So all the food, all the soft drinks, all that stuff's already included, so you don't have to worry about paying for any of those things, right, yeah?
Speaker 1:No tears. There's no beverage package per se like that, like that's all taken care of. That's what I love about it it's just all taken care of up front you don't have to worry about walking up and looking at it like what's included in my package.
Speaker 3:Am I at the right one? That that's a huge deal for especially first-time cruisers learning and navigating what it's like to be on a cruise yeah, we just try to keep it simple, you know.
Speaker 2:You know, if there's a cost to it, just use your band, and if you've got a bar tab, it'll take care of it, or sailor loot, it'll take care of it, if not, it's just charged against your folio and you're fine.
Speaker 2:But yeah, first timers really appreciate the simplicity we try to, you know, have in our system here no-transcript when they come off our ship, say that they are more conscious about sustainability efforts after being on board with us. And it's not that we push it in your face. There's not. Reuse, recycle, reduce all over the place and on the ship it's not. And you're right, you don't see a lot of trash containers because we have no single-use plastics on the ship anywhere. So there's no water bottles, none of the plastic forks or any of that stuff, and since everything's included, you don't have to sneak that stuff on the ship in your luggage to have the water in your room. We put two glass carafts of either sparkling or still water in your room and it's refreshed every day, as is the ice, and you have your own refrigerator there. So, yeah, you don't have to worry about a lot of trash because there's not a lot there.
Speaker 2:Anything that's a grab-and-go food item. It's in a recyclable container that you actually use and it's leaving your cabin and your cabin steward takes it back and we reuse it and recycle it and then, throughout the rest of the ship, food waste. We don't serve you huge portions. We serve you huge portions. We serve you several portions if you want more than one, but they're very reasonably sized portions of food so that we're not throwing a lot of stuff away in that sense, either, that's one of the biggest things that cruise lines deal with is getting rid of food that's not been eaten. Since we don't have buffets and things like that, we have very little food waste as well, but it's just the whole vibe of the ship. You're just walking around and you're thinking that is smart, that is the way it should be done. Someone really thought about all the different things, but the hammocks Yellow Leaf, those ladies there's over 100,000 woven parts to each one of those hammocks and they're handmade, and I think it's Thailand and we support this company with all of our guests representing.
Speaker 2:Yes, they are incredible. We represent a lot of women owned businesses. We have Intelligentsia Coffee is, you know, a cooperative, very supportive of local farmers, not a big corporate kind of thing too. So Mr Branson has been great about looking at every opportunity to support entrepreneurs, small businesses, women-owned businesses and certainly sustainable options out there. And it just kind of, you know, radiates to you when you sail with us and people get off the ship thinking when I get home I'm going to be more conscious of that myself too.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really just the right way to do things right.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I want to thank you for just the descriptions and enthusiasm, because it shows and the way you were describing everything we're like we're very envious and ready to be on board. So yeah, we have fomo yeah, when are you heading now on your next cruise? When are you heading?
Speaker 1:for your next cruise. Where are you going? What are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm sailing in August and I'm looking forward to that. But it's actually on a sailing you can't go on and I'm sorry you can't, but it's actually the shakedown cruise for our new ship. When she comes across to New York, oh, brilliantly, she'll let us employees go and we and we know in advance that, hey, this, there could be some things where you know it's fine tuning on the ship, the guinea pigs but I'm looking forward to being the guinea pig and kind of being the first person to see the ship the way she is and that kind of thing. But yeah, I'm sure I've got some other things. My wife is going through the website right now. We may have a sailing before August that I can just go jump on something to the Dominican Republic or Costa Maya or somewhere, because you know we can't go more than about three months without getting on the ship at some point. So I don't know and I got to tell you ladies, this is sincere for me.
Speaker 2:I I really appreciate what Virgin is all about. Are we perfect? No, no, no Cruise line is perfect. We make our share of mistakes, but we try to correct them and we try to be honest and transparent. When we do, we will be the first to say, hey, we screwed up, let's get it right.
Speaker 2:But I just love the fact that everyone on the team is really just trying to make a better environment for people to enjoy just a complete sense of community when we sail, and even within our First Mate community. I just love the way you ladies are interacting with me and we can just kind of, you know, feel the same vibes of being in this together and bringing along your sailors too, and let them know that this is just going to be a life-changing experience in a lot of ways for you, that there are ways out there that people can just come together and forget all the noise that's happening in the world with tariffs and elections and politics, and just be real people for however many days you might be on that ship. And that's what I love about, what we're all about.
Speaker 3:That's amazing, and thank you so much for joining us today and telling us how amazing Virgin Voyages is, and we can't wait to get that info out to our listeners and we're just thankful for you chatting with us today.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we will be on one of these cruises in the near future. And look for me, for your brand ambassador.
Speaker 2:I'm going to label you both as mermaids and, waiting, I could just put you on the side of one of our ships in the future. You know, I hope we have 20 or 30 ships down the road and one of them will be mermaid cheryl and one may be mermaid denise, and that would be awesome.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:My pleasure.
