Up next in 10
Virgin Voyages news for April 2026 is packed with major updates across the fleet, and in this VV Insider update David breaks down the latest changes sailors need to know. From Brilliant Lady’s first Panama Canal crossing and new onboard venues to the latest Virgin Voyages app update, a new Virgin Voyages deal, Scarlet Lady’s new Happenings Cast, and fresh signals about Virgin Voyages and Australia, this is your full Virgin Voyages news roundup for the past two weeks.
Whether you are researching a Virgin Voyages cruise, comparing upcoming sailings, or just trying to stay up to date with the latest Virgin Voyages updates, this video covers the key announcements in one place.
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Extra perks + planning support when you book through VV Insider:
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WHAT WE COVER TODAY 👇
🚢 Brilliant Lady crosses the Panama Canal for the first time
🌅 New Brilliant Lady experiences including Radiance
🎰 Interior updates onboard including The Den Casino and Juice Sea
📱 Virgin Voyages app update adds the new Planner tab
🎙️ Stuff at Sea announced for Valiant Lady in October
💸 New booking offer explained: 70% off second sailor + instant savings
🎭 Meet Scarlet Lady’s new Happenings Cast 13
🇦🇺 Virgin Voyages signals renewed focus on the Australian market
🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES
🚢 Brilliant Lady’s first Panama Canal crossing ➜ https://vvinsider.com/virgin-voyages-makes-first-panama-canal-crossing/
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0:00
It's been just two weeks since the big announcement of the Sisters at Sea Four
0:04
Ship Meetup in the Caribbean next year, but already there is a ton of Virgin
0:09
Voyages news that we have to catch up on.
0:11
if you're a Virgin Voyages fan like I am, you'll know things
0:14
are moving incredibly quickly.
0:16
well, thankfully, I'm here to make sure that we all keep up to date with the
0:19
latest developments and changes on board the four Virgin Voyages Lady Ships.
0:23
And if we haven't met before, my name is David from VV Insider, which is a
0:28
website that helps millions of sailors around the world learn all about the
0:32
changes and updates that's happening across the Virgin Voyages brand,
0:36
and crucially giving everyone around the world free access
0:39
to guides news and information
0:42
that you'll need to know when you're planning your next cruise
0:44
on onboard Virgin Voyages.
0:46
Well, in the past couple of weeks, we've seen some really monumental
0:49
events happen across the brand, including the first crossing of
0:54
the Panama Canal by Brilliant Lady.
0:56
We'll also be looking at some new things to look out for on board.
0:59
Brilliant Lady, as she makes her debut season on the West
1:03
Coast of the United States.
1:04
There's also quite a big update for the Virgin Voyages app , so
1:07
we're gonna be taking a look at the new features included there.
1:10
A brand new themed sailing has been announced for any fans of
1:13
podcasts which will be taking place in October later this year.
1:17
So we're gonna take a look further into that too.
1:19
Virgin Voyages have also announced a brand new offer that replaces the wave offer
1:24
that has been going on since January.
1:27
we're gonna take a look at this offer to see how you're able to save the most
1:30
money possible on your next booking.
1:32
And in between all the news and announcements, there's actually
1:35
been a brand new Happenings Cast launch on board Scarlet Lady.
1:38
So we're gonna take a look at some new names and faces,
1:41
including some recognizable returning cast members as well.
1:45
Then to round things up, we're gonna take a look at a bit of news
1:48
around Virgin Voyages involvement in the Australian cruise market.
1:52
so you'll definitely wanna stick around for that.
1:54
well, there's tons to look into.
1:56
So let's kick things right off.
1:58
first of all, the most recognizable piece of news for us fans of Virgin
2:02
Voyages was Brilliant Lady's first crossing of the Panama Canal.
2:06
This took place on the 26th of March,
2:09
And this was a really monumental event in Virgin Voyages history.
2:12
The first sense that we got that there were ambitions for a Panama
2:16
Canal crossing was when the details of the new design for Brilliant Lady
2:20
were revealed over on vvinsider.com.
2:23
It was here that we learned that Brilliant Lady was gonna be modified so that the
2:27
lifeboats could be taken in slightly to allow her to get to the width necessary
2:32
for her to pass through the Panama Canal.
2:35
This included mounting the lifeboats on a new system,
2:38
which allows them to be brought in mechanically.
2:41
And this sets her apart from the other three ships in the Virgin Voyages fleet.
2:45
Well, we got our first glimpse of exactly what that looks like when those
2:48
lifeboats are brought in, and as you can see from this picture, it does bring the
2:53
width of the ship down by quite a bit.
2:56
I will, of course, grant you that it does mean for this day during the Panama
2:59
Canal crossing that there wasn't a huge amount of room For people to get
3:03
around the ship outside on deck seven.
3:05
and although personally we weren't on board for this particular crossing,
3:08
we were lucky enough to know a lot of friends on board who were able to
3:12
send us lots of fantastic pictures of the crossing, taking place.
3:15
And if you wanna see what crossing the Panama Canal looks
3:18
like on board, Brilliant Lady.
3:20
You can head over to our article, which on the day was presented as
3:24
a live blog and we kept updating with photos and information all day.
3:28
And you can take a look at what to expect on those Panama crossings as they
3:33
come up again and again, as Brilliant Lady makes her way from the West Coast
3:37
to the East coast and vice versa.
3:39
We heard from a lot of people that this was a really, truly monumentous
3:43
occasion and Virgin Voyages were even selling special merchandise in the
3:47
brand store to commemorate the trip.
3:49
If you like the sound of this idea of crossing the Panama Canal onboard
3:53
Virgin Voyages, there are four upcoming sailings to look forward
3:57
to, and we've got details about those itineraries over on vvinsider.com
4:01
Where you can snag some extra special exclusive perks for just booking,
4:05
using the vvinsider.com website.
4:08
It doesn't cost you anymore, but you'll get some extra
4:10
special perks just for doing so.
4:12
For full details and to learn how to book, head over to vvinsider.com/book.
4:17
Speaking of Brilliant Lady, since the Red Hot Sailing Club voyage, which
4:21
took place a couple of weeks ago, we've learned of some new events that have
4:25
launched ready for her West Coast debut.
4:28
One of these very special events is called Radiance by Virgin Voyages.
4:32
This is an early morning wellness class that takes place at 6:30 AM.
4:37
Radiance is hosted by the Happenings Cast, and it takes the
4:40
form of almost a silent disco.
4:43
So each of the guests are provided with wireless headphones,
4:46
and this event takes place at the Aquatics Club, which is the main pool.
4:50
the inaugural version of Radiance by Virgin Voyages took place on
4:54
the red Hot Sailing Club voyage and was hosted by Katrina the Balancer.
4:58
This particular event has got some incredibly positive feedback.
5:02
Everyone we know that took part in Radiance absolutely loved it.
5:06
And although there's no official silent disco on board of the Virgin Voyages
5:10
ships, now they have the equipment.
5:12
It might be an indicator that we might see some more events taking this silent
5:16
disco technology in a different direction.
5:19
That of course is complete VV Insider conjecture, but if they have the
5:23
technology onboard, you never know what they're gonna do with it.
5:26
sticking with Brilliant Lady, just for one extra moment.
5:29
There has been some new updates again to get her ready for her West Coast debut.
5:34
and namely, these are some updates to some internal spaces which bring her up
5:38
to parity with the rest of the ships.
5:40
So the two main things to look out for here is an update to The Den to
5:45
make it into The Den Casino, which you may have seen onboard a Scarlet
5:49
Lady, Valiant Lady, or Resilient Lady.
5:51
Another update here is that there's been a reworking of the juice bar,
5:55
and now that becomes Jucie Sea.
5:57
For anyone that's been following Virgin Voyages for some time,
6:00
you'll know that The Den used to be the space on board the ships.
6:04
That always had a bit of a question mark over it.
6:06
'cause it wasn't always designed to be a public facing Sailor
6:10
accessible area on board.
6:12
In fact, sometimes The Den was simply used for staff training and seminars.
6:17
well, as of the Panama Canal crossing The Den is now nowhere to be seen across
6:22
the entire fleet Instead across the entire fleet, we now see The Den Casino,
6:27
which is an extension to the casino.
6:29
and The Den specifically is for high rollers.
6:32
We got to see what The Den casino looked like on board Resilient
6:35
Lady earlier this year, and it is a really nice and intimate space.
6:40
We are not big gamblers ourselves, so we weren't using the games or the machines.
6:44
But there is a lovely seating area, and it's just a nice place to get
6:47
away from a lot of the hustle and bustle on board the rest of the ship,
6:51
especially when the casino isn't open.
6:54
if perhaps you're in port or earlier in the morning.
6:57
So I do recommend even if you are not somebody who enjoys gambling,
7:00
have a peek into The Den Casino.
7:02
And if you've missed out on seeing what The Den used to look like before
7:06
it was changed into the casino, we've got a picture here on our article of
7:10
what it used to look like, where it used to be a place just to hang out
7:13
and play things like board games or sewing circles and things like that.
7:17
If you're looking for that type of atmosphere or event now, you'll head
7:20
straight up to the Social Club instead.
7:23
Also on Brilliant Lady, the Juice Bar that sits between the Dock House and The Dock.
7:28
At the very back of deck seven has now been re-engineered and
7:32
it is now called Juice Sea.
7:34
This redesigned bar is much more welcoming and inviting when it used to look.
7:38
And there's now some more lovely artwork on the walls to make
7:42
this a much more inviting space rather than just the corridor.
7:45
It felt like before.
7:46
Again, a huge thank you to our sailors who were on board the
7:49
Panama Canal crossing that sent us these pictures of the new spaces
7:54
and of the Panama Canal crossing themselves.
7:56
We couldn't do it without you.
7:57
Thank you so much.
7:58
Some more updates this time, not to the ships themself, but the app experience.
8:03
So the Virgin Voyages app was relaunched back last year to a native application,
8:09
and there were a few features missing when the app originally launched . well,
8:13
with the app being mostly feature rich,
8:16
we are now seeing some new features launching on the app itself.
8:20
You'll notice there's a new tab, which is called The Planner.
8:23
The Planner tab is designed to show you the port times, anything that
8:27
you've got scheduled or booked as part of your Virgin Voyages experience,
8:30
And generally a more useful and innovative way to see what your agenda
8:34
looks like each day of your voyage.
8:36
This change comes alongside some other navigation changes so if you do
8:40
have a voyage coming up or if you're on board at the moment, take a look
8:44
at the app and have a look at the changes and let us know what you think.
8:47
Are there any other features that you'd like to see on the Virgin Voyages app
8:51
? Let us know in the comments your ideas.
8:53
We do know from across our social channels that there has been some challenges with
8:57
the new app and some issues reported, we do know that the Virgin Voyages IT team
9:02
are aware of some of these issues and are getting them fixed as soon as possible.
9:07
So just make sure your Virgin Voyages app is always up to date.
9:10
if you remember, last year there was a theme sailing that was
9:13
all around true crime podcasts.
9:16
This took place in October last year, and actually coincided
9:19
with a Halloween voyage.
9:20
From what we understand, this was really, really well received and people
9:24
that were on board that voyage and that were a fan of those True Crown
9:27
podcasts, had a really incredible time.
9:29
Well, it's now been announced that there is a new podcast themed
9:32
voyage coming up later this year.
9:35
So on October 2nd, 2026.
9:37
there is a very special sailing that has some extra programming
9:40
provided by the producers and hosts of the iHeart Podcast Network
9:45
Specifically, these are the podcasts that are all in the "Stuff" theme.
9:49
So that includes "Stuff You Should Know", "Stuff They Don't Want You To Know"
9:53
and also "Stuff Mom Never Told You".
9:56
So that means the hosts and the producers of each of these three podcasts
10:00
Will be on board this special voyage which has been named "Stuff at Sea".
10:04
This is taking place on Valiant Lady
10:07
this very special five night cruise goes out from New York heads to Bermuda
10:11
before returning back to New York City on Wednesday the 7th of October,
10:15
This will be a rare opportunity to watch these podcast episodes being
10:19
recorded live in front of you.
10:21
but there is of course, the traditional Valiant Lady events lineup running
10:24
alongside these special events.
10:27
so if you're not a fan of podcasting and you're still booked on board this Voyage,
10:30
fear not, you are still gonna have that Virgin Voyages experience regardless
10:35
of this theme going alongside it,
10:37
there's still really good availability for this particular voyage.
10:40
So if you're looking to get booked, then head over to our article on vvinsider.com
10:44
where we tell you more about what to expect on this voyage, and we tell you
10:48
what pricing and deals are available for this particular voyage, as well
10:52
as all the other upcoming voyages too.
10:54
speaking of other upcoming voyages, there is a new deal available across
10:58
all upcoming Virgin Voyages Sailings.
11:00
This special new deal became available on the 1st of April
11:04
and runs all the way up to the 28th of May.
11:07
And it's actually a really interesting one because we have seen such a
11:11
fantastic offer since January.
11:13
What we generally expect to see is that offer is the best one possible.
11:17
Well, actually, we've been doing some digging and it looks like this offer
11:20
is actually still pretty darn good.
11:23
So this offer gets you 70% off a second Sailor.
11:26
Before this date, it was 80%, but now they're introducing this idea of
11:32
instant savings available when you book.
11:35
And these instant sailings are effectively just money off the cruise fare.
11:39
And these instant savings are based on the cabin category and
11:43
the number of nights of the voyage.
11:45
But it does mean that for some particular sailings, this offer actually comes out
11:49
better, especially if you're looking at those higher level cabin categories
11:53
like RockStar or Mega RockStar.
11:55
The 70% off a second Sailor deal we're pretty familiar with.
11:59
What this really boils down to is if you book a sailing with two or more
12:03
sailors, everyone on that sailing gets 35% off of their cruise fare,
12:08
And that even counts if you've got four sailors in a room, you all get 35% off.
12:13
So you can already get some really good savings that way.
12:16
But if you wanna get those extra instant savings, let's take a
12:19
quick look at how that works.
12:20
So we've broken this down really visually on our article over at vvinsider.com.
12:25
But effectively, if you want to max out those savings to get a thousand
12:28
dollars off, you wanna choose one of the longer savings and you want
12:31
to choose a Mega RockStar category.
12:34
But there are still some really good savings to be had on Sea Terraces.
12:37
And even all the way down to Insider, you're still getting some money off.
12:41
there are as always, some exclusions with these particular offers.
12:45
But what we've seen is combining the 70% off the second Sailor
12:49
and those instant savings,
12:51
The deals actually compared to the Wave offer deals that we've just seen over
12:55
the past few months are quite comparable.
12:57
So I really encourage you to head over to vvinsider.com/book where you can look
13:02
at all of the prices available for every single one of the upcoming sailings.
13:07
And we've made some changes to make it even easier for you to make
13:10
sure you snag a really good deal
13:12
' cause we've made it
13:13
really obvious, which sailings actually qualify for our extra special
13:17
bonus Sailor Loot that you'll get from going through vvinsider.com.
13:21
So as you're scrolling through this list, you wanna have a look at these
13:24
yellow tags, which explain how much extra bonus Sailor Loot we can give you.
13:28
As long as you are choosing at least a Limited or a Slightly
13:32
Smaller Sea Terrace or above.
13:34
And if you choose the category of "Bonus Loot Available", you can filter the
13:39
voyages to just see the ones where we give you that extra special Sailor Loot,
13:43
and you can score up to $200 of Extra Sailor Loot simply by booking through us.
13:49
Of course, even if your voyage doesn't qualify for that extra Sailor Loot, you'll
13:53
still get all the benefits of booking through vvinsider.com, which includes
13:58
booking with the number one resource for Virgin Voyages around the world,
14:02
personalized planning information with ad free content and tools , as
14:06
well as the ability to earn "Diamonds" on every single one of your voyages.
14:10
and you can save those diamonds up and spend them on even more onboard credit.
14:15
There is literally no better way to book a Virgin Voyage.
14:19
We absolutely love sailing on Virgin Voyages, and we know you will do as well.
14:23
Amongst all the events and news.
14:25
Over the past couple of weeks, there's been a new Happenings
14:27
Cast launch onboard Scarlet Lady.
14:29
So we have a brand new Hostess called Bethany who comes to
14:33
Virgin Voyages from England,
14:34
having trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire,
14:37
Bethany is an incredibly talented vocalist and theater actor,
14:41
and she'll be taking up one of those pairs of iconic heels on
14:44
board Scarlet Lady as the Hostess.
14:46
Filling out those other pair of iconic heels.
14:49
Is Chyna Cravens's the Diva Chyna is an Orlando based drag performer.
14:54
having originally come from Texas.
14:55
Chyna has a flight for high energy performance and is no
14:59
stranger to cruising, having been on board Carnival Cruise line.
15:03
She was recently crowned Miss Volusia Pride in 2025, and you'll be able
15:07
to see Chyna the Diva across Scarlet Lady's event lineup, including the
15:12
exclusive show Lights, Camera, Drag!
15:15
that's available only on Scarlet Lady.
15:17
Our article on vvinsider.com covers off the entire cast of 12 performers that
15:23
you're gonna be expecting to see on board.
15:25
there is a range of new faces and returning artists, so
15:29
make sure you check them out.
15:30
they picked up the baton on Scarlet Lady on March 13th and are expected to be
15:34
around until the 23rd of A fond farewell to the Scarlet Lady Happenings Cast
15:40
that left the ship on the 13th of March.
15:43
If you are ever looking to meet the Happenings Cast for your voyage before
15:46
you head on board any of the four lady ships, then head over to vvinsider.com
15:50
and simply search Happenings Cast.
15:52
and finally, a little bit of unexpected news.
15:55
This time out of Australia,
15:57
This is with the announcement that Virgin Voyages are committing to
16:00
doubling down on the Australian market.
16:03
We were made aware of this because Stephen Hopkins, the
16:06
Head of Growth at Virgin Voyages,
16:08
was part of a travel industry meeting earlier this week
16:12
where he made it known that Virgin Voyages were expanding their focus in Australia.
16:17
As well as recruiting a new Head of Sales and Development for the region.
16:21
This is part of Virgin Voyages commitment of reinvesting in the Australian market.
16:27
Now, those that have followed Virgin Voyages for a while will know that
16:30
Virgin Voyages actually made sailings and deployments to Australia back in 2023.
16:37
this is when Resilient Lady repositioned from Europe and headed all the way
16:41
down to Australia in the fall of 2023.
16:45
it was originally assumed that this was gonna be an annual thing
16:48
where the ships would make their way and winter over in Australia.
16:52
Now, unfortunately, due to disruption in the Red Sea,
16:56
this was put an end to in 2024.
16:58
There has been a huge amount of online speculation of whether Virgin Voyages will
17:03
be making a reentry into the Australian market When it comes to bringing a
17:08
ship and doing a deployment down under.
17:10
Nathan Rosenberg, the chief marketing officer last year had indicated that
17:14
any deployment to Australia would probably form part of an Asia deployment.
17:18
this all of course sounds extremely exciting and we ourself would love
17:22
to see Virgin Voyages exploring that part of the world again.
17:25
It's very clear from the news that we heard around this announcement when it
17:29
comes to Australia, that the language that Virgin Voyages are using is very careful.
17:34
Not to mention that a ship or a deployment or an itinerary is coming Australia's
17:38
way, but this is really about sales and marketing and trying to get Australians
17:44
to invest in the Virgin Voyages brand.
17:46
That might mean convincing more Australians to come to the itineraries
17:50
that are already in Europe or America,
17:53
but we do know that next year during the Sisters at Sea Four Ship Meetup,
17:57
it's been promised that there will be a glimpse at the roadmap of the
18:01
brand and what the future brings.
18:03
so that could mean some more exciting needs about new ships and
18:07
destinations, but really we won't know until closer to the time.
18:11
Just know that we will be among the first, if not the very first, to let
18:15
everyone know about what's going on.
18:17
So make sure that you stay subscribed to this channel so I can tell you all
18:22
the news as and when it happens, and if you want to get ahead of the curve,
18:26
head over it to the website and sign up to the email newsletter as well.
18:30
often the readers of our newsletter hear things before anyone else does.
18:34
We've got a really exciting giveaway coming up very, very soon where
18:38
we're giving away a free cruise.
18:40
This is the first time we've ever given away a free cruise here at VV Insider,
18:45
and we're so excited to do that.
18:48
but we are still nailing down the details.
18:50
so if you want to be in with a chance of winning that free cruise, make sure
18:53
you head over to our Facebook page,
18:55
our Facebook page is a really good place to go for joining the conversation about
19:00
Virgin Voyages and meeting other Virgin Voyages fans and maybe people that
19:04
are heading onto your sailing as well.
19:06
So head over to Facebook and search for VV Insider.
19:09
And make sure that you like or follow our page and we'll let you know within
19:13
the next week what you'll need to do in order to enter that competition
19:17
for that free cruise giveaway.
19:19
We're very, very excited for that.
19:21
So do come along for the journey.
19:23
I very recently put together a guide on upgrading your Virgin Voyages cabin, which
19:27
has been really well received, and there's some really great tips in there on how to
19:31
snag a cabin upgrade on your next voyage.
19:34
So if you're looking for something more to watch, then head over to that video.
19:37
But until next week where we're gonna be producing another video
19:40
guide with some more top tips that you'll need to know for sailing.
19:43
I just wanna take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Easter
19:47
for everyone who celebrates that, and until next week, happy sailing!
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