Virgin Voyages’ New Brilliant Lady Cruise Ship Feels Like an Adults-Only Boutique Hotel — And That’s the Point 

The first place I went on Virgin Voyages’ new Brilliant Lady cruise ship was a hip tapas bar called Rojo by Razzle Dazzle, a new concept for the company created by star chefs Justin Severino and Nate Hobart. 

If I didn’t know better, it would be have been easy to think this was an in-the-know eatery in some cool warehouse district of a buzzing urban area. 

Of course, on this day, when I looked outside, I saw Miami Beach. 

But that’s precisely the point at Virgin Voyages — it’s not what you expect on a cruise ship, and that’s a beautiful thing. 

The new Brilliant Lady, which I toured on its inaugural visit to its new home at PortMiami, is filled with these kinds of boutique-style bars, lounges and restaurants – it’s a very unique thought for a cruise ship, and one that works remarkably well. 

The new Brilliant Lady is, by design, very similar to other Virgin ships — and it’s all here: the seemingly endless, endlessly creative food options, the ultra-cool bars, the energetic programming (and even some outstanding on-board shows). 

There are some small distinctions — like the addition of Rojo — and, then, more importantly, a big one: this one is designed to travel through the Panama Canal. 

The idea, Virgin Voyages CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu told me in an onboard interview, is a different kind of concept.

“What we offer here is something more like a boutique hotel,” he told Caribbean Journal. “The ships are built to not feel like you’re in a big mass market experience. As you walk around, you’ll see it’s nothing but small, intimate spaces.”

On Brilliant Lady, that’s decidedly the case — it feels like every corner reveals a new cocktail bar, a creative food spot. 

The star, as many guests rave — is the food. There are no buffets, no over-the-top cafeterias. 

Everything here is bespoke, organic, thoughtful. The food, Saverimuttu says, is the number one most popular part of these adults-only cruises. 

Take Test Kitchen, the ship’s “experimental kitchen.” It’s: a set menu, with six ingredients, omakase style, where you don’t even know what the dishes will be. 

“People walk out of the restaurant and say, ‘I can’t believe that was included,’” he says. “It felt like I went to a Michelin-style meal in New York somewhere.” 

There are more than 20 different eateries of some kind on Brilliant Lady, and as you walk around, it feels like more. Everywhere you look, there’s a new culinary experience, from a cheekily-named ice cream shop to a cafe that serves a rather impressive espresso to a pizzeria. The latter really wowed — you don’t often see a truffle option on a cruise-ship pizza.

Then there’s the shopping, something completely unlike what I’ve encountered on other cruise ships: what you get here is like an arcade of concept shops – all with authentic-feeling, unique buys, along with low-key but high-end duty free shopping from curated luxury brands. Stuff you’d actually want. 

We’ve seen the growth of the adults-only concept in the Caribbean hotel sector — and it’s not a surprise that the concept is performing so well at sea. 

There’s a demand for these kinds of fun, entertaining, active retreats. 

Having followed the growth of the brand when it was just a high-profile idea — to the new Brilliant Lady, it’s a rather remarkable thing they’ve managed to pull off: a floating boutique hotel, backed by the Virgin brand. 

“We really just designed an experience that is right on whereto modern travel is right now,” he says. “And where the modern traveler is going.”