Virgin Voyages’ first ship Scarlet Lady floated out in Genoa ahead of 2020 debut

Scarlet Lady, the first cruise ship to be launched by cruise industry new comer Virgin Voyages touched water for the first time Saturday as she was ‘floated out’.

On its official Instagram page, the cruise line welcomed its future ‘sailors’ to take part in the ceremony Saturday as Scarlet Lady prepared to ‘sashay across the water’.

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Representatives from Virgin Voyages and Fincantieri flew to Genoa to watch as water was let into Scarlet Lady’s dry-dock for the first time.

Tom McAlpin, president and CEO, Virgin Voyages, was on hand for the ceremony along with Luigi Matarazzo, director of the Merchant Ships Division at Fincantieri and Paolo Capobianco, director of the plant at the shipyard.

Shane Lewis-Riley, director of UK sales for Virgin Voyages, posted on Twitter prior to the event that everyone at Virgin Voyages had become like family.

“When I started my Virgin Voyages adventure I never knew my follow crew would become like family and just how incredible it would be. Today we get to step foot onboard Scarlet Lady for the very first time and we cannot wait to share this moment with our First Mates,” he wrote.

The first ship from the new cruise line will sail her first revenue-making cruise from the Port of Miami in April 2020, on four day to one-week cruise itineraries in the Caribbean.

She’ll also stay overnight in Havana, and a whole host of options, from Wi-Fi and specialty dining, will be included in the cruise fare.

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Giuliana Rindone, an employee of the Sestri shipyard, was the godmother for the float out ceremony, cutting the ribbon that triggered a champagne bottle to crash against the hull of the ship at Finacntieri’s Sestri facility.

With Scarlet Lady now afloat, and all steel work on her hull complete, she’ll be transferred to a wet dock where work will commence on her ‘fitting out’.

The 110,000-gross ton, 2,770-passenger cruise ship is due for delivery in February, 2020.

With three sister ships already on order for Virgin Voyages, the cruise line also on Saturday celebrated the coin laying ceremony for its second, as yet unnamed ship, due for delivery in 2021.