Virgin Voyages cancels cruises across fleet as new ship Brilliant Lady delayed

Virgin Voyages has announced a delay to the delivery of its new cruise ship Brilliant Lady, forcing the cruise line to cancel voyages aboard its three current ships due to itinerary changes.

Brilliant Lady was meant to be delivered in December this year, but will instead now enter service after April, 2024.

Virgin Voyages has not revealed a new delivery date for the ship, but said her maiden voyages on December 24th and December 30th, 2023, and her 11-night transatlantic crossing on April 20th, 2024 would all be cancelled.

The ship has been delayed by ongoing supply chain, construction and staffing challenges, which have affected newbuild cruise ships across the industry since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

“We know our First Mates and Sailors have high expectations for the award winning service and experience we deliver onboard and until we can meet those standards we won’t deliver Brilliant Lady into service,” Virgin Voyages said in a note sent to travel partners.

“This change means that our three other gorgeous lady ships will also be shifting their schedules, resulting in some cancellations and revised sailings,” the note added.

Virgin Voyages refers to its passengers as ‘sailors’ and travel partners as ‘first mates’.

Other affected Brilliant Lady cruises include:

Her 7-night Sunsets in the Lesser Antilles departures on January 6th, March 30th, and April 13th, 2024 

Her 7-night Southeastern Caribbean Isles departures on March 23rd and April 6th, 2024 

Selected winter 2024 voyages to the Caribbean scheduled to be operated by Brilliant Lady will now be sailed aboard Valiant Lady, while voyages that were meant to be sailed aboard Valiant Lady will instead be sailed by sister ship Resilient Lady.

The affected cruises aboard the ships already in operation are as follows:

Valiant Lady’s 6-night Western Caribbean Charm departures from January 7th, 2024, through March 17th, 2024

Valiant Lady’s 8-night Eastern Caribbean Antilles departures from January 13th, 2024, through March 23rd, 2024 

Resilient Lady’s 7-night Adriatic Sea & Greek Gems departures from July 28th through September 29th, 2024 

Resilient Lady’s 7-night Greek Island Glow departures from August 4th through October 13th, 2024