Virgin Voyages marked its maiden cruise call to the UAE on Sunday with the arrival of Resilient Lady in Dubai.

Resilient Lady docked at Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal as part of her series of repositioning voyages from Europe to Australia, where she will spend the summer.

The ship is due to depart Dubai Sunday for a two-week cruise to Singapore. The docking of Resilient Lady is the second ship to arrive in the UAE after Mein Schiff 2 earlier this week opened the 2023/24 cruise season. 

Virgin Voyages has confirmed it will return to the Middle East again in 2024 with a two-week voyage from Dubai to Athens.

The cruise boarded passengers on November 5th, but Resilient Lady spent the first night in port, giving passengers more time to explore the sights of the UAE.

Resilient Lady will leave port on November 6th, calling in Mumbai (Bombay), Goa (Mormugao), Colombo in Sri Lanka, Phuket in Thailand, and Port Klang (for Kuala Lumpur) in Malaysia before her arrival in Singapore on November 20th, 2023.

“Sailing out of Dubai, this one-way voyage to Singapore is truly one-of-a-kind — with plenty of time to catch up on Goa’s susegad lifestyle, gaze at Colombo’s mesmerizing architecture, and dip into Phuket’s jade-hued waters,” Virgin Voyages says of the itinerary. “You’ll also get to spend overnights in Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur for extra doses of color and spice; indulging your cravings for discovery and awakening all your senses.”

The cruise line, part of the Virgin brand headed by Sir Richard Branson, which also owns Virgin Radio and Virgin Megastores here in the UAE, is a newcomer to the cruise scene, having launched its first cruise ship, Scarlet Lady, in 2020 just before the pandemic.

This is its first cruise to the Middle East, and its first cruise departure from Dubai, or any other port in the region. 

The cruise line focuses on partying hard at night and relaxing during the day. There are lots of bars and lounges and unusual night activities, including aerialists, comedy, pop-up music, interactive theater and more.

Daytime is structured around a “Vitamin Sea” philosophy that emphasizes relaxation and wellness. The line expects cruisers to participate in a detox, retox array of activities throughout the day.

The cruise line’s desire to be different is also reflected in the lack of any main dining room aboard the ships, instead there are 20 dining venues on offer, which are included in the fare. Nine of them are proper sit-down restaurants.