Virgin Voyages has revealed its first ship, Scarlet Lady, will have more than 20 dining options, all of which will be included in the fare.
Passengers – to be called sailors – won’t be locked into fixed dining times, they’ll be no main restaurant onboard and no formal dining, it said.
Options will range from haute cuisine to casual dining in restaurants created by world-renowned designers including Roman and Williams, Tom Dixon, Concrete Amsterdam and Soft Room.
Pink Agave Mexican
"There’s a Virgin twist on everything you’ll see aboard the Scarlet Lady, which means there will be no stuffy formalities, boring buffets and no main dining rooms," said founder of the Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson. "Sailors are not going to want to leave our ship after they experience how we’ve designed our restaurants and tasted the dishes we are going to be serving up in 2020."
Concrete Test Kitchen
The cruise line said it will bring ‘city-like eating’ to sea and ‘throw out the traditional cruise dining rule book’ with no buffet, no main dining room, no forced formal wear, no assigned seating, no assigned dining times and enhanced choice’.
Restaurants will stay open late, sometimes until the early hours of the morning, it said. Nearly all will feature a bar, where diners can eat if they choose.
AvroKO Hospitality Group, which includes Saxon + Parole, Genuine Liquorette, Ghost Donkey and Public, has helped to curate the food concepts and strategy with input from its own Michelin-starred chef Brad Farmerie.
Tom Dixon
