Look who’s back in Genoa! On the morning of 6 July the Scarlet Lady docked at the Ponte dei Mille, the first cruise ship by Virgin Voyages, that began its adventure on 13 February from the Ligurian capital, with its launch ceremony taking place in the Sestri Ponente Fincantieri shipyard, where it was built. Do you want to see it live? Click here

From Genoa, the new “creation” by Sir Richard Branson then left for a tour around the world until it reached Miami, where the lockdown, and the resulting suspension of travel delayed its début (planned for 26 March). This ship is destined to revolutionise, in aesthetics and concept, the cruise holiday, so much so that there is an adults only section on board.

The Scarlet Lady, 278 metres long, 38 metres wide and with a tonnage of 110,000 tonnes, then returned to Genoa, where it will remain for around twenty days for some after-delivery work, over the next few days it will be in roads at sea (the planned date is 11 July), to then dock again at the pier after testing has been completed. In the meantime, the 1,160 crew members will disembark. None of them have tested positive for Coronavirus.

No matter where you are in the world, you can admire the Scarlet Lady from one of the many  Liguria Nautica webcams overlooking the port of Genoa. The Scarlet lady will then cross the ocean again to reach the Caribbean where she will embark her first paying guests. The scheduled date of departure is for 16 October.

In the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Levante, construction of the twin vessel, the Valiant Lady is under way. Delivery is scheduled for 2021, while the third and fourth ships, as yet unnamed, will launch, respectively, in 2022 and 2023.

Giuseppe Orrù