Virgin Voyages’ second ship, Valiant Girl, is making her debut in quite a lot of standard Caribbean locations on her current sailings. Over the weekend, the distinctive ship sailed into the British Virgin Islands for the primary time, bringing visitors to stunning Tortola for a tropical winter getaway.
Along with the ship’s first go to, the event was additionally the primary go to by a brand new cruise line to the British Virgin Islands in 2024, making it an much more notable occasion.
Valiant Girl Visits British Virgin Islands for the First Time
Valiant Girl had a exceptional go to to Tortola on Sunday, January 14, 2024. Not solely was it the primary port of name on the ship’s first departure from her new homeport of San Juan, Puerto Rico, but it surely was additionally the primary port of name on the 7-night Southeastern Caribbean itinerary.
Most spectacular, nevertheless, is that it was the ship’s very first-ever name to the British Virgin Islands. This particular go to additionally makes Virgin Voyages the primary new cruise line to name on the British Virgin Islands in 2024.
The ship, with 2,374 visitors and 1,161 crew members aboard, was brilliantly welcomed to the port, with the cruise line’s founder Sir Richard Branson, additionally in attendance on the occasion.
The Premier and Minister of Finance, the Honorable Dr. Natalio Wheatley offered Sir Richard Branson and the grasp of Valiant Girl, Captain Justin Lawes, with a commemorative plaque to mark the event, whereas accepting plaques in return. This time-honored custom marks relationships between cruise traces and particular person vessels with the ports they go to.
The trade ceremony happened aboard Valiant Girl whereas she was docked in Tortola. The ship remained in port from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. Onward within the port-intensive itinerary, the ship will even go to Guadeloupe, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua earlier than returning to San Juan on Saturday, January 20.
Learn Additionally: What’s the Greatest Virgin Island To Go to?
Cruise ships usually obtain plaques, pictures, small sculptures, keys, or different symbolic objects at any time when visiting a brand new vacation spot. These things could also be displayed onboard in a gallery, atrium, hallway, or different spot for visitors to take pleasure in, or they might be moved to the cruise line’s headquarters or different shoreside services, particularly when many such objects are collected.
Viewing the gathering of a ship’s inaugural calls could be a enjoyable solution to uncover the crusing historical past of a cruise ship and the place she has visited, and a neat approach for vacationers to be taught extra concerning the vessel they’re having fun with.
Second Inaugural Go to in a Week
The inaugural go to to Tortola is the second such first go to for Valiant Girl in a single week, albeit on two totally different sailings. Simply six days earlier, on Monday, January 8, the ship made her maiden go to to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
Whereas the 110,000-gross-ton “ladyship” had crusing within the Bahamas beforehand, she usually visited Bimini and hadn’t but been welcomed to the island nation’s thriving capital, regardless of the hundreds of thousands of cruise visitors that go to the port yearly.
As a result of Valiant Girl is a comparatively new vessel – having simply begun welcoming vacationers in early 2022 – it isn’t uncommon for her to nonetheless be making inaugural visits to standard ports of name. It could be extra uncommon for an older ship to be a first-timer at a port, equivalent to occurred not too long ago when Royal Caribbean Worldwide’s Oasis of the Seas made her inaugural name to Aruba after 14 years of crusing.
Valiant Girl will stay homeported from Puerto Rico by way of March, providing a complete of 10 7-night Jap and Southeastern Caribbean sailings to varied ports. In March, she is going to then return to Miami for numerous 4- and 5-night sailings by way of October 2024.
Her future itineraries previous that date haven’t but been launched, however are certain to incorporate much more standard locations and presumably extra inaugural visits.
