Barbados welcomes over 2800 passengers onboard Valiant Lady

The Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady made its inaugural call to Barbados with a total of 2816 passengers and several crew members. This cruise is one of the three newest ships in the Virgin Voyages' fleet and features five stars, 100 percent, adult-only, luxury sailing experience.

The Virgin Voyages is a joint collaboration between the Bain Capital and Virgin Group. It launched its commercial sailings in August 2021.

During its arrival in Barbados, the cruises' captain said that they are pleased to have the island as a part of its Caribbean programme for the 2023/2024 winter season. He added that the visit was very significant as it marked the first time in history that any Virgin vessel has made a call to Barbados.

This luxurious cruise began her service in March 2022 while sailing from Portsmouth, England, to Belgium, till she was repositioned to the Mediterranean during the summers and then to Miami for the winters. The ship has plenty of all-inclusive and amenity options onboard for all passengers to enjoy.

Minister of Tourism of Barbados, Ian Gooding Edghill, also expressed his gratitude to Virgin Voyages for their confidence in the destination and noted that the island will serve as a destination port for the Valiant Lady during its five transit calls during this Winter Cruise Season.

He outlined that the country hopes that the partnership with Virgin Voyages will grow as they explore home porting options at the port here in Bridgetown and offer southern Caribbean voyages for the future.

The Tourism Minister also mentioned that the 2023/2024 winter season had confirmed 392 cruise calls with a predicted 715.527 cruise passengers. He said that when compared to last season's 358 calls with 608,269 cruise passengers, this shows an encouraging 18% increase year-on-year growth.

According to Minister Gooding Edghill, the half-term reports from October to December 2023 indicated that the island has welcomed a total of 131 calls, with 66 of these calls home-porting in Barbados with an average occupancy rate of 96%. The Minister highlighted that from these calls, the nation has welcomed a total of 227,548 cruise passengers, giving a major boost to the tourism sector.