Photos: Branson targets young travellers with Virgin Voyages cruise ship

The Scarlet Lady will host 2,770 passengers and 1,160 crew. She will sail to Liverpool and then to New York and Miami before her inaugural passenger voyage around the Caribbean in April. British entrepreneur Richard Branson hopes to lure a younger generation of holidaymakers with his first cruise ship, featuring a boutique hotel-type design, festival environment and features like sundeck yoga, a tattoo studio and vinyl records store. Virgin Voyages is one of the first cruise lines to use Climeon, a technology that generates electricity from the heat of the ship's engine to reduce demand for fuel, and will also purchase carbon offsets.

Updated on: Feb 24, 2020 5:38 PM IST

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The Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady cruise liner sits docked at Dover Port in Dover, Britain.British entrepreneur Richard Branson hopes to lure a younger generation of holidaymakers with his first cruise ship, featuring a boutique hotel-type design, festival environment and features like sundeck yoga, a tattoo studio and vinyl records store. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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The Mega Rockstar suite is seen on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. Despite the unfortunate timing, with passengers on one ship quarantined in Japan after hundreds caught the virus and another turned away by five countries over fears someone on board may be ill, Branson sees cruises as a growth area. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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A woman walks through an entrance to a night club on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. Like other Virgin brands, Branson’s Voyages line will target younger tourists with spas, a gym, 20 restaurants, DJ sets, drag queens and a running track. Children are not allowed. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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A sign sits at the check-in desk for the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady cruise liner at Dover Port. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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The Squid Ink Tattoo parlour is seen on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet. Virgin Voyages says it is one of the first cruise lines to use Climeon, a technology that generates electricity from the heat of the ship’s engine to reduce demand for fuel, and will also purchase carbon offsets. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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A man walks through the central atrium on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. The Scarlet Lady will host 2,770 passengers and 1,160 crew. She will sail to Liverpool and then to New York and Miami before her inaugural passenger voyage around the Caribbean in April. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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People do yoga at a gym on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. Single-use plastics are banned, and it is shunning buffets, leading to less food waste as well as avoiding the “staid” imagine of formal cruise dining. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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Chairs seen at a bar area on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. The ship is the first of a planned four-strong fleet, that will be based in the United States and Caribbean. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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The central atrium is seen on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady cruise liner at Dover Port. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)

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“We have one advantage which is that with Virgin we’ve got millions and millions of people who use our products,” Branson said, adding he had never previously wanted to go on a cruise ship. “I wanted to see if I could test our teams to create the kind of cruise ship that myself and my friends would like to come on. I think that they’ve pulled it off,” he said. (Simon Dawson / REUTERS)