by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Mon March 2, 2020
Update: March 3, 2020 at 7:45 a.m. ET
After canceling events associated with the New York City debut of the Scarlet Lady ship, Virgin Voyages released a statement about the decision and the plan for the vessel moving forward:
Virgin Voyages has made the decision to postpone our upcoming events in New York City and will sail back to New York at a later date for a proper launch celebration. We believe delaying the launch celebration is the right thing to do given public sentiment and focus at this time. We have absolutely no health concerns or issues on board and there are no issues with our passengers or crew.
With no other events scheduled in New York at this time, we will instead sail the ship to her new home in Miami. The 850 passengers currently on the ship are friends and family of our crew and were invited to join a complimentary test sailing with us. We are working with those who need assistance for travel home from Florida.
Virgin Voyages announced the cancellation of the cruise line's New York City debut for its new ship, the Scarlet Lady.
Officials from Virgin Voyages sent an email to travel media personnel scheduled to attend the inaugural NYC event that revealed the cruise line was postponing the celebration to keep "a watchful eye on the news."
The Scarlet Lady was delivered to Virgin Voyages in February by the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, and the email stated the ship had already made stops in Dover and Liverpool over the last two weeks before canceling the NYC experience.
A spokesperson for the cruise line said the Scarlet Lady has "absolutely no health concerns or issues onboard," but the "elevated health protocols and processes we put in place when we took delivery of Scarlet Lady have kept our crew and their family and friends well and happy."
The vessel will be rerouted to its homeport in Miami, where it will be prepared for its first voyage with paying passengers on March 26.
"At the moment, we have only postponed the showcase tour events in New York," a Virgin Voyages spokesperson said. "We're continuing to closely monitor developments and will update everyone should there need to be any further changes made based on current events."
The Scarlet Lady was also designed with the latest energy-efficiency standards, helping the cruise line become the first to achieve carbon neutrality in its direct emissions footprint, starting from its very first day in commercial operation.
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