Virgin Rebrands Celebration Cruises Into Red Hot Sailing Club
Virgin Voyages is rebranding its Celebration Voyage concept and changing the name to Red Hot Sailing Club Voyage, starting in 2026. The cruise line also revealed the names of musicians who will perform on the final Celebration cruises of 2025.
These special voyages, which launched in 2023, feature performances by A-list celebrities and have highlighted the cruise line’s heritage by having top executives — including founder Sir Richard Branson himself, join the sailings and interact with guests.
In a May 6 announcement, Virgin Voyages said that the first 2026 Red Hot Sailing Club Voyage will be held aboard Brilliant Lady, the cruise line’s fourth vessel that will enter service in September 2025.
Performers for that voyage have not yet been released, but the new Red Hot theme will undoubtedly continue with the line’s focus on musical icons and original programming.
The cruise line’s final two Celebration Voyages in 2025 will bring big names onboard, including Melanie C, of Spice Girls fame, and Kathy Sledge, a founding member of Sister Sledge.
Melanie C, aka Sporty Spice, is an award-winning British singer and musician who, as part of Spice Girls, sold in excess of 100 million records. Like other iconic bands featured in the cruise line’s celebratory cruises, Spice Girls recorded their music on the Virgin Records label.
Now a solo artist, Melanie C will sail aboard Scarlet Lady on her July 22, 2025 cruise from Lisbon to Portsmouth, England.
Port calls on the 5-night sailing will include Porto and La Coruna, where guests can enjoy shoreside destinations during the day and watch performances by Melanie C as part of the ship’s evening entertainment.
Kathy Sledge will join Resilient Lady’s 11-night Mediterranean cruise departing from Athens on May 18, 2025. She is perhaps best known for singing the popular Sister Sledge song “We Are Family,” a hit that was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry for its cultural significance.
Cruise guests are sure to enjoy her performances while Resilient Lady plies the Eastern Mediterranean and visits Istanbul and Ephesus, Turkey, and Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos, and Crete, Greece.
“These influential artists – who are both part of the Virgin music family – create remarkable communities through their music, a perfect alignment with the spirit and connection that defines the Virgin Voyages experience,” said Jamie Douglas, director of immersive experiences at Virgin Voyages.
“These incredible sailings not only reinforce Virgin’s standing as an iconic company rooted in music, but also serve as a love letter to our epic community of loyal Sailors worth celebrating every day,” added Douglas.
Brilliant Lady Will Debut in New York in September 2025
Prior to hosting the cruise line’s first Red Hot Sailing Club Voyage in 2026, Brilliant Lady will debut in New York.
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The ship is under construction at a Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. Scheduled to launch in September, her inaugural cruise will be a 5-night Bermuda cruise from the Big Apple.
Following a series of cruises from New York, Brilliant Lady will reposition to PortMiami in October and sail 7- to 12-night Caribbean cruises through mid-March 2026.
The ship will then sail to Los Angeles for a short series of spring 2026 Mexican Riviera sailings before arriving in Seattle in May 2026, where she will offer Alaska cruises through summer 2026.
The cruise line recently unveiled new entertainment programming for Brilliant Lady, including a musical revue called Red Hot, touting Virgin Records’ history. It seems that the Red Hot revue was a precursor to the rebranding of the Celebration Voyages to its new moniker.
In addition to Scarlet Lady and Resilient Lady, Virgin Voyages operates Valiant Lady. Each of the ships accommodates 2,770 guests.
Virgin Rebrands Celebration Cruises Into Red Hot Sailing Club