Resilient Lady Sailors 2023 - Athens, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney

18/11/2023

18/11/2023

Special Dinner at Pink Agave

18/11/2023

Mumbai

18/11/2023

Mumbai Flower market

18/11/2023

Delicious Food

18/11/2023

So lucky to have this adventure!

18/11/2023

So many sites and adventures!

25/10/2023

Plate, Snap, Eat with Christopher and Val was PHENOMENAL! Good FUN, good FOOD and endless champagne but most of all GREAT class instructors/HAPPINESS LEADERS! When you take the class, come hungry (and thirsty 🥂)!

21/10/2023

When in Athens…

17/10/2023

Here's a nice complete summation of the epic journey we all have coming! Bags are packed and ready to go. https://vvinsider.com/virgin-voyages-sets-sail-from-greece-to-australia-this-weekend/?fbclid=IwAR1QgnaaShhmfAwUFIWmRhM_N1AIeagV2JO6-WtI8gXrqOOjgRDjMSCISSM

On Sunday October 22nd, Virgin Voyages will begin their historic 45 day journey to Australia to kick off the Winter...

08/10/2023

Certainly, we are all in heavy countdown mode with only TWO WEEEKS to go till our Resilient Lady sail away! My wife and I are finalizing our packing options and making sure all our visas are in order. (Fingers crossed on India.) Tell us below what your last minute to-do items include. And here's a 2022 picture of the two of us from a national park in the USA. We'd also love it if you dropped your photo (So we can say HI while onboard.) As a bonus, we'll buy a drink for the first person who correctly guesses where this photo was taken. See you all soon!

14/09/2023

Hi Everyone, we will begin our travels from Florida and after a few days in Sydney we are headed to Hawaii for a five days then flying to Seattle then home. Our long year of planning is finally coming to fruition with, hopefully, a beautiful and memorable (for all the right reasons) trip. Some of the last minute details we have completed are:

Immunizations - We met with a consultant at our county Health Department who helped us determine our needs. (For me, three shots plus one prescription medication to take while on the trip. My husband only needed the pills and two shots.)

Health Insurance - We met with our agent to determine our out-of-country needs and made a temporary change to our policy to insure full coverage. (I consider this our "insurance" so we will not need it!)

Credit Card - Our bank helped us obtain a credit card for international use so as not to have additional fees added. (We'll use our regular CC while on board as Virgin works on US $)

Phone - We have a scheduled appointment with our carrier to see what kind of international plan we may, or may not, wish to add for us to have during the cruise and while in Sydney.

Visas - Only India is left to obtain and we are not able to get it until 30 days before our arrival so that task is on hold.

Our Scarlet clothes are chosen, along with our PJs for the party, and we are beginning to think about thinking about what to pack. LOL

Have y'all been as busy as us?

About one month until departure - Yippee!!

04/09/2023

Has everyone settled on a packing strategy for six weeks of cruising and excursions? Scarlet Nights, PJ Parties, Halloween, You Fancy - So much to do, so little room to pack!!

02/09/2023

Has it occurred to anyone else that after this triple header, we will have travelled farther on a Virgin Voyage vessel than anyone else in the world? It is also pretty cool that other than the Greek isles, the Resilient Lady will be making its 'virgin' docking at every one of the ports we'll be visiting. Good luck, Crew! BTW - 50 days and counting.

22/08/2023

It's getting close to time for booking dinning reservations - but it sure would be good to know the times and nights of the shows prior. On the other hand, we'll have two weeks aboard to see/eat everything we want but still... So far, I'm just using the show schedule for the current 7 day Athens cruise. Unless someone else has any other ideas or information?

22/07/2023

We are seemingly making this journey at the perfect time of year - based at least on the weather!

Checking the temperatures at all the ports during our visits shows fantastic conditions - no rainy seasons and moderate temperatures. The coolest is projected to be in Athens with a low of 59F and the high being in Bombay at 93F. Other than that, conditions are generally in the 60F/80F range.

Perhaps this will make packing clothes for the trip easier but I doubt it!

14/07/2023

By the way, Travel & Leisure magazine just posted an article listing 25 of the world's greatest islands. It just so happens we will be visiting five of them! Now that's what I call efficiency.

Looking for an unforgettable island getaway? Here, the top 25 islands in the world, as part of our annual "World’s Best Awards" survey for 2023.

14/07/2023

Mark this day as there are only 100 left till Resilient Lady departs Athens for our triple header cruise to Sydney. Start the countdown!

28/06/2023

After departing Singapore and spending two days at sea, the Resilient Lady will be docking on the southside of Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 23rd at 8:00am. This will also be the (US) Thanksgiving holiday, hopefully turkey-free!

Bali is a spectacular island filled with epic temples, rainforests, beaches, waterfalls and the like. It should be breath-takingly beautiful.

Interestingly, whereas the majority of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, the Balinese are deeply devoted to Hinduism. As such, there is an innate reverence for nature throughout the island.

The Resilient Lady will be staying in Bali overnight and departs at 5pm on Friday. The attached tourist guide is quite in-depth and had useful information that may help plan our stay. https://bali.com/bali/travel-guide/

Is anyone getting excited yet? 🤩

Essentials when Traveling to Bali. Visa, Destinations, Moving to Bali, Things to Do, working in Bali , Bali Culture Guide, Bali Accommodation Guide

05/06/2023

New excursions listed Cairo to Sydney!

Explore the shore excursions being offered for Caribbean cruises

18/05/2023

Virgin Voyages sent this information by email today. They also included a guide to Dubai along with it. Nothing to worry about for this portion, at least.

Below are current guidelines for citizens of: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and all EU and EEA countries. However, you know your citizenship and residency scenario best and should contact your local consulate if you have any questions about the documentation required. Below, you'll find the requirements for the ports we'll be visiting.

Greece: No Visa Required

Egypt: Visa Required - Visa will be issued to the entire vessel as a blanket visa therefore there is no need for Sailors to obtain one in advance.

United Arab Emirates: No Advance Visa Required - Visa will be issued on entry via passport stamp.

14/05/2023

Many of you probably know already that today marks Resilient Lady's first official cruise, sailing from Athens. Last week, the 'Lady' did voyage out, however, hosting various Sailor friends and family in a preview cruise. As such, there was lots to see with new menus and entertainment offers. One FB group that posted a lot of pictures was The Getaway Guys. It was great to get a preview of what will be awaiting us in October! Short rib pastrami?!

25/04/2023

Do you know that it is only six months to go till we depart the dock in Athens? Whoop! Along the way to Sydney, we'll be making an extended stop in Kuala Lumpur, arriving at 3pm on November 16th and not departing until midnight on the 17th. That should allow plenty of time for exploring. To help along, this article from TripSavvy provided a good synopsis of this vibrant capital of Malaysia.

Use this travel guide to Kuala Lumpur for learning about where to go, food, nightlife, getting around, and more.

09/04/2023

This Virgin Voyages page is interesting in that it lists all their current excursions at existing ports. Since we are first stopping Santorini and Rhodes, you can see the excursions currently being offered there.

Explore the shore excursions being offered for Caribbean cruises

06/04/2023

Who knows what today represents?? Only 200 days till we depart Athens for the trip of a lifetime! The days won't go by quick enough.

We just booked our airfare from US plus reserved at Athens Perianth Hotel for three nights prior. Now, about those visas...

Anybody else all booked up and ready?

08/03/2023

This looks to be great news for us!

Virgin Voyages has announced never-before-seen fleetwide entertainment for 2023, ahead of the Resilient Lady’s debut this summer, according to a press release. The cruise line is promising new shows, parties, additional live music acts and a festival stage of rotating performances, as well as the ...

01/03/2023

We'll be shouting "Onto Phuket" after we depart Colombo, Sri Lanka for a day at sea before arriving in Phuket, Thailand on November 16th at 9:00 am (till 5:00). Phuket is an island in southwestern Thailand and is known for its gorgeous beaches, popular nightlife and a giant Buddha! More details can be found in this handy synopsis by Lonely Planet. BTW - only 235 days till Athens departure.

Explore Phuket holidays and discover the best time and places to visit.

19/02/2023

Anyone else making the Resilient Lady's triple cruise part of a round-the-world trip?

We'll be making our first (and certainly last) RTW trip by starting from Sarasota, FL and flying to Athens. Once in Sydney, we'll fly to Oahu, Hawaii (for a required five-day recovery stop) and then back to Florida.

Who else is going to feel like Magellan when done?

14/02/2023

One question has been about visas for the various countries we'll be visiting. For U.S citizens, the answers can be found at this government site:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages.html
From this source, visas for Australia, Egypt, India and Sri Lanka will be required for U.S. cruise passengers. Methods for application and cost were found on this site https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3340
Hope this helps. Only 250 days till Athens departure!

Here are some countries that currently require visas for U.S. citizens on cruises.

11/02/2023

Today, Virgin sent out a promo email that highlighted two of the three repositioning cruises - the Athens to Dubai portion (1st) and the Singapore to Sydney part (3rd). Interesting that the middle Dubai to Singapore is not noted, perhaps indicating a sell-out.

Regardless, the email blast had some interesting information on the cruise itinerary and the ports we'll be visiting. Hope you can see them both.
https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/transatlantic/athens-to-dubai-cruise?utm_source=cordial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=q4destinationseries&utm_content=02112023_sl-Q4DestinationSeries-SouthPacific-seablazers&cID=61bd0c0d1777aa736531efac

https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/transatlantic/singapore-bali-australia-cruise?utm_source=cordial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=q4destinationseries&utm_content=02112023_sl-Q4DestinationSeries-SouthPacific-seablazers&cID=61bd0c0d1777aa736531efac

Take a Greek Island cruise from Athens and set sail to Cairo Egypt and Dubai. This repositioning cruise from Greece travels through the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

06/01/2023

After a call to Sailor Services, I learned a bit about prior and post flight and hotels.

Regarding flights, Virgin said they would gladly help book flights, there was no advantage to doing so with them. Though they did say Virgin Airlines is really, really good.

For hotels, they had two to recommend in Athens, The Perianth Hotel https://perianthhotel.com/ and the Grand Hyatt. https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/greece/grand-hyatt-athens/athgh Whether there was an incentive to use these hotels is unknown.

For Sydney, I asked about recommended hotels and will post when response received. But since there seems to be a significant contingent of Australians on this cruise (or part of it), perhaps some local suggestions are available?

Of course, it may be a bit early to book either air or hotels but at least some information is starting to become available.

Happy Days - only 289 of them left before Resilient Lady's Athens departure for repositioning!

Enjoy your stay at Grand Hyatt.

24/12/2022

New York Times has an article highlighting the many fabulous restaurants of Dubai. An interesting read.

After years of simmering, the Dubai food scene is at full boil. The emirate now boasts some 13,000 establishments and some are nabbing global laurels.

17/12/2022

After Resilient Lady departs Mumbai on Friday, Nov. 10th at 5pm, we'll be making a quick trip down the coast to beautiful Goa, known as the 'playground' of India. We'll be making a relatively short stop with arrival scheduled at 9am on Saturday, the 11th and departure that evening at 6pm. Regardless, there is evidentially a world to see in Goa, as least according to these attached article/guides https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/travel/what-to-do-in-goa-india.html and https://thespicyjourney.com/goa-travel-guide-insiders-guide-to-goa-india/ Whatever adventure we choose, it will likely be memorable.
BTW - Resilient Lady's starting departure from Athens is 'only' 309 days away.

19/11/2022

After leaving Dubai on November 4th, Resilient Lady will be spending two days at sea before arriving in Mumbai, India! We are scheduled to arrive at 1pm on November 9th and will not depart till the 10th at 5pm. Mumbai is said to be the New York City of India so there should be plenty of sights and sounds (and smells). This little travel guide from Fodor's seemed quite helpful for delving into this metropolis. https://www.fodors.com/world/asia/india/mumbai

BTW- it is ONLY 337 days until Resilient Lady leaves Athens, Greece to starts this repositioning adventure. See you aboard!

31/10/2022

Here's a little preview article on the Resilient Lady. There are a few interesting tidbits in it. The article is perhaps dated, though, as it does not mention anything about Australia.

Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady Cruises: Read Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady cruise reviews. Find great deals, tips and tricks on Cruise Critic to help plan your cruise.