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Spend the day on Brilliant Lady, the new Virgin Voyages ship, for 7500 Virgin Points!

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Virgin Voyages is gearing up to launch its fourth vessel, Brilliant Lady.

Before it sets off, it is holding an open day on Wednesday 20th August in Portsmouth.

Everything is on the house once you are there, including an evening meal in one of the restaurants, shows in the theatre and a late evening party.

Spend the day on Brilliant Lady, the new Virgin Voyages ship

Tickets cost 7,500 Virgin Points each via the website here. We’d value these at £75 if used for a premium cabin flight redemption, so the event certainly isn’t ‘free’.

However, if you are thinking of a Virgin Voyages cruise or – like me – like the idea of having a good poke around a cruise ship without the bother of actually having to sail somewhere, it is quite tempting.

This is how the event is described:

That’s right, Brilliant Lady is throwing open her gangway for a launch party like no other – and you’re invited to step aboard and discover what it means to sail The Virgin Way.

You’ll have a full afternoon and evening to explore. Once onboard, the bars will be on hand to serve up a sample of your favourite tipples – whether it’s bubbles, spritzes, or something a little stronger.

Live music will echo through the decks and vibrant pop-up acts will appear in unexpected places. Signature karaoke lounge, The Groupie, will be available for those who fancy a singalong or just want to soak up the fun. Plus, you’ll be among the first to enjoy one of Brilliant Lady’s brand-new shows, created exclusively for her debut season.

Of course, no visit would be complete without a taste of Virgin Voyages’ award-winning dining. For your evening meal, you’ll pre-book a glamorous, one-night-only dinner show or a table at one of the ship’s six elevated restaurants. Whether it’s perfectly cooked steak at The Wake, upscale Mexican at Pink Agave, or modern Spanish-inspired fare at Rojo – a new concept unique to Brilliant Lady – you can expect nothing short of exceptional.

Spend the day on Brilliant Lady, the new Virgin Voyages ship

Either side of your dinner reservation, there are plenty more options for casual bites and late-night cravings. Grab a slice from the pizzeria, cool off with a scoop from the ice cream parlour, or graze your way through countless food market-style eateries. One thing’s for sure: you won’t go hungry.

As the sun sets, prepare to dive headfirst into Scarlet Night, Virgin Voyages’ iconic ship-wide celebration, brought to life in full. Think dazzling visuals, immersive characters, pulsating beats, and surprises around every turn. A splash of red is encouraged, whether in your outfit or accessories – because this is no ordinary evening: it’s bold, brilliant, and unmistakably Virgin.

Please note this event is not an overnight stay, and there will be no access to cabins, spa facilities, the casino, or retail spaces during your visit. The party will conclude by 23:00, so be sure to make the most of every minute onboard.

You can find out more, and redeem, on the Virgin Red website here or in the Virgin Red app. You may need to search in the app for the word ‘brilliant’ to bring it up.

Note that no under 18s are allowed. This is, in theory, a full day event if you stay for the party in the evening – you’ll have nine hours on board if you are there at the start.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (August 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (66)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lynn says:
    28 Jun28 June 05:34

    Booked, thanks.

  • Ben says:
    28 Jun28 June 06:41

    You’re basically paying in points to train the crew, then.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:12

      So?

      Plenty of hospitality businesses do soft launches and this is just a variant of that.

      • Ben says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:04

        Fair enough.

        Although this is the ship that has had endless problems and been sitting in Malaga for over a year
        and a half. It’ll need more than a soft launch to sort out problems. I wouldn’t go on it until it’s done a few cruises.

        • paul-uk says:
          28 Jun28 June 14:26

          It hasn’t had “endless problems” at all – Virgin cannot fill the ships they’ve got so it was always madness to launch another – I guess they’ve reached that point where debt repayments require it to be in service and we’ll see if the brand stays afloat once it does.

  • Barrel for Scraping says:
    28 Jun28 June 06:47

    This could be very interesting for someone like me who has no idea whether or not they’d enjoy being on a cruise. Shame I’m out of the country on the 20th August. I see the event serving two purposes for Virgin, it might give those uncertain of booking an actual cruise the chance to sample it and if they like it book longer, but it also gives them a chance to test out the facilities with real customers before it sets sail.

    • Lynn says:
      28 Jun28 June 10:19

      Hi, Ambassador offer similar events around Christmas, might be worth a look?

  • Lumma says:
    28 Jun28 June 07:13

    Can we honestly value Virgin points at 1p each these days?

    • Jamie says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:34

      Travelzoo are selling tickets for £49 so you’re paying more than 1p/point for this redemption.

    • Rob says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:37

      Valuing is REALLY difficult. I only use mine to New York and, to be honest, yes it’s a fair value. They are virtually worthless if you want Upper Class to Maldives etc though.

      • Richard says:
        28 Jun28 June 15:00

        For the Maldives, Virgin can still be good value to India, then it’s a short, cheap flight to Male …it did earlier this year over Easter and made for a great value trip, even during this peak travel period.

    • Ken says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:39

      They are frequently sold for 0.88p.

      If you have huge flexibility and are flying alone then maybe you could value them at this price.

      I’d say for 90%+ of people a realistic value is between 0.5 and 0.75

      1p just has simplicity going for it.

  • Binks says:
    28 Jun28 June 07:26

    If I was in that part of the UK I’d pop by for the day for sure and make use of my points. Enjoy a meal and the day out out / on the boat.

  • Joecooljoe says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:21

    Looks like travelzoo selling tickets for £49 each.

    • Dan says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:34

      Yeah… https://www.travelzoo.com/uk/local-deals/Southeast/Other/431330/?_v=4262

      Really does tell you something… Cashed in the last of my points for next Easter and I’m out.

    • Mark says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:58

      they only had 80 tickets!

      • Sven says:
        28 Jun28 June 14:01

        Looks like these were different to the ones on the Virgin site anyhow.
        For the travelzoo tickets It said:
        A 4-course dinner at The Wake restaurant (select a seating time from 5.30–6.15pm)

        This is what it says for the Virgin tickets:
        You will receive an email containing a link to an event page managed by Virgin Voyages. From there, register a Brilliant Lady restaurant – and time slot – that you’d like to pre-book for your evening meal. Please note, restaurant bookings are subject to availability.

  • Lee says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:39

    Thanks for the heads up. I live in Portsmouth so for me well worth the points for a nose around the ship. (and you can cancel up to 72 hours beforehand if my wife feels differently )

  • The real Swiss Tony says:
    28 Jun28 June 09:00

    Travelzoo sold out by 9am

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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