Valiant Lady to Get New Indian Restaurant During Dry Dock
Virgin Voyages’ ship, Valiant Lady, is approaching 5 years of service and will soon be going in for its first routine dry dock. As Virgin Voyages did with its first ship, Scarlet Lady, they’ll also be making a few upgrades while she’s getting work done. The biggest is a new eatery with Indian-inspired cuisine.
Razzle Dazzle Becomes Ariya at Night on Valiant Lady
During the May dry dock, the Razzle Dazzle restaurant onboard Valiant Lady will be getting a makeover and will transform into Ariya. The restaurant’s menu was made in partnership with celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan, who you may have seen on Chopped and various other Food Network shows. Some of the dishes on the menu will be lamb shank biryani, Goan curried mussels, puffed rice & avocado chaat, and tandoori pistachio-crusted snapper.
The bar inside the venue will also get a makeover and use Indian flavors to create truly unique cocktails. Try the Maharani Morning with rose, cardamom, and sparkling wine or a Bangalore Old Fashioned with jaggery and cardamom. Each guest will also get a complimentary welcome beverage of jaljeera, a chilled blend of tamarind and cumin.
As for the space, the decor will be swapped out to something more inspired by the spice markets of India. Expect to see warm, layered wood tones and rich, textured grasscloth wallcoverings. Gone are the long communal tables that never really resonated with guests and instead more cozy alcoves and booths for intimate seating; the renders show a space that is almost unrecognizable from its previous incarnation.
North America’s First Indian-Inspired Sit-Down Restaurant at Sea
In North America, Indian cuisine has become increasingly popular in recent years. While several cruise ships have fast-casual style Indian food, or Indian stations at the buffet, Ariya will be the first proper sit-down Indian restaurant on a cruise ship (at least among the major North American cruise lines).
Indian cuisine is finally getting the global recognition it has always deserved and our Sailors get to experience it at its best, with Chef Maneet. The spice combinations alone will surprise people. That’s the goal: to make every Sailor at that table think, ‘I didn’t know food could do that,’” – Chef Levi Mezick, Senior Director of Culinary Program Development, Virgin Voyages.
Giving Different Choices Across the Fleet
When Virgin Voyages first launched, all their ships were nearly identical copies of each other apart from the art. This meant all the ships had the exact same dinner options. Unlike other cruise lines, Virgin Voyages doesn’t have any main dining rooms or extra-fee restaurants; guests book individual restaurants each night for dinner.
But over the past 5 years, repeat guests have indicated they’re getting a little tired of the same dinner options. While some of the restaurants had unique dishes, it was the same dining concepts on each ship.
When Virgin Voyages had the dry dock for Scarlet Lady, they transformed Razzle Dazzle into a new concept called Lucky Lotus. The restaurant features Chinese-inspired cuisine and drinks. Then, when Brilliant Lady launched, they took Razzle Dazzle and made it Rojo by Razzle Dazzle with a focus on Spanish foods and beverages.
During the day, the restaurants still serve the standard Razzle Dazzle lunch/dinner menus, but at night, the menu switches to the more original cuisine. The spaces also got a makeover, removing the busy and loud decor of the original Razzle Dazzle and giving it a more subdued yet elegant vibe.
My Take: Variety is the Spice of Life, but Will It Lead to More Seating Problems?
I’m really happy to see Virgin Voyages diversifying its restaurants and adding new options that are different across the fleet. It gives you a reason to try all the different ships in the fleet. With Indian food being very popular in England and gaining popularity in the US, it makes sense for Virgin to bring it to the ships; people already rave about the Indian options at The Galley that they have some days.
That said, I’m a bit concerned with how it will impact wait times and reservations for dinner. Virgin Voyages has struggled to accommodate everyone at dinner and trying to score reservations can feel like a free-for-all; something exacerbated even more by their new tiered pricing that differentiates how long before a cruise you can make your reservations.
While leadership has said they clearly have enough seats and tables for all their guests, that doesn’t take into account guest demand. The Test Kitchen, which is a very unique concept using innovative food and molecular gastronomy, isn’t for everyone and picky eaters shy away from the space. Similarly, Gunbae‘s shared tables and meat-heavy menu is not for everyone either.
While Indian food is popular, there are still many parts of the US where the cuisine hasn’t become popular yet, and it might be another restaurant some guests avoid, putting more pressure on the remaining venues.
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