Virgin Voyages has always aimed to offer a unique cruise experience centered on emotional connection, personal growth, and the essence of the sea. This vision is embodied by the mermaids—symbolic figures guiding each Lady Ship. Now, the brand is bringing these icons to life with voice and character through “The Mermaids: A Virgin Voyages Tale”, an entirely AI-generated cinematic series created in partnership with the creative agency Native Foreign.?
The four characters—Scarlet, Valiant, Resilient and Brilliant—represent passion, courage, resilience and wisdom. These figures have long been part of Virgin Voyages’ identity, symbolizing the spirit behind each of its Lady Ships. Now, through this short film series, the mermaids gain a voice and narrative depth, reflecting how travelers evolve both outwardly and inwardly on their voyages.?
“The story we’ve been telling since day one has always been about more than travel; it’s been about transformation,” said?Bailey Edwards, Editorial Director at Virgin Voyages. “Our mermaids have always represented the soul of the sea and the emotional essence of who we are as a brand. Bringing them to life through this cinematic series allowed us to give depth and voice to that mythos—not just as a visual motif, but as characters who reflect the spirit and individuality of our Sailors. This is storytelling as brand architecture, and it’s only just the beginning.”?
The mermaid theme has influenced everything from ship design to onboard programming and global itineraries. With three Lady Ships already sailing from ports like Miami, Barcelona, Athens and San Juan—and a fourth, Brilliant Lady, set to launch this fall—Virgin Voyages felt the time was right to tell the full mermaid story. The use of AI in the film gave creative freedom to explore this narrative in fresh, imaginative ways.
This mermaid story has been part of the Virgin Voyages experience from the start, reflected in the ship designs, the variety of activities on board and the brand’s worldwide itineraries. With three Lady Ships now sailing from ports like Miami, Barcelona, Athens and San Juan—and Brilliant Lady joining the fleet this fall—the brand felt it was the perfect time to share the complete mermaid story. Using AI-powered design and storytelling tools allowed the company to tell it with both creativity and depth.
The final product is a visually stunning and emotionally engaging short film with a narrative led by a character called the “Mother of the Mystic Seas”, who weaves the separate mermaid tales into one unified story.
Nik Kleverov, Chief Creative Officer at Native Foreign and the film’s director, explained, “The most exciting use of AI isn’t to just replace or replicate what we can do now on a regular shoot; it’s to dream big and bring imaginative concepts to life in entirely new ways.”
The film is part of a bigger change in how Virgin Voyages handles marketing. They’re using AI tools like Jasper, Canva, OpenAI and Google Agentspace to make creating and planning content easier and faster. These tools help the company and its worldwide network of First Mates (travel advisors) to produce high-quality content that feels true to the brand and connects emotionally with people, all while keeping things personal and consistent.
“This campaign is a creative turning point for us,”?said Billy Bohan Chinique, Senior Director of Global Brand Marketing and AI Transformation at Virgin Voyages.?“It’s the first time we’ve had the tools to fully express the narrative that’s been built into our brand since launch—not as a one-off, but as a scalable, emotionally consistent platform. These mermaids allow us to connect brand story, product experience and guest identity in one cohesive system. That’s the real breakthrough. We’re not just telling a story, we’re building an architecture to tell it everywhere.”
“The Mermaids: A Virgin Voyages Tale” is now available on Virgin Voyages’ YouTube channel, with additional chapters planned ahead of the launch of Brilliant Lady, slated for September 2025.
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