Skip to main content

Virgin Voyages Announces Squid Ink, the World’s First Tattoo Studio at Sea

Most cruises are designed as decadent retreats where passengers spend a full week doing plenty of things they’ll regret later. From too many daiquiris to stuffing your face at the midnight chocolate buffet to five karaoke renditions of “Kokomo” (because there’s always room for more Beach Boys), there’s no shortage of self-indulgent treats aboard. Now, Virgin Voyages is offering cruise-goers one more option: getting tattooed at sea.

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages will launch its first cruise ship, Scarlet Lady, in 2020. True to the brand’s young, bold, too-hip ethos, the ship will boast the world’s first-ever tattoo parlor at sea. Squid Ink — how rad is that name for a sea-based tatt shop, by the way? — will be home to two full-time resident tattoo artists. Both will be personally chosen by legendary artist Lou Rubino, Jr., the industry pioneer behind Freshly Inked Magazine, Soho Ink, and World Famous Tattoo Ink. The shop will also host a staff of rotating guest artists including tattoo industry celebrities and trendsetters. So far, they’ve already nailed down Spike TV’s Sarah Miller and surreal creative Arlo DiCristina.

Related Videos

Squid Ink’s tattoos will rely on World Famous Tattoo Ink’s signature vegan ink. The pigments are renowned for their lack of animal by-products or animal testing. The shop will use similar Perma Blend pigments for custom permanent makeup treatments, and body piercings will be available as well.

If the idea of stabbing your body with needles aboard a wave-thrashed ship rocking around the Caribbean Sea seems like a bad idea, just focus on the romance of sailing the high seas. Tom McAlpin, Virgin Voyages’ CEO, puts it this way: “Tattooing is a time-honored seafaring tradition, and we’re continuing that legacy with rock and roll style by bringing some of the best ink artists to sea. Our sailors are looking to make lifelong memories, and we think there’s no better way to commemorate their first voyage with us than with a souvenir they’ll never lose track of.”

That’s one way to look at it. Indeed, British sailors are credited by many historians with popularizing tattoo artistry and culture in the West. The tradition was adopted from aboriginal and island tribes around the world. So, just tell yourself that Chinese symbol for “hope” on your ankle is all about history or … something.

For now, details surrounding Squid Ink are thin. Since the shop doesn’t open for another two years, there’s plenty of time to sketch out that mom-in-a-heart-anchor design you’ve been daydreaming about.

Editors' Recommendations

You Can Cruise to the North and South Pole on One 88-Day Luxury Expedition
polar cruise north south pole seadream yacht club 3

Cruising is rarely an “adventurous” mode of travel. The biggest daily challenges involve remembering what time happy hour starts and how many Belgian chocolate truffles you can get in before the midnight buffet closes. However, these days, some cruise lines are thinking bigger with months-long global itineraries that visit five continents and far-flung polar expeditions worthy of Amundsen and Shackleton. Now, well-heeled travelers can go even bigger and tackle both the North and South Poles on a single grand ocean voyage.

This month, SeaDream Yacht Club announced a once-in-a-lifetime, 88-day mega-expedition that will take cruise-goers to both poles. Even among the luxury line’s extensive catalog, the pole-to-pole itinerary is its most ambitious yet. The journey coincides with the inaugural sailing of the stunning new SeaDream Innovation yacht. Beginning in September 2021, the ship will sail to all seven continents — 200 ports in 49 countries — in its first season alone.

Read more
Absurd Flat Earth Cruise Offers a Visit to the Planet’s Giant Ice Wall
flat earth map

History’s greatest explorers traveled to the so-called “ends of the earth.” Marco Polo journeyed farther than anyone before him; Roald Amundsen tackled the South Pole; even The Proclaimers walked 500 miles ... then 500 more. That’s all well and good, but has anyone actually visited The End of the Earth? The answer is “no,” but that’s about to change thanks to next year’s epic Flat Earth Cruise 2020.

Ahead of the cruise’s big reveal, The Flat Earth Society isn’t saying much about the details. One thing we know for sure is that it’s setting sail with a singular purpose: to test flat-Earthers’ long-held assertion that our planet is, in fact, a flat disk. To prove their theory, they plan to visit the Game of Thrones-style ice wall that surrounds our world — the one that contains the oceans so all the water, dolphins, and seahorses don’t spill into space.

Read more
Belize Hilariously Offers the World’s First Overwater Coworking Bungalow
Belize Belizesure

Free coffee, a distraction-free environment, and super-fast Wi-Fi — all great reasons why coworking spaces are great for actually getting work done. What’s even better is an overwater coworking bungalow on a secluded Belizean island where you can pretend to get lots of work done. Welcome to Belizesure.

Previous

Read more