The Logbook · Friendship ashore · Added October 21, 2026

Some Friendships Come With a Return Voyage

You board a Virgin voyage expecting a holiday. Sometimes you leave with people who become part of your life long after the suitcases are unpacked.

That’s how it happened with Steven and Nathalie. Or, as they’re known in our little corner of the sea, Sailor Steve and Nauti Nathalie. With names like those, we were hardly going to be the quiet table.

We met aboard Virgin Voyages, but the friendship didn’t stay on the ship. Before they moved to France, I drove my Virgin-branded Tesla to visit them in Atlanta. Apparently, I can leave the ship. Leaving the branding behind is another matter.

No embarkation time. No all-aboard announcement. Just friends catching up on land and finding that the connection worked perfectly well without an ocean view.

From a voyage to a visit. Next stop, France?

Steven and Nathalie have now made their move. They’re living in France, which presents a very serious problem: how am I supposed to visit them?

Hmm. If only I knew a cruise line that crossed the Atlantic.

I did go to France this year. Wouldn’t it be an awful thing to have to go back again? Friends to see, food to eat, perhaps a little wine. The sacrifices we make.

These photos are just the tip of the iceberg. A few moments from a friendship that began at sea and found its way into real life. That’s the part of Virgin Voyages I keep coming back for: the people who turn a trip into something that lasts.

A little of the Atlanta chapter.

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