Embarkation Day
Beautiful day
in Seattle.
Slept okay but I was still up early due to jet lag. I went to breakfast at 6:30 AM. Same
items as yesterday but still a good breakfast - hard to believe that Cheerios and milk and a waffle would be that good. Just like yesterday, Ellen
came down later and I had coffee with her.
Our boarding time for the ship, according to the Virgin App, was 3:15 PM. That
can't be correct because departure is at 4 PM and everyone needs to be on board an hour
before. We decided to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, store our bags at
the hotel, do something around the area, fetch our bags, and Uber to the pier
at 1:30 PM.
We decided that we would spend the morning at the Space Needle. I
purchased tickets on line (better price than onsite) for $94.50. Again, pricey.
We jumped on the Water Front Shuttle and took it to the end of the line -
Seattle Center.
Space Needle Information. The Space Needle was built in 1962 for the
World's Fair.
The concrete base of the Space Needle is 30 ft deep and 120 ft (37 across). It required 467 redi-mix trucks to hault in
the cement.
The Space Needle is 605 ft high, and when completed was the tallest
building west of the Mississippi River in the United States. The tower is 138
ft wide, weighs 9,550 short tons (8,660 metric tons), and is built to withstand
winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude. Technically, Seattle is on the "Ring of Fire" and home to the Cascades (and volcanoes) so being temblor proof is good.
The Observation deck ("Skyriser") has clear full barriers and
glass tilted benches for seating. I noticed that some of the benches are cracked and need to be replaced. Still safe to sit on because they are so thick. You can walk the full circumference. There
are several photo stations, operated by the venue, where you can get your
picture taken and sent to your email – gratis.
We stayed at the top for at least 90 minutes and took a lot of pictures.
Included were shots of the Seattle Crop of skyscrapers,
Queen Elizabeth (with Ellen and without)
and the Brilliant Lady (berthed away from the City Center).
This shot is looking East.
We also took two shots using the Space Needle auto camera.
We went down one level to "The Loupe" the World's first and only revolving glass floor (a little scary to step on – look straight ahead when walking on it.
There are food
options at the top, which include light snacks and drinks on the observation
deck or prepaid culinary experiences on the revolving glass floor, such as the
The Loupe Lounge or Space Needle Brunch (a bargain at $99.00 per person).
Instead, I had
my leftover pesto which was excellent cold and Ellen had stuff from breakfast.
We had water from the hotel.
We took the 10 MPH Elevator down and caught the free shuttle back to the hotel.
I called for an Uber at 1:40 PM. It arrived in less than 10 minutes and we
headed for Pier 91 after confirming that Virgin Voyages used this pier. It
was a short ride, about 20 minutes but it cost $43.96 (including the tip). There
were a lot of people in line and I couldn’t tell whether they were disembarking
passengers (seems unlikely due to the late hour) or new folks trying to check
in.
I had put the
printed, stapled together, Virgin luggage tags on our bags, which we handed to
a porter. There were quite a few porters
there handling the luggage. I gave him a $5.00 tip (recommended $2 per bag) to increase the odds that our
bags would be onboard. I had done a lot
of pre-cruise stuff on line (entered all of our personal information, added a
credit card, and uploaded security photos) so I thought check-in would be
simple. There were a lot of people in line and after a quick passport check we
went up and escalator to the check in area.
Three serpentine lines later (and I don’t know how long) we were talking with
an agent. Even though I had uploaded security photos, new pictures were taken
and even though I had downloaded boarding passes, no one looked at them or
scanned them. So after all of the prework, it all came down to the standard
check in process. We found out that there are no sea pass cards. Instead, we
were given red and gray (Virgin colors) RF bracelets,
which would be used as
cabin keys, charging on board, and during disembarkation and embarkation. We
found the “To the ship” sign and after another three flights of gangway, we
were on board.
Brilliant
Lady Information:
Virgin
Voyages has four ships in the fleet: The Brilliant Lady, The Resilient Lady,
the Valiant Lady, and the Scarlet Lady (of course). Only the Brilliant Lady is Panama Canal ready
as she has had some additional modifications (a lightly
modified design including tucked-in lifeboats) allowing her squeeze through the
canal (not by much I assume). The Brilliant Lady was ordered in 2018 but delays
in material acquisition delayed the launch of this ship until September
2025. She’s been seven years in the
making but is technically the newest ship. The three other Lady’s were already
in service then with the first being the Scarlet Lady - delived in 2029 and in service in 2021.
The
four ships have the same specifications. :110,000 gross tons, accommodating about
2,770 guests across 1,408 cabins, and serviced by a crew of around 1,150. She
is 909 ft long with a beam of 125 ft. She has 17 decks.
The
passengers are called Sailors, the Shore Excursions are called Shore
Things, and the Elites are “Rock Stars”.
Events are not announced and the Captain appeared only vocally during an announcement just
before we left and we never heard from him again.
On Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady, the traditional cruise director and entertainment staff are replaced by a 12-person interactive ensemble called The Happenings Cast. In addition, there are other performers who are involved in entertainment such as acrobats and aerialists. There are two special individuals that also perform during the cruise. They are:
The Hostess (the principal singer and master of ceremonies)
The
Diva (the resident
drag queen star) - definitely a first for us.
So
the entertainment department has a lot of moving parts.
Maintaining
the trademark Virgin Voyages style, the ship is strictly 18+, features no
traditional self-serve buffets (using an upscale food-hall style
"Galley" instead), and excludes rigid formal wear nights. I, for one, am pleased about the no self-service buffets (focusing on food safety is important). There is no
dress code on the ship – baseball caps in the Dining Rooms are OK as are
shorts. Makes packing easy.
Onboard
Experience:
Dining: Over 20 distinct eateries and
specialty restaurants are completely included in the base fare. Tips were included in the base fare until
2025 and are now charged separately.
WiFi is free for each passenger.
Food Stations
in The Galley:
Diner &
Dash: All-day American
diner classics and 24/7 breakfast options (home of the best blueberry pancakes
and challah French Toast)
Burger Bar: Signature burgers and sides (source of
excellent scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese on top; fried eggs are made here)
Let's Taco
Bout It: Mexican tacos
and breakfast burritos
Hot off the
Press: Paninis,
toasties, and avocado toast
Noodle
Around: Ramen, noodle
soups, and broths
Bento Baby: Pre-made bento boxes and sushi
The Daily
Mix: Salads, fruits,
yogurt, and healthy morning bites (excellent they serve you salad bar – fresh
with about eight or so salad dressing)
Well Bread
/ Sweet Side: Fresh
pastries, flatbreads, and desserts (tasty rolls and some good deserts – the
chocolate donuts were good)
Lick me Till...Ice Cream: Several gelato flavors in either cups or cones (including a red and black vanilla version). Not technically in the Galley.
The Pizza Place: Not in the Galley either but serves made to order pizza and salads in bento boxes.
Grounds Club: Fancy coffees and teas to order (not free) but the pastries are gratis.
Self Serve
Soda Machines: Just
like at the movies.
Melitta
Coffee Machines:
Excellent Coffee – Regular and Decaf
Health Note: Along with the "passenger no self serve" policy, the ship has spray hand sanitizers everywhere. They work very sell. They were always full and operational.
Cabin numbers are different on Brilliant Lady. We are in 5286A.
Port side
forward ocean view. There is also a 5286Z on the starboard side. The letters must be corridors – A, M, and Z –
to those who know these ships, these letters help you find your way
around. We were clueless but over the course of seven days, we worked out several ways to get to our room.
Our cabin is roomy and functional and the window is large. The colors are
clearly Voyage Cruises - lots of red and in a Euro Modern look The
bathroom is very nice with a big shower with a rain head and a hand held wand. The
sink is pretty big. Not a lot of storage
space but we found a place for all our toiletries. There is liquid soap on the sink and there
are pump bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower. The bath
towels are fluffy and huge but the hand towels are small and there are no hooks
for them. All the amenities were there
except for hand lotion.
The room is controlled by a tablet. Temperature, lighting, and even window
shades are remote. There are old fashioned controls for non tech folks. When
you enter the rooms during the day, the shades open. At night, muted lights come on. You can change the color of the trim lights –
we liked the soothing blue lights.
And amazingly, both our bags were outside our door. We made an
interesting decision, one not made on 133 previous cruises. The ship has no dress code so we decided not to fully unpack (there were lots of hangers) but to use just a few items (like my convertible pants) for the whole
cruise.
By the time we got settled in, it was past lunch time. The time honored
tradition of starting off the cruise with a nice buffet lunch is not a thing on
this ship.
The captain, as I said, mumbled his name, and thanked everyone for being on this cruise. No navigation or weather information. We pushed about 4 PM and we caught the sail away from Deck 15 (outside of the Galley). It appears that all the engines were engaged - I thought the captain had indicated in his terse announcement that we were sailing at 20 kts (pretty quick).
It was clear enough today to see Mt. Rainier in the distance as we left Seattle.
There are 20 restaurants on Brilliant Lady with five a bit fancier. We thought fish would be nice tonight. I checked the menus online and "The Wake" Deck 7 Aft - had salmon. I was not able to get a reservation pre-cruise online so we stopped by the restaurant. The hostess said we could come later tonight when they opened. To get to the restaurant, you need to descend a long fancy staircase to what must be Deck 6. You can see all the tables set up for dinner at the top of the staircase, where the hostess has her desk.
So we did. Turns out there was no salmon. Instead, there was olive infused Branzino.
The bread, a pull apart brioche, was very good. We had the fish along with
double baked potatoes (good), creamed spinach (my favorite), and sauteed
mushrooms (Ellen’s favorite) as sides.
The fish was baked and super underseasoned - it sat on a bed of unidentifiable mushrooms, I think. I had Branzino on a Regent Ship and it was delicious. One thing about the eateries on
board is that there is no salt or pepper on the table (another Branson quirk, maybe). Salt is by request
everywhere and there are different sources of salt – coarse in a little dish
with a tiny spoon, a shaker, and a grinder. The
dinner was not that good overall – we probably won’t come back.
There are two entertainment venues on the ship, the Red Room (of course)
and The Manor. They are both located – per maritime convention, Forward. We went to The Red Room after dinner to see
we'll known comedian, Sean Finnerman.
Two things about the show. The ship is 18+ so there are no language restrictions. The show was just like one on HBO. The second thing is Sean, who has a thick Irish brogue, was difficult to understand (you could tell by the sporadic laughter). Also, he didn't have an actual show but instead an hour long dialogue with the audience. So minimal laughs, maximum four letter words. We're passing on his next show.
The Hostess was putting on a show at The Manor. The entrance to this venue is through a hallway of mirrors and lights (on walls and ceiling) - it's like being in the "Hall of Mirrors" or "The Funhouse". It was so unsettling that we had to hold onto the walls to find the end of the hallway. When we found it, the show was in progress and there were no seats. Maybe next time.
We found our room and it seemed quiet.
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