Tinbergs on Tour: August 21, 2026 - Cruising Inside Passage - Foggy - Cool

The cabin has a little creak, so I needed a right ear plug, which interferes a little with sleep.

Brilliant Lady is sailing through some heavy shmoo – the fog horn is engaged. The fog would come and go.

I always look forward to the first breakfast on a cruise. On most ships, I am pretty familiar with the process - it's a buffet and I look for my usual items (waffles or pancakes, cottage cheese, sour cream, and jams). This time it will be different in that there is no buffet, I am going to go to The Galley to see what they have to offer.

I managed to find my way to The Galley (Deck 15 Aft). Going straight up from our location makes you cross an open deck. This morning it was just nippy out there but it will get colder. The best way to go is to go to Deck 7 Turnabout (midships) take the lift to 15 and you’re at the front entrance. While in the elevator, which had an interesting blue color (all the elevators are like this and contain large Hi-Def LED screens projecting daily schedules or underwater scenes), I thought I would take this picture. Wild.

I got there at 6:40 AM. and it was not too crowded. I was up early enough to catch the first sunrise of this cruise (the fog cooperated and lifted).

The most comfortable seats and tables are right near the front entrance - cusioned seat and movable tables (for easier getting in and out). I checked out the various food stations (just setting up at this hour) and did not find any cottage cheese or sour cream. I also found out from a waitress that the various food stations actually open at 7:00 AM. Menus are available as paper copies or by scanning QR codes on the little menu stands on each table. Also, you can order stuff by raising a little red flag on the table. So you can go to the stations and ask them for items (you can't get them yourself) or you can have those items brought to your table - a "buffet/restaurant" hybrid, of sorts.

After the flag is "hoisted", as if by magic, a crew member will come the table and take your order. I ordered pancakes and two EOM. Pancakes come in plain or blueberry. Today, it was plain but from now on it will be blueberry (made with fresh berries).

While waiting for the food to arrive, I had a little bowl of corn flakes and raisin bran along with two cups of coffee. The coffee was good and hot. The coffee machines say “Melitta” on them – I wonder if the coffee is also supplied by Melitta.

The eggs showed up - perfectly cooked - but the pancakes would not be ready for fifteen minutes. When the pancakes did come - freshly made - I reordered the eggs (I'll know for next time).

The breakfast was very good.

As we noticed at dinner last night, there is no salt or pepper on the table - you have to get it from the wait staff.

I picked up Ellen for breakfast. She had French Toast (made with Challah) and eggs. Very good. There is no “screaming lady” on this ship – at least not for breakfast – so breakfast is a calm experience.

The day was spent mostly watching the water go by. The ground fog returned and made for a nice pictue.

We stayed in The Galley – big windows and relatively comfortable seats. It took a while for the fog to lift so we could see anything.

We were pretty close to the shore – lots of trees but no wildlife.

Lunch was in The Galley. I ordered an Impossible Burger and Fries.

I also got a salad. There's a salad bar but it's not self serve (a good idea). The Salad Station crew is wearing gloves (in fact, every one in the entire Galley serving food is wearing gloves). The salad chef grabs a big bowl and he/she goes down the line and you tell them what you want. I had romaine lettuce, carrots, garbanzos, marinated feta and ranch dressing. A beautiful salad. NOTE: Today, there was no iceberg lettuce available – only Romaine and Greens.

If you want to skip the line you can pick up a salad in a to go container. Other to go options include sushi, fruit salad, and cheese and nuts. The take away sturdy plastic containers are in a special stand near the entrance of The Galley or in their own station. I never picked one up and opted for the stuff in the stations.

My Impossible Burger was a little over but okay. The fries were good. Crystal makes a better burger but the fact that they are available on this ship is a plus. Soft drinks are available through the kind of machines found in theaters - several kinds of drinks are chosen through a touch screen.

Ellen had some kind of Grilled PB&J sandwich.

I also tried the veggie Ramen from the Noodles restaurant. I liked the soup and the veggies but I was expecting dark Soba noodles and these white noodles were a little rubbery.

More scenic cruising after lunch. We went out on the back of Deck 15 (not too cold yet). I got the iconic Ellen railing picture.

We also could look down on the open Deck 7 - The Dock, which has comfy seating and serves Mediterranean bites (none of which really appealed to us). The food items are gratis but you pay for the drinks.

From there we went back down to Deck 7. In addition to couches, window benches, and chairs, there are two couples nooks/cubbies at The Turnabout. This is the view from one of those nooks.

I like them because I can stretch my bum leg out. Downside: Because this is the center of the ship – a kind of interchange – there is a lot of foot traffic and it can get noisy. This is also one of the locations used by the DJ so when he is playing, it’s technopop city. Sometimes soft and sometimes not.

Didn't jot down dinner - must have been good.

After dinner, we stopped by the Turnabout to see the onboard Duo – “Peach and Bourbon”

– sounds like a great drink but they were simply too loud – this venue is two decks deep with a spiral stair case. The structure acts like a megaphone amplifying the sound coming from Deck 6. We passed on them tonight.

We went to the Red Room for "Duel Reality", the show tonight. Could not tell what the show was about from the description. It was announced that the program would run 55 minutes with no intermission, making it the longest cruise show we've been to. Before the show started, we could hear people arguing loudly about where people were sitting (like seats were assigned) - the shouting got intense and then we realized it was all part of the show. The show turned out to be a mashup of Cirque de Soleil and West Side Story. Two groups of flyers and acrobats (blue and red shirts) in competition and then some kind of “rumble”. Lots of strength moves by both men and women. Chains instead of curtains and ropes for the flyers. There were segments involving rings, juggling, and a seesaw (used to propel people up to the ceiling). In the end it was a love story a la West Side Story). It was super fun and entertaining. Here are the pictures from the show.