Brilliant Lady Skips Cabo as Hurricane Rachel's Swell Lingers
If you are booked on Brilliant Lady's October 3 Los Angeles departure, expect a sea day in place of Cabo San Lucas on October 5 and a new Ensenada stop on October 4. Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta are unchanged. If you sail October 10, with Cabo scheduled for October 12, watch your email and Virgin's website, because the port's reopening date is unknown and the stop could change.
My read is that Virgin had little choice, and the minimal reroute is the best outcome guests could have hoped for. Cabo has no cruise terminal, so every call depends on safe tendering, and residual swell from Hurricane Rachel was enough to end it even after the storm moved away. The port has been closed since September 30 with no reopening date, so the cancellation was close to inevitable. Guests keep three days ashore in Mexico, with Ensenada added on October 4. One Reddit guest called Ensenada a major downgrade from Cabo, while another was relieved it was not San Francisco, and I side with the second. The irony is that Brilliant Lady's previous sailing, hit by Hurricane Polo, also ended up in Ensenada and returns to Los Angeles the same day this one departs. If I were booked on the October 10 sailing, with Cabo scheduled for October 12, I would assume that call is at risk and plan for a swap.