Brilliant Lady swaps Cabo for Ensenada after Rachel's swell
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Virgin has made the call it was holding. Brilliant Lady’s 3 Oct 2026 sailing from Los Angeles does not go to Cabo San Lucas. Virgin’s notice, updated 2 Oct 2026 and still dated that way on 5 Oct, swaps that stop for Ensenada.
The earlier post on this site said no decision had been made: Brilliant Lady’s 3 Oct sailing still lists Mexico while Virgin watches Hurricane Rachel. That was the 29 Sep hold. This is the final update Virgin posted after it.
If you are on the ship, Ensenada was yesterday. Today, Monday 5 Oct, is the sea day that replaced Cabo. Mazatlán is tomorrow, on a later clock.
The table Virgin printed
Original week on that page: Los Angeles Saturday 3 Oct, 6:30am to 5:00pm. A sea day Sunday. Cabo San Lucas Monday 5 Oct, 1:00pm to 8:00pm. Mazatlán Tuesday 6 Oct, 9:00am to 6:00pm. Puerto Vallarta Wednesday 7 Oct, 8:30am to 5:00pm. Sea days Thursday and Friday. Los Angeles Saturday 10 Oct, 6:30am to 5:00pm.
Updated week on the same page:
- Saturday 3 Oct: Los Angeles, 6:30am to 5:00pm
- Sunday 4 Oct: Ensenada, 7:30am to 2:00pm
- Monday 5 Oct: sea day
- Tuesday 6 Oct: Mazatlán, 11:00am to 8:00pm
- Wednesday 7 Oct: Puerto Vallarta, 8:30am to 5:00pm
- Thursday 8 Oct: sea day
- Friday 9 Oct: sea day
- Saturday 10 Oct: Los Angeles, 6:30am to 5:00pm
Virgin’s short version says the Mazatlán call now arrives at 11:00am and leaves at 8:00pm. Cruise.Blog, dated 2 Oct, prints the same Mazatlán window and the same port order. The 7:30am to 2:00pm Ensenada window is on Virgin’s table. It is not in Cruise.Blog’s bullet list.
Cruise Hive, also dated 2 Oct, has the Cabo cut and the Ensenada add. It says the rest of the itinerary is unchanged. That does not match Virgin’s Mazatlán hours. Use Virgin’s table.
A later paragraph on Virgin’s page says everything else about the voyage stays as planned. Puerto Vallarta’s hours match the original table. The Los Angeles return matches too. The pieces that moved are Cabo, Ensenada, the Monday sea day, and Mazatlán’s clock.
Why Cabo is off
Virgin’s wording: residual swell from Hurricane Rachel is strong enough that tendering into Cabo San Lucas would not be safe or comfortable. The same notice says Rachel has moved away from the route and is no longer a risk to the voyage.
Virgin also says no packing change is needed, because the trip stays in warm-weather ports. That replaces the jacket advice in the 29 Sep backup note. Ensenada is not a sail north to San Francisco.
The 26 Sep sailing, the one Polo rerouted, is a different cruise: Brilliant Lady drops Mexico ports for a California week after Polo.
Cruise.Blog adds storm and port lines that are not in Virgin’s notice. It cites Surfer.com on 20-to-25-foot swells, a Friday morning National Hurricane Center wind figure, and a U.S. Embassy note that Cabo closed on 30 Sep. Cruise Hive says the port had been closed since 30 Sep with no reopening date, and that Brilliant Lady’s next Los Angeles departure, on 10 Oct, was still scheduled to call Cabo on 12 Oct. Those next-sailing and closure lines are Cruise Hive’s. They are not a Virgin promise about the 10 Oct cruise.
Cabo tours
Virgin says Shore Things you booked in Cabo San Lucas refund automatically to the original form of payment. Ensenada Shore Things were listed as available to book soon in the Virgin app. If you already had Sunday ashore, that window was 7:30am to 2:00pm.
A tour you bought from someone other than Virgin is not in that automatic refund. Virgin tells you to contact the operator.
The notice does not mention a fare refund or an onboard credit for losing Cabo.
What this means for you
If you are on the 3 Oct sailing, treat Monday as a sea day and Tuesday as Mazatlán from 11:00am to 8:00pm. Puerto Vallarta is still Wednesday, 8:30am to 5:00pm. You are back in Los Angeles Saturday 10 Oct, 6:30am to 5:00pm, which is the same return window as the original table. Watch the card that paid for a Cabo Shore Thing. Leave an outside Cabo deposit to the company that sold it.
If you are on the 10 Oct departure, Virgin’s 2 Oct notice does not change your Cabo day. Cruise Hive’s note that 12 Oct was still on the schedule is that outlet’s check, not a new Virgin letter.
Facts above follow Virgin’s 2 Oct 2026 notice, rechecked 5 Oct 2026, with Cruise.Blog and Cruise Hive the same day.
Ship pages
This sailing is on the Hurricane Rachel cruise tracker.
Sources
Tier 1 = the cruise line’s own published material · Tier 2 = an established cruise-news outlet- TIER 1Virgin Voyages travel advisory, page title A Weather Update For Brilliant Lady, marked Updated Oct. 2, 2026, and still showing that date when read on 5 Oct 2026: final update for Brilliant Lady's upcoming voyage on Oct. 3; Hurricane Rachel has moved away from the route and is no longer a risk to the voyage; residual swell means tendering into Cabo San Lucas would not be safe or comfortable, so that stop is swapped for Ensenada on Sunday; Mazatlán now arrives at 11am and departs at 8pm; Virgin says the rest of the Mexican Riviera voyage stays as planned and that no packing change is needed because the itinerary remains in warm-weather destinations; original table is Los Angeles Saturday 3 Oct 6:30am to 5pm, sea day Sunday 4 Oct, Cabo San Lucas Monday 5 Oct 1pm to 8pm, Mazatlán Tuesday 6 Oct 9am to 6pm, Puerto Vallarta Wednesday 7 Oct 8:30am to 5pm, sea days Thursday 8 Oct and Friday 9 Oct, Los Angeles Saturday 10 Oct 6:30am to 5pm; updated table is Los Angeles Saturday 3 Oct 6:30am to 5pm, Ensenada Sunday 4 Oct 7:30am to 2pm, sea day Monday 5 Oct, Mazatlán Tuesday 6 Oct 11am to 8pm, Puerto Vallarta Wednesday 7 Oct 8:30am to 5pm, sea days Thursday 8 Oct and Friday 9 Oct, Los Angeles Saturday 10 Oct 6:30am to 5pm; Shore Things booked in Cabo San Lucas receive an automatic full refund to the original form of payment; independent third-party tours are the sailor's call to the operator; Ensenada Shore Things will be available to book soon in the Virgin Voyages app
Virgin Voyages, checked 2 Oct 2026 · Rechecked 5 Oct 2026. The page still says Updated Oct. 2, 2026. Use this table for the clocks. A later sentence on the page says everything else stays as planned. The short version and the table are what move Mazatlán. - TIER 2Cruise.Blog, 2 Oct 2026, quoting Virgin's website update: Rachel has moved off Brilliant Lady's route; residual swell made tendering into Cabo unsafe, so the stop is swapped for Ensenada on Sunday; the revised week is Los Angeles Saturday 3 Oct 6:30am to 5:00pm, Ensenada Sunday 4 Oct where a sea day had been, a sea day Monday 5 Oct where Cabo had been, Mazatlán Tuesday 6 Oct 11:00am to 8:00pm where it had been 9:00am to 6:00pm, Puerto Vallarta Wednesday 7 Oct 8:30am to 5:00pm, sea days Thursday 8 Oct and Friday 9 Oct, Los Angeles Saturday 10 Oct 6:30am to 5:00pm; Cabo shore excursions booked through Virgin refund to the original form of payment; third-party tours should go back to the operator. The article's opening calls this Brilliant Lady's October 2 itinerary. Virgin's page dates the voyage Oct. 3. The article also cites a Category 3 storm, 20-to-25-foot swells via Surfer.com, an 8:00am MST Friday 2 Oct National Hurricane Center update with winds near 110 mph, and a U.S. Embassy line that Cabo San Lucas closed Wednesday 30 Sep until further notice. Those storm and port-closure lines are not in Virgin's notice
Cruise.Blog, checked 2 Oct 2026 · Use it as a second write-up of Virgin's table, including the Mazatlán clock. Do not use its October 2 sail-date wording. The Ensenada 7:30am to 2:00pm window is on Virgin's table and is not in this article's bullet list. - TIER 2Cruise Hive, Calvin Musquez, 2 Oct 2026: Virgin dropped Brilliant Lady's 5 Oct Cabo San Lucas call on the 3 Oct Los Angeles sailing because residual swell from Hurricane Rachel would make tendering unsafe; Ensenada is added 4 Oct and the Cabo day becomes a sea day; the original calls were Cabo 5 Oct, Mazatlán 6 Oct, and Puerto Vallarta 7 Oct, with a Los Angeles return 10 Oct; Cruise Hive says the remainder of the itinerary is unchanged; it quotes an email line that Rachel has moved away but left swell strong enough that tendering into Cabo would not be safe or comfortable; it says Cabo has been closed since 30 Sep with no reopening date, and that the 10 Oct Los Angeles departure is still scheduled to visit Cabo on 12 Oct. The article does not print Ensenada's hours or the Mazatlán time change
Cruise Hive, checked 2 Oct 2026 · Agrees on the Cabo cut and the Ensenada add. Its line that the rest of the itinerary is unchanged does not match Virgin's Mazatlán hours. Hero photo is this article's nighttime Brilliant Lady image, credited on the page to Daniel Wright98.
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