Cold Weather Virgin Voyages: Was Brilliant Lady Still Worth It?

Name: Cold Weather Virgin Voyages: Was Brilliant Lady Still Worth It? | Open Video
Uploaded: 2026-06-10T13:06:05+00:00
Duration: 29 min 42 s

0:00
We were on board Brilliant Lady's iconic
0:02
voyage from Los Angeles to Vancouver.
0:04
And if you joined me last week, you
0:05
would have seen everything we got up to
0:07
from leaving the UK to going to LA and
0:10
coming up to San Francisco. Well, now
0:12
I'm glad to tell some more tales and
0:14
stories from that very memorable voyage.
0:17
This time picking up from where we left
0:19
off in San Francisco, heading all the
0:21
way to Vancouver, stopping at Atoria,
0:24
Oregon, and Victoria, British Columbia
0:26
on the way. And trust me when I say the
0:28
second half of this voyage gets even
0:30
more crazy and wild than we ever thought
0:32
possible when we were planning this trip
0:34
many many months ago. If this is your
0:36
first time here, my name is David from
0:38
VV Insider, which is a website all about
0:41
Virgin Voyages. We tell everyone the
0:44
information. We give people guides and
0:46
news, everything that they'll need to
0:47
know to plan their perfect Virgin
0:49
Voyages trip. Now, of course, we've been
0:51
on many, many Virgin voyages in the
0:53
past, but even then, it doesn't prepare
0:55
us for some of the eventualities that
0:57
happen during these trips. So, I'll be
0:59
really honest when we talk about
1:00
everything we got up to on board this
1:02
voyage and let you know any mistakes
1:04
that we made along the way so you can
1:06
avoid making the same ones when you
1:08
sail. So, picking up where we left off
1:09
last week when we had that incredible
1:11
view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the
1:13
Hawk Hill viewpoint. So, we dropped off
1:16
the higher car back at the car hire
1:18
place, and that's when we decided we'd
1:20
like to do a spot of shopping in San
1:22
Francisco. We were willing to walk, but
1:24
it looked like quite a hike from where
1:26
we were. So, we decided to get a taxi
1:28
instead. But we'd seen on the Facebook
1:30
group that many people were using a
1:32
service called Whimo. And this isn't
1:34
just any taxi service. This is a taxi
1:36
service without any drivers at all.
1:39
Instead, all of the electric cars that
1:41
run this service drive themselves. So,
1:44
all we had to do was open the app and
1:46
choose on the map where we'd like to go.
1:47
And then about 5 minutes later, a car
1:50
arrived for us. When we got in the car,
1:52
all we needed to do was press go and the
1:55
car drove itself 40 minutes across the
1:58
city to where we needed to go. Now, I've
2:00
been driving since I was 17, and I don't
2:03
necessarily make a very good passenger,
2:04
even when there's a human behind the
2:06
wheel. So, I thought I was going to be
2:07
terrified. But I will say when we were
2:09
sitting in the back, there is this
2:11
lovely ambient and calming music that's
2:13
playing. And because we're in the back,
2:14
you can't really see what's ahead of you
2:16
on the road. And there's a little screen
2:18
that shows you what the car is seeing.
2:21
So it can see cyclists and pedestrians
2:23
and other road users. So I think that
2:25
was enough to convince me that it knew
2:27
what was going on and it was avoiding
2:28
all the hazards and it was driving
2:31
slower than other traffic. So, it did
2:33
put my mind at ease a little bit, but it
2:35
was a little unnerving being in the car
2:37
for the first time where a robot was
2:39
completely in control. I would recommend
2:41
if you're in an area that has Whimo,
2:43
give it a try. It's something fun to do
2:45
when you're in one of these ports. So,
2:46
after our little bit of shopping, we
2:48
caught another Whimo back to the port
2:50
and it dropped us off just in time to
2:52
relax in the cabin a little bit before
2:54
dinner. And today's dinner was at the
2:56
Wake. The Wake is the upmarket themed
2:58
steakhouse on board and I will say it's
3:01
one of my personal favorites and it is a
3:03
favorite of many many people that sail
3:05
on Virgin Voyages and I think it's down
3:07
to the fact that they do have rather
3:10
classic dishes on the menu. So you of
3:12
course have a selection of different
3:13
steaks, chicken and fish, but there is
3:16
an option also to have a rack of lamb
3:18
and that's exactly what I went for. One
3:20
of the incredible features of the wake
3:21
are these large windows that look out
3:24
to, you guessed it, the wake of the
3:26
ship. And peeking out the window, I
3:27
could see we were just about to sail
3:29
under the Golden Gate Bridge. And this
3:31
is a perfect moment to capture some
3:33
footage for this exact YouTube video.
3:35
So, I sprung out of my seat before the
3:37
lan arrived and headed up to deck 7 to
3:39
the dock to record some footage of us
3:42
going through the Golden Gate Bridge.
3:44
After I captured the footage, I went
3:45
back down to the wake and exclaimed to
3:47
my husband, "Oh my god, I have the best
3:49
video of us going through the Golden
3:50
Gate Bridge. I then looked at the
3:52
footage and here it is." So, as you can
3:54
see, in the excitement of the moment, I
3:56
somehow confused record for stop and
3:59
stop for record and completely missed
4:01
the moment. To anyone that knows me
4:03
well, this will come as no surprise at
4:05
all. Well, luckily, a couple of days
4:06
later, I got talking to this wonderful
4:08
couple and I was telling them this exact
4:10
tale and showed them the footage that
4:12
I've managed to capture. And to my
4:14
surprise, they were lovely enough to
4:16
say, "Actually, if you want a video, I
4:18
got one." So, thank you so much, Michael
4:20
and Nikki, for being my complete saviors
4:22
here and sending me this beautiful
4:24
footage that you got of us passing
4:26
through the Golden Gate Bridge. It
4:28
honestly was a really special moment.
4:30
And I will say from where I was at the
4:31
dock, there was cheers and applause from
4:34
sailors and crew that happened to be
4:36
there at the time. It was a really
4:37
special moment and I'm so glad that I
4:39
left dinner temporarily to experience
4:41
the moment, albeit I didn't actually
4:42
capture it. When I got back to dinner,
4:44
the lamb was incredible as I expected.
4:47
But there was a special for dessert, a
4:49
sticky toffee cake, and it was presented
4:51
very well. But I will say we do have
4:53
sticky toffee pudding in the UK and
4:55
often is served warm with custard. This
4:57
was a slightly different take on that,
4:59
but it was still delicious. After
5:00
dinner, we headed to a bar for a couple
5:02
of drinks before bingo blitz after dark.
5:05
If you know anything about Virgin
5:06
Voyages, you'll know that they do bingo
5:08
slightly differently from the other
5:10
cruise lines. Often you'll see on the
5:12
schedule things like bingo with the
5:14
diva, where the resident drag queen on
5:16
board will host bingo in the red room.
5:18
You might also see bingo with other
5:20
members of the happenings cast as well.
5:22
But bingo blitz after dark is very
5:24
different indeed. And this brings bingo
5:27
into the manor. This event shows up as a
5:30
paid for event on the lineup. So it will
5:32
say $50 to attend. This isn't actually
5:35
necessary to attend. The $50 is for the
5:38
bingo card so that you can play along
5:40
and win cash prizes. But if you simply
5:42
want to go along and watch the show and
5:44
see what it's all about, then you don't
5:46
have to pay anything at all. You can
5:48
just show up to the mana and enjoy. So,
5:50
the way that it's presented is that
5:51
there's a little bit of a dance break
5:53
and they introduce the unicorn mascot of
5:55
the evening who performs a dance number.
5:58
It's all very bizarre. It's all very
6:00
silly. And other members of the
6:01
Happlings cast will dance and perform as
6:03
well before Cara Couture, the diva,
6:06
starts the bingo calling. Now, during
6:08
the bingo calling, some numbers will
6:10
activate particular mini games or
6:12
scavenger hunts that anyone in the venue
6:14
is able to participate in. So, you don't
6:17
need to be holding a bingo card to get
6:19
involved with these silly mini games.
6:21
So, it might be something like finding
6:22
the hairiest legs or finding the
6:24
weirdest socks or things like that. But
6:26
those who are able to impress the
6:27
happenings cast during the scavenger
6:29
hunt bit will win themsel a free drink.
6:32
So, it's well worth participating if you
6:34
want to get some free booze. Now,
6:35
although we weren't lucky enough to win
6:37
this one, we did actually win the very,
6:39
very first bingo blitz that ever went on
6:42
during the friends and family sailing on
6:44
Brilliant Lady back in August. So,
6:46
that's our little claim to fame. But
6:47
something that does happen when you win
6:49
bingo blades is that you will find
6:51
yourself the center of this celebratory
6:54
dance at the very end of the show where
6:56
the unicorn mascots and the happenings
6:58
cast will dance around you to celebrate
7:00
your big win. When we won back in
7:02
August, it was my husband holding the
7:04
winning ticket and he's very, very shy.
7:06
So, he's mortified to be in the middle
7:07
of this dance number. But at the very
7:09
least, it give us all a huge laugh and
7:10
we did win a few hundred. So, we can
7:12
call that his appearance fee. Once
7:14
Bingle Blitz After Dark is finished, the
7:16
Mana then reopens for a DJ set. So those
7:19
that want to use it as a nightclub later
7:21
in the night can do that. But personally
7:23
for me, I took myself to On the Rocks
7:25
because there was a live music act on
7:27
called Larger than Lions. I find that
7:30
the guest music acts that Virgin
7:31
Voyagers managed to get on board are
7:33
really, really top class. And the lead
7:35
singer of Larger than Lions is called
7:37
Penny. And she has one of the most
7:39
incredible voices. And I was lucky
7:41
enough on this night to see a very
7:42
special set where Lynn Weber, who plays
7:45
the lead vocalist in both Red Hot and
7:48
Out of Time, joined Penny on stage in On
7:50
the Rocks and they performed a couple of
7:52
incredible duets. It was a really
7:55
special moment. And this does sometimes
7:57
happen with the guest artists on board.
8:00
You can imagine all of these very
8:01
talented people together on a ship all
8:04
the time. And you can imagine them
8:05
rehearsing together and enjoying each
8:07
other's music. They all love music and
8:09
they all love to collaborate. And we've
8:11
seen a few times where guest artists
8:12
will collaborate with each other or with
8:14
other cast members from shows on board
8:17
the ships. And for me, it's always nice
8:18
to see another side to these cast
8:20
members rather than seeing them in the
8:22
scripted shows actually performing and
8:25
enjoying singing music that they choose.
8:27
This was really a perfect way to round
8:28
off such a lovely, lovely day in San
8:30
Francisco. So after such a lovely but
8:33
quite a big day, it was nice that there
8:35
was a sea day afterwards so we could
8:36
enjoy a little bit of relaxation. Well,
8:39
we did exactly that and didn't get up to
8:41
too much on that sea day apart from
8:43
relaxing and enjoying the ship. And one
8:45
of the reasons we took it easy is cuz we
8:47
had big dinner plans cuz we had booked
8:49
up with a twist which is the big cabaret
8:52
style show on board Brilliant Lady. Now
8:54
this is a paid for event so you do need
8:57
to book it in the app and it will go
8:59
against any sailor loot that you might
9:00
have. have available on your account,
9:02
but it is $50 each. Now, trust me when I
9:04
say that will be one of the best $50 you
9:07
will spend across any of the Virgin
9:09
Voyager ships because not only is the
9:11
show amazing, you also get an incredible
9:13
dinner and five special cocktails
9:16
included with the cost, but even for
9:18
getting the food and the drinks, the
9:19
show itself is well worth the entrance
9:22
fee. We produced an event highlight
9:24
video last year talking about Up with a
9:26
Twist in a little bit more detail. So,
9:28
if you want to deep dive into that, feel
9:30
free to watch that video next. But all
9:32
you need to know is that this is a great
9:34
show with a live jazz band. And this is
9:37
all very lively jazz music. If you know
9:40
what postmodern jukebox is, you're in
9:42
the right area. So, it's newer
9:44
contemporary music and pop songs that
9:46
are performed by a jazz band and in a
9:48
jazz style. And this is accompanied by
9:51
incredible live vocals as well as
9:53
amazing choreography and incredibly
9:56
captivating circus performances as well.
9:58
There's also a bit of silliness and
10:00
humor in as well. If I'm sounding
10:02
enthusiastic about this show, it's
10:04
because personally for me, it's my
10:05
number one favorite show on Virgin
10:07
Voyages, and I've got a very special
10:09
souvenir from that show, which I don't
10:11
think many people have. This normally
10:13
belongs up here in my YouTube
10:15
background, but I thought I'd bring it
10:17
down today to show you what it is. This
10:19
is the logo to Lady Valentina's Emporium
10:22
of Excess. And in this bag is a pack of
10:24
tarot cards. And these tarot cards have
10:26
the brilliant lady mermaid on the back
10:28
of them. On the front of them, it's all
10:31
the cast and crew that brought up with a
10:33
twist to life turned into tarot card
10:36
characters. So, here's an example. This
10:38
is the Queen of Wands, and the lady that
10:40
you see here is Hollyanne Develin. She
10:42
is the producer of Up with a Twist. She
10:45
created the whole thing and I'm
10:47
particularly thankful to her not only
10:49
for bringing up with a twist to light,
10:50
but also for this incredible deck of
10:52
tarot cards. This has to be my most
10:55
prized Virgin Voyagers keepsake. So, for
10:57
now, I'm going to pop them back up where
10:58
they belong. Now, one health warning I
11:00
will give about Up with a Twist is that
11:02
those five cocktails do pack a punch.
11:04
So, do make sure you pace yourself
11:06
through the day before you head off to
11:09
that show. Just know those words of
11:10
wisdom come from a place of experience.
11:13
So after up with a twist, we didn't want
11:14
too much of a late night because it was
11:16
Atoria the next day. And this in
11:18
particular was a port I didn't know too
11:20
much about. Atoria is famous for being
11:23
the filming location for a few very
11:25
famous films. The top one being The
11:27
Goonies. You'll also recognize Atoria if
11:30
you've watched Kindergarten Cop or Short
11:32
Circuit or Free Willie. But I must
11:34
admit, I have seen most of those films,
11:36
but I can't really remember what the
11:38
place looked like. So I didn't have a
11:40
huge amount of expectations for a story.
11:42
But we had a lovely day. The weather
11:44
wasn't particularly nice and actually
11:45
the port location wasn't great. We found
11:48
ourselves walking over gravel and car
11:50
parks to get to where we needed to go.
11:52
There was an option to take a trolley
11:53
car downtown, but it did come quite
11:56
infrequently and we didn't have any cash
11:58
to hand, so we decided to walk instead.
12:00
It took around about 30 minutes to walk
12:03
to downtown, but the walk itself isn't
12:05
too pleasant. You do find yourself
12:07
walking past a few breweries and fish
12:09
processing plants and the smell isn't
12:11
great. Thankfully, when we got into
12:13
Atoria, though, it was a lovely little
12:16
town, very much small town America, and
12:18
I assume this is exactly why it's been
12:20
used as a filming location for all these
12:23
years. Well, we had a nice little look
12:25
around the gift shops. It was very artsy
12:27
and very bohemian, and there was
12:29
generally just a very nice vibe to
12:31
Atoria. But otherwise, it was just
12:32
lovely to stretch our legs and see some
12:35
of the lovely architecture and sightes
12:36
that the little town had to offer. After
12:39
a spot of lunch, we headed back to the
12:40
ship because there was a big night
12:42
ahead. We had to get ready for the big
12:45
scarlet night party. And this is where
12:47
with this being a colder weather cruise,
12:49
we really saw one of the biggest
12:51
differences from some of our other
12:53
sailings. So, if you know much about
12:54
Virgin Voyages and you've done some
12:56
research, you'll know that Scarlet
12:58
Knight generally tends to end in this
13:00
big pool party and often it does, but
13:04
obviously when the ship is heading up
13:06
north and going towards Alaska, for
13:08
example, they do need to make some
13:10
changes. And that means bringing the big
13:12
Scarlet Knight party inside. So, this
13:15
Scarlet Knight got kicked off just like
13:17
every other Scarlet Knight, which is
13:19
deciding whether to get Scarlet Night
13:21
ready before or after dinner. Now, this
13:23
is a question we hear quite a lot, but
13:25
really it is down to personal preference
13:27
and generally how late you've booked
13:29
your dinner. I always recommend during
13:31
Scarlet Night to book an early dinner
13:33
reservation, and that means that you'll
13:35
be out and ready to enjoy Scarlet Night
13:37
when it kicks off. If you end up with a
13:39
later dinner reservation, you might
13:40
still be eating by the time everyone's
13:42
having a great time toasting the start
13:45
of the Scarlet Night. But we had an
13:46
earish dinner. We went to test kitchen
13:48
again to see our favorite server,
13:50
Laurian, and I spoke about her in last
13:53
week's episode. And we just had a quiet
13:55
word to ask whether things could be sped
13:57
up a little bit just so that we could
13:58
get on with Scarlet Night. And
14:00
thankfully, she was able to oblige no
14:02
problem. We ended up skipping one of the
14:04
courses just to make sure that we didn't
14:06
miss anything. So, if you ever have
14:08
plans that intersect with dinner, ask
14:09
your server and they'll try and
14:11
accommodate you the best that they can.
14:12
We ended up taking this Scarlet Knight
14:14
really easy and just meandering around
14:16
to see which activations were about. We
14:18
walked to the back of the ship to the
14:19
dock house where Larger than Lions, who
14:21
we saw the night before, was doing a
14:24
very special Scarlet Knight set, which
14:26
was a little bit more lively than a
14:27
standard set that you'd see at the dock
14:29
house. And she was wearing this
14:31
wonderful red outfit, as of course
14:33
everyone on the ship was. We then had a
14:35
little bit of a catch up and a dance
14:36
with the Happenings cast in the Grounds
14:38
Club. The Grounds Club during Scarlet
14:40
Night will be set up with a DJ. It's a
14:42
very unconventional place to have a DJ,
14:44
but I think it's a fun atmosphere to
14:46
have in a corridor when people are
14:48
passing by. You can have a little dance
14:50
as you're walking from venue to venue.
14:52
It's very fun. We then headed to the
14:54
octopus garden, which is in the red
14:55
room. And this is where Abby the hostess
14:57
is transformed into the octopus goddess.
15:00
We absolutely never miss an octopus
15:02
garden during Scarlet Night. And this is
15:04
always a lovely time during Scarlet
15:06
Night just to sit and relax and reset a
15:08
little bit before you get back to the
15:10
party. We managed to catch the last
15:12
showing of the octopus garden. So, it
15:14
was time to get out of the red room when
15:16
the red room was being transformed into
15:19
the venue for tonight's big party. And
15:22
like I say, because this is a colder
15:24
temperature sailing, it meant that this
15:25
is a replacement to what you would
15:26
normally get on deck 15 and 16, which is
15:29
where you would have the big pool party.
15:31
I will say for me I definitely prefer
15:33
the pool party. There's definitely a lot
15:34
more of a celebrationary vibe. I do feel
15:37
like the red room it feels a little bit
15:39
like a school disco sometimes when they
15:41
do these big parties in there. But they
15:42
do their best and of course it wasn't
15:44
going to be pleasant weather for
15:45
everyone to be out on the pool. So we're
15:47
all thankful to be inside. With that
15:49
being said, although it's not as good as
15:51
the pool party, it is still blinking
15:53
fantastic. And I really have a great
15:55
time at these parties. And it gives all
15:58
the sailors an opportunity to hear Abby
16:00
the hostess belt out the big Scarlet
16:02
Knight song. This time joined by the
16:04
dancers, the acrobats, and the rest of
16:06
the happenings cast in this huge dance
16:08
number, which is a really big
16:10
celebration of Scarlet Knight. It's
16:12
always a fantastic moment, and it's one
16:14
of those moments where you're just
16:15
really thankful to be on the voyage.
16:17
Once all the big singing and dancing is
16:19
done, then the party is taken over by a
16:22
DJ. And everyone had a really great time
16:24
closing the party out with the DJ. But
16:26
if you still want to keep the party
16:27
going, that's where you move into the
16:29
mana, which is exactly what we did. And
16:32
that's where the DJ will take over for
16:34
another party, which will take you into
16:36
the wee hours of the morning. And this
16:38
has become a bit of a theme here where I
16:40
was very thankful that it was a C day
16:42
the next day. So, it was time to recover
16:44
and recoup after that big scarlet night.
16:47
We had a bit of a lazy morning and
16:49
headed to the galley for food. We ended
16:51
up sitting in Gun Bay, which is the
16:52
Korean barbecue restaurant that leads
16:55
off from the galley. But if you're ever
16:57
looking for a seat in the galley and you
16:58
can't find one, have a look at Gun Bay
17:00
cuz often they will open it up for extra
17:03
seating for the galley and you'll often
17:05
find completely empty tables there. So,
17:08
if you simply want to grab some food and
17:10
head into Gun Bay, you certainly can do.
17:12
And you can even place orders from there
17:15
as well. If you put the flag up on the
17:17
menu, a server will come over and ask
17:19
what you'd like to eat from the several
17:21
eeries in the galley. So that's a bit of
17:23
a pro tip if you're looking for a table
17:25
and things are a little bit busy. After
17:26
a spot of lunch, I headed downstairs and
17:28
had a little wander through deck 7 where
17:31
larger than lions again were performing
17:33
in the dock house. This time it was a
17:35
nice chilled morning set. I ended up
17:37
meandering a little bit further and
17:39
headed in to the diva goes west. And I'm
17:42
so glad I did. We saw D.A. Goes West
17:44
last time we were on Brilliant just a
17:46
few months ago, so I didn't want to take
17:47
any space or any seats that other people
17:50
could have used to see the show, but I
17:52
managed to stand in the back and watch
17:53
some of the show. And Cara Couture was
17:56
absolutely hilarious. There's something
17:58
about her Irish accent mixed with the
18:00
Western United States theme. It just
18:02
works so well in a really bizarre way.
18:04
But from what I could tell, the audience
18:06
were loving it. It was a completely
18:08
packed house. There were people upstairs
18:10
watching the show on TV monitors. It was
18:13
that busy. But it's just lovely to see
18:15
those drag performances getting so much
18:17
love on the ship as they well deserve. I
18:19
then headed into the shopping area which
18:20
is called the High Street. And I was
18:22
delighted to see a shop has been
18:24
transformed to be the Alaska dedicated
18:27
shop. So, it was really nice browsing
18:29
the different items that are going to be
18:30
available for sale during these Alaska
18:33
sailings. A lot of this stuff looked
18:35
really nice and there was a huge
18:36
variety. The only thing that we didn't
18:38
spot was anything that was Virgin
18:40
Voyages, Alaska themed. There were
18:42
things that were Virgin Voyages themed
18:43
and then things that were Alaska themed,
18:45
but they didn't seem to have any
18:46
merchandise that blended the two ideas
18:49
together. Then, because this was our
18:50
last sea day, we decided to keep things
18:52
really chill. We had some time walking
18:54
around the deck on deck 16 and 17. We
18:57
could see the Canadian mountains in the
18:59
distance. It was just a really lovely
19:00
time to be walking around the decks and
19:02
it was actually quite quiet up there as
19:04
well. Then we headed down to deck 7 and
19:06
spent some time on the dock. It was opa
19:09
so we managed to have that lovely
19:11
Mediterranean style cold mezz with some
19:14
lovely peter bread and vegetables and a
19:16
variety of different dips to dip them
19:18
in. It was a really nice way to spend a
19:20
relaxing hour or so. Later we had dinner
19:23
reservations extra virgin. Now because
19:25
I'd already eaten at Opra Hour, I
19:27
decided to just order an appetizer. But
19:29
this is the beauty of being on a cruise.
19:31
You can decide when and where you want
19:33
to eat. You don't always need to have a
19:35
sit-down three course meal. Sometimes
19:37
you can just go ahead to a restaurant
19:39
for an appetizer or a dessert with a
19:41
glass of wine. You can really take
19:43
things at your own speed. And certainly
19:45
on this eight night voyage, we had the
19:46
opportunity to do that. After our late
19:48
dinner, we had a look at the lineup and
19:50
there was a band playing called Forward
19:52
Motion and there was a fantastic
19:53
atmosphere in there. It's really lovely
19:55
to go along to these events where people
19:57
are actually dancing to the live music
19:59
in the manor and this band and the
20:01
vocals were absolutely incredible. We
20:03
had such a lovely night dancing the
20:05
night away and working off that Opour
20:07
food and the appetizer from Extra
20:10
Virgin. Really was a lovely way to
20:12
finish a nice relaxing sea day. But that
20:14
led on to one of the most exciting and
20:16
chaotic days I think I've ever had on
20:18
Virgin Voyages. And that was all because
20:21
we just arrived at Victoria in Canada.
20:24
We got up fairly early to go along to a
20:26
whale watching shore thing. Now, when it
20:28
comes to port excursions in this part of
20:31
the world, whale watching has to be one
20:32
of the most popular options, and there's
20:34
a few different ways you can do it.
20:36
There was an option to go on a much
20:37
larger vessel that kind of looked like a
20:39
ferry, but we decided to take the ribbo
20:42
ride instead because we'd done something
20:44
quite similar in Australia and really
20:47
enjoyed it. The day started off with us
20:49
getting changed into overalls and they
20:51
said, "You might get a little bit wet."
20:53
And we thought, well, this is great.
20:54
We're all covered up. We're not going to
20:55
get too wet at all. Well, there comes a
20:57
point in this tale where I certainly eat
20:59
my words and I certainly eat a lot of
21:00
sea water. So, we got into the ribbo and
21:03
left the dock and that's when we started
21:04
to speed up to nearly 30 knots. So, the
21:07
waves were a little choppy and a little
21:08
hair raising and a few people got wet in
21:11
the back, but I was feeling very smug.
21:12
No water had touched me at all. Then
21:14
eventually after about an hour, we ended
21:16
up to where we were going where we
21:18
started to look for whales and we were
21:20
told to look out for signs that whales
21:21
were in the area. So, we were looking
21:23
for dorsal fins emerging from the water
21:25
and plumes of water from humpbacks.
21:28
Well, we were very lucky indeed because
21:30
our boat were the first ones to spot
21:32
orcas, a pod of orcas that were very
21:34
close to San Juan Island. And that's
21:37
where things really got exciting cuz we
21:38
started to follow from a safe distance
21:41
this pod of orcas. And what was really
21:43
cool is the skipper of our boat was
21:45
radioing all the other boats to say that
21:47
we'd found this pod. And then all of the
21:49
other whale watching boats in the area
21:51
started to coalesce on where we were. So
21:53
not only were we witnessed to the whales
21:55
which was a fantastic site but it was
21:57
just really exciting to be part of this
21:59
group that were all hunting for this pod
22:01
of whales. Now every single vessel in
22:03
the area were all about conservation and
22:06
there are rules about leaving certain
22:08
pods of orcas alone and staying at least
22:11
200 m away from the whales. It was
22:13
lovely to hear about all the
22:14
conservation efforts that have been
22:16
going on for the last few decades. But
22:18
after we'd spent some time observing
22:20
this pod of orcas, it was time to head
22:23
back. The weather had turned a little
22:25
bit and made the sea extremely choppy
22:28
indeed. And this is where I really saw
22:29
the contrast between what I thought was
22:31
choppy before and what was actually
22:33
choppy now. It was like a roller coaster
22:36
ride. The boat was actually leaving the
22:38
water at times and you could feel it
22:40
jumping over waves and landing back. And
22:42
of course, when it lands back, then the
22:44
water sprays up. And when I was feeling
22:46
smug for being dry earlier, well, Karma
22:49
truly decided to get me back because I
22:51
got absolutely drenched. And when I say
22:53
drenched, it was like somebody was
22:55
throwing buckets of water over me for a
22:57
good 20 minutes. Needless to say, we
22:59
were all having such an incredible time.
23:01
We were giggling and laughing, but I
23:03
could sense there was a little bit of
23:04
anxiety from the skipper because I don't
23:06
think he was quite used to waves like
23:09
this. When we managed to survive and get
23:11
back to the dock, he actually told us
23:12
that those were the worst and choppiest
23:14
waters he'd been in for the whole two
23:16
years that he'd been doing this job. And
23:18
he actually went ahead and cancelled the
23:20
trip that was about to take place in the
23:22
afternoon because the water was just too
23:24
dangerous. So, we really did come quite
23:26
close to the edge of our trip being
23:28
cancelled, but we managed to have such
23:30
an amazing time even though it was
23:32
slightly deathdeying. Well, after we
23:34
headed back on board the ship, we
23:36
decided to do a little bit of packing
23:38
because unfortunately it was the last
23:40
day. But of course, there's always that
23:41
final night. And on Virgin Voyages, they
23:44
tend to do a party on the last night.
23:47
Depending on which ship you're on, this
23:48
will be a different theme. But because
23:50
we're on Brilliant Lady, the theme of
23:52
the final night was circus disco. And
23:54
circus disco is pretty much exactly what
23:56
it says on the tin. So you've got
23:58
acrobats and circus performers as well
24:00
as the happenings cast all performing
24:02
this wonderful disco show, but it's also
24:05
the precursor to a disco themed club
24:08
night as well. The dress code for circus
24:10
disco is shiny silver. So if you've got
24:12
anything that's silver and glittery and
24:14
shiny and you want to show that off,
24:16
then this is definitely the party for
24:17
you. But as ever with the themes on
24:19
these club nights, it's entirely up to
24:21
you. You don't need to dress to the
24:22
theme if you don't want to. It's just an
24:24
extra bit of fun if you want to get
24:26
involved. But the show itself was really
24:27
fantastic. And there was a really nice
24:29
vibe in the room as well. So this was
24:31
the perfect way to finish off such an
24:33
incredible voyage. And with that, it was
24:35
off to bed because it was time to arrive
24:37
in Vancouver the next day and finally
24:40
disembark Brilliant Lady. Because we had
24:42
such an amazing time on this voyage. I
24:44
will say there was a little bit of
24:46
sadness when we were walking down the
24:48
gang way to end that voyage. It was just
24:50
fantastic. But we were lucky enough to
24:52
spend a few days in Vancouver. And I
24:54
will say Vancouver was a complete
24:56
surprise to us. We weren't expecting to
24:58
enjoy it as much as we did. But we also
25:00
got lucky with the weather. It was
25:01
lovely and sunny the day we arrived. We
25:03
did a bit of shopping and spent a lot of
25:05
time downtown. We also took a ferry over
25:07
to Granville Island, which is kind of a
25:09
market with arts and crafts and food and
25:11
drink. And there's some live music
25:13
playing outside as well. We also
25:15
couldn't resist trying out a sea plane
25:17
for the first time. It cost around $120
25:21
each. I think you can get it a little
25:23
bit cheaper if you shop around if I'm
25:24
honest. But it was such an incredible
25:26
experience flying in a sea plane for the
25:28
first time and also seeing Vancouver
25:30
from that high up perspective. The
25:32
flight took around 30 to 40 minutes. And
25:34
I will say I was a little bit nervous.
25:36
I'm not normally a nervous flyer, but
25:38
it's such a small plane and of course
25:39
you are taking off and landing on water.
25:42
Because we were downtown for most of the
25:44
time, we did want to stretch our legs a
25:46
little bit. So we hired a car on the
25:48
very last day before we were going to
25:49
head to the airport. We drove out of the
25:51
city over the Lion's Gate Bridge and up
25:54
towards Squamish. We ended up stopping
25:56
off at a viewpoint where we could see
25:58
Vancouver and the surrounding ocean
26:00
before heading up for a short walk
26:02
around Shannon Falls. It's a really nice
26:04
wooded area. We did have a nice walk.
26:06
Then we decided to go to the sea to sky
26:08
gondola which had come highly
26:10
recommended. We had a lovely ride up the
26:12
mountain. It was a really long journey
26:14
on the cable car and it was lovely to
26:16
see the surrounding landscape up there.
26:18
There was also a suspension bridge you
26:20
could walk over and some really lovely
26:22
walking routes as well. We just did one
26:24
of the shorter ones because it was
26:26
getting late in the day. So, we had a
26:27
walk that took us about an hour and
26:29
there was some more viewpoints to look
26:31
out of as well. Really lovely place to
26:33
go, but I do think the cost of
26:35
admission, it cost around $60 US each
26:37
just to get on the cable car. I do feel
26:39
that was maybe a little steep, but it
26:41
was lovely to see the surrounding area
26:44
of Vancouver and the incredible scenic
26:46
nature trails that surround the city.
26:48
But that was the end of our Canadian
26:50
adventure. We then drove the higher car
26:52
back to the airport and began our
26:54
journey home. I just wanted to put this
26:55
clip in here because I just love landing
26:58
in London. It's just the most incredible
27:00
view. You can see the rivers, the Shard,
27:02
Buckingham Palace. You can see the House
27:04
of Parliament and Big Ben. It's a real
27:06
favorite of mine and it's exactly why I
27:08
always want the window seat when we're
27:10
traveling back home. So, to sum it all
27:11
up, we had an absolutely incredible time
27:14
on this trip from Los Angeles to
27:15
Vancouver, including our pre-sale visit
27:18
to Los Angeles and our postsale journey
27:20
around Vancouver as well. All in all,
27:22
because it was a repositioning voyage,
27:24
the actual cost of the voyage itself was
27:26
fairly minimal. Cost just under $3,000
27:29
for the whole thing. And we also managed
27:31
to use some points and air miles for our
27:33
air transport to get there. Even though
27:35
this was totally a once- ina-lifetime
27:37
vacation, it didn't break the bank,
27:39
honestly, and we had just an incredible
27:41
time. The response from last week's
27:43
video has been amazing, and there was so
27:45
many people that have watched this video
27:46
that were also on that trip that have
27:48
put in the comments just how much they
27:50
enjoyed this voyage, and I have to
27:51
agree. I think we might look at
27:53
something like an inverse, maybe going
27:55
from Vancouver to LA, so maybe doing the
27:57
opposite direction. But we really want
27:59
to go back to these ports. It was just
28:01
such an incredible trip. If you've
28:03
enjoyed listening about what we've got
28:04
up to on that voyage and you're looking
28:06
forward to your own voyage, well, do
28:08
make sure that you follow along. Make
28:09
sure that you subscribe to this channel,
28:11
but also check out our website at
28:13
vvincider.com
28:15
cuz it has all the information that
28:17
you'll need to plan your perfect trip.
28:19
And of course, if you want to support
28:20
the work that we do at VVI Insider,
28:23
which is to get all of this information
28:24
out about Virgin Voyages, then do make
28:27
sure when you're making your next
28:28
booking that you head over to
28:30
vinsider.com. We do have some incredible
28:32
feedback about our customer service.
28:34
That's on top of all the included extras
28:37
and perks that you get just by booking
28:39
with us. It's a real win-win. It really
28:41
is. Now, the work here never stops.
28:43
We're heading on board Valiant Lady
28:45
very, very soon to check out all the new
28:47
things that have happened on Valiant
28:49
Lady since Dry Dock. And that's not only
28:52
just the new Indian restaurant area by
28:54
Razled Dazzle, but it's also some new
28:56
spaces around the ship, including On the
28:58
Rocks and the Athletic Club. They've all
29:01
had a makeover. So, we're going to show
29:02
you everything that's happened on
29:04
Valiant, but also there's 20 new
29:06
happenings events that happening around
29:08
the ship as well. So, we're going to
29:10
carve up some time to go along to a few
29:12
of these happenings events and showing
29:14
you what those new events look like.
29:16
We've heard some details about a few of
29:18
them and they all sound absolutely
29:20
incredible. So, make sure that you stay
29:22
subscribed to find out about all the new
29:24
stuff happening on Valiant Lady. But as
29:26
I say, there's plenty of work to do and
29:28
I need to pack for that trip for
29:29
Valiian. But until I see you next time
29:32
from Valiant Lady, happy sailing.
29:37
[music]

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