Hurricane Trudy May Reroute Brilliant Lady’s Los Angeles Cruise
On the October 10 sailing, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Ensenada replaced the Mexican Riviera calls after disruption from Hurricanes Rachel and Simon.
Virgin Voyages is preparing an alternative route for Brilliant Lady’s October 17, 2026, departure from Los Angeles as Hurricane Trudy threatens its seven-night Mexican Riviera itinerary. The cruise line has warned booked passengers of a possible diversion but has not finalized any changes.
A rerouting would make this the ship’s fourth consecutive voyage affected by tropical weather. The previous three weekly departures all lost scheduled port calls because of storms or the swells they generated off Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The planned itinerary calls at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, with the ship due back in Los Angeles on October 24.
In its October 14 guest notice, issued while Trudy was still a tropical storm, Virgin Voyages said: “We’ve prepared an alternative itinerary in case we need to reroute.” The line promised passengers another update on October 15 and advised them to bring extra layers and a light jacket because a replacement route could include cooler destinations.
Trudy strengthens near the planned route
The scheduled voyage would take Brilliant Lady near Baja California late on October 18 and into the following morning, close to Trudy’s projected path.
The storm formed south of Acapulco on October 13 and intensified into a Category 1 hurricane early on October 15. The National Hurricane Center put its sustained winds at 90 mph, with stronger gusts.
Trudy is forecast to become a major hurricane by Friday, with sustained winds reaching 130 mph and gusts of up to 160 mph. Large swells are also expected along parts of Mexico’s Pacific coastline.
Earlier sailings lost some or all scheduled calls
The disruption began with the September 26 departure, when Hurricane Polo forced the replacement of all three Mexican Riviera ports. That voyage, like the two that followed it, had been scheduled as a seven-night cruise.
On the October 3 sailing, residual swells from Hurricane Rachel made the approach to Cabo San Lucas unsafe. Ensenada replaced that call.
The October 10 departure lost its entire original port lineup to disruption from Rachel and Simon. Santa Barbara, California, replaced Cabo San Lucas; San Diego took the place of Mazatlan; and Ensenada replaced Puerto Vallarta.
Simon had developed off southwestern Mexico on October 7, a day before Rachel weakened to a tropical storm. Simon is now weakening too.
Brilliant Lady has two further departures scheduled from Los Angeles this year: a five-night Baja Mexico Halloween cruise on October 24 and a 17-night repositioning voyage to Miami on October 29.
See current Brilliant Lady fares and itineraries on Cruise Lookup.
