This morning, Brilliant Lady is sailing into Ketchikan, Alaska. We pass a series of Princess and Holland America ships already docked here. This is our eighth Alaska cruise and I believe our fourth visit to Ketchikan. However, this is the first time we have ever been here on a ship that is using tenders to get guests ashore.

I start my morning, like every morning, at Grounds Club on Deck 7 where I can enjoy my morning coffee while working on my laptop. When it comes to coffee, I am pretty easy to please. An Americano black is my drink of choice. Virgin has raised the price of an Americano from $4 (when we sailed in 2023) to $5. However, they still will give you a large cup for the same price as the small.

Grounds Club is where you can also find printed copies of the Your Day at a Glance daily program. Of course, you can find all of the same information using the app on your phone or iPad, but sometimes it is nice to just have a printout of everything in one place. The program is very well designed and easy to read.

This morning, we decide to join other guests who have remained on board (most guests are on excursions) for one of the Happenings Cast games called Mindbenders, hosted by Dulci “the Glow” (I hope I spelled her name correctly). Dulci is full of energy and really made the game fun.

Unfortunately, we sucked at Mindbenders. There were three different games, one of which was Soduku. I hate Soduku. I think we will stick to trivia.

On our way back to our stateroom, we ran into Deviana in the hallway. Deviana is our stateroom attendant and has been doing an excellent job of responding to our requests. Rickee found the bed and pillows to be too hard and requested a bed topper. Deviana informed us that all of the bed toppers had been spoken for and there were no more. Instead, she worked some magic by placing duvets under the sheet to soften Rickee’s side of the bed. Very creative. We also have been given a couple of softer pillows.

If one day into the cruise, all of the mattress toppers have been assigned, maybe Virgin should consider different mattresses? I like a firm mattress, but these are at about my limit of what I can sleep on. More on that in my stateroom review video.

*Deviana, our excellent stateroom attendant*

Getting ashore. Or not.

Our initial plan was to disembark between 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm, take the tender ashore and walk to town, perhaps do some souvenir shopping. The reason for waiting until 1:30 is because Virgin requires everyone to have a tender reservation and we were unable to get one. After 12:30, reservations were no longer required, hence our plan to disembark at 1:30. However, that plan has to be changed because we notified that the ship has suspended tendering between 1:30 and 2:30 as it is being repositioned to dock at one of the local piers. We got all girded up for our disembarkation at 2:30 pm since it is cold, windy and raining. With umbrellas in hand, we head down to the gangway deck (Deck 4) but are told that they are not ready and we need to go back upstairs to wait for an announcement, which we did.

At 2:45 pm, we go back down to the disembarkation gangway on Deck 4, but then we had to wait another 15 to 20 minutes for excursion guests to embark before we are allowed to disembark. Perhaps there was only one gangway, or only one security scanner? Before long hundreds of embarking guests start pouring into the lobby area where we are waiting. By the time we were able to disembark, we were wondering if it was even worth it since all aboard was 4:30 pm. When we got to the security desk to scan to get off the ship, we could see pouring rain outside and dozens of guests still waiting outside to embark. We made an executive decision to just stay onboard. First, we have a 5:30 pm dinner reservation at The Wake and we need time to get ready, so we would only have about 30 minutes to spend in Ketchikan, 15 of which would be spent walking to and from the pier into town. Better luck next time.

After getting ready for dinner, we stop by the Dock House for a quick drink before dinner. Is it just me, or does that look like a pretty weak pour of Crown Royal for $15? Maybe the tapered “glass” just makes it look skimpy.

I started lining up at The Wake about 15 minutes before our 5:30 pm reservation in hopes of getting a good table next to a window. I was not the first in line; there were two other couples already waiting when I got there. The Wake is Virgin Voyages’ upscale steakhouse and is probably the most popular restaurant on their fleet of ships.

We scored a beautiful table right next to a window where we could watch the ship’s wake as we sailed from Ketchikan.

Now, on to the food. We debated whether or not to even dine at The Wake given our experience on Scarlet Lady (watch our YouTube review). Our first time dining at The Wake on Scarlet Lady was our least favorite experience on that cruise. What makes this interesting is you hear nothing but accolades about The Wake. So, I felt it was only fair to give The Wake a shot at redemption. Perhaps our experience on Scarlet Lady was a one-off?

First, let’s talk about the restaurant itself. It’s massive. The Wake occupies the entire aft of the ship from port to starboard. The furnishings are elegant without being stuffy. The best seats are next to the aft-facing windows, but you had better arrive early to snag one of these.

As for the dinner menu (they also serve brunch at The Wake), I find it to be lacking a few of what I consider to be steakhouse standard offerings. There is only one soup offered: Clam Chowder. The addition of a Cream of Mushroom or French Onion soup would have been a nice option. Also, a Casear Salad would be a nice addition to the rather pedestrian Wedge Salad.

The addition of a Ribeye to the main courses would enhance the menu. But again, these are nit-picky personal preferences.

We started with a Wedge Salad (Rickee) and the Clam Chowder. Both the salad and the chowder were good, with the Clam Chowder being one of the best I can remember in a long time.

Now for the steaks. I am sorry to say that both steaks arrived room temperature. This, even though we were in the first group of guests seated. The restaurant was not even full when we were served our mains. My steak, although served “cold”, was cooked medium-rare. I ordered medium, but I can enjoy med-rare, so I ate my steak. Rickee’s filet, however, was definitely rare (she ordered medium-rare) and was almost impossible to cut. When the restaurant manager came by and asked how we were enjoying our meal, Rickee mentioned her inability to cut the cold steak. He offered to replace her steak with a new one, which he did. When here second filet arrived, it was still hard to cut, which is very unusual for a filet. The manager brought Rickee another knife, that was sharper and she was then able to cut the filet. I am a carnivore and I consume a LOT of steak. I also cook a lot of steak at home. I have cooked Filet Mignon (USDA Choice or Prime) from Walmart at home that was better than the one Rickee was served. This is very similar to our previous experience at The Wake.

The roasted garlic was a nice touch on the plate but the salad garnish was not dressed, just a bunch of dried greens. An oil and vinegar dressing would have been nice. Both steaks lacked any real flavor. Honestly, if they had just put salt on the table it would have helped. I don’t know why restaurants don’t put salt and pepper on the tables. Arrogance?

Once again, we left The Wake promising never to return. To be fair, the service was very good. Our waitress was efficient and friendly. The best steak I have had on a cruise ship remains the Bistecca Fiorintina on Viking Ocean seconded by the Aged NY Strip at Fine Cut Steakhouse on Celebrity Beyond.

We finished dinner in time to make it to the early show this evening. But instead, we decided to watch the World Cup match between USA and Türkiye. The game was being broadcast at various locations around the ship and even available on our staterooom television! Unfortunately, USA lost the game.

*World Cup shown on stateroom televisions*

Tomorrow, Brilliant Lady will be at Icy Strait Point. This will be our first time to visit Icy Strait. Will we be able to add a new magnet to our collection?

Day 3 - Ketchikan, Alaska

Getting ashore. Or not.

Day 2 - Inside Passage, Alaska (at sea)