My husband and I have sailed on Norwegian, Holland, Princess and (primarily)Carnival; this was our first experience with Royal Caribbean. We always end up having a wonderful time on our vacations, no matter what mishaps occur along the way -- we always try to go with the flow. This vacation was no different; we had a great time. However, to be subjective in this review, I will present the things we loved and didn't love about RCL , the Brilliance, and this itinerary.

Our first impressions, unfortunately, were not so good. At curbside, in the middle of the afternoon, with few fellow passengers arriving, there were no porters in sight. We (and the other passengers) had to struggle with multiple bags to haul them hundreds of feet over to the area where the porters would take them 3 feet further and toss them on tall carts full of luggage. Then, they boldly reminded each passenger to tip. When we didn't immediately produce money, we were directed (3 times) to the tip case -- literally a tool box with a slit. Although we always tip porters well, this seemed akin to tipping the baggage handlers for loading your bag on the plane. We felt pressured, so we tipped $5 for 4 bags; we would gladly have tipped double for help from the curb. We kept our carry-ons, as usual -- recommended, so that we had swimsuits and changes of clothes until our bags were delivered.

Our arrival time made for a very smooth and easy check-in. There were several staff members lined up outside the ship to welcome us. One stop was for our picture; all the rest were selling something (photo packages, RCL merchandise, etc.) Past that gauntlet, there was no one to show us the entry to the ship; no open entryways. We found a door which led into a hallway (no beautiful lobby entryway) and no one to welcome or direct us anywhere. We honestly first thought we'd gone in the wrong way! Read more