As this was our second cruise, we knew more or less what to expect. Our previous cruise was on the Libery of the Seas, which is a larger ship, to the Caribbean. This time we chose to sail to the Baltic and St. Petersburg and were not disappointed. The Brilliance has just been renovated and a beautiful job was done. There was a lineup a embarkation and it took a bit to get onto the ship but the disembarkation went very smoothly with no holdups whatsoever.

There were plenty of activities for those who want to be active and also many lounging areas for those who just wanted to relax. Unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of the open pool area due to cool weather. As a result the closed swimming pool was always crowded. It would have been nice had there been the option of the open pool being covered when it isn't warm outside, which usually happens in the Baltic area.

The fitness center is very well equipped. However I found it very boring when using the treadmills as there was no personal t.v. sets and the only one there was, was silent. My friends and I who used the machines felt that at least there should have been music with a tempo to make the time spent on the machines go by more pleasantly. Read more