We cruised on the Brilliance on December 24, stateroom 1064, from Tampa. We have taken this Christmas cruise before, and while first time cruisers were probably satisfied and thrilled with the cruise, as former guests, we found some things lacking.

In talking with fellow cruisers, we found we were not alone in observing subtle cutbacks and downgrades. It's unfortunate that we came away not completely satisfied with Royal Caribbean because we enjoy being at sea on Christmas and this cruise is convenient for us since we live within forty five minutes of the port.

First, we must say that the refurbishing of the Brilliance is great. We took note of many upgrades in décor. Secondly, we thoroughly enjoyed our cabin, having stayed in this configuration before. The housekeeper was pleasant and efficient. We were surprised, however, when we asked for an additional bottle of water on the last day of the cruise (not the Evian, just the ordinary drinking water), we were told we had to buy it from our minibar. Read more