We booked our cruise after buying a Groupon in the USA. Our agent was professional and everything went smoothly. We were in England on vacation prior to the cruise, and we are very familiar with their trains. However, if for you that isn't the case, no worry, as there is an express train that goes directly to Harwich, with just a short walk to outside the door of the cruise terminal.

We had a fabulous time on this cruise. It was our first time to visit each of the ports. This may make a difference, as we were excited to experience the cultures of each city. It was our second time on the Brilliance, as we did a transatlantic cruise in 2014, which we highly recommend. It's a lovely ship and the staff were excellent. We dined in the main hall for all but one dinner when we went to the French Restaurant one evening. It does cost extra, but we were celebrating an event and found it was extra special. We enjoyed the days at sea, as well as, the cities.

The major bucket list city for us was St. Petersburg, Russia. Daily when we left and arrived back at the ship we did go through customs. We found the Russian people we met were friendly. We had heard otherwise, not true for us. We were not disappointed in this city. We took an AllA tour which included only 15 people, and was outstanding. It was two very full days, but well planned and we saw all the major sites, including the Amber Room at Katherine's Palace. The guide was excellent, friendly, funny, knowledgeable, and knew all the ways to get us into every place without waiting. We learned of this group on our ships CC roll call and forum. Read more