My wife and I enjoyed a 12-day Mediterranean cruise on the Royal Caribbean (RC) Brilliance of the Seas ship in September of 2016. The cruise included the ports of Barcelona, Cannes, Cinque Terre, Rome, Athens Ephesus, Santorini Island and Malta. This review focuses on the ship experience (not the ports or excursions) and answering some of the questions we had when we were planning for this cruise.

ARRIVAL. We arrived at the Barcelona port around 11:30 am for a 5:00 pm ship departure. As you approach the boarding facility they take your large bags. You can keep your carry-on bag if desired. We had a priority check-in pass arranged by our travel agent so our wait in line was pretty short. At the check-in desk they issue a SeaPass card that allows credit charges on the ship and is your off-on the ship identification. We boarded the ship just before noon. Our large bags arrived to the hall outside our stateroom around mid-afternoon. If your bags are late in arriving, check up and down the hall before calling in. One of our large bags was placed in the hallway about five doors down.

STATEROOM. We booked a Deluxe Ocean View with Balcony stateroom (#9014). We were concerned about not having enough storage, but it was surprisingly adequate. The stateroom was a masterpiece of storage and functional efficiency. The closet had two clothes-hanging areas separated by 7 storage shelves. Read more