We booked this Transatlantic cruise while on the Allure Transatlantic last year. In Barcelona we stayed at the Ciutat del Prat hotel. Very convenient as they pick you up from the airport, provide a lovely breakfast, and take you to the cruise ship.

We enjoyed the Brilliance much more than the Allure. The size of the ship means you can walk from end to end in just a few minutes – very good for the less mobile among us. Ports of call were departure port Barcelona, Malaga, Gibraltar, and San Juan with the cruise ending in Tampa. We did not take any RC excursions but did take the RCI shuttle in Malaga. We did a private tour in Gibraltar – almost a waste as the day was incredibly foggy, no sights to be seen! The port in San Juan is easy walking distance to the Old Town. Very charming. There were lots of taxi’s offering inexpensive tours to the city.

We had early seating in the dining room and were seated at a table for 10. We had 7 lovely table mates. We ate every third dinner in the Windjammer so experienced it for dinner as well as breakfasts and lunches. Our waiter was Delano and we found him excellent – a real professional. So friendly and he remembered all of our preferences. The dining room was ridiculously crowded, with extra tables added on the second night. The food on board did not live up to our expectations. There was always something to choose for dinner, nothing special except for the garlic prawns. Food in the Windjammer at lunch was adequate but very similar from day to day. There was always a stew of some sort, sometimes called Boeuf Bourgignon, sometimes Lancashire Hotpot, but always stew. There was Indian at lunch every day and they really nailed that. Dinner in the Windjammer was good with Mongolian Hot Pot which had the best beef on the ship. Read more