Brilliance of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,563 reviews

6 Tours, 8 Ports, and only 3 Sea Days...we're TIRED!

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas
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Susan3235
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

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Sail Date: Jun 2009

12 Night Mediterranean Greek Isles   June 3 - 15, 2009

About us...there were 10 in our group, all women, ages 46 - 60. We had one 1st time cruiser with the rest of us having sailed multiple times on RCCL and/or other cruise lines. Three have bad knees and difficulty walking long distances and/or steps. Four flew into Amsterdam a few days early, and the rest arrived in Barcelona on the same day the ship sailed. I wanted to come early for 4 reasons...(1) flying in the same day we sailed made me nervous, too many things could go wrong, (2) we wanted to fly Continental to get our Elite points for the year, and they have a direct flight from Houston to Amsterdam, (3) arriving early gave us a chance to rest and get on the European time zone, and (4) we were spending a fortune on this trip so why not extend a few more days and see Amsterdam and Barcelona.

The weather in Amsterdam was beautiful, and we had a great time doing the usual touristy stuff. The only issue we had was that I had booked the IAH to AMS flight separately from the KLM flight from AMS to BCN (redeemed miles) so they were not linked together. This was a problem when it came to luggage restrictions. Since we were Elite on CO, we got an extra 5 kilos per person on KLM, and the nice lady didn't charge us for the 2 kilos we were over. Our friends that flew into BCN on the day of departure had to go through Newark, and were exhausted upon arrival as expected. One of their bags was lost, but was delivered to the ship on our 2nd or 3rd port stop. I had pre-arranged transfer for the group of 6 and their luggage from BCN airport to the cruise ship terminal with Barcelona Airport Transfers. This worked well for a large group and the cost was reasonable (95 Euros total + tip). The four of us that arrived from AMS just took a taxi. I think it actually cost us more per person than the BAT group because the taxi driver charged us extra for each bag. 

Cabin Review

Loved our balcony, and close to the elevator.

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