Barcelona - We are a family of 4; Mom, Dad, 22 y/o son and 17 y/o daughter. This was our 5th cruise each (3 on RCCL), but our 1st cruise out of the Caribbean. We arrived in Barcelona 1 day early to acclimate and to avoid the stress of embarkation. We stayed at the Hotel Icaria - Barcelona. It is a modern, clean hotel very convenient to the port and the beach area. Rather than go into La Rambla on the 1st night, we chose to go to the beach area. There were many lovely restaurants along the pier and harborside. We chose to eat in one of these and were rewarded by some great paella, local prosciutto, cheeses and sausages. It was an excellent meal. The waiters were great and made us feel that our vacation had begun.

Brilliance - Embarkation couldn't have been easier. We arrived by taxi and our bags were whisked away by a porter. There was no one in line (~12n) and we were soon on our way onto the ship. Our cabin was ready at 2:30p, and our cruise was underway.

The ship itself is getting a bit tired, especially when compared to other ship classes in the fleet. It is clean and pretty well maintained, but the minimal options on this size ship were noticeable. This didn't cause too much of an issue except on the sea days (2 x 2) when the ship was the focus. The shops on-board are pretty bad. The inventory and selection was poor, and the hours of operation made it difficult for people in the 2nd dinner seating. The shops were closing or closed when dinner was completed each evening. Latte-tudes was nice for coffee and a pastry, and the SeaView Cafe was good and rarely crowded, but we missed Johnny Rockets. The specialty restaurants are excellent, and we enjoyed these one time each during the cruise. Read more