Returned two days ago from a five night, New Year's sailing aboard the Brilliance. My 14th cruise, and my travel mate's 19th (For both of us being under 25, I'd say we're doing quite well!). We enjoy cruising with Royal Caribbean for the consistency in their product - well maintained ships, decent food, good activities, and very friendly staff. We've also cruised with Holland America, Carnival (ugh), and Norwegian (my personal favorite).

I guess I'll just go in chronological order of the cruise - please bear with me here as this is my first cruise review I've written.

Embarkation in Tampa went rather smooth. Considering my friend was a diamond member we were able to bypass the lines, thankfully. Next thing I know, we're on the boat. My first impression of the boat was rather standard and perhaps a bit boring. I was certainly underwhelmed by the centrum. Royal Caribbean usually included a grand staircase from deck five to four in the centrum, however, Brilliance did not have that. Not only did that make the Centrum appear far less exciting, but that staircase was a nice convenience for descending right into the Centrum. Oh well. Not a huge deal at all. We packed and went up on deck for a little bit. Then came the muster drill. My friend and I had two different muster stations. Mine was outside next to a lifeboat, his was in a theater. So while I had to stand, packed like sardines for thirty five minutes, my buddy was able to sit back in the theater and just get through the drill quite easily. Once again, not a big deal, just nitpicking. Read more