My wife and I are in our early 50's and we had taken 10 cruises before with different cruise lines. We took the transatlantic cruise from Tampa, Florida to Harwich, UK. Our oceanview statement was larger than all staterooms we had stayed before. It was a wonderful cruise with very good entertainments, good food, good services from crew members, and excellent works by cruise director and the captain. The stateroom attendant we had was wonderful. She was proactive in wanting to 'spoil' us by checking with us to see what we need, etc. The entertainment shows on board were wonderful. We enjoyed all the shows and we appreciate cruise director's effort in incorporating local resources from Ireland, Russia, etc. The waiters in the dining room were very friendly and energetic. They accommodated some of our unconventional requests with excellent services. The activities onboard were designed very well. With so many days at sea, we never felt bored. We always found things to do. Only one of the shore excursions was somewhat not interesting because we mistakenly chose to participate in a tour that was designed for people with limited mobility.

Because we were continuing our cruises on the same ship after the transatlantic cruise, we were on Brilliance of the Sea for a total of 26 nights. Interestingly, there were hundreds of Diamond and Diamond Plus CAS members. While most of the passengers in the transatlantic cruise were retirees, the cruise management did an excellent job in catering to everyone's needs.

One downside of the trip, though no one's fault, was that there was said to have norovirus onboard. We were very impressed by the management and crew members putting extra time and efforts to clean every part of the ship. It seems that their tireless efforts had paid off because the problem was much taken care of in the second cruise we took. Read more