Brilliance of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,565 reviews

Great Getaway! April 2014

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas
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CruiseQueen Wannabe
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Apr 2014

We took this five day out of Tampa on the Brilliance after literally moving the weekend before. Because we now live close, we drive to the port and usually use private parking over the terminal parking ($). We got to the port about 1:00p.m., instead of the usual 11:00a.m. and we were able to walk right up to the check-in counter! We had all our documents/I.D ready to go so check-in was very painless! :-) We were able to go right to our cabin and put the few things we had away and go get a nice lunch in the Windjammer. Then we went and found our spot up on deck for sailaway so we could watch the ship squeak under the Skyway Bridge. ;-) While on this cruise we tried Izumi, one of the specialty restaurants, it was a nice atmosphere, we enjoyed the food but still a bit pricey, to us. One of the things really I enjoy about the Brilliance is the glass walls and outside elevators because of the nice views, especially when at sea. We had a great cabin steward, kept our ice bucket full and got a call into maintenance quickly when the battery in the cabin safe died. Our first port was Key West, we bought unlimited use tickets for the Conch Train, we had a long wait to get on because of the number of ships in port that day, we took it to the stop that was close to Hemingway's house and took the tour of the house and grounds, we had a great guide, very funny and informative. After finishing the tour we hopped back on train, took it around the island, which was enjoyable and back to the drop off which is not a long walk back to the pier where the ship was docked. On our day in Cozumel, we decided to use a ship excursion for snorkeling,(Fury Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Break), we usually use private tour guides because but liked the sound of this one. The crew was very friendly, enjoyed the ride out to the reef, but the snorkeling time was too short in my opinion and we had to stay clustered as a group, which is one of the reasons we do private tours now, smaller groups and usually more time. We went on to the private beach which was nice, clean, water activities available and a small food stand was available (extra $) On the ride to and from, the crew had plenty of sodas, beer and Tequila drinks :-) . In our last port, Costa Maya we used a private tour and spent the day at the beach just hanging out in hammocks, snorkeling, napping, very relaxing.

We did try the Anytime Dining on this cruise and enjoyed the flexibility but missed not having regular table mates and regular staff members. We always enjoy the live shows in the theatre, of course on smaller ships like Brilliance it is not as elaborate as on the larger ships, it can't be because of the limited space...

We enjoyed being able to go to the art auctions again while on board and also on this cruise there were a lot of instrumental music being played in the evenings which we like, just really wish Royal would put them in a quiet area instead of out in loud public venues. As always, we enjoyed the Solarium, especially since we no longer have young children with us on cruises. :-)

Cabin Review

This was our first large oceanview stateroom. It is midship and is convenient to stairs and elevators. Being on deck 3 was convenient on port days, short walk to leave the ship. It was quiet, which is great for a light sleeper like myself. Plenty of closet storage, of course we have now learned over the years how to pack a little more lightly. Plenty of storage in vanity area as well. Bathroom has curtain instead of doors and so floor gets wet but floor mats take care of that, mostly. No view obstructions through porthole, so it was nice to be able to open drapes on sea days and pull desk chair over and watch the water.....

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