Brilliance of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this cruise because we have sailed on Brilliance before, and on Navigator, and Brilliance was a much better experience for us. It's a smaller ship, but has a much more relaxed feel. It has more public seating areas around the ship, so there is never any trouble finding a table in the windjammer, or a sun lounger on the top deck, or a seat inside the ship - even on sea days ( unlike our experience on Navigator last year).
We sailed from Barcelona, and spent 2 days there exploring this beautiful city before boarding.
Embarkation was smooth and well organised. We entered the port, and were guided into the pinnacle club queue because there was a a group of us travelling, so we got to the check in desk very quickly!
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
We opted for an inside stateroom this year to keep costs down, and were in 7577 on deck 7. We had our two teenage children with us, so there were 2 Pullman beds which were ideal (although they had a metal panel in front of the cabin wall, which was very noisy if the kids turned over and hit it during the night). We have never had an inside stateroom before, so were a little concerned that it would be smaller, or that we would find it too dark etc, but it was absolutely fine. In fact, we had more space than previous years when the kids have used the sofa bed in balcony cabins, as opposed to Pullman beds.
Stateroom is midship, so is good if you're concerned about feeling any movement (which we rarely did on this cruise)
Our only complaint about our stateroom was that we had no kettle to make a cup of tea or coffee in the mornings. Apparently they only provide kettles for cruises departing from the UK!!
Our stateroom attendant, Janelly Peralta, was AMAZING! She was hard working, friendly, efficient, cheerful, and so helpful. She is definitely the best stateroom attendant we have had and is a real asset to Royal Caribbean.
Port Reviews
Florence (Livorno)
Transfer from Livorno to Florence. Comfortable, air conditioned bus with wifi
Rome (Civitavecchia)
Transfer from Civitavecchia to Rome and back.