Brilliance of the Seas Reviews

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We enjoyed this cruise, but we wouldn't rave about it. Embarkation: very smooth. We arrived around 1:30 so no crowds rushing on. We were allowed to purchase 2 bottles of wine and bottled water to carry on at the liquor store right at the port - nice touch! Room: room was fine, steward was good. You do need to request ice and robes if you want them. Entertainment : some of the music was outstanding! In particular the Spanish guitarist and the Starlight Trio. Other entertainment was so-so, though we did enjoy the Motown group. Mercedes did a good job with the activities. The larger ships do have much. Better entertainment. Dining: new menu was ok, but a bit disappointing. We found everything. To be rather bland. Indian dishes are no longer available and we missed them. My husband was delighted that crime br?? 1/2 lee is offered every evening as is shrimp cocktail, escargot,and their chocolate dessert. We are Diamond members and do. my Time Dining. We may rethink this as our MTD experience was terrible! Our waitstaff were pleasant and personable, but were always swamped and appeared disorganized. They were not the only ones as we often saw the red coats as busy. But many "little" things added up to making it a less than satisfying experience - things like missing salt shakers and Bo butter several nights, no refills on water and iced tea, no sour cream for baked potatoes until they were cold, clearing carts set table side several nights and, well, you get the idea....Nothing that terrible, but too many too often gets annoying! The ports were the draw for us taking this cruise and they did not disappoint. In San Juan per cruise we stayed at the Hampton. Enjoyed their Happy Hour and they even had complementary ten minute massages poolside. A very helpful desk clerk, Mia, arranged a last minute tour for us with Reuben of Pepe tours. He took us to Old Town at the start of the San Sebasti?? 1/2 n festival and then an informative tour of San Juan and even out to the Bacardi plant just so my husband could pick up a couple things at their gift shop. Highly recommend him! St Thomas- We went to St John, nor of our favorite islands for snorkeling at Trunk Bay and then drinks at Woody's. st Lucia- We booked a tour with Spenser Ambrose and enjoyed it. The land and sea tour which includes a great snorkel stop at Jalousie beach. Guadeloupe - Most reviews have not been kind. We took the Discover tour through the ship based on CC advice and were glad we did Asti gave us a good look at the island. The botanical gardens were lovely, the waterfall was somewhat unimpressive, and the distillery a let down. Two tour busses at a tasting bar do not make for a pleasant experience. The area around the port really isn't worth walking to see. Overall, kind of so-so. Antigua - On advice of CC, we took the See Antigua by Sea tour and thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We just returned from a seven night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas departing from Puerto Rico. This was the second leg on the schedule after cruising the first leg in 2011 on the Serenade. We missed a year as our preferred cabin 9076 was not available in 2012. We love this cabin as the balcony is a large wedged shape allowing a full frontal view of the ship. There are two lounges and a full sized table with two chairs. The only drawback is that this cabin is directly under the Concierge lounge on the 10th deck and for some reason the cleaning crew has to drag the furniture at two am waking us every night. I might suggest cabin 9576 on the starboard side of the ship. On this cruise we were pleased to find that a bottle of wine per passenger was allowed to be carried on the ship. IMPORTANT: Please note that curling irons,clothing irons and scissors are not allowed on the ship. They will remove these items from you and hold them until the end of the cruise. We are well traveled individuals in our late fifties. This was our 5th cruise, and the second on the Brilliance having sailed on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise in 2009. Other cruises have been on NCL and Carnival, all very nice trips. We arrived in San Juan a few days early ahead of the pending storm on the eastern seaboard and stayed at the Sheraton Old City. This hotel is situated right in Old San Juan across the street from the cruise ship docks and a short distance from the RCI port. This is an excellent hotel choice for both post and pre-cruise vacations. For more on the Sheraton Old City see my post on Trip Advisor. After arriving at the cruise terminal at 10:45am we were onboard by 11:20. The Windjammer buffet did not open until 12:00 so we spend time reacquainting ourselves with the ship. Our cabin was available at 1:00 pm and the luggage arrived at 3:00pm. Our cabin Steward Rajah met us and was ever present throughout the entire cruise. Does this guy ever sleep! We wonder just how many times the Stewards are in the cabin daily. Tipping has changed somewhat from our last RCI cruise. Being on the my-time diner option the pre-paid tip is allocated automatically to each wait person instead of the coupons that had to be placed in envelopes on the last day. You are still given envelopes for all involved wait staff, however, extra tipping is at your discretion. We love being on the Radiance Class ships as they feature a lot of glass and just the right amount of passengers for their size. The Brilliance still sparkles and has that wow factor, however, some areas are in need of replacement. The ship is scheduled for a dry dock re-fit in May 2013. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and greeted us with a smile. The cruise director Mercedes was energetic and not in your face as some others can be. The assistant cruise director spoke French mostly so we did not get to know him. More on that below. We choose my time dining this time in the Minstrel Dining Room. We ate at the same time each evening so we were assigned a specific table with 6 other couples. Our head waiter Ricardo and his staff were excellent greeting us all by name. Nice touch and what a great memory! The food was varied and well prepared with a different theme each evening. On the two formal nights Sunday and Thursday most guests dressed well creating a nice atmosphere throughout the ship. This was a big contrast to our Carnival cruise where dress night consisted of T-shirts, cut off jeans and flip flops the same as every other night. We are not cultural snobs by any means but people if you have a burger and fry mentality then stay with the buffet. The Windjammer buffet was consistent all week offering a varied menu. We ate both breakfast and lunch there daily and had no problem finding a table as turnover is frequent. The staff did a great job of cleaning tables. It is just such a shame seeing people leaving almost full plates on the table then walking away after taking a few bites, enough food to feed a third world country. There are several other places to eat which is covered in other reviews. Check your daily activities sheet for times as they vary daily. Entertainment was typical cruise with two full production shows for the week and fillers each evening in the Pacifica Theatre. Our favourite show was the "Original Drifters' featuring one of the many original members from 1967. It was an excellent show and brought back several memories. We do miss the dedicated Comedy Club offered on Carnival. One thing we love about RCI is that they are port intensive travelling at night and arriving at a different port daily with only one real blue day. The ports were all excellent and we had pretty well most of the day to explore the islands on scheduled tours and on our own. More on that below. One thing you should know about the RCI cruises out of San Juan is that every Wednesday the ship picks up 350 guests and drops off 350 guests from Guadeloupe. Although other than a few rude unattended children running around we had no issues but it was apparent other long time cruisers did. The Guadeloupe guests speak French so all announcements are in English, French and Spanish. This is all shipboard announcements and entertainment venues. There is a definite cultural clash evident. Disembarkation in San Juan was well organized, however being non American it took us over an hour to file through customs and retrieve our luggage. American citizens are free to pass by Immigration and leave the terminal directly. If you require a taxi be aware of the pushy locals that only drag you 50 feet or so to a waiting cab expecting a tip for doing so. This was a change from last time where you lined up and approached a cab in order. RCI offers airport transportation for $36 a couple, however your luggage is placed on a large truck and what a mess at the airport finding your luggage once again. Better to share a cab or pay $25 for the one way trip. All cabs in San Juan operate on a fixed rate which is advised up front. The other concern with the San Juan airport is that your luggage first has to go through the Food and Drug Inspection area located inside the entrance. It only takes a minute to get the green sticker after placing all items including carry on and purses on the conveyor for X-ray. Airline check-in is not possible without the green stickers. One thing that we always do is take the RCI excursions. We have tried the do it yourself tours arranged ahead of time or at the dock with independent companies, however, the RCI tours may be a bit more expensive, however they are quality tours and you are guaranteed that the ship will not sail without you. We did not select any excursion more than 4 hours in length giving us plenty of time to shop and enjoy the afternoon onboard the ship. In all this was another excellent cruise experience and we will continue to cruise RCI based on schedule availability.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We have been on 3 cruises now. Our experience on Royal- Brilliance was not all we expected. The ship looked clean on the inside, but our(interior) hall way stunk all the time. There was a real need for maintenance-painting, etc. We heard some of the crew bickering among each other. Never heard that one a cruise! The food was just ok. We are not picky eaters ,and love to try new and different things, but my husband who will eat anything , could not eat a couple of things. (Beef dry like cow leather.) The desserts were very bland; nothing to write home about. (Maybe European recipes?) Could not understand the announcements in either French,Spanish or very broken English. We scheduled a supper each eve as a group. Our waiter and asst waiter was very good. The Windjammer restaurant closed during the day! Couldn't believe that! Not many restaurants on the ship. The entertainment was 'ehh'. So-so. low scale. Our room steward was good at his job. We loved being able to go out on the deck and take in the ocean view daily. THAT was the most wonderful part of this cruise.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Flew in 2 days prior, got a taxi to hotel Milano, explored San Juan. Loved the hotel and location. We arrived at the port few minutes before 11, the embarkation started at exactly 11 am. Even though there was a long line, we were on the ship in no more than 20 minutes. Brilliance of the Seas -- the best words to describe it as airy centrum with weird floor plan. Anywhere you want to go, you have to remember which corner to turn, and it takes a while to get adjusted. The glass elevators allow you to see inside and outside. Standard cabin with standard fabric curtain shower -- you have to be really, really careful not to get water on the floor, or just give up, you won't succeed anyway. Shampoo/conditioner dispenser and brick soap only. At the boarding we got a printed note about some disease outbreak on the prior run, I think it was chicken pox. I would think, the ship should be at least cleaned if not sanitized. Surprise, surprise, dust on bed stand shelves. On the first evening met a young couple with a suitcase labeled "alcohol" and a bottle of champagne in hand. They didn't know they shouldn't have checked it. I said they now have Internet bragging rights about the naughty room. There also was a couple with over 700 cruises, and one old couple with over 1,000 consecutive cruise days! Some people really don't have a life. They've sort of solved the loungers' reservation problem. There are no beach towels in the cabins (Caribbean Islands, what else is there but beaches?) -- to get a towel to use by the pool you have to leave your sailpass which means you have to lug your own towels from home to use on beaches. And you need your sailpass to get in the cabin, so fewer towels used to reserve the loungers. The new food menu is the seafood lover paradise. If you don't eat crustaceans and such, read every word of the dish description. On the formal nights the head waiter walked around helping people cut lobsters out of the shells. He ignored my request to come back to cut my dessert. The lonely vegetarian dish on the menu is usually non-appealing sounding pasta. As for desserts, I have one comment: somebody take away the starch that the chef is over-using, let us try something real! We would prefer the buffet for dinner if not for our interesting tablemates at the table of 11. We've exchanged our e-mail addresses and hope to stay in touch! We had unlimited ice-cream with a sign "low fat frozen yogurt, warning: contains diary" -- the typo is not mine! I meant to take a photo of it... As returned customers, we got a coupon booklet. The "free pull" in the casino did not surprise with wins, so off we went to the slut machines -- just penny slots, we don't play to win, only for fun. Used the 2 for 1 drink coupons of course; Italian Pinot Grigio was really good! In Tortola we got on a tour. This is where my husband had an accident in the ocean. I said this at the dinner table, 9 people froze looking at me, 9 pairs of eyes afraid to ask. I love these dramatic moments. My husband likes to get close to water; there was a band of wet sand between the beach and the ocean, small waves licking the shore. He didn't realize there are no swimmers for a reason! A large wave came over, his pants were wet almost to the knees, and half of the beach sand was in his socks, half of the ocean water in his sneakers. We felt the Caribbeans are all about beaches and water activities, for younger and healthier people. While we are not sorry for visiting the islands, most likely we won't return. Amazing were the clouds, black like bringing a storm every evening although the weather was perfect, dry, warm, and windy. Also the stars, huge and low -- the sky usually cleared after the sunset. To disembark, they give you a tag with a number on it, and call the groups by the number. Somebody on Cruise Critic said the luggage retrieval was a mess -- not so for us! Just find your number on the wall, and go along your row of suitcases. This was easy. The passport control line was probably the longest ever. The usual mess and confusion at the airport upon leaving.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We went on the Jan. 12-19 Western Caribbean cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas. The ship is an older one, in need of some upgrading (which we heard is going to happen)but overall in fairly good condition. 1) EMBARKATION: The embarkation was flawless. We arrived at the port about 1:00 and didn't wait in any lines. It was great. 2)CABIN: Our cabin was like other RCI ships we had been on but our bathroom had an unsanitary smell when we arrived. After the cabin steward cleaned it, the smell was gone. I always take antibacterial wipes and cleaned the remote control, door knobs and flushing button on the toilet. Our cabin steward did a nice job but both times we talked to him, he talked about RCI trying to cut costs, etc. etc. I didn't think that was very professional. 3) RIDE: There was quite a bit of ship movement due to wind conditions, but we enjoyed being "rocked to sleep" each night. 4) FOOD: The food was excellent and provided lots of variety. 5) FOOD SERVICE: Our waiter was excellent (though we've had better). We were assigned a table that had only one empty chair so after 10 minutes of standing around, we were assigned a new table. Our table mates couldn't have been better. 6) EXCURSIONS: We visited Tortola, St.Martin, St. Kitts, Barbados and Guadeloupe and took ship sponsored excursions at each stop except St. Martin. We highly recommend the 4x4 green monkey adventure on Barbados and it was terrific. On Guadeloupe, we took the botanical garden tour which was beautiful; however, the guide was so soft spoken, no one could hear her past the first two rows of the bus. Did a beach tour at Tortola and the rail/sail on St. Kitts. The rail/sail tour was great. 7) ENTERTAINMENT: The shows on this ship were the worst we've ever seen on any of our 16 cruises. There was only one "production" show and the rest were comedians and some Temptation wannabes. Only one comedian was remotely funny and the rest - we rated a 1 on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being highest. 8) STAFF: Staff was very good but the cruise director (Paul) and his little translator got really "old" at each show. Paul wasn't funny and was rather annoying. 9) All in all, we had a good time at our dinner table and on our excursions.

Hide this review