clarkg

Thanks for sharing.

Looks like you had an Amazing time.

I've had the cruise line supply water in the past. They were more than happy to do that.

I loved the pictures. Looks like you had a great time.

Thank you for your review

Thanks for the review.

Fun pictures. Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed your review. Thanks for doing it.

Thank you for your review.

We did the twelve day Med, on the Spirit, but didn't go into the same ports. We went into Turkey and Mykonos instead of the ones you went to.

Wonderful review.

Great review, thanks!! Glad you had a wonderful time!!!

Thank you.

Thanks for the review and the pics. You have us excited as we are on the return transatlantic in October.

Enjoy your trip. Europe is an amazing place.

Our trip ended in Copenhagen where we had a one day layover. On purpose. We wanted to see the city. So that is where I'll end this review.

A castle complete with moat.

Picnic lunch in a boat.

You are here. One of the few times we actually knew where we were.

Overview:

The wife thought that there were too many sea days, but I enjoyed every minute. It started to feel like home after a while. The ship, the crew, and the room were great. I would have liked a bigger desk and an outlet under the bed so I didn't have a cord across the width of the room at night, but we managed. They fixed the bed, only wish is was done before day twelve.

Would I sail Royal Caribbean again. Yes, in a heartbeat. Would I sail this ship again, yes.

I had a wonderful time. The only downside was the meet and mingle that was badly planned and badly executed, but that's not the reason that I cruise so I had no real problem there.

Still loving the pics! Thank you so much for doing this!

Welcome.

The rain in Spain falls on the coast too.

Frank and I in the rain soaked streets of Malaga.

It was Sunday and mass was going on. I felt guilty, but the worship areas were roped off, like they were used to this sort of thing.

We thought this was a tapas bar, but they served hamburgers instead. Can hamburgers be considered tapas? I'm never sure.

Lunch.

Leaving Malaga

We had a rock hard mattress on the Brilliance of the Seas on our 14 day transatlantic. I mean, the floor was softer. My wife complained to the room steward and she put an extra duvet on the bed. It helped a little. Turns out the housekeeping manager was making his rounds and was inspecting rooms when the wife and I were still there. He asked if everything was all right and my wife complained about the bed again.

When we arrived back on the ship the room steward, under her managers direction, had made up ten pillows into the bed. The wife loved it. I joked about having a pillow top mattress, but must admit, I slept a lot better after that.

San Juan Continued.

Sorry it's taking so long to complete this review. I'm busier than I want to be.

Guard tower.

Private School bus as compared to the public school bus next door.

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Another view of the large grassy area between the forts.

I seem to be doing things backwards. We visited San Juan Puerto Rico before we visited Gibraltar. It was hot that day, but we still loved it. Here are a few pictures.

This is the fort that guards the harbor. I forget the name of it, but I have it in my blog somewhere.

The U.S. Coast Guard station there. The white thing behind it is a ship, not part of the station.

The capital building

The dome inside. Each of the four murals depict important events. Columbus discovering the island. The end of slavery. The signing of the constitution, etc.

A beach resort along the coast.

The back of the fort that guards the harbor. It has an old graveyard at the base of it and a large grassy area that the locals use to fly kites.

Great review and pictures!

Thank you

Great review! We are doing this cruise next April and looking forward to it, and it will be our first TA also.

 

Loved reading your cruise blog, very interesting about the time warps, good to know for next year's cruise! We usually enjoy early seating for dinner, but now are thinking maybe second/late would be better.

 

Did you book your return airfare through Air2Sea or on your own?

 

Thanks for the review, enjoyable reading! :cool:

I booked it on my own. That's why we spent the night in Copenhagen, we had separate flights because it was less expensive. $500 from Copenhagen to Seattle and just over a hundred from Barcelona to Copenhagen. It would have been $1100 for a direct flight home. Wow Airlines are going to start flying to some US cities, they would be even less than the Iceland Air we took.

We did the same for our Grand Mediterranean cruise in 2014, but nearly didn't make the flight in Copenhagen. It's a funny story and is the last part of that blog post.

Gibraltar continued

Lots of guns there.

The famous Barbary Apes that are really monkeys. They will steal food out of your hand.

St. Michael's caves

The top of the rock.

Gibraltar

I found out that the reason the ships stop at Gibraltar is to gas up. The chief engineer was quoted as saying that he could make it to Barcelona without filling up but he'd have to turn out the lights.

It was an amazing port. We had a private tour booked with other Cruise Critic members and it worked out perfect.

The siege tunnels

There are 36 miles of tunnels in the rock, which is very impressive considering the whole territory is only three miles across.

More siege tunnels

The airport at Gibraltar, with a plane coming in for a landing.

It also doubles as a road.

Map

The Rock

Entertainment

The theater was large enough to accommodate the crowds. They had impersonators, I think that's what they called them. Someone who impersonates another singer. They were good. The violinist was great. The shows were good. All in all it went well. We didn't go to the juggler, but heard he was just so so. When we docked in Gibraltar we had a whole new group of entertainers come on.

Public rooms.

It's a great ship. Its just the size we like. Didn't spend much time in the Viking Crown Lounge as that was basically turned into a Diamond plus lounge. Didn't do the climbing wall, but did the mini golf. I heard the pool tables weren't functioning correctly and all the balls would go to one side, but I never used it.

Service was excellent, they went above and beyond.

Thanks everyone.