Brilliance Dining package question

Hi all, some of you regulars may recognize us from our Liberty hurricane saga last August. We eventually got our full refund and I was able to recover most of our money from our travel arrangements so that is a plus. We are still not happy with the way RCI handled all that but life goes on. We have taken 4 Carnival cruises and have been satisfied to a large degree with those but we had some RCI cruise bookings on the table so we thought it was time to use them. We already have our annual August anniversary cruise booked on Carnival Magic so we picked the Brilliance out of Tampa in December and will be taking our daughter and her boyfriend along to celebrate her graduation from college and her birthday. We have never been on that ship and we are excited to try her out. I am considering the twofer specialty dining option for the four of us which averages out to $20 per person. The restriction seems to be that it has to be the first two nights and they make a "courtesy" reservation on the first night in the venue of their choice. It seems to indicate that this can be changed once on board. I am interested in others' experience with this option. I realize that the venue and time of the premade reservation can vary but am wondering what others have gotten. Also, how difficult is it to make a change if desired? We have no interest in the sushi restaurant so we would prefer Chops and Giovani. Any input is appreciated

Welcome back. Cruising in August, Trip Insurance?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Welcome back. Cruising in August, Trip Insurance?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks. We have added on on of those travel policies that cover various types of travel related losses including cruises. I think it is about as good as the dedicated cruise insurance and seems more cost effective than buying for each trip, but we have not filed any claims. From what I read, it sounds like those that had insurance on the Liberty cruise had a hard time getting anything above the refund that RCI offered anyway. We have cruised the last week of August more than any other time of year (wife's birthday & our anniversary) and that was the first time we have been affected by weather. Truthfully, if we had been sailing from any port other than Galveston we would have been fine then as well. We have bad weather luck in June for some reason. We are interested to be back on the blue anchor after a few cruises on the fish tail. I have no idea why we have not been on Brilliance before since it is our type of ship. We are not huge fans of the central promenade although we have enjoyed the Voyager and Freedom class ships. Carnival has the promenade to one side of the ship which gives nice sea views & we like that. I do think that RCI ships have a higher build quality overall based on my observations. There just seems to be more attention to detail on the ship and decor. I am glad we branched out though and we will probably try out the Seaside in 2019.

If you book Seaside, I suggest a YC Cabin.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

As soon as you board, contact Chops and Giovanni's and make your reservations of choice. Make it a priority as the time slots fill quickly.

Which December sailing? DW and I are going on the 15th. Started a roll call for it, but so far it's lonely!

Which December sailing? DW and I are going on the 15th. Started a roll call for it, but so far it's lonely!

Dec 1. It was the lowest price we could find & since we are getting two cabins we went cheap. :D

We did the BoGo last week on Brilliance. We set/changed our reservations as soon as we boarded the ship. There are people waiting in the centrum as you enter the ship who will take care of you. We ate at Chop's on night 1 and Giovanni's night 2. Food and service were great and there were open tables each night :D

We did the BoGo last week on Brilliance. We set/changed our reservations as soon as we boarded the ship. There are people waiting in the centrum as you enter the ship who will take care of you. We ate at Chop's on night 1 and Giovanni's night 2. Food and service were great and there were open tables each night :D

Thanks, guys. We were wondering how difficult it would be with that offer. We have never booked dining in advance; only on board. We waited too late on a Carnival cruise and the steakhouse was sold out. I suppose because it was the only upscale restaurant on that particular ship. I think we will go for it.