Brilliance Questions??

[yellowrosetx]

My 2 cents worth on the Brilliance:

 

We sailed on the Brilliance before Christmas - 12/12/09 - 12/23/09 - the first leg BMT did. started in Barcelona, missed Tunisia due to weather and missed 2nd stop in Malta coming back.

 

That being said, we absolutely LOVED our cruise, had received deal to upgrade from Jr Suite to Grand Suite, I have to tell you, we really enjoyed the extra room in the grand suite, as our grown daughter was with us, our room was two doors down from the Concierge Lounge, our first time to use it. We loved having the access to the Concierge Lounge for many reasons, coffee, tea, etc, anytime, plus appetizers in evening with free drinks, champagne. The most fun we had was meeting the same people over and over in there, developing friendships, sharing stories, having lots of laughs, it was never dull, I met quite a few really nice people. I miss them and the fun we had onboard. :) BMT and her mother are a hoot, so much fun, laughed and still laugh over your "elevator" story and the "old cow"! Norman was serving us the entire time and accommodated all our requests very nicely, the Concierge Director was a mix review, we didn't let it bother us and enjoyed it all.

 

Our cabin steward was fabulous, can't say enough nice things about him. The only negative about our cabin was we noticed a seepage from the sewage box or behind the toilet, plumber came out right away and seemed to fix it. I've heard others complain they had a much more severe situation that didn't get resolved, it sounds to me the plumbing/sewerage issue may be a problem that needs addressed.

 

Dining Room - the staff we had at our table in the evening were two of the best we have ever experienced, they always remembered what we order to drink, changed anything that wasn't up to parr, tried constantly to serve us and make us happy. Trying the dining room during breakfast or lunch was more of a challenge, we were scooted to fill tables in a certain area, service was sketchy at best, food ok, I often chose lunch from the salad bar. Windjammer is not my cup of tea, I did make the effort to try several times, seemed it was the same fair over, the buffets had a messy feel to them, I do appreciate they have the drink stations for iced tea etc, however, several times they were out of lemons and no help to get any. We tried Portofino's one night, asking one of our new found friends from the Concierge Lounge to join us. We had a wonderful time, visiting during the meal and while we waited. We were there for over three hours! It took forever to get our food, kitchen must have been slow as well as the service. The food was very good what we ordered, and did not really mind the wait as we were enjoying our relaxing conversation. One couple, we found out, seated behind us, complained to the staff we were talking too loudly! They complained about their food as well and wanted their meal compt. It takes all types.

 

Only major flaw was the morning we disembarked, hassle getting our passports back , seemed confusion among staff, then what caused us great consternation is one of our luggage was missing from the dock terminal, several others had the same issue, we had been booked to transfer on the earliest bus to the airport for an early flight. Finally one of the people went through a door leading out to the deck between ship and terminal, a certain number of luggage was just sitting there, left. One was ours, off to mad dash to airport, this put us late and we almost missed our plane as did several others that experienced the same thing.

 

 

I think the Brilliance is a beautiful ship, it has a few minors to adjust to make customers happy, I would travel again on the Brilliance, love meeting all you people from all over the world, this trip was memorable and I will never forget it or the staff and people that made it so special. Hope we can meet again on another sailing.

 

Debbie

[compman9]

For everyone describing the Brilliance as being in great shape, I have a couple of questions...

 

1) Would you say the Theatre was in great shape?

2) How would the Theatre compare to other cruise ships you have been on?

 

I'm only asking because it different people have different standards, and I thought the Theatre was in terrible shape. The chairs were worn and dirty. Some of the armrest cup holders were broke. The armrests all had varnish missing. The decor was straight out of a 1970s disco. The carpets and stage were well worn.

 

I don't want to start a fight. :cool:

[BMT]

We have sailed on Brilliance 7 times and have just done the repositioning from Barcelona to Dubai.Beat you - 4B2Bs on Brilliance!!:D:D

 

The management do a lot of activities/parties for the crew on this ship to boost moral. On a day when most of the guests are expected to be on tours they are going to take advantage of a quieter ship.

 

Like yourselves we stayed onboard while we were in Alexandria and Safaga, one lunchtime there was a BBQ for the crew at the aft where the seaview cafe is .That was the only area closed off and it was only for a short while. It was a sunny day and most guests onboard were lying by the pool anyway . I can understand your frustration but I am also for any reasonable steps the management take to keep a happy crew:) .

 

A lot of new crew joined for our sailing so it was an opportunity for them to make friendships and enjoy a little sunshine .What you will not know is that was the only food option for the crew at that time so if you were a vegetarian , tough ! We laughed and joked with our bar servers in the Diamond event about their 'special event' that's when they told us the BBQ was their only food option as the crew mess was closed.

 

We love the Brilliance , the crew onboard and have never been dissatisfied with any of our sailings on her and won't hesitate to go back on her again.

 

Hi there,

Well, your preference was to sit at the pool - others preferred to eat late breakfast and/or lunch on the aft deck which was closed to them, and which is one of the joys of the Radiance class ships. I am delighted that your preference was accommodated - other passengers were angry that their preffered passenger area was closed.

 

I would emphasise that the aft deck and both sides of the indoor/outdoor area were closed off. If even a dozen passengers were spitting with rage over this (and many were), that is 12 too many!! This happened on the two cruises prior to yours that I know of, so it could not have been to introduce new staff. I was told by the Manager that it was to regularly disinfect the crew restaurant - strange excuse this one - doesn't happen on other ships.

 

In fact, MANY passengers stayed on board in Egypt - particularly on the Christmas cruise - to my amazement some of them had never even seen the Pyramids - there are now more and more people cruising for the 'ship' - never, in 50 years have I ever seen an important passenger area closed off like this. This was the ONLY port where the weather was good enough to eat outside. This is one of the delights of the Radiance class and I really look forward to eating on the aft deck - or at least, the inside outside areas whenever possible.

 

It wasn't even necessary to do so - at most, only about 3 or 4 tables were occupied at any one time, as the staff preferred to congregate on the upper deck which was also closed off!!!

 

And, had I been kept awake until two in the morning by a staff party as happened, I believe, on the following cruise which I believe is the one you were on.........!!!!

 

RCCL should be fighting for customer satisfaction, not annoying them - without them, the staff will be out of a job. Sorry, I don't understand ANY management decisions where you intentionally annoy your CUSTOMERS!!! Especially in this financial climate.

 

 

 

[BMT]

My 2 cents worth on the Brilliance:

 

We sailed on the Brilliance before Christmas - 12/12/09 - 12/23/09 - the first leg BMT did. started in Barcelona, missed Tunisia due to weather and missed 2nd stop in Malta coming back.

 

That being said, we absolutely LOVED our cruise, had received deal to upgrade from Jr Suite to Grand Suite, I have to tell you, we really enjoyed the extra room in the grand suite, as our grown daughter was with us, our room was two doors down from the Concierge Lounge, our first time to use it. We loved having the access to the Concierge Lounge for many reasons, coffee, tea, etc, anytime, plus appetizers in evening with free drinks, champagne. The most fun we had was meeting the same people over and over in there, developing friendships, sharing stories, having lots of laughs, it was never dull, I met quite a few really nice people. I miss them and the fun we had onboard. :) BMT and her mother are a hoot, so much fun, laughed and still laugh over your "elevator" story and the "old cow"! Norman was serving us the entire time and accommodated all our requests very nicely, the Concierge Director was a mix review, we didn't let it bother us and enjoyed it all.

 

 

Only major flaw was the morning we disembarked, hassle getting our passports back , seemed confusion among staff, then what caused us great consternation is one of our luggage was missing from the dock terminal, several others had the same issue, we had been booked to transfer on the earliest bus to the airport for an early flight. Finally one of the people went through a door leading out to the deck between ship and terminal, a certain number of luggage was just sitting there, left. One was ours, off to mad dash to airport, this put us late and we almost missed our plane as did several others that experienced the same thing.

 

 

I think the Brilliance is a beautiful ship, it has a few minors to adjust to make customers happy, I would travel again on the Brilliance, love meeting all you people from all over the world, this trip was memorable and I will never forget it or the staff and people that made it so special. Hope we can meet again on another sailing.

 

Debbie

 

Hi Debbie - Mum also sends love and kisses and we do miss y'all too.

 

Agree about the Concierge - but the problem on our cruise was nothing to what happened in the CL on our second leg!! Lots and lots of 'muttering' from some in there - we just went up mostly to the Diamond Lounge in the evening.

 

Oh, and on the second leg the Concierge locked our passports away and left the ship for the day in Alexandria - so we were stuck on board!! No-one could find where he had put them. In retrospect, I believe that passports should be left in the care of the Front Desk only - they are too valuable.

 

This was one of our most memorable cruises - such a great crowd in the CL - I wonder what happened with the young couple?

 

I do hope we can cruise again with you guys - we had such fun. :D:D

[nellydean]

we did the BOS med cruise last summer, the ship was in generally good condition and the food was great The only real annoyance was where the ship docked for several of the ports and the difficutlies and expense of getting into town. If you couldn't make it under your own steam (which I couldnt due to problems with my knee) then you had to fork out lots of dollars to take the shuttle bus everywhere, which soon added up for a family of four.

 

This is something you need to take into account for the western med cruise, for example, civitavecchia to rome is a good hour and a half, livorno for pisa/florence was complicated on your own, in dubrovnik they docked in the next bay to where we expected, cannes was fine albeit a tender, naples was more or less near to town, corfu they also docked at the opposite end of corfu town - so you need to keep your wits about you, and be prepared to spend lots of money on getting to and from the ship - especially as the customer relations are less than helpful in pointing you in the right direction if you want to do it independently

 

I love to cruise right into the heart of a place, but with bigger ships this is often impossible

 

by the way, I am doing the JOS to Scandanavia and Russi this summer, and have found out that St Petersburg is a nightmare to visit independently due to the visa situation, so I have already got my private (and very expensive!) tours sorted for the two days we are there :)

[DGF]

Would you have had access to the Concierge Lounge if you had stayed in your Junior Suite

 

Thanks

[SailingBird]

Would you have had access to the Concierge Lounge if you had stayed in your Junior Suite

 

Thanks

 

No - access to Concierge Lounge is only for Grand Suite and above.

[yellowrosetx]

Would you have had access to the Concierge Lounge if you had stayed in your Junior Suite

 

Thanks

 

No, we wouldn't have had access to the CL if we kept the Jr Suite. To be honest, I didn't know when we booked the Grand Suite it would allow us to the CL, we just wanted more space as our grown daughter was traveling with us. Now I am spoiled!;)

 

My husband and I have talked since our return from the cruise and we both agree having access to the CL made a big difference for our cruise experience. My daughter loved having her coffees whenever she wanted, etc. The added big bonus were all the friends we made, maybe it was just our cruise, but we had a wonderful group of people from many different countries. I haven't laughed so much in a long time and we certainly need it in this serious world we are in, I felt like I had a vacation.

 

I would book a CL room again in a New York Minute! You can never guarantee who your lounge mates will be, hopefully, there will be ones like we met on our December cruise.

[yellowrosetx]

Hi Debbie - Mum also sends love and kisses and we do miss y'all too.

 

This was one of our most memorable cruises - such a great crowd in the CL - I wonder what happened with the young couple?

 

I do hope we can cruise again with you guys - we had such fun. :D:D

 

Don't know what happened to the young couple, we got their email, I need to follow up with them. I am still editing my pictures, think I got one of you and Mum, if it turns out, I'll sent it to you. Wonder what happened to our friend from Wales? He was such fun.

I know you guys are sailing on the Indy next Christmas, looks like we will be heading to Santa Fe for Christmas instead of a cruise. We will have to book again when you sail.

Give your Mum a kiss and hug from me-

Debbie

[BMT]

Debbie - of course I will:D But we don't hug and kiss ALL the time yah know;) haha.

 

I agree that the CL does change the whole cruise experience - you can get to know people easily and on this cruise, it really was an exceptional group.

 

I just wish it always worked like that. It was rather unfortunate that on the following cruise, there were two very different groups of people - but we are easy going - we just moved on to the Diamond Lounge. We met some lovely people there - and one couple we have already met up with in Spain.

 

Have to wait until June 5th for our next cruise on the Indie. Nothing else booked until Christmas, but we shall probably look for something in September/October. Have a wonderful time in Santa Fe - if you don't join us on the Indie;)

 

Brilliance is still our fave ship - but I don't understand 'staff appreciation' at the expense of customer expectations. They could have had lunch in the MDR as that is always closed is port. Neither do I understand disturbing passengers in the early hours.