Just Back From Brilliance of the Seas .... Awesome Cruise !!!!

[AlbertaGirl]

Kirky - I am from Sylvan Lake. What a small world! Is this your first crusie?

 

Dawn:)

[cruisingrightalong]

djcruiser-quick jump over to the roll call section and join our thread for March 28th sailing on the Brilliance....quite a group already!!!! The Ultimates will be sailing with you.... (and you did sign up for the Meet and Mingle).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3208890#post3208890

 

We love the Brilliance will be doing the one above...plus the Panama 10 Day for the second time over Christmas...and then the new 11 Day Ultimate next March.

 

Love her! and love y'all's comments.

 

 

Lou

[mringenoldus]

I'm glad to hear you had a great time. I'm hoping you can help me with understanding the excursions and ports. My relatives are doing the full transit in April on the Serenade and are counting on me for advice. Their ports are: St. Thomas Day - Aruba - Panama canal Fuerte Amador - Puntarenas - Huatulco - Acapulco - Cabo San Lucas - San Diego

 

I read that you played golf in Aruba. My uncle has also scheduled the cruiseline's golf tour there. What course did you play? Did you like it?

 

Have you been to any of these ports? I would appreciate any feedback you or others may have. Thanks!

[kirky]

I have lots of friends/relatives in Sylvan Lake. No its not my first cruise. We did the Western on NOS last February. We did the Eastern on NOS 3 weeks ago and am doing the Med this summer on Brilliance.

 

 

Dawn

[BrianB]

Hi all .... the Captain currently on BOS is Thomas Wildung ... a very nice Gentleman ... and very personable :)

 

And yes Dean I did write a short review and they said it would be posted in about a week .... I'm not very good at writing so don't expect too much.

 

My theory on Cruising is I don't set my expectations too high and we end up having so much fun and any little incedents just roll right off :) .... and my favorite part is meeting new pwople and making new friends ... which we did on this trip :D

 

Have a Good Day

 

BrianB

[Ronn452]

Brian,

I agree with you. We cruise to relax, enjoy the seas and meet new people.

I must say that in our 14 cruises, this was one of the very best. The Brilliance is a beautiful ship. We found the staff and crew to be the most personable we have encountered on RCCL or any other cruise line.

 

It was great to meet you and the others at the Meet and Mingle. Wish we had visited more during the cruise.

 

I posted a review yesterday also. It is quite lengthy; but, still did not cover all the points I wanted. If anyone has questions, I would be glad to answer them. This seems to be a way for me to relive those ten wonderful days and nights.

 

Captain Ronn

[ddean52]

Brian,

I agree with you. We cruise to relax, enjoy the seas and meet new people.

I must say that in our 14 cruises, this was one of the very best. The Brilliance is a beautiful ship. We found the staff and crew to be the most personable we have encountered on RCCL or any other cruise line.

 

It was great to meet you and the others at the Meet and Mingle. Wish we had visited more during the cruise.

 

I posted a review yesterday also. It is quite lengthy; but, still did not cover all the points I wanted. If anyone has questions, I would be glad to answer them. This seems to be a way for me to relive those ten wonderful days and nights.

 

Captain Ronn

 

thanks for the chance to ask questions;

 

so brilliance looks good?

th food was ok?

first seatting is 530p?

first seating production shows were at what time?

what time should we get up so we can get a space on the railing for passing through the canal?

what movies were they showing?

how was seaview?

thanks

dean

[meadcher]

thanks for the chance to ask questions;

 

so brilliance looks good?

th food was ok?

first seatting is 530p?

first seating production shows were at what time?

what time should we get up so we can get a space on the railing for passing through the canal?

what movies were they showing?

how was seaview?

thanks

dean

 

I know you said that the Brilliance goes into dry dock after your cruise on the 8th but I was looking at the Crown and Anchor Mag. and it shows the Brilliance in Europe from April 29th to Nov., I wouldn't think they would have it finished from April 18th to the 29th. Can I ask how you know it goes into dry dock then? Sorry don't mean to question you like you don't know but we are going on her in Feb next year and I was interested. Thanks

[kirky]

I sure hope it's not in dry dock. I sail on her this August in the Med.

[jwitt2]

I'm glad to hear you had a great time. I'm hoping you can help me with understanding the excursions and ports. My relatives are doing the full transit in April on the Serenade and are counting on me for advice. Their ports are: St. Thomas Day - Aruba - Panama canal Fuerte Amador - Puntarenas - Huatulco - Acapulco - Cabo San Lucas - San Diego

 

I read that you played golf in Aruba. My uncle has also scheduled the cruiseline's golf tour there. What course did you play? Did you like it?

 

Have you been to any of these ports? I would appreciate any feedback you or others may have. Thanks!

 

We played Tierra Del Sol which is the only 18 hole course on Aruba. I looked it up on the web to find out more about the prices and the course layout. Last time we were there we did a general island tour. My friend rented a jeep and they toured on their own.

 

I have been to St. Thomas several times. We did the general island tour the first time and went up on the mountain and stopped at Magan's bay which is where we went on another cruise to go snorkeling. We also went on the Atlantis submarine one time, not sure if they still have this or not. Another time we took a seaplane over to St. Croix. Now we usually just walk up to Blue Beard's Castle which is a hotel with a marvelous view of the city and walk around the shopping area. It all depends on where your ship is going to dock or tender as to whether you can walk from the ship up there. They didn't recommend walking in some areas of Charlotte Amalie.

 

If they are doing a full transit of the canal and it is after the stop at Fuerte Amador, they might want to look around the city. People who hadn't been to the canal before stayed on the ship so they could see more of the canal. I'm not sure what excursions are offered for that port, it is on the Pacific, we were closer to the Atlantic, but they are only an hour or two apart.

 

When I stopped in Puntarenas, we went up to San Jose and Sarchi, and quite afew other places. It was a long day, but I loved seeing what we saw. There are shorter trips from there like to the Butterfly Farm. I don't believe there was much in the way of beaches over there, but you would have to check the tours.

 

I have stayed in Acapulco prior to a cruise and also on a land tour, but it has been quite afew years ago. We went to see the cliff divers, went on a general tour and walked around downtown. We stayed out from town at the beach. I went parasailing there. One tour also took us to a big hotel south of the city, south of Las Brisas which is a cliffside resort.

 

Have never been to Huatulco. We took a general sight seeing tour of Cabo. They took us past Sylvester Stalone's house. Then we looked around the market place.

 

San Diego has much to do, we have visited there several times, but not from a ship. They have a wonderful zoo. Also Old Town has nice restaurants. Once when we were there they were having the Americas Cup and we drove out to where we could see that going on, although to see it you need to go out on a boat. Also, the Hotel Coronado is a beautiful sight to see. We went for lunch. The movie "Some Like it Hot" was filmed there and it is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are also boat rides, dinner cruises, whale watches.

 

Hope this helps.

[coolshop]

thanks for the chance to ask questions;

 

what time should we get up so we can get a space on the railing for passing through the canal?

what movies were they showing?

dean

 

 

The captain announced the day before arriving at the canal to get up around 6:30 and be on deck by 7. We did just that, and although not hugely crowded, the railings in the prime areas (heliport and forward areas) were full.

 

 

I don't remember all of the movies, but it was a mix of recent and older movies. One movie per day, playing at multiple showtimes (also, I'm assuming you are asking about movies in the theater, not in-cabin movies):

 

 

- Sideways

- Cheaper by the Dozen

- Forrest Gump

- Harry Potter 3

- Around the World in 80 Days

[pconkli1]

In three short weeks we will be on our favorite ship for a third time. Chris lock up the glasses if you want to keep em. We have had a great time on two previous cruises with this crew and ship. Looking forward to good food, great crew, many cocktails, sunsets, and new friends.

 

Dan-dan the party man..........wow sounds good to me. Let's party!!!

 

Looking forward to another journey on the Brilliance.

 

Cheers,

 

P&V