"LIVE" From The Brilliance of the Seas with Trainman-2 & Judith

[Trainman-2]

Let me start with a special "Thanks" to "MrFunInTheSun" who will be debarking from the Brilliance tomorrow morning a few hours before we board. He did a wonder live review and we learned a lot from him.

 

 

I have sailed on the Radiance and Judith and I have both sailed on the Jewel. But this will be our first time on the Brilliance which has gone through the upgrade and re-fit. We are looking forward to this 5 night cruise.

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Trainman- I live on the Princess board but always like to follow your reviews and savor your photos. Have a great trip on a beautiful ship!

 

Norris

[Trainman-2]

We met our friends Kathie (aboat1) and Jack recently when we sailed together on the American Freedom for a 1/2 day cruise around Tampa Bay. It is a museum ship which does two 1/2 day cruises a year.

 

I recommend a visit to this WW-II Cargo Ship that saw service in WW-II, Korea, and Viet Nam. It is docked just forward of the Brilliance.

 

 

[Trainman-2]

Some of you will recall that when RCI recently announced that they were banning smoking on the Balconies we cancelled all of our future RCI cruises. we did this partly in protest of the decision and partly because we really needed to save the money in 2014 for projects around our house in the country.

 

Anyway, Kathie called recently and told us that "Balcony Guarantees" were available for $299/person so we decided to join them on the cruise. Especially since Kathie pointed out that it would be the our last chance to blow smoke onto our neighbor's balconies.

 

 

So, with "Tongue-In-Cheek" we are calling this our "Smoker's Revenge Cruise!" :D

 

 

We will sail with RCI again as both Judith and I are trying to quit smoking!

 

 

And for those of you who have not been following our adventures out in the Country with the dogs, cats, chickens, geese, and flooding, check out my "Blog Like" threads in the Friends of Cruise Critic section here:

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=846

[donamae]

Woo Hoo, found your 'live from' for your cruise, have buckled my seat belt and ready to go !!!

xxx

[cruisinghawg]

Great to see you back Trainman. Looking forward to your review.

[Trainman-2]

We all met up at the Embassy Suites, Tampa-Brandon, which is a great hotel, reasonably priced, and convenient to the Tampa Cruise Port.

 

We just returned from an excellent pre-cruise dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathie and Judith were pleasantly surprised with the high quality of the food and the tasteful attire of the wait staff. Kathie commented that she sees much more revealing attire at the Mall.

 

But we enjoyed ourselves and that is what really counts!

 

We are meeting for the Hotel's complementary breakfast tomorrow morning at 9 am and then heading to the port to board the Brilliance.

 

Judith is really looking forward to visiting Key West as she has never been there. We are both having problems walking but we have all bought tickets for the "Hop On - Hop-Off" tour bus and are looking forward to seeing the city on a narrated tour and then picking where we want to go look.

 

In Cozumel we are going to La Choza, and excellent Mexican Restaurant well off the beaten path.

 

More to come...

[bigeagle12]

Subscribed :-)

[Shar27]

Looking forward to sailing along with you!!

[redlobster]

Thought we had lost you for good...

[Loves_Dogs]

Yaaaaa-HOO! Another 'Live From' thread by our own Trainman-2 Jim and his beautiful wife Judith!!!

[drarill]

Looking forward to your live review Trainman!!:):)

[charluch]

Subscribed ! Excited you had a change of heart and decided to sail again !!

 

I too am trying to quit smoking, but have my "smokers revenge cruise!" sailing on Dec.29Th. !! Lol I may ask the room attendant if I could take the ashtray on my way out as a souvenir :p

[shelbylook]

I'm right here with ya Jim & Judith! Bon Voyage!

 

Cathy

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for taking us along Trainman and Judith :)

 

Hurray for quitting smoking! A friend of mine managed to do it by smoking the vapor cigarettes......in any case, wishing you both a fabulous cruise!

[thebooth]

You could pay for another cruise with the savings of not buying cigs :) my husband recently quit and I know it's a huge expense burden off our backs :)

[Dave85]

Welcome back Trainman!!!

[nancronin]

Trainman (Jim) - So glad you're doing a live review - we were on the Jewel last year out of Tampa to Key West (our first time visiting) and stopped at the Conch Republic Seafood Company for lunch - it was near the end of the "Hop on - hop off tour". Really a fun place and the food was good. Enjoy! :)

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Goodie...goodie...goodie....this came at perfect time for me to tag along!!!

 

***

[stazerd]

Following!

[RCcruisinfamily]

We are on Brilliance for New Years Cruise. It is a surprise gift for the kids.

 

Should be a blast. We have the same itinerary as you. Looking forward to reading.

 

Kelly

[SaintTaris]

Tagging along 39 days and counting.

[Drew's Wife]

So excited to see another review about The Brilliance....we just booked this ship for the first time, so I'm looking forward to your review.

[stretchcruz]

I'm glad you are quitting smoking, lost my dad (he was 62) due to it. Anything you can do to help live longer and enjoy life with Judith will be great. Looking forward to your review, I'm sure you were joking about blowing smoke on to your neighbor's balconies.

[molsonschooner]

Good luck with quitting smoking. It is a nasty habit. You might be amazed at how good your Trainman breakfast smells after getting off the smokes. Looking forward to your review.