Brilliance of the Seas: A Truly Brilliant Cruise - Review

[G85 SS]

Sky Bar/Outdoor Pool:

 

Pacifica Theater:

 

The Colony Club:

 

Schooner Bar (More to come)

 

 

[G85 SS]

Schooner Bar Piano:

 

Casino Royale:

 

 

Back to back double zero!

 

Port Side elevators:

 

Centrum:

[G85 SS]

 

The Sushi Demonstration done by these two chefs was great. I very much enjoy sushi and when I go I am usually watching the sushi chefs behind the bar make the rolls. This never gets old to me. And this was my first taste of Izumi and I will say it is much definitely a step...or several above Jade Sushi.

 

And before I go for the night I will leave you guys and gals some pictures of the stateroom we were able to enjoy during this adventure.

 

Grand Suite Cabin #1036

 

 

 

 

 

The things I LOVED about being in a Grand Suite, just to name a few.

-Access to the Concierge Lounge

-Seating in the Theater

-The overall amount of room inside the cabin and on the balcony

-The complimentary fruit bowl and cheese dish

-The Doorbell!! lol.

 

However, with good comes the bad. But this was the only complaint about the room.

-The full bath tub/shower was nice. However, with me being 6'3" there was an issue with showering as I had to hunch over slightly to shower to keep my head from hitting the ceiling. I think the Grand Suite would be much better suited with just a regular walk in shower like the Owner's Suites have instead of the tub.

 

And that will conclude my post for this evening. Just a heads up to anybody wondering, I have every single cruise compass with me so I will be scanning those and posting them up so everybody can see what all was available.

 

Stay tuned.

[Bette And Bill]

Good Morning, Jeremy - you are doing a great job with your review. Wish we were still sailing.

 

Bill and I watched the entire rehearsal for the Ariel Show and the one we actually saw (at 9:00) there were parts cut out. It would not have made it much longer but there were two other aerialists and the center ring was to be lowered to the floor. With the seas doing some rocking and rolling, they opted for safety and took those parts of the show out. I enjoyed the show itself but like you stated it was a bit short. Also, it is a shame they took all that space on deck 12 for the rigging (that use to be where the Loyalty Ambassador had her office) and then blocked off the view from the center where you could look down into the centrum.

 

Keep up the good work, I am reliving our cruise through your review.

[G85 SS]

Good Morning, Jeremy - you are doing a great job with your review. Wish we were still sailing.

 

Bill and I watched the entire rehearsal for the Ariel Show and the one we actually saw (at 9:00) there were parts cut out. It would not have made it much longer but there were two other aerialists and the center ring was to be lowered to the floor. With the seas doing some rocking and rolling, they opted for safety and took those parts of the show out. I enjoyed the show itself but like you stated it was a bit short. Also, it is a shame they took all that space on deck 12 for the rigging (that use to be where the Loyalty Ambassador had her office) and then blocked off the view from the center where you could look down into the centrum.

 

Keep up the good work, I am reliving our cruise through your review.

 

Thanks Bette.

 

I wish we were still sailing too. I have never had 5 days fly by so fast. We also watched the rehearsal while we were in Cozumel for the Ariel Show and kind of figured with how the ship was acting that evening that they opted to cut back on lowering the center ring because of it.

 

I wish Jessica and I would have had more time to sit with you and Bill to talk. We were up in the Concierge Lounge every night but never saw you. Though we usually got there around 5:30 and sat on the outside seating area.

 

Maybe some day soon we will run into one another on another sailing. :)

[FLACRUISER99]

Thanks for the great review. I'll be on the New Years cruise on Dec. 30 and can't wait.

[Bette And Bill]

Thanks Bette.

 

I wish we were still sailing too. I have never had 5 days fly by so fast. We also watched the rehearsal while we were in Cozumel for the Ariel Show and kind of figured with how the ship was acting that evening that they opted to cut back on lowering the center ring because of it.

 

I wish Jessica and I would have had more time to sit with you and Bill to talk. We were up in the Concierge Lounge every night but never saw you. Though we usually got there around 5:30 and sat on the outside seating area.

 

Maybe some day soon we will run into one another on another sailing. :)

 

We were there from 5 until 6ish. We sat inside and spent some time with Joanne and Dennis (dsulli). We are also sorry we did not get to meet up with each other very often either. Hopefully we will get to cruise together again one day.

[G85 SS]

We were there from 5 until 6ish. We sat inside and spent some time with Joanne and Dennis (dsulli). We are also sorry we did not get to meet up with each other very often either. Hopefully we will get to cruise together again one day.

 

There's always another cruise. That's the best part. :D

[G85 SS]

Thanks for the great review. I'll be on the New Years cruise on Dec. 30 and can't wait.

 

Thank you for the positive feedback.

 

You will definitely enjoy this ship. I think it comes in on the top of my list. Followed by Freedom.

[Hydrophilic]

Thank you for the great pictures. We are taking our two children (ages 5 and 6) on Brilliance in February. This will be their first cruise. They loved looking at the photos with me. Although, upon seeing the view from the elevator, my son exclaimed, "We aren't taking the elevators, are we? That looks SCARY!" This made me laugh because I rarely take the elevators on a cruise, under the guise of "getting more exercise". However, when we were on Serenade a few years ago, we found ourselves looking for excuses to take the elevators because the view was so beautiful!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[G85 SS]

Apologies about the delay. Better late than never though!

 

Day 4 broke and we were in Cozumel, Mexico. The original plan was to go to Paradise Beach since we have heard all of the rave reviews of it. however, during the cruise we decided we would just spend some time close to the ship since the last time we weren't able to.

 

Once we got off the ship, we took a stroll around some of the shops that are right at the end of the pier. These have your typical touristy items such as shot glasses, shirts, bags, etc.

 

Now, if you are wanting to do any deal of shopping, you will need to hop on a Taxi and tae a ride into Downtown. It's only a few minutes, however, again, we just wanted to stay close to the ships and not wonder off since we are going to be back there again in June.

 

There is a nice strip mall/shopping plaza that is being built across the street from the Pier. Most of it was still under construction but it looks like things should start opening up within the next few months. So if you're not one who fancies getting into a taxi and going off for a ride at the whim of an unknown driver, this might be a nice alternative choice for shopping in the near future. About all I know for sure that is going to be there as of right now is a Hard Rock. As if the giant guitar wasn't a dead give-a-way. lol

 

After about an hour and a half of walking around, we decided to head back to the ship for the remainder of our time in Cozumel. As if we haven't had enough of the ship the previous three days, we constantly found ourselves wanting to spend more time on board the ship than in the ports. I guess that speaks volumes to the style of the Radiance Class ships.

 

From here, no need to recap as we were back up in the Solarium. However, we did get a chance to watch the rehearsal for the Centrum Ariel Show which was pretty neat. I'll go further into some of the shows on a later post.

 

Here are some more pictures from our day in Cozumel.

 

MSC Cruise Liner and the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam coming into port.

 

 

 

 

Carnival Triumph Sailing away from Cozumel

[jty1220]

We are booked on Brilliance next week. We are in the same boat. I have been on Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, and Independence. this is my first radiance class experience.

 

Few questions for you

 

What time did they start boarding on departure day?

 

What day was the sushi class? Did they only offer it once?

[Aboat1]

Jeremy,

 

Can you please email me at my "screen name at Comcast dot net"? I have a favor to ask of you!

 

Nice to meet you on the elevator!! Great review! I felt like we were right back on the ship!

 

Kathie

[iloverags2]

Enjoying your review tremendously! We are considering a Brilliance cruise next winter and all of these wonderful reviews are pushing us closer and closer to it.

[sellwingri]

Brilliance is by far our favorite ship. The Schooner Bar is our favorite spot. In fact, on every cruise we go on, we call the similar bar The Schooner Bar, even though it's actually called something else.

 

Hopefully we'll find an itinerary on Brilliance that we like and have the opportunity to sail on her again.

 

Thanks for this post!

[MPH711]

Great review! Can you tell me what time you went under the Sunshine Bridge when you departed Tampa? Also, what time in Key West were people able to get off the ship? Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[G85 SS]

We are booked on Brilliance next week. We are in the same boat. I have been on Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, and Independence. this is my first radiance class experience.

 

Few questions for you

 

What time did they start boarding on departure day?

 

What day was the sushi class? Did they only offer it once?

 

The boarding began at around 10:30 I believe.

 

They also did offer a Sushi Class and they spoke of it during the demonstration.

 

I checked the Cruise Compass and the class was held on Day 5 at the Izumi Restaurant at 10:30am. Reservations are required for the class and it also costs money(not sure how much). And I only saw it offered once on this specific cruise.

[G85 SS]

Jeremy,

 

Can you please email me at my "screen name at Comcast dot net"? I have a favor to ask of you!

 

Nice to meet you on the elevator!! Great review! I felt like we were right back on the ship!

 

Kathie

 

I sure can. emailing you now. So when you see an email from a strange name, you know it's me. :p

[G85 SS]

Enjoying your review tremendously! We are considering a Brilliance cruise next winter and all of these wonderful reviews are pushing us closer and closer to it.

 

Well, after Brilliance leaves Tampa, it goes back up to Boston and does Canadian cruises. If you've not done anything like that, it may be something worth checking into.

 

I really want to hop on Radiance for Alaska myself though. But that trip won't happen for several years at least.

 

Great review! Can you tell me what time you went under the Sunshine Bridge when you departed Tampa? Also, what time in Key West were people able to get off the ship? Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

We sailed under the Sunshine Skyway at about 6:00pm give or take. It's roughly two hours from the time you leave the pier until you reach the Skyway.

 

If you go out on deck at about 5:30 you will be there in plenty of time to watch you sail underneath. It's scary how close the ship comes to the underside of the bridge too!

 

As for Key West, Arrival is at approximately 11:30am and the ship is cleared around noon.

Edited January 6, 2014 by G85 SS

[dappledumpling]

We are booked on Brilliance next week. We are in the same boat. I have been on Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, and Independence. this is my first radiance class experience.

 

Few questions for you

 

What time did they start boarding on departure day?

 

What day was the sushi class? Did they only offer it once?

 

have not sailed Brillance yet (a few weeks) but sail quite a bit from tampa

Check-in usually start 10:45 or 11 with boarding 11:15 to 1130

 

if fog closes the skyway boarding can be delayed till mid afternoon

[jp30338]

Key West:

 

With the backdrop of the setting sun and the appropriately named Sunshine Skyway Bridge all but a memory, day two was upon us and we were calling in Key West, Florida. Now, I live in Florida, take a cruise from Florida to travel to..... Florida. Don't judge. :p . But if truth be told, I have lived in Florida my whole life (26 years) and have never once been further south than South Beach in Miami. This port of call was a selling point for the both of us. As we woke up to the sun beaming rays of sunlight into our stateroom, we decided it was time to head to the Windjammer for Breakfast before heading out and about before we arrived in Key West. Again, this trip to the Windjammer was perfect. No lines, empty tables all around and wonderful food.

 

After fueling up for the day, it was time to head to Lattitudes to meet a group from this forum for a Cabin Crawl. This event took about 30 minutes and we had a group from every category of stateroom from Interior to Owners Suite participating for all to see. This was the first time participating in the event and I like being able to see all the different options in person because sometimes those pictures online aren't of your actual room. Who would have guessed? :eek:

 

Once the event was over, we all parted from this gathering and began doing our own thing again. Since our arrival in Key West wasn't until about 11:30am and clearance was after noon, we decided to grab some lunch then head off of the ship at about 12:30. This cruise we decided against booking any excursions as we just wanted to sit back and relax for 5 days and relax we did. Our mission in Key West was to go to the Southernmost Point. From where Brilliance docked to Southernmost Point is just a hair over a 1 mile walk one way. The walk there was very relaxing along Whitehead St and it was nice to soak up some of the history of my home state that I didn't know much about along the way. We passed places like the Truman Annex, The Oldest Schoolhouse and the Ernest Hemingway House and Museum. Once at the Southernmost point, we took our pictures and began a walk back along Duval St.

 

The walk back along Duval St was just as relaxing and enjoyable for us. Once we neared the shopping area we happened across a very unique store called "Abstracta". I almost walked right by it but my girlfriend caught it and from the outside it reminded me a little bit of the store "Obscura" on the Science Channel show called "Oddities". Once inside, though, we realized it wasn't the same sort of unique items, but still, very unique none-the-less. We spent the better part of an hour walking around in this store and finally settled on buying two different items for presents. They have all sorts of art pieces and décor for your house in this store and if you have never been to it, I HIGHLY recommend you walk around the store. The owner is a very, very nice gentlemen and will do anything to help you out. It is located at the corner of Duval St and Angela St.

 

After I was finished driving the other half up a wall from all the pictures I was taking, we headed back to the ship. Once back on board, we enjoyed the rest of our evening preparing for Formal Night and taking pictures. Of course this included going out on deck for sail away and to catch another sunset. The sunset started out promising as we had some cloud cover so I was expecting the sky to light up with vivid colors of orange, pink and purple. Sadly, clouds on the horizon had other plans but a beautiful sunset was still had.

 

Once the sail away was complete and the sun cast it's final ray on the day, it was time to reflect on the time spent in Key West over our dinner in the Main Dining Room. We both felt Key West was a great port to visit. There's a ton of history within walking distance to where the ship docks, plenty of bar life and of course, shopping for those who love shopping. The only negative I can think of, and this is being picky, is a few additional hours in port would have worked out great. But there was plenty of time for us to accomplish what we had in mind so I guess it doesn't even qualify as a negative, but more of a personal want.

 

After reflecting on our day in Key West over dinner and enjoying short conversations with Raveen, Katia and Anthony (Assistant Waiter, Waitress and Head Waiter in order) the evening was sadly coming to an end. And with it, another day was already in the books. But this left us with a positive outlook on day three. A day to spend at sea and really get to know this beautiful ship: Brilliance of the Seas.

 

Some images to leave you with from Key West.

 

Tank Island:

 

Whistle Bar/The Bull:

(Can you spot the beginner photographer error in panoramic photography? lol)

 

Sunset:

 

 

nice pics

[G85 SS]

nice pics

 

Thanks.

 

There will be more to come. :)

[mac_tlc]

Great review and pics. Looking forward to more!

 

We are on the Brilliance in March and am looking forward to seeing the daily compasses. Would you happen to have the MDR menus? I am planning to do Chops Grille one night, but would like to take a look at the MDR menus to help decide which night.

 

 

Thanks!

 

mac_tlc

Edited January 8, 2014 by mac_tlc

[LBumb]

great job

[G85 SS]

Great review and pics. Looking forward to more!

 

We are on the Brilliance in March and am looking forward to seeing the daily compasses. Would you happen to have the MDR menus? I am planning to do Chops Grille one night, but would like to take a look at the MDR menus to help decide which night.

 

 

Thanks!

 

mac_tlc

 

I do have a picture of the menus for each night (except of the 3rd night I believe because I forgot lol) as I knew this question would be asked at some point.

 

I will post those up along with the cruise compasses to everybody can have it to look at. :)