Brilliance Cruise to Scandinavia and Russia, planning, cruising and LOT of photos

[Kevin's girl]

Now that we had refortified ourselves it was off to our new destination, St Paul’s Cathedral. This is where the pretty little streets come in.

 

 

and of course I needed to play in a London phone box

 

Here we go, you can hear Julie Andrews singing Feed the Birds now can’t you?

 

Now yes, I can read. No photos allowed in St Paul’s. But whine…

 

[hancogran]

What a fantastic start to your review! :) Can't wait to read the rest. We also stayed at the Park Plaza Westminister Bridge last year when we spent a week in London after a Transatlantic cruise. Your pictures brought back lots of happy memories.

 

We are sailing Brilliance this coming May on the transatlantic and at this point, we're debating whether to do a back to back and continue on Brilliance with the same itinerary you did. Can't wait to read the rest! Thanks so much for doing this awesome review. :)

[Kevin's girl]

Ok, it was only two little pics inside. It was just so pretty and with me another year older, who knows how long my memory may last. I need pics just in case.

 

On the outside

 

Back to the original plan and on to the Tower. By now, I am hearing my wonderful DH asking if I had any idea of what the term “not that far” and “close really meant. Umm, sorry honey. I thought….

 

The Globe Theater

 

The pretty tunnel that goes under I don’t even know what. All I did know is that Chicago could learn a lesson from this. It was really a nice tunnel.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Kevin's girl

[Kevin's girl]

What a fantastic start to your review! :) Can't wait to read the rest. We also stayed at the Park Plaza Westminister Bridge last year when we spent a week in London after a Transatlantic cruise. Your pictures brought back lots of happy memories.

 

We are sailing Brilliance this coming May on the transatlantic and at this point, we're debating whether to do a back to back and continue on Brilliance with the same itinerary you did. Can't wait to read the rest! Thanks so much for doing this awesome review. :)

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. The Park Plaza Westminster really is a great place to stay. We are planning to stay there agin prior to ur next cruise in May. We have never done a TA cruise. I think it will be on the new To Do list of cruises. This was definitely a great itinerary. I would recommend it to anyone. The B2B would fun.

[Kevin's girl]

We used our London Pass to enter the Tower. This is the first time we actually used the pass for the entrance fee and therefore this is when it became active. When we arrived at the Tower of London we got an up close view of the second of London’s WWI memorials. It was breathtaking. If you read the article I posted about the light earlier, you many have noticed the part about the Poppies. It was really amazing. This is a brief part of that article:

 

The war's most enduring symbol, poppies, featured at the Tower of London with an art installation called "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red," by Paul Cummins, in which thousands of ceramic poppies flow from the medieval monument's wall into the dry moat.

 

Here is what we saw

 

 

 

It was very impressive. There were 888,246 poppies again, one for each military life lost during that war.

 

Inside the Tower, we chose to take the stairway up to the top of the wall. This gave us an uncrowded view of the Tower.

 

Traitors Gate

 

Inside look

 

[Kevin's girl]

This is where the Beefeaters live. We did meet and talk with one of the Beefeaters. He was a rather unpleasant man. He stated that he was hot and hoped it would rain so that we would all leave and he could go home and change clothes. Hmm

 

Just across the Green.

 

One last look at the Tower. Due to the 20 mile walk we took to get here (it grew and grew over the next two weeks) we wisely used our Oyster Cards and took our first Tube ride back to Westminster Bridge. Once back in this area, we rounded the corner and found a small pub. DH tried a couple more local brews and I another Pimms. I think I kinda like this drink called Pimms. I will have to find it at home.

After resting our tired feet, and quenching our thirst, we made our way to Westminster Abby. Unfortunately they were closing as we walked up. Remembering that despite the fact that this was our 2nd day in London it was only the first day we had used our London Pass and that It would still be good in the morning before we left for our cruise. So we made plans for our return to the Abby for in the morning. We then decided to return to our hotel for a little break.

The closed doors to the Abby

 

The pretty Westminster Abby

 

Walking back to our Hotel.

[Kevin's girl]

After a much needed break we set out to find the perfect place for a birthday dinner. We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called The Slug and Lettuce. Now any of the Brits reading this may roll your eyes at us for thinking this the perfect place but wait until you read this. I know that this is a chain restaurant and that it may be on the line of our Applebee’s but what they did to help me celebrate and the service we received was second to none.

Dinner started out with us meeting our sweet server. She was a young girl and from Slovenia who had a hard time understanding English but tried very hard. MY DH ordered a dirty martini and when she didn’t seem to be able to take the order she went and got who we thought was the bartender. He came and explained that the dirty martini was not part of the martini menu at this restaurant. My husband a little confused by this and replied with an amazed “what” and was trying to figure out what else to order when the gentleman asked again for how he would like it made. My husband again described a dirty martini and the gentleman said they had no olives and that he would be right back. I was a bit embarrassed and we were trying to figure out how not to be seen as troublesome Americans when he came back with a martini in hand and 3 olives on the rim. I asked where did you find those? He smiled and said there was a secret stash. He was great, this is when I decided to ask if there was anything special they offered for birthdays. Here in the US a restaurant will bring a small cake or slice of cake and/or sin a birthday song. He said no there was nothing they did and asked who’s birthday it was. I replied that it was mine. He wished me a happy birthday and walked away. Our server came back and took our order for dinner and when she finished the gentleman came to our table with two glasses of champagne and said he hoped that would help me to celebrate. I guessed now that this was not just the bartender. We had a wonderful meal and when it was time for dessert we made one more faux pas. Being very full from dinner we asked for our dessert to go. OH boy, this was a very big deal. She said something about licenses and got all upset. The gentleman came back again, I was really embarrassed. I explained that we were very full from dinner and that I had brought birthday candles from home and thought maybe we could have dessert later and I could blow out the candles… I was babbling I just wanted so badly not to be any trouble. He apologized and asked what desert we would like to order I told him what I wanted, so he asked if we wanted two I said no that we would split the one. He said they are buy one get one free so he would bring two. What he brought nearly made me cry. It was a lovely dessert complete with candles.

It was a very special birthday.

 

Dinner and champagne

 

Dessert

 

We walked past the Eye and all of the twinkle lights on our way back to the hotel.

 

The next morning we were off to the Abbey and the Brilliance of the Seas.

 

I will have to say goodnight for today and continue this tomorrow. Sleep well everyone.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Kevin's girl

[kftw]

Enjoying your review & looking forward to more. Thank you for sharing.

[Kevin's girl]

Enjoying your review & looking forward to more. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for coming along. This is helping me to deal with my PCD. Coming back to reality is always so hard :o

[Kevin's girl]

Good morning everyone. Sorry for missing out yesterday. Darn work got in the way. Looking back I see I was up to cruise day. YAY!!

 

We didn’t want to miss out on Westminster Abbey, so we set our alarm clock early got checked out of the hotel, checked our luggage and were off to the Abbey. We arrived just after opening and were greeted by a line that wrapped around the block already. We looked at each other and knew that this would never work. We only had an hour and a half to get through the Abbey and this queue would take an hour. We decided to have another look around the outside and maybe have breakfast. Coming around to the front we noticed there were two lines going into two different doors. I say “Skip the Line” line? DH says couldn’t be. I find a very nice lady with a clip board, looking official and ask. Yep, it is the London Pass line. Now please remember, we did not activate our London Two day Pass until yesterday as we entered the Tower of London so today was actually only day two for our Pass. Very excited, we got out our London Passes and were in the Abbey in less than ten minutes.

The line to the left is the regular line, door to the right in the London Pass line. Most of the people you see in front of this line were regular ticketed people trying to figure out why these people were allowed to enter before them and not stand in the mile long queue they were going to stand in.

 

Once inside, we opted to skip the tour and make our way around on our own as time was getting short. There are no photos allowed in here and since it was no longer my birthday my whine would not work. So I have no photos to share. It was a bit awe inspiring to stand in the abbey and among such greats as Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, not to mention all of the other Greats laid to rest there. This is a place I would like to return with much more time.

 

Keeping a very close eye on our watches (this too, became an issue later on in the cruise) we headed out of the Abbey and back over the bridge towards the hotel and our second BA transfer experience. A word of advice: if you are in a hurry, stay on the Big Ben side of the bridge. The crowds on the other side are INSANE and it will take much longer to get across.

One last look at Big Ben

[mycruise2000]

Loving your review. Very nice photos especially the ones at night. Looking forward for next inst.

[maggieq]

Yes, loving it too. Please come back to continue...

[SeminoleFan]

Love the Brilliance of the Seas! Can't wait to read more of your review.

[dancinman66]

Loving this review and the pics

Keep it up please

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[alligeek]

I love the pictures and the review so far! Thanks for doing this! :)

[Bradiego]

Enjoying your review! Thank you so much. This is such a great review of London, we will be going there for my first time and then to do a TA on Indy in Nov for my birthday. I am getting so excited. We are also flying in Premium Economy on British Airways as well and excited for that as well.

[Cruzin-K]

Subscribing :)

 

I kind of fast forwarded through the London part (I was just there in May, third visit) but am SO looking forward to the cruise portion of your review. This itinerary is VERY high on my long bucket list of cruises to take in the next few years. I can't wait to see all the photos.

[colibri93]

Thank you so very much for taking the time to write this wonderful review. It and your great pictures make me want to go back and visit London again Terri.

 

Hendrika

 

 

After a much needed break we set out to find the perfect place for a birthday dinner. We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called The Slug and Lettuce. Now any of the Brits reading this may roll your eyes at us for thinking this the perfect place but wait until you read this. I know that this is a chain restaurant and that it may be on the line of our Applebee’s but what they did to help me celebrate and the service we received was second to none.

Dinner started out with us meeting our sweet server. She was a young girl and from Slovenia who had a hard time understanding English but tried very hard. MY DH ordered a dirty martini and when she didn’t seem to be able to take the order she went and got who we thought was the bartender. He came and explained that the dirty martini was not part of the martini menu at this restaurant. My husband a little confused by this and replied with an amazed “what” and was trying to figure out what else to order when the gentleman asked again for how he would like it made. My husband again described a dirty martini and the gentleman said they had no olives and that he would be right back. I was a bit embarrassed and we were trying to figure out how not to be seen as troublesome Americans when he came back with a martini in hand and 3 olives on the rim. I asked where did you find those? He smiled and said there was a secret stash. He was great' date=' this is when I decided to ask if there was anything special they offered for birthdays. Here in the US a restaurant will bring a small cake or slice of cake and/or sin a birthday song. He said no there was nothing they did and asked who’s birthday it was. I replied that it was mine. He wished me a happy birthday and walked away. Our server came back and took our order for dinner and when she finished the gentleman came to our table with two glasses of champagne and said he hoped that would help me to celebrate. I guessed now that this was not just the bartender. We had a wonderful meal and when it was time for dessert we made one more faux pas. Being very full from dinner we asked for our dessert to go. OH boy, this was a very big deal. She said something about licenses and got all upset. The gentleman came back again, I was really embarrassed. I explained that we were very full from dinner and that I had brought birthday candles from home and thought maybe we could have dessert later and I could blow out the candles… I was babbling I just wanted so badly not to be any trouble. He apologized and asked what desert we would like to order I told him what I wanted, so he asked if we wanted two I said no that we would split the one. He said they are buy one get one free so he would bring two. What he brought nearly made me cry. It was a lovely dessert complete with candles.

It was a very special birthday.

 

[img']http://i58.tinypic.com/161xf7c.jpg[/img]

Dinner and champagne

 

Dessert

 

We walked past the Eye and all of the twinkle lights on our way back to the hotel.

 

The next morning we were off to the Abbey and the Brilliance of the Seas.

 

I will have to say goodnight for today and continue this tomorrow. Sleep well everyone.

[Kevin's girl]

Thank you for the words of encouragement. The trip was wonderful and being able to write the review is a great way to relive the experiences we had. I took a few thousand pics and it is so hard to decide which ones to share. If there is a specific thing anyone wants to see please let me know and I'll post that if I have it.

[F27TW]

One more look at the "leg room". These are my DH's size 14 shoes

.

 

 

SIZE 14 ???!! :eek:

 

Uh .... Attagirl! ;):p

[redspain]

Liking the review, but a quick question.... Am I the only one who can't see the images?

[Clarea]

Liking the review, but a quick question.... Am I the only one who can't see the images?

You're not alone, some photos show up for me, others don't.

[ace1zoe2]

The pictures are all showing up fine for me. Both last night & this morning.

 

By the way loving the review. So far it has brought back great memories of our 2 trips to London when our daughter lived there for 4 years.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kevin's girl]

I'm sorry that some of you are having problems seeing the pics. I am using Tinypic as I have for years now. Tinypic had been recommended by one of the monitors here on CC and I have not had any issues until now. I hope it was just a momentary glitch. Thanks again to everyone who is following along.

[Kevin's girl]

Grr!! Work just keeps getting in the way of my review. What a pain.. Let’s see I was up to our second BA Transfer adventure. Shall we start again?

 

 

We quickly retrieved our luggage and were outside the hotel and waiting for our next BA Transfer pick up. We waited, and waited. I thought to myself, it’s ok that he wasn’t early, but now he is late. The bellman for the hotel kept checking on us and has asked if we would like for them to call another ride. Nervously I call from my cell phone (I forgot to mention that as part of my planning, I purchased an International Plan from AT&T). The woman assured me that he wasn’t that late and that he was just over the bridge. She did however state that if he wasn’t there in ten minutes we should call back. How reassuring. He did eventually get there looking a bit hot and anxious. He and the bellman loaded our bags into the mini van (again, I paid for the estate car, bonus?) It seemed that we drove in circles to get out of the city, it seemed to take forever. He did point out a few sites as we went and did seem to be friendlier than the first driver. Once out of the city and on the main motorway, (I was learning the new vocabulary) my DH nodded off and I was watching the scenery go by. I became aware of a small jerking of the van, it would kind of come and go. At first I considered something in the road. Next I noticed the driver making small swerves into the next lane and back. What is he doing I ask myself. I was thinking he was falling asleep. So I start talking to the man. I hate pointless small talk, but I didn’t want to crash on the way to the port either. I couldn’t believe my husband could sleep through this. As I ran out of small talk I decided to just watch the man. As the jerking of the car started again I noticed his head started bobbing. How odd, I thought. Next his hands on the steering wheel started pulling back and forth in rhythm with his head. There was no music playing, this was no dance. Then I notice the reason for the whole car to be jerking. His foot that was on the accelerator was also jerking. This was when I felt the nursey side of me kick in. Is he awake, does he have control, is his speech clear, does his thought process make sense? I’m now thinking small seizures. So, I’m sitting here in the back seat watching this man’s increasing jerks and trying to think of what I’m going to do if it does actually turn into a full seizure when it luckily fades away. I was really afraid, so I started talking to him again and my husband wakes up. I’m looking at him like I had just looked death in the eyes and he can’t figure out why. Then the jerking starts again. He looks frantic at me and I start talking to the guy again and it stops. DH and I are looking at each other with looks that can only be understood following 33 years of marriage and smile.

After another 20 minutes and a bit more car dancing, we arrived at the port. YAY!!! It was now raining and there seemed to be much confusion about the drop off procedure. Our driver kept saying :it wasn’t like this yesterday” and those in front of us seemed just plain lost as to how to get through. We were told that all luggage had to be left at point #1 to be x-rayed and passengers were to be dropped off with carry on luggage at the terminal. This Sounded easy enough to me. Our driver though frustrated understood and eventually pulled in front of those more confused souls and took care of business. Large bags were quickly dropped off on the belt and we were at the terminal doors. Sorry for the lack of pics at this point. It was really raining hard.

 

Check in was a breeze, we were on board in no time. We did use the Priority Boarding as we are Diamond and were staying in a Jr Suite. We boarded right at 1:30, so our cabin was ready and we went straight up. I couldn’t wait to see our cabin balcony.

 

This was our second time on the Brilliance. Our last cruise was just weeks before al of her upgrades. We had stayed in cabin 1600 for that cruise and while I was looking into cabin info for that cabin I kept hearing about how wonderful 1100 was. There were even people saying they preferred 1100 to 1600, so I was anxious to see what it was all about.

 

First look

 

Pretty much a standard looking Jr Suite

 

 

The balcony

 

 

 

 

Very nice balcony.