Harwich to Boston TA on Brilliance of The Seas Review

[138east]

When I took this cruise last year I ate lunch in the MDR on all the sea days to get the better hamburgers and wonderful salad bar. Last year's roll call was super well organized for sea days and included a cabin crawl, gift exchange, and pub crawl plus friendly groups that got together to play all sorts of cards and mah Jong. Then there were the knitting/handiwork folks that met in the afternoons plus I think some scrap bookers.

[baggal]

The dining room was even worse. That menu never changed. Same crap every night. I ate at the park cafe most of the time salad and cheese sandwiches.:rolleyes:

 

I hope Baycruiser comes back to confirm that the MDR menu did in fact change. I can't believe that it didn't.

[Eileen2]

Whatever the story is, I'm not here to read about it. This person can start their own post if they want to have a gripe fest. I'm here to read baycruiser's excellent report. Carry on, baycruiser!

 

Totally agree, please do not hijack this review with a "gripefest." Looking forward to reading this review . We are booked on the Brilliance T. A. for May and so looking forward to reading this well written review.:)

[EGG]

Can't wait to read the rest of the review. We did the TA from Tampa to Harwich in May and loved it. Would love to hear about the different ports that were visited on the TA back to the U.S.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I am enjoying your review. :) I had planned to write a picture review--but, you have saved me the trouble. :p

 

DH and I were on this cruise, too. I can confirm that the MDR menu changed each night. We ate there all but 2 nights. Even on those nights we ate out we checked the menu on the interactive boards by the elevator.

 

We felt the food was better at the beginning of the cruise , than at the end. But, after DH and I discussed this we agreed that after 10-12 days we were just tired of not having the food we eat at home. [i only fix our favorites :)] It was not really the MDR menu --but, us that was the problem.

 

Yes, the weather was cooler than we would like it. we do not feel we really got much use out of the balcony. But, it was a great cruise. :) [i have never had a bad one. :D ]

[baycruiser]

Hey, sorry for the delay... I'm under the weather so to speak. I will definitely continue this and it's great to hear everyone's thoughts on the cruise. Dragon of The Seas, please do the picture review! You probably saw and shot a lot more than we did!

 

I guess I need to put a little mini food review in here. I don't have problems with cruise ship food unless it's inedible. I only gripe if it's not available! :D I'm on vacation, so someone else is doing the cooking and serving and cleaning! I think 14 days is max for me though because even I got tired of the same breakfasts by the last day. I do like they had a british station in the Windjammer every breakfast so if I wanted variety, I could have it.

 

The first night of the cruise, we ate in Izumi because my husband wanted something more familiar to him. Their prices are about on par what we pay on land, and I had the hot rock chicken/beef skewers with vegetables. It was very good. My husband said the sushi prep got better as he asked for more pieces. We had Izumi twice.

 

The port days, we ate dinner in the Windjammer because we were tired and I was raised to dress for dinner in a cruise ship main dining room or don't go. On sea days and basically the last half of the cruise, we ate dinner exclusively in the main dining room. We had my time dining and never had to wait more than five minutes for a table even without making reservations. I didn't make a single reservation except for the first night in Izumi. So the service was outstanding. As for variety, there was a completely different menu every night in the main dining room and I never repeated the main entree once (I am guilty of repeating the same appetizer (the caesar salad) and the dessert (the chocolate sensation and I think I put on some pounds from having that each time, it was that good). My favorite entree was the Prime Rib.

 

My husband is a pickier eater than I am, and our waiter accommodated him with above and beyond service. He'd bring my husband one entree, and if he didn't like it, bring him a second one. Then a second of the second one if he really liked that entree. :) My husband also did the Chops Surf & Turf, and instead of the lobster tail, they brought him a whole lobster! So I think he made out pretty well in the main dining room.

 

The Park Cafe had really good variety as well, and my husband fell in love with their "beef pate pastries" (their version of a Cornish Pasty but they didn't call it that) enough to make a point of getting that as his snack every night. I liked their roast beef sandwiches and they'd always add extra slices of roast beef for me I think because I complimented it (the roast beef was cooked exactly how I like it -- not super red rare but more on the pink-done side).

 

When we had room service, the steak sandwich was really good. Just got tired of eating the same thing there, largely because if we found something we liked, we kinda stuck with it for a few days.

 

In terms of beverages, I brought my own small bottle of Mio water enhancer and Starbucks Vias for the in room kettle, thinking that even if the "included" beverages were bad, I'd at least have that. I will say their Iced Tea didn't taste like anything, and I mostly stuck to the lemonade, which was pretty strong. One morning, the apple juice was off -- REALLY OFF. Almost vinegar. I said something and the beverage station guy took all the trays off the counter and replaced them with a fresh dispense that was back to actual apple juice after I "approved" the tester glass. I thought we'd get beverage packages because it was such a long cruise, but my plan was to get it on around Day 8 so I didn't 'waste' it with the port days early on. Never saw the need. Except for the last day (where my husband decided he wanted to drink alcohol), we basically had one soda (if that) from either the minibar in the room or with dinner, and one cappuccino or latte each from Lattitudes. So the package wasn't really worth it, and I didn't buy it for us. We had a platinum discount for the specialty coffee and they gave us little punch cards for a free coffee after collecting six so I think we still came out ahead of the beverage package at the end of the cruise.

Edited September 20, 2014 by baycruiser

[Folk Singer]

Whatever the story is, I'm not here to read about it. This person can start their own post if they want to have a gripe fest. I'm here to read baycruiser's excellent report. Carry on, baycruiser!

 

Here, Here! I am very interested in this review as we are doing this cruise next year. And please do not get discouraged because of one OP negative outlook on life.

 

Don

[negc]

I hope Baycruiser comes back to confirm that the MDR menu did in fact change. I can't believe that it didn't.

 

Anyone who has sailed on Brilliance or any other RCI ship knows that there are different menus each evening in the main dining room. Not sure that we can believe anything that sea traveler says if he is so far off on this.

[Chase101]

My husband loves sliced cucumbers & he mentioned this to our waiter. He had sliced cucumbers with a side of sour cream waiting for my husband every night. This was not on the menu, but our waiter went the extra mile. And yes, the menu changed every night!!!:)

Barbara

[rednancy1]

We were on this cruise and the menu changed every night. Not one repetition over 14 nights. Yes, the food was decent. Not outstanding but certainly edible. :)

[skibee]

We also were on this cruise and the Baltic one before it. Different items but a few available every night like the steak. Agree with Nancy. Wonderful cruise experience. Our first TA and our first cruise at the Diamond level. Shows were not the same every night. And no it was not like a " nursing home of the seas" as the poster stated---although we have been laughing at that description for two days since it didn't make sense. I don't think that poster was even on this cruise. I just looked at all my pictures and we had plenty with blue skies ---although we did have our share of rain or clouds it never interfered with any activities. Thanks to Dragon for arranging the Stonehenge tour and to Kathy for the Golden Circle tour! Enjoying this review very much!

[bearandbee]

I have been enjoyed reading about the beginning of your trip and I hope you finish writing your review soon!:)

[kirian]

So excited to read your review!!! My mom and I are on this same trip next year (our first TA) and I am looking forward to picking up some great tips from you :)

 

I love your writing style.... very funny! Oh, and that poor man in the Manningtree Station with the bruised shins :eek: You're description of that particular event still has me grinning :D

 

Melissa

[Folk Singer]

I have been enjoyed reading about the beginning of your trip and I hope you finish writing your review soon!:)

 

 

We do as well. :)

[bgetter]

On using the HDMI, any special tricks involved, or was it a part of the existing setup? In the past, had to use a samsung universal remote to make it work, but I SWEAR last cruise it had the option to use your own HDMI device (didn't have anything so I didn't pay attention).