Brilliance vs Indy Med cruise?

[4thecruises]

Having trouble on deciding on my first Med cruise. Narrowed down to 14 day Indy of seas vs 12 day brilliance with overnight in Venice route. Would love to hear some insights and opinion on which would be best. Both are close in price with slightly higher to brilliance. Been on both class ships multiple times so it's more itinerary for me. I have been leaning toward brilliance due to Venice, however, two extra nights on Indy with better flight options and price into London make me re think.

[Clarea]

It would be very hard for me to choose other than the overnight in Venice.

[4thecruises]

Would time of year be a factor? Was planning to go in early May. Assuming Indy out of South Hampton may be a little chilly compared to Barcelona.

[Hoopster95]

Having trouble on deciding on my first Med cruise. Narrowed down to 14 day Indy of seas vs 12 day brilliance with overnight in Venice route. Would love to hear some insights and opinion on which would be best. Both are close in price with slightly higher to brilliance. Been on both class ships multiple times so it's more itinerary for me. I have been leaning toward brilliance due to Venice, however, two extra nights on Indy with better flight options and price into London make me re think.

 

I just looked at the Indy itinerary vs. Brilliance... Having been to all those ports Brilliance is the winner with the Rome, Naples (Amalfi), Venice overnight and Kotor in my humble opinion. You will never ever forget sailing in and out of Venice... personally my #1 cruise memory ever.

 

Venice: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44387182&highlight=venice#post44387182

 

Kotor: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44378022&highlight=my+journey#post44378022

 

Whatever you choose, have a great cruise! :D

[Saab4444]

With focus on the itenary Brilliance clearly wins. Less sea days and more and better ports. For me Venice, Kotor and Amalfi coast is much better than the Spanish and Portuguese ports with Indy. Most of them are bigger cities far away from the port with just few great places to visit after longer bus rides.

[Bizzie07]

If you sail from Southampton you could potentially have two sea days till your first port. In May The Bay of Biscay could be "interesting". My choice would be Brilliance. Barcelona is very easy to get from the Airport to the Port and is a lovely city to visit.

Enjoy whatever you decide.

[TheGinBoy]

I've sailed out of Venice (on Splendour) and it has been on the highlights of my entire life. Utterly stunning. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

[hazeleyez3]

I would say that, if your original thought was Brilliance, you should stick with it.

 

Unlike the others, I would book Indy in a heartbeat. I'd much perfer to go to Gibralter, Provence, and Toulon.

• Rome and Venice, to me, are better to visit on a land vacation
  
  • Rome, you simply need more than 9 hours
    
  • Venice gets extremely congested when cruise ships are in port.
    

  [*]I wasn't thrilled with Naples

  [*]Kotor was nice, but (unlike other tender ports I've gone to) the step to get off the tender boat to the pier, for someone with minor handicaps, is definately not easy.

[mjldvlks]

My first consideration in choosing a cruise is ALWAYS itinerary. Between these two, I would have little difficulty choosing Brilliance. If you find the itineraries comparable, then the main factor is what you want in a ship. If you want to relax between ports of call and not do much else, then Brilliance would be the one. Probably overall less crowded and more sedate. If you want things to do -- Flow Rider for example -- then Indy is the way to go. I have sailed on Indy and two of Brilliance's sisters and think I can say with confidence Indy and Brilliance are both fine ships.

 

BUT, I think I would probably first consider some other cruises, for example one that begins and ends in Venice where you might combine a few extra days there at the beginning and end instead of an overnight port of call. I realize that probably means Rhapsody which is an older ship that I haveve never sailed, but I find those itineraries much more interesting and the ability to stay a few days before or after in Venice is a great option. I have sailed Splendour from Venice -- our first RCI cruise in fact -- but not sure Splendour and Rhapsody are similar enough to be comparable. Given the port intensity of these cruises, I wouldn't worry about the ship choice a great deal. I agree with others that sail away from Venice is an experience not to be missed.

[4thecruises]

Thanks for all the suggestions. One more question. Is there any time changes when going east all the way to Venice or does it stay the same?

[George C]

We now have Brilliance 12 day booked for Sept 2016, this one is just 1 day in Venice, we might switch to October 2016 that has overnight there but my wife wants to do Capri and Naples is dropped on Oct cruise due to 2 days in Venice

[TheGinBoy]

I wouldn't bother with Naples, it's an absolute hole. Dirty, crime ridden, litter and graffiti everywhere.

[Clarea]

I wouldn't bother with Naples, it's an absolute hole. Dirty, crime ridden, litter and graffiti everywhere.

Excellent pizza though.:)

[megomendy]

This was a great thread for me as we are also trying to choose our first Med cruise for next summer. I'm limited to travel at the end of August so I am also looking at the Brilliance of the Seas 13 day out of Barcelona. My priority was to see Italy and this itinerary seems to provide a lot more!

[cinnamon]

Thanks for all the suggestions. One more question. Is there any time changes when going east all the way to Venice or does it stay the same?

 

 

I think you'll find that Venice is on CET (Central European Time) like Barcelona.

Certainly Greece is an hour ahead but I'm not sure about the Adriatic ports, such as Kotor.

[jennywren46]

Done both and love both ships but the overnightin Venice on brilliance wins hands down . It was the most magical experience to sail into Venice no words can describe it and we'd been to Venice on Two previous occasions.

We're going back on Indy from Southampton next year and it will be our 5 th time so if you do decide on that cruise you will enjoy it I don't envy you having to choose but it would be Venice for me.

[pcur]

We did a European cruise on the Brilliance, and absolutely loved the ship. It's got wonderful floor-to-ceiling windows for great views.

 

The Indy doesn't have this, but it is one of the larger ships with the interior promenade area.

 

Overnight in Venice, though, is the deciding factor in my opinion, and on the Brilliance, too!

[Virtopia]

Picking a MED cruise is probably the hardest thing ever ... although my countdown clock shows a 12 night sailing on the Brilliance, I also have the Sept 16th 10 night sailing on the Rhapsody that leaves from Venice. I'll make a final decision by the end of the year. The Brilliance cruise doesn't even go to Venice, but it visits more of my bucket list cities ... so tough!! Decisions, decisions ...

[duellapaul]

I could not make the decision so we will be doing a B2B on Brilliance in Sept/Oct this year. That way we will be able to go to Rome twice, Venice overnight, and 2 different ports that gives us time to visit Pisa and Livarno; my DH use to live there as a child and has a sister born there. I just want to see it all. :):):)

[harprones]

This was a great thread for me as we are also trying to choose our first Med cruise for next summer.

[duellapaul]

I could not make the decision so we will be doing a B2B on Brilliance in Sept/Oct this year. That way we will be able to go to Rome twice, Venice overnight, and 2 different ports that gives us time to visit Pisa and Livarno; my DH use to live there as a child and has a sister born there. I just want to see it all. :):):)

I have thought and thought about this B2B, cost of RT air fair to Barcelona and how much my DH likes this ship. He loves playing pool and they have 2 tables. When we were on her in September for a west bound TA he could be found there all the time, making more and more new friends. So, I think I will add another B and a 2 to take us home. Just a one-way flight now!

[Pencruise]

Thanks for all the suggestions. One more question. Is there any time changes when going east all the way to Venice or does it stay the same?

 

Time in Venice is 1 hour ahead of UK so 6 hrs ahead of US EST, been to Kotor many times and believe it is the same time as Venice but not 100% sure. We sailed out of Southampton twice this year, June and August and in June had bad weather first two and last two days, in August only first day and last day. Personally speaking I would take Brilliance out of Barcelona as Barcelona pre-cruise would be our preference over Southampton and nicer itinerary. We are on the 8/30 sailing. Hope this helps.

[duellapaul]

I have thought and thought about this B2B, cost of RT air fair to Barcelona and how much my DH likes this ship. He loves playing pool and they have 2 tables. When we were on her in September for a west bound TA he could be found there all the time, making more and more new friends. So, I think I will add another B and a 2 to take us home. Just a one-way flight now!

I am a naughty girl. I con't to think and plan with this cruise, crunched the numbers. times, ports, etc. My final decision is to make this a B2B2B!!! We will do the Brilliance-Greek, Brilliance-Venice, and the TA home. It debarks in Tampa which is a days drive from where we live in Texas-easy-peazy for a die-hard driver like me. I bought the one-way tickets to Barcelona last night for under $500. Now, just the planning to do!!!!