Dec. 2016 Booking Dilemma - Brilliance or Enchantment?

[garnetpalmetto]

So DW and I have decided we want to do a Christmas cruise next year and have identified two 4-nights that we're interested in. A 4-night on Brilliance leaving from Tampa that calls at Cozumel and a 4-night on Enchantment leaving from Miami that calls at Nassau, CocoCay, and Key West. Here are the things that are making this a difficult call for us. We would love to hear the CC hivemind weigh in on this.

 

 

• We're taking another cruise the first week of December, a 7-night cruise on Rhapsody that will also call in Cozumel.
  
• The itinerary on Enchantment appeals to us more. We LOVE CocoCay and Key West and tend to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy the downtime of a less crowded ship. The problem, however, is that Enchantment will arrive in Key West at 8:00 AM, leaving us with some dead time until we can actually do anything in port.
  
• With Brilliance's itinerary, we'd only be going to Cozumel, a port I've been to once before (and admittedly liked) and that DW has been to twice before. Cozumel's also one of the ports of call on our trip on Rhapsody earlier that month.
  
• Shipwise, Brilliance appeals to me more. I love the Radiance class and Brilliance would be our second cruise on a Radiance class ship. If we opt for Enchantment, that will be our third Vision class ship and we'll have done back-to-back cruises on a Vision on the back of our cruise earlier that month.
  
• Pricewise, Brilliance is the better deal. We can get a balcony starting at $743 per person (including our C&A balcony discount) whereas Enchantment is about $60 per person more.
  

So how about it? Which way would you go?

[Merion_Mom]

So DW and I have decided we want to do a Christmas cruise next year and have identified two 4-nights that we're interested in. A 4-night on Brilliance leaving from Tampa that calls at Cozumel and a 4-night on Enchantment leaving from Miami that calls at Nassau, CocoCay, and Key West. Here are the things that are making this a difficult call for us. We would love to hear the CC hivemind weigh in on this.

 

 

• We're taking another cruise the first week of December, a 7-night cruise on Rhapsody that will also call in Cozumel.
  
• The itinerary on Enchantment appeals to us more. We LOVE CocoCay and Key West and tend to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy the downtime of a less crowded ship. The problem, however, is that Enchantment will arrive in Key West at 8:00 AM, leaving us with some dead time until we can actually do anything in port.
  
• With Brilliance's itinerary, we'd only be going to Cozumel, a port I've been to once before (and admittedly liked) and that DW has been to twice before. Cozumel's also one of the ports of call on our trip on Rhapsody earlier that month.
  
• Shipwise, Brilliance appeals to me more. I love the Radiance class and Brilliance would be our second cruise on a Radiance class ship. If we opt for Enchantment, that will be our third Vision class ship and we'll have done back-to-back cruises on a Vision on the back of our cruise earlier that month.
  
• Pricewise, Brilliance is the better deal. We can get a balcony starting at $743 per person (including our C&A balcony discount) whereas Enchantment is about $60 per person more.
  

So how about it? Which way would you go?

 

Key West would be the "deciding factor" for me. :)

[swoopy2110]

Enchantment seems to be the winner for me too :)

[Clarea]

I would choose Brilliance because I prefer the sea days, and would expect the air and water temps to be warmer in Cozumel. I would also greatly prefer Tampa to Miami as a departure port.

[monctonguy]

I have sailed both..

 

For the itinerary, Enchantment is the winner.

 

Brilliance is a nicer ship, newer, more features than Enchantment and you said a better price as well which would make it a winner for me in that area.

 

I would prob flip a coin as the pros and cons are about equal for the 2 cruises.

 

I might say that on Brilliance you may get an older more mature crowd normally than Enchantment, but as xmas time I am sure both are full of families.

 

Tough decision...but I am sure either way its going to be a great time and a great dilemma to have!!....lol

[garnetpalmetto]

I have sailed both..

 

For the itinerary, Enchantment is the winner.

 

Brilliance is a nicer ship, newer, more features than Enchantment and you said a better price as well which would make it a winner for me in that area.

 

I would prob flip a coin as the pros and cons are about equal for the 2 cruises.

 

I might say that on Brilliance you may get an older more mature crowd normally than Enchantment, but as xmas time I am sure both are full of families.

 

Tough decision...but I am sure either way its going to be a great time and a great dilemma to have!!....lol

 

This was also our experience on Serenade. DW and I were wondering if that was a function of when we cruised (late January) or if the Radiances tend to draw an older crowd in general. DW and I were both in our early 30s and felt like we were bringing down the average age of the cruisers onboard (and definitely were at our table in the MDR).

[American Bear]

So DW and I have decided we want to do a Christmas cruise next year and have identified two 4-nights that we're interested in. A 4-night on Brilliance leaving from Tampa that calls at Cozumel and a 4-night on Enchantment leaving from Miami that calls at Nassau, CocoCay, and Key West. Here are the things that are making this a difficult call for us. We would love to hear the CC hivemind weigh in on this.

 

 

• We're taking another cruise the first week of December, a 7-night cruise on Rhapsody that will also call in Cozumel.
  
• The itinerary on Enchantment appeals to us more. We LOVE CocoCay and Key West and tend to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy the downtime of a less crowded ship. The problem, however, is that Enchantment will arrive in Key West at 8:00 AM, leaving us with some dead time until we can actually do anything in port.
  
• With Brilliance's itinerary, we'd only be going to Cozumel, a port I've been to once before (and admittedly liked) and that DW has been to twice before. Cozumel's also one of the ports of call on our trip on Rhapsody earlier that month.
  
• Shipwise, Brilliance appeals to me more. I love the Radiance class and Brilliance would be our second cruise on a Radiance class ship. If we opt for Enchantment, that will be our third Vision class ship and we'll have done back-to-back cruises on a Vision on the back of our cruise earlier that month.
  
• Pricewise, Brilliance is the better deal. We can get a balcony starting at $743 per person (including our C&A balcony discount) whereas Enchantment is about $60 per person more.
  

So how about it? Which way would you go?

 

 

We love the Radiance Class best of any class on any cruise line, but port calls also matter to us, we like to stretch our legs at a port, so,,,,,,,,,we'd pick the Enchantment this time!:D

But a balcony out of Tampa, on the Brilliance would be OK too!:confused:

[MrsB05]

Take Brilliance out of Tampa December 17th for a 5 night and you'll get to go to Key West and Cozumel! Win-Win.

We booked this cruise a few weeks ago while on Independence. It will be our first time on Brilliance but we've been on her three lovely Radiance Class sisters.

 

Enchantment was our fist Royal Caribbean cruise and she is a pretty little ship but I think Radiance Class has her beat. Plus, those "short jaunt" cruises on her (and Majesty) can tend to be "Booze Cruises".

Edited December 30, 2015 by MrsB05

[garnetpalmetto]

Take Brilliance out of Tampa December 17th for a 5 night and you'll get to go to Key West and Cozumel! Win-Win.

We booked this cruise a few weeks ago while on Independence. It will be our first time on Brilliance but we've been on her three lovely Radiance Class sisters.

 

Enchantment was our fist Royal Caribbean cruise and she is a pretty little ship but I think Radiance Class has her beat. Plus, those "short jaunt" cruises on her (and Majesty) can tend to be "Booze Cruises".

 

Without going into too much family drama, I think our preference is to be either at sea or traveling on Christmas itself and to have some recovery time between our cruise on 12/3 - 12/10 on Rhapsody. Still I'll bring it up with DW as a possibility! Thanks! :)