Brilliance Review 12/31/16

[Just Jo]

Part I

 

I haven't posted a review in years, so to get this done before next New Year's I'm going to post my thoughts first and then follow up with pictures.

 

I've never cruised out of Tampa and always wanted to because it's only an hour from home. Booked this around the end of March 2016. DH's brother (D) and his wife (K) came along. He's been on a few cruises, this was her second, DH's 7th and my 9th. DH and I are now used to larger and newer ships (aside from the Sovereign all those years ago, and sadly we don't have any pictures from that trip!). So while I've been reading glowing reviews of the Brilliance, I wasn't sure what to expect exactly.

 

Left our house at 0850. Took a picture in the parking garage at 0949. Walked into the terminal with only a few people ahead of us. Once through security we were directed to fill out our health form and went directly to an agent to set up our account. We couldn't believe how quick and easy it was. Numerous agents available. No lines!

 

Once done, we saw they had the Welcome Aboard photography area set up and they were taking pictures of larger groups of passengers, so we lined up thinking it'll be nice to get it out of the way now. Well, two older female employees told us multiple times "No, you can't get it done now. They aren't taking pictures yet." Flash goes the camera. Smile! says the photographer from behind her as she's saying this. Umm... then what do you call that? They told us multiple times because we kept asking (sit down, they take more pictures, another from our group goes and asks again, no dice). A little strange? We thought of asking those people who had their picture taken how they managed it but at that point, forget it. Not worth getting into fisticuffs with the grumpy watchdog. Yes, the older one was grumpy. She needs a cruise.

 

1020 all aboard! What?? It's so early! Hooray!

 

Because it's New Year's Eve we get greeted with Champagne. Fun!

 

Made our way out to the pool deck area and enjoyed our first drinks.

 

First time with a drink package (they weren't yet available waaay back in 2014). We loved having it. I read about people tipping extra if warranted so I brought extra ones. We usually tipped an extra one or two bucks. Sometimes we gave cash and other times we added it to the receipt/account. DH switched to strictly beer by the second day though instead of cocktails. Some bars didn't give him a receipt and since I had the ones he didn't tip extra. A couple of bartenders went out of their way for my drink. I gave them more.

 

Randy (Cato?) was our State Room Attendant. He was probably the most friendly, upbeat and personable SRA I've ever had. Aside from him, all the staff seemed really efficient, and friendly, but not jokey / warm and fuzzy . We talked to a couple who spent their NYE at the wine bar and they said the bartenders were so much fun and they were actually doing shots (maybe just sips) along with the passengers during the countdown. We wished we had been there instead of falling asleep to New Age Muzak at Starquest. Huge mistake on our part.

 

The ship was really beautiful. As I said, I'm used to bigger and newer ships so I was leery. Gorgeous. You could see water from practically anywhere on the ship, especially the elevators and from the Centrum. And that was lovely too. Every floor had seating near the railing (and away too) so that you can watch/listen to the goings on from below (dance class, live music, etc).

 

Signs were up that rooms would be availble at 1300. I had heard about pax being able to put bags down in their room early. I mentioned to the group to ask if we can put stuff down in the rooms and be freer to wander. Around 1200/1230 we head towards our room, we see others coming from their rooms, probably having done the same thing. Room stewards are trying to stop DH by saying you can't be down here, the rooms aren't ready, and DH says "We just want to see our room". Nooo, you have to say "we just want to put our stuff down - not that we want to ogle the room and hang out!" So he got denied. I smartly kept my mouth shut. Too early for nitpicking and not a battle worth winning.

 

The bathroom shower curtain. We brought magnets because nothing is worse than curtain attack. I am not claustrophobic. I was in that shower. There was no need for the magnets after all, but the space was tiny. I'm 5'3 ish and maybe a little wider than I should be, and the fact that DH (5'11) never complained about it makes it clear it was all in my head. Perhaps what could've helped me was having a lower level shower head docket, because having it that high caused a constant spray in my face or on my head, even having it pointed away. That made it difficult with the shampoo and conditioner.

 

Loved our aft balcony, it's our favorite type of cabin so far. The balcony was extra deep with two loungers, two chairs and a table. Sadly, I didn't get to nap on a lounger like I wanted to but there's always next time. We prefer the bed by the balcony so it was a terrific room. I thought it was roomier between the couch and the desk/mirror area than other rooms. Probably having the tiny coffee table moved out of the way made all the difference.

 

Storage seemed fine. We hung up some clothes in the closet but left everything else in our bags on the couch.

[Just Jo]

Part II

 

Food

Chef's Table was my favorite. I think I'm a foodie, and I like just about everything. DH does not have as much interest in food, but he really enjoyed every course. The wines were great, and of course the service was outstanding. I think I heard or saw that Chef's Table was offered numerous times on this cruise. If I could have I would've done it more than once.

 

Chops - had reservations. Food was very good. The service was lacking. Drinks were not refilled, then only one drink was while two others left empty. Restaurant was busy.

 

Giovanni's Table - no reservations -walked in and asked if they could seat us. The hostess apologized that they couldn't yet. They had a few empty tables and if the passengers didn't show up soon for their reservations the tables would be released and we could be accommodated. If we stayed close by she would come out to get us, maybe 20 minutes? We decided sure, that would work. 30-45 seconds later we hadn't yet sat down just outside the doors in the Schooner Bar when she came up to us and said she found a table. Nice! it was right inside the front door though, would we mind? Nah, it's fine. She was the most personable wait staff we had up to this point, and she was wearing several hats in the place. She was hostessing, bussing, waitressing, and she had a sense of humor and was smiling and laughing along with us. And we never got her name.

 

One of the guys in our group ordered the pasta dish (seafood) and the waiter stated twice he did not recommend it. We were surprised but the guys decided they still wanted it. It was the worse dish on the table. Note to us: listen to your waitstaff recommendations!

 

Izumi - made last minute reservations on the last night. Caroline was our waitress (why does that sound like the wrong term?). She was excellent and fun! Food was delicious and we had a blast. (The boys and their chopsticks...)

 

D likes to gamble, mostly Blackjack. He did ok, maybe came home a little under, but had a good time. K likes slots and she found a good machine that gave her around $200 over the course of a day or two. DH and I had no such luck. Anyone know of the Key Game (forget the name) - automated-win-the-cash stand alone machine? One dollar per try. What a great time waster. D&K gave it maybe $60 trying to win the $200 - $1000. Fun to watch.

 

Remus (sp) in the Casino bar was our favorite bartender on the ship because of his drinks (you know, versus personality, flair, etc.). They were balanced and delicious. No cringing or eye twitching from the shock of alcohol. K initially told me how good his drinks were and I also overheard a woman announcing to the casino how good he was.

 

Shout outs to Chester in the Schooner Bar and Brent in the Sky Bar.

 

Excursions

Cozumel - We booked through the ship All Terrain Buggy and Snorkel. This was the Polaris Razr excursion. We have friends that are about to buy one so we couldn't wait to try it. What a blast! Highlight of our trip. I didn't read to boards to research it so it was a great surprise to find out they rent GoPros during the excursion. $35 and you get the SD card at the end of the excursion. They said the camera will take an hour of 1080p video and 4000 pics. Both of us couples rented one. On ours we got maybe 45 minutes of video and 300-400 pictures and it was close to the end of the excursion (we were driving back to the parking lot where the Razrs are kept) and the camera died. D&K's died around this time too and they didn't capture as much as we did. We loved having it though. D liked it so much he bought one on the ship and we are planning to get one before our next cruise.

 

Costa Maya - I will definitely book an excursion the next time I come here. We did last time and it was fun. This time I was bored silly. The three of them shopped and looked around and I just wasn't into it. We went to the swim up bar after their shopping and ate and drink a while. They played a good range of music and also had a live guitarist/singer.

 

Cruise Next

I think it's a crime to not book a next cruise/ future cruise/ asap cruise while on board so we got this done on our last day. I had planned ahead and made notes of some possible sailings so I would have some direction to go in when we sat down. And I promptly forgot all about those notes and we just winged it. He asked when we'd like to go and what time of year, and we came up with Navigator, April 2018, 9 night, ABC Islands. Hooray! I hadn't even thought about this one. We have friends doing this same ship and itinerary this March so we'll get an up close preview.

 

Interestingly, Miguel ( I think that was him name) told us that while our first choice Aft Balcony was gone, we could be waitlisted for one. I had never heard of this. We could pick a cabin of the same category (D2) and when/if cabins get released at 90 days out or whenever we could get moved into an aft if it becomes available. Sweet! He made his notes and assured us everything was in place. I am an over planner, over thinker and sometimes over worrier. So naturally, I'm wondering how this would work and thinking it won't, and we are happy with the cabin we ultimately chose in case we don't get the aft. His personal opinion was the travel agents were holding the aft cabins because they prices of these were the SAME as the other D2 cabins. This has been discussed on the Roll Call (which already has 22 pages!) and those folks believe the cabins are gone because the prices are just that good! I think the Suites have been sold out for quite some time also.

 

Quest! I've seen mentions of Quest over the years and didn't really know what it was. I saw it on the Compass for the last night and I'm so glad I convinced the group to check it out. We need better seats next time, but it's hard to take up prime real estate if you're not participating, and I don't think our guys are the participating kind.

 

I feel the ship move under my feet - being a smaller ship + rougher waters = the most movement we've felt in our short cruise history. We don't get seasick and did not have any adverse effects. K did not feel well one night, and we talked to various people (mostly women, come to think of it) that did not feel well, but usually only for a brief time, not the entire trip. Days 1 and 2 were the worst.

 

The Brilliance was beautiful and we loved cruising out of Tampa, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The bigger ships do appeal to us though, so while we continue to use the bigger ports, my fingers are crossed for an occasional jaunt out of Tampa.

[Just Jo]

[kurukthemal]

Great review! One of my favorite parts of the Brilliance is the self-leveling pool table (if they still have it). What was cool was as we stood near it the table top was moving. It took a few minutes to realize that the table top was completely still and it was US that was moving. Great memory and great ship! Thanks again for sharing!

[Just Jo]

[Just Jo]

Little gift for myself:

[Just Jo]

Great review! One of my favorite parts of the Brilliance is the self-leveling pool table (if they still have it). What was cool was as we stood near it the table top was moving. It took a few minutes to realize that the table top was completely still and it was US that was moving. Great memory and great ship! Thanks again for sharing!

 

Thanks! We never got a chance to play pool, the tables were always full.

[Just Jo]

This is my first time using Shutterfly, and I'm very sad about the size of the pictures. If anyone wants to jump in and give me tips for resizing feel free. My eyes are starting to cross from all of this, and I may just keep plugging away, tiny pics or not.

[Lionesss]

Nice review, thanks for sharing.

 

Safe travels.

[Just Jo]

A peek at the corner suite:

Thanks, Chester.

The Sunshine Skyway off in the distance.

Tampa

[Just Jo]

[Just Jo]

[Just Jo]

View from inside the elevator

[Just Jo]

[Just Jo]

[Just Jo]

Costa Maya was rough

Not sure if this was Independence or Freedom that couldn't dock with us because of the high seas.

This is her leaving after a couple attempts

[Just Jo]

[mac_tlc]

Very nice review. Enjoy all the pix. We also liked the Brilliance out of Tampa and enjoy the water-everywhere views on this class of ship.

 

Next time , try Maya Chan when in Costa Maya.

 

 

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Edited January 7, 2017 by mac_tlc

[Just Jo]

Oh yeah, I totally forgot I went to the movie.

[easyboy]

Great review. Your photos just look great as well!

 

 

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Edited January 7, 2017 by easyboy

[Just Jo]

It seemed like a majority of the seats were extremely well worn, in that the seat cushions went past a usually comfortable 90 degrees. I love going to the movies and appreciate a good comfy seat. These, not so much. Between the seats and getting super sleepy I actually left 30 minutes after the movie started. Glad I got to experience it though.

[Just Jo]

Cozumel

And the snorkel portion

[Just Jo]

Holland America in the background

[Just Jo]

Very nice review. Enjoy all the pix. We also liked the Brilliance out of Tampa and enjoy the water-everywhere views on this class of ship.

 

Next time , try Maya Chan when in Costa Maya.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I've heard of it for years, we will have to check it out.

[Just Jo]

Great review. Your photos just look great as well!

 

 

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Thanks!