A Brilliant Brilliance Review with Compass and Menus

[mawvkysc]

Hi! First time RC cruiser here. There aren’t a lot of recent BOS reviews so here goes! I’m not promising awesome photos but there will be some. 

 

Previously I’ve sailed Carnival Fantasy class and smaller. I like small ships though. I sailed with my parents (69,70) sister and our husbands (mid 40s to 50s) on the 11/12 Key West and Cozumel route. 

 

Quick Overview: We loved it!

[mawvkysc]

Embarkation was quick and easy. We parked at 241 Parking.  Hopped on a shuttle and were dropped off. There were plenty of porters. We got there just after noon and the whole process was quick. Once onboard we headed up to WJ. It was a bit busy but we found a table for all of us aft outside. And we all enjoyed the food. By 1:30 it had cleared out quite a bit. 

 

We received the following when we boarded. 

 

[mawvkysc]

We then proceeded to the cabins. 9613, 9615 and 9617. All inside midship. Inyoman was our steward. He was helpful and happy. The cabins were clean, in great condition and much roomier than I’m used to. It was so nice to have a couch. There is plenty of storage. We never used the fridge (really a cooler). 

 

Included conditioning shampoo was fine by me. The hairdryer was good enough, but you need to keep the button pressed at all times. Kind of a pain. When you open the door for the toiletry storage it has an inside mirror.  This way you can see the back of your hair. 

[Kteacher]

Thank you! We are on the Brilliance in April doing this itinerary. I’m looking forward to the rest of your review 👍

[Jabra]

Sailing December 10. Thank you for your review

[mawvkysc]

9615 and 9617 mustered outside. 9613 mustered in the Schooner Bar. We got to our station early and were  able to line up in the shade. 

[mawvkysc]

After muster we enjoyed sail away from deck 12. It was quieter and very relaxing. Some of the guys walked down to the helipad and really enjoyed the view. As you can see there were plenty of seats available. We sailed about 400 people below max. capacity. 

 

We popped in for the spa giveaway.  Hope springs eternal but alas we didn’t win. 

[mawvkysc]

We did My Time Dining. It’s different from Carnival in that they really push your making a reservation. At first I didn’t like it, but with a party of six it was a good idea. I think a party of two could get away with walk up every night. First night we picked 5:15 hoping to be done by the time we went under the bridge. We didn’t make it.  BIL ran out and snapped a pic as we got close though. 

 

We ended up at table 550 every night.  We switched to 5:45  for the rest of the cruise. It wasn’t ocean view but a few of us could twist and look out a window. It was a good spot though. Close to the door to leave and quiet because it was beside the server station. (I know that doesn’t seem to make sense but it was) Plus it made the service quicker. We had Noel and Roel. They were awesome. 

[mawvkysc]

This is the view my BIL ran out for during dinner. 

[mawvkysc]

I got escargot which usually I like. This didn’t impress me or my sis. 

 

All of the salads we had were good. 

 

Most soups were good. (Not the lobster bisque) French Onion was outstanding. 

 

Fish dishes were fine but not outstanding. Beef and lamb dishes were outstanding. 

 

We pretty much enjoyed all of the desserts. Royal Chocolate Cake was my fave (Beats Carnival’s Molten Chocolate). Cheesecake and Creme Brûlée were great too as was first nights Warm Hazelnut Cake 

Edited November 20, 2018 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

After dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard Show. It was a comic. He was pretty funny. It was supposed to be family friendly but a few with kids walked out during a few jokes about Speedos. 

[mawvkysc]

Here are a few other venues. The Pub, Schooner Bar and Colony Club, Starquest and Vintages. The different singers were fine but not outstanding. The instrumentalists were all good. (The theater orchestra was fab!)

 

Sorry but the pictures didn’t load in order. 

[mawvkysc]

1 hour ago, Kteacher said:

Thank you! We are on the Brilliance in April doing this itinerary. I’m looking forward to the rest of your review 👍

 

47 minutes ago, Jabra said:

Sailing December 10. Thank you for your review

You’re both welcome. You’ll have a great time. I’ll post more tomorrow. 

[Yorkvillain]

Great job OP. Thank you for this. 

[mawvkysc]

Day Two Key West

We didn’t rush to breakfast because of the late morning arrival. Chose mdr this morning. I really liked the Eggs Benedict although the sauce is bland.  You can order al a Carte or there is a nice buffet as well. It has hot and cold items. The cheese choices on this buffet were fancier than WJ. We did a little of both. 

 

This morning the food was really good. On another morning the pancakes and hash browns were hard. The French toast in mdr is really thick so the inside is just bread not custard bread. WJ French toast was thinner. 

[mawvkysc]

Sorry. I have to do this from a small cell phone. So it’s hard for me to see what I’m doing with pics. 

[BillOh]

15 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

Hi! First time RC cruiser here. There aren’t a lot of recent BOS reviews so here goes! I’m not promising awesome photos but there will be some. 

 

Previously I’ve sailed Carnival Fantasy class and smaller. I like small ships though. I sailed with my parents (69,70) sister and our husbands (mid 40s to 50s) on the 11/12 Key West and Cozumel route. 

 

Quick Overview: We loved it!

i'm hoping for a lot of crowd photos to see if I spot my friends who were with you. 

[harryb50]

following.  Thanks!!!!!

[mawvkysc]

4 hours ago, BillOh said:

i'm hoping for a lot of crowd photos to see if I spot my friends who were with you. 

Mostly my crowd shots are far away or the backs of people’s head. Hopefully you know them pretty well

[mawvkysc]

This cruise had several group cruises. The largest being The Bearded Brothers Cruise. They are a band. These groups never posed a problem in any way to the general cruise population. There are enough venues that even if they used one it didn’t matter. And one day we all got a free concert around the pool. They were good. 

[mawvkysc]

After breakfast disembarked Brilliance of the Seas for Key West. We purchased The Conch Tour precruise through RC. Unbelievably it was cheaper. We got on one of the shuttles (We were at the Navy pier). Our shuttle dropped us at one of the Conch tour stops. There is a CVS right across the street. 

 

Then we we walked over to the Conch Tour starting point. It was a super crowded. We missed the first two tours because we didn’t move fast enough to get on. (Remember a party of 6  )And it was HOT. 

 

I wish we we had gotten on a previous tour as our guide was low volume. The previous guide sounded great and personable as they took off. We enjoyed the tour though. We didn’t hop off at all. There is one 10 min stop where a few got the Frozen Key Lime pie on a stick. They all raves about it. 

 

After the tour tour we walked over to the southernmost microbrewery.  The men weren’t impressed with the brew. But it was quiet, had a singer and chickens and chicks roaming around. It is at the Pan Am historical spot. 

 

After that we walked around and took pics  

[mawvkysc]

We took the shuttle back from the Conch station. (The one across from CVS). Glad we did as we passed another shuttle pick up spot near the trolleys with LONG lines. 

 

Tonight we we switched to 5:45 seating.  Noel and Roel has an extra basket of sunflower rolls and lemon for our waters already out. 

 

I really liked the Iceburg Wedge salad and the lamb! DH said seafood broth was “fine” but wouldn’t order again. 

 

Every night we walked onto the outside promenade for a breather and then walked down to look at the photos. 

 

We listened to music in Schooner, played cards and took in bits and pieces of the Centrum activities. 

 

Most nights we made it over to Park Cafe for a snack. My sis and her DH really liked the pizza. 

 

I added  a different view of the cabin. 

[mawvkysc]

Day 3 Sea Day

Yay! 

Breakfast in mdr again. This was the morning of dried out food. Then we found a nice table near the pool but off to the side. For some reason these didn’t fill up fast. Later we found a similar area if you went all the way around the aft part of WJ. This was quite quiet (for a buffet seating area.) sort of an indoor outdoor feel. We used this as a home base. We played cards, roamed around and ate lunch. Tried the water slide (adults get stuck ) 

 

Then we we found a “secret” area. It is forward and you have to go up to deck 12 walk past the gym and take stairs down to 11 forward. It was almost empty and had padded loungers. I wonder if at times it is roped off for Thermal Suite pass holders. Anyone know?

 

We also saw some quiet areas aft on deck 12 with regular loungers   

 

Got it a few things at the $10 sale. I love my shawl with buttons that can be configured in different ways. 

[mawvkysc]

We got dressed up for “formal” night. There was a real mix of those who did and didn’t. I didn’t see any gowns or tux. 

 

We we weren’t thrilled with the lobster bisque (Noel said half like half don’t ) or the seafood puff pastry. The duck was good, but if I could do it over I’d get the beef tenderloin. The taste I had was fabulous. Those that had the carrot cake said it was good but small. All week those that had sugar free dessert were satisfied. 

 

I also got got a cheese plate to go and had this later with port at Vintages. 

 

The theater show was juggler/comedian Michael Holly. He was so funny, worked well with the crowd and it was totally family friendly. It was our favorite show of the week. 

[mawvkysc]

Day 4 Cozumel

 

Today we ate breakfast in WJ. It wasn’t overly crowded and some of the group preferred it because you could see what you were getting. No Eggs  Benedict though.  They like the coffee better too. 

 

It was a super windy day. You could see the waves crashing on the iron shore. So we figured beach/snorkeling were out. At least it kept us from being hot. 

 

We had reserved a driver with BlackHat Tours. We were underwhelmed. At least it was no more expensive than a taxi tour. It is a long walk to the taxi area, and then a long walk to the van. 

 

He he took us to a store and we did buy some $1 items. We told him to skip the tequila tour. I asked to be taken to an ice cream shop with corn ice cream. We’re glad we did as we got to see more of the town and school was getting out right across the street from the shop.