LIVE - Brilliance of the Seas TA May 4-19, 2019

[dwhe]

Good start. Are you doing back to back like some are doing on your cruise?

[lazydayz]

Glad your cruise is off to a good start. We love the Brilliance and look forward to following along. 

[CruisingWithMatt]

1 hour ago, dwhe said:

Good start. Are you doing back to back like some are doing on your cruise?

We are not. We will be spending 1 extra night in Amsterdam before flying home.

[dwhe]

If you see a strange man waving to you getting on the ship on the 19th it might be me 😀

Can't wait to hear your views on the ship and what I can expect.

[breezy_carol]

I was in Tampa Wednesday through Saturday with my husband for a convention of his.  We stayed close to the port and I walked over just to see the ship.  I am anxious to hear about the cruise.  I talked to a couple on the trolley who we boarding. 

[tcmagnum]

Following...

[RenieRaider]

How exciting!!!!

Radiance Class ships are so easy to navigate.

I have never done a Trans Atlantic cruise and I too wonder about

the wind and waves and weather.

Thank you for taking the time to post during your vacation.

[perfect match]

I’m interested in learning more about Brilliance, so I will most definitely be following along. 😀

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 2 update:

I was woke by the sun rising through our balcony window and was lucky enough to be able to grab a decent picture. Quite honestly day 2 was a bit of a blur I swear we did a bunch of things but I can’t really remember them. We did some exploring and saw the show which was the  instrumental men’s singing group Revoiced. We attended the Captains welcome aboard reception and it just so happened to be formal night in the minstrel dining room.
 

[CruisingWithMatt]

Cruise compass Day 2 (Sea Day)

[wishuponasea]

Thanks for keeping us up to date! The 2 things I am really interested in is if there is enough interesting things to do for so many days at sea (warm enough to swim and be by the pool and other non selling types of things), and if the water/waves are a lot or is there a lot of sea sickness going on. Hope we can do a trans someday, but these are two worrying factors for us.

[dwhe]

Love the towel reading the Compuss,never seen that one before.

[CruisingWithMatt]

3 hours ago, wishuponasea said:

Thanks for keeping us up to date! The 2 things I am really interested in is if there is enough interesting things to do for so many days at sea (warm enough to swim and be by the pool and other non selling types of things), and if the water/waves are a lot or is there a lot of sea sickness going on. Hope we can do a trans someday, but these are two worrying factors for us.

So far we haven't been bored it's only day 4 though. We took day three to relax by the pool most of the day and today has been a cabin crawl and now at the pool again. As always with weather your milage may vary but it has been (by feel) high of mid 80s for 4 days straight so far even though the cruise compass has said high 70s it is much warmer. I have not seen anybody sea sick. I felt a little woozy yesterday at the very back of the ship at the arcade in the afternoon but I think it was a mixture of not eating enough for lunch and motion. I ended up taking a 2-hour nap in the room and put my sea bands on for the first time followed by a glass of wine in the whirlpool. I haven't had trouble since.

 

If it means anything to you we are on Deck seven port side halfway aft from center (7138) and we barely feel any movement. After the cabin crawl today I can say for me that much higher up than deck 7 and much farther back or further forward than we are would be too much motion for me. I don't know anything about how rough the seas can get on a TA but I would say they are fairly mild to medium right now you can feel movement everywhere on the ship but it its very mild near the center and even at the pool.

[wishuponasea]

Thanks Matt! I look forward to the rest of your cruise reports! A Transatlantic might or might not be in our future.  Would love it, but don't want to be sick or cold the whole way over!!

Edited May 7, 2019 by wishuponasea
added sentences

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 3 update (sea day):

Weather made it to mid/high 80s breezy. It was hot.

 

We designated today as our official do nothing relax at the pool day. Even though we have barely been on the ship it feels like we've been here for a week already. Crazy right?

 

Other than relaxing at the pool/whirlpool drink in hand we did do a couple other activities. We went ahead and checked out the arcade we had purchased $25 credit for each of us ahead of time since it was 20% off on the cruise planner. The arcade however left much to be desired. The air hockey table is worse for wear the puck will not float across the table and the table has chips out of the surface there was also a few games that would not accept credit on one side making a two player game impossible. We still managed to have a little bit of fun in there. Also most games were $2 per play.

 

After the arcade we went up to the Rockwall and I enjoyed climbing each of the three difficulties with ease. I will have to do it again because I forgot to look around while I was up that high. Corin made it about halfway on two of the Rockwall Lanes. She plans to give it another shot here too.

 

*We also forgot to mention we attended the Cruise critic meet and mingle on day 2. We weren't disappointed but it was definitely not what we were thinking it was. Essentially we all met in the colony club and they gave out a handful of prizes through raffle drawing. Afterwards everybody just kind of left.

Edited May 8, 2019 by CruisingWithMatt

[CruisingWithMatt]

Cruise Compass Day 3 (sea day)

[StanleyandGus]

I’m really enjoying your trip report! We have a fall TA (our first one), so I’m reading with great interest!

 

i noticed your shirt- I was on exercise in Camp Ripley for predeployment training for Bosnia. You were probably in kindergarten!

[dwhe]

Thanks, nice tuch adding the Compuss's.

[wishuponasea]

Glad you are enjoying and relaxing and that the weather is nice! We have had our cabins on deck 8 and 6 before, all midship. Really felt the waves a couple times on each of the cruises, but fine the rest of the time. What other activities did you do and enjoy during the days at sea? Cooler snap here in the MSP area starting today and until the week end. FYI. You will have to mow when you get home  🙂  Trees are greening up day by day.  Thank you for posting. Regarding your cruise critic meeting....we have been to a few. Only a couple times were we able to talk with others afterwards and it was really nice. The other times people just split. So, I guess you just don't know. Have a coconut martini for me please  🙂  yum!

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 4 (sea day)

Day 4 we attended  the cabin crawl organized on the cruise critic roll call. It was nice to get to see other types of cabins. We saw an interior, family ocean view, Jr suite, and a master suite among others.

 

Later that evening after our main dining room sitting we learned the hard way that you need to arrive extra early to get a seat in the Cinema. We arrived 10 minutes early to “Instant Family” and the Cinema was completely full. We instead decided to check out the casino and met the wonderful casino bartender Timothy. He went out of his way to make a special drink concoction for Corin and she really enjoyed it.

 

We ended our night listening to a few songs in the king and country pub with some friends we met on board.
 

[CruisingWithMatt]

Cruise Compass Day 4 (sea day)

[wishuponasea]

What concoction did Timothy make?? MIght want to remember that since I like to explore different drinks while onboard! I Never Know what to order!!

Also, what is the cabin crawl? Is it just seeing the different types of cabins, or do you get treats in every one too? Both would be fun! Weather and waves still OK?  Raining here in MN, snow in Duluth and St. Cloud.

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 5 update (sea day)

 

Day 5 I got up with the sunrise and while the wife got more beauty rest I grabbed a  grande mocha and a yogurt parfait and sat out on deck 5 port side near the centrum. It was cool and wavy this morning but I found it relaxing and got caught up on my live blogging. After an hour or so Corin and I played some chess in the colony club and decided today would be a good day for mini golf. We played a non competitive round (which was difficult for me) of golf then I drug her down to deck 5. We knew you could go out on the helipad in the front but didn’t realize you could get all the way to the back on deck 5 too. The view is spectacular.

 

We ended up in the king and country pub for a pre lunch bloody Margret for me and a gin fizz for Corin while we played (our own rules)  darts. Both were very good. After lunch the village fair was going on. We were provided 10 brilliance bucks to use in games to try to win more bucks. At the end of the event all your bucks (with your name and room number) went into a drawing for some onboard goodies. Two winners got champagne and another won a thermal spa day and ship tour.

 

Our Chops reservation was at 1730 and boy did it fill us up. Peppercorn bacon, raw tuna tartare, 12oz NY Strips and asparagus…..oooof. we were both so stuffed we (tried to) skip desert…but they had made a special gluten free one for Corin so we split what appeared to be a strawberry/vanilla mousse of some sort.

 

Our last stop for the night was the Cinema for “central intelligence” we were wise enough to get there 30 minutes early this time and got center seats. We made it through about a half hour of the movie before Corin started to get a bit sea sick so we dipped out early for bed. The ship was rocking the most it has yet. Our bathroom door open would swing all the way open then completely close itself. It was a bit harder to fall asleep with this but I imagine it will get worse as we get closer to Europe.

[CruisingWithMatt]

6 hours ago, wishuponasea said:

What concoction did Timothy make?? MIght want to remember that since I like to explore different drinks while onboard! I Never Know what to order!!

Also, what is the cabin crawl? Is it just seeing the different types of cabins, or do you get treats in every one too? Both would be fun! Weather and waves still OK?  Raining here in MN, snow in Duluth and St. Cloud.

He didn't name it and it wasn't on the menu. It had some pomegranate liquor in it though. The cabin crawl is just other members from the cruise critic roll call that offered to show their room not treats unless they chose to have some. Weather and rain progressing. Rained some today. Sea is getting a bit rougher.

[bgomes]

We, too, are doing this itinerary in May 2020.  Interested in reading your review.  Thanks for doing one.  Happy sails