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

[TimeToGetNauti]

Thanks for the live trip report.  A repositioning cruise is on my bucket list. 

[dwhe]

Thanks for the update.

Looking at the weather forecast it looks like it's going to be quite pleasant when you dock on the 19th, around 18 to 20 (65 to 70 to you lol) not bad for this part of the world.

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Great live report! Looks like you are having a wonderful and relaxing time! Thanks for sharing! Enjoy the rest of your amazing cruise! 

[CruisingWithMatt]

Hello everyone,

Sorry I have been absent. I wasn't feeling well (not seasick) from a flare up of an old neck injury the past few days.  More to come shortly.

[dwhe]

What a rotten time to fall ill. Still, you have a few days to make up for it 😀

[lazydayz]

Hope you are feeling better and able to enjoy the rest of your cruise.  

[Ginlyn]

Glad to hear you will be catching up soon. DH and I are considering a TA so I’m looking forward to your continuing comments.  Hope you are feeling better soon!!

[CruisingWithMatt]

If anyone wants the rest of the cruise compasses, please direct message me as I will do my best to keep 
this from being cluttered with them.

 

Belated Updates start here:
Days 6-8 (sea Days):
I wasn’t 100% the following days. Day 6 was the chefs table and I felt so bad from my neck that I left 
half way through. (I made my wife stay to get the experience). I spent most of the following day in bed. 
The rest of these days were spent relaxing around the pool, in the solarium, or playing chess in the 
colony club. After six days at sea or so I found myself having trouble finding things on the cruise compass 
that I wanted to participate in (not feeling 100% may have had something to do with it too. My wife 
didn’t seem to get as bored.

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 9 Azores, Ponta Delgada:
We booked the “Sete Cidades Hike” through Royal Caribbean for todays adventure. Now bear with me as this story may get long winded.
We had breakfast and headed to the Pacifica theatre to be assigned to our bus/guide for the day. We showed our tickets to the attendant and we were given a red “9” sticker and were told it was a “6” (if you looked at the sticker like a normal human you would assume it was a 9 because there was “shore excursions” watermarked into it). I verified we were to use it as a 6… Our number was called, and we headed to board our bus. There was someone at the entrance of the bus to take our tickets that said “Sete Cidades Hike” and told us to find a seat. Our bus started the tour and made it maybe 5 minutes from port before our guide announced overhead that there were two passengers on the bus that were supposed to be on a different tour. I’ll give you three guesses who…  The bus went back to the port dropped us off and we found the right bus. Now remember we were explicitly told that our 9 was a 6 right? Guess which number bus we were supposed to be on? 10 that’s right, bus 10. So we were given a 9 and told it was a six, handed our tickets to the to be checked and given back and still managed to end up on the wrong bus… WOW. We boarded bus 10 to actual applause that we made it (and made them 15 minutes late). Thankfully it all worked out and our guide was kind enough to inform the group that it was not our fault for the mishap. The RCCL shore excursion staff must have been hit with a confundus charm that morning.
The hike was very good. The pictures don’t do it justice. We got back to the port around 1pm and we were both starving. We decided to quick board the ship to eat lunch and then get off again for a couple hours…or so we thought. The line to board the ship was longer than expected so we boarded and ended our day in Azores without any shopping 😕

[wishuponasea]

Thank you, again, for posting. Hope you are feeling better. Would be hard to hike with a bad neck! If a person was not into gambling, what other types of activities (non extra paying), would you do on a long cruise? Does the ship do extra things if the weather isn't nice enough to go outside? Thanks!

 

[CruisingWithMatt]

1 hour ago, wishuponasea said:

Thank you, again, for posting. Hope you are feeling better. Would be hard to hike with a bad neck! If a person was not into gambling, what other types of activities (non extra paying), would you do on a long cruise? Does the ship do extra things if the weather isn't nice enough to go outside? Thanks!

 

We spent very little in the casino $50 each. regardless of the weather it seemed the cruise compass never added anything but things were cancelled due to weather or low/no participation.

"After six days at sea or so I found myself having trouble finding things on the cruise compass that I wanted to participate in (not feeling 100% may have had something to do with it too. My wife didn’t seem to get as bored." 

[mugtech]

Did they offer progressive trivia on the sea days?  What about regular trivia?  On the Adventure there was trivia every day at 10 AM, 3 PM and 7:30 PM.  Additional trivias plus name that tune were available in the Schooner Bar at 2 :15, 4:15 and 5 PM.  Hope they have something like this next year on the May TA.

[CruisingWithMatt]

On 5/22/2019 at 2:35 PM, mugtech said:

Did they offer progressive trivia on the sea days?  What about regular trivia?  On the Adventure there was trivia every day at 10 AM, 3 PM and 7:30 PM.  Additional trivias plus name that tune were available in the Schooner Bar at 2 :15, 4:15 and 5 PM.  Hope they have something like this next year on the May TA.

I believe they did all of those and we participated in a harry potter one but that was it.

[CruisingWithMatt]

Days 10-11 (sea days) Skipped, dm for cruise compass

 

Day 12 Dunmore East/Waterford, Ireland:

 

Today went much smoother than the Azores. We decided a while back not to book any excursions for this port and to self-guide for the day. We tendered to Dunmore East and we were able to take a bus from round trip to Waterford and back for 15 Euro each. In Waterford we spent most of our time in the “Viking Triangle”. We saw the Viking sword (a huge wooden sword about the length of 5 cars that was carved out of an entire tree and a Viking boat. We took the medieval tour/museum and the bishops palace tour. Both tours were good but if I were to choose just one to do again it would be the medieval the museum had many cool artifacts. We ate lunch in the Bishops Palace café (a little café in the corner of the palace). We were happily surprised at how delicious the food was. My wife had a 100% Irish beef burger and I had a fried chicken sandwich on a fresh ciabatta roll and fresh Irish cheese. Mmmmm. The only weird thing was I swore the water tasted like moss. My wife noticed it too and she didn’t mind it, but it was a no-go for me. After the tours we spent time looking in the souvenir shops and then took the bus back early to spend some time in Dunmore East. We walked the cliffs where the views were spectacular, this was my favorite part of this port. We finished off our day in the local pub for a pint and some crisps and tendered back for a good night’s rest.

[mugtech]

32 minutes ago, CruisingWithMatt said:

I believe they did all of those and we participated in a harry potter one but that was it.

Thank you

[CruisingWithMatt]

[bgomes]

On 5/24/2019 at 10:02 AM, CruisingWithMatt said:

Days 10-11 (sea days) Skipped, dm for cruise compass

 

Day 12 Dunmore East/Waterford, Ireland:

 

Today went much smoother than the Azores. We decided a while back not to book any excursions for this port and to self-guide for the day. We tendered to Dunmore East and we were able to take a bus from round trip to Waterford and back for 15 Euro each. In Waterford we spent most of our time in the “Viking Triangle”. We saw the Viking sword (a huge wooden sword about the length of 5 cars that was carved out of an entire tree and a Viking boat. We took the medieval tour/museum and the bishops palace tour. Both tours were good but if I were to choose just one to do again it would be the medieval the museum had many cool artifacts. We ate lunch in the Bishops Palace café (a little café in the corner of the palace). We were happily surprised at how delicious the food was. My wife had a 100% Irish beef burger and I had a fried chicken sandwich on a fresh ciabatta roll and fresh Irish cheese. Mmmmm. The only weird thing was I swore the water tasted like moss. My wife noticed it too and she didn’t mind it, but it was a no-go for me. After the tours we spent time looking in the souvenir shops and then took the bus back early to spend some time in Dunmore East. We walked the cliffs where the views were spectacular, this was my favorite part of this port. We finished off our day in the local pub for a pint and some crisps and tendered back for a good night’s rest.

Thanks for doing this, it is giving me ideas for our TA next year on the Brilliance.  Where did you catch the bus in Dunsmore that takes you to Waterford?  Also, is Waterford Crystal near the Viking Triangle, is it within walking distance?

[Snit13]

On 5/9/2019 at 2:36 PM, CruisingWithMatt said:

. 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.

A cabin crawl is as good as the people who organize it.  Took part in one on Celebrity Connie a few years ago that lasted for about 3 hours.  The final cabin was a suite and the couple hosted a party for all.  Their butler secured the food and each cabin donated a bottle of wine.  The party was out of this world and all had a great time.

[Snit13]

I wanted to book the TA on Brilliance for 2020 but cousin was not excited about so many days at sea.  Thus we booked the 10 Night British Isles on Brilliance in June 2020.  Sailed Brilliance in 2017 Western Caribbean and enjoyed her.  Did TA on NCL Jewel years ago and absolutely loved the TA.  A word to the wise, "Keep your Sea Bracelets" on as they work wonders.  Never sail without them.  Do hope your neck doesn't continue to bother you.  Book a massage if it does.  Happy Sails

[CruisingWithMatt]

19 hours ago, bgomes said:

Thanks for doing this, it is giving me ideas for our TA next year on the Brilliance.  Where did you catch the bus in Dunsmore that takes you to Waterford?  Also, is Waterford Crystal near the Viking Triangle, is it within walking distance?

The bus was right in port notified but not run by RCCL. Yes the Waterford crystal factory is in the Viking triangle, easy walk.

[bgomes]

Thanks Matt.   This is exactly what we will do.  We prefer to not do cruise line excursions if possible.  Have been following your review, hope your neck is much better.

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 13 Cobh/Cork, Ireland:

We booked the Exclusive Kinsale, Cork City and Blarney excursion through shore excursions group for this port. We arrived in Cobh and boarded a bus right near the port. Our bus tour was good, and we stopped at a small castle in Kinsale, toured around Cork City with a lunch break there, and finished at the Blarney castle for exploring and shopping. The poison garden full of labeled poisonous plants was cool but we only had two hours (which was not enough) for the Blarney castle area and shopping. It was a long but fun day.

[CruisingWithMatt]

Day 13 pictures

[CruisingWithMatt]

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you for sharing your first cruise with us! So what did you think of cruising?