Rogueperson's **Live** Brilliance of the Seas 12/16/2021

[Rogueperson]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Thanks.  I was wondering how to work dinner.  We have my time dining reservations for 6:30, so we'd have to really rush.  But changing to dinner at 8 or 8:15 might be better.  Of course, our cruise might be different that yours.

 

What did you do?

 

We have late seating dining.  Not sure if its supposed to be 7:45 or 8:00. Its listed at 8:00 on my card but 7:45 on the cruise compass.  We had an issue which I will go into with my next post.

[Rogueperson]

Here is tonight’s dinner menu.

 

My favorite escargot is here and will be here every night.  For those of you who are familiar with me.  I got my prerequisite two orders.

There was an error on the menu.  Mushroom soup was a mistake.  Its supposed to be cream of cauliflower.  A little pepper and it was delicious.

Partially because i was on a cruise only two months ago, i went against the grain.  I almost always get the prime rib but i decided to do something different with the jerk pork.  Not really jerk flavor.  Should have stuck with the prime rib.

Dessert was Key Lime Pie.  I remembered it wasn’t that great, but i got it anyways.  It didn’t have the tartness i wanted, but it was okay.

So far, this trip has had several minor issues.  They start to pile up, but fortunately they do resolve well.  So my friends and I are supposed to be linked.  My TA confirmed it because she helped keep the surprise a secret by sending separate emails to Ama.  Anyways, after trying to find our table (with the help of the waitstaff) we discovered that Ama had a different table assignment from us.  That was issue one. Issue two, we found our table… occupied.  Head waiter was at first confused but then immediately set off to fix the issue.  We just stood there waiting.  It took probably a good 15 minutes before we were given a “temporary” table.  Dinner itself was great but at the end, they still had no solution for us.  The wait team was clueless and we could not leave without finding out what our dining arrangements will be for the rest of the cruise.  They finally asked us about our experience tonight, which we enjoyed.  We got a table by the window with a good amount of privacy.  It took a little bit but finally it ended up, “if we liked where we are and the wait team, they will make it permanent for the rest of the cruise.  It was already 1/2 empty and we’re down further at 50% capacity.  We were not sure why it was so overly complicated 

[Rogueperson]

Upon return to room, I find this neat creation

 

 

I am exhausted.  Its only 11 and I think i’m done for the night.  Its been 13 years, but I had forgotten why i love the Radiance Class ships. So far, there have been a couple issues, but nothing to get angry at.  Its definitely not going the same route as my dreaded Jewel cruise. With 1048 passengers, we’re at 50%.  I’m never going to see this ever again.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Rogueperson

[FionaMG]

Sounds like you had a decent first day Rogue. Stuff happens; that's unfortunate, but the important thing is that the people who are supposed to sort it out do so and it looks like they came through for you. Hope the rest goes smoothly. 

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review and photos.  Have a great cruise.

[Rogueperson]

Good morning from somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

This is today’s cruise compass.

 

 

Last night was rough.  Seas started kicking up a little once we entered the Gulf.  Worse I woke up seriously nauseous and managed to puke.  At the same time, it was unpleasant in the opposite direction.  I’m terrified at this moment because @FionaMG this is how I felt it started

on Navigator.  I just sat there worried where this was headed.  I fell back asleep and woke up for breakfast.  Good news there was my stomach felt fine and there are no other symptoms.  I managed to have breakfast with no issues.

 

Now, I’m sitting in the Solarium at 10am.  This is proof of how wonderful this reduced capacity is.

 

Apparently there is more crew than passengers onboard.  

[Rogueperson]

I neglected to take pictures of breakfast.  My bad.  I was not totally awake for breakfast.

 

However, my first experiment with the Aeropress.

 

 

I would say its a success.  I still need to modify the process slightly.  The cup

is smaller than the one i use at home.  At home, i have a system to fill my larger cup.  Here, its 1 for 1.  I’ll try again tomorrow.

[Rogueperson]

Its official.  We have rough seas.  They put out the barf bags.

 

[kruzerci]

Hope today is a little better!

 

What kind of shape does the ship seem to be in? Tired or fresh? Any pictures of the Diamond lounge, pool area, and schooner bar would be appreciated 🙂

[Rogueperson]

28 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Hope today is a little better!

 

What kind of shape does the ship seem to be in? Tired or fresh? Any pictures of the Diamond lounge, pool area, and schooner bar would be appreciated 🙂

I have not visited the Diamond lounge yet.  The ship is wonderful.  Give me a little and post pics of the ship.  

 

Right now, I’m sitting at the medical facility.  Its not me, I’m okay, but we’ll see.

[Rogueperson]

Diamond Club.  This is small but nice.  I’ve been now seen the Diamond Club on Allure, Navigator, Mariner and now Brilliance.

 

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, Rogueperson said:

I’m terrified at this moment because @FionaMG this is how I felt it started

on Navigator.

 

Oh no! I really hope you'll be fine. 

 

The pics are lovely. In that first one in the DL with the sun shining on the water in the background I can almost feel the movement of the sea.

[Rogueperson]

7 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

Oh no! I really hope you'll be fine. 

 

The pics are lovely. In that first one in the DL with the sun shining on the water in the background I can almost feel the movement of the sea.

Oh, its moving alright.  Not the worse i’ve been on, but enough that while i was in Medical, the stool i was sitting on shifted and moved under me as the ship rocked.

 

As for my stomach.  Breakfast seemed to settle down fine.  Thats good news on that front.  I have not seen resumption of symptoms.  All good news.  Medical wasn’t for me.  No Quarantine for me!!!!!

Edited December 17, 2021 by Rogueperson

[Rogueperson]

3 hours ago, kruzerci said:

Hope today is a little better!

 

What kind of shape does the ship seem to be in? Tired or fresh? Any pictures of the Diamond lounge, pool area, and schooner bar would be appreciated 🙂

Schooner Bar as requested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its a nice one.  I think this class has the best one.

 

 

[Rogueperson]

Lunch was had in the MDR.  They are serious about the vaccination band even though i THINK everyone over 12 had to have it.  So, i learned my lesson in Mariner to leave enough room on the vaccination band to remove it.  Fair warning IT IS NOT REVERSIBLE.  Once you tighten it, it cannot be loosen.  I took it off in my cabin to wash my hands and forgot to put it back on.  Went to lunch on 4.  They asked me about my band.  They denied me entry to 4 because 5 is for the unvaccinated mass.  So they do check

 

Menu

 

 

I had the smoky potato soup.  This was wonderful.

 

 

Spaghetti Bolognese.  The pasta was slightly overdone so it felt a little like chef boyardee pasta.  But the sauce made up for it.  It was really filling.  Need nap because of it.

 

Coconut Layer Cake.  Nothing special about this.  It was cake with coconut frosting.

 

[Rogueperson]

See, i’m not 100% sure if Vaccinations are required for this sailing.  Mexico is NOT one of the places that require all visitors be vaccinated, if i remember correctly.  Second, there was a couple in front of me that got shunted from the line because they were unvaccinated.  They instead went elsewhere, but was not denied entry.  Just another line.

[Rogueperson]

I passed out after lunch for a bit.  Windjammer is not open for dinner.  I now see a huge hole here.  If you have late seating like i do, there is a lack of complimentary food choices after 3:30 when Windjammer closes.  There is Park Cafe, but thats about it.  Feeling like a snack but haven’t seen anything worth it right now.

 

I found out some interesting info.  Diamond vouchers reset at midnight.  Can anyone chime in on what happens after midnight on your last day?

 

Here are some random pictures including pool as someone requested.

 

 

Here are a coupe outdoor pool shots as requested

 

 

Windjammer panoramic

 

 

 

 

The Windjammer has a lot of outdoor seating. There used to be something called Rita’s Cantina.  There’s a sign for it but nothing really there

 

Gingerbread house collection

 

The Challenger Arcade is out in the middlemif nowhere.  Its just a room aft where you need to go out onto deck to find it.

 

 

Solarium Pool at night.  Did I mention this is my favorite Solarium?

 

There is a little waterslide

 

Izumi’s is also out on the deck like the Arcade

[Rogueperson]

I was hungry for a snack.  I could have sworn is was 6:00, but its actually 7.  Still, grabbed a Kumelwick

 

 

This is fresh.  Delicious.

[Edge60]

How are things with the new mask restrictions? I’m assuming bars are still open. No masking in between sips as has been rumored elsewhere?

[Rogueperson]

30 minutes ago, Edge60 said:

How are things with the new mask restrictions? I’m assuming bars are still open. No masking in between sips as has been rumored elsewhere?

They haven’t announced it.  But on paper, its always been mask indoor unless you’re eating or drinking.  It didn’t say anything about the Vaccinated and non vaccinated areas.

[Rogueperson]

Tonight’s dinner menu.

Beef Carpaccio.  I love this dish but i’m a little wary of it because i’m fairly certain this was

the cause of my sickness/quarantine on Navigator.  They made a slight change and its awesome.  They added slice roasted garlic and it absolutely blew this dish into the stratosphere.

Beef Tenderloin.  I learned my lesson last night, go with what i like

I got the peach shortcake but caught my friend’s Desserts as well.  We have cheesecake, creme brulee (gluten free!) and carrot cake.

 

 

i’ve noted before that what i call the “one menu system” made dinner much quicker.  That is not the case here.  Its not a complaint.  I like the drawn out dinner.  But we again, missed the production show.  Tomorrow is Chef’s table but i suspect it will be the same menu as before.  I’ll still post photos here.  But i’m fairly certain we will miss the show tomorrow.

 

Tonight we made it to the Hush Party.  I usually look forward to this event, but this time i was disappointed.  I’m the past, there was a synergy between the two channels.  Here, one channel was hip hop, the other was latin.  Also, they played cupid shuffle, Electric Slide and The Wobble on the hip hop channel.  The result was chaos.

 

One more thing i noticed.  I normally don’t drink wine with dinner.  That’s my wife.  I always feel like a monkey randomly pointing at a wine when i order wine.  But 1 wine i remember.  The Conundrum white blend.  Its part of Chef’s Table and a cool name so i remember.  Here it is listed.

At this price, the Diamond voucher (and the drink package) doesn’t fully cover it as its more than 13.00.  I looked it up because i remembered it.  This bottle sells for 16-17 per bottle at the store.  Royal wants 61.00!!l. Just to give you an idea of how marked up alcohol is on board.  Whether you get the drink package or not, Royal wins.  “ A strange game. The only way to win is not to play” 

[Rogueperson]

Here is technically today’s cruise compass.

 

Since i will be in port tomorrow, I will not be able to post much until i get back.

 

Also, weren’t these cruise compasses in color at one point?!?!?

[luckybecky]

 

 

1 hour ago, Rogueperson said:

i’ve noted before that what i call the “one menu system” made dinner much quicker.  That is not the case here.  Its not a complaint.  I like the drawn out dinner.  But we again, missed the production show.  Tomorrow is Chef’s table but i suspect it will be the same menu as before.  I’ll still post photos here.  But i’m fairly certain we will miss the show tomorrow.

 

 

 

I'm wondering if you (or any experienced RC cruisers) can elaborate on this a bit more.

 

We really enjoy the nightly shows. On other lines, we almost always eat early, around 6pm, and are able to make the second show of the night which is often scheduled for around 8:30 - 9pm. This has almost never been a problem. We finish dinner in plenty of time to arrive maybe 15 minutes or so before showtime and just walk into the theater and choose a seat.  Is this going to be a problem on our Brilliance cruises coming up in June?

Is it really a problem on RC to have a nice dinner (specialty or MDR) AND enjoy the show on the same night?

[mafig]

Could you please let us know how they are handling the new mask protocols.

 

Do you have to wear a mask in the solarium?  At bars between sips of drinks do you have to reapply your mask (I'm not kidding, this was posted that they might be doing this), in the dining room?  When can you remove your mask.  Do you have to put it back on between courses?

 

Shows?  Casino?   The casino was only for vaccinated, so you could go without a mask, now as I understand it, you must wear a mask in the casino.  

 

Thanks again, Rogueperson.

[Rogueperson]

4 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 

 

 

I'm wondering if you (or any experienced RC cruisers) can elaborate on this a bit more.

 

We really enjoy the nightly shows. On other lines, we almost always eat early, around 6pm, and are able to make the second show of the night which is often scheduled for around 8:30 - 9pm. This has almost never been a problem. We finish dinner in plenty of time to arrive maybe 15 minutes or so before showtime and just walk into the theater and choose a seat.  Is this going to be a problem on our Brilliance cruises coming up in June?

Is it really a problem on RC to have a nice dinner (specialty or MDR) AND enjoy the show on the same night?

 

The shows are scheduled around the two seatings.  In theory, you should make one of the show seatings.

 

As i said, with the one menu system, you can finish all your courses in 45 minutes when before you couldn’t.

 

Last night, 2 hours was a serious abnormality, but that was because of us more than the waitstaff.

 

Sometimes, the shows are at 7 and 9, 7 for late seating and 9 for early.  Last night we should for all intents and purpose, have made it to the 10 show, but we lagged.