Brief Brilliance Feb 24 Review

[woneill63]

I sailed on Brilliance on a four nighter, Thursday to Monday, with five good friends.  I booked this cruise last March, so we got an excellent rate per room, all interiors.  Embarkation was a breeze, we chose a one pm boarding to avoid the crush at Windjammer.  We arrived at the pier at 12:45, stood in the one pm line for about 10/15 minutes, and then proceeded through security, had our vacc cards and neg covid tests checked twice, got our armbands and walked up the gangplank.  We were told that our rooms would not be ready until two, so we took our suitcases and went to our muster station, a crew member checked us in, and that was it, we were having a beer at the pool bar by 1:30.  I sure hope Royal does away with the muster drill and keeps the same procedure.

The meals and service were all fantastic.  We usually had breakfast in the Windjammer and sat outside in the very back part overlooking the aft.  Lunch was usually sandwiches by the pool.  We ate in the main dining room the first two nights, on our floor only every fourth table was occupied, almost depressing.  Dinner the last two nights was Chop's and Giovanni's, great as always.

From what I heard from a crew member, the ship is scheduled for a dry dock in a few weeks.  She had a few nicks and scratches here and there, but, was in overall very good shape for twenty plus years old.  We did this ship and itinerary back in 2018, and you could tell there was a lot less people on board, this was a positive, no lines anywhere.

Our one destination was changed a few months back from Cozumel to Costa Maya.  After reading these boards, we went to the Krazy Lobster, got a table on the beach, and had drinks and lunch.  We had a great time and will return here in the future since the prices were reasonable.

We had fun in the casino and the club, didn't see any shows so I can't comment on that.  

All the covid restrictions were removed on Friday, Feb 25th, so we didn't have to wear masks walking around inside anymore, what a relief.

And that is that, we had a great time and are happy to be back cruising after a two and a half year hiatus.

 

 

Cheers.

[CVS33]

We’re you allowed to sit on stools around the Schooner Bar?

[ticketsunlimited]

Nice report!!  Should only get better as the dust settles.

[SG65CB]

43 minutes ago, CVS33 said:

We’re you allowed to sit on stools around the Schooner Bar?

 

Are you asking specifically for this ship? On Oasis of the Seas last month there were barstools with people sitting on them in Bolero's, Globe and Atlas, and the Music Hall. In the Schooner bar you were not allowed to sit around the piano. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention at the other bars, such as at the pool, and don't recall if there were barstools. 

 

[CVS33]

Thanks for your response. I was asking about Brilliance of the Seas. 

[woneill63]

We sat on the stools at the Schooner Bar Friday evening for about 30/40 minutes.  This was the day all the covid restrictions were relaxed.  We had fun with the piano player.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Thanks for the review. We are scheduled to sail on brilliance in Aug. Maybe a silly question but any idea what work will be carried out in dry dock?

[woneill63]

Nope, sorry, we didn't ask about the specifics of what would be worked on during the dry dock.  I am sure Royal will have her looking great and everything working fine when you sail on her.