Best Cruise EVER!!! Brilliance 11 day Panama Canal 3/26/07

[Sue L]

First a little about us, this was our 11th cruise but only 2nd on RCCL, also our first Radiance class ship. This was our longest cruise and definitely our best cruise!

 

 

There has been a lot of recent reviews for the Brilliance so I won't bore you will all the details. The ship is magnificent and would definitely sail her again. All the glass and the dramatic atrium are stunning.

 

 

Pre-cruise in Miami-Stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami, the convenience of this hotel is a major part of our choice. The hotel was clean, and nice and we had a view of the port area. After checking in we met some new friends from the roll call and went on the Island Queen boat tour out of Bayside Marketplace. The tour was very nice and we saw some magnificent homes and we even saw Tiger Woods yacht. This is the link to the website for the tour. http://www.islandqueencruises.com/sightseeing_rates.htm

 

 

Pictures from the tour http://family.webshots.com/photo/2389009580086811290fkZWWR

 

 

We then met some of our roll call members at Bubba Gumps Restaurant in Bayside Marketplace for dinner. We had a really nice time and the food was excellent. Be warned though that the portions are very large.

 

 

Cabin- We had aft cabin 9260, with a huge (10 x 14) balcony. It had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table on it with plenty of space to walk around. The cabin itself was a D1 and it was plenty big for 2 people with a ton of storage. The walk is a little inconvenient at times but well worth the size of the balcony and the magnificent view of the wake. We had a nice breeze most of the time and only one day was the sun directly on it to prevent us from hanging out there. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2932271820086811290NIUBIm

 

 

Day 1-Embarkation We went over to the port around 10:30 and there were already quite a few others ahead of us. We waited about 45 minutes or so in a nice seating area until they opened the check-in. Two quick points here. There are no bathrooms in this area so if that becomes an issue then you need to go through the x-ray machines in order to get to one. Poor planning in my opinion. Also once the seating area filled up then they had people just standing waiting for the check in to open. When they did open it, then they had these two areas (seating area (early people) and standers (later arrivals)) kind of merge to get to the check in area. It was a little annoying since we got there early but no big deal. Check in was by deck level and we breezed right through. From check in to ship less than 10 minutes.

 

 

Spent the remainder of the day roaming the ship and learning our way around. The solarium is gorgeous. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2513175750086811290jSfHZa There are so many pretty little areas and little surprises around each corner. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2367810730086811290WrlYwI Our bags were by our door before muster.

 

 

Day 2-Sea day lazed around the pool, chair hogs were out in force. Most of the pool level chairs were taken by 9:00am on sea days but other decks were available until later in the day.

 

 

Day 3- Labadee. What can I say that hasn't already been said. This is a beautiful, lush, tropical paradise. The water was beautiful and though we did get about 5 minutes of rain, the weather the rest of the day was great. There were some clouds which was actually nice because it was very hot. We spent the majority of the day on the beach. The barbecue was very nice and very well laid out. The marketplace is really fun and even though the vendors did bug us a little “a No Thank You” discouraged them right away! I did end up haggling for a few pieces of metal art. One is a 30 inch sun/moon and we also got 3 geckos in several sizes. We were able to get some cardboard in one of the shops onboard and we bought tape and string in Aruba to make a packing carton to get them home. They also let us carry it on the plane. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2837532820086811290wRrSfw

 

 

Day 4- Sea day. We had our Meet and Mingle today at 11 am. It was well attended by the roll call. RCCL had a nice spread of food set up and waiters were going around giving out various kinds of drinks. The CD Ashley attended as well as quite a few officers and the Captain even made an appearance. They gave each of us a little notepad on a string which were used as nametags for the the M & M. They raffled off some items like hats, bags,etc. When they raffled off the coveted Royal Caribbean mouse I was flabbergasted and extremely touched when the poster who won it(Paula H) took the microphone and presented it to me as the starter of the Roll Call. On a personal note I would like to thank Paula H again for her extreme generosity and for making me really, really happy!!!

 

 

In the afternoon we did the Couples Rasul. We had heard a lot about it on the boards and were intrigued by the description. Lets just say here that you can make the experience as G rated or X rated as you want!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5- Aruba, Our original tour was canceled on Day 4. It was a bike tour and was canceled for “lack of interest”. We scrambled to find another tour that wasn't already sold out. It was a struggle since most of the good ones were already gone and since they gave us less than 24 hours notice we didn't have much to choose from. We ended up doing a kayak tour, it was ok, nothing great. The kayaking was a marathon session to a beach area for snorkeling. They then took us quickly to an area beyond the reef surrounded on both sides by fire coral which can cause rashes and scars, a little scary. We were told to stay in a line and close by. We swam fast and were given no time to just look around and then had to swim, again at an extremely fast pace, back to the beach area. We were given a few minutes rest and then it was back in the kayaks for a fast paced return to our starting point. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2413384870086811290JFAzkA

 

 

Day 6- Curacao, Again we had our tour canceled but this time with no notification what so ever. Granted I will take part of the blame on this one because I didn't realize the tickets for this tour were not in the envelope with all the others we had received in our cabin upon embarkation. We realized we didn't have any tickets while we were preparing our bag for the next day. Unfortunately, when we got down to the tour desk it was closed. We went to the purser's desk and tried to explain the problem and luckily we were able to switch to another snorkeling tour though we were charged for that one and had to later follow up on the credit for the original one. Ingrid at the purser's desk was amazing at solving the problem and followed up with us, corporate and the tour desk to make sure everything was credited properly. It turns out the boat for the original tour broke down 2 weeks BEFORE we even sailed, but for whatever reason the tour people on the Brilliance were not given any list of who had booked this tour online prior to the cruise so they had no way of notifying any of us. The snorkeling tour that we did take was very crowded on the boat. Once we got to the snorkeling area though it was wonderful. The underwater park here is amazing with a sunken tug boat and a wide variety of fish and plant life. Highly recommend snorkeling or diving here. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2227128040086811290NjWLUa

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Explorations tour desk was the only service of the ship that we were disappointed in. We felt that they could have given us earlier warning that there was a chance that our bike tour would be canceled so there would have been more availability of other tours. And them not having a list of the people on the other tour was disgraceful on both corporates end and the tour desk in my opinion.

 

 

Day 7-Sea day. Spent the bulk of the day by the pool and basically lazed around. Past guest party was this night before dinner. Two separate parties for early and late seating.

 

 

Day 8- Panama. AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and AMAZING. No pictures or descriptions can accurately depict the reality of transiting the locks in the canal. The evening before we were told that we would be entering the canal around 7am and we planned accordingly. Luckily I woke up earlier than the 5:30 we had set on our alarm and it was a good thing. Instead of the 7am they said the night before it was barely 6am when we started the final approach to the canal. Since we woke up early and realized how close we were we quickly changed and got up to the bow of the ship. It was 5:30 and most of the prime spots along the railing were already gone and by 6 it was 4 or 5 rows deep. The narrator explained much of the history of the canal and described what we were seeing as each step was completed. Once we entered the first set of locks we headed back to our aft room via deck 5 where you could touch the side of the canal and the mules were right there. We had a great view of the Coral Princess transiting the canal in the next lane. We had room service breakfast on our balcony and got ready for our tour. They started calling the first tour at about 8:15 or so and then it went pretty quickly sometimes calling more than one tour at a time. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2556611930086811290jrDIFU

 

 

We did the Portobelo and Gatun Locks tour and it was very nice though extremely hot. We did have an air conditioned bus. We first visited the Lock Visitor's Center where you can see up close the ships transiting the canal. We had a huge container ship going through when we were there. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2102925060086811290JqgpRv

 

 

They also had a great little gift shop (extremely reasonable prices) with some unique items. Be warned there is a lot of steps to climb to get to the visitor center. We then had a 45 minute ride to Portebelo. We visited the church of the Black Christ, the customs house, and the Portebelo fortification. The area is very poor but rich with history. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2016787240086811290TJYZps

 

 

 

 

Day 9-Costa Rica. The countryside is beautiful and the people very friendly. We went on the White Water Rafting. All I can say is DO IT!!! . In 11 cruises I think it will go down as one of our all time favorites. It was not only a fantastic experience it was also one of the best organized tours we have ever been on.

 

We were picked up at the port at 7:30 in the morning. We boarded a brand new air conditioned bus for a 60-75 minute ride through the Costa Rican countryside. The guide (Jose) spoke beautiful English and explained in detail many aspects of the country and spoke of the sights along the way.

 

We arrived at the "operation center" which consisted of a beautiful set of buildings that included a gift shop (very reasonable prices) a changing room, and a covered outdoor eating area. We were given a little while to change into swimsuits and get ourselves organized for the tour. We then reboarded the bus and were transported to a another site to a shuttle bus for a steep ascent to the river.

 

We were then issued helmets, paddles and broken up into groups of 6, plus one guide for each boat. We were given a thorough orientation and then climbed into the boats and were "tested" on our skills.

 

We had 6 rafts on our tour and we stayed nearby. The river is dam controlled and the rapids were great. All in our boat were newbies to rafting and we had a ball. We had some great rapid areas and others that were calm and sedate.

For anyone who thinks that this might not be for them, I just want to let you know that I am 48, with two bad knees and two bad hips. The other couples in our boat were average age around 54 or so as were most of the people on the tour.

 

After the rafting we were taken back to the operation center where we were provided with an all you can eat buffet with salad, chicken, spaghetti, rice and beans. The food was delicious and this is coming from a picky eater. We then boarded the buses for the return trip to the ship.

 

If you haven't surmised from my description I would highly recommend this tour and if I get back to Costa Rica I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.! http://family.webshots.com/photo/2912860540086811290GRABLL

 

 

 

 

Days 10 and 11-Sea days. The perfect way to end this cruise with two very relaxing sea days. We spent the time on the pool deck, hanging out with friends, shopping on the ship and some time in the casino.

 

 

 

 

Food

 

 

Dining room- Excellent food. Always able to find something to my liking. Service was fantastic with our waiters Joray from South Africa and Rajvir from India. They were a superb team and were very on top of any of our needs and never hesitated about any requests. The lobster tails were huge on the second formal night..

 

 

Buffet, much better than I expected from some of the recent comments here on the boards.

 

 

Chops and Portofino's were both excellent foodwise, but we felt the service was a little rushed in Chops though it didn't detract from the experience.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

We attended many of the shows which most were very good. The comedian Phil Tag was great and his adult show was one of the cleanest we have ever attended but still hysterical with adult content. The Platters were really good! The broadway type shows were ok, nothing spectacular. One of the funniest of the shows was the Olympic gymnast Lance Ringnald. It sounds out of context that a gymnast would be funny, but trust me the guy is so funny and mixed with the gymnastics makes for a great show. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2586051410086811290ThcrwZ

 

 

Sorry this review did get a little more detailed then I had planned on. If anyone has any specific questions I would be happy to answer them.

[Wine Luvuh]

What a great review!! Very well written. Thanks!!

One question...What would you say the average age was on the ship?

[Sue L]

What a great review!! Very well written. Thanks!!

 

One question...What would you say the average age was on the ship?

 

The average age was definitely older than some of the 7 days we have been on but not old by any means. We had honeymooners, young families, families with teenagers and everything in between. If I did have to give an average I would say around late forties/early fifties.

[BILL-WI]

Sue...

 

Thanks a million for the review!

 

Rosie and I were on the Canal cruise in January and we loved it! We loved it so much, that we have already booked another Canal cruise for late 2008!

 

Over the years the Canal has grown on me. About 8 years ago, we took my patents on a Canal cruise because they really wanted to see it. I said OK, but I was looking forward to the ports of call...Little did I know then that the Canal would ended up being the highlight of the trip for all of us!:D

 

When we were on the cruise this January, I told DW it would not take another eight years for our return....we are addicted to the Canal cruise!

 

Great photos in your WebShots albums, Thanks for sharing.

 

Our Canal cruise photos are here if you care to check them out...

http://travel.webshots.com/album/557056968PbEqbd

 

Thanks again for letting me relive the Canal trip, via your review!

[cruiseman_tx]

Well done Sue. The Panama Canal on the Brilliance was our favorite cruise, eventhough we couldn't be as active as we wanted due to a torn knee ligament that I was recovering from. It is definately on our repeat list for the future.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Sounds wonderful Sue, thanks!! I hope we are able to do a Pamama Canal cruise one day.

 

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[Sue L]

Sounds wonderful Sue, thanks!! I hope we are able to do a Pamama Canal cruise one day.

 

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You definitely should make it a priority. It is funny though but before I started searching for this cruise I was really not excited about the whole canal thing and pretty much dismissed the cruises that went there. I am so happy that I found this one and the more I researched the more excited I got!!!

[ali07]

Thank you for the great review...I have always wanted to do a panama canal cruise, and I've been on the Brilliance before (it was our first RCI cruise :) ). You're right, its a beautiful ship.

 

Thanks for the info about the excursions (the good and bad). I'm so sorry to hear that your excursions were cancelled.:(

[Welshlady]

The review and the photos are brilliant!!! I am even more excited now - 5 weeks and 2 days to go till we're off to Barcelona!!! The ship looks beautiful and the balcony..... We've got an aft cabin 1604 so I assume it will be pretty much the same as yours. It looks huge! The cabin looks good too. Do you have any pics of the bathroom? I've yet to see what the shower is like! I've spent nearly an hour looking at these photos, the canal looks great and really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to write up so much and post the photos as well. brilliant!!!!!

[CruisinMommas]

SueL,

So glad you enjoyed your cruise as I knew you would. We chatted before you left. I know we will cruise the canal again but might do a full transit. I will chat with you again on the boards somewhere.

[isujim]

Sounds like you had a great time Sue............DW and I were on the Jewel when you were on the Brilliance...........we might have to argue over that best cruise ever title........LOL!! Ours was pretty dang good.

 

Glad you had a good one.

[isujim]

Next Sue you will have to plan a full transit like we did in October last year............15 glorious days.........if you liked 11........15 is Heaven:)

[Sue L]

Next Sue you will have to plan a full transit like we did in October last year............15 glorious days.........if you liked 11........15 is Heaven:)

 

 

We booked the 12 day Explorer while on the Brilliance, so a little longer. The really long ones like 15 days+ are going to have to wait until the kids get out of college and we don't have to use some of the vacation days for moving them in and out of their dorms. :D

 

Next one though is only 7 days to Alaska with the kids, that is going to feel really short

[Sue L]

The review and the photos are brilliant!!! I am even more excited now - 5 weeks and 2 days to go till we're off to Barcelona!!! The ship looks beautiful and the balcony..... We've got an aft cabin 1604 so I assume it will be pretty much the same as yours. It looks huge! The cabin looks good too. Do you have any pics of the bathroom? I've yet to see what the shower is like! I've spent nearly an hour looking at these photos, the canal looks great and really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to write up so much and post the photos as well. brilliant!!!!!

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliments, the ship really is magnificent! I didn't take a picture of the shower but it is quite small. The "door" is a semi-circle shower curtain which adds a bit of room. And the whole bathroom is quite convienient for the fact you can pretty much stand anywhere and reach everything in the room. LOL Which means it is small. It worked fine though and there is a nice sized cabinet for all your toiletries and I kept my makeup and stuff in the mirrored cabinet next to the vanity in the room. The whole room has quite a bit of storage and we had no problems finding a place for everything.

 

Your room should be practically identical to mine and the balcony is huge.

 

You will love this ship!

[cruzobsessed]

hi sue.....you were on the explorer to bermuda after me.....i joined your roll call because i was friends with english rose....remember?:rolleyes:

anyway....cheryl and i were booked on the liberty for next christmas. more about the boat than the ports. while on the mariner last christmas....a woman we met from cc told us that she had just booked a 12 night panama canal cruise...for next christmas so we did a great job convincing our husbands that that cruise is worth the extra money (almost double) and we're going!!!

loved your review......our ports are slightly different. we're going to key west, aruba, curacao, caymans, cartegena and the canal. can not wait:)

[jeh4554]

Sue,

Can you tell me about the motion on the Brilliance? We have sailed Navigator twice and Enchantment once. I never needed anything for motion until our last cruise on the Navigator (Eastern Caribbean). There were 20 foot swells and the ship reall rocked. I was wondering if the seas are calmer since you are traveling through the canal.

[Sue L]

hi sue.....you were on the explorer to bermuda after me.....i joined your roll call because i was friends with english rose....remember?:rolleyes:

 

anyway....cheryl and i were booked on the liberty for next christmas. more about the boat than the ports. while on the mariner last christmas....a woman we met from cc told us that she had just booked a 12 night panama canal cruise...for next christmas so we did a great job convincing our husbands that that cruise is worth the extra money (almost double) and we're going!!!

 

 

 

loved your review......our ports are slightly different. we're going to key west, aruba, curacao, caymans, cartegena and the canal. can not wait:)

 

 

Hey Cheryl,

 

 

You will love the cruise! Wow, double? I guess because it is a xmas cruise? The ports sound great! We loved Aruba, Curacao and went to caymans several other cruises and it is a beautiful island. Never been to Cartegena though. The canal is amazing, make sure you get to the bow early to get a good spot. I am short and ended up in the 2nd row so it was a little hard to see and boy there were a lot of rude people there that morning who really could have used a cup of coffee. Little hint: bring a towel from your room so that you can sit on the deck near the rail.

[Sue L]

I forgot to add to my review that we asked for robes on the first day and the steward told us she would have to see if they had extras beyond those who should get them for suites/diamonds, etc. About 2 hours later a knock sounded on the door and there she was with the robes in hand. Loved having them to sit out on the balcony in the am and late at night!!

[benolathe]

Thanks for the great review. :)

 

We are just starting to look at the possibility of a Panama Canal cruise - and I have a question for you. Do you think you were disappointed at all that you just went "half-way" and then came back? Do you think a full-transit would be much different? Of course, those are more days - and you have the added airfare for two locations versus a round-trip....

[Sue L]

Thanks for the great review. :)

 

We are just starting to look at the possibility of a Panama Canal cruise - and I have a question for you. Do you think you were disappointed at all that you just went "half-way" and then came back? Do you think a full-transit would be much different? Of course, those are more days - and you have the added airfare for two locations versus a round-trip....

 

 

Were we disappointed? NOT IN THE LEAST!!! As far as airfare, we are located near NYC so we have a wide variety of choice airlines and with southwest and jetblue who do one way bookings only, the price would have been almost the same. We actually liked the ports better on the 11 day then on the full-transits. We have been to Mexico many times and none of those ports thrilled us. On the 11 day itinerary the only place we had been to before was Aruba and that time it was only the beach.

 

 

If you want to experience the full transit there is a canal by ferry tour that takes you all the way through.

 

 

What I would like to do another time is do a back to back with a full transit and the repositioning up to Vancouver or Seattle to start the Alaska season. unfortunately those long trips are going to have to wait until the kids are out of college.

[Sheik]

Sue, compliments for your review and very nice pictures. It was a pleasure to meet you both. I agree with you, it was a wonderful cruise. Everything was perfect, the weather, the ship, the itinerary and the port of calls. We had a great time.

 

You'll love the Serenade of the Seas in August, it is even more beautiful than the Brilliance.

 

A picture of the gang ;)

[Sue L]

Sue, compliments for your review and very nice pictures. It was a pleasure to meet you both. I agree with you, it was a wonderful cruise. Everything was perfect, the weather, the ship, the itinerary and the port of calls. We had a great time.

 

You'll love the Serenade of the Seas in August, it is even more beautiful than the Brilliance.

 

A picture of the gang ;)

 

 

 

Hey Sheik,

 

Thanks for the great picture, just added it to my album.

[Cruising89143]

Nice review Sue. Thanks for sharing. :)

[HERMAN HERMAN]

Sue L ; Thank-you for the great photos, I really enjoyed looking through them. We are going on the 15-night Transatlantic on Brilliance on December 2, 2007. I can hardly wait, especially after those photos!!!

Thanks again,

Susan

 

 

 

 

First a little about us, this was our 11th cruise but only 2nd on RCCL, also our first Radiance class ship. This was our longest cruise and definitely our best cruise!

 

 

There has been a lot of recent reviews for the Brilliance so I won't bore you will all the details. The ship is magnificent and would definitely sail her again. All the glass and the dramatic atrium are stunning.

 

 

Pre-cruise in Miami-Stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami, the convenience of this hotel is a major part of our choice. The hotel was clean, and nice and we had a view of the port area. After checking in we met some new friends from the roll call and went on the Island Queen boat tour out of Bayside Marketplace. The tour was very nice and we saw some magnificent homes and we even saw Tiger Woods yacht. This is the link to the website for the tour. http://www.islandqueencruises.com/sightseeing_rates.htm

 

 

Pictures from the tour http://family.webshots.com/photo/2389009580086811290fkZWWR

 

 

We then met some of our roll call members at Bubba Gumps Restaurant in Bayside Marketplace for dinner. We had a really nice time and the food was excellent. Be warned though that the portions are very large.

 

 

Cabin- We had aft cabin 9260, with a huge (10 x 14) balcony. It had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table on it with plenty of space to walk around. The cabin itself was a D1 and it was plenty big for 2 people with a ton of storage. The walk is a little inconvenient at times but well worth the size of the balcony and the magnificent view of the wake. We had a nice breeze most of the time and only one day was the sun directly on it to prevent us from hanging out there. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2932271820086811290NIUBIm

 

 

Day 1-Embarkation We went over to the port around 10:30 and there were already quite a few others ahead of us. We waited about 45 minutes or so in a nice seating area until they opened the check-in. Two quick points here. There are no bathrooms in this area so if that becomes an issue then you need to go through the x-ray machines in order to get to one. Poor planning in my opinion. Also once the seating area filled up then they had people just standing waiting for the check in to open. When they did open it, then they had these two areas (seating area (early people) and standers (later arrivals)) kind of merge to get to the check in area. It was a little annoying since we got there early but no big deal. Check in was by deck level and we breezed right through. From check in to ship less than 10 minutes.

 

 

Spent the remainder of the day roaming the ship and learning our way around. The solarium is gorgeous. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2513175750086811290jSfHZa There are so many pretty little areas and little surprises around each corner. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2367810730086811290WrlYwI Our bags were by our door before muster.

 

 

Day 2-Sea day lazed around the pool, chair hogs were out in force. Most of the pool level chairs were taken by 9:00am on sea days but other decks were available until later in the day.

 

 

Day 3- Labadee. What can I say that hasn't already been said. This is a beautiful, lush, tropical paradise. The water was beautiful and though we did get about 5 minutes of rain, the weather the rest of the day was great. There were some clouds which was actually nice because it was very hot. We spent the majority of the day on the beach. The barbecue was very nice and very well laid out. The marketplace is really fun and even though the vendors did bug us a little “a No Thank You” discouraged them right away! I did end up haggling for a few pieces of metal art. One is a 30 inch sun/moon and we also got 3 geckos in several sizes. We were able to get some cardboard in one of the shops onboard and we bought tape and string in Aruba to make a packing carton to get them home. They also let us carry it on the plane. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2837532820086811290wRrSfw

 

 

Day 4- Sea day. We had our Meet and Mingle today at 11 am. It was well attended by the roll call. RCCL had a nice spread of food set up and waiters were going around giving out various kinds of drinks. The CD Ashley attended as well as quite a few officers and the Captain even made an appearance. They gave each of us a little notepad on a string which were used as nametags for the the M & M. They raffled off some items like hats, bags,etc. When they raffled off the coveted Royal Caribbean mouse I was flabbergasted and extremely touched when the poster who won it(Paula H) took the microphone and presented it to me as the starter of the Roll Call. On a personal note I would like to thank Paula H again for her extreme generosity and for making me really, really happy!!!

 

 

In the afternoon we did the Couples Rasul. We had heard a lot about it on the boards and were intrigued by the description. Lets just say here that you can make the experience as G rated or X rated as you want!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5- Aruba, Our original tour was canceled on Day 4. It was a bike tour and was canceled for “lack of interest”. We scrambled to find another tour that wasn't already sold out. It was a struggle since most of the good ones were already gone and since they gave us less than 24 hours notice we didn't have much to choose from. We ended up doing a kayak tour, it was ok, nothing great. The kayaking was a marathon session to a beach area for snorkeling. They then took us quickly to an area beyond the reef surrounded on both sides by fire coral which can cause rashes and scars, a little scary. We were told to stay in a line and close by. We swam fast and were given no time to just look around and then had to swim, again at an extremely fast pace, back to the beach area. We were given a few minutes rest and then it was back in the kayaks for a fast paced return to our starting point. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2413384870086811290JFAzkA

 

 

Day 6- Curacao, Again we had our tour canceled but this time with no notification what so ever. Granted I will take part of the blame on this one because I didn't realize the tickets for this tour were not in the envelope with all the others we had received in our cabin upon embarkation. We realized we didn't have any tickets while we were preparing our bag for the next day. Unfortunately, when we got down to the tour desk it was closed. We went to the purser's desk and tried to explain the problem and luckily we were able to switch to another snorkeling tour though we were charged for that one and had to later follow up on the credit for the original one. Ingrid at the purser's desk was amazing at solving the problem and followed up with us, corporate and the tour desk to make sure everything was credited properly. It turns out the boat for the original tour broke down 2 weeks BEFORE we even sailed, but for whatever reason the tour people on the Brilliance were not given any list of who had booked this tour online prior to the cruise so they had no way of notifying any of us. The snorkeling tour that we did take was very crowded on the boat. Once we got to the snorkeling area though it was wonderful. The underwater park here is amazing with a sunken tug boat and a wide variety of fish and plant life. Highly recommend snorkeling or diving here. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2227128040086811290NjWLUa

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Explorations tour desk was the only service of the ship that we were disappointed in. We felt that they could have given us earlier warning that there was a chance that our bike tour would be canceled so there would have been more availability of other tours. And them not having a list of the people on the other tour was disgraceful on both corporates end and the tour desk in my opinion.

 

 

Day 7-Sea day. Spent the bulk of the day by the pool and basically lazed around. Past guest party was this night before dinner. Two separate parties for early and late seating.

 

 

Day 8- Panama. AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and AMAZING. No pictures or descriptions can accurately depict the reality of transiting the locks in the canal. The evening before we were told that we would be entering the canal around 7am and we planned accordingly. Luckily I woke up earlier than the 5:30 we had set on our alarm and it was a good thing. Instead of the 7am they said the night before it was barely 6am when we started the final approach to the canal. Since we woke up early and realized how close we were we quickly changed and got up to the bow of the ship. It was 5:30 and most of the prime spots along the railing were already gone and by 6 it was 4 or 5 rows deep. The narrator explained much of the history of the canal and described what we were seeing as each step was completed. Once we entered the first set of locks we headed back to our aft room via deck 5 where you could touch the side of the canal and the mules were right there. We had a great view of the Coral Princess transiting the canal in the next lane. We had room service breakfast on our balcony and got ready for our tour. They started calling the first tour at about 8:15 or so and then it went pretty quickly sometimes calling more than one tour at a time. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2556611930086811290jrDIFU

 

 

We did the Portobelo and Gatun Locks tour and it was very nice though extremely hot. We did have an air conditioned bus. We first visited the Lock Visitor's Center where you can see up close the ships transiting the canal. We had a huge container ship going through when we were there. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2102925060086811290JqgpRv

 

 

They also had a great little gift shop (extremely reasonable prices) with some unique items. Be warned there is a lot of steps to climb to get to the visitor center. We then had a 45 minute ride to Portebelo. We visited the church of the Black Christ, the customs house, and the Portebelo fortification. The area is very poor but rich with history. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2016787240086811290TJYZps

 

 

 

 

Day 9-Costa Rica. The countryside is beautiful and the people very friendly. We went on the White Water Rafting. All I can say is DO IT!!! . In 11 cruises I think it will go down as one of our all time favorites. It was not only a fantastic experience it was also one of the best organized tours we have ever been on.

 

We were picked up at the port at 7:30 in the morning. We boarded a brand new air conditioned bus for a 60-75 minute ride through the Costa Rican countryside. The guide (Jose) spoke beautiful English and explained in detail many aspects of the country and spoke of the sights along the way.

 

We arrived at the "operation center" which consisted of a beautiful set of buildings that included a gift shop (very reasonable prices) a changing room, and a covered outdoor eating area. We were given a little while to change into swimsuits and get ourselves organized for the tour. We then reboarded the bus and were transported to a another site to a shuttle bus for a steep ascent to the river.

 

We were then issued helmets, paddles and broken up into groups of 6, plus one guide for each boat. We were given a thorough orientation and then climbed into the boats and were "tested" on our skills.

 

We had 6 rafts on our tour and we stayed nearby. The river is dam controlled and the rapids were great. All in our boat were newbies to rafting and we had a ball. We had some great rapid areas and others that were calm and sedate.

For anyone who thinks that this might not be for them, I just want to let you know that I am 48, with two bad knees and two bad hips. The other couples in our boat were average age around 54 or so as were most of the people on the tour.

 

After the rafting we were taken back to the operation center where we were provided with an all you can eat buffet with salad, chicken, spaghetti, rice and beans. The food was delicious and this is coming from a picky eater. We then boarded the buses for the return trip to the ship.

 

If you haven't surmised from my description I would highly recommend this tour and if I get back to Costa Rica I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.! http://family.webshots.com/photo/2912860540086811290GRABLL

 

 

 

 

Days 10 and 11-Sea days. The perfect way to end this cruise with two very relaxing sea days. We spent the time on the pool deck, hanging out with friends, shopping on the ship and some time in the casino.

 

 

 

 

Food

 

 

Dining room- Excellent food. Always able to find something to my liking. Service was fantastic with our waiters Joray from South Africa and Rajvir from India. They were a superb team and were very on top of any of our needs and never hesitated about any requests. The lobster tails were huge on the second formal night..

 

 

Buffet, much better than I expected from some of the recent comments here on the boards.

 

 

Chops and Portofino's were both excellent foodwise, but we felt the service was a little rushed in Chops though it didn't detract from the experience.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

We attended many of the shows which most were very good. The comedian Phil Tag was great and his adult show was one of the cleanest we have ever attended but still hysterical with adult content. The Platters were really good! The broadway type shows were ok, nothing spectacular. One of the funniest of the shows was the Olympic gymnast Lance Ringnald. It sounds out of context that a gymnast would be funny, but trust me the guy is so funny and mixed with the gymnastics makes for a great show. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2586051410086811290ThcrwZ

 

 

Sorry this review did get a little more detailed then I had planned on. If anyone has any specific questions I would be happy to answer them.

[Sue L]

Sue L ; Thank-you for the great photos, I really enjoyed looking through them. We are going on the 15-night Transatlantic on Brilliance on December 2, 2007. I can hardly wait, especially after those photos!!!

Thanks again,

Susan

 

You will love the ship, I will tell you the photos don't do justice to the reality of the beauty of this ship. I was totally awed by the whole place. There are so many hidden little tidbits that even on the last day we were discovering new things.