Brilliance-is there a noise problem in cabin 8104

[aggiemom0409]

I have booked cabin 8104, a coveted "hump" cabin on Brilliance of the Seas for August 2009 in the Mediterranean. I really wanted the larger balcony, like we had on Princess a couple of years ago. I am now seeing and realizing how close it is to the elevators and that there is a connecting door to the cabin next door. Of course, it will remain closed. Has anyone experienced this cabin and was noise an issue, either from the hallway outside the cabin or from the adjoining room. Also, for those who have done the Med in August, is the heat or crowds unbearable? We're going with a group and this is the date that worked for the majority. We're really looking forward to sailing - it looks like we'll be hugging the Amalfi coast, which we've heard is awesome!

[JackieJ]

We stayed in 9078, right next to the elevator. HUGE balcony! There wasn't any noise at all from the elevators and the cabin seemed very private as we didn't have neighbors on one side. However, we could hear music coming from the centrum, which didn't bother us a bit. The only noise problem we had was from the concierge lounge above us. For some reason they clean it at around 3:00am.

[cb at sea]

The elevators open away from the cabins, into their own hallway (doesn't show that on the deck plans). You won't have a noise issue!

[marci22]

My kids had this room on our Med sailing. There was no problem with elevator noise. We heard occasional neighbor noise, but that is something you can't plan for.

 

The one problem we had with that room was that the shower curtain was too short for the shower, so the entryway was constantly wet. When we inquired about a new one, they said they did not have any more shower curtains available to switch out on this sailing.:confused:

 

I would assume they would have fixed this problem by now.

 

The location was great, otherwise.

 

We did the Med on the Aug 21 sailing. It was hot, but not unbearable. Our day in Pisa/Florence was actually overcast and lovely. The hottest days were Athens (Acropolis) and Kusadasi (Ephesus ruins). Plan accordingly. We bought water from the kiosks (1-2 euro per bottle) and had an umbrella for the sun. We also had some fans from Barcelona that helped. I wore linen shirts and the kids wore the athletic type cool fabrics that you can wash in the sink and they dry in a couple of hours.

 

Crowds were not too bad, even at the most popular places. We did not wait at all for Accademia entry, Colosseum, etc.

 

Get started early each day and you will be fine! Take your money belts and a Pacsafe bag.

 

ps the only thing we noticed about August was that some restaurants and gelato places were closed for vacation during our visits (or because it was 'Sunday'). Not a problem though.

[aggiemom0409]

Thanks for the tips! Marci, if you don't mind, which pacsafe product did you find most useful for the trip? We got all the waterproof gear and binoculars, etc. for Alaska a couple of years ago, but didn't worry too much about theft for that trip. I guess the Med is different! Keep the tips coming! It is good to hear that the cabin won't be too noisy.

[marci22]

Thanks for the tips! Marci, if you don't mind, which pacsafe product did you find most useful for the trip? We got all the waterproof gear and binoculars, etc. for Alaska a couple of years ago, but didn't worry too much about theft for that trip. I guess the Med is different! Keep the tips coming! It is good to hear that the cabin won't be too noisy.

 

The most 'useful' product to me was a simple money belt that we wore when carrying any amount of cash. I got the Eagle Creek brand from Amazon; I used the money belt for cash and a neck pouch for small change and things I wanted easier access to, like having my passports ready at the airport and the Seapass cards when leaving the ship. People will post that certain areas are more prone to pickpocketing but don't try to determine that, just wear the money belt and check that potential problem off your list.

 

I recommend the Pacsafe bags because they are supposedly 'slash-proof'; my DH was wearing a regular backpack in front of him when it was slashed (without him realizing it) on a local Naples bus. It had about 5 slash marks in it where the pickpocket tried to get in (we didn't lose anything valuable, only a $5 compass; hope he is enjoying it).

 

Several other people on our cruise did have the Pacsafe bags. They were like small backpacks, not sure which model they used, but you can go to the Pacsafe website and view all.

http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php

 

The less you bring with you off the ship the easier it is to keep track of it all, so travel light.

 

I found tons of helpful info over on the Med Boards so definitely check those out.