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Royal Caribbean International

MV Brilliance of the Seas

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Reviewed by: Steve R.
# previous cruises: 2
Date of Trip: March 18, 2005
Itinerary: Caribbean

Our itinerary included Aruba, Panama Canal, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman. The itinerary allowed for an almost equal number of port and sea days which was a plus. The ship is beautiful, the people on board were a diverse crowd from spring breakers to older folks celebrating major anniversaries. A very enjoyable cruise

The public areas are beautiful with many options. The pool was small but I can't say it was crowded. This may be due to the fact that there is an adults-only indoor pool solarium (beautiful, beautiful, beautiful) as well as a children's pool. One common complaint was the lack of open lounge chairs around the pool but I don't know how that can be resolved. There were many chairs on the upper level. The casino could have been slightly larger as on many nights all the slot machines seemed to be in use. I did notice that many people were winning money which was much different than the other cruise I was on. I particularly liked the Schooner Bar with Tommy, the piano player. It was very comfortable. The disco was full every night and people seemed to be having a very good time overall. This cruise was over Easter vacation so there were a number of families with small children. Many times the children were not supervised. I think the ship's staff did a very good job of controlling unruly children. I also noticed that the entertainment staff seemed to do a good job of entertaining the children. There many little nooks and crannies to spend some quiet time reading or napping. Even though this is a large ship, it didn't seem to be congested (only in the narrow shopping area). This ship was also very easy to navigate. The spa area is really quite nice and there is no hard sell to buy the spa products.

My only complaint would be in this area. The first seating for dinner was advertised as 6:00 p.m. When we received our initial information it was noted that first seating was at 5:30 p.m. This is way too early. 6:00 is early enough (I would prefer a 6:30 first seating). If I was aware of the change I would have requested the second seating. The food in the main dining room was adequate but I can't say it overwhelmed me. It was no where near as good as the food on the Celebrity Century nor was it presented as nicely. The wait staff was good but I can't say they were exceptional. It took them until the 3rd or 4th night to remember to bring lemons for my water. I did notice the lack of a sommelier (no great loss). I was especially disappointed with the quality of the desserts. The Windjammer cafe was a great alternative for breakfast and lunch. My only complaint would be that the same foods seem to be served as breakfast every morning. It would have been nice to have at least one breakfast entree that changed every day. I did not eat at Chops or Portofino's but a number of people in our party ate at Chops and raved about the food and the service

The cabin I was in on (8148) was more than adequate and quiet overall. I think the Brilliance does a good job of using every space available for extra storage. The shower is tiny and it was hard to contain the water within the shower. I somehow always managed to have water leak into the bathroom.

The cruise director Dan was great. I very much enjoyed him. He was able to get people to join in the fun without being offensive to those who really preferred to stay in the background. Franco, however, was another story. I found him to be very irritating and offensive. The rest of the staff were very good. The entertainment was good for the most part with the exception of the Brilliance singers. The first night I heard them sing it felt like a fingernail scraping a blackboard. I'm not sure if it was due to the sound system or if they needed more training. There was a violinist performing one evening that was wonderful. The games and special events in the Colony Club were always fun.

Port calls - I really liked Aruba. Did a little shopping and then took a taxi to Palm Beach and laid out in the sun. Lovely beach. Since the ship was not departing until 1:00 a.m. we came back to the ship for dinner and then went to Carlos and Charlie's (about a block from the port) for drinks. What a place. Be prepared for conga lines, tequila shots and much, much more.

I wasn't that enthused about traveling through the Panama Canal when we booked the cruise but has my impression changed. It was so interesting. We arrived at 6:00 am. and it seemed that half the ship was perched on deck for picture taking. For those that did not want to leave their cabin that early, the entire passage is televised on the ship station. The captain (or someone) also gives a running commentary on what's happening. After going through 3 locks we circled Gatun Lake and then came back through the locks around 10:30/11:00 (so if you didn't see it early that morning you have an opportunity again). When we got to Cristobel Pier, we were able to disembark. There is a craft market with many items indigenous to the area which I really enjoyed. We also watched the Panamanian dancers

Costa Rica - We booked a shore excursion through the Tortuguera Canal and am so glad we did. This was a wonderful excursion. It was approximately one hour by bus to the Canal. A wonderful tour guide gave us a history of Costa Rica and information about the areas we were driving through. He was very informative and made the drive seem to go by very quickly. When we got to the boats, we had a few minutes to enjoy fresh fruit (the fresh coconut was unbelievable), coffee and water prior to our canal journey. The canal journey was the best. We saw a lot of wildlife (including a 2-toed slot holding here baggy), foliage and fauna with the tour guide explaining everything. I would highly recommend this excursion. We initially were thinking of taking the aerial tram excursion through the rain forest and were glad we didn't. One of the passengers told me he had been on that excursion and saw no wildlife only foliage. After the excursion, we stopped at the outdoor market and bought some Costa Rican coffeee.

Grand Cayman - this is a lovely island. Did a little shopping and then grabbed a local tour for $15 per person. The tour guide told us to the 7-mile beach, the turtle farm, the Tortuga rum factory, Hell and showed us the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan.

I thought the passengers were a fun bunch as could be evidenced by the crowds in the bars and disco. People seemed very friendly. Everyone seemed like they were having a great time. This was different that my cruise on the Celebrity Century where everyone seemed rather staid and there were only a handful of folks in the disco every night (I also cruised over Easter at that time)