Brilliance?
 

Has anyone been one the Brilliance yet? We are going on the 11 day Caribbean in Nov.

my in-laws are on the Brilliance on Nov. 22nd. I too am interested if anyone has gone. It is their 60th annivarsary!

I just got off of the Brilliance in August. Did the Scandanavian itinerary.<BR><BR>Ship is lovely, you won't be disappointed.

What cabin were you in?

Just got off BOS Sunday...ship is gorgeous....food was mediocre as were the shows. Badly broke my wrist getting out of jacuzzi.... Many new innovative features on ship which I guarantee will be copied by other lines....the need to copy other systems for disembarking..after NCL this was chaotic.. if you would like to see pictures please write. We were in 8042

Debbie<BR><BR>We were in cabin 9638...toward the rear, starboard side. Cat D, 202 sq. ft. and very nice.<BR><BR>The thing I liked most about the Brilliance over the other RCI ships I have been on was the outdoor area for eating on the back of the ship in the Windjammer. Nice place to sit out and enjoy breakfast or lunch. <BR><BR>Second biggest thing I enjoyed were the alternative dining rooms, Chops and Portofino's. We ate at Chops 4 times and at Portofino's 2 times. Much better food and MUCH better service than the dining room. <BR><BR>I was on the 3rd cruise so the dining room staff was a little slow and disorganized. The staff in Chops was outstanding.

Debbie<BR><BR>Can you tell food is important to me! :)

How was the Seaview Cafe? Were the pizza and burgers good?

Let me butt in......Chops and Portafino are an additional $20.00 per person...only tried Portafino which is worthwhile...but why should you have to pay $$$ more if RC is providing sub-par food in the dining room... The Windjammer Cafe and their stations instead of buffet line was a welcome relied..The Sky view Cafe had on our trip longlines andwaits up to 30 minutes. Our regullar waiter gave us excellent service, but I understand and noted at breakfastit was spotty

Debbie<BR><BR>Seaview was very good for fast food. I had hotdogs a couple of times with a bowl of chili and very cleverly made a chili dog. Ain't I something. We liked it though.<BR><BR>parrot mom<BR><BR>Sorry to hear about your injury. I hope you are recovering okay. <BR><BR>I didn't consider $20 a head a lot to spend for a nice evening with my wife in a lovely restaurant with one of the greatest views we have ever seen. ( the ocean gently flowing by ) We spent a least 2 hours every time we went to one of the alternative restaurants and each meal became a special night for us. <BR><BR>My wife and I both did not care for the new serving situation in the Windjammer. We found it chaotic, always dodging someone as you made your way to and from the stations.<BR><BR> Another huge problem with the serving stations was the use of undersized tongs in the containers, ie, salad. This allowed people to place their hands on the tong and then place it back in the bowl where the handle is now in contact with the food. NOT A GOOD THING! Very sure way of starting a food borne outbreak. <BR><BR>As soon as my wife saw this ( on day one ) she wrote the hotel manager a note and we met with the Food & Beverage Manager the next day. He agreeed with our complaint, explaining that the longer tongs ( required by US standards - but we were in Europe ) had been ordered but had not arrived. My wife suggested they put out plates in front of the serving areas so the tongs and serving spoons could be placed on them. He did this immediately, unfortunately, during the rest of the cruise people would still toss the tongs back into the containers, ignoring the plates a lot of the time. <BR><BR>We never saw a problem like this in the old Windjammer serving lines and this was our 10th RCI cruise.<BR><BR>Well, we didn't get food poisoning, thank God, and did have a nice time. I'm sure you will to, but if you see those tongs in the salad, ask to speak to the Food & Beverage Manager immediately. That is totally unacceptable and potentially dangerous to you and to the company.

Kit...had to have surgery Thursday to repair poor job done on ship reducing the fracture......When I commented to Franklin (sales rep) about lack of amenities like shower cap in cabins and mediocre food his quote was "this was a budget cruise".....I was shocked at his attitude.... I don't mind paying for an alternative restaurant, but on top of what you are paying and their reputation I was greatly disappointed. On a lighter note..on the first a.m. my husband ordered bagels and smoked salmon...out came blueberry bagels..for everybody., after talking to Sous Chef it never happened again. Ran across directive to staff regarding procedures in Windjammer and was very impressed with their standards.. We would have tried Chops, but with casted hand was very self concious about staff having to cut up food for me. If I could use both hands I would be writing a review

Parrot Mom<BR><BR>You're doing a good job typing with one hand. :)<BR><BR>Sounds like you are doing well now and that's good. Sounds like you didn't let this injury slow you down too much and that is outstanding.<BR><BR>My wife and I have always enjoyed RCI but after this cruise realize we are ready for something else when we cruise in the future. We have been on Celebrity, Princess and HAL too and are now thinking of trying Radisson and Crystal in the future. Our TA has been recommending Radisson to us and the more I learn about them, the more I think I will book my next cruise on one of their ships.<BR><BR>Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks for your wishes....When I hit the lottery (we are both retired) will look into Crystal, Radisson and Seabourne.....meanwhile planning land vacation for February.

parrot mom....i was on the Brilliance last week too! we heard the ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA emergency medical call on thursday....guess that was you? so sorry to hear you got hurt. my sisters boyfriend had a bad experience with the docs on board too. he had an asthma episode and needed an inhaler. they wanted to charge him $130 for the visit, claiming that's the US medicare reimbursement rate, which it isn't...he protested it and the nurse said, "well what are you going to do about it, you can't breathe?" nice attitude, right?<BR><BR>i agree with a lot of what's been said. <BR>the food in the main DR was barely mediocre, though our waiter was great. we ate at Portofino one night, but we were travelling with three infants, so that restaurant was too quiet for us...our whole party took turns jumping up and taking the kids out the minute they made a peep out of deference to the other customers. so for us it was more relaxing to be in the main dining room where it was a little noisy! also, bizarrely enough, the babies slept right through all the noise. people later said, oh your kids were so good all cruise, we never heard them cry...my sister and i just looked at each other and smiled. <BR><BR>more later...my baby is needing attention.

We are sailing on the Brilliance 11/22. This will be our 5th cruise w/ RCCL. Have always enjoyed all our cruises w/ them. I don't mind paying an extra $20 a head for the alternative dining. Especially if the food & service is good. Plus it is a change of pace. We are traveling w/ our 2 sons 13 & 11, my brother & his wife. Looking forward to having a great time. Hopefully, the ship will have ironed out some of the problems. Can't wait, we travel alot and choice the cruise for our Thanksgiving vacation. Plus, I don't have to cook a turkey!!! If anyone else going on this cruise maybe we can all meet up for a cocktail!

Edie--heard they had a death on the ship...which considering the age group is not unexpected.. got bill for over $500.00 that evening and M.D. assured me Travel Guard would reimburse us... so far TG told us to send it to our regular insurance plan. Check what ages thet allow children into alternative restaunts...might be 13. Broke my wrist on Monday at about 10:00 a.m. which ruined the entire trip. The surgery I had was under anesthesia for the insertion of external fixation (rods and screws ouside the arm)... hopefully my loc al orthopedic was able to set the bones back into alighment...will have this for six weeks and then extensive p.t.

parrot mom....i was on the Brilliance last week too! we heard the ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA emergency medical call on thursday....guess that was you? so sorry to hear you got hurt. my sisters boyfriend had a bad experience with the docs on board too. he had an asthma episode and needed an inhaler. they wanted to charge him $130 for the visit, claiming that's the US medicare reimbursement rate, which it isn't...he protested it and the nurse said, "well what are you going to do about it, you can't breathe?" nice attitude, right?<BR><BR>i agree with a lot of what's been said. <BR>the food in the main DR was barely mediocre, though our waiter was great. we ate at Portofino one night, but we were travelling with three infants, so that restaurant was too quiet for us...our whole party took turns jumping up and taking the kids out the minute they made a peep out of deference to the other customers. so for us it was more relaxing to be in the main dining room where it was a little noisy! also, bizarrely enough, the babies slept right through all the noise. people later said, oh your kids were so good all cruise, we never heard them cry...my sister and i just looked at each other and smiled. <BR><BR>more later...my baby is needing attention.

sorry for the repost, i hit refresh.<BR><BR>a few more observations about the ship....<BR><BR>the restaurants do have a limit of no kids under 13, but our head waiter called them for us and said since it was only infants, it was ok. and like i said, we were vigilant about them not disturbing anyone else. <BR><BR>breakfast service in the main DR was spotty, it took an act of god to get a cup of coffee, so we started ordering a pot to the room in the morning,so that when we went to breakfast, the edge was off (can you tell we're both caffeine addicts?lol)<BR><BR>the immigration procedure was a disaster, there was literally almost a riot the night they were on board ship. that needs to be fixed ASAP. hopefully they will work on that. <BR><BR>many times when we asked questions about the ports, or various procedures, we'd get blank looks and be told, well this is the first time we've done this itinerary, so we don't know. <BR>O-KAY....that is an ok answer from some people, but HELLO the shore excursion staff should make it their business to know details about the ports. <BR><BR>also, when tendering off the boat for Bar Harbor, we got shoddy treatment from the security/disembarking agents....they wouldn't help us with the strollers, so there we were carrying strollers down wet steps in the rain, only to see the wheel chair lift on the other side....couldn't they offer us the use of that? when we asked why they didn't suggest that, we got a snippy reply. again, don't need the attitude from the staff while i am on vacation. <BR><BR>my final negative was that the cabin steward was reluctant to set up the porta crib....he said it would be too crowded for us to come back with it set up. yes it was crowded, but coming back w/a sleeping infant it was a lot easier just to be able to lay her right down. after the first night,and second time i asked, he did it for us.<BR><BR>aside from the incidents mentioned, the staff was friendly and helpful and generally good. the ship was also visually stunning, with lots of pretty open public space, and it was immaculate. <BR><BR>

On the trans-Atlantic..US immigration told me that originaly ONE officer was going to be sent.. I agree it was just about a riot..coldn't even get off the elevator we went back at just about 4:00 p.m. and we were the last they would let through for the day... <BR>BTWI do have pictures if your interested..

Bottom line .... a repositioning cruise is not one that would be considered "typical."<BR><BR>Paul