Is Brilliance geared to senior citizens?

Ok after reading the thread I have to ask- what age qualifies as a senior citizen? Just curious:rolleyes::confused:

Price wise it's 55:eek:

Glad I have a while till I get old:D

April may be spring break for some area colleges. We have been on Brilliance and Jewel out of Tampa one time there were a lot of college kids on board. Check to area colleges to see when there spring breaks are.

Was on the Brilliance in early March, lots of College kids from USF and other local Fl colleges, they were a lot of fun. Was on again in late April and there was a more even distribution of age groups and children.

Neither trip did I notice a preponderance of walkers or scooters or any difference in the enjoyment of the cruise. But to be fair, I am a senior citizen.

I know you will enjoy the Brilliance, I have been on her three times in the last year.

We have been on the Brilliance twice (both times in January) and each time was different. The Key West/Coz seemed to have an older crowd, and we felt like we were the youngest on board (we are 54), but the Grand Cayman/Coz was more of a mix with many children and younger families. Both cruises were enjoyable and the other passengers age didn't really affect our experience.

OP,

The premise of your question is wrong. You should be more worried about amenities and itinerary than age of passengers. Brilliance is a great ship but there are big differences between her amenities and those found on Liberty. Happy sailing with whatever ship you chose.

I wouldn't say the ship is geared toward older people, but it's not particularly suited to the young either. We found Brilliance to be not unlike Holland America, except for a few amenities such as the rock climbing wall. A lot of it has to do with the time of year you sail. We sailed on Brilliance in November, and it was a somewhat older crowd. (School in session). But, I think the ship is suited to all ages, and 30 somethings should have a good time. We did.

YES!!!!!! Did not like the entertainment at all. Only happening spot was the Schooner Bar and it wasnt very happening in reality. I have never seen so many scooters and wheelchairs in my life. I wish Id of known this back in Feb, I would never have gone. I now know to avoid Port Canaveral and Tampa at all costs. If you can switch to Ft Lauderdale or Miami cruise, I say go for it. We were the youngest people on this cruise by about 30 years and I am 37...even several of the 60 year olds on board that we met were like omg these people are so OLD. They said they felt like kids compared to everyone else. This was a 5 night Feb Cozumel and Key West cruise if that helps.

The bartender in the Schooner said its always like that but that the 4 days are a little better. I am assuming unless its a college break or something.

I prefer Voyager class or Freedom class. So much more going on. There is the Pub and Sky bar. the Sky bar on Brilliance closed at 6 pm and there was no reggae band(incase that matters). The club had about 6 people in it on any given night

Well my cruise is a 4 day so I hope that helps a little!!

I don't mind there being an older crowd at all, as long as there us a younger crowd, or at least a mid-age crowd like me that likes to have a little fun and enjoy the evening at the disco.

We have been on the Brilliance twice (both times in January) and each time was different. The Key West/Coz seemed to have an older crowd, and we felt like we were the youngest on board (we are 54), but the Grand Cayman/Coz was more of a mix with many children and younger families. Both cruises were enjoyable and the other passengers age didn't really affect our experience.

I'm doing Key West/Cozumel in January on Brilliance with my 25 year old daughter. We're looking for a relaxing mother-daughter getaway. I fully expect that my spring break cruise on Liberty in March with my 21 year old daughter and her friend will be a completely different cruise. :eek:

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New York City public school 2015 Spring Break is April 3 - 10. I know a number of families cruising during the April 5 Easter Week.

This is a 5 night Cozumel & Grand Cayman fully understand the longer cruises drawing a older crowd. Thank you

It also depends on whether kids are in school or not. Many older folks tend to stay away from cruises with lots of kids.

When I sailed brilliance it was out of San Juan because I wanted the port intensive itinerary it offered. It is very 'quiet' at night and this is my own personal opinion. Worked great for us because we were going all day long and after a drink or two after dinner-we were shot!! It does have less bells and whistles then the larger ships. The shows were ehhh so drinks and bed it was!!

Had nothing to do with the age group. May be different now based out of Florida.

Hey, if you want to be sure you won't have to be bothered by all the scooter and walker pilots, why not take the kids to Aspen and go skiing. No walkers in the lift lines and you can't use a pomma lift on a 3 wheeler. Or maybe try some spelunking or hike the Appalachian trail. What a bonding that would be. There but for the grace... go you. I admire any walker pilot who gives the effort to get up and go. Sooner or later we will all need a bit of help, age defeats even the strongest and fittest among us. Next time you see someone on a scooter or a walker, how about asking to hold the door for them instead of whining about not wanting to see an "OLD FOLK".

Looking at possibly doing Brilliance next spring for the TA. The last 2 years we have done Celebrity but they keep messing with benefits, dining options. Wondering if RC has speakers, extra activities on board for the longer cruises. We are 2 couple from Orlando 65 but very active. Is there anything like what X would call "Persian Gardens" which has steam rooms, heated beds, etc?

Sue

Yes, Brilliance and the other Radiance class ships do have a Thermal Suite, with heated loungers, steam shower, etc. The loungers look out at the ocean, and they are rarely crowded. The cost varies by the length of the cruise, but it is reasonably priced. :)

Yes, Brilliance and the other Radiance class ships do have a Thermal Suite, with heated loungers, steam shower, etc. The loungers look out at the ocean, and they are rarely crowded. The cost varies by the length of the cruise, but it is reasonably priced. :)

Is this something you book in advance through the spa? Sailing in January with my daughter, we have quite a bit of onboard credit, and we've been thinking about using it for spa services.

Is this something you book in advance through the spa? Sailing in January with my daughter, we have quite a bit of onboard credit, and we've been thinking about using it for spa services.

You would have to wait and book onboard to use the onboard credit.

You would have to wait and book onboard to use the onboard credit.

Thanks Bob.

If you are sailing in March, you will have more than enough children and teens. But, the 5 day cruises out of Tampa do tend to attract a huge senior crowd. I've been on this itinerary many times over the past 5-10 years on the Jewel, Brilliance, Serenade I think. They all seem to have a crazy amount of seniors, and yes lots of walkers and wheelchairs. But let me tell you the nice thing about being a family and cruising with a large chunk of that senior population......the older people aren't at the pool, they aren't waiting in line to go down the water slide, they aren't in the nightclubs, they aren't in the teen lounge or the kids club, they aren't waiting for soft serve ice cream cones. During the day when the family wants to be outside on deck and in the blazing sun, the seniors want to be indoors listening to a lecture or at the casino or other indoor activity. This is great news for a family because the pool decks are small. There are usually never enough loungers to go around......unless you are cruising with a population of people that don't need a sun lounger mid day!!

My family cruises a lot. There are always children/teens on any cruise. There will always be a kids club doing activities. We've cruised when there are 800 kids on the ship! You don't want that, trust me. You don't want everybody to be a family with young kids. You don't want the buffet to resemble a daycare center with a bunch of kids that need a nap. You don't want there to be so many kids trying to make soft serve ice cream that the machines run out.

You want to cruise with a population of people that aren't necessarily doing exactly what you want to do. You want people spread out on the ship and interested in different things. This keeps the lines short to do things. This makes it feel like the ship isn't so crowded.

But, I am pretty sure that the cruise out of Tampa will have a shocking number of seniors. Every cruise I've done with this itinerary is like that. Embrace it.

I'm not sure how to say this - don't want it to come off as being ugly...I'm truly just curious:

Why are mobility devices an issue? Does it cause a problem for other passengers when there are a lot of them onboard? Or is it because people with mobility devices are not as perky and happy?

Agree with the 2 previous posters in that it's not the ship so much as it's the itinerary. Certain cruises draw an older crowd. That said, I also believe that the larger the ship, the more accommodating they are to walkers, scooters, etc. I've not been on Brilliance but I have been on 2 of her sister ships including a cruise to Alaska which has a reputation of drawing an older crowd but I don't remember seeing many scooters, walkers or other mobile assistance devices. Contrast that to the Oasis I just got off a week ago. I remember saying to my wife one day on the promenade that I'd never seen so many scooters, walkers and strollers on a ship before.

I was on Brilliance during Thanksgiving week 2014 and there were more than 600 kids on board. They pretty much took over the outdoors pool (along with the college crowd) so we stayed in the solarium which has its own bar and the Park Cafe. It was nice. This Saturday I'm going on another 5 day on Brilliance, and while I expect there to be few or no kids, I also expect the passengers to be a little older. Since you would be going at what I consider to be spring break time, I think your ship would have much younger passengers.