Brilliance July 13 - 25

Just got home yesterday from BOTS Med. cruise. Overall, the cruise was fantastic. But like all things, there were things that were good, great, not so good, and just bad.

First, we showed up at the port at 11:15. We were told boarding was between 11:30 and 3:30. However, they took our luggage, and we got in the line for security right away. After security, we got in line. Since we were C&A gold level, we got in the C&A line. No one ahead of us. In the regular line, there we only about 3 or 4 parties waiting at the time. RC was geared up with plenty of people waiting to check us in. We received Sea Pass card and headed for the ship. We were on board sitting in the Solarium with drinks in hand by 11:45. 30 minutes from luggage drop off to sipping drinks. Not too shabby I would say.

Rooms were supposed to be ready at 1:30. At 1:30 we went to out room and it was ready. Not big, but there was plenty of space for storage. Balcony was very nice. We were on the start of the hump, so it was bigger than normal, but not as big as being on the hump. On deck 7, in my opinion, all the balconies are obstructed since you cannot see straight down into the water below.

We signed up for the late seating at dinner since on the post schedule on the web site, the early seating would be before the ship left port most nights. The late seating was advertised at 8:00 PM. On the first night, they announced that dinner would be at 8:45 to accommodate all guest, which was fine. However, for the next 11 nights, the late seating was at 9:00 PM. That was a little late for us. We never went to change it. We were told we could have. But the reason it was pushed back from 8:00 was because the early dinner was also pushed back and hour to accommodate the port schedule. Guest Services told us that dinner for European ports are generally later due to the later port times. I wish they would have advertised this. This was not a real big deal. It just caused us to eat in the Windjammer on the couple of nights that we made early plans with some friends we met on board. Our friends hand My Time Dining. They said that worked out very well for them.

Our first port was Cannes, France. Tendering off was very quick and easy, although since we were on our own, we left a little later. We walked around old Cannes a bit (Le Suquet) and then went out to the Isle St. Marguerite. I wanted to see the fort out there. It was pretty cool. Many of the passengers went to Nice. But luckily, we were all back on board the ship by the time the Jihadi who drove the truck went on his rampage. What a horrible thing to have happen.

I will post more tomorrow. If you have specific questions, please let me know.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Curious if you saw any drink cards for sale.

Curious if you saw any drink cards for sale.

I know on the cruise prior we had no drink cards, but they did have the packages available beyond what I thought was the 4 days left rule. They were advertised when there were at least 3 days left - possibly even 2, but I quit paying attention.

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I know on the cruise prior we had no drink cards, but they did have the packages available beyond what I thought was the 4 days left rule. They were advertised when there were at least 3 days left - possibly even 2, but I quit paying attention.

Thanks for the info.

Curious if you saw any drink cards for sale.

I did not notice any drink cards, but I was not looking for them either. My wife and I had the premium package for the entire cruise.

I did not notice any drink cards, but I was not looking for them either. My wife and I had the premium package for the entire cruise.

Thanks for the info.

The second night we had dinner at Giovanni's. It was extremely good. Our waiter was Sydney, who also sold us the dining plan. He was very good. We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Everyone came and sang to us at dessert. It was a really nice dinner.

Our second port was La Spezia. In the morning, my wife and I took the train into Pisa to see the tower and other landmarks there. It was awesome and pretty easy to do. I booked the train tickets ahead of time so we had reserved seats. Have to be careful on the train because I almost got pick pocketed while getting on to return to La Spezia. There was a group of 3 girls, about 13 or 14 years old. The first pushed in line between me and my wife while the other 2 got behind me. The one in front was walking very slow. I caught one of the ones behind me trying to reach into my fanny pack. I had nothing important in there. I slapped her hand away. The one in front then moved back behind me with her friends and decided they now had to move quickly. They passed me once I got to my seat and bumped into another guy on the train. I yelled for him to watch his wallet.

After Pisa, we made it back to the port and met our bus for the Tuscan Wine Tasting, which was an RCL tour. It was pretty nice. The bus ride was very scenic, but long.

That night we ate in the MDR and finally met our table mates. Our waiter was Ivy and our assistant was Xie (pronounced see-ya according to her). Both were very attentive to our needs and took care of any issues we had. It was not an issue to order multiple appetizers, main courses, or desserts. The food was very good, but under seasoned. I always had to add salt and pepper.

Breakfast in the Windjammer was good. There were plenty of options for all tastes. But, just like any buffet, get your food when it is fresh and not sitting around for a while. The same goes for lunch and dinner.

Our third port was Civitaveccia (sp). We used Rome in Limo for our excursion. The tour was actually arranged by someone from the Navigator who was in port the same time as us. It was not a problem to have multiple pick ups though. The tour seemed very rushed, but in order to see as much as we did, we had to be rushed. You could spend several months in Rome and still not see everything. Our driver was awesome. Its tough to list everything we saw, but it was quite a lot. Much more than the RCL tours. Before we went to the Vatican, we stopped for lunch at this little local restaurant. We were treated like family. The food was delicious. It was a very good choice to let our driver pick this place. We were back at our ship in plenty of time. It was a great tour.

Does Brilliance still have the small glass floor at the top of the centrum that you can stand on?

Does Brilliance still have the small glass floor at the top of the centrum that you can stand on?

No. There is equipment for an aerial show, but it was not working for our cruise. The Centrum is open straight up to the 11th floor.