Live from the Brilliance Feb 25, 2017

Hi Everybody! I haven't done a RC review in a while, but, as you can see from my signature, I've been cruising! I've mostly been sailing solo, so, RC has been a little unaffordable for me. But, now, I am back and excited to be heading out on the Brilliance tomorrow for a 5 night cruise with my friend, Rhonda. We'll be hitting Key West and Cozumel and having a few relaxing days at sea. We fly out tonight at 8pm to Tampa, then we'll be trying out Uber for the first time and we've rented out a room for the night on Airbnb.

Here's me and Rhonda on our first cruise together (her first ever) on the Enchantment in 2013.

Since we worked together, we could never get the time off to cruise again. Until this summer, she got a new job and in November, we went on Carnival Pride out of Baltimore.

That's us at the Alchemy Bar, our stomping grounds for this cruise. I'm hoping the R Bar will be similar to that, I really enjoyed the cocktails we had on Carnival.

Well, I've got to go finish packing and get to the airport. I'll let you know how our traveling day turned out, what could possibly go wrong? ;p

It's probably just me, but where are your photos hosted? I don't see any at all. Could be the site is blocked for me.

I can see the pics. . Have fun. We were on the 2/11 sailing to KW and Coz- had a great time

On Brilliance in June in the Med so definitely following this for some insider ship thoughts :)

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Keep us posted. We're doing the same cruise 3/25. ⚓️[emoji41]

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Please keep us posted. We'll be on the same cruise in a few weeks.

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Following! We are on this cruise on 3/25 as well! :-)

Have a great cruise ! Love that ship !!!

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Have fun and safe travels. I will be following along. We board on March 6th. Cozumel and Grand Cayman for us

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We are on 3/25 also!!

Looking forward to your updates. Happy sailing!

I see your photos! Have a great trip!!

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Have a great cruise. Brilliance is our favorite ship, and we will enjoy our seventh cruise on her on April 3rd.

Margy

Maureen cruiser, could you pls verify the time of late seating dinner? Is it 8 or 830? Thanks !!!! And, Bon voyage !

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Maureen! We need an update on dinner last night, breakfast this morning and lunch this afternoon.

Is Maureen still around? Perhaps the ship internet is down.

It's probably just me, but where are your photos hosted? I don't see any at all. Could be the site is blocked for me.

Hi Bob! They're coming over from Facebook. Let me know if you're still having trouble, others are seeing them OK. (Gotta keep my eyes on these Newbies like Bob). ;p;p;p

Maureen cruiser, could you pls verify the time of late seating dinner? Is it 8 or 830? Thanks !!!! And, Bon voyage !

Tonto, things can change, but, on our sailing, dinner is at 6pm and 8:30pm.

Maureen! We need an update on dinner last night, breakfast this morning and lunch this afternoon.

All in good time, my friend. You know I don't miss any meals! :p:p

Hi Bob! They're coming over from Facebook. Let me know if you're still having trouble, others are seeing them OK. (Gotta keep my eyes on these Newbies like Bob). ;p;p;p

Thank-you, that explains it. The facillity I was at that day blocks FB.

So, like any good cruise, first, we begin with arts and crafts, AKA luggage tag making.

OMG! This was pure torture, trying to force the folded tag into the Cruise Critic holder. It was worse than child birth, it was like trying to force the baby back inside once it came out! :p

A curse on you, Cruise Critic, for these luggage tags! There must be an easier way.

Hmm, it says, fold, don't cut.

I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me!

Ah yes, much easier once you eliminate all that bulk.

Now, how have I managed to punch a giant hole in the bag, but, still can't get the tag out? A curse on you again, Cruise Critic!

Finally, the finished product, a thing of beauty.

Of course, like always, I'm running around packing on travel day. I bought a luggage set that advertised a 20 inch carry on, because the limit on American Airlines is 21 inches.

After I got it packed, I measured it and it is actually 23 inches. :eek:

A curse on you, Macy's for false advertising!

So, now everything needed to be repacked.

Look who's coming along for the ride, Rusty AKA Chops!

Somewhere along the line, he lost his little red t-shirt, but, he still looks good!

Finally, everything is packed, I'm just waiting for Rhonda.

Milling around outside, I took this picture of my tree. I call it the Tree of Knowledge, I think it's beautiful.

Finally, we're on our way to the airport, what could possibly go wrong? It's gonna be smooth sailing from this moment on.

Just our luck. :mad:

Finally, we made it to that bustling metropolis, Lynchburg Regional Airport.

It was its usual beehive of activity. ;p

Our flight to Charlotte was uneventful.

Then, we did the mad dash through the Charlotte airport, just to find our flight was delayed. It was only scheduled to be a 10 minute delay, so, that was OK.

Notice I said "scheduled to be a 10 minute delay" ? ;)

They got us all loaded up into the plane and then we sat there, for an hour and a half. :mad:

We didn't even take off until after we were originally scheduled to land.

In a stroke of good luck, our seatmate lived in Tampa and she gave us a ride to our Airbnb, so, we didn't get to try Uber yet.

We got to the house after 2am and met the hosts' dogs.

My favorite was Hydro.

Look at that sweet face!

Guinness was an older dog, sweet as pie.

So, hotel rooms in Tampa all seemed to start at about $225 for the night. I just couldn't bring myself to spend that. I've used Airbnb several times, so, I found us a room for $77.

The room was more than adequate.

I let Rhonda have the bed and I settled into the futon.

"Godzilla" commenced to start crushing cars and people.

After giggling and talking till 4am, we finally drifted off. Until at 8am, someone walked by the house and Hydro made sure we all were aware of it. ;p

Seeing our bedraggled state, our host, Dee Dee, agreed to take us to the store for wine and to the port! Sorry, Uber, maybe next time. :p

Can you guess where this picture was taken?

Rhonda had a salad.

Our goal is not to leave the ship looking like these two.

Cabins weren't ready yet, so, after eating what was there to do?

Hmm, looking down the Centrum, is that a bar I see?

Ah, yes, the R Bar. Fun to drink at, hilarious to pronounce if you are from Boston, like me.