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My Trip Report: Brilliance of the Seas (12 night Baltic, May 18 2015)


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Hi everyone! While still a big jet-lagged, I thought I'd write down a few thoughts about my most recent trip on the Brilliance. If you've read my reviews before, I can get long winded ... so I will apologize in advance. :)

 

I am also very interested in the price of things and how things work, so I will include some of those details as well.

 

I will be posting in parts so that I can do this in dribs and drabs as I have time and recover. Please feel free to ask questions in the mean time.

 

17775231454_a2b7ba726a_z.jpgItinerary by cmong, on Flickr

 

Background

 

I booked this trip with my dad (mom wasn't interested) a bit last minute (April). We are both Diamond Plus cruisers and were on the Brilliance transatlantic last year taking the ship from Tampa to Harwich. We were both interested in this cruise because of the itinerary ... specifically the overnight in St. Petersburg.

 

18209397260_0df7941fe6_z.jpgEarly morning by cmong, on Flickr

 

Planning

 

Since this was last-minute, I made most of my plans and bookings over the course of about two days about a month before the trip began. Of course, it helped a bunch that we had a) previously stayed in London and b) had previously arrived in Harwich.

 

The cruise I booked though an online agent offering fairly generous OBC. I was able to make the booking and take care of everything without ever needing to talk with a live person ... fine with me. Unfortunately we booked so late that we were waitlisted for early dining and assigned late dining ... we had absolutely no desire to start dinner at 8:30 so that was something we were going to have to follow up on once we actually received our dining assignment.

 

I booked airfare using miles I had accumulated and smashed together when US Air merged with American. Flights were quite expensive by the time we booked ($1400 r/t from Indianapolis to London) so we added some travel days and accepted some less-than-desirable flights to travel redeeming the least amount of miles possible ... it ended up costing me about $400 and 100,000 miles total ... not too horrible.

 

Once the cruise and airfare was locked in, I booked advance train tickets to get from London to Harwich. Since we had already been to Harwich, we knew that the train was literally a 2-minute walk outside of the cruise terminal. I splurged and spent a few extra pounds for 1st class tickets, but in all, our round-trip train tickets cost about $100 total for advance, non-refundable or flexible tickets (for perspective ... we spent about 200 pounds for a car service to London last year ... though to be fair that was for 5 people).

 

Again, opting for price over convenience, we ordered pre-loaded tourist Oyster cards for taking the tube into town from Heathrow. I also looked at hotels both convenient to tube and Liverpool Street Station (where the train itineraries heading in the direction of Harwich travel out of).

 

Traveling

 

Finally the big day arrived. Unfortunately we knew we would be dealing with an unpleasant but necessary (due to miles) itinerary ... an early 7 AM flight out Indianapolis with a 12-hour layover in Philadelphia before our evening flight to London.

 

18370693876_9fd4243bc7_z.jpgPhilly not London by cmong, on Flickr

 

The first flight went off without a hitch. Thankfully I have been to Philadelphia several times so I knew how we could fill time. We caught the light rail from the airport to downtown and visited some of the historical sites (Independence Hall, etc). This was a decent diversion that, for me, was worth the $12/pp full-day train fare. We returned to PHL with plenty of time to spare and used some free passes to the AA club we had received from a credit card offer. The club was definitely not too impressive, but it was quieter and more relaxing than the terminal itself and offered some drinks and snacks.

 

18210926449_7ec13d521d_z.jpgIndependence Hall by cmong, on Flickr

 

Our flight to London was slightly delayed, but again, went fine. We have in the past experimented with sleeping pills (Ambien, etc) for longer international flights, but this flight (at about 6 hours from PHL) seemed a bit short to bother with that. We watched movies on our personal entertainment systems, read, and perhaps even dozed here and there. Each person was also asked to fill out an immigration form for the UK so you might want to make sure that you have a pen and know your hotel details to be able to fill out that form. Upon arrival in London we were a bit punchy but in decent shape.

 

After clearing immigration (bit of a line then some passport scanning problems), we grabbed our bags and followed the sign to the underground. There are several train services from LHR ... Heathrow Express (a 15 minute train ride to Paddington station), Heathrow Connect (a 26 minute ride to Paddington station with some local stops), as well as the standard tube. Those trains certainly can be convenient, but you surely pay for that convenience. Fares get even cheaper if you buy a travel card or Oyster card and can depend on the day (peak, off-peak). With all of that, though, we were able to get to our hotel for a little over 3 pounds per person. I'd heartily recommend this option ... with a few caveats:

 

1. You buy a pre-loaded Oyster card ahead of time. The fee you pay for the card can be easily made up in the difference in fares for using the card instead of paying cash for each ticket. We also probably saved 30 minutes or so not having to wait in line for a machine or ticket agent at Heathrow (packed with other weary travelers, speaking a huge variety of languages, and trying to use a huge variety of currencies and credit cards).

 

2. You can manage your bags easily. We saw a few instances where one "dad" was trying to mange the three large rolling bags for his family. Not only did he have to get the family onboard as well as the bags, but then he had to figure out how to ride with the bags, keep them safe, and keep them out of the way.

 

3. You can manage at least a few stairs. Many stations had elevators, but some did not. If you need to change lines, there can be a maze of tunnels and stairs between the lines.

 

In other words, it's probably not the best idea if someone in your party cannot walk and/or if you have enough baggage to make the ride uncomfortable.

 

The Piccadilly line runs to/from LHR and it has transfers to all of the main lines at one point or another. It took us about an hour to get from LHR to our destination with a change at King's Cross ... it definitely took some time, but you might be kidding yourself if you think that a cab would be a lot faster (thought obviously still more convenient).

 

Hotel

 

We stayed our pre-cruise night at The Montcalm at the Brewery. It was a bit out of the way, in the City of London, which was fairly quiet on the weekend. However we found it decently convenient to the tube and Liverpool Street Station and it had very good Trip Advisor reviews. They thankfully had a room available for us on arrival, though that may have been because it was a "less desirable" room that faced the street and did have some street noise. Other than that, the room seemed clean and tidy if slightly on the small side. The hotel was a bit of a warren (as it used to be a brewery) but we got it down quickly and visited the club lounge (we had a club level room) for Cokes for a bit of caffeine to stay awake. We found a Pret a Manger (bakery/sandwiches) and Tesco (convenience store/grocery) convenient to the hotel for a few food and drink purchases.

 

The Montcalm at the Brewery also had a gastropub attached called The Jugged Hare. It was a bit pricey, but it was also where you could get your hotel breakfast if your reservation included it. You could eat at their small buffet or order off of the menu. I opted for the menu eggs benedict which were excellent (and far superior to anything on the ship).

 

18397105785_ec2f25e88a_z.jpgEggs Benedict at Jugged Hare by cmong, on Flickr

 

It was about a 10 minute walk to the train station from the hotel. Unfortunately it was sprinkling on the morning of the cruise ... we survived with a bit of a wetting though our home-printed luggage tags did not fare as well. The train left on time but we had a few slow downs due to congestion and we ended up missing our connecting train in Manningtree and had to wait an hour for the next trip. This was not the most exciting development, but then again, it is also why we chose to start at 10 AM rather than in the afternoon. The first train from London had proper luggage racks and reserved seats while the train to Harwich International (the port stop) was just a local train with no reserved seats or racks. This made luggage a bit interesting with the number of cruise travelers onboard, but it wasn't too bad. By 12:00 or so, we had finally made it to Harwich and found the Brilliance of the Seas waiting for us ....

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I'm definitely subscribing to this thread, I'm doing this cruise in a little under 3 weeks.

 

I have a quick question, did they have a "white" party or any other themed night that I need to pack for? Also, what was the temperature like on board in the restaurants, etc., do I need a jumper\cardigan?

 

Thanks in advance. So looking forward to your next instalment.

 

Gail

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I'm definitely subscribing to this thread, I'm doing this cruise in a little under 3 weeks.

 

I have a quick question, did they have a "white" party or any other themed night that I need to pack for? Also, what was the temperature like on board in the restaurants, etc., do I need a jumper\cardigan?

 

Thanks in advance. So looking forward to your next instalment.

 

Gail

 

Hi Gail. I really didn't see any theme nights other than the traditional Village People party and even then I really didn't see much about it in the cruise compass. To be honest, with so many intense port days, I think the evening stuff was pretty subdued. Of course, I may be a bad person to ask ... we tended to sleep early and skipped most of the theater shows (which may have had more info about activities).

 

As for temperature, I think ship stuff tends to err on the side of cooler, so I'd pack an extra layer just in case. I tend to run hot so it has to be really cool for me to be uncomfortable.

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Will be sailing this same itinerary on the 5th July.

 

Can you let me know some drink prices. I drink Bacardi and cola DH scotch and cola. We are trying to avoid a rink package as we will be off the boat so much but as this is our first RCI cruise I am trying to work out which way is best.

 

Also did you try the specialty restaurant? Thoughts?

 

Sylva.

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Hi Gail. I really didn't see any theme nights other than the traditional Village People party and even then I really didn't see much about it in the cruise compass. To be honest, with so many intense port days, I think the evening stuff was pretty subdued. Of course, I may be a bad person to ask ... we tended to sleep early and skipped most of the theater shows (which may have had more info about activities).

 

As for temperature, I think ship stuff tends to err on the side of cooler, so I'd pack an extra layer just in case. I tend to run hot so it has to be really cool for me to be uncomfortable.

 

Thanks silentbob007, that is one thing less to wedge into my case :)

 

Hope you are managing to settle back into being at home again

 

Gail

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Will be sailing this same itinerary on the 5th July.

 

Can you let me know some drink prices. I drink Bacardi and cola DH scotch and cola. We are trying to avoid a rink package as we will be off the boat so much but as this is our first RCI cruise I am trying to work out which way is best.

 

Also did you try the specialty restaurant? Thoughts?

 

Sylva.

 

I did not purchase any drinks for the cruise (access to concierge lounge at night with free drinks), so I'm not sure how much those specific drinks would run. I did look at the bar menu and confirmed all of the outrage out high drink prices in general ... most of the advertised drinks (frozen concoctions, etc) started at around $14 + gratuity. I'm not sure if more common drinks (such as shots or a single mixer with soda) would be any cheaper. Lots of people seemed to have some sort of drink package, but then again, it is always hard to tell if there had been a promotion with a free package or something else like that was going on. It honestly feels to me like RCI is trying to push people towards the drink package with what they are doing with pricing.

 

With all of that being said, you are right about being off the ship for so much. If it were me, I'd probably wait to make a decision about the package onboard. You don't have to buy it right away and will pay a prorated rate if you buy it later in the cruise. You can figure out how much your specific, preferred drinks would cost and how many you would actually drink each day.

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Boarding

 

Upon arrival of the train, the station staff were prepared for cruise passengers. They directed everyone in the opposite direction of the exit signs towards the road instead of the station stairs. Once the train had continued on, they opened up a gate and allowed the everyone to cross the tracks and wheel their bags through the port gate instead of doing the up-around-down to get past the tracks. The cruise terminal was a very brief walk with porters collecting luggage at the gate.

 

The terminal layout is a little bit different than others I've been to. We walked straight in, showed our SetSail Pass to an RCI rep, and were directed into a priority check-in line. Most of the lines looked fairly empty though there was a small wait for the general boarding agents. Because of our hour delay we missed the rush. After check-in, we were given a priority boarding card ... evidently they were having trouble with the skybridge to the ship (not sure if it was a technical problem, change in tides, or what) and had halted boarding. The waiting area was pretty small though a majority of people were lined up to board instead of sitting. In short order they announced boarding would continue so we joined the line and were waived to the right side of the split line because we had priority tags. At the top of a ramp was the security checkpoint with the metal detector and luggage scanner (at most ports this is usually before you enter the terminal proper). Once through that, we were on the gangway and made our way to the ship. The last barrier was the security photo stop set up upon entrance to the Deck 4 atrium. All-in-all, it took us maybe 30 minutes to get checked in, wait in line, and, board. I'm guessing non-priority passengers maybe had an extra 10-15 minutes or so at this time of day ... that might have been flipped earlier (as many experienced cruisers are early arrivers).

 

Dining Reservations

 

Unfortunately when we received our SeaPass cards, we saw that we were assigned late dining. Our first task was to see if we could get that switched. We had a very brief wait to see the matire'd on deck 4. We were told there was no possible way to switch to MyTime Dining as there were already 1,000 guests using that program on this cruise. However, he said he would do what he could do about early seating, though he would not have anything sorted until after dinner that evening. This was agreeable because we had planned dinner at Giovanni's that night anyway, but otherwise, I'm guessing it would have been the Windjammer for us the first night.

 

After talking with the maitre'd, we headed up to deck 6 to make that Giovanni's reservation. We tend to eat at speciality restaurants the first night because of the BOGO coupons given to D+ passengers. Since my dad likes to eat early, I inquired about a 6 PM booking and was told absolutely no problem ... after dinner that night, I could see why ... there were perhaps only 3 other tables in use by the time we left that first night. I will provide my review of Giovanni's in a later section about dining ... but it was good. :)

 

Upon returning to our cabin after dinner, we had been assigned to early seating starting the next night.

 

Note: It is for things like these dining reservations and boarding that I mentioned we were D+ in the opening ... not to be snobby but to state that experiences may vary. I certainly won't turn down perks if they are offered.

 

Cabin

 

Cabins were available around 1-1:30 on boarding day.

 

We booked very late and we booked an inside guarantee. We received the exact cabin I expected ... an inside stateroom at the absolute aft of deck 3 (3143). It is not a cabin I would have chosen, but for the savings, it was fine. Since it was at the end of the hall, foot traffic was at a minimum. However, it was below the dining room/prep area and next to a crew staircase, so there were some noises that came along with the cabin including, one night, a persistent drone at about 4 AM that sounded like an alarm in my sleep-addled state but was probably something like a sweeper or a buffer (though I did have to stick my head into the hallway to make sure nothing was going on).

 

The cabin itself was adequate for 2. It had 2 pullmans for a possible 4 passengers which would have been ... tight ... to say the least. While there was adequate storage space (again for 2 or maybe 3), the cabin was starting to show its age. The door to the bathroom and one of the closet doors had their spring-loaded hinges disconnect. There were large chips out of the sink basin. Some of the drawers did not glide smoothly on their runners. As an early Radiance-class ship there was the dreaded shower curtain instead of torpedo tube door. Again, the cabin was fine, but if it was representative of other cabins onboard, it needed a little TLC beyond what the cabin steward has the time/ability to provide.

Edited by silentbob007
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I think you may have been able to avoid the struggle with changing trains at Manningtree. Usually on days when there is a ship departing from Harwich the rail company lays on a 'Cruise Special' which is direct to Harwich.

 

Enjoying reading so far and looking forward to hearing more when you're a bit more rested.

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I think you may have been able to avoid the struggle with changing trains at Manningtree. Usually on days when there is a ship departing from Harwich the rail company lays on a 'Cruise Special' which is direct to Harwich.

 

Enjoying reading so far and looking forward to hearing more when you're a bit more rested.

 

Yes there were direct trains at twice the price. :D

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So glad to see a Brilliance Baltic review - have been checking every day to find one as we're doing this itinerary in July!

 

Just one question - which I'm sure you'll cover anyway in due course - can you tell us which nights are the Formal nights?

 

Looking forward to reading more:)

 

Many Thanks

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While Silentbob007 ( chris) tends to be warm all the time, I tend to be cooler especially in the ship. I always pack one or two long-sleeved "shipshirts" because I'm always a bit cold. Must be either metabolism or old age--- hmmm, I'll pick metabolism.:)

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So glad to see a Brilliance Baltic review - have been checking every day to find one as we're doing this itinerary in July!

 

Just one question - which I'm sure you'll cover anyway in due course - can you tell us which nights are the Formal nights?

 

Looking forward to reading more:)

 

Many Thanks

 

Night 2 for sure. Then I think night 10.

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I thought of a question for you. How long were most of your port stops? My one disappointment with RC's itinerary is that they don't spend nearly as long in port as other lines. It seems they leave most ports around 5pm or so while other lines stay until 7 or 8 some nights. I want as much time as possible to explore and the other ships manage to stay late and still hit the same stops so I don't know why RC's can't.

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Most days had 7-8 am arrivals (and almost always before the scheduled time) with 5-6 pm departures. I can understand your point about times, but most passengers were exhausted as it was, especially after the 2 days in St. Petersburg.

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