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I think that as long as there are cruises out of NY and NJ throughout the year, I doubt that Boston is likely to have a longer cruising season than we currently enjoy. Repositioning cruises from Boston to Florida seem well suited to snowbirds who want to spend the winter months in Florida, and Transatlantic cruises from Europe which then can offer a few months of NE/Canada cruise in the Fall, seem to be about as much as we can expect.

20 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

🥃🍷🍸

our favorite spot on Radiance class ships.

Once their ships do a TA from Europe to Boston, they always do several Canada/New England cruises before heading south for the winter months. Those cruises are very popular with leaf peepers who want to view the spectacular Fall foliage and there would be little incentive to head south any sooner than they do and so they get both the people who want to visit some Canadian provinces and, a few weeks later, those who are looking for an enjoyable cruise to the warmer climes of Florida and the Caribbean.

On 3/2/2024 at 8:40 PM, smokeybandit said:

That's not true. Bar Harbor just reserves the right to limit daily disembarkations to 1000.  

I

On 3/2/2024 at 8:40 PM, smokeybandit said:

That's not true. Bar Harbor just reserves the right to limit daily disembarkations to 1000.  

It may be interesting to see the reaction from the owners of tourism-related businesses in Bar Harbor, if the restrictions adversely affect their revenue. Many folks who live in tourism areas claim to be happy when the season ends and the tourists go home, but eventually realize the impact that their absence has on their economy. Maybe the limit will achieve some sort of balance, but I am doubtful.

We will be joining you for the second and third legs of your trip. Love Brilliance (and all Radiance class ships) and first sailed on her on her inaugural Transatlantic (Harwich, UK to Boston- 7 nights -no ports of call).

On 2/29/2024 at 3:48 PM, ssb said:

 

Yes we were definitely hoping for Quebec in the mix to go back, but not .

so we booked btbtb

• Brilliance of the Seas

   

•         Oct 26 — Nov 2, 2025

   

                           7 night maine canada cruise

 

1. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

    

2. PORTLAND, MAINE

    

3. SAINT JOHN, NB (BAY OF FUNDY)

    

4. HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

    

5. SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA  

    

6. BOSTON  , MASSACHUSETTS

    

• Brilliance of the Seas

   

•       Nov 2 — Nov 9, 2025

   

                        7 night boston to san juan cruise

 

1. BOSTON  , MASSACHUSETTS 

    

2. ROYAL NAVAL DOCKYARD, BERMUDA

    

3. ST. JOHN'S, ANTIGUA

    

4. TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

    

5. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

    

• Brilliance of the Seas

   

•      Nov 9 — Nov 16, 2025

   

                      7 night bvi southern caribbean cruise

 

1. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

    

2. TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

    

3. ORANJESTAD, ARUBA

    

4. ORANJESTAD, ARUBA

    

5. WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO

    

6. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

    

 

On 12/3/2023 at 7:59 AM, cruisin from florida said:

We booked the TA that will bring Brilliance to Boston in September 2025. I'd love to make it a b2b (or b2b2b), depending on where she goes next. If you're interested in the same, this is the thread for any deployment news and gossip. 😁

Once Brilliance arrives in Boston, it will most likely do a series of Canada/New England cruises. We were excited to learn that when those sailings are done, she will reposition to San Juan by way of Bermuda, Antigua and Tortola (a new port for us),so we booked it and the following sailing that goes back to Tortola, Aruba, and Curaçao and back to San Juan. Making it a 14 night cruise makes the flight back to Boston from San Juan much more attractive. 

We booked this cruise while we were on Symphony last week and have booked the same handicap accessible stateroom that we had on Symphony. Very spacious room that made it possible to keep and recharge our scooters overnight without sacrificing space to move around the cabin without any hindrance.

We are Bill & Rita from East Bridgewater, MA and have been cruising since 1980 and with Royal Caribbean since 1983 when the ships held about 750 passengers.  Lots have changed over the year but the incredibly great service that first attracted to cruising continues to this day.

Hope to get to know anyone else who will be sailing with us.

This post is over three years old.......................................I am sure their problem has been taken care of......

Good luck!  I m still on hold after 4 1/2hours.  Someone answered after 2 1/2, did a couple of things for me, switched me to Crown and Anchor, they answered in 1/2 hour, am still on hold with them while thy are on hold with resolutions.  What is maddening is that if they did things right the first time there would be no necessity to call them a second time.  Who knows how much longer till I get answers?

There is a separate suite check in area, for those suites with a genie.  Your genie will meet you and your luggage and take you thru check in.

If you are not in a suite with a genie, you can pull into the garage, you will be directed where to meet the luggage handlers, they will take your luggage and you will be directed where to park.  You then just enter the terminal.

Easiest embarkation of any port.

Really liked the food at the beach club.  Had the lobster tail and it was very good, dessert was excellent.  You get to visit the salad bar, but they bring your entree to your table.

We paid $70 for the Beach Club in February and thought it worth the cost.  Very few children, and we were on Allure, so there were lots of kids on board.  However, we were on Harmony in March and they wanted $199 per person.

Didn't feel it was worth that much, so just went to another area.  It was a windy day, so the umbrellas had to stay closed.  We were in CoCO Cay in August, went to the pool, and enjoyed that, again, no cost.

I felt it was worth the $70, but wouldn't pay more than that for it.  Lovely, relaxing area, but depending on the tide, the beach is not great.  When the tide goes out there are mud flats for a long distance, and if you have a cabana in that area you couldn't use the slide as there was mud at the bottom when exiting the slide.

2 hours ago, ILoveScotland said:

Yes, the one that stopped at Iceland. So, canceled for 2021? I was actually thinking about 2020, but maybe all cruises are still cancelled through this summer.

 

The Brilliance is scheduled to leave Amsterdam on Sept. 2 and do the North Atlantic route thru Iceland and Greenland into Boston. It had been sold out for many months, but there are a few cabins from folks cancelling due to Covid 19.

However, even though we are booked on it, I don't think it will be sailing.  JMO.

FCC is based on cruise fare only. Taxes and fees will be refunded to the credit card used to pay.  Excursions, pre paid gratuities specialty dining also refundable to the credit card   You will receive another fcc for the remaining balance on the fcc originally issued.

We were there on Feb. 8 and had to take the two trams to go to the Club.  They did have a separate tram, but it had a sign on it that it was for suites and cabanas only.

We paid $71 pp for the day pass.  We will be on Harmony in March and the cost for the club is $199 which we will not pay .  The meal was fine, the service in the restaurant was outstanding.  The infinity pool was very nice, but the sand  in the water was very yucky and would ooze between your toes so i stayed in the pool.

In March we will just go to either the pool or the beach and save the $398 😉

We were there last Saturday on Allure and went to the Beach Club, and loved it!  Just a note, when we were on the pier waiting for the shuttle it was very windy and cold.  We decided we weren't going to be there long as the weather was not great  However, when we got to the Beach Club there was no wind and it was nice and warm.

We stayed most of the day, enjoying perfect weather.  When we got back to the pier to board the ship the wind was again blowing strong.  I don't know if the Beach Club is situated away from the wind or not, but it was definitely better weather than on the pier.  

However I did see that the wind kicked up so much the next day that two ships couldn't dock.

 I will be there in two weeks along with 5 friends.  Our price was $70.99 for three of us and three more booked two days later at $75.99.  

Rita

(Sorry. didn't see my husband was logged in, but he's not going, this is a "ladies only" cruise😁

We sail Radiance class a lot, and 9078 and 1056(serenade) are among our favorite cabins.  9078 is directly below the cabin you have and lately we have noticed noise from the Centrum band playing, but no noise from the elevators.

We try to pick a cabin right next to the Centrum for the convenience.  They usually close the fire doors into the hallways around 10 p.m., and that helps with the noise from the bands.  Also, if you don't get back to your cabin until after the band stops playing, there is no noise problem.  I would take the cabin you have in a heartbeat.  I think we have been in 9078 about 15 times, and have it again in 2021.  Unfortunately it was booked for this September, or I would have grabbed it.  

I called about an fcc two days ago for a cruise that embarked 10-25 and was not received.  The person I spoke to looked for the FCC's. found them and applied them immediately.  Shortly after that I received the invoice with the FCC's applied.  Don't know why they can't do that for you.

Our first TA was on Brilliance in 2002 from Harwich, UK to Boston, MA - 7 days, no ports of call.  It was fabulous.  Clo O'Connor was the CD and she held a moving memorial program on the first anniversary of 9/11.  Captain James kept us out of harm's way as he carefully maneuvered the ship to minimize the effects of Hurricane Gustav.  We have done several TAs since then in both directions and have another scheduled next year which begins in Amsterdam and visits Norway, Iceland, and Greenland before ending up in Boston.  Before that original TA we spent a week sightseeing in London so the days at sea allowed us to arrive back in the US refreshed and reinvigorated.

The Allure has a Suite Lounge and a Diamond Lounge.  Suite Lounge is for Suites and Pinnacles and Diamond Lounge is for Diamonds, and  Diamond Plus(Pinnacles can also use the lounge.)

TO THE OP.........

I am on the same cruise, and St. Thomas is still on the itinerary. St. Kitts was changed to San Juan, at least according to the information I have.  I understand your frustration with the port change, but it can, and does, happen frequently for many different reasons.  Since we have been to St. Kitts many times, I may not be as upset with the change as you are, but you are still going to St. Thomas, at least that's what my info says.

We were able to have drinks in the Viking Crown Lounge, even though it was open to the public also.  We were not limited to three drinks, but since we probably only had two, it was just my experience, and the policy could be that it was 3 drinks per person.  Apparently they used to have some snacks up there also, but the Board of Health shut that down as they didn't have sneeze guards on the tables, because they really weren't set up for serving any food.  

As Pinnacles we could have breakfast each morning in Chops.  Even though no diamond or concierge lounge, we enjoyed the Empress and her crew immensely.

Yes, you can upgrade.  We were just today able to upgrade from a Virtual Balcony to an ocean view balcony for no additional money. I then asked the price to upgrade to the JS and was given a price of $200 and when asked about the double points was told we would get them.  A no brainer for us