Just Off The Brilliance....Very Disappointed

We were so looking forward to sailing on the Brilliance. We always enjoy our cruises and always look for the positives in every situation. I am not going to write a full review but here are a few of the pros and cons we experienced.

Pros -

* Most of the crew we encountered were very nice and very helpful

* The Centrum was beautifully decorated for Christmas. There was always great music there in the evenings and a lot of people dancing. So fun to watch!!

* The Solarium was a great place to hang out during the day. The pool water was actually warm and it felt so good! The availability of some breakfast and lunch items was so convenient because you had everything you needed to hang out all day!!

* All the public areas were clean and in good repair

* Rafael the Conceirge in the Diamond Lounge was hands down the best and most personable guy we have ever had!!

Cons -

*This is the first time I have ever cruised that I had no idea what our room steward’s name was because we never met her!! Upon arriving we only had one bath cloth and no ice. We stepped out in the hall and asked the first steward we saw. He yelled down the hall and a lady stepped out of the room at the end of hall saying she would get us some. This was the only encounter we had with her. We did get ice bucket...with no top....no tongs. Finally got a top on day two....gave up on tongs

*The room furniture sorely needs replacing. The arms of the navy blue couch were so faded they were almost white and thread bare. The cushion on the back sagged so badly I thought half of it was maybe pushed through to the floor...but it wasn’t

*The food in the MDR was awful! I am not a foodie, so most anything will do BUT since we sailed on Thanksgiving Day we joked they must have overbought turkeys because it was on the menu a lot!! One evening they even had a BLT turkey salad as one of the “main courses”???

*I asked if I could use one of my preloaded Diamond drinks in the MDR as I did on the Oasis but I was told no. I understand each ship is different and I was okay with it. However later in the week we met a lady in the DL whose waiter had let her use hers all week. She was shocked we were told no.

*I had booked the “Deluxe” Stingray City excursion at $59pp. We received word our excursion was cancelled but they had booked us on a similar excursion the Stingray City “Swim” at $55pp and had credited us $4 per person. I knew this excursion always sells on the Royal website for $39pp. When we showed them the price on their website and asked why we were being charged $55 they just said it cost more “this week”??? We just told them to cancel it because I didn’t want to pay an extra $32 for “this week”.

As I said we did enjoy the cruise and we tried to overlook a lot of these things but they all add up. I am one of the biggest Royal cheerleaders around, but I was just sad and disappointed on this one.

Glad that despite some setbacks, you still enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

As I said we did enjoy the cruise and we tried to overlook a lot of these things but they all add up. I am one of the biggest Royal cheerleaders around, but I was just sad and disappointed on this one.

I've read a lot of your posts and find you are a reasonable person grounded in reality. Thanks for sharing.

I've read a lot of your posts and find you are a reasonable person grounded in reality. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Bill for your kind words!!

It's quite odd that some waiters will refuse your orders...that happened to us, also, on Brilliance. Worst waiter we EVER had. However, the ass't. waiter was awesome, and tried to make up for the waiter's shortcomings. Brilliance was our worst cruise ever. I won't sail that ship again. I don't know what the problem on that ship might be, but there is a problem.

Good feedback. We had minor issues on our Oasis cruise two years ago that didn't ruin our cruise for us but as you said were very disappointing.

I too am just off the ship today, and i will agree with some of the things you said.

I went with my husband, 14yr old son and my parents, they have been on the Brilliance 4 times and love it, but they also agreed this was a disaster. I will echo you on the service/staff they were amazing, every where you turned was a smiling face, they were wonderful. Our first night in the MDR which was Thanksgiving all the food was cold or just luke warm, very disappointing, the escargot was cold, the shrimp cocktail was served with ketchup, we mentioned it to our server but assured us nothing would be cold again, well second night we did Chops (which was amazing) the next time in the MDR he threw 5 tablespoons of horseradish in the ketchup and to me that was just being an ass, i made it threw, but the rest of dinner the eggplant was good, but cold, he heard us complain and then came out and threw 4 more plates in front of us, now no need to act like that... Just serious??

Needless to say we never went back to the MDR not only was it cold, no flavor whatsoever like the chef had no palate.

we ended up in Windjammer which things there were luke warm as well, was not a fan there either..

Had toilet issues all of floor 3 and 4 off and on, i had no hot water in my cabin for the last 3 days, that was luke warm, Hummm i see a trend...

The rest of the ship was well decorated for Christmas, they must fix all the rust around the pool, when the pool was emptied for Volleyball it exposed alot of rust...

We've had several cruises on Brilliance, including a TA, and the service was excellent. I can only guess that there were some serious staffing issues, such as insufficient crewmembers, new crewmembers not well trained, etc. Sorry the experience was poor.

I think you should have spoken with someone in Housekeeping -- that should have fixed your stateroom attendant issues.

You are scaring me, since I last went on the Radiance was 16 years ago, and we are doing it next summer.... The Brilliance is newer.... Yikes.

JC

You are scaring me, since I last went on the Radiance was 16 years ago, and we are doing it next summer.... The Brilliance is newer.... Yikes.

 

JC

I don't think it's a ship age thing, it's a crew thing. We've been told by management on some ships that they are having a hard time getting crewmembers from Miami.

Sorry this cruise didn't work for you and appreciate the candid feedback.

Keith

I agree we were on the crossing. Food in MDR was worst than other cruises we took last year on the Rhapsody and Grandeur. They now charge for tours of kitchen and backstage. No lotions etc in the cabins. Nickel and diming us. The shore excursions prices have increased a lot Not sure if Royal has outsourced to Shorex. Other cruiselines have.

We did have a great time. Our waiters were fantastic and no problem having them get us wine by the glass As we are Diamond I always tipped them.

Looking forward to our Jewel cruise in January

Ontario Cruiser

Had the same experience in mdr with preloaded drinks later in cruise was able to use with a different waiter

We agree about Rafael, he’s great!

We were on the Transatlantic on the Brilliance last month. We completely agree about the food in the MDR. It was a great cruise, we had a wonderful time....but the food was terrible.

My wife and I have a special place in our heart for the Brilliance, as we sailed on her for our honeymoon cruise 15 years ago. Maybe it's rose colored glasses or the passage of time, but we both remember it being our favourite cruise on a beautiful ship with a terrific crew.

I'm hoping that the OP's experience was a one off, or that there was some logical explanation for the problems, because we look forward to sailing on her again going forward.

Michael

Sadly, I agree. We were on this cruise also. Brilliance used to be one of my favorite ships, but the food was awful. The Windjammer to me was worse than the dining room. They had hot dogs for breakfast, right next to the sausage and bacon. Hot dogs and bread pudding at breakfast? The assortment of cold cuts was mortadella, every day mortadella, not quite the assortment. Then there were those pork chops at lunch for seven days in a row.

They have gotten rid of bar service in the dining room so now the waiters fetch drinks as well as wait tables. Almost two hours to get thru dinner. I can’t really fault the waitstaff because they were doing their best.

Also, no offense to the Pinnacle or D+ (we are D+ ourselves) but we sailed in a GS and you couldn’t even get a seat in the Concierge Lounge because there were so many Pinnacle and D+ in there. They really need to do something about the overcrowding in that lounge.

Sadly, I agree. We were on this cruise also. Brilliance used to be one of my favorite ships, but the food was awful. The Windjammer to me was worse than the dining room. They had hot dogs for breakfast, right next to the sausage and bacon. Hot dogs and bread pudding at breakfast? The assortment of cold cuts was mortadella, every day mortadella, not quite the assortment. Then there were those pork chops at lunch for seven days in a row.

 

They have gotten rid of bar service in the dining room so now the waiters fetch drinks as well as wait tables. Almost two hours to get thru dinner. I can’t really fault the waitstaff because they were doing their best.

 

Also, no offense to the Pinnacle or D+ (we are D+ ourselves) but we sailed in a GS and you couldn’t even get a seat in the Concierge Lounge because there were so many Pinnacle and D+ in there. They really need to do something about the overcrowding in that lounge.

There is no escape from crowds in lounges on TAs.

Just don't go before first dinner seating.

JC

I think you should have spoken with someone in Housekeeping -- that should have fixed your stateroom attendant issues.

Our stateroom was kept clean and in good order, so the fact the steward was invisible was okay with me. I still left her an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

Getting someone in trouble over some tongs is just not something I would ever do. Everything else requested she did take care of.

It was just the first time where a steward did not at least introduce themselves and speak in the hallway, which I found unusual.

I'm hoping things get sorted out on Brilliance as I think there is a good chance it will be the ship doing the Baltic Itinerary we are planing. Still lots of time to get things in order though.

dp

We've had several cruises on Brilliance, including a TA, and the service was excellent. I can only guess that there were some serious staffing issues, such as insufficient crewmembers, new crewmembers not well trained, etc. Sorry the experience was poor.

Bob....I really felt there is a management issue. The whole ship felt very disorganized...

For example....on day two the bartender at Vintages “Wine” bar told us she only had ONE red and ONE white because she didn’t get her shipment?? Two choices for a wine bar??

Also for some reason every day there seemed to be multiple “white shirts” walking around the Windjammer watching workers and huddled up with the waitstaff having discussions.

On the first day a very nice “white shirt” asked if we needed anything & my husband said he loved smoked salmon but didn’t see any out. She said she would get it and to just ask her every morning and she would be sure he got it.

Well.....on day “three” we asked for the smoked salmon and she left, stayed gone for quite awhile and then we saw her coming to our table with the chef!! She made HIM come out to our table and tells us he didn’t have any.

After he left she said he was in charge of the Windjammer and since there was no excuse for not having the salmon she told him he would have to tell us himself!! I am assuming he failed to have some prepped for the day because it was available after that......but it was a very weird situation.

That’s why I feel like it’s a management or organizational issue with those in charge,

The workers are just doing the best they can.

We were on the Transatlantic on the Brilliance last month. We completely agree about the food in the MDR. It was a great cruise, we had a wonderful time....but the food was terrible.

Oh great - doing the TA in April. Hope it improves by then.

We were so looking forward to sailing on the Brilliance. We always enjoy our cruises and always look for the positives in every situation. I am not going to write a full review but here are a few of the pros and cons we experienced.

 

Pros -

* Most of the crew we encountered were very nice and very helpful

* The Centrum was beautifully decorated for Christmas. There was always great music there in the evenings and a lot of people dancing. So fun to watch!!

* The Solarium was a great place to hang out during the day. The pool water was actually warm and it felt so good! The availability of some breakfast and lunch items was so convenient because you had everything you needed to hang out all day!!

* All the public areas were clean and in good repair

* Rafael the Conceirge in the Diamond Lounge was hands down the best and most personable guy we have ever had!!

 

Cons -

*This is the first time I have ever cruised that I had no idea what our room steward’s name was because we never met her!! Upon arriving we only had one bath cloth and no ice. We stepped out in the hall and asked the first steward we saw. He yelled down the hall and a lady stepped out of the room at the end of hall saying she would get us some. This was the only encounter we had with her. We did get ice bucket...with no top....no tongs. Finally got a top on day two....gave up on tongs

*The room furniture sorely needs replacing. The arms of the navy blue couch were so faded they were almost white and thread bare. The cushion on the back sagged so badly I thought half of it was maybe pushed through to the floor...but it wasn’t

*The food in the MDR was awful! I am not a foodie, so most anything will do BUT since we sailed on Thanksgiving Day we joked they must have overbought turkeys because it was on the menu a lot!! One evening they even had a BLT turkey salad as one of the “main courses”???

*I asked if I could use one of my preloaded Diamond drinks in the MDR as I did on the Oasis but I was told no. I understand each ship is different and I was okay with it. However later in the week we met a lady in the DL whose waiter had let her use hers all week. She was shocked we were told no.

*I had booked the “Deluxe” Stingray City excursion at $59pp. We received word our excursion was cancelled but they had booked us on a similar excursion the Stingray City “Swim” at $55pp and had credited us $4 per person. I knew this excursion always sells on the Royal website for $39pp. When we showed them the price on their website and asked why we were being charged $55 they just said it cost more “this week”??? We just told them to cancel it because I didn’t want to pay an extra $32 for “this week”.

 

As I said we did enjoy the cruise and we tried to overlook a lot of these things but they all add up. I am one of the biggest Royal cheerleaders around, but I was just sad and disappointed on this one.

Totally unacceptable. I hope you mentioned this in your PCS. Thanks for sharing your cruise and experiences.

Oh great - doing the TA in April. Hope it improves by then.

I hope its ok in January when I'm on it! It will still be better than being at work though ;)