Jump to content

Allure vs. Brilliance


Recommended Posts

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this question, but bear with me anyway.

 

My wife and I have decided on a last minute (90-105 days out) cruise. Our choice is between the Brilliance of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas (we're in Orlando, so travel isn't a factor). For reference we sailed on the Oasis of the Seas for our honeymoon in March of ’17, we stopped at Cozumel, Labadee and Falmouth; we snorkeled in Cozumel and basically walked through Labadee, but were too hungover (Chef's Table with only four diners) to do our bike/hike in Falmouth.

 

The Brilliance of the Seas is a five night and has two sea days with stops at Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

 

The Allure of the Seas is a seven night and has three sea days with stops at Philipsburg, St. Maarten; San Juan, PR; Labadee, Haiti.

 

The question is, which would you choose? Is it better to go with the Brilliance and apply the extra money to excursions, or is the Allure and those ports of call worth the extra money?

Edited by KnightsFan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are into lots of bells and whistles on the ship, go with Allure.

 

If you want a more traditional cruising experience, where you don't have to make reservations for shows, go with Brilliance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allure is the winner! Even though we live within 20 minutes of the Brilliance, we travel to either Port Canaveral to board the Oasis or Ft. Lauderdale to board the Allure. That being said, the Brilliance is a very beautiful ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allure would be our first choice since it's a 7 day cruise. We have to fly to get to ship, so we like to make the most of our cruise days. Also, you have 2 more cruise days added to your cache. Either way, you may want to skip the Chef's Table this time. LOL!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Either way, you may want to skip the Chef's Table this time. LOL!! :D

 

We learned our lesson, don't let them open the second bottles!:') The lack of needing to fly makes the decision even harder! One's about 90 minutes and the other's about 3 hours, either way we leave morning of.

 

Lovelife thanks! I know a lot of boricuas, so Puerto Rico is tempting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if we're just going to Maho Beach and walking up to Castilo San Felipe del Morro?

 

Yep

Another Yep from me. And I wouldn't be giving it so much as a second thought no matter what the price difference is (which I think you didn't post).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much of a price difference are we talking about? I love the Allure but the Brilliance is nice for a smaller ship. I would enjoy either one but depending on the money I would agree with the others and go with Allure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Radiance Class ships are my favorite ships so I would pick the Brilliance if the two cruises were the same length. However, when the choice is between 5 nights and 7 nights, that changes everything. A seven night cruise on any Royal Caribbean ship beats a five night cruise on my favorite ship!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much of a price difference are we talking about? I love the Allure but the Brilliance is nice for a smaller ship. I would enjoy either one but depending on the money I would agree with the others and go with Allure.

 

Whoops missed a detail, it's about $500 cheaper on the Brilliance.

 

The Brilliance would be an aft balcony, Allure a midship balcony.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoops missed a detail, it's about $500 cheaper on the Brilliance.

 

The Brilliance would be an aft balcony, Allure a midship balcony.

 

$500 total? if so that's $125 a day. I would probably go with Allure then. I've never done the aft balcony though so that is a little tempting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We learned our lesson, don't let them open the second bottles!:') The lack of needing to fly makes the decision even harder! One's about 90 minutes and the other's about 3 hours, either way we leave morning of.

 

Lovelife thanks! I know a lot of boricuas, so Puerto Rico is tempting.

 

I don't personally know any boricuas but I do love visiting there. I head straight to Caficultura for an exceptional latte.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brilliance on the aft

 

I'd take the extra $500 and apply it to the 4 day cruise after the 5 day cruise and make it 9 total days B2B.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

Hah, I wish we had the vacation time for that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've been on Oasis, so you know what Allure is like. Normally I would say take longer cruise. Grand Cayman is one of our favorite places to go, but so is St Maarten. I think I would be inclined to save the $500 for a future cruise.

 

It really depends on what ports you want to visit and how much you like making reservations for onboard activities. If you really want to go to San Juan, you should fly there and cruise out of there. That way you get more time on the island plus get to visit a lot more islands (with the eastern itinerary) or the ABC islands (with a southern itinerary). This is MUCH better than a quick trip to San Juan/St Maarten. And the $500 would probably pay for the flights to San Juan from Orlando.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...