To everyone who said you'll get ruined by suites...(mini-review of 12/7 Brilliance)

[nolesrule]

You were absolutely right.

 

The wife and I worked extra hard this year as we'd both received promotions with increased work responsibilities, so we decided to kick up the luxury a notch (while we left the kids behind with grandparents).

 

So we booked GS 1034 for the 12/7 5-night sailing of Brilliance of the Seas.

 

Best. Cruise. Ever.

 

For starters, Brilliance is a beautiful ship, and is now my favorite of the 4 RCI ships we've been on so far. When we got to the room, the GS felt so luxurious. The large room, the extra large balcony, the large bathroom with two sinks and tub, the large closets. Just WOW. It was a large step up, as previously we'd had exterior view, balcony and a JS... and we shared the JS with the kids so it felt cramped.

 

The basket of fruit is a nice touch, as we used to always run up to the Windjammer and bring fruit back to the room. Saved us several trips.

 

On the third night, we even ordered from the MDR for dinner and ate on the balcony. We served ourselves in courses as if we were the waiters. :) Tiramisu and a cup of coffee watching and listening to the waves was so relaxing afterward.

 

Our suite attendant Ito was always friendly in the hallway, kept us with clean wine glasses for the bottles of wine we brought, and always managed to get the room cleaned quickly while we were out, even if we forgot to put the card in the door, which was more often than not. He also took care of getting my suit pressed for formal night, and brought it back exactly when he said he would.

 

For breakfast, we took advantage of the cooked breakfast in Chops once, and the Gold Pass seating in WJ, which was very useful on busy days when it was next to impossible to find a small table, and it just didn't seem right for two people to take over a large table, which I've felt guilty of having to do on past cruises.

 

We enjoyed going to the concierge lounge every evening. The bartenders were friendly and quick to get the drinks out, even when the lounge was busy, which was mainly the first and last nights. They didn't mind if we took the drinks with us to a show or to dinner. They even had Pellegrino, which is my preferred (sparkling) water. One of the bartenders even ran down to Windjammer to get a lemon when my wife requested a French 75 (gin and lemon juice topped of with champagne).

 

Everyone we talked to there was friendly, even though we were by far the youngest couple (and with the fewest cruises) to take advantage of the lounge amenities.

 

The lounge was also a nice place for me to take my tablet and read a book while sipping on a cappuccino from the specialty coffee machine. It was always quiet there during the day.

 

Our concierge was Sascha Strack and he took care of the couple of things we asked about with no issues. He was friendly to talk to in general. And on the morning of disembarkation he walked us down to the exit to leave the ship.

 

The rest of our cruise experience was fairly standard for what we've become used to on RCI. The food was great (although the tomato sauce in the eggplant parmigiana was too salty... my only food complaint), the staff was friendly, the shows were enjoyable, there was plenty to do, including a fun sushi-making lesson in Izumi on the final sea day where we made our lunch.

 

The staff is still getting used to the new drink packages I think. I got the Replenish package, which used the same sticker as the soda package did apparently. So getting Pellegrino in the MDR the first night was a bit of a hassle, but once that was worked out, they had it waiting for me in an ice bucket every night and kept my glass filled. I don't know how much they normally charge for the small bottles of Pellegrino, but I probably drank 3-4 of them with dinner each night in the MDR.

 

Had a similar issue with the fresh OJ in WJ on the first morning. But one of the head waiters informed the OJ server and I got my OJ. He even let me take two glasses at a time, which was nice.

 

We booked the cruise through a TA (first time we've done that). We got an OBC, Spa Credit and were supposed to get champagne for sailaway. Apparently the TA forgot to send the notice before the weekend, but we had a copy of the confirmation on my phone fortunately. Guest services took care of making sure we got our OBC and had a bottle of champagne sent to our suite, and the spa took care of making sure we got our credit there, so it all worked out in the end.

 

All in all, it was a great vacation, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to even a JS now.

 

We had already booked another trip on Brilliance in March around the same time we booked this one. This time we are getting a TS (aft 9656) and bringing along my mother in law and the two girls.

 

Can't wait.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Nice review, congrats on the promotions and treating yourself.

 

We've only had JS nothing higher, but even at that level its hard to go back to a regular balcony!

 

***

[tarajean1962]

Uh oh!:D. We are also staying in our first suite in January.

 

Your vacation sounds wonderful!:D

 

Tara

 

P.S. I agree about the Brilliance! We LOVE that class of ship!

[drarill]

You were absolutely right.

.

 

:):) Great review!!! thanks for sharing your suite experience with us!!:):)

[papaflamingo]

Wait until you do a Crown Loft! It "spoils the spoiled." We did a GS crossing the Atlantic last year. It was the only way to go. Everything nolesrule posted was correct.

Oh, from a personal standpoint, I assume "nolesrule" is a Fla. State fan. Congrats on a great season. But as a die hard Auburn fan all I can say come Jan. 6 BCS Championship is

GO AUBURN... WAR EAGLE! :)

[JimAOk1945]

We love staying in a full suite. My wife especially loves the spaciousness and perks.

 

We cruised on the Radiance which I think is a sister ship to the Brilliance. We loved all the glass and layout of the ship. So beautiful.

 

I hope you have the opportunity to sail in a full suite again. It makes the cruise experience that much more special.

[jv_nyc]

Awesome review! Congrats on your promotions! We were also spoiled by a suite earlier this year and will not go back. We have a Crown Loft Suite on our upcoming Oasis sailing - we're going to be ruined for life....

[SSVacation]

You are so correct! Congrats on the promotions,I see you have already found a great way to spend a little,of the extra $$$$$.

We used to get a balcony cabin which was fine UNTIL we splurged on a GS years ago for a special occasion, we'll we never looked back and always book a GS now, just works out perfectly for us. The only issue now is we just got off the Explorer where we received a great deal on an OS, Wow! Definitely won't be booking an OS all the time but we will be thinking about it!

[JimAOk1945]

The only issue now is we just got off the Explorer where we received a great deal on an OS, Wow! Definitely won't be booking an OS all the time but we will be thinking about it!

 

You will enjoy being in an OS. We had one last December and will be in one next week. It's wonderful! The link below will take you to a slide show which includes our OS, if you're interested in seeing pictures.

 

http://nancysoasis.com/2012OS/2012OS.html

Edited December 14, 2013 by JimAOk1945

[amarantha7]

Uh oh, I was afraid you'd say getting spoiled was true!

 

We booked a GS for our February cruise on Adventure, due to a similar situation. My husband's company got sold a couple of months ago and he got a buy-out for the stocks he owned, so we had extra to spend. I already know I'm completely spoiled for a non-balcony room, having now done the balcony. An inside stateroom was perfectly fine on our first cruise! Funny how we won't settle now.

 

Thank you for your review, including the perks and the general concierge experience!

[Colorado Babe]

You were absolutely right.

 

The wife and I worked extra hard this year as we'd both received promotions with increased work responsibilities, so we decided to kick up the luxury a notch (while we left the kids behind with grandparents).

 

So we booked GS 1034 for the 12/7 5-night sailing of Brilliance of the Seas.

 

Best. Cruise. Ever.

 

For starters, Brilliance is a beautiful ship, and is now my favorite of the 4 RCI ships we've been on so far. When we got to the room, the GS felt so luxurious. The large room, the extra large balcony, the large bathroom with two sinks and tub, the large closets. Just WOW. It was a large step up, as previously we'd had exterior view, balcony and a JS... and we shared the JS with the kids so it felt cramped.

 

The basket of fruit is a nice touch, as we used to always run up to the Windjammer and bring fruit back to the room. Saved us several trips.

 

On the third night, we even ordered from the MDR for dinner and ate on the balcony. We served ourselves in courses as if we were the waiters. :) Tiramisu and a cup of coffee watching and listening to the waves was so relaxing afterward.

 

Our suite attendant Ito was always friendly in the hallway, kept us with clean wine glasses for the bottles of wine we brought, and always managed to get the room cleaned quickly while we were out, even if we forgot to put the card in the door, which was more often than not. He also took care of getting my suit pressed for formal night, and brought it back exactly when he said he would.

 

For breakfast, we took advantage of the cooked breakfast in Chops once, and the Gold Pass seating in WJ, which was very useful on busy days when it was next to impossible to find a small table, and it just didn't seem right for two people to take over a large table, which I've felt guilty of having to do on past cruises.

 

We enjoyed going to the concierge lounge every evening. The bartenders were friendly and quick to get the drinks out, even when the lounge was busy, which was mainly the first and last nights. They didn't mind if we took the drinks with us to a show or to dinner. They even had Pellegrino, which is my preferred (sparkling) water. One of the bartenders even ran down to Windjammer to get a lemon when my wife requested a French 75 (gin and lemon juice topped of with champagne).

 

Everyone we talked to there was friendly, even though we were by far the youngest couple (and with the fewest cruises) to take advantage of the lounge amenities.

 

The lounge was also a nice place for me to take my tablet and read a book while sipping on a cappuccino from the specialty coffee machine. It was always quiet there during the day.

 

Our concierge was Sascha Strack and he took care of the couple of things we asked about with no issues. He was friendly to talk to in general. And on the morning of disembarkation he walked us down to the exit to leave the ship.

 

The rest of our cruise experience was fairly standard for what we've become used to on RCI. The food was great (although the tomato sauce in the eggplant parmigiana was too salty... my only food complaint), the staff was friendly, the shows were enjoyable, there was plenty to do, including a fun sushi-making lesson in Izumi on the final sea day where we made our lunch.

 

The staff is still getting used to the new drink packages I think. I got the Replenish package, which used the same sticker as the soda package did apparently. So getting Pellegrino in the MDR the first night was a bit of a hassle, but once that was worked out, they had it waiting for me in an ice bucket every night and kept my glass filled. I don't know how much they normally charge for the small bottles of Pellegrino, but I probably drank 3-4 of them with dinner each night in the MDR.

 

Had a similar issue with the fresh OJ in WJ on the first morning. But one of the head waiters informed the OJ server and I got my OJ. He even let me take two glasses at a time, which was nice.

 

We booked the cruise through a TA (first time we've done that). We got an OBC, Spa Credit and were supposed to get champagne for sailaway. Apparently the TA forgot to send the notice before the weekend, but we had a copy of the confirmation on my phone fortunately. Guest services took care of making sure we got our OBC and had a bottle of champagne sent to our suite, and the spa took care of making sure we got our credit there, so it all worked out in the end.

 

All in all, it was a great vacation, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to even a JS now.

 

We had already booked another trip on Brilliance in March around the same time we booked this one. This time we are getting a TS (aft 9656) and bringing along my mother in law and the two girls.

 

Can't wait.

 

Thank you for the review. We'll be sailing on the Brillance in Oce for the NE cruise and plan on upgrading as well to a GS. Once you've been in a GS it is so hard to go back to a boring old balcony. LOL - Only kidding!

[RCI Cruisers 004]

Congratulation, and welcome to the suite life. We upgraded several cruises ago and now book either a GS or OS. Like you, we can never go back ! We usually sail on Freedom, and love going o Portifino's for a full breakfast, or getting a cabana at Labadee on Barefoot Beach ! It is expensive, but its the only way to cruise !

[bermo84]

We have booked a GS on Radiance next month and I'm trying to work out drinks packages. Is the coffee machine in the lounge available all the time or just in the evening?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ladysilver]

I really enjoyed reading your review. We'll have our first suite on our next cruise. Finally taking the plunge. :D

[nolesrule]

We have booked a GS on Radiance next month and I'm trying to work out drinks packages. Is the coffee machine in the lounge available all the time or just in the evening?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

It's available all the time since the lounge is open 24/7... as long as the machine is working and has enough coffee beans in it, which it was for us, but I've read other threads on here where on some ships it wasn't always working.

[susie2shoes]

We have booked a GS on Radiance next month and I'm trying to work out drinks packages. Is the coffee machine in the lounge available all the time or just in the evening?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Bermo84 we are also from Perth and on your cruise. There is a roll call for our cruise in the roll call section and we have enough people for the meet and mingle. Come join us on the roll call.

[Iluvcruising2]

Congrats on your promotions.

 

I hope you keep getting promoted and very soon, you'll only be sailing in OS and above. :):)

[chadbeck]

Oh, from a personal standpoint, I assume "nolesrule" is a Fla. State fan. Congrats on a great season. But as a die hard Auburn fan all I can say come Jan. 6 BCS Championship is

GO AUBURN... WAR EAGLE! :)

 

Not a fan of either team but as a football fan that should be a great game to watch. I think FSU is a better team but something about Auburn this year. Sometimes its just meant to be. Sorry for the brief hijack.

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for the great review, I would love to have a GS someday. I had the eggplant parmigiana on Legend and that was one of the few dishes I didn't care for also due to the sauce. I think they need to update that recipe. I could send them my mother's recipe. :p

[CCCCreg]

How much do you tip the concierge?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[jo24]

Hi

 

Brilliant review and I agree with everyone else... it is sooo hard to go back from a suite!

 

My first ever cruise was in a GS last November - spoilt doesn't cover it! When I then went in May, there was no other option but a GS even though I was travelling alone :/ Roll on 12 weeks from that for a birthday treat and I just could not cover the cost of a GS (single traveller again) so I had an Oceanview (F). Not only did I miss the perks of the gold card but I missed being able to order full DR menu in room.

 

Next cruise now booked for IOS TA in November 2014... Back to a GS :D Can't wait!!

 

Jo :)