Brilliance OTS Oct 5th- Canada & New England Review (Lengthy & Photo Filled)

[crvng4mr]

I am subscribed! So excited for your review and your little boy is absolutely adorable!!!! Off to read your other reviews.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We ate at Pizzaria Uno. No great shakes, but it was something to eat. We headed over to the T station at Harvard and took the Red Line back to Downtown Crossing. There was a guitarist in the subway playing a pretty good rendition of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. He played it once normal and then changed up the lyrics to “Have you ever seen the train, coming down the subway tracks” I got a good laugh out of that. At this point, this family needed a nap!

 

We slept for 2 hours, all three of us! We woke up around 4ish and my next plan was to explore Boston Common, a few steps from the hotel. So we freshened up and headed back out. The sky was looking pretty miserable at this point but I had a mission and no amount of drizzle was going to get in my way. As soon as we stepped foot in the park, the skies opened up and it rained. We walked through the rain and paused every once and a while to snap a photo. We walked through the main area, then crossed Charles Street to the side with the ducks and gardens. I wanted to find the “Make Way for Ducklings” area. It started raining even harder at this point. We saw a shelter that is used for the Swan Boats and hid under there. A band was playing (violin, keyboard, etc). At first I thought it was odd. Then I spotted this cute couple under the shelter snuggling. The girl had a huge grin on her face and she swayed along with the music. All of a sudden the guy asked her to marry him! He had asked the band to be there and play her favorite song. It was sweet, he probably didn’t plan for the downpour, but she was still overjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2014 by smileyperry

[AlexanderBeetle]

This is definitely one of the cruises my wife and I are planning in the coming years. Glad you are doing the review!

[anandaindonesia]

Following. Enjoy seeing the fall photos.

Thank you for sharing.

 

Sent via TapaTalk. Sorry for typo.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Once the rain let up a bit, we continued on our journey through the park. We walked over the bridge and toward the garden area. Then we headed over to Beacon Street. I wanted a photo op by the Cheers bar. Thankfully it’s right on the edge of the park, so we snapped a few photos then headed back in to the park toward “Make Way for Ducklings.” I had finally found it, in the corner of the park by Beacon Street and Charles St. My son loved petting and sitting on the bronze statues. We spent a good 20 minutes there letting him run around.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

At this point my husband said that we should probably find dinner. The sun was starting to set and it was still a bit damp outside. We walked for a while stopping in to a few places to check out the menus. Again, we wanted something easy and kid friendly. I do not have a reputation of being easy when it comes to picking a place for dinner. My husband gets annoyed with me when we want to go out. I either know exactly what I want or I say “no” and “I don’t know” to every option my husband names. So we wandered through the theater district toward our hotel.

 

 

We decided to ask the concierge about a few places. He recommended a couple places but let us know that there would be a significant wait because it was Saturday night. He also said that we were more than welcome to eat in the Hyatt restaurant. I asked if we were dressed okay or it we needed to go upstairs to change. He said we were dressed fine!

 

In we went to Avenue One. The hostess did not seem too happy to seat us. Maybe it was because we weren’t “dressed up” or maybe because my son was with us. Everyone in the restaurant was dressed nicely. We felt very out of place. We requested seats in the middle because there were big chairs and we figured my son would be confined in one and cooperate a little better. Unfortunately I was tired at this point and didn’t take any pictures of the restaurant area. I grabbed a photo off of Google, hopefully I don’t get in trouble for that…

 

 

My son, very quickly, began to act up. Our food took forever. By the time it arrived my son was near meltdown. I took him to run around upstairs in the meetings room lobby (it was empty) while my husband ate his sandwich. Then I came down, my husband took our son up to the room, and I ate my meal.

 

My husband and I both ordered the “Chicken Cuban.” Now we are from south Florida, I don’t know why we thought we would get a good Cuban sandwich in Boston. It was bad. A Cuban sandwich usually consists of Cuban bread, yellow mustard, ham, and pickles. THIS Cuban had ham, chicken, Dijon mustard, and no pickle. The chicken was VERY thick (think an entire breast). I give them credit for trying but it really failed miserably! We ordered the Gluten Free chicken fingers for my son. No, we don’t keep gluten free, but that was the menu option. Everything on the kids menu was very healthy. Fries were not a side option, instead they offered broccoli or carrot sticks. I liked that!

 

That ended our Saturday night!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Our original plan for Sunday was to sleep in a little, grab breakfast, check out, drop our bags at the port, head over to the Boston tea Party Ships & Museum, then board the Brilliance. The Best Laid Plans of Mice & Men Often Go Awry…

 

We slept in for a bit. I called the front desk to find out what time we had to check out. I was pleasantly surprised to hear NOON! That was great. We left our bags in the room and headed off to the other restaurant that the concierge has mentioned for breakfast. Elephant & Castle. It was less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It was a cute pub style establishment, but very clean. We had a nice hearty breakfast there. I was looking through their dinner menu and decided that we should have eaten dinner there the previous night. Lots of yummy dishes. I would have ordered the Shepherd’s Pie. Service was good, food was good, and our son cooperated!! I could not ask for anything more.

 

 

Back to the hotel we went. Gathered up our bags. Check out. Hopped in a cab to the port. Upon arrival to the port I kept thinking, “Wow, this is really industrial!” We unloaded our bags and I began to search for a place to get luggage tags. You may notice an ambulance in the photo. We later saw that the elevator inside the termindal was stuck between floors. I am thinking someone was in there! Now I am going to step away from my review for a moment to tell you a little bit about what happened the week leading up to our cruise. Yes, it’s related.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2014 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Exactly one week before the cruise my Crown & Anchor account was deleted. I was able to get it straightened out. If you’re interested in the details you can view my panic post here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2107793

 

 

Then four days before the cruise I received a call from Royal offering me a complimentary upgrade. We were originally booked in a Cat G Oceanview. 3606. They offered me E3. 7646. I checked a deck plan and accepted it. There were staterooms above us, no big deal. Yay. Happy news. An hour or two later I get a call from Royal stating that if I do not pay my $700 balance by 5pm, my reservation will be cancelled. I freak out. After an hour on the phone, they fixed the problem. The person who upgraded us must have made a mistake. Thankfully the reservation was noted with the info and we still had the free upgrade.

 

Now at this point I did not have luggage tags for the new room. My docs/set sail pass updated with the new room, but not the tags. No biggie. We’d do it at the port. Which leads to more problems.

 

Back to my review…

[AlexanderBeetle]

Thankfully it’s right on the edge of the park, so we snapped a few photos then headed back in to the park toward “Make Way for Ducklings.” I had finally found it, in the corner of the park by Beacon Street and Charles St. My son loved petting and sitting on the bronze statues. We spent a good 20 minutes there letting him run around.

 

We love those McCloskey books. That, along with Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine are family favorites.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

So we get out of the taxi. Unload our bags. Immediately a police officer tells us we need to clear the area. He points me in the direction of a line of people and a lady who works for the port. We head over that way. They woman throws her arm in my face and yells “Stop! Where are you going?” I explained that the officer told us to take our bags (3 suitcases, a car seat, stroller, a diaper bag, and 2 backpacks) over in this direction. I also explained that I needed luggage tags. Her response was “Only people with luggage tags can pass this line.” So I ask where I can get luggage tags. She says “Not here.” Okay. Thanks for being specific lady…

 

So I walk back in the direction I came from and asked a baggage handler. He tells me that there is a booth, behind the lady who had just yelled at me, where I can get tags. So I turn around again and walk toward the booth. The woman stops me again and berates me for trying to go past her. She muttered something about me not listening and being young and stupid, then asks me if this was my first cruise ever. I didn’t even respond to her. I walked right past her to the booth. Of course she is yelling at me the entire time that I walk away from her.

 

We get our tags from the guy at the booth. I asked him where I need to go from there. He tells me to have a baggage handler take my bags. Okay, so I walk over to the curb area. Mean lady yells at me again. “What are you doing, where are you going? You can’t go there with bags!” Ahhhh! I finally turned to her and said “You tell me I can’t go here. You tell me I can’t go there. Where would you like me to go? You don’t seem to know what you are doing and you work here. So who is the stupid one?” I generally don’t lose my cool with people, but this woman was just plain irritating and rude to me from the beginning. A baggage handler took our bags right after that. As I walked away from the chaos, two other guests came up to me and said she did the same thing to them. Okay, so I wasn’t the only person, phew!

 

As it turns out, I was supposed to wait in a line for the next available baggage handler to take our bags. The line was very long too. I felt really bad for essentially cutting the line. But between being yelled at and told I cant do this or that I wasn’t able to concentrate! Maybe she should have told me I needed to wait in a line instead of yelling "no. no. no." at everything and everyone.

Edited October 15, 2014 by smileyperry

[kirian]

 

Ahhhh! I finally turned to her and said “You tell me I can’t go here. You tell me I can’t go there. Where would you like me to go? You don’t seem to know what you are doing and you work here. So who is the stupid one?” I generally don’t lose my cool with people, but this woman was just plain irritating and rude to me from the beginning. A baggage handler took our bags right after that. As I walked away from the chaos, two other guests came up to me and said she did the same thing to them. Okay, so I wasn’t the only person, phew!

 

 

First off, I am absolutely loving your review (although it is keeping me away from writing up the next installment on my review which is already past due :eek::p) You have a lovely family and I can't wait to read about your adventure and see lots of photos.

 

Secondly, I positively LOVE what you said to the "mean lady." Like you, I'm not one to lose my cool (very often) or be confrontational, but in this case, this nasty person got exactly what she deserved. Seriously, people like that just need to work in a big, dark warehouse putting barcode stickers on things... not in a job that involves dealing with people.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Melissa

[JBSteelerfan]

So we get out of the taxi. Unload our bags. Immediately a police officer tells us we need to clear the area. He points me in the direction of a line of people and a lady who works for the port. We head over that way. They woman throws her arm in my face and yells “Stop! Where are you going?” I explained that the officer told us to take our bags (3 suitcases, a car seat, stroller, a diaper bag, and 2 backpacks) over in this direction. I also explained that I needed luggage tags. Her response was “Only people with luggage tags can pass this line.” So I ask where I can get luggage tags. She says “Not here.” Okay. Thanks for being specific lady…

 

So I walk back in the direction I came from and asked a baggage handler. He tells me that there is a booth, behind the lady who had just yelled at me, where I can get tags. So I turn around again and walk toward the booth. The woman stops me again and berates me for trying to go past her. She muttered something about me not listening and being young and stupid, then asks me if this was my first cruise ever. I didn’t even respond to her. I walked right past her to the booth. Of course she is yelling at me the entire time that I walk away from her.

 

We get our tags from the guy at the booth. I asked him where I need to go from there. He tells me to have a baggage handler take my bags. Okay, so I walk over to the curb area. Mean lady yells at me again. “What are you doing, where are you going? You can’t go there with bags!” Ahhhh! I finally turned to her and said “You tell me I can’t go here. You tell me I can’t go there. Where would you like me to go? You don’t seem to know what you are doing and you work here. So who is the stupid one?” I generally don’t lose my cool with people, but this woman was just plain irritating and rude to me from the beginning. A baggage handler took our bags right after that. As I walked away from the chaos, two other guests came up to me and said she did the same thing to them. Okay, so I wasn’t the only person, phew!

 

As it turns out, I was supposed to wait in a line for the next available baggage handler to take our bags. The line was very long too. I felt really bad for essentially cutting the line. But between being yelled at and told I cant do this or that I wasn’t able to concentrate! Maybe she should have told me I needed to wait in a line instead of yelling "no. no. no." at everything and everyone.

 

Did you happen to notice if her name was Jean, by any chance?? There was a review a couple of weeks ago about "General Jean" yelling at people in the terminal, and not letting people board the ship when it was there time. Sounds like a real friendly kinda gal!!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Did you happen to notice if her name was Jean, by any chance?? There was a review a couple of weeks ago about "General Jean" yelling at people in the terminal, and not letting people board the ship when it was there time. Sounds like a real friendly kinda gal!!

 

OMG, I read that review right before I left and I remember General Jean!! That may have been her. She was just awful!!! Just wait, I encounter her again before getting on the ship!

Edited October 15, 2014 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

So next on my agenda was to walk over to the Silver Line. Something made me believe it was a subway, but no, it’s the bus. We planned to take it to the Courthouse and then walk to the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. So we get to the bus stop. I am digging around for my Charlie Card. I can’t find it anywhere. The bus arrives and all I have is a $20. The driver says we won’t get change back. So I walked off the bus. I think the encounter back at the curb-side check-in rattled my brain. I was frustrated. So I told my husband I want this trip to start on a good note and so far, nothing is going right this morning. We decided to skip the ship & museum and just get on the ship. There is a certain comfort for me once I get on the ship. I’ve made it. We’re here. Time to be happy!

 

So we walk back over to the terminal and ask where an elevator is because we have a stroller. Meanie Weanie comes over and barks at us that “they aren’t even boarding yet” and to hold my horses. The cop I was originally speaking with pointed us in the direction of the elevators. We were on the ship in under 10 minutes. So much for “not boarding yet.” So we finally boarded the ship and, of course, headed to the Windjammer. This would become a second home for us this week. It was crowded as expected, so we headed for the aft open-air seating. The only table open was a 6-seater. We took it because the little guy was getting hungry and I didn't want to push his limits.

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

After eating lunch we decided to walk around the ship so I could take all my pictures. My final count from this trip was about 1200, so I’ll spare you the torture. I will posts photos of the ship based on events that we attended or other things I will mention. After touring around we decided to stop in to the Nursery/ Adventure Ocean to register our son. We peeked in to the Royal Babies & Tots Nursery and then went around the corner in to the Adventure Ocean area to get him set up.

 

It appears to me that each ship gets to make it’s own hours for the nursery. On Enchantment they varied between “Drop Off” and “Open Play” throughout the day. On this cruise there were no “drop off” times during the day, only nights. I have provided a photo of the hours in case anyone is interested. Later in the cruise I had asked one of the nursery staff members why and she said that they get very few children on the ship until it gets down to Tampa. There were exactly 20 souls under the age of 18 on this specific voyage. Five of which were in my son’s age group. He was the ONLY baby/tot that ever used the nursery. Both drop off and open play! We saw the other babies and toddlers throughout the week. Three of them didn’t even know there was a program for the under 3 crowd.

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Next stop was to check out our stateroom. As I mentioned before we were in 7646, an E3 Balcony. Aft Port. Connected to the room next door. These are listed as 25% obstructed. The obstruction is the lifeboat canopy. It is at foot level and blocks your view of looking straight down at the water. No big deal to us, we generally book insides or oceanview. The only time we have had balconies is when it was a freebie or amazing deal. Our bags were already at the door. We unpacked, with plenty of space for 2 adults + child. His car seat fit in the closet on top of my large suitcase. Our other two suitcases fit under the bed. The stroller set against the wall at the foot of the bed, just enough space for us to squeeze through. Then we all took a nap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2014 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

After nap time we had to go to the muster drill. It was uneventful. Once the captain dismissed everyone we decided to walk around the promenade deck then made out way to deck 12 to walk and check out the sail away party action. It was the calmest sail away I’ve ever seen. It was really pretty outside. We spent a good 2 hours walking the decks between muster and a significant portion of sail away.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2014 by smileyperry

[catwoman6226]

Count me as another who is thoroughly enjoying your detailed review, and all the pictures!

 

We're cruising on Brilliance out of Tampa for New Year's, and I can't wait. We also have a balcony cabin on deck 7, but closer to the front, and on the starboard side, so I particularly enjoyed the pictures you took showing the view from the balcony. As long as we can look out and see water (and seriously, on this class, where can't you look out and see water!?) we'll have a great view.

 

So, thank you for the review, and for sharing your moment with the mean lady. I got a big kick out of your response to her.

 

Finally, well done for introducing your son to Make Way for Ducklings! I have such fond memories of my mother reading that to me when I was small.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

We're cruising on Brilliance out of Tampa for New Year's, and I can't wait. We also have a balcony cabin on deck 7, but closer to the front, and on the starboard side, so I particularly enjoyed the pictures you took showing the view from the balcony. As long as we can look out and see water (and seriously, on this class, where can't you look out and see water!?) we'll have a great view.

 

Fortunately you are forward. We had issues with our room that I will get to soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Iamthesea]

I may have missed it, but where did your darling little boy sleep? I don't see any room for a Pack n Play.

 

I have an 18 month old grandson. Thank you for showing photos of the nursery and playroom. It looks much better than I had imagined.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Iamthesea

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I may have missed it, but where did your darling little boy sleep? I don't see any room for a Pack n Play.

 

 

 

I have an 18 month old grandson. Thank you for showing photos of the nursery and playroom. It looks much better than I had imagined.

 

 

When we arrived in our room they had not set the pack and play up yet. Our original reservation was noted for a crib, but when we were moved/ upgraded it somehow dropped off.

 

We had to call housekeeping to ask for it. When I get further in to my review I'll post pictures and talk more about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Iamthesea]

Thank you! ;)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Before going on this cruise we had decided we were going to skip the Main Dining Room completely. This was new to us. We always did MDR and in recent years MTD specifically. We chose MTD when making the booking but knew we would not be showing up, so I didn't make specific time reservations. What I was not aware of was that the buffet does not open for dinner until 6:30pm. I found that to be a bit late for casual dining. I understand that the buffet is not nearly as busy as the dining room or specialty restaurants. We waited it out anyway. We killed time by playing with sugar packets in the covered outdoor section of the Windjammer. Don’t worry we kept those sugar packets to use daily for entertainment pre-dinner.

 

 

 

The Windjammer staff greets you as they open the doors. I noticed that they were very adamant about using sanitizer. The hostess watched each person come in and If they did not sanitize, she would approach them with a bottle of it and tell them again. We decided to choose a table all the way to the left by the “Suite” reserved section of the buffet. No we didn’t go in there, we just sat near it. Over the course we of the week we saw, maybe, two people go in the suite room. The rest of the Windjammer wasn't very full either. There was a steady stream of people dining there, but we never had to worry about finding a table.

 

 

 

On this evening we met Lucian. He is from Romania. Great guy! We decided to sit in his section every night because he knew exactly what we wanted, 2 waters, 1 lemonade, and 1 whole milk. When he saw us coming in each night he would make a motion of drinking, we would nod, and he'd bring those same drinks to us. He played with our son and chatted with us each night.

 

I could tell he was young, but had no idea HOW young he really was! He is new to cruising. He just turned 21. The minimum age is 21, but they allowed him on the ship a few months before his 21st birthday because his mom also works on the ship. He said she has a "good job" onboard. When we inquired, he said that she works on "Deck 10." I had to ask what that meant and he said she is a Suite Attendant. So that must be one of the more coveted jobs as far as crew go (not staff). My husband asked him if people picked on him for being so young, Lucian's response was "Nobody picks on the guy who's mom is on the ship!" We laughed at that!

 

I am sorry that I didn't get a picture of Lucian and my son. They became great buddies over the week. Lucian even took my son for a walk on a few nights to go get a cookie from the buffet. I think he'll make a great dad one day.

 

PS: My son doesn't eat cookies, ice cream, etc at home. However on vacation we allow a little splurge because it's VACATION!

Edited October 16, 2014 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I was really impressed with the spread. We had tried eating at the buffet for dinner on Carnival and it was very limited, ¾ of their buffet was closed at night. Not on Royal Caribbean (another reason why we like RC as our preferred line). Every night there was a pizza station where you could make your own. A stir fry station, which I have to say was MUCH better than the one offered on Carnival. It didn’t have that yucky fried oil taste to it. There was actual flavor and a larger variety of veggies to add.

 

One section always had a theme, Greek, Italian, Indian, Caribbean, etc. It changed each night. Then there was a carving station with meat and a daily fish. French fries, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed veggies, and twice-baked potatoes were available every night as well. There were a few other items that I don’t remember that were always there as well. As far as desserts go, there was fruit, cheeses, cookies, cakes, warm treats (bread pudding), and a sundae bar every night!

 

 

 

 

I felt liberated all week long. I didn't have to fuss with getting myself and my son dressed nicely just to eat dinner. Now I'm not saying we went in looking like slobs. We did not. We just felt so much more relaxed eating at the buffet and not fussing with our hair or clothes. It was also a lot easier to deal with my son for 20-30 minutes vs the 1-2 hour affair of the MDR.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We headed back to our room to find that the pack n play had been set up for us. We made a bag for my son with diapers, wipes, his monkey blanket (attachment toy), a snack, and water in his sippy cup. We brought him up to the nursery. We were going to attempt to leave him in their care for an hour or two so we could spend some time together. Nikki (Nicolita from Croatia) and Chelsea (from Kansas) were there. We signed him in and they gave us a cell phone. I wish I had taken a picture of it as it’s not a smart phone, just a late 90s/ early 2000s cell phone called a Dect Phone. It uses the ship’s signal and can only call other locations on the ship.

 

We handed our son’s bag over to the ladies and then they opened the gate for my son to go in. He ran toward the toys, but as soon as he saw the gate close behind him he began to cry. My son has had a regression of sorts.

 

I was able to stay home with him from birth to 5 ½ months old. I was a teacher. I took my FMLA leave combined with summer vacation. At the end of summer I returned to my job, teaching 5th grade gifted and high achieving students. It was the most difficult year of my life. To drop my son off at daycare at 6am and pick him up at 3:30 was not what I had envisioned motherhood to be like. I was constantly being asked to stay for evening events at my school. I was asked to complete extra responsibilities that took away from my time at night with my son. I stuck it out for the entire school year. However I chose to leave my position this past June to stay home with my son. Financially we were in a better position at that point where I could stay home. I can’t get these years back. I am thankful every day that I have this opportunity and my heart goes out to all the working moms out there. It’s not easy.

 

So at 15 months old I started my life as a stay at home mom. Within a month my son became attached to me. It was difficult to leave him with anyone because he’d cry. In the middle of August I started sending him to a Parents Morning Out program for 2 hours once a week. We knew this would be a challenge on the cruise and we wanted to prepare him for it.

 

About 20 minutes after dropping him off the cell phone rang. It was Nikki, she said that they gave him his monkey and a snack and he stopped crying. He was being a little wimper-y but doing just fine and that we should enjoy our evening. I appreciated that she called to let us know he did finally calm down.

 

Edited October 16, 2014 by smileyperry