Brilliance of the seas review, march 5th-9th 2015 cozumel, mexico

[manders175]

Hello All!

 

I just returned home from my sailing on Brilliance of the Seas for the 4 night Cozumel trip out of Tampa, Florida. I'll be trying my hand at a review, but please bear with me as this was my first cruise and first review.

 

Any questions feel free to ask and I hope you all enjoy!

 

Amanda

[manders175]

My bf and I left the day before on March 4th from the Akron Canton Airport arriving in Tampa around 4pm. We chose to stay at the Best Western Bay Harbor Hotel. It was a nice little area with 2 restaurants close by and was a nice place to stay for the night.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2015 by manders175
Can't post pics right

[hancogran]

Looking forward to reading your review. We are sailing on Brilliance in May and we've also booked four nights at the Bay Harbor Best Western so I'm anxious to read how your cruise was. :) Thanks for doing the review,

[flpenguin]

We are sailing on March 23 so very interested in hearing how everything went. Reviews have been mixed but we are excited to try the brilliance. We've never sailed out of tampa either-usually port Canaveral or Ft. Lauderdale

[manders175]

OK let's try this again. I finally figured out my picture problems so here we go. My bf and I left the day before on March 4th from the Akron Canton Airport arriving in Tampa around 4pm. We chose to stay at the Best Western Bay Harbor Hotel. It was a nice little area with 2 restaurants close by and was a nice place to stay for the night.

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

Cruise Day!! We left the hotel bright and early because we wanted to get on the ship to do some exploring before everyone got on board. We checked out of the hotel about 9:30 and called a taxi thinking it would take some time and then the 20 minute or so drive to the port.

 

The taxi actually showed up less than 10 minutes later and whisked us away!! We got to the port about a quarter after 10am. Luckily, the porters were already taking bags and they had started the check in process which we got through in about 10 minutes. We tried to walk up to the counter without filling out our health forms (because we didn't know we had to do that), but quickly were given our Sea Pass cards and went to the lobby to sit and wait to board.

 

They started letting us on about 20 til 11 and off we went!!

 

 

Heading on to the gangway:

[kadun]

I'm so excited for this review! We are sailing on the Brilliance on April 25th and we can't wait! I haven't seen a lot of pictures so I can't wait to see yours :) Thanks for doing this!

[manders175]

So after you step foot on the Brilliance you go through another check in point where they take your picture and digitally attach your pic to the Sea Pass card. That way every time you swipe your card your pic shows up for them to verify who you are. Once that is done you are free to start exploring the ship.

 

Just an FYI to new cruisers state rooms are not available until 1pm so they tell you to head up to the Windjammer Café, which is buffet style, as that is the only place open for lunch.

 

To get to the windjammer from the elevators you go up to deck 11, and have to walk through the Solarium (the indoor adults only pool, where you can also find the Park Café), then out past the outdoor pool, and then to the Windjammer.

 

Here are a few pics of the indoor and outdoor pools.

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

We arrived at the windjammer about 10 minutes before they even opened, so we had a seat at one of the tables and waited for them to open. They did have an area open that you could get water or coffee set up called Thirst Quenchers.

 

At 11 they opened up and we were one of the first one's in so we were able to get our food quickly. There is also a counter where there are pre filled glasses of water, tea, and lemonade that are free for the taking.

 

There are tables inside the windjammer to sit but I wanted to try out an area I read about here on CC so if you go to the back of the windjammer you'll see there are tables on the other side of the sliding glass door. You can keep going all the way to the back of the boat. This became our favorite place to eat when we ate there as it was so quiet and gave you great views.

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

After lunch we decided to do a little exploring. We decided to go down to the ground floor of the Centrum which is on deck 4. On this day they were selling drink packages there as well as giving you the souvenir cups for soda portion of the packages. If you bought your packages ahead of time, you will have your souvenir cup waiting for you in your stateroom when you get there. There is a bar there as well called the R bar, and a stage for live music which will be going on at various times during the cruise. If you need to see guest services or sign up for your shore excursions those desks are in the Centrum on Deck 4 as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and wonderful photo's. Looking foward to more..:)

[manders175]

Next we moved up to Deck 5. I will back track and say the Minstrel Dining Room is on Deck 4 and Deck 5. If you have assigned seating(early or late seating), you go in to the dining room on deck 4. If you have My Time Dining you enter on Deck 5. We had My Time Dining so we were on Deck 5 every night. Basically when you get there, they ask you for your state room number and check you off in the computer. On the first night they will ask you if you mind sharing tables. We shared every night but one. You can ask for tables for 2, but sometimes you have to wait for one of those tables. We actually enjoyed meeting new people and talking with them.

 

 

 

[manders175]

Coming back out of the dining room on Deck 5, you are back out at the Centrum. The coffee stand Cafe-Lattetudes is here, as well as open areas for sitting. On the other side of the Café you will find the entrance for the Shops of the Centrum. I apologize I only got one photo of the Shops. You will find many stores there that always have some type of sales going on. The store called "The Shop" is where you will find the things you may have forgotten such as medicine, lotion, aloe, batteries, as well as souvenirs. There is a duty free shop there, jewelry sales, and make up/purse sales in other shops as well.

 

Once you pass thru the shops you will make it to the Photo Studios where you can find all the pictures that have been taken during your cruise. On the other side of the photo studio is the Pacifica Theatre. The theatre can be found on Deck 5 as well as the upper levels on Deck 6. We did go to a few shows there so more pics will be posted later. Sorry some of them came out a little blurry.

 

 

 

[LEtue]

Thanks for adding the pictures.

 

We sail on April 20 :D

[manders175]

We next went to Deck 6. We started by going through the Casino Royale. It's a pretty decent sized Casino. There is a bar there and smoking is allowed, and if the casino is busy you will smell the smoke.

 

Past the casino you will come to the King and Country Pub. We didn't really spend any time in here, but I love the ambiance. They do have a few beer tastings here and also some "napkin artistry" classes here if you are interested.

 

Next you will find the cinema, which is free of charge and shows movies daily. Also you will find the Deck 6 entrance for the Pacifica Theatre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

Here are 2 quick pics from the Cinema...

 

 

[shipshape sam]

Sailed Brilliance in January and ready to sail again. Thanks for pics!

[TheInnocentAge]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review. We're sailing on the Brilliance a month from today.

[manders175]

Thanks for the comments. I know how I loved reading about the ship before the cruise too. Brilliance isn't one reviewed often.

 

If you head back out of the casino to the centrum and go the other way towards the back of the boat you will find some of the specialty restaurants as well as Next Cruise, where you can book your next cruise while on the ship.

 

The first thing you come to will be the Schooner Bar. This is a great place to hear live music from the piano, grab a drink at the bar and just relax. The piano player for us was Manda Vincent. We got the opportunity to hear her later in the cruise and she was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheInnocentAge]

The first thing you come to will be the Schooner Bar. This is a great place to hear live music from the piano, grab a drink at the bar and just relax.

 

We like the Schooner as well. We've been on the Allure and the Vision recently, and the Schooner Bar was a frequent stop for us. How were the bartenders there on your cruise? Any greats ones in particular that stood out? I know that sometimes they rotate to a different bar on the ship every so often, but just wanted to check since we'll be sailing soon.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 11, 2015 by TheInnocentAge

[manders175]

Just past the restaurants and the Schooner Bar you will come to the Colony Club. I will review this place later as we went to "The Quest" game show on the last night of the cruise and that was hilarious.

 

After checking out Deck 6 we decided to go back out to the pool and have a drink while waiting for our stateroom to be available. Since we got to port so early we were hoping our luggage would be outside our door when we got there too.

 

So back out to the pool we went. It was starting to fill up and people were getting drinks and getting in the pool. A tip for anyone who wants to swim before your stateroom is ready, I would either put on your suit under your clothes or put it in your carry on so you can change when you get on board.

 

There are 2 bars out by the area. The pool bar on deck 11 and the Sky bar on 12. The Brilliance of the Seas plaque hangs right above the pool bar.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2015 by manders175

[manders175]

We like the Schooner as well. We've been on the Allure and the Vision recently, and the Schooner Bar was a frequent stop for us. How were the bartenders there on your cruise? Any greats ones in particular that stood out? I know that sometimes they rotate to a different bar on the ship every so often, but just wanted to check since we'll be sailing soon.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

The bartenders were pretty good. We had one girl the first day at the R bar that was talking on a cell phone the whole time she was making my drink. Other than that they were pretty quick and efficient and we never really had to wait for a drink except when we were in the Minstrel Dining room actually. Some of the assistant waiters seemed pretty overwhelmed and it took some time to get drinks. We never really hung out at the bars much so I'm sorry to say didn't really get to know any bartenders very well.

[manders175]

Shortly after getting our drink they made the announcement that our staterooms were ready so we made our way to the elevators. We decided to hop on the glass outside elevators and jump up to Deck 13 really quickly to see the statues at the top. The glass elevators are amazing and you can great views of the sea while getting where you need to go.

 

 

Also up on Deck 13 is the Starquest Night Club, which I will post pics about a little later. Also up there are the Viking Crown Lounge, Diamond Club, and Concierge Club which I could not get in too.

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

Our stateroom was on the 4th floor. We had an indoor room, 4549. We weren't in our room all that much so no need for a bigger room. I think if we go on a longer cruise we will prob opt for the balcony as some nights I'm sure we will want to just sit outside in the quiet and relax.

 

As others have previously reported the showers are on the small side with the shower curtains. Some suggest putting clothes pins or clips on the bottom of the curtain to keep it from touching you. We never put those on the curtain but I never had a problem with it sticking to me.

 

One thing I would recommend is putting the towel down on the floor right outside the shower as we frequently had wet floors after the shower.

 

 

 

 

[manders175]

We hung out in our room for a little bit until the alarm sounded for muster drill. Your muster station is printed on your Sea Pass card. A map to get to your muster station is on your stateroom door or you can just ask one of the many crew along the way.

 

If you've never been on a cruise before the muster drill is basically a safety drill that you are required to participate in. You really don't have to do anything but stand there, they just give you instructions on what to do in an emergency. But they won't let everyone go until you are all checked in an accounted for, so no trying to skip! :)

 

After the muster drill it's time for the Sail Away party!! Dance music at the pool with line dancing going on, bars in full swing, and everyone on the upper decks watching us leaving port.

 

My favorite part though is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which is about 1 1/2 - 2hours after you leave port. Only a 15 foot clearance at the highest point on the ship per the captain. The link is my youtube video of going under the bridge.