My Trip Report: Brilliance of the Seas (12 night Baltic, May 18 2015)

[Priusprof]

Helsinki

From where we docked in Helsinki to the middle of downtown was a hike so we purchased shuttle tickets from the ship to mid town. We then walked to the Hard Rock to meet our personal Finnish angel. One of my neighbors hosted a Finnish exchange student last year and so she met us and showed us around town. We visited Parliament and the Opera House. Then we walked down Helsinki's version of the Champs Elysee and had lunch at a very nice Finnish restaurant. Most chose the salmon soup or the braised reindeer. Then we were off to the harbor at the end of the street where there was a street fair and market. Helsinki is the least touristy of all the stops so we were fortunate to have someone to walk us around. The girls shopped and the husbands geo cached. We walked back to the shuttle through a nice park and it was 15 minutes back to the ship. We had a great day and cool, low 50's, temperatures.

Stockholm

We were on our own here as well and we had pre planned the HOHO boat to look around the harbor area. We started with the boat right at the ship and rode it to the second stop. The Gamla Stan is the old city where the winter palace is located. We stopped into the palace briefly and then walked our way through town and saw the sights. After the stop at the Hard Rock we took the metro underground back to the historic area and found a sidewalk cafe for lunch. After lunch some went back to the HOHO boat and toured the rest of the harbor. The best thing to see is the Vassa museum that holds a Swedish warship, built hundreds of years ago, that has been restored over the last thirty years or so. It sank half way across the harbor on the way from the ship yard to the palace on it's maiden sailing. The Skansen Zoo is popular as is a tour to the summer palace. We spent a vacation here many years ago so we had already seen the major sights.No one else in our group was inclined to see these sights so we had an abbreviated day.

Our last stop was scheduled to be Skagen, Denmark but there were 40 kt winds in the harbor and we couldn't safely dock. So we stopped outside the harbor and waited a little while before the captain said it was a no go. We were the first major ship scheduled to stop here and we learned that the city had organized a major welcome for us. There was lots of disappointment on shore when we did not dock.

Other stuff.

There was a time change twice east bound and the same westbound. We changed time the last night on board so there was an extra hour of sleep before getting off the ship. We had two helicopter medivacs during the cruise. One by the Swedish Coast Guard and the second by the Danish Coast Guard. We also turned around and the husband of one of the medical emergency people was tendered off outside Skagens harbor.

We had great weather overall but the prevailing high temps were mid 50's and the lows were in the forties. Any water activity was in the Solarium.

[KingHal]

Thanks for the reviews Priusprof - were you on the May 18th sailing too?

[Priusprof]

Thanks for the reviews Priusprof - were you on the May 18th sailing too?

Yes

[silentbob007]

One quick questions (For now :) )

 

Did the ship change time with the ports or was it always on "ship's time" Trying to make sure I know when to come home!

 

So sorry for not checking in for a long time ....

 

The time changed throughout the cruise so that the ship time was always local time. This was sometimes hard losing an hour a night, though of course you got them back on the return trip. I always double-checked my time with the ship's time and local time. On this particular cruise, they changed time in the early morning hours.

[silentbob007]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the awesome review. I'm with the group leaving mid-July for this cruise. Back to Russia- we are also signed up for the Alla Comfort tour- it looks like you were able to use your credit card there without it being rejected by your bank- correct? Did you pay for other items at shops in Russia with your credit card? Some on our roll call have suggested taking currency with them which can be obtained (in the US) through AAA or from your own bank in advance. Or just from the ship while on board. It seems that needing small change to use public toilets has been brought up as one reason. Was this an issue? Enough restroom stops for those with old cranky prostates?

 

Again sorry for the delay ... hopefully some helpful answers in time for you.

 

We did pay for our tours with a credit card. My dad actually paid for the tours on his USAir (or AA) card. He had told them the dates he would be in Russia and did not have a problem. I used my card at the duty-free shops in the port. I had also told my card company (Barclay) which countries I would be visiting and did not have an issue either.

 

Honestly, I don't think it is worth buying currency before you leave. I never got any local currency besides in London ... the rest was paid in credit (or the 10 euro note I had leftover from my last trip). If you really want cash, I think ATMs are the best way to go (again letting your bank know) ... you won't get taken on the exchange rate and can get a small amount of currency. With so many different currencies, I would think it would be hard to plan out what you would need and then if you don't spend the money you have you either have to keep it or get taken again exchanging it to something else. The ship did have some local currency, but the rates were not that great (but may be better for small amounts).

 

I did see many pay toilets but never used one ... the tours seemed to do well with arranging to stop at places (tourist joints, etc) where you could use the restroom. You'd need to have local cash and spend it (because you'll only receive paper money unless you go to a change) to have the coin to operate the public pay toilets. Every city we stopped at had at least one McDonald's ... the old standby for toilets (sometimes).

[silentbob007]

Hey Bob, great review! Am about to be on this ship (13 days to go, but who's counting) and was wondering what the cocktail options were like. Am particularly a fan of frozen cocktails - did there seem to be a range available?

 

You'll have a blast on the trip I will say one complaint I heard many times was the price of drinks. The drink menus seemed fairly extensive for frozen cocktails, but they were quite spendy ($14/drink?).

[silentbob007]

When tipping the Alla tour guides, did you tip in dollars? Thanks!

 

Yes we did. The Alla website suggested what percentages to pay and since the prices were in dollars, we went ahead and tipped in dollars ... this also goes back to not having much local currency and paying in credit. The dollars were definitely not turned down ... though we did make sure to follow the Russian currency policies when tipping that guide as we wanted to make sure she would be able to make use of the money (no marks, no rips ... clean, crisp bills).

[silentbob007]

Great review with beautiful pictures - just hope we are fortunate to have the beautiful blue skies you had!

 

Question - don't know if I missed it, but when were you off the ship in Harwich, what was immigration like and what train did you take? I want to buy an advance ticket, but what time train??

 

Thanks

 

You didn't miss it ... I've been slow with a move and new job.

 

There are direct trains and one with a change in Manningtree. The direct train was much pricer so we opted for the change.

 

I booked the 9:30 train thinking it would be an easy morning. We were off so quickly that we decided to go ahead and try to grab the 8:30 train even though we had bought an advance ticket because we had been burned by the short connection time and figured we'd rather wait on the platform for an hour for the London train and know we were there. Didn't have a problem doing that (conductor checked our tickets and did not bring up the fact that we were on the wrong train out of Harwich).

 

You could easily make probably any train after 8 even with a leisurely morning barring any unforseen problems.

[silentbob007]

Hello all. We were on this cruise along with Chris and his dad. Just like Chris we did the Brilliance transatlantic from Tampa last year but did not do back to back because DW was not able to take the month of May off. Unlike Chris, I planned this trip in great detail because I booked way in advance and had certain things I wanted to do. We experienced mostly the same things so I would just like to add some differences to what Chris did for perspective. I took pretty much the same pictures that Chris did so I'll not clutter things up with my own pictures.

 

Thanks for jumping in and adding your perspective ... much appreciated.

[silentbob007]

Helsinki, Finland

 

I'm going to admit something right now ... St. Petersburg was the main reason we booked this cruise. I had very little planned for other ports and it will show in this report. It really became a "taste" of a certain city ... we headed off, looked around, and came back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

 

For Helsinki, we got off the ship fairly early and grabbed a HOHO bus (again, two competing lines ... we went with the non-Grey Line one mostly because the bus was departing as we arrived so there was no wait). We paid with credit without issue. There did not seem to be much of a choice of lines for Helsinki ... there was pretty much a single loop. It was about 25 euro per person.

 

Again, we weren't too adventurous. We got off at the stop for the Rock Church and saw the outside of it. However, since we had left so early, it was not open yet. Having seen so many churches this did not feel like a huge loss so we just walked around (and on top) of the church, then headed down to a HOHO stop and continued on. We got out downtown for a bit of a stroll and to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe for a pin. After that, we continued to walk down along the Esplanade to the market area to see what all of the food and craft vendors were selling. There were lots of opportunities to try fresh, local seafood and other cuisine here, but again, it probably 10 AM by that point and frankly we were not hungry. We ended up at Senate Square and got back on a HOHO to return to the ship.

 

A few notes about Helsinki ... there was some duty-free shopping at the pier but not a large amount (perhaps a few cargo containers worth). If you want to do shopping, I would make sure you do it in town. I also thought that where the Brilliance docked was probably further from main sites than most of the other stops. You could walk it if you wanted to spend at least an hour each way, but I would not recommend it unless the weather's great and walking is your thing.

 

Stockholm, Sweden

 

The sail-in and sail-out of Stockholm is pretty neat so I'd suggest either getting up early or spending some pre-dinner time out on the helipad and taking in the views.

 

This was our final Alla tour and probably one of the most expensive we took. Stockholm in general seemed expensive. We were picked up outside the gate (again, the Alla person showed up when they said but well after the other tour groups) and shown to our small bus. Every seat but one was taken in the bus which was a bit uncomfortable at times as it was a bit close (again, not bad, but it felt tight at times). Our guide was very knowledgable about the area and seemed genuine interested in showing us around and answering questions. We had a tour of the city, a picture stop, then headed to the Vasa Museum. Our guide gave us a tour of the museum and then we were given 30 minutes or so of time to explore it on our own. We were then taken to the palace to see the church and the changing of the guard. At that point we were taken on a walking tour of the old city and, at the end, given about an hour of personal time before catching the bus back to the ship.

 

It was a full day even though it may not seem like a lot. I thought that Stockholm had a much better vibe to it than Helsinki, and of the two, I would definitely return to Sweden. Souvenirs by the ship were almost non-existent (one small shop) so trinket hunters should plan to look elsewhere in town.

 

Skagen

 

Unfortunately we were not able to dock here (maiden call) due to gale-force winds. Double unfortunately we had to return to Skagen in those winds to send a life boat ashore for our second (or maybe third) medical evacuation of the trip.

 

As I'm typing this I realize that I have never even pulled my photos after Russia from my camera. Instead of delaying this, I'll post. Photos will be forthcoming.

 

**Editorial comment**

 

This may open me up to some criticism, but I'll post an experience and lesson-learned.

 

After not docking in Skagen, we were in the elevator with a female passenger who was absolutely livid and ranting/raving about Royal Caribbean service. It seems this passenger planned to debark the cruise in Skagen (and I later found out that several different parties had planned to do this) and, of course, the decision not to dock had thrown a wrench into her plans ... especially given it was the last port of call and therefore the last opportunity to get off the ship before the sea day back to England. This passenger was ranting about how RCI would not help her figure out what to do and how to fix the unholy mess this had caused. She never came out and said that she was further enraged that we returned to Skagen for a medical evac but not to let anyone else off, but that thought did cross my mind.

 

A few things ... Wow. What a tough situation to be in. Imagine the money lost for prepaid reservations, other arrangements that need to be made to get back on schedule (assuming it was possible) after the return to Harwich, etc. I sometimes like to plan in convoluted travel (we can do this, get off here, etc) and I think that this will serve as a reminder to me ... what happens if it falls through? Secondly, I have no idea how RCI could be held responsible or accountable for getting this trip patched up. Especially with it being their first trip of the season to the Baltic, I wouldn't even know who onboard would have the expertise of a travel agent to help this passenger out. The concierge (if you had access)? I felt sympathy for the plight and understood that lead to anger ... but then, if I'm getting an earful in the elevator, I felt bad for the poor crew members who must have gotten an earful as well, especially when I'm not sure what they could have done.

[Priusprof]

I second Chris' comment about the sail out from Stockholm. It takes hours of winding through the islands of the archipelago before exiting to the open sea. It's a very scenic journey and we were very glad for our corner aft balcony for this sail away. To view this sailing in would mean getting up in the middle of the night. This dove tails into another day and night subject. This trip takes place so far to the north that there is very little night to be had. I remember one particular day sunrise was at 3:58 AM and sunset was at 10:58 PM. Here in Tampa we are pretty close to the summer solstice and sunrise is 6:35 and sunset is 8:30. It was very difficult judging whether to get out of bed based on the amount of light coming through the drapes.

[Dick and Jane]

Skagen - I'm sorry you were not able to dock at this lovely port. We were here yesterday, and I thought that I would add my viewpoint to your excellent report.

 

The weather truly cooperated with our visit. The sun was shining and it was in the high 60s low 70s. As we left the ship, there was a location renting bicycles right on the pier. For a full day rental, it was $10 or €10 per bike or 100 Kroner for two bikes. With simple instructions on how to exit the port, we rode through the picturesque town and took the well-marked bike lane to Grenen. This is the location where the North Sea meets the Baltic Sea. Keep following the bike/walking path until it ends at a large parking lot and tourist facilities. I estimate it was about 3 miles to get to the parking lot. I estimate it was another mile or so to walk along the shore to the point. If you have mobility issues, there is public transportation to Grenen and a sand trolley ride to the point. It's fairly toiristy, but marvelous views of the waves coming together from opposite directions. There are WC's, food, and drinks available.

 

On our return to Skagen, we stopped at a food truck for a traditional Danish hotdog called a Polse. Then we went to the Skagen Bryghus for local beer and live music. Bonus: the annual Skagen Music Festival was taking place during our visit. There were bands performing all over town. We finished our culinary delights with ice cream.

 

On our return to the port, there was a mini-car show on the pier - 50's era Cadillacs and Chevrolets.

 

Every port on this cruise offers something special. Skagen was a highlight for us.

[silentbob007]

Thanks for the information about Skagen. It definitely was a shame we missed it.

[floridasun lover]

Skagen - I'm sorry you were not able to dock at this lovely port. We were here yesterday, and I thought that I would add my viewpoint to your excellent report.

 

The weather truly cooperated with our visit. The sun was shining and it was in the high 60s low 70s. As we left the ship, there was a location renting bicycles right on the pier. For a full day rental, it was $10 or €10 per bike or 100 Kroner for two bikes. With simple instructions on how to exit the port, we rode through the picturesque town and took the well-marked bike lane to Grenen. This is the location where the North Sea meets the Baltic Sea. Keep following the bike/walking path until it ends at a large parking lot and tourist facilities. I estimate it was about 3 miles to get to the parking lot. I estimate it was another mile or so to walk along the shore to the point. If you have mobility issues, there is public transportation to Grenen and a sand trolley ride to the point. It's fairly toiristy, but marvelous views of the waves coming together from opposite directions. There are WC's, food, and drinks available.

 

On our return to Skagen, we stopped at a food truck for a traditional Danish hotdog called a Polse. Then we went to the Skagen Bryghus for local beer and live music. Bonus: the annual Skagen Music Festival was taking place during our visit. There were bands performing all over town. We finished our culinary delights with ice cream.

 

On our return to the port, there was a mini-car show on the pier - 50's era Cadillacs and Chevrolets.

 

Every port on this cruise offers something special. Skagen was a highlight for us.

 

Thanks for the bike information, we would like to do this, but have a few questions:

 

How long did it take to get to Grenen?

 

Was it a fairly flat ride?? We are from Florida and there are no hills where we live - so we'd hate to be halfway there and find lots of hills!

[Dick and Jane]

Thanks for the bike information, we would like to do this, but have a few questions:

 

 

 

How long did it take to get to Grenen?

 

 

 

Was it a fairly flat ride?? We are from Florida and there are no hills where we live - so we'd hate to be halfway there and find lots of hills!

 

 

I think it took us about 25 minutes by bicycle. We met a couple that said they walked it in 45 minutes, but you'd need to be race-walking to accomplish that speed. I estimate the distance on flat terrain to be approximately three miles. It was an easy bike ride - considering I hadn't ridden in probably 40 years! We took our time stopping to admire the scenery and take some photos.

 

The walk to the point had a few hilly sand dunes, but mostly flat near the water's edge. That was about 30-40 minutes each way. There is a sand trolley you can ride for a small fee.

[MCazer]

Don,

 

Would you be able to give me the best route from Gatwick to Liverpool Street Station? We arrive at 11:10am on Wednesday July 15th. There are 4 of us, each with a large wheeled suitcase and backpack.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Margaret

 

 

 

Hi Patty,

 

I live in London and might be able to help you with your questions:-

 

Firstly, yes you carry your bags on the Tube with you. It's like the New York Metro.

 

Assuming you are arriving Monday-to-Friday, you are proposing to travel in the rush hour if setting off at 8am. This won't be a problem getting on the Piccadilly Line at Heathrow, but it will be very busy when you are looking to change trains in central London.

 

A better way for you to get to Waterloo on the Tube would I think be to change to the Jubilee Line at Green Park, rather than the Bakerloo Line at Piccadilly Circus. The Jubilee Line is a newer line, and I think there will be less steps involved at Green Park.

 

You might be better off to grab a coffee at Heathrow, and setting off from there at 9am to reach central London just before 10am; rather than setting off at 8am and reaching it just before 9am.

 

If you are arriving on a Saturday or Sunday the tube will be much quieter and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best wishes.

[orient69]

My friend and I will be on the 12 nights from Harwich to St.Petersbury cruise in August. Can you tell the name of the port which Brillance of the seas stop at each of the city please ? Because some city has several ports ? i want to work out if it is walkable from the port to the city centre and do some pre planning before arriving the ports.

 

Many Thanks

Chris

[Dick and Jane]

My friend and I will be on the 12 nights from Harwich to St.Petersbury cruise in August. Can you tell the name of the port which Brillance of the seas stop at each of the city please ? Because some city has several ports ? i want to work out if it is walkable from the port to the city centre and do some pre planning before arriving the ports.

 

Many Thanks

Chris

 

 

We were on the June 23 sailing of this cruise. I'm not sure about the pier/port name, but I can tell you what we did.

 

Self-guided walking tours: Copenhagen, Tallinn, and Stockholm. We tried to walk into Helsinki, but with all the construction at the port we got lost and ended up taking the shuttle to downtown. We met other passengers that did the walk into Helsinki and it took about 40 minutes.

 

Ships tours: St. Petersburg

 

Bicycles: Skagen. It would've been easy to walk into town - less than five minutes. Our plan was to walk, but they were bike rentals right at the pier. Made it easier to get to Grenen.

[KingHal]

Don,

 

 

 

Would you be able to give me the best route from Gatwick to Liverpool Street Station? We arrive at 11:10am on Wednesday July 15th. There are 4 of us, each with a large wheeled suitcase and backpack.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Margaret

 

 

 

There are two options I would suggest:- one is cheaper, the other is more expensive but more convenient.

 

I wouldn't get the Gatwick Express train to Victoria - it's expensive for the little time it saves you.

 

The train station is under the Gatwick South Terminal - if you are landing at Gatwick North Terminal you will have to catch the monorail to the South Terminal, which will take some time.

 

At the train station, I would take a Thameslink train to Farringdon; and then switch platforms to catch an underground train to Liverpool Street Station (which is only 3 stops away and should take just 5 mins from Farringdon).

 

The second, more expensive but more convenient option would be to summon an Uber when you are ready. Uber is the google backed international app based alternative to taxis.

 

 

 

They operate a flat rate system from Gatwick (as well as Heathrow) Airport (see http://www.uber.com/cities/london ) which is £62 for an UberX (Prius), £87 for an UberXL(7-seater), to Liverpool Street Station, for example.

 

 

 

No need to book in advance, just request once you have cleared customs. Uber is a cashless system - it will all be charged to your registered card.

 

 

 

If you haven't already signed up to Uber you can get a £10 discount on your first ride (open to anyone reading this) by using my invite code of m391q (see http://www.uber.com/invite/m391q ) - not totally altruistic as I'll receive a ride credit too as a referrer, but it is the best way to travel and you will pay £10 less by using the code. Just beware of surge pricing - at busy times you could be better off using UberExec or UberLux rather than UberX. If surge pricing is in operation you will be warned - its not sprung on you, and you can/should get an estimate before you place any booking.

 

 

 

Uber would be cheaper than a black taxi.

 

With 4 of you plus luggage you would need an UberXL, but one of these might not be readily available. For speed and convenience you might have to travel in two Prius (UberX) instead, albeit this will cost more.

 

Alternatively get a quote and book a private transfer in advance. I use a chap called Duncan Rogers who runs this website:

 

http://www.1cl.co.uk he should be able to sort out a competitive quote for you, especially if you know the Uber pricing as a guide.

 

Best wishes.

[hebbie67]

We're on this cruise soon and know there are 2 formal nights, but are there any 'smart casuals' where suggested dress is jacket/tie?

 

Many thanks

[Dick and Jane]

We're on this cruise soon and know there are 2 formal nights, but are there any 'smart casuals' where suggested dress is jacket/tie?

 

Many thanks

 

 

There was one smart casual night, but I don't recall seeing many jackets/ties!

[hebbie67]

There was one smart casual night, but I don't recall seeing many jackets/ties!

 

Many thanks - won't bother with the extra packing then!

[MCazer]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

 

There are two options I would suggest:- one is cheaper, the other is more expensive but more convenient.

 

I wouldn't get the Gatwick Express train to Victoria - it's expensive for the little time it saves you.

 

The train station is under the Gatwick South Terminal - if you are landing at Gatwick North Terminal you will have to catch the monorail to the South Terminal, which will take some time.

 

At the train station, I would take a Thameslink train to Farringdon; and then switch platforms to catch an underground train to Liverpool Street Station (which is only 3 stops away and should take just 5 mins from Farringdon).

 

The second, more expensive but more convenient option would be to summon an Uber when you are ready. Uber is the google backed international app based alternative to taxis.

 

 

 

They operate a flat rate system from Gatwick (as well as Heathrow) Airport (see http://www.uber.com/cities/london ) which is £62 for an UberX (Prius), £87 for an UberXL(7-seater), to Liverpool Street Station, for example.

 

 

 

No need to book in advance, just request once you have cleared customs. Uber is a cashless system - it will all be charged to your registered card.

 

 

 

If you haven't already signed up to Uber you can get a £10 discount on your first ride (open to anyone reading this) by using my invite code of m391q (see http://www.uber.com/invite/m391q ) - not totally altruistic as I'll receive a ride credit too as a referrer, but it is the best way to travel and you will pay £10 less by using the code. Just beware of surge pricing - at busy times you could be better off using UberExec or UberLux rather than UberX. If surge pricing is in operation you will be warned - its not sprung on you, and you can/should get an estimate before you place any booking.

 

 

 

Uber would be cheaper than a black taxi.

 

With 4 of you plus luggage you would need an UberXL, but one of these might not be readily available. For speed and convenience you might have to travel in two Prius (UberX) instead, albeit this will cost more.

 

Alternatively get a quote and book a private transfer in advance. I use a chap called Duncan Rogers who runs this website:

 

http://www.1cl.co.uk he should be able to sort out a competitive quote for you, especially if you know the Uber pricing as a guide.

 

Best wishes.

[Stewie66]

Hi! Thanks so much for your reviews!

I apologize if I am using the wrong part of the forums to ask this question- this is my second cruise and first time on cruise critic!

 

I am travelling with my family on the 12 night Brilliance of the Seas Baltic Cruise starting Aug 22. My wife and children are very keen to see the shows in the evening. Does anyone know when is the best time to book for dinner? We are on MyTime Dining.

 

Has anyone got a copy of the Cruise Compass they could send us as an example?

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

Stewie :D

[mariocart123]

hi my name is Brianna aka Mario

I have been on the brilliance of the seas when I was a baby and now since I'm 18 I have been on every royal Caribbean cruise and actually if u guys want I'm going on the royal Caribbean anthem of the seas I can make a YouTube video of the anthem of the seas and write a review on it. to show u guy what the cruise looks like. and I'm also a diamond plus with rccl