BRILLIANCE (British Isles) June 19-July 2,2018 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

As others have said, the cruise lines should pay you or, at least, provide you with free accommodations.

 

I just sent mbailey your contact details as a reference :evilsmile: lol!!! Just kidding ;)

Sincerely.... thank you, very nice words :)

 

One point re : Holyhead, any fans of 1960s TV may remember a TV series called 'The Prisoner'. It was quite weird and starred Patrick Mc Goohan, probably best known for its opening dialogue "Who is Number 1?" "You are Number 6". "I am not a number, I am a free man". It was filmed in a village called Portmeiron which is just over an hour away from Holyhead, and a fascinating place to visit.

 

 

Great tip madra! If you think of any others by all means post again.

Thank you for your heartfelt thanks, super nice of you :D:D

[Hoopster95]

Day 12 - Dover ... the LAST day :(

 

Compass

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be finishing off this final day of this review later this evening... for now here I am early morning up the DL looking out over the pool deck. What's that white stuff on the water to the left of Brilliance in the distance?

 

[jagsfan]

Thanks for the heads up on the "savory bites"! They are my favorite & our last cruise on Oasis last Sept. they said they didn't do them any more! I will ask for them again when we go in Oct.

 

 

 

I asked our waiter on Serenade in April why we couldn’t get them any more. For the last 7 or 8 nights there was a small plateful of them waiting for me when I came to dinner.

I think it depends on whether your waiter is willing to ask for them.

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

With the last day upon us, my alarm went off at 6:30am as I was dead set on watching us enter into Dover in full view of the White Cliffs as we approached. And besides the 4 or 5 people standing up on deck 12 above me above the bridge, I had the very best view on the ship other than the bridge... here was the view as I got onto the helipad as we headed directly towards the cliffs.

 

 

This was a beautiful... anyone in their port or aft balconies would totally miss this

 

 

And there was the port area and Dover Castle prominently situated at the top of the hill

 

 

-5mgJvIXPhc

 

 

It was about a 30-40min process from the time I got to the helipad to the time Brilliance entered through the breakwater and into the port area. Once through, I noted that Brilliance headed to the farthest pier away from the city center and where I wanted to go, so I started to formulate a plan of how long it would take me to get where I wanted to go, and how I would get there.... next post

 

[Hoopster95]

Today was a freelance day for me... no tour as I wanted my own space and liberty again for today. My plan for today was to catch the 8:50am direct (16min) train from Dover to Canterbury. I had estimated about a 25-30min walk from the pier area to the train station, leaving me very little room for error if we arrive late, or in this case this morning, we dock at the very farthest spot at the port.

 

I was the very first cruiser off the ship, following one of the staff down the Centrum stairs as the pulled the ropes open. Outside the terminal, this sign was set up right at the entrance, it couldn't be missed. I asked the rep how far of a walk I would have to get to the Priory Train Station, and she said about 25-30 for the center of town and another 15 to the train station... up hill. Oh, darn.

Ok, so it was plan B.... the rep let me know that this shuttle bus would drop of us in town center Dover.... and then the direct bus #15 to Canterbury (my plan B which I already had in mind just in case) was located one block away and then across a public park. So I made the executive decision to go by bus today fearing I'd miss the direct train.

 

 

So I also asked the driver regarding the #15, and he said the exact same thing as the rep... very easy, and he'll point us i the right direction when he drops us off

 

 

This bus waited to get full before leaving... I guess many fellow cruisers were too tired by day 12 as there were not many people getting off Brilliance at all. After about 20 min, we pulled out of the pier area and headed into town, about a 1 minute drive. This bus stops at a specific "cruise shuttle bus stop" right in the center of town for those of you who wish to walk up to the Castle and visit Dover on your own.

 

 

Just like the bus rep and the driver stated, a one block walk up the street, and then across a public park, were a few people waiting for buses... one of those here was the #15, the end terminal in Dover for this route.

 

 

The regular transit buses are doubledecker, so relatively comfortable and plenty of room. The bus arrived within about 15 minutes, and we were off rather quickly once loading up. The drive to Canterbury is about 1/2 hour. From the time I walked off Brilliance, even with the waiting around for the shuttle, etc, to the time I stepped off the bus in Canterbury, it was a grand total of about 1 1/2 hours as we arrived at the Canterbury bus station at 9:30am.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

As a little background for this day, all aboard is at 3:30pm, so with another 1 to 1 1/2 hour travel time back to the ship I would have about 4 hours'ish to adventure around Canterbury. I know of Canterbury because of the famed "Canterbury Tales"... I never read it! Truthfully, I didn't have the desire to do so either before this cruise. Therefore visiting the "Canterbury Tales" building was not in the least bit of interest to me. For those who are interested, here's the website

https://www.canterburytales.org.uk/your-visit/opening-times-and-prices/

 

Instead, my desire was to spend time at the Canterbury Cathedral and have a walk around the city. From the bus station it's very easy to see the peaks of the cathedral off in the distance. I also looked at google maps prior to this morning and it was only a 5-6 block walk from the bus station, so off I went, through Whitefriar shopping district snapping a few photos as I went along

 

St George the Martyr (saved from demolition).

http://www.machadoink.com/St%20George.htm

 

 

 

Not even 15 minutes from the bus I arrive at the Cathederal Gate

 

 

 

IIRC I believe entry was 11 or 12 pounds for an adult, and right away you're hit with the massive amount of construction going on with this entire property, to be completed in 2021... so anyone visiting will be stuck with viewing scaffolds, fencing, workmen, etc as this is a massive project to completely refurbish this property

https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/the-canterbury-journey/physicalworks/the-canterbury-journey-timeline/

 

 

However it's still an impressive building to stand before

 

[Hoopster95]

I believe I made the right choice.... this Cathedral is a must see if you ever visit Canterbury.

https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/

I'm going to let the photos do the talking here.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Here in this Cathedral is the tomb King Henry IV and his queen Joan of Navarre

https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/whats-on/news/attraction/the-tomb-of-king-henry-iv-1399-1413/

Amazingly, when the tomb was opened in 1832, the his body was totally preserved and true to his image of his own sculpture on his tomb

 

 

 

The Courtyard

 

 

 

One of the most interesting area of the Cathedral was the crypts.... here photos weren't allowed. However, just before exiting the crypts there were a few people taking photos of the displays that were not in a sensitive area and a shame they were not on display outside. here are several pieces of the original stained glass panels that were found in the rubble and preserved after World War II bombing.

 

 

A shot from the back of the Cathedral

 

 

Beautiful place, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_Cathedral

 

Give yourself plenty of time here, about 1 1/2 - 2 seemed about right.

[Hoopster95]

I exited from the Cathedral Gate and made my way to High Street, the "main" street of old Canterbury with only pedestrian traffic. Here, just one block up from the Cathedral Gate is a library with a tourist office. It's here I grabbed a small map to refer to for the rest of my visit.

 

Basically a few doors up and across the street from this tourist office is the Eastgate Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr. I had no clue of this significance of this until I read about at home prior to the cruise.

 

 

Founded in the 12th century, this was a place to provide overnight accommodation for poor pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett... so basically not a "hospital" as we know it at all

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastbridge_Hospital_of_St_Thomas_the_Martyr,_Canterbury

 

 

Besides the sleeping quarters, there's an old and preserved chapel on the upper floor and a few other things to view. This is a very small place, and truthfully would be of more significance to those who possible had lineage stay here in past centuries to follow in their footsteps.

 

 

Outside again and walking through the Greyfriars Gardens, I got my first look at "punts"... these "boats" which are pushed along gondola style in the very shallow rivers. They're located in several places and open to the public for short tours.

 

 

I made my way through High Street to the very end of the pedestrian only section, where it reaches "Westgate", a 60ft high medieval gate of the city wall, the largest surviving gate in England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate,_Canterbury

 

 

This is also the site of a great public gardens/park called Westgate Gardens, a gorgeous place to walk into for even just 15-20 minutes down the pathway to take a few photos of the area

 

[Hoopster95]

So if you're interested in a tour on a "punt", here's a good place to start, right at Westgate as the "punt" platform is located here.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

So on the way up High Street, I had taken into account several restaurants/pubs as I was getting hungry and I wanted to stop somewhere for .... well.... what do you think I'm yearning for in mainland England which I haven't had yet in the entire UK?

Of course!... fish & chips. Passing several places there were the typical signs up... "today's special fish & chips 8.99 pounds", or "$7.99". I also noticed the farther away from the Cathedral towards Westgate you got, the less people there were walking around as well as seated in the restaurants.

 

Here is the head of High Street right at Westgate. There's a brown building about 3 doors up on the right I had taken note of earlier that I wanted to check out.

 

 

As you can see in the picture below, Wesgate is only a block up the street from this really cool looking place:

The Black Griffen.

 

 

I walked straight in and the lone waitress was busy with two large tables of about 10 persons each, I grabbed a menu. Same pricing as anyone else that I checked out on the way up, but looked interesting besides the fish & chips (Hunter's Chicken, Pie & Mash, etc) so I decided this would be the place I'll have lunch

 

 

I mentioned to the waitress walking by if I could sit outside and she said no problem, she would be right there. Excellent view of the street life here as I can watch the world go by for a while

 

 

And that's when I looked back up at the building and noted the sign on the window....

 

 

I asked the waitress if this would be a dumbed down version of the regular menu because of the cheap price and she said no. So this was a no brainer decision.... fish & chips with a local pint! However a minute later I got the bad news as she came out to tell me they had just sold out all their fish with the two big tables... GRRR. A ploy to get people seated? Thankfully I didn't mind a couple of the other choices on the menu so I ordered.

 

But something very cool happened next.... a gentleman speaking very fast came out very feverishly and quickly "sir, you ordered the fish & chips?". I said yes. He said he would be right back. The waitress followed and told me this was the owner, and cook, and he was running out to get some more fish right then and there. He was back in 10 minutes running through the door past me... would I get a garbage portion of fish, maybe not very good, maybe not acceptable, possibly undercooked in haste.... what would I get?

 

 

Totally A W E S O M E!!! yum yum yum. Excellent fish, excellent chips, great draft beer, great peas... excellent English lunch.

I had to give these guys props to care enough and not be lazy in order to get me what I wanted, and for 5.95 pounds as promised with no questions and no lack of service with such a small bill from me. The cost? Just under 10 pounds with the beer. I left them almost 5 pounds in extra change and brought it in to the waitress, asking her to please mention my gratitude to the owner/chef, that little things like this make a difference to one's business.

 

There you go... I hope I've done these people a good deed by mentioning them here in this review. So for those of you taking notes on a cool little place to eat maybe before doing a "punt" tour, go to the Black Griffen on High Street, almost at Westgate.

[IrishLassie]

This is one of my favourite ever reviews for a number of reasons. I was born in Kilkenny, raised in Waterford and live in Donegal, so to see places I know well through the eyes of a visitor is a real pleasure.

 

My surname is Kavanagh, Caomhánach in Irish, which means "of Kevin". The was initially a nickname given to Diarmuid Mc Murrough's son Art, because he had been sent to Glendalough to study under St Kevin. Essentially, the name indicated he was Art Mc Murrough, the pupil of Kevin. Seeing the pictures of Strongbow's tomb (Art's brother in law) followed by the pictures of Glendalough was lovely.

 

Then, the picture of the motorway junction outside Dublin - I was caught in traffic on that overpass yesterday as I drove from Waterford to Donegal.

 

Rarely has a review on CC spoken to me so much of home!

 

A really well written review as always, Claudio, and I'm glad you enjoyed your time here.

 

One point re : Holyhead, any fans of 1960s TV may remember a TV series called 'The Prisoner'. It was quite weird and starred Patrick Mc Goohan, probably best known for its opening dialogue "Who is Number 1?" "You are Number 6". "I am not a number, I am a free man". It was filmed in a village called Portmeiron which is just over an hour away from Holyhead, and a fascinating place to visit.

 

Sorry to jump in here, but just wondering where in Donegal you are? Our family is in Lettekenny, Ramelton, & my mother inlaw is from Carrigart. Love Donegal !

[madra2112]

I'm in Letterkenny.

 

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[joand452]

Canterbury looks so interesting! Just shared about the Black Griffin with my daughter, who is in Dublin now. They're flying back out of London, so hope they get to spend a little more time there. Canterbury is just about 70 miles away -- surely there's public transport.

 

I've always wanted to go to the British Isles -- after this review, I REALLY want to go!!!

[IrishLassie]

I'm in Letterkenny.

 

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Oh, small world! Our relatives are the Hardy's, Buchanan's, & Graham's just in case you know any of them! :D

[Hoopster95]

Canterbury is just about 70 miles away -- surely there's public transport.

 

Yes... 1 hour 20min by train (cost 40 pounds return ticket off peak hours)

https://ticket.southeasternrailway.co.uk/search

 

I REALLY want to go!!!

 

YES definitely go! :D:D

[Hoopster95]

In my haste to get this final day reviewed, I forgot to include my map of Canterbury with the sites circled so that you can follow if you wish... here it is

 

 

 

Finished with lunch I had plenty of time before heading back to the bus but I didn't want to be rushed. I headed back down main street and veered in behind the Eastgate Hospital down Stour Street, walking into Greyfriars Gardens for a very short couple of minutes visit (no where close to as nice as Westgate Gardens), and continuing west bound taking photos along the way

 

 

I wanted to get to Canterbury Castle and hopefully get inside for a little while before heading back to thew bus. However arriving at the corner of Stour and Gas Street, I came up to this sign as the Castle came into view

 

 

I didn't know that the castle was closed, so all I got as I continued on was a couple of outside shots

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_Castle

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Checking my map, I was just around the corner from Dane John Gardens which I wanted to check out, so I made my way towards the old wall which led me to the gardens. By the way, for those taking the train from Dover, this is also where the Canterbury East train station is located... a short walk from everything, the station is right across that foot bridge

 

 

Within the park (also called the Dane John Mound) is also a former Roman cemetery, and was converted to a public park around 1800. Here is the Dane John Monument which towers over the park with a great view of Canterbury and the cathedral

 

 

 

 

There is truly nothing special about this monument, so not really a spot to spend time at, however great for a view and the walk to get back to the bus station (only 3 blocks away). The park is beautiful to walk through and has several other monuments within the park and a great fountain. Rather than cutting through some back roads with no real buildings or sites to see, this route through the park I feel is a must if you're coming in from the train station, a great way to start your exploration of Canterbury.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Since I had left time to visit the castle, and I also over-estimated the walking distance (was way faster than I had thought), I arrived at the bus station very early. Thee was only one place I had targeted to visit that I had not got to yet, and decided to try and find it real quick just to take a look around.... this was St. Augustine's Abbey. To me it looked to be only about 10 minutes walking as long as I can find my way (under the large roadway through a pedestrian tunnel, down a couple of streets/alleys, etc)

 

 

I got to the front gate and visitor's center, and took a peek over the fencing for a view of the abbey... I must admit I was underwhelmed

 

 

Maybe it's because I just spent an incredible 14 days from Amsterdam to now seeing other incredible sites (including Canterbury Cathedral just 2 hours ago), however there was not much at all to this place, and perhaps the tell tale sign was nobody else was there either (well... 2 other couples walking around the site in the distance)

 

 

So with my last look at the Abbey, I was glad I didn't commit a lot of time here as I feel I would've been disappointed. While this is a site to see if you were staying in the Dover/Canterbury area for several days< I don;t feel it warrants attention during a short cruise stop

 

[Hoopster95]

So checking my timing, I had ample time to get back to the bus station and head back to Dover. I had to wait approximately 15 minutes for the next bus, and then we were off through the countryside, finally getting into the city of Dover with a view of Dover Castle up on the hill ahead of us

 

 

From where the #15 bus drops us off in Dover (the same stop I had got in that morning) it was a short 5 minute walk to the cruise shuttle bus stop. I waited again for the shuttle bus with a crowd forming, and again maybe after a 15min wait we were heading back to Brilliance with about 30 minutes left before all aboard

 

 

 

The final sail away of this cruise was nearing, and I wasn't going to miss it so I headed right out to the Helipad to enjoy it outdoors. The pilot boat was heading out to clear the way for Brilliance and right on que the ropes were being let down.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

What a gorgeous afternoon to enjoy our final sail away, we couldn't have been any more fortunate with our weather on this cruise.

 

 

 

Brilliance headed straight out of the port area and away from Dover, so I headed back to deck 12 aft to watch us sail away from the white cliffs as the seagulls followed.... my last look at the UK as we sail straight back to Amsterdam.

 

 

Tonight's dinner would be my final night with Mike & Sherri at Chop's.... again 30% off. Tonight I gave the Jumbo Shrimp entree a shot... I had tried this a few years ago on one of Legend's final sailings in the Caribbean before being re-positioned to Oz, and it was an awesome dish with huge shrimp.... this one wasn't the same. Like the Branzino the other night, it was good, just not great and I'll never remember what I had in the future.

 

 

I tried a different desert tonight from the norm as well.... the apple pie with almond ice cream. This was superb, I really enjoyed this.

 

 

We bid our farewells to Ciprian, our excellent waiter. And Mike/Sherri/and I bid our farewells as well... we will have to meet up again some day to be sure. We had a great time at dinner, and went relatively long, so we missed the final farewell show at the theatre. The rest of the night was very strange as nothing was scheduled other than Karaoke at 10pm. If you hadn't packed, there was a ton of time in the evening with no events at all. I was pretty much ready so I did my final change to casual clothes and headed up to the Colony Club to watch the Karaoke.... I lasted 15 minutes and had to leave lol!!! Just not for me

 

I had also planned to be up early to self disembark, and then travel to the airport on my own, so I wanted plenty of time in case of any delays crop up I couldn't possibly plan for. So much earlier than normal final nights, I was heading to bed early. This was the end of this cruise was some incredible memories and a couple of life-long friends... I couldn't have asked for anything more

 

I do have a few tips of how incredibly easy ... and inexpensive... it is to get out of the cruise pier in Amsterdam and travel to the airport by train, I will post photos and final thoughts/ratings tomorrow.

[lambstew]

I'm loving this review and the way you have told us about your experiences. It feels like I am almost there with you! But I am sorry it is coming to an end! You've inspired me to put this trip on my bucket list! Thank you for the review!

[Hoopster95]

I'm loving this review and the way you have told us about your experiences. It feels like I am almost there with you! But I am sorry it is coming to an end! You've inspired me to put this trip on my bucket list! Thank you for the review!

 

Thx lambstew.... great handle by the way lol!! :D:p

[Hoopster95]

OK... going to try finishing this off tonight with final thoughts...

 

I woke early at 6am, planning to self disembark around 7:30 (yes, later than the rest of the self-disembark of 6:45-7am). As I got ready for the morning, had WJ breakfast (fyi the CL and DL coffee machines were shut down! GRRR), I figured just in case of any unforeseen delays I would just get going rather than lingering around the ship. Without rushing, I was ready at 7am... there were not many self disembark cruisers, so zero line-up and an easy walk down the gangway into the terminal with one last look back .... thank you Brilliance

 

 

Because there were so few people, I was through immigration in less than 2 minutes... what a joke! and impressive.

Early in the review I showed you how to get to the cruise pier by local tram transit, and I was doing the same again here, heading out of the cruise terminal the same way I entered

 

 

Across the street and 4 minutes (that's what the sign said was the wait time for the next tram) later, the #26 tram to Centraal Station arrived

 

 

The tram was 3 euros flat rate for a single ticket, or I could've walked 25 minutes... just easier this way. This is the first time I entered this train station as when I was touring Amsterdam pre cruise I had only taken outside pictures of Centraal without familiarizing myself, however this was super easy. Just inside the main doors are rows of these ticket machines

 

 

These machines are very easy to understand, as easy as a subway ticket machine in New York or Boston for example.

You pick English and choose what you need. There's an Airport train leaving every 10minutes or so... some are direct and some are with stops. I chose a direct one so I had a bit of time to figure out which track to go wait.

 

Note I chose first class for 8.20 euro. However these trains were great, easily could get away with 2nd class no problem for the short 25 minute ride. 2nd class is 5.50 so not much of a difference in price. I chose first class because of the difference in comfort and room (both body and luggage) in Italy trains from Rome to Civitavecchia, no worries here imo.

 

 

This station is HUUUGGGGEEE... I was track 19B I believe. I found it and within 5 minutes my train arrived and we boarded.

 

[Hoopster95]

So allow me to summarize so far... I walked off brilliance about 7am. I walked across street (1 block) and tram came in 4 minutes. The tram ride is maybe 2 minutes. Walking from tram stop into Centraal Station maybe1 minute. Buying ticket, taking photo and finding the tracks perhaps 5 minutes'ish. Waiting for train and loading another 5 minutes.... not rushed, just very easy to figure out so far. IIRC my train was the 7:37am "Breda" on the sign I posted in the above picture.

 

At exactly to the second at 7:37am (the Amsterdam people mean business, not a second late), off we went...

 

 

I was told the train ride was about 25-30 min by others I've spoken to. That must be the non-direct train with stops. This train was a very short ride to the airport. I couldn't resist taking a photo of my watch as I got off the train at the airport... it was only 15 minutes!

 

 

So from the Brilliance gangway to the airport in about 1 hour... unreal!

 

The train station is directly below the main terminal of the airport... no walking up and down pathways of a terminal, go up the escalator just outside the train stop and you're right there (the escalators there on the left). So extremely easy I couldn't believe it.

 

 

I had quite a while to wait, including the waiting for the ticket window to open 3 hours before flight time (my flight wasn't until 12:55pm). However lots to do at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, shopping, etc... big big place! Soon enough it seemed, they were calling us at the gate. I settled in for the long flight home....

 

 

Goodbye for now Amsterdam.... I'm sure I'll see you again someday.

 

 

THE END :D