*Live* Brilliance of the Seas Western Caribbean Jan7th-Jan12th!

[manders175]

15 hours ago, Adian80 said:

I originally had an aft booked and switched to a hump balcony because of the long walk and my mom has bad knees.  Now I'm really glad I did because I got a midfoot injury last week and am hobbling around worse than she normally does.  Fortunately it wasn't a complete tear that required surgery or I might not be going.... 
 

Adian, so sorry to hear about your injury. We have never been in a hump balcony but hear they are nice as well. So glad you are still able to cruise. 😊

Edited January 5, 2019 by manders175

[manders175]

We have 2 stops on this cruise: Grand Cayman and Cozumel. For Grand Cayman we are doing a ship excursion of Stingray City and Calico Jack's Beach Club on the 7 mile beach.

For Cozumel we have chosen the all inclusive Mr Sanchos. I will review both of those in this thread as well when we get to each one. 🙂

The top picture is an aerial view of Mr Sanchos. 

[LC2626]

We LOVE Brilliance. Just sailed her in December, 3rd time on her in 2 years.  Think we are going to try an aft balcony early next year on the 5 night. 

[manders175]

So ready to get this party started! Our flight leaves bright and early out of Cleveland Hopkins at 6:45!!

 

Should be in Tampa after a layover in Atlanta by 1pm. 

[Kteacher]

Safe travels! We’re also in an aft on our sailing, #1600. Looking forward to your review!

[SailorJeff66]

I sailed on Brilliance Dec15-20. Beautiful, cozy, with a crew of super stars. Take your time to explore. There's a lot to see even though she's a mid sized ship. Say howdy to Remus at the pool bar for me!

[LivinintheSun]

On 1/4/2019 at 8:08 PM, kjenaz said:

We are also on the sailing this Monday.  My Husband and Myself with a 4 year old Grand Son.  This will be our 34th cruise, not sure how many on Brilliance, but we love the smaller ships.  

Can't wait to spoil our Grandson.  Anyone else with young children?

 

 

We are sailing on Monday with our 4 year old daughter! Glad to see there will be others her age onboard 😀 Her 1st time sailing since she was 10 months old. She is so excited! She’s very social so I think she will enjoy adventure ocean. This is our 4th time on Brilliance and 14th cruise but 1st time ever using the adventure ocean program so I’m excited to see how it works. 

[manders175]

We are at the airport! Waiting to board our first leg to Atlanta! Check in and TSA check were incredibly fast, not what I was expecting with Government Shutdown. 

[momofmab]

Following along too as we will be sailing Brillance over Christmas this year (stopping in Key West instead of Grand Cayman).  Thank you for doing this review!  It seems that the mega ships get most of the glory these days.

 

My daughter recently flew to NYC during the government shutdown and said that TSA wasn't checking anything (not making people take anything out of their bags, no shoes off).  She even was flagged for a pat-down and the TSA lady just waved her through.  Kinda scary!

[manders175]

2 hours ago, momofmab said:

Following along too as we will be sailing Brillance over Christmas this year (stopping in Key West instead of Grand Cayman).  Thank you for doing this review!  It seems that the mega ships get most of the glory these days.

 

My daughter recently flew to NYC during the government shutdown and said that TSA wasn't checking anything (not making people take anything out of their bags, no shoes off).  She even was flagged for a pat-down and the TSA lady just waved her through.  Kinda scary!

Wow! That is scary. We still had to take belts and shoes off. Some people still got pat downs. 

 

Thanks for following along! Sitting in ATL airport now waiting for our flight to Tampa! 

[manders175]

We made it to Tampa! Double Tree Suites by Hilton Tampa Bay. Its a gorgeous day today. 70 degrees and sunny. We are in a King Bed Suite with a Bay View. The room is really nice! 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by manders175
Mis-spelling

[FMZ]

We're just south of you a bit and its a gorgeous day today!! Enjoy  SWFL!!

[kelbell]

Thank you so much for posting, we will be on her 2/28/19.  First time on

Brilliance, many times on RCC bigger ships really looking forward to her size.

Can't wait. Love reading everything out there.

[kjenaz]

15 hours ago, LivinintheSun said:

We are sailing on Monday with our 4 year old daughter! Glad to see there will be others her age onboard 😀 Her 1st time sailing since she was 10 months old. She is so excited! She’s very social so I think she will enjoy adventure ocean. This is our 4th time on Brilliance and 14th cruise but 1st time ever using the adventure ocean program so I’m excited to see how it works. 

Our Grandson's name is Luca.  He is a red head, and will be hard to miss.  We have done the Adventrue Ocean several times with Luca, but he is the only grandchild on both sides and does not want to miss anything, so he doesn't stay very long.  Please say hello if you see us.  We look forward to meeting everyone.

 

Steve, Karla, and Luca

[manders175]

3 hours ago, kelbell said:

Thank you so much for posting, we will be on her 2/28/19.  First time on

Brilliance, many times on RCC bigger ships really looking forward to her size.

Can't wait. Love reading everything out there.

Hi! Thanks for following. We loved the Brilliance the first time we sailed her, and are excited to sail her again! You will have a great time!

[manders175]

Just got back from dinner. We ate at a place called Whiskey Joe's for dinner. I had an appetizer of gator bites with a main course of Coconut Rum Chicken. Both were very tasty!! Next stop Port of Tampa in the morning! 

[SailorJeff66]

If you're not flying out the same day as your return, definitely check out Cajun Cafe on the Bayou over in Pinellas Park. Awesome food and bread pudding that is life changing!

[manders175]

10 hours ago, SailorJeff66 said:

If you're not flying out the same day as your return, definitely check out Cajun Cafe on the Bayou over in Pinellas Park. Awesome food and bread pudding that is life changing!

Thanks for the recommendation! We are flying out the same day we get back but not til late afternoon. We are renting a car for the day and may check it out! 

[manders175]

Happy Cruise day! We are planning on getting to the pier around 10:30. I will let you know about the embarkation process and how long it took once we are onboard!

[manders175]

We are on the ship!! From the time we dropped our luggage with porters til the time we set foot on the ship was 23 minutes! 

 

We got our sea pass cards at checkin as well. Not on our stateroom door!

 

Got my lunch food and sitting in my favorite place ever! The back of the ship on deck 11, behind the windjammer! 

[SailorJeff66]

Enjoy! I agree that Tampa boarding is fast and hassle free.  Hopefully you get some awesome pics going under the skyway bridge. Just in front of the sky bar was a great place to view it from.

[manders175]

We are in Aft Balcony cabin 7174. On our balcony we had 2 loungers and a table. 

[Lovetotraveltami]

Hello, Can't wait to learn more!  We are new to cruising and this will be our 1st time with Royal and Brilliance in April!  Have a great time.  Please share any great - "good to know information".

 

 

[manders175]

We sailed away at approx 4pm. We reached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at 6:15pm so just over 2 hours. We have gone under the bridge before so we were not outside to watch, but dont miss it if you never have been!

 

Here is a pic from when we went under the bridge in 2015. 

 

 

[manders175]

We ate dinner the 1st night in the MDR. Of course I forgot to take a pic of the menu, but I promise I'll remember the rest of the cruise. 

 

I had 2 appetizers (yes you can have more than 1 app, main course, and even dessert!). My apps were the calamari and French onion soup. 

 

Main course was the chicken marsala. Melted in my mouth, the meat was so tender! Sorry no pic. 

 

Dessert was the Creme Brulee. Was amazing.