My View: The Blonde, The Bullethead, and The Brilliant Ship (Semi-live B2B)

[APDMOM]

Crown and Anchor Top Tier Event:

 

The event was held in The Colony Club, which has a wake view.  There was a drink I had not seen at any of these events before - The Blue Hawaiian.  Very nice!

 

 

 

Noticed there are chess boards available in the Colony Club:

[APDMOM]

Lunch in the MDR:

 

Loved all of our choices, including custom made salad from the bar, Fajitas and Buffalo Chicken:

[APDMOM]

One of our favorite venues on this ship: Schooner Bar

 

A special tread awaiting us in the cabin:

 

All set for a wedding scheduled in Starquest:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Time to call it a day for now.  I will be back with more of our sea day/formal night pictures tomorrow.  “See” you in Cozumel 🙂

[Sobro]

Hi APDMOM! Nice to see your family back at sea. One of my favorite things to do on Radiance class ships is to go to the helicopter pad during sunrise for photos. When we sailed into Tampa Bay we asked the crew what time we passed under the Sunshine Skyway bridge and I got some great photos of the bridge lit up at night.

 

Greg

[Arzeena]

Enjoy reading your reviews. Thanks for posting.

[gfargo53]

also enjoying your reviews going on brilliance this fall 

can't come soon enough thanks for posting

[APDMOM]

10 hours ago, Sobro said:

Hi APDMOM! Nice to see your family back at sea. One of my favorite things to do on Radiance class ships is to go to the helicopter pad during sunrise for photos. When we sailed into Tampa Bay we asked the crew what time we passed under the Sunshine Skyway bridge and I got some great photos of the bridge lit up at night.

 

Greg

Hi, Greg!  Great to see you too!  We thought about doing Trikes Cozumel, but postponed that until November.  Thanks for the tip about the helipad.  Taking pictures of the bridge is definitely on my list for Monday morning... Good thing I don’t have to drive home on Monday!  🙂  I think we get to the bridge around 4 a.m.  Will be up by then!

[APDMOM]

Thanks to everyone reading along and commenting!  We had a fun and busy day in Cozumel, so I have some catching up to do with pictures here... closing out day 2 shortly, then on to day 3.

 

[APDMOM]

Day 2:  Dinner Menu:

 

 

Enjoyed all our options again, but the Seafood Vol-Au-Vent was strong seafood flavor, complete with caviar:

 

Beef Carpaccio:

 

Did not manage to snap pictures of the rest, but we all had almond crusted cod, which was delicious!  Dessert was in the diamond lounge (chocolate cup filled with caramel/cooked condensed milk) Yum!!

[travelplus]

On 3/15/2019 at 6:53 AM, APDMOM said:

Hello from sunny skies and calm seas on Brilliance!  We are doing a back to back on this new-to-us-ship.  We live on a strict cruise budget so that we can enjoy these special treats!  We have therefore been on 30 cruises since 2004, and even moved to Florida to be close to the ships.  Our favorite ship to date is Allure, but we found that so many CC members favor the Radiance class that we just had to try it ourselves.  So, it became an easy excuse (as if I need another one) to book a cruise.  Of course, anything shorter than 7 days is too short, so we booked a back to back.  

 

I will not be typing too much in this trip report, as we are enjoying our vacation.  I will post pictures, the Cruise Compass, and only make a few comments  After our 9 days, I will share the verdict of our view of Brilliance, along with a summary of our experience when we get home.

 

For now, please feel free to ask questions.  I will try my best to get answers while we are onboard.

 

With that said, come sail along with Blonde and Bullethead... (Just for the record, I am not responsible for his hair loss 😁)

I love the Brilliance and for that matter the Serenade. My Father and I have 72 nights under our belt on Royal Caribbean. We are booked along with my Mother on a B2B from Barcelona around the Med before taking the Brilliance back to Tampa.

 

I am a strategist when it comes to planning cruises. My Father and I for the past 7 years did Trans Atlantic Cruises of 14 or 15 nights respectfully but did the Suez Canal from Barcelona to Dubai and that was fun. 

 

We book in an Oceanview,Interior or Oceanview Guarantee. For the B2B we have an Interior Guarantee and Oceanview on the Trans Atlantic.

 

Like you we set  a budget and save up for our vacations. I will not skimp but will do whats financially responsible. I would rather take one or two cruises a year than stay at Motels or road trip around the USA spending more than what a cruise would go through.

 

Since my Mother only took a Holland America Cruise years ago to Alaska  we have to get her sea legs ready.  Just like my Father and I  we went "Cold Turkey" and took a Trans Atlantic as our first cruise. My theory is either we will love it or hate it.  As you can tell we love it !

 

My other goal was to link my Mother to my Father's C&A Account to share our benefits.  On our B2B we will be Diamond and I spoke with C&A and they set us up becaue of us being one night short the kind agent will do a manual adjustment.

 

I love the complimentary Espresso in the morning and the nightly drinks. For me I don't give a damn what is served. I just take it graciously!  My Mother is not a Drinker anyways so my Father and I can use some of her drinks!  I always tip!

 

I also wanted to take my Mother on a ship that my Father and I have been on. The Brilliance fits many categories. Its beautiful, its the class of ship my Father and I first sailed on, I have done a Cabin Crawl on this ship so I know where everything is and perhaps some of the same staff will be working on this ship. 

 

We had the Maitre' D work as a Head Waiter on another cruise  and he remembered us and gave us VIP service. Other staff members remembered me!  As you can tell its like a family. 

 

I really enjoy your review and photos! 

Quote

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 2 - First leg:

 

Formal Night... all dressed up.  😂Bliss=That moment when you actually get 3 smiles at the same time (sort of):

 

[APDMOM]

15 minutes ago, travelplus said:

Like you we set  a budget and save up for our vacations. I will not skimp but will do whats financially responsible. I would rather take one or two cruises a year than stay at Motels or road trip around the USA spending more than what a cruise would go through.

 

Great comments, travelplus!  We would love to get into transatlantic experiences.  Unfortunately, our schedule is limited to the school calendar.  Hope to do the TA some day!  Ironically,  balcony for 3 with diamond discount is often cheaper or just a bit more than an interior cabin.  We love that discount!

[travelplus]

1 minute ago, APDMOM said:

 Thanks for the reply! Yes I plan to book a balcony on our next cruise using our Diamond discounts!  If you want a Trans Atlantic Cruise its often best to plan and book for it a year or more in advance and take any price reductions. Time is also key but perhaps one day when you have the time you can try it.  Cunard has 7 day crossings and you could cross from New York to Southampton do your European vacation and return to Soutampton at the end of your vacation for a 7 day return cruise. 

 

Great comments, travelplus!  We would love to get into transatlantic experiences.  Unfortunately, our schedule is limited to the school calendar.  Hope to do the TA some day!  Ironically,  balcony for 3 with diamond discount is often cheaper or just a bit more than an interior cabin.  We love that discount!

 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 3 - Cozumel

 

[APDMOM]

Day 3 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Arrival of Independence of the Seas:

 

 

 

 

 

From the Bridge of Brilliance:

 

[APDMOM]

A few more arrival pictures:

 

 

[APDMOM]

We ran into the culprit that started pur cruise addiction. Carnival Fantasy was our first cruise experience in April 2004.  Despite some rookie mistakes at that time, we still became thoroughly addicted!

 

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Awesome photos! What a beautiful family. Thank you for letting us tag along!! Looks like you're off to a great start on your B2B!

[APDMOM]

We did a ship excursion, as the price was actually not as bad as we had expected.  Unfortunately, it ended up being a large bus with a poor sound system.  The tour guide gave up in the mic, so we could not hear much of the narration.  However, the tour guide was really accommodating and came to the back of the bus to repeat the nitty gritty for us.

 

Most of these pictures were taken from a moving bus, so not very good quality.  Join me for a few Views of Colorful Cozumel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vision of the Seas:

[APDMOM]

Upload speeds are very slow... I will have to break posts up a bit more with fewer pictures per post.

 

Continuing with our tour:

 

We stopped for a Tequila Tour and Tasting.  It was very entertaining and the flavored Tequilas were tasty.  However, the prices per bottle were way outside the cruise budget.

 

 

[APDMOM]

The tasting:

 

[APDMOM]

I was hoping to finish Cozumel today, but the upload speeds are just too slow tonight.  I will be back tomorrow with more.

 

Thank you for following along 🙂 

[George C]

 Thanks always enjoy your great reviews and pictures, also love brilliance did Europe in suite couple of years ago , by far our favorite concierge lounge.