Examining the Bars on the Brilliance of the Seas

[Coralc]

The canal day is really fun! Everyone will be up on the ship really early, and you can see the lights from the canal zone. There is a great sense of anticipation. It is very cool to pass through all the anchored ships and start entering the jungle before the canal, there are parrots and all kinds of wildlife as the sun comes up. Have a wonderful time Wrona, we are enjoying your live reports!:)

[wrp96]

Thanks! I'm having a blast so far. This is an amazing ship. Friendly staff, beautiful ship, awesome itinerary (at least so far). I'm already searching for places to hide so I don't have to leave the ship at the end.

[GranysT]

Wrona, congrats on having survived your bar exam. I know you're relieved to have that over with.

Following your great review,as I'll be on Brilliance myself,in about 47 days.

Who is the CD? Is he/she any good? Sounds like your having one heck of a good time. :D Cruise On.

[tomjohnsonjr]

go out there a touch the sides of the locks

[Kimq]

Thanks! I'm having a blast so far. This is an amazing ship. Friendly staff, beautiful ship, awesome itinerary (at least so far). I'm already searching for places to hide so I don't have to leave the ship at the end.

 

 

We got off the ship the day you got on. Had a great time and thanks because now I can pretend we are still on board with you.:D This helps with the post cruise blues.:(

[pinkrosesdeb]

We have a full yr. to wait for this cruise so please allow me to join you in my daydreams! So happy to hear your reports. Never been on anything but Voyager class before and glad to hear you are loving the Brilliance. Keep up the wonderful info and have fun for the rest of us!

[mrchips14]

Hey Wrona,

 

Thanks for the updates, I leave on 3/17- 2 weeks, can't wait.

 

I watched the Brillance go thru the canal today on the web cam, I think I saw you waving. LOL

 

Please let us know the final answer about formal nights:

2 formal 2 semi

3 formal 1 semi

182 formal 257 semi

etc.

Have a great cruise and keep the posts coming, Thanks

 

 

 

Have a great

[wrp96]

Let's see 2 formal nights, 3 semi-formal - I believe. I might have the number of semi-formal nights wrong.

 

CD is Bill Brubaker I believe, but I might have the last name wrong.

 

I got out to the helicopter pad around 5:30 this morning and was beaten to the punch by at least 25 others. Great views from there, although you can't hear any of the announcements. We started going through the Canal around 6:30 to 6:45 if I remember right. The ship is attached to a locomotive as you move through the locks, and in the first lock one of the cables came loose. Lots of uh-oh looks on canal workers faces.

 

I did the Panama Canal by Ferry. Great excursion, but very hot. I'd drink one bottle of water and then grab another. They provided water, sodas, and a sandwich on the ferry. We did have an Alpha, Alpha, Alpha call on our little ferry as we were going through the Miraflores locks (the last before the Pacific ocean). The Panamanian emergency crews are really on the ball. They were there in minutes.

 

Came back to the ship to find maintenance workers going in and out of cabins near mine. Thankfully not mine!

[canucks4]

I saw on the other thread you mentioned early dinner is at 5:30 and late at 8:00 - why the difference on this ship - we took late dinner (thankfully), but I expected it to be at 8:30 or 9:00.

 

Also, going through the canal....is it better to see it "head on" or is watching it from our balcony ok as well ...

 

Keep going, I'm living your cruise with you - speaking of which, my knees are hurting :p !!

[mark k]

wrp96. i hope the boys at the pool bar are taking care of you.. my wife talked to Petre today on the phone he said he had a scooter accident and has been off for 3 days.. i,m sure Piety will take good care of you.. when you see them tell them Mark and Terri said hi..and we have a box coming there way.. have a great time...............p.s have you played bago yet.....

[GranysT]

Hi Wrona, is this Bill Brubaker any good,or funny?

 

Reading your posts are making me just that more excited about my own cruise. I booked this cruise in Feb of 05,and have been waiting so loooonnngg!! But its getting here. :D

[RickT]

I now look forward to your daily posts (like MrChips and Canucks4 I am doing this cruise on 3/17) however I am beginning to worry that there will be no alcohol left on board by the time we get there.

 

My wife has one question that I'm hoping you can answer. Does the Brilliance have a "high tea" any day? Our last few RCCL cruises did not (High Tea by the way is a more formal Tea that would take place in the main dining room or Chops).

 

I have one question.. the piano player in the Schooner lounge. What kind of music does he play? Contemporary, Folk, Classical?

 

Thanks again for helping me get geared up for my cruise.

[wrp96]

Piano player sings and plays all sorts of songs. Mostly songs from 50s until today, but takes request. All popular songs.

 

No high tea that I've seen, but I haven't been looking for it. I will check compasses and let you know.

 

CD is funny when I've seen him, but I haven't been to many activities, in fact, I haven't been to a single show.

 

Today was Costa Rica and boy if this a beautiful country. I was one of the 1st of the ship, and literally one of the last onboard (they held the ship for us). I did an excursion to Tabacon Hot Springs and Mount Arenal Volcano. If you want to see Costa Rica, this is the excursion to do. We drove 3-1/2 hours through the most beautiful country side seeing banana plantations, pineapple plantations, Casaba plants, sloths, howler monkeys, etc. We then got to swim in hot springs. The resort had tons of different hot spring pools to take advantage of. All were small and surrounded by foliage. You could literally have a pool to yourself if you wanted. The drive back was nap time for me. When I woke up it was aroun 6, 6:30ish and we were supposed to be back on the ship already. Some people on the bus were panicking but not me. I knew the ship would wait, but even if it didn't I figured it wouldn't be a hardship to have to stay behind in a tropical country!

 

Tomorrow is facial and relax by the pool. Life is difficult but somebody has to do it!:D

[Merion_Mom]

Just curious, Wrona.............had you taken your passport with you on the excursion???

[pinkrosesdeb]

Fascinating to hear of the different ports. We have only done eastern and western carib. So excited to learn they new ports are so nice! Thanks for living the dream for us and enjoying it so much! Deb

[cruisinsince99]

...this a beautiful country....Tabacon Hot Springs and Mount Arenal Volcano. If you want to see Costa Rica, this is the excursion to do. ...the most beautiful country side seeing banana plantations, pineapple plantations, Casaba plants, sloths, howler monkeys, etc. ...a tropical country!

 

Hi Wrona,

I, too, look forward to your daily posts. The trips you had/have lined up are so great. Since I don't know if a day will come that this line up will ever happen for me, I am living vicariously through your logs.

 

Have you given any thoughts to downloading the best of shots from your trip? I know I'd love to see them.

 

Enjoy every bit of the trip and thanks again for keeping all of us 'posted'.

[ILoveScotland]

Hi Wrona,

I have an unusual request, and if you can't do it or choose not to I'll understand. On next fall's transatlantic we'll be in JS 1586 on Decj 10 on the starboard side close to the aft. I'd love to have a picture of that part of the ship from the outside. I think I've looked at every picture of the Brilliance on webshots.com and can't find one.

You could just e-mail it to be at bdglass at charter dot net any time you have an extra free moment. And, again, if this isn't feasible I'll certainly understand.

Meanwhile I'm really enjoying your posts. What a wonderful way to wind down from the bar exams.

[tomjohnsonjr]

http://community.webshots.com/photo/127214985/1127222012014816381Ufplha

[ILoveScotland]

Thanks for the web site. What I really am interested in is a side view.

[taraandsean]

WRP96,

Are you going to try chops? Do you know if they have the weeks dinner menues at chops so you can figure out what nights to skip the dining room? If you have not eaten there try it if you are a lover of good steaks. I ate there on the NOS and loved it. Thanks

[wrp96]

Okay, I will try to answer any questions but I am PODing so forgive me if I forget something.

 

No, I did not take my passport although I should have. This excursion was very long and we did get back after the scheduled departure. If you do this excursion, I would take your passport with you just in case! One thing I've noticed with all my ship's excursions this time, they are being very careful to count how many people they have and not leave anybody behind!

 

No, I'm not doing Chops this cruise maybe my Serenade cruise next week. I'm not a beef eater, and most of the sides I can't eat. I may try it next week on Serenade with my best friend because they have halibut listed which I love.

 

Today I got my 2nd facial and then poured myself into a deck chair. Unfortunately I stayed too long by the pool deck as I am now redder than the lobster they served at dinner. Chair hogs were out in force today although the staff was marking chairs with times and removing items after 30 minutes (bravo staff). I was out at 9 am and almost all chairs by the main pool were saved with no one in them or by the pool.

 

Lobster and prime rib tonight. Also formal night. Tonight was my tablemates 44th wedding anniversary. They ordered the cake. It was vanilla with a raspberry filling. Yummy! It had candles in it and the staff sang.

 

After dinner I went to my favorite Schooner Bar to visit my favorite bartenders, Eric and T. I also participated in Name That Tune (Movie Love Songs Editions). Out of 30 possible points, I got 26, and I still lost! I demand a recount! They still gave me the prize although it wasn't a key chain but a photo album.

 

As an anniversary gift to my tablemates, I agreed to sing at Karaoke Idol. I didn't drink enough as I ended up making it to the Finals of Karaoke Idol. Look for updates on Sunday night - I think there will be a lot of alcohol gone from the ship by then. I went back to the bar and forced Eric and T to surprise me with something so I could handle it. I did get a key chain (finally after how many cruises) and bingo card for my efforts.

 

Tomorrow is Grand Cayman and swimming with the stingrays and my 2nd massage.

[gailc]

ILoveScotland - I'll be Emailing you 3 links. We have cruised on the Brilliance before so I had some links from Webshots. I looked through them & found 3 that I think you might be looking for. Be sure to click the picture so you can see the larger one.

 

Gail

[ILoveScotland]

ILoveScotland - I'll be Emailing you 3 links. We have cruised on the Brilliance before so I had some links from Webshots. I looked through them & found 3 that I think you might be looking for. Be sure to click the picture so you can see the larger one.

 

Gail

 

Thanks so much. I'll look for them in my e-mail.

[wrp96]

Grand Cayman. Still not my favourite port in the whole world, but definitely left a better impression this time than last. Got up early to swim with the stingrays and snorkel. Saw lots of damage remaining from Hurricane Ivan back in 2004 - underneath a glossy surface it reminds me of some of the sites in Cozumel back in December. Sunny weather but very breezy which made stingraying and snorkeling hard, although I did get to play with the stingrays at the Sandbar, and then see eels and sharks when snorkeling.

 

Went back to the ship to get lectured by the spa staff on letting myself get sunburned. Instead of the seaweed wrap I signed up for, they gave me a treatment for the sunburn plus a full massage. Wonderful, although I think I would've preferred not having the sunburn.

 

I am PODing so I'm not remembering this much from this evening. I remember BBCs and wine before dinner, wine with dinner, and several shots! Good thing tomorrow is a sea day.

[BobBeaSea]

Wrona, glad you are having a great time!! I will be doing my own bar examinations on Radiance in a month. What I need to know is, will I ever have to leave the Colony Club area? The only reasons coming to mind would be the Schooner, Champagne, Pool and Sky Bars :D. Have a great time.:)