Brilliance - May 22nd-29th (Italy, Montenegro, Greece)

[blondcat]

Hi all

 

I’m currently on the brilliance with my mother, first cruise in maybe 10 years? Only done a couple but we fancied a little break away and I wanted to treat her. Itinerary is packed with 5 stops on this 7 night cruise.

Day 1

We struggled to find the coach pick up at Bologna airport after being directed down to a different exit. RCL staff aren’t allowed inside with their boards which I didn’t know. Anyway got there in the end, last people on board the coach (sorry!). When we got to port we were stuck on the coach for 20mins waiting for other coaches to leave. Of course I hadn’t printed luggage tags but they quickly added them for us. Then it was on to show negative covid test evidence. Then passport check. Then hand luggage scanning. Then covid vaccine checks. She was annoyed at me that my electronic vaccine evidence was across 2 pages! I think they prefer printed ones. But it was fine. Then on to check in - but were intercepted by Montserrat who is the concierge who then escorted us on the ship. She is an absolute delight. The nicest, most helpful person. 
 

We enjoyed the room for a bit, went to do our muster (just a couple of minutes in the schooner bar) then watched the dockside goings on for the next hour from the balcony. Lots to see! And some very late guest arrivals, last one was 1655 I think. 
 

We then went up to the sale away party and I had the strongest margarita I’ve ever tasted! After that we went to the British pub (where else do British people go on holiday *eye roll*) to watch the end of season premier league games - im a Spurs season ticket holder and we had a champions league place up for grabs (we did it! #COYS). Then headed up to concierge lounge to sort out dinner reservations. We had dinner in the room which was perfect for night 1 then went to a couple of quiz shows, the welcome theatre show (Montserrat met us and gave us some fancy seats).

 

Then time for bed -  mum took the main bedroom (under duress) and I had the sofa bed. Slept like a baby - so comfy. Perfect end to a perfect day (day being once we’d got to check in because the journey was rubbish!!)

Edited May 23, 2022 by blondcat

[Phils01]

Great post, we’re on there next week so I’ll be keeping an eye on your post.

We got a Royal up to a Grand Suite so looking forward to it

[sgmn]

Thanks for your blog. I haven't been on Brilliance but I've heard she's a great ship. Looking forward to hearing more, enjoy !

[blondcat]

Oh awesome! I’ve stayed in a grand suite before and an owners suite ? Not sure if that’s the name. This room is ludicrously over the top and unnecessary but rather wonderful. Shame we’re not on the ship with friends as you could have a great cocktail party in here !  Let me know if you want any particular info - plenty of time to do a recce for you. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Will be following this post as on brilliance in aug. Cant wait and have a Great holiday. Ps well done spurs

[dritan]

Thanks for this as we are embarking on Sunday. We are catching the train from Bologna to Ravenna and will either get a taxi or local bus to the port. There had been a suggestion that the port has put on shuttles from the train station in the past. I wonder if you'd seen these about?

[Zana711]

Thanks very much for sharing - eagerly awaiting your other posts to follow along for the rest of your cruise as I will be on roughly the same itinerary as you on Brilliance in August. 

 

Do you have any rough estimates of how many are onboard? I noticed from the Cruise Compass that only one specialty restaurant (Chops) was open on embarkation day, which does seem odd. Izumi was not stated as open. I bought UDP for my cruise, so curious whether there's just going to be one specialty restaurant open every night for the rest of your cruise. 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Zana711

[pcur]

If you are stopping in Kotor, be sure to go up high in the ship with a good view for the sail away.  It's spectacular.

 

Just a taste:

[blondcat]

Hi everyone !

 

So I’ll do day 2 in 2 parts - currently sitting on one of the loungers on this crazy balcony with a glass of bubbles, the piano playing whilst wearing one of their robes after the most amazing shower . My partner who is a proper London geezer type would have something to say about all this I’m sure 😆. He already thinks I’m ridiculous.

 

Anyway. Day 2 off to a rocky start yesterday when we were told our excursion was cancelled. It was a catamaran, sail, beach, swim type thing. Anyway we went off to the excursions desk last night to ask about an alternative. They sold us something similar without the beach bit. Ok fine.
 

This morning we were to meet in the theatre at 1115 (meant to be arriving offshore of Montenegro at 1030). Was obvious we were running late given the ship was still moving at 1110 - probably those late guests yesterday we saw 😜 . Anyway, we get to a packed theatre, you head down to the desk and are given a number that correlates to your excursion. They tell us we are delayed. At 1210 I head down and say look, not being a diva but if this takes much longer can we just cancel and do our own thing in Montenegro. She said sure - refund wouldn’t be an issue - easy. (Mainly because I had a work call at 1700 which was looking very difficult time wise with this delay). Whilst we were talking she got a message to say our tour had been called and we could go to the tender boats - an hour late. I am not a patient person, it’s not a strong character trait of mine. It’s probably why I always pay for the best - try and avoid annoying waits for stuff. No point pretending that’s not who I am. Probably important context too as some people might not be irritated by some of the things that I might say irritate me. I am definitely slightly ridiculous at times. 

 

Anyway we tender to the dock and board the catamaran straight away. Plenty of space, deck chairs on upper deck. In fact the most roomy I’ve experienced! Off we go. I’ve never been to Montenegro and it is breathtakingly beautiful. Never been to a country with a landscape like it. But if I’m being honest I got a bit bored on the tour which was 5 hours in total. It was 1:45 hours creeping through the bay. To a spot where we could swim. Rather bracing as my posh mother described it. Bloody freezing in my opinion. But the water was pristine - I mean really. So clean. And so glad we both jumped in! Once in a life time one presumes. We were there for 90 mins - most folks fell asleep. Then 1 hour back to the ship. There was only 5 minutes of information on the speaker about Montenegro which I found a shame. I’m sure there’s so many interesting things about this country. We really only touched on the island of the dead - pic below. 
 

Tender queue was huge but moved so fast! I was so impressed. They bought water round which was very welcome in the sun but in plastic cups. I mean come on royal. Do better - we need to look after these oceans. They must get through hundreds of thousands of them in a month. Once back onboard, the security lady was rather rude to my mother who couldn’t understand what she was saying in the loud noise compounded by the fact she had a mask on so couldn’t lip read either. But we got back on and one smart thing, they had a towel scanning station as you walked past to return your towels. 
 

Back to room which of course was immaculate and a heavenly shower. And here I am now. We’re off to Giovannis for dinner at 1930 - I think someone asked about number of souls on board - I will find out. But Montserrat told us the restaurants are closed quite a few nights - she said we could only go to giovannis tonight. Going to get showered and dressed and head to the lounge for a free drink before food. Will report back later. 
 

 

 

[blondcat]

27 minutes ago, pcur said:

If you are stopping in Kotor, be sure to go up high in the ship with a good view for the sail away.  It's spectacular.

 

Just a taste:

Isn’t it just so stunning! Breathtaking place 

[ONECRUISER]

Nice Pictures, Thanks for Posting! Done couple Dozen Cruises on Brilliance inc one in 2Bd/2Ba Suite. Though when in my usual Reg Room/Cabin traveling I don't mind the Couch. Brilliance is still looking Good along with you making me Hungry!!! Keep them coming, Enjoy!!!

Edited May 23, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[sandebeach]

Loved the pictures of you and your mom. Enjoying your review, we have had the Royal Suite on Mariner and also on Enchantment, one of our all-time favorite suites. 

Edited May 23, 2022 by sandebeach

[blondcat]

so dressed for dinner and headed up to concierge lounge for the freebie drinks. Bit dead up there so far but fine for us. The barman greeted us by name which made my mum feel special and that’s all I can ask.

 

Had a nice glass of Sauvignon blanc then headed down to giovannis. We had a table by the window which was lovely - was very empty. I ordered cloudy bay glass of wine and he brought red. I said apologies I thought I’d ordered a white Sauvignon blanc? He replaced it no questions asked. I’m not sure if it was my mistake but I didn’t even find out as he sorted it immediately. Also he said I get 50% off wine ? Not sure why but not complaining! So was 11 bucks for a glass of cloudy bay which I’ll take all day long. 

 

I eat out 3-4 times a week in London, maybe more. And I got to tell you - the fillet mignon was one of the best I’ve had. I mean seriously? Totally unexpected. I was a bit lost for words when he asked me what I thought. So rude to think it would be average at best when it was the best steak I’ve eaten this year. Anyway - delightful. Mum had a dessert which she demolished - I didn’t have anything (no sweet tooth at all!). She had to ask for potato’s with her main as it didn’t come with any and she loves her spuds - again - they didn’t bat an eyelid.

 

So surprised and impressed with this restaurant - I left a generous extra tip to say thanks. We then went to the pub to finish my wine and I gave mum a few lessons in the casino. She’s ready with her 20 euros tomorrow which I think she will cry at if she loses. Ridiculous.

 

We lose an hour of time heading to Corfu so it’s already 2330 technically so early night for us ready for 0745 meet for our excursion. Got back to the room with an invite to something or other (art related so we won’t attend) - a pin saying I’m now platinum (I’m not sure what that means) and the best towel animal I’ve ever seen. 
 

A question - I know gratuities will be added to my bill at the end (why. Just charge me up front, pisses me off) but should I tip extra to the housekeeping chap and concierge, bar team up there ? What is good practice ? I’m a bit rusty on a cruise ship. 
 

Day 2: done 

 

[barry1984]

Thanks for your fantastic review so far. Following as I’m on Brilliance in August doing the same itinerary as you!

 

Did you manage to find out how busy the ship is for your sailing?

 

Regarding your question on tips, I think it’s good practice on cruises to give additional tips to those on board who have helped make your holiday special - usually your cabin attendant, concierge, wait staff, favourite barman/woman etc.

 

As a Brit, the practice of giving tips on top of tips is foreign to me but given how hard these guys work and the fact they were unable to work throughout covid, I’ll be more than happy to pass on a few extra dollars.

[sharktums]

Wonderful report so far, we're on this cruise soon so it's amazing to finally see some info! Thank you!

[blondcat]

Some other pics from yesterday which wouldn’t upload on the rubbish wifi. And we’ve just arrived in Corfu (on time!)

[pam_1024]

Loving your review and pictures!  We will be on Brilliance in December.  Did your Mom when big in the casino?  

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Enjoying your review. We will be on the same cruise in Mid August. I saw on Vesselfinder that you left Corfu early afternoon so only half a day in Corfu. I guess they need time to get to Athens. 

[Tlbecker1]

On 5/23/2022 at 10:50 AM, dritan said:

Thanks for this as we are embarking on Sunday. We are catching the train from Bologna to Ravenna and will either get a taxi or local bus to the port. There had been a suggestion that the port has put on shuttles from the train station in the past. I wonder if you'd seen these about?

We are also onboard and have been for B2B.  They have had $10 shuttles to the train station each week.  🙂

[Tlbecker1]

2 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Enjoying your review. We will be on the same cruise in Mid August. I saw on Vesselfinder that you left Corfu early afternoon so only half a day in Corfu. I guess they need time to get to Athens. 

We arrived early this morning and were off the ship at 7:30.🙂

[DonnaPei]

55 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We are also onboard and have been for B2B.  They have had $10 shuttles to the train station each week.  🙂

Did you have to book the shuttle through Royal Caribbean from train station to pier, or can you just get it upon arrival?  Thanks.

[blondcat]

4 hours ago, pam_1024 said:

Loving your review and pictures!  We will be on Brilliance in December.  Did your Mom when big in the casino?  

So my mother is ridiculous!! Convinced her to spend 20 euros. I mean, come on. We finished playing just now after dinner- combined her money with my 50 and played for half hour and walked away 2 euros down between us. 2 euros. “We’ve lost haven’t we?”. No words.
 

The table was fun! Just 1 euro minimum- great for newbies.

 

 

[blondcat]

So day 3. 
 

Ship scheduled to arrive in Corfu at 0730, our excursion meeting time was 0745. Clocks went forward an hour so we were quite tired this morning. Set alarm for  0645 and ordered breakfast room service straight away. Arrived 0715. 
 

Our excursion was sight seeing / coach thing. Got some epic pictures which I’ll upload when wifi is better if they don’t go through now. Basically 4 hours through Corfu up in the mountains, a distillery, old town. I didn’t realise masks were still mandatory in Greece (inside) and according to the cruise compass when you’re in Greek port on the ship. I didn’t read the cruise compass until after we left Corfu port but can say no on the ship was wearing one. It’s a rule that’s removed in Greece come June 1 and I think based on what we saw in old town today the Greek folks aren’t wearing them. 

we got back to the ship on time and headed straight for pool via room. Was surprised room wasn’t made up at 1300 but wasn’t overly bothered. Stayed at pool until 4 then headed back to our own balcony for a post shower book read on the loungers. 
 

part 2 (and most pics to follow - safe to say the extortionate wifi is rubbish)

 

[Tlbecker1]

12 hours ago, DonnaPei said:

Did you have to book the shuttle through Royal Caribbean from train station to pier, or can you just get it upon arrival?  Thanks.

We purchased it the 2nd day at guest relations.  😀

[blondcat]

So the rest of day 3 was chefs table basically and a flutter in the casino. Being honest if you like a drink it sort of pays for itself. You get a welcome Moët cocktail, and espresso martini to finish and wine pairings for 5 courses. The food was great, lobster, sea bass, fillet mignon. Pics below. We had a great table of 3 American couples who were such fun. Pics: