Brillance Questions

[VacationGirl]

I'm thinking of booking the Brillance for a 12 night cruise leaving Barcelona next October and would love to know your opinions of this ship. I want to book a category GS cabin and would love to know what the best side would be for this itinerary.

 

Thank you!

Marsha

[isujim]

The Brilliance is our favorite ship to date. We did a 10 night Panama Canal last April. I rate this ship about a 9.5 out of 10. Large ship but you don't feel it or really notice all the passengers. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

Jim

[LibertyBelle]

We also sailed Brilliance and rank it as one of our favorite ships. We absolutely loved the ship itself, very elegant while still offering all the amenites of the Voyager class ships (minus the ice skating and promenade). Don't know what "the best side would be for the cruise" but I can give you some tips on certain rooms. We had a GS... Room 1554 and to date that is our favorite suite on any cruise ship. The location of the room was perfect (mid ship, across from the concierge lounge). On Brilliance 1554 and 1556 are on the hump so these rooms have an AWESOME set up. Instead of having a floor to ceiling window next to a single slider these rooms have one HUGE slider that has two doors that open away from each other so when they are open the entire back wall is open to the balcony. We were very impressed. 1060, next to the concierge lounge also has a larger balcony (deeper not wider) because of location and 1600 has a HUGE balcony because it is on the back corner of the ship...but I don't like the room set up for that one, it is one giant open room rather than having the feel of seperate areas.

 

Here are some photos to look at to see what I mean:

 

For the 1554/1556 difference go to:

RCCL.com, click on find a cruise, in the drop down click on staterooms,then go to suites (not virtual tour, yet...just suites), click on Grand suite (again not virtual tours yet), Find Radiance of the Seas and click on Stateroom details, then on virtual tour... the Radiance will show you how 1554/1556 looks with one Giant slider... If you then go back and find Brilliance and click on stateroom details and virtual tour it will show you a regular GS (not on the hump) that has the floor to ceiling window and a single slider.

 

For room 1600 go to:

http://www.cruise-addicts.com/picturepost/indexalpha.php when the page loads go into the gallery (they are listed alphabetically) and find Radiance march 2002. The last 6 pictures of that Gallery are of room 1600.

 

On the same page you can go back to the Gallery and look at Radiance Balcony shots and pull up the last picture on the top row. The top balcony closest to the glass windows is 1060. It would be that whole curve, the slider and the floor to ceiling window. If you look closely you can see the divider for the room next door above the railing :)

[VacationGirl]

LibertyBelle~

Thank you so much for the details! I was looking at that cabin but didn't know if the "hump" was a good thing or a bad thing. Thank you again for the clarification! We will have another couple joining us so I'm going to try and book the rooms together.

 

Jim~

I'm glad you answered my question the way you did. I much prefer the "smaller" ships and don't feel the need to have a mall and all the extra entertainment that the larger ships include. Glad to hear that Brillance is a bit larger but doesn't lose the entire feeling of a smaller vessel. I'm going to talk to our travel agent and get started. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions as I get going.

 

Thanks again!

Marsha

[KamloopsCruisers]

We had a GS... Room 1554 and to date that is our favorite suite on any cruise ship. The location of the room was perfect (mid ship, across from the concierge lounge). On Brilliance 1554 and 1556 are on the hump so these rooms have an AWESOME set up.

When we sailed on the Brilliance we were in GS 1556 - and yes, it is just fabulous. The bigger deck, HUGE sliding doors and close proximity to the concierge lounge (for the most wonderful capuccinos and lattes:) ) and not too far from the elevators. You'll love either of these suites if they're available.

 

Enjoy!

[isujim]

Marsha:

 

We had a Grand Suite in April and it was wonderful........keep checking this thread and I;ll have my wife post some pictures when she gets home from work sometime tonight.........it was great..........and you'll love the ship.

 

Jim

[csk]

we were on the Brillance in November on a transatlantic and loved the ship, we are booked on the Oct 30th , 12 night sailing from Barcelona and are looking forward to it , we just booked a balcony on the hump, my husband needs a handicapp room, so dont know about GS,

[jbond]

We are booked on Brilliance for the October 15 Med sailing. It will be our third time on Brilliance, so you can figure out our opinion of it. We have sailed two other ships in it's class, Radiance and Serenade, but we prefer Brilliance. It has just a little different touch that I can't explain.

If you are planning the Venice Med cruise, I would recommend a port side cabin. The view sailing out of Venice is the most awesome that we have ever experienced. If you have a stbd side, you will get the same view sailing in, but it doesn't have the same atmosphere as in the evening.

If you are doing the Greek Island cruise, we had a stbd cabin and we had some great mornings and evenings sitting on the balcony.

If you haven't already booked, you may have some difficulty getting the cabin of your chouce. We booked back in September and had very little to choose from.

[Dave4120]

Hello...WE also love the Brilliance and are booked on the 12-night cruise from Barcelona, Ocotber 15th. I have to echo other comments that rooms on the hump provide so much more room if you choose a balcony stateroom. Because there are not as many cruises to Europe like to the Caribbean, cabins book very quickly and are much more expensive. WE booked in October and at that time, all of the balcony cabins were booked except for the suites. Just the other day, some balcony cabins opened up because a large tour group cancelled several rooms. Otherwise the ship is almost sold out. And the prices are crazy. RCCL wants close to $7000 each for a Grand Suite. WE paid only$1900 each for an Owners Suite in October on the Navigator, even thogh it was for only 7-nights. but still, RCCL cranks up the Suite prices to Europe because they know so many people want this itinerary. Book now before you get shut ouot and I am sure the D-1 Superior Balcony category will work fine. Save the other thousands of dollars for site seeing and great Italian dinners.

 

Hope to chat with others sailing on the same October 15th cruise in the near future.

 

Dave

[paulfredo]

Our favorite cruise line is Celebrity... but Brilliance is our favorite ship, so far. If you're concerned about the ship... it is a very good choice.

 

Paul

[Lizziemom]

We are also sailing on the Oct 15th cruise on the Brillance. Signed up today for the meet and mingle on RCCL web site. Only 8 people signed up so far.

 

We watched the Travel Channel review of the Brillance on Tues night. They are repeating it on Sat afternoon. This looks like a great cruise. Very busy, very port intensive. We know it will be completely different from our many Caribbean cruises.

 

Does anyone know if the shows for the second seating are before or after dinner? Don't know if I can stay awake for a late show!

 

Also what is a good shop to buy a mask in Venice? The party on board looked like fun with everyone wearing a mask!

 

Lizzie

[NYcruizer]

We are also sailing on the Oct 15th cruise on the Brillance. Signed up today for the meet and mingle on RCCL web site. Only 8 people signed up so far.

 

We watched the Travel Channel review of the Brillance on Tues night. They are repeating it on Sat afternoon. This looks like a great cruise. Very busy, very port intensive. We know it will be completely different from our many Caribbean cruises.

 

Does anyone know if the shows for the second seating are before or after dinner? Don't know if I can stay awake for a late show!

 

Also what is a good shop to buy a mask in Venice? The party on board looked like fun with everyone wearing a mask!

 

Lizzie

I was on the Brilliance last christmas/new years sailing, and the Brilliance, just like every other cruise ive been on (7 of them), we have always had second seating...and every ship had days where the show would be before dinner, and days where it would be after dinner. Certain nights there are shows for both seatings at around 7:30 or so...however most nights the shows are called for 10:30PM.