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Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Reviews: 0
Helpful Votes: 3

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Brilliance of the Seas

Sail date: November 01, 2009

Ship: Brilliance of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

The ship was very nice. With all the glass, there was a lot of light and it was easy to have a nice view of the scenery from wherever you were. As a non-smoker, I would have preferred that the casino was non-smoking.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The service was great. Our waiters were superb and worked very hard. They even learned magic tricks to entertain my 5 year old daughter. I was disappointed by the quality of the food in the main dining. It was bland and relatively unseasoned. The food in the other cafes was much better. The buffet was decent; the variety was good and there were dishes to reflect the countries we visited which I appreciated. There were also always the regular staples (salad bar, mashed potatoes with meat, rice, etc.) to please everyone. The dining times were usually fine, although there were random (but small ) chunks of time when it was hard to get food (like 11-11:30am, 6-6:30pm) which was inconvenient.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Most days we had so much planned that we couldn't fit it in the schedule. We even had an extra day at sea when one of the ports was cancelled due to bad weather, and the schedule was quickly filled with things to do. The evening Headliner shows were worth seeing almost every night.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
There were only a few children on our cruise who used the Adventure Ocean kids' club, but it was great. The staff really played with my 5 year old. She wanted to spend every minute there. We even left her there one day while we left the boat at a port and she had a blast. They had a variety of activities and it was nice to have a place where she could go while we did more adult activities that we knew she would be well cared for while having fun.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Staff was GREAT. They were outgoing and very helpful, especially with my somewhat shy 5 year old. The waiters were quite good- not just in the main dining where they receive a tip, but also in the buffet and cafes as well. Whenever we passed by any staff, we got a smile and a greeting. If we made any request (needing something at dinner, a repair on the fridge in the room which went haywire, staying a little longer on the water slide than the posted hours), it was answered quickly and positively. I could not find a complaint about the staff if I wanted to.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Very clean. I hever saw litter or messes anywhere. The layout was quite good, but when popular events happened, things could get congested near the elevators and halls (especially through the Centrum ie. shopping area).

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
We had a balcony, which was great. It was very light. The room was as you would expect, and after 2 weeks with 3 people felt a little small, but it was fine. The shower was small and usually caused a small flood in the bathroom, but again, not outside what you would expect on a cruise.

Pros: Beautiful scenery, friendly staff

Cons: So-so food

Recommends Brilliance of the Seas? Yes!

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