Cruise good, BJ's Travel Service...meh...

Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 13

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Brilliance of the Seas

5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 27, 2016

Ship: Brilliance of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8019

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Overall cruise experience was good.  Staff was pleasant, ship was clean, food was average-ish.  Entertainment was better than anticipated.  Biggest disappointment was using BJ's Travel to book the cruise.  Not only did we not receive any special discounts, we were treated as a number.  The 2 times I called for info/questions, I felt as if I was a bother to the agent.  I asked to be placed on waiting lists for certain upgrades and the agent never followed up.  I called upon our other travel agent as a favor and she had no problem contacting the cruise line and getting things done.  No advantage whatsoever to using BJ's Travel.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Staff was efficient, food was bland and uninspired.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Fun for everyone.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Definitely not your average entertainment!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Older ship but clean and in good shape.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Clean and well maintained. Just a little outdated and furniture showed some wear. Bathrooms are unpleasant with sewer smell that never goes away.

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 13

4 Comments

randy110    8 years ago

I use Cheapcruises.com, never a problem, will answer any questions, very accommodating.

reupman    8 years ago

Always good to see what price you can get through the web, but find a good,reputable agent and see what they can do. Often they have affiliations with agencies that buy blocks of rooms at discounted prices and pass the savings to you. They also offer on board credits and monitor for price drops. Yeah, you can do it yourself, but if the price is lower with an agent, why not use them?

CrusinTim    8 years ago

@mrsb-3...There is a difference between a travel agent and a cruise agent. I have used a cruise agent for over 25 years and have never been let down. Always the same person to interact with regarding your booking as opposed to someone different everytime you call where you have to go through your whole booking to get to your specific question. And many times, not getting the correct answer! Sure, you can book online but the internet doesn't interact with your questions. And yes, you can book directly with the cruise line but then calling back always get's you a different person. Over the past 12 cruises I have done, always got what was promised and never had to call post-cruise to complain about anything when using my cruise agent. I guess to each their own.

mrsb3    8 years ago

Why would you use a travel agent in 21st century. ...you can book on line or directly from cruise line agent. .

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