Great cruise! Weather didn't cooperate!!

Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review to Transatlantic

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 9

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5
Brilliance of the Seas

15 Night Transatlantic Eastbound (Tampa To Amsterdam)

Sail date: April 05, 2018

Ship: Brilliance of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8577

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Most of the entertainment was very enjoyable. We thought the food was much better than recent cruises. Every crew member did their best to make this a memorable cruise. The weather problems caused us to miss two ports, but the captain kept us informed of what was going on. We did one excursion to Blarney Castle and it was great. The Azores stop was not a good one because of the weather. Too much fog to enjoy the views. We were glad we didn't plan an excursion for this stop. We have been before so it wasn't important to us. We were disappointed to miss the Dublin port--not so much the Waterford one.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Overall, very good.

Main Dining Room

4 out of 5

The staff was excellent and the food very good. Some of the guests at our table had some problems with bones in their fish and chicken being tough. The staff quickly replaced the items and were most attentive to any of our concerns. The chef even came out to apologize for some of the problems. It is hard to cook for so many people and to supervise such a large venue. I thought the desserts on this cruise were the best in many cruises we have lately had. The cheesecake was a real cheesecake. In the past the cheese cakes were imitation-like. The Windjammer had good selection and the food was well prepared.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Pacifica Theatre

4 out of 5

The size was good as we always were able to locate a seat and the views to the stage were better than most cruises we have been on. Seats need to be replaced as they are showing wear. The entertainment was very good. The dancers and singers need a better production show.

Library

2 out of 5

We got on early and just as the crew member was putting out the books. We got a few good ones. The library is only two bookcases, so it was small. Thank goodness the guests shared their own books by leaving those for others in the library after finishing reading them.

Cinema

3 out of 5

Small and the seats were worn and uncomfortable. Most of the movies were good.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Ship is showing its age.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The cabin was just fine as we only sleep there.

Ship tip

It's going into dry dock to improve appearance and mechanical issues. Should be great when it is over.

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

5 out of 5

Ponta Delgada, Azores

3 out of 5
We didn't get off at this port as we have visited it before. Also, the day was overcast and fog was a problem. Our friends who did an excursion were unhappy that the views couldn't be seen due to the fog.

Cobh (Cork), Ireland

4 out of 5
Excursion to Blarney Castle was excellent. There were no big crowds on the day we visited.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

5 out of 5
We stayed over for a few days and planned our on activities. We had a lot of fun in Amsterdam.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
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4 Comments

MarineVet71    6 years ago

Thanks for the review

cruzn4life    6 years ago

BDRebel    6 years ago

Thanks for the review. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate, butt glad you didn't let that ruin the experience, and that RCI had sufficient entertainment to offset the many sea days..

cathybob    6 years ago

Overall, it was a great cruise. We had wonderful experiences with new friends. We were all unhappy about the weather toward the end of the cruise, but that couldn't be helped.

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