For the 7 Day Mediterranean Cruise you are basically using the ship as a hotel if you are doing excursions in ports. There is travel time in to the country (away from the sea/port) which is fine. Just be aware. Our shortest excursion was 5 hours.
Be aware when booking excursions that many of them involve a great deal of walking. If you do not want / cannot walk a lot - pick excursions accordingly. Also, note the excursions that are wheelchair / handicap accessible if this is an issue for you or your companions. They have some, but many.
I cannot express how beautiful this cruise / ports / excursions were for this trip. The history is simply amazing.
If you want to have a lot of activities on the ship for younger guests in your group you may want to choose another ship. The Brilliance is a beautiful ship and was perfect for our cruise (60+ years), but I can see young/younger children being bored.
Stay out of the Casino!!!! It is very, very small and the machines are very tight! I did not play anything other than the slots. This was a big disappointment from our previous Royal Caribbean cruises.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
I did not utilize any of the activities on the ship other than the Casino which you should stay away from - or - simply hand them your money on your way in because you'll never see it returned!
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The Stage Show(s) were overall good, but it was obvious this was their first time performing together. The LOCOMOTION band that played in the Centrum was AMAZING!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Amazing waiter/assistant waiter (Mauro and Nurman) were great! Cabin Attendant (Cabin 8170) - Ali was great as well.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This was our first venture with an aft cabin. The room is the same size, but the balcony is larger. We were on the 8th floor. I liked being on the back of the ship as it was quiet. We did feel much more of the ship motion while sailing. Having a full 180 degree view was also quite nice.
Ship tip
If you want a lot of activities while on board you should perhaps look at a larger ship. I liked the smaller ship (2500 customers), but The Centrum area is quite small when compared to larger ships. I found it to be a much more intimate experience though.
We sailed in and out of Barcelona and did not have any ship excursions here. We spent the night before the cruise at the Hilton Diagonal Mar and it was quite enjoyable. Great room and great staff! On our own we took the City Bus Tour which ended up being perfect for the time we had providing us with highlights of the city.
This is the Nice, France port. Very beautiful! You are tendered ashore. We visited St. Paul De Vince and the beautiful cemetery there as well. The entire Royal Caribbean excursion felt as though I was living in a post card! We did 5 miles of walking this day
We did another Royal Caribbean excursion here as well. You are in Tuscany and what words can describe the French countryside? Stunning, beautiful, amazing. Another post card day! We did 10 miles of walking this day.
We did the Royal Caribbean "Best of Rome" excursion this day. There is just so much to see in Rome! I found Rome to be somewhat of a dirty city with a lot of trash around, cigarette butts everywhere, etc. Overall it was a beautiful excursion (included The Vatican, The Colosseum, St. Peters Basicla, The Trevi Fountain, etc. We walked 7 miles that day.
We did another Royal Caribbean excursion which included the old City of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast by Motor Launch. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, but not personable, very unorganized, rude to some of the people in the group and the tour radios were horrific!
The old City of Pompeii was my least favorite part of the trip. There were so many groups touring and it was really overcrowded. You walk on very uneven cobblestone and I felt as though I was watching where I was walking versus seeing what was around me.
You do make a stop at the Cameo shop/factory and it is worth a look in. I did purchase earrings to match a family heirloom Cameo pin. Pricing was fair. We walked 5 miles this day.
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