Our 3rd cruise with RCCL and honestly our least favorite ship. That’s not meant to be a negative, it’s only that we now know that that we prefer the newer, bigger ships that we’ve sail (Oasis and Anthem). We chose the ship based upon dates and port we would be near, so that’s how we ended up on Brilliance. In our book any day on a cruise ship is a good day, so overall we had a wonderful time 😊
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was quick and easy. We arrived at terminal #3 (Royal Caribbean), dropped luggage off with 3 of us and my husband parked at the deck across the street (5 minute walk back to the terminal). Parking cost $75 for our 5 night cruise.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining room food was okay; service was wonderful. Bars were efficient and drinks were well made. Windjammer had a nice variety. Breakfast was most crowded at 9am so we made sure to go before then. Loved that there was outdoor seating in the Windjammer on this ship. Didn’t try any specialty venues.
Things I wish they had: self-service soda machines for those who have the drink package and ice cream outside of Windjammer hours.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Lots of trivia options, karaoke nights, a puzzle game (kind of like an escape room), ping pong and pool tables were very popular. Lots of live music in different venues, watched a movie in the cinema and attended the nightly entertainment in the Pacifica Theatre.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We thought the stage shows were good; the final night variety show was very good. We did find that the performer volume levels in the Schooner Bar and the Pub were so loud that you couldn’t have a conversation without shouting but the performers were ok. Comedian was good, as was Aaron Bonk, the juggler.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Kids (14 and 17) spent a little bit of time in the teen area but it wasn’t really their thing.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Harry and Nigel were our room stewards and we’re great. We didn’t see them often but we could tell they had been in to tidy up and make sure we had what we needed. We had adjoining rooms but 2 different attendants, which was odd but thankfully we had 2 Christmas gifts with us so we could give something to both of them 😊.
Monica and Tetiana were our main dining room servers, were very sweet, and provided excellent service.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
As this is an older ship, we expected it to have a few age related issues. The casino smell was not great (so we avoid it and areas around it) but it was clean and well maintained otherwise. We liked the Centrum area and it was easy to move from one area of the ship to another. Loved that the Windjammer had outdoor seating.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Inside cabin was nice; older ship so shower has a curtain rather than a glass door. Don’t love the “shampoo/conditioner/body wash” all in one dispenser so in the future I’ll definitely take my own.
Ship tip
Be aware that the casino cigarette smells leach out into the other common areas of the ship.
We went to Nachi Cocom, an all inclusive beach break - booked it online ourselves a couple of months in advance. Loved it - good food, good service, great drinks. Paid extra for the paddle board ($40 for 1 hour).
Our daughter is an “animal whisperer” and made fast friends with a pelican we named Pedro! 🤣
We toured on our own; visited the Sails to Rails museum, which was very well done and informative. Wandered passed all the standard Duval street touristy shops.
Ate a delicious lunch at Ramshead and had key lime pie at Blue Heaven. The pie was $$ and just ok- it was 90% meringue, which is tasteless 😉
As many others have stated, Port of Tampa disembarkation is bad. It’s not the ship or RCCL, but the port itself. Nearly 2,500 guests trying to leave and a grand total of TWO Homeland Security agents checking passports. Since we were not in a rush, we stayed on the ship longer than normal, hoping the lines would go down. However it took one and a half hours standing in line to complete the re-entry process.
I’m going on the same Cruise next week and I like when ppl give honest reviews and not leave nasty comments. I’ve always gone on Carnival so this will be first on Royal.
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