We loved the cruise. Alaska never disappoints. Staff and service on board was great. The food in the Windjammer was bland and not up to what we are used to from Royal, 3 out of 5.

Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 22

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Verified Review
Brilliance of the Seas

7 Night Multi Glacier Experience (Vancouver Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 07, 2024

Ship: Brilliance of the Seas

Cabin number: GUAR

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 months ago

Review summary

The scenery in Alaska is always great, no matter the weather. Ship was great, but food needs improvement. Staff and service was great.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Reminded me of how it used to be done in Tampa, row upon row of back & forth, time consuming. We won't cruise out of Vancouver again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Lobster was undercooked in MDR. They offered to replace, I declined. Service was excellent. Windjammer food bland, bland, bland, 3 out of 5. They need to really look at this on Brilliance.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Wife did multiple Trivia contests. Weather wasn't good for pools or most outdoor activities, but we anticipated that, it's Alaska.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
We always go to the shows, ships musicians are very good.

Children's Programs

We don't travel with kids.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
The staff onboard was great, always friendly, helpful.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
We like the layout of the smaller ships, easy to get around. The location of the Crown Lounge is excellent, great view to the outdoors. This is something Royal has dropped the ball on with the Oasis and larger ships, putting it down on Deck 4, no windows, feels like a dungeon for gosh sakes. That's what you do to your most Loyal to Royal guests?! They need to fix this going forward.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
We had no complaints about our cabin at all. Steward was great.

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

3 out of 5
No excursion, flew in night before cruise. Very expensive to get there(flying anyway), expensive to stay there. Not that Vancouver isn't a nice city, I'm sure it is. We just wouldn't cruise out of there going forward. We'd book a cruise out of Seattle, save a lot of headaches getting to/from Vancouver.

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

5 out of 5
It's not a port. Fine traveling through it. Worth the time.

Sitka, Alaska

4 out of 5
No excursion. Weather was iffy for that. Interesting small town if you haven't been there.

Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska

5 out of 5
Worth the time, do it.

Juneau, Alaska

4 out of 5
No excursion, weather was not good for that. Expensive seafood, $70/lb. for crab, maybe not. Worth a visit if you haven't been there. If the weather is good, there are a lot of good excursions to take from there.

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

5 out of 5
Hubbard Glacier is incredible to see. Always take your parka/raingear/waterproof footgear to Alaska, the weather changes, you want to be on deck to see this spectacular site. Saw Orca's right from the ship. Probably the best scenery of our cruise.

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
No excursion.(We've done many previous to this cruise). Weather was excellent this port. Probably our favorite port of the cruise. We had the Salmon Chowder at The Alaska Fish House, $9, some of the best chowder I've ever had. Crab here was $50/lb., $20 less than in Juneau. If you've never done it, see the Lumberjack show, always entertaining.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We got off early taking our own luggage. It was very easy to do. Much better than getting on.
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