Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Our very first cruise ever for 3 family members -- middle aged couple and 18 year old daughter -- was great.  Service, staff, food, and activities offered were beyond expectation.  The only disappointment was in the "My Time" dining arrangement, which is all that was left when we made a late cruise booking; the line to be seated for our 7:30 reservation time was consistently long in an inefficiently-cooled corridor, and we were typically seated 20 -30 minutes after our assigned time.  Next time, we will make every effort to secure early seating at 6 pm before dining gets backed up.  Once seated, though, food and service are superb.  The extra expense for a deck 7 balcony room was well worth it for the view, privacy, and feeling of extended cabin space.

We had a wonderful time. There was a lot to do on the boat. Our room was perfect and the ship was clean. We had fun at the shows and tried to fit in as much as we could from the activities that were offered. However dinner time seemed to be a little hectic and the main dining room seemed under staffed. In a few year, we plan to take another cruise. 

great time- great friends and family-wonderful staff- fabulous food- lots of sunshine - spacious rooms- very clean - wonderful day at Cosezamel - good bargains- nice jewelry

This was a nice 1st time cruise for people who have not cruised before. Was just the right amount of time on the boat and to explore a shore excursion. If you have cruised before there were a few things that were not up to par with other cruises I have been on. (Example: entertainment, pools, food etc.) The entertainment was good just wished for more variety. Really only had one pool to use if you had kids. The little kid pool was great for little ones but everyone else had to share one pool. As the with an adult only pool never had very many people in it as if you wanted to watch your children you really had only one option. All though the food was very good tasting and had lots of variety for adults again not that kid friendly. (hot dog, Hamburgers and Pizza) Would have like some healthier options for them to choose from.  

This was a very enjoyable experience for my wife and me. This was a perfect First Cruise and we were able to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. The food was great and we never really felt crowded, or rushed, at dinner. We had the all inclusive drink plan, which was fine, but we did get tired of signing for every single drink...even though the balance was always $0. There were plenty of gratuities included and given, so I would have preferred to just order a drink and get one. The pool area got crowded quickly, but as long as we got chairs early enough, we had no issues all weekend. Very pleased with the staff & will likely use them again in the future.

Would have given more stars, but the twin beds are not really twin beds!  Real twin beds do not make a queen sized bed.......they make a king sized bed!!!  Really was afraid I might fall out of the  darned thing!

Excellent service and amenities.  Ship was attractive and all areas of service were superb.  All employees were courteous and helpful.  This is the 4th Royal Carribbean cruise and would be glad to book more in the future

My family of four, including my aging mother, cruised on the Brilliance of the  Seas on March 23, 2015. My family, excluding my mother, had cruised with another line before.  With Royal Caribbean, we had an excellent experience from beginning to end.  I cannot say enough about how pleasant and helpful every member of the staff was aboard this ship. Mr. Weaks  - who supervised our room cleaning service to our wait staff - Admir & Imre - all were personable, fun and a good reflection on Royal Caribbean. They knew our likes and sought to make sure our needs were met before we even asked. The rooms were spacious and well appointed for a cruise ship.  The pools were clean and the other guests were very friendly and well-behaved. My husband absolutely loved their gym - he is a big health nut, working out 6 days a week and thought they had very good equipment. While we had some Auburn University college students on board, they were very well-behaved and quiet. The cruising age for this ship was a little older, which was nice and also helped to improve our cruise.   We look forward to our next cruise with Royal Caribbean. After this experience, we will not cruise with another line. Royal Caribbean Fans for Life!

The cruise was ok. I thought that the ship was not as clean as it should have been. Also the days at sea were lacking activities for everyone. I also thought the shows could have been better. 

The  experience was good despite the huge number of Spring Breakers hoarding space in the pools.  

My small bottle of rum was confiscated so I ordered a double with Diet Coke.  I received a single ounce with regular Coke for $7.00 plus $2.50 for Coke plus 18% gratuities.  Stupid.    I like to have a drink on the balcony without that stupid cost and poor room service.

We experienced excellent guest services, and a casual and laid back environment. Embarkation and debarkation were very well managed. Cruise was relatively quiet and uneventful - just what I needed. Deck chairs were at a premium on sea days which is really my only complaint. Would definitely do this cruise again.

This was my families first cruise ever. We were amazed at the cleanliness of the entire ship. Everyone that worked there was so very nice and friendly. We felt there was alot of activities to do on board the Ship. 

Food: the food in the dining room was great and we felt there was a great variety. The buffett was pretty good as well. The fruit was always very fresh. We would have liked to see more variety for the buffett. My wife never really found anything for breakfast to eat. She did not enjoy the pastries or the sausages. Otherwise it was pretty good.

The kids club was ok for our kids who are 8 and 11. On our cruise they grouped the 6-11 based on the # of kids on the ship. My 11 year old was rather bored because they catered the activities more toward the younger kids. My son enjoyed it though.

The pools: crowded but fine. Only dissapointment was that the slide closed at 3. On cruising days kids will stay at pools until 7. Keep the slides open until at least 5.

Rock wall: big dissappointment. We never got the do the wall which we were looking forward to. This is our only real complaint. It was open 2 hours every day. Could you do several 2 hour periods? It was so busy everytime we tried we never wanted to wait in the 20+ line of people.

The accomodations were awesome and our room attendant, Myra, was amazing. The ship was great, the entertainment was also great. I wish they would show some other movies that were more kid friendly other than the same 3 movies over 6 days.

We enjoyed the casino as well on many occasions. Dealers were friendly and educated. The service though was terrible. One evening my wife waited over an hour just to get a soda. Each night the waitress would come around once in an hour period. You could make alot more money selling drinks while people gamble if they would come around more often. We had to get the pit boss to find a waiter for us one night. By the time he came back, we were leaving.

Overall we really loved the whole cruising experience. We did many activities onboard. The boarding and unloading process was fast and easy. We felt safe and the ship was beautiful. We will definitely be back.

We just got back from our 5 Night cruise on Brilliance of the Seas, and I must say that any concern about service going downhill in the past few years that I may have had was completely squelched!  This was the first cruise for my 7-year old daughter, and it had been 10 years since my husband and I cruised.  I had read in some reviews that service has gone downhill in that time, but I saw no evidence at all of that.  In fact, I actually don't have a single complaint about the service on the ship at all!   Embarkation:  We cruised out of Tampa, and though embarkation was not lightening fast (we were there at 11 with everyone else), it was smooth and the folks were very friendly.  Upon arriving on the ship, we were greeted by multiple crew members.  There were crew at embarkation making reservations for the specialty dining venues, so we went ahead and made our Chops reservation.  My husband then went immediately to the dining room to make our "My Time" dining reservations for the week.  Helpful hint:  Do this immediately!  We were in some of the first groups on the ship and went immediately to do this, and the 6:30 time slots were already gone.  We ended up with 6pm, which was actually perfect.  Helpful hint #2:  Go with early reservations, if possible.  We never had to wait for a table, but we did notice lines each night as we were leaving.  If folks are waiting for the previous diners to leave, it could cause a delay with the later seatings.  Helpful hint #3:  Do NOT try to go without reservations!  There is a very good chance that you will not get a table, have to wait a very long time, or end up at a shared table with another group.  

Food:   Windjammer food is fair to good.  It's buffet for thousands of people though...don't expect fine dining!  They have a  good selection each day with some staples all the time (burgers, hot dogs, pizza, salad, etc).  We actually did not eat in the Windjammer a ton because there were just so many other much better options.   Park Cafe at the Solarium pool is awesome!  We loved the roast beef sandwiches, couscous salad and coconut ranger cookies.  They are almost always open, so definitely try that as a quick lunch option over the Windjammer.   We only tried Izumi once for lunch.  They no longer charge a cover, but all sushi is a la carte.  They do offer complimentary edamame and soup.  The sushi is freshly made and very good.  If you're just really wanting sushi, definitely give it a try.  Otherwise, I think I would save my money next time and have lunch in the dining room for free.   Dining Room food was always very good.  We enjoyed dinner each night (except for Chops one night, see below), and we also ate there for lunch 1 day and breakfast each morning.  The thing that elevates the dining room though is the service.  Our waiters for dinner were the same each night, even though we did My Time dining.  We secured the same table and wait staff by making reservations for the entire week on the first day.  I definitely recommend this.  Our dining room team consisted of Denisse and Sabri, and head waiter, Ivan.  Quite simply, they were amazing!  Denisse made recommendations each night for her faves, and I often changed my mind on ordering based on her recommendations.  Though the dining room was full each night, we were always treated as if we were the only ones there.  Even better was having the opportunity to get to know the wait staff, talk to them about their homes and families, and working on the ship.  My daughter loved this group, and she still talks about missing them every night.   We had a complimentary specialty dining credit from booking, so we took advantage of that by having dinner at Chops one night while our daughter ate with the Adventure Ocean group.  DO THIS!  While we really enjoyed the dining room food, the food in Chops is simply impeccable!  It does cost an additional $35 fee per person, but the food was better than we get at our favorite date night steak house that is always $100+ for dinner.  The steaks are fantastic, shrimp cocktail is colossal and the desserts are heaven.  We would have happily booked, even if we had not had the voucher.  It's worth every penny! We did not order room service or eat at Giovanni's Table or Chef's Table, so I cannot speak for those.   Bar service was always good.  We were able to visit several of the bars on ship, and we enjoyed each one.  King and Country was my husband's favorite, and it really is a great quiet place to hang out and have a drink.  I loved the Schooner Bar with the comfy couches and ocean views.  The bartenders at the Schooner were my favorites.   Stateroom: We had an ocean view stateroom with balcony (room 7598).  It was exactly what you expect from a balcony room.  It's tiny, the bathroom is tiny, but it's all you really need.  Storage is ample, so we were able to keep the room nice and tidy with things put away which made the small space seem a bit larger.  The balcony has room for 2 regular chairs and a small table.  According to the deck plans, we were under the impression that this room had a sofa bed, but it did not.  The sofa is actually more of a chair and a half, and the 3rd bed was a pullman from the ceiling that required a ladder to access.  This wasn't an issue for us, but if you are particular about sofa bed vs. pullman, I would confirm your room choice when booking.  One pro to this room were its very close proximity to the elevators.  That part was awesome when just needing to run to the room quickly.  The con to this were noise.  Surprisingly, we didn't have a lot of elevator or traffic noise at all (the elevators are across on the other side of the ship.  However, keep in mind that the centrum in the middle of the ship is open from Deck 4 all the way up to Deck 11.  Each night, there was a band in the Centrum that played until pretty late into the night.  With having our 7-year old with us, we were earlier to head to bed than this.  We adjusted fine, and it wasn't a big deal, but if you are one that goes to bed before midnight or 1am and you have issues falling asleep with noise, I would recommend a different stateroom location.  We also loved the view from our balcony with being on the "hump".  You get a much more panoramic view in this location.   Our stateroom steward, Lissette, was incredible.  She was so very sweet and gave extra attention to our daughter.  Again, getting to talk with her and hearing about her family and home were a highlight for us.

The Ship: The Brilliance is an older ship, but this only shows in size.  It's not a mega ship, but for our family and our daughter's first cruise, it was perfect.  The ship is truly beautiful with lots of wood and brass details.  It makes me think of the older luxury liners that you watch in the movies.   The main pool area was crowded and especially so on sea days.  The age-old chair savers were out in full force.  We spent a little time at the kiddy pool/slide with our daughter, and if you got there pretty early (around 10-10:30), chairs were plentiful.  I found a nice quiet spot on one sea day on Deck 13 at the rock climbing wall.  Perfect sunning and reading spot, but you did have to walk down to the bar.  The one recommendation I would make would be to have bartenders in all of the "chair" locations on sea days.  Each location is full, but it's kind of a pain to have to leave your things and go fight the crowd at the bar for a drink.   One hint:  If you're really wanting some pool time and don't care about time of day...go in the evening after dinner.  We went to the pool a couple of nights right after dinner.  One night the ACC championship was on the big screen, so we watched it for a while pretty much by ourselves.  The bars are closed, but you can pretty much have the whole deck to yourself.  It's really nice. The Solarium is lovely, but we only got to go there when our daughter was in Adventure Ocean.  It is completely full on sea days with lots of chair saving, so beware of that.   Our daughter did go to Adventure Ocean several times, and she really liked it.  This cruise had a good mix of folks of all ages (college Spring Breakers to elderly), so there were several other kids her age.  She enjoyed the staff and activities, and we always felt very secure with leaving her.   The sports courts and putt-putt were fun.  The rock climbing wall and water slide are very limited on when they are open (which I think is kind of silly), so you just have to watch your Cruise Compass for that. Entertainment: We really did not do very many of the headliner shows because our daughter was kind of uninterested and we were usually kind of just exploring the ship or hanging out together at night.  The ones that we did see were good.  They had a pretty good comedian one night, and we heard that the Motown show was great.  The aerial show in the Centrum was very good and can be viewed from pretty much any deck.   Ports: Quick tip:  You are able to get as many pool towels as you need when getting off of the ship in port.  They do scan your Sea Pass card, so make sure you bring them back and get scanned back in, or you'll be charged, but this was great for us in Cozumel. We had stops in Key West and Cozumel.  Unfortunately, it was Spring Break in Key West, and on a Sunday morning (after lots of Saturday night partying), I don't feel like we got to see the best of that port.  There are 2 hop on-hop off tours in Key West...the Conch Train and the Old Town Trolley.  We did the Conch Train, which was not what I was wanting to sign up for but did not realize until too late.  The Conch Train only has 4 hop off points, but then you have to do lots of walking to get to various points of interest (like Southernmost point).  With a 7-year old in the very hot Florida sun, this wasn't the most fun.  The Trolley tour has many more hop off points.  I did not realize that there were 2 of these when booking, so make sure that you designate.  The Conch Train is fun if you're good with riding the whole time and not stopping to see things.   In Cozumel, we booked the Dolphin Push, Pull & Swim at Chankanaab Park.  This was phenomenal!  Though this is a very popular and very crowded excursion, once you are there, they divide you into groups of about 10-12, and you really get a personalized experience with the dolphins and manatees.  The only downfall to this is the photography.  They will not allow cameras during the dolphin encounter, but you are assigned a "paparazzi" for photographing.  The photos are outrageously priced!  We did not purchase any, but I do kind of regret that now.  If you want photos, I would recommend going in to view the photos, get pricing and then WALK AWAY!  They WILL come back for you and drop the price significantly.  We were also told that they will only have access to the photos for 30 minutes, but after spending several hours at the pool and beach, when leaving, our photographer came to offer an even lower price, so don't be fooled by that.  Another hint is to get your group into the same dolphin group, but when looking at photos, do not let them know how many are actually in your group because they price per person.  So, if you have a group of 6, just send like 2 people in.  They are going to burn the whole CD anyway, or at least all the photos that you select, so get the better pricing.  The dolphin excursion also includes your admission into Chankanaab Park.  Definitely plan to spend the day...it's lovely!  There is a small burger bar, a very nice pool with swim-up bar, beach with shaded chairs as well as sunning chairs, snorkeling, clear bottom kayak rentals, sea lion show, zip line, etc.  It's a really fun place to go.  My daughter and I did some snorkeling (her first time), and it was great!  Upon getting back to the ship, they had a water and lemonade station set up right outside as we were coming back on, which was incredible. Disembarkation: This process was very smooth for us.  We had a very long drive ahead of us, so we decided to carry our luggage off so that we could get off as early as possible.  This wasn't easy, but it was definitely doable.  Elevators are not your friend on this day.  If you're carrying your luggage off, I would recommend trying to get that into a location on the disembarking level as early as possible.   General stuff: Honestly, other than a few very minor things, our only complaints on the trip had to do with thoughtless other passengers.  Things like our neighbors smoking on their balcony when it's clearly stated that that isn't allowed, people being rude in general, chair saving for hours, etc.  I'm pretty sensitive to smoke, so I didn't like going to the casino much (more money saved for me, I guess), and I hated the little walkway by the pool that I coined "smoker's alley".  I kind of wish that Royal could put some of the smoking locations in areas that are not so highly trafficked.  Perhaps even creating a smoking bar would be a  good idea.  The chair saving for hours on end is a bit of a pain, but I don't think it's ever going to subside, so resolving to that is what I've come to.  

Departure:  Boarding the ship was well organized with short lines during even the peak boarding time.  Personnel friendly and efficient and wished everyone a happy voyage.  

Accommodations:  Our shipboard accommodations included a room with large porthole and proved spacious for two.  Bathrooms size efficient but manageable.  Comfy mattress--much better than many hotels we have stayed at.  Room very clean, airy and well ventilated.  Third deck accommodations were relatively motionless even in moderate seas.  Woke up to wonderful sunrises a number of times.

Service:  Service from the crew was top notch ranging from the cabin attendant to the head waiter at our formal dinner seating.  Friendly, sincere service to a person.  The five day trip was without worry.  Enjoyed speaking with attendants regarding their backgrounds, what they like about serving aboard a cruise ship, and how difficult it sometimes is to be away from their families for months at a time.  

Food:  Incredible selection in the buffet style Windjammer restaurant that was open nearly all day for drop in dinning.  Menu included new items daily.  We were assigned an 8:30 p.m. dinner seating--the first was at 6:30 p.m.--which was perfect for us since we were still digesting a late lunch or snack.  Each couple of tables had a head waiter and assistant who tended to every need.  If a guest was interested in a couple of entres they made it so.  Very attentive to guest needs and aimed to please.  Entre selection changed nightly...and it was fun to try all of the selections.  Take the galley tour if you want to see a behind the scenes look at preparing food aboard such a large ship.

Entertainment:  A wide variety of entertainment venues were available every day ranging from live music on a number of decks and eateries, the central area of the ship that highlighted all 13 decks of the boat, and nightclubs and pool areas.  It was great fun.  Comics, jugglers, movies, and guest reviews made the trip memorable.  

Island Hopping:  Our trip included a visit to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico.  The stop at Key West was a bit short and really precluded visitors from soaking in much of the island lifestyle.  The stop at Cozumel was great.  If shopping is your bag don't miss the shopping seminar held the sea day prior to the stop.  The merchandise director is a great resource in steering you to the best stores with the best merchandise all at duty free and tax free prices.  If shopping isn't your bag then there are a variety of shore excursions that include snorkling, swimming with dolphines and turtles, etc.  You will have only time for one of these excursions and maybe a bit of shopping to fill out your eight-hour stay in Cozumel.

Sea Days:  Actually a great, relaxing part of the cruise.  Plenty to keep you busy, very relaxing and a wonderful view from all decks.

We loved this trip and look forward to another voyage.

My hubby and I and two teen-age daughters took this trip 3/9/15.  Had a great time.  The ports were fun, two days of cruising on the sea offered plenty to do and we honestly loved the time just to relax on a deck chair in the warm sun.  The food was great and options were nice.  We had wonderful service from the food and housekeeping staff.  Programs in the evening were entertaining and well done.  

The crew on this ship was wonderful - every one of them was helpful when needed, friendly always, and concerned that each passenger have a great vacation.  The food was good, the shows were very entertaining, and our cruise director, Clo O'Connor was the best!  If you choose the My Time dining, make your reservations as soon as you board the ship (or sooner if you can) and for every night that you want to eat in the dining room.   The pool is a  very busy place so get there early if you want to sit near the pool.  We tried the sushi restaurant and the Italian restaurant for dinner and they were both excellent and less frenetic that the dining room which we liked.  We chose the Swim with the Dolphins excursion along with a trip to Seven Mile beach and it was worth every penny.  The excursion team wasn't terribly organized at the start but once we got on the bus it was all great.  Be aware that you cannot take photos yourself at the dolphin pool - they take the photos and sell them to you and they are expensive.  We really enjoyed our trip.

Service at the bars and main dining restaurant were extremely slow possibly due to the large number of Spring breakers. We were not impressed with the food compared to other cruise lines. I'm not sure how Royal Caribbean received the #1 cruise rating.  Our vote is for Carnival!

The bar, the pool and the ship were taken over by rude, crude, obnoxious and drunk spring breakers! So much for a relaxing cruise! It was more like being at a frat party! Offering 15% off of a future cruise! We should have been refunded a partial or full refund! I can assure you if the executives from Royal Caribbean had been on this cruise, they would have jumped overboard or put a stop to the nonsense! Huge disappointment and huge failire Royal Caribbean!

Flights to Tampa were great, ship was great, activities great, excursions were great! Everything went as planned booking through AA and everything else I booked online with Royal Caribbean. Would do it again but would probably book a route with more port destinations and less sea/ship time. 

From the time we stepped onto the ship, the ever so unexpected experience began.  A multiple time client of RCCL and I never expected to see this.

We both started sneezing and continued to do so throughout the 5 days except for the 4 hours in Cozumel every time we walked into the cabin 8044.

The same breakfast and lunch buffet was provided daily with few new options, but like the evening dinner selections, ALL was too salty and food had to be returned.   The 3rd night, my wife ordered a Strip steak Med Rare and was served a 1/4 inch MED WELL  piece of sirloin with gristle and fat.  Sent it back and came back same cut and MEDIUM.   Meat in general was a grey color and so she never had dinner.  We made reservations for the Italian Specialty Restaurant and so we pre-selected items to have them made with less salt and gluten free.   They told us they would reconfirm if any issues.

We arrived to the dinner and no one knew we had pre-ordered so the waiter tried bring us menus, bread etc... the gluten free bread was a cake bread not a french bread or foccaccia.   They informed no crepes could be made gluten free and the appetizer my wife chose was not edible.  The crepes came out COLD and then the lamb chops were ordered MED RARE and came out like rubber balls MED WELL once again along with my chicken entree was a plastic frisbee.  We once again got up and NEVER had DINNER for the 2nd nite.   We went to MARY in the MINSTREL dining room and requested veggies and a cheese plate since no other options were open.    

I have just had 3 cardio procedures/surgeries 7 weeks ago and I am trying to relax and keep the stress low.   I was never so upset in my life and this all effected my health and well being.  I am still sick from the food and the poor ventilation our cabin had as well as my wife.  

We also had a clogged toilet 2 time not able to use our own bathroom and we had to request cleaning in the room which was also DIRTY.  Stained curtains, the mildew and carpet all less than 5 star.

We were taking a relaxing few days and also checking things out for a company incentive which I doubt we will be doing with RCCL until I can see improvements.  The high quality has been compromised for sure.

I want a refund for this entire disaster.   We also took 3 medications and lost out another 2 days of work on return.  We could not enjoy evening shows on the ship since the meds kept us with nausea and drowsiness.

There was nothing we enjoyed since the free days at see , the pool was overcrowded and we could not swim until the day in Cozumel.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dr Nagy Farag MD