Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The cabins seemed smaller than the same cabin class i had on other ships

Very nice atrium area and other very nice areas of ship. Room was very adequate for a ship and well maintained

The ship was clean, and fared well on the open waterways1

Overall, the Brilliance was great. There are some maintenance problems with a ship that has been in continuous service for a long time but nothing that interfered with life on board. Signage could be improved so passengers know which decks have passage all the way through and where to find some of the basic public areas.

My family and I truly enjoyed all aspects of this cruise

The atmosphere on the Brilliance of the seas was the same as most other cruise ships we have been on. The staff were friendly and helpful and the staterooms, dining areas and other public areas were adequate.

Seven night Norwegian Fjords cruise is a very beautiful and relaxing cruise. For people cannot walk too much, the cruise ship takes you through the natural beauty and strength of Geiranger Fjord, and Sognefjord. For active people, it is too much fan to hike, and kayak.

Ship was in good shape even though it's scheduled for drydock. Simon was the best as our room steward. Beckey and Nunni spoiled us in the suite lounge

An older ship, but nicely maintained. The ship has plenty of public spaces and never seemed crowded (other than the queue waiting for the dining room doors to open each evening). There was always a show in the theater each evening - worth the visit. There were activities during the day but most of the "lectures" were barely disguised sales pitches for either shore excursions or other products offered by the ship (spa, salon). Do you really need an acupuncturist on board a cruise ship? Teeth whitening services?? Really?? Biggest complaint is the never-ending sales pitches. RCCL cabin rates are often a great deal. I would suspect they barely make a profit on the rooms alone. But most things are "extra cost" and that is where RCCL makes their money. Average wines at overly-inflated prices. Specialty coffees, sodas, fresh juices - all extra. Use of the gym is free, but yoga or pilates or other "specialty" classes - extra. Shore excursions are quite expensive for what you get - but sometimes it is the only option to see things. In the fjord towns, sometimes just walking around the town is all you really need to do. Onboard ship activities were mostly free but some had fees attached. I did splurge on an expensive spa treatement - the Thai Poultice Massage, and it was really quite wonderful. Also - gratuities are automatically added to all services - in the spa and in the dining room. So tack on 15% when calculating the costs of spa services, bar, coffee shop and dining room (even purchasing the ship's cookbook, which you can only get from your wait staff, came with an additional 15% tacked on). Would I cruise RCCL again? Maybe. I'd have to get a much better deal on my stateroom so as to make up for all the additional costs that occur during the cruise.

Ok, I have been on better and I have been on worse.

We've only had experience with the Freedom and Voyager class ships so we were unsure what we'd think of the smaller Brilliance. We need not have worried! She's a lovely ship with many unique features such as the covered Solarium salt water pool, which allowed us to swim in comfort despite the chilly weather. The main dining room is not as spectacular but that is more than compensated by the professionalism of the wait staff and the excellence of the food. We had some great dinners, particularly all the steak dishes. The quality of the beef is outstanding and was always cooked to perfection. Much appreciated! We enjoyed the outdoor dining at the back of the Windjammer Cafe. The music in the lounges (particularly the Centrum) was excellent and it was a pleasure to see so many people dancing every night. The production shows, however, were only of a high school level but this was our only disappointment on a fabulous cruise on the Brilliance.

The ship was nice. It was a large ship and did not seem too overcrowded. The elevators were delayed at times but nothing too drastic or inconvenient. The ship is an older model, but the maintainers do an excellent job keeping it clean and updated. Some of the trim and finishing was starting to show age though.

The cruise was a good value for the money. The port of Fujairah could be left out. More time in Abu Dhabi would have been nice.

Travelling with a 2 yo and a 4 yo meant that the kids stuff had to be good. The kids pool was pretty good and the kids slide was awesome. It was hard to get my kids off. The only slight downside was the limited times for the slide. There were also programs for her age that she seemed to enjoy. For my 2 yo there wasn't too much though. The couple of things that were scheduled didn't seem to happen until we asked a crew member about them. The only major drawback was the dining room dinners. The food was okay, but not as excellent as I've had on the other cruises I've been on. Even the formal nights didn't have anything special. But overall it was a good cruise and we enjoyed the ship.

Ship was OK - itinerary was the worst ever

Brilliance was a pleasure to use as a base for our 12-day cruise. We were disappointed at the allowance of smoking fin indoor venues - made it impossible to partake of several activities on board.

Passengers cutting in line, wearing jeans and t-shirts on formal nights, loud and obnoxious. Passengers SHOCKED that they should tip at the end of a cruise. Lesson learned for me,,, RCL have a good product and great staff but their cheap fares attract "cheap" people.

Great ship size not to big or small, everything spotlessly clean, staff friendly, and stateroom nicer then shore rooms we used. Thanks for the great bedding, towels and good pillows.

Cruise was wonderful. More that I expected. Food was great, entertainment excellent, Ports of Call good choices. The only problem I had was I thought the cost of shuttle buses was a bit high. I would recommend this cruise highly and really have no faults to find.