Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

11/09/16 - 11/23/17 First royal carribean cruise. I normaly cruise with carnival and i apologize in advance if this turns out to be an essay. I did not spend my whole cruise comparing the two cruise lines because that would be no fun for anyone. As a whole, i enjoyed myself. It was a very nice cruise (14 days transatlantic from spain to tampa) and i would cruise with royal again. They go to more different places and there are certain perks with them. However it wasn't a "perfect" cruise, though that was not expected. I do have a few complaints. Morning room service (the free continental breakfast) 10 days out of maybe 12 because i didnt get it every day, i recieved a luke warm bagel and warm orange juice. There are refrigerators in the room so we ended up ordering extra juice one day and cooling it and swapping them out every day, but i couldnt get over how disapointed i was with the bagel. As far as complaints go, that was the biggest one. Didnt ruin my cruise or change my mind about coming back. The only other complaint was that i felt the hot tubs could have been much much hotter. And internet wasnt that great. Alright. Now the good stuff. Forgive me for saying this. I really mean no offense, but we chose a cruise knowing the length and location there wouldn't be anyone our age on the boat. The entertainment and a lot of the shows and such going around the boat except some of the trivia was leaned toward the older population. And I think they did a good job planning activitys they all would enjoy. The shows in the big theater were absolutely fantastic. High end entertainment because some of the people were well known around the world. The food! The windjammer and dining room had excellent food. Im picky so i mostly ate the same food at the buffet but i didnt mind because it was good quality. I tried a lot of new foods in the dining room the fruit soups for appetizers are so good. Dont hesitate to order something. If you dont like it then theyll give you something else! The staff. Or waiters Daria and franky were fablous. Asked for lemon the first day for our water and we got it every day without asking. The first night is a little hectic so be patient with them. They really do work hard. The rest of the crew was just as great. Everyone knows your name and face. Youll really make a lot of friends with the staff. The ship is "out dated" in ways. It could use more technology and such. But its a really pretty ship. The solarium is beautiful, the pools are heated. Go to the track around the ship on deck 5 and go to the front. Great view. Rock climbing wall. Alright. Now to compare it to carnival, Just the ship it self only had two sets of elevators, whereas carnival has 4. So they were crowded sometimes. The prizes for winning trivia and game shows i thought were much better than carnival. The beach towels were very thin and you had to go rent them, they were not in your storeroom. My regular poor person cabin was a good size. Maybe smaller than a carnival cabin, but the layout of having the length because the bed faces the door was nice i liked it. My parents had a junior suite. It was huge and had a nice balcony. Royal carribean had higer quality food, and carnival generally has wider variety with specialty bars for areas around the world. But this royal ship had a whole section for gluten free and i thought that was very nice for people with an allergy. I really missed carnivals chocolate melting cake. But royal has a warm cake offered for one night that was amazing. Thet did have every day on the buffet these little meringues that were sooooo good though. Now let me be honest here, i wasnt the one who paid for this trip but i know royal carribean is more expensive. I really did miss the fun part of carnival though. Its nice to see people just having a grand ol time in a bar drunk singing rock and roll poorly. Royal was more.... well.. they had very talented piano players and violins and guitars (of every nationality i might add because i appreciated that and im sure others did too) and it was nice. People myself included danced and it was fun just not party party. With all this being said, for the price of royal carribean ill stick with carnival EXCEPT for when i want to go somewhere out of the carribean. Because come on now carnival is a lot cheaper. But i would and will defiantly sail with royal carribean again. Thankyou for those who've stuck around and read this whole thing. I give this vacation 5 stars and in a hour or so ill be getting off the boat and it will be over:(

Started our cruise on 16th October Barcelona around Italy just super got upgrade and just got better food magic service great ships staff superb didn’t see much of the cruise director never really got into many shows with friends just wonderful thanks to all the staff

Started our cruise on 16th October Barcelona around Italy just super got upgrade and just got better food magic service great ships staff superb didn’t see much of the cruise director never really got into many shows with friends just wonderful thanks to all the staff

Just home yesterday from our amazing Cruise. We loved it, couldn't fault a thing. The staff were great. Ship was amazing. Favourite place had to be Venice, especially watching from the balcony coming into port.

Great cruise! Ports were wonderful, food was great, staff were friendly and helpful. Our only complaint is the cigarette smoke in the casino was so bad we didn’t even want to walk through it.

Staff was knowledgeable and dedicated to us having a great time. No issues went unsolved. Staff had great travel suggestions which I appreciated very much. Solarium pool area definitely needs an update and rugs needs to be cleaned more throughly in the common areas. Still, a great experience.

Enjoying cruise very relaxing. Find it strange the shop is open in the evenings but you cannot purchase cigarettes sweets or crisps for some unknown reason, nobody gives same answer. This information was never given prior to cruise.

Nice sized ship and not full for this cruise. The Brilliance has an open airy feeling to it, and the outside dining at Windjammer's is nice.

We just concluded our second European cruise on this wonderful ship. We love everything about it. Some of the same staff from last year remembered us and we were treated like family. Itinerary was fabulous and 12 days flew by. We like this size of ship compared to the bigger ones. More intimate but comfortable and the best service and food you could ask for. We plan to sail on Brilliance again soon to the Baltic’s. Gil and Gayle Schulze

An enjoyable cruise having excellent weather throughout. Were treated very well by all members of staff. The Cruise Ship is in need of an upgrade in many areas, starting to show ware and tare throughout.

Just got off the ship this morning the 12 days felt short. The cruise ports were amazing. We booked all our excursions on our own. Rome in a Limo was great. We had them for Pisa and Florence. Maria Clara our driver/tour guide was great and knowledgeable. We had the same company for our Rome tour and had Maximilliano as our tour guide/driver he was just as knowledgeable Clara. Our Vatican tour guide Daniel was equally informative. In Santorini, we chanced upon Astri of Luxury Transportation Services in the street. He took us to nice spots in Santorini for a great price on an airconditioned van. As for the RC's staff we had the pleasure of being in contact with, we were extremely satisfied with the service we got from Jose our Steward, Monica, our waitress and Franklyn our Assistant Waiter. Their services were just great. Entertainment too was very enjoyable. All the headliners, were very entertaining. The live entertainment from Soul Inspiration, guitarist Pedro and the Filipino pianist at the Centrum as well as the other entertainers were just awesome. It was a great 12 day cruise. The only comment I have is that after hours snacks close too early. Maybe RC should consider leaving it open a little later.

Good. Food was average,. Smoking in casino is unpleasant. Service staff is too preoccupied with getting good performance evaluation. Excursion leaders in Pisa, Florence were terrible.

The ship itself was beautiful and always had something to do even for a young couple like us. The ports were breath taking. We will sail Europe again

The cruise itself was very relaxing. Food really Needed to be a lot better. The food is a big part so this needs to change. The overall rating should be more like a 3 and 1/2 not a 4

It was our first trip to the Mediterranean, and the Brilliance of the Sea made sure of that. The crew was welcoming to our needs, and made sure there was always something to do. Between the designations and the ship it was a trip of a lifetime that will be remembered.

This was our first time in Europe and the cruise was an excellent way to get an overview of this beautiful part of the world. We would love to come back again some day!

Lovely ship and the staff are amazing..... very noisy in most bars and the Centrum and don't understand why RC have the customer service desk next to live music ???? You can't hear the staff and they can't hear you !

Truly enjoyed this cruise. Staff and passengers we met were great. It was easy to get around. Service was exceptional The ports were exactly where we wanted to visit

1st time cruisers here, travelling out of Barcelona on 24th July. Questions for the more seasoned travellers. What advice would you give to a novice e.g. packing, excursions, activities , dining etc. What to watch out for and what not to miss! All help greatly appreciated.

It's been one year since our 12 day Mediterranean cruise on Brilliance of the Seas. What a fantastic ship and crew. One of the smaller ships, but well operated. The ports of call were all fantastic, especially Pisa and Santorini. Getting ready for another cruise on RCCL in 3 weeks, and we are going to book another Med cruise for next year.