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Royal Caribbean's
Brilliance of the Seas
October 5 - 17, 2004
Cruise Review
by
Michael Agus

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Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 22:57:47 -0400
From: "Michael Agus" <michael.agus@rogers.com>
Subject: Review

This is my second cruise with Royal Caribbean although the previous cruise was over 12 years ago.

The Ship
The Brilliance is a beautiful ship no matter how you look at it. From the decor to the facilities you cannot help but be "stunned" by its elegance. 
While this is a large ship with over 2400 passengers and 1000 crew, you never feel to be in a crowd. Indeed, even on "sea" days, there are so many lounges, bars and recreation facilities that we always had plenty of space.

Boarding and Embarking
We arrived at the Port in Barcelona early, at 11.30am and within 1 hour we had done all the formalities and were sitting comfortably in one of the lounges on the ship waiting for our cabin which was available on the stroke of 1pm. I gather that at some times the Check in area was busy and some people arriving later in the afternoon waited perhaps a little longer but we did not hear any complaints. On getting back to Barcelona ( we had made our own travel plans) we were in a taxi to the airport at 8.30am having had time for breakfast on Board and waited in the lounge only 35/40 minutes for departure.

Restuarants
The Dining Room has two seatings - 6.45pm and 9.15pm. We had the early seating and it was exactly the right time. Some people who had selected the second sitting did complain that 915pm was later than they had imagined as usually second seating is 8.30 on most ships. Tables were generally of 6/8 persons and service was excellent.

The food on the other hand, while o.k. lacked any real "zest" or imagination. The Cesear Salad was very mild and lacked anchovies(which we did get from our waiter) and no garlic. Similarly, if you like your food a little spicy - or with lots of herbs you will be disappointed. Dont get me wrong, the quality of the food and the quantity was fine - it just lacked variation and "zest". A number of frequent cruisers did say in passing conversation that the food in the main dining room was not as good (and good of course is a matter of opinion) as that on Celebrity or Princess Cruise lines.

The ship has two "alternate Dining Rooms" for which you pay $20 per person fee if you book to eat there. We tried both Portofino (Italian Restaurant) and Chops (Grill) and found both to be excellent. The service, the presentation and the food were of the highest quality and well worth the additional fee. Its easier to cook for 40/50 people (the maximum seating in these restaurants) than 2,000 of course.

Excursions
The excursions we took cost us $500 each and we had at least one tour in every Port although some were only 1/2 day (which incidentally was a stroke of genius ) because by half way throught the cruise we were glad that we were not on the go all day. We certainly slept well at night. We saw Pompeii, Monaco and Monte Carlo, Venice, Corfu, Pisa, Rome and Dubrovnic and enjoyed every minute. The ship docked at all but one Port making it so much easier to get on and off the ship at the various Ports. The one Tender went well however and I understand that previous Cruises had tendered at a number of Ports.

Comments
This was a great ship, good, if unimaginative food, great itinerary, and a reasonable price for the Cruise. HOWEVER. Royal Caribbean must address the issue of silly little charges for things which should be included. $3 for a bottle of water, either in the room or at Dinner is annoying and $3/$5 for a coffee at Latitudes (where pastries and sandwiches are free)makes no sense. Why they dont just add $50 or $100 to the price of the cruise I dont know. This was annoying and a source of complaint by many on the cruise. ALSO, when the cruise ship can buy Liquor at tax free prices, why a cocktail costs over $6 (including 15% tip) is beyond me and what is more preventing customers from buying their own bottle(s) at the Ports of call for use in the stateroom was very annoying and without any rationale reason.

Royal Caribbean have a winner here - if they can change their marketing strategy and be more inclusive (even if the upfront price is a little more)they will have far less complaints and more completely satisfied customers. As it is, I would sail RCL again, BUT have a desire to see if Princess and Celebrity etc Cruises are more inclusive and hence offer a little better value.

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