Margarita Jane

Thanks for the great information Caribbean Bound.

~ Jane

Ship -Brilliance of the Seas

Deck - 7

Stateroom # - 7094

Stateroom Category – Balcony

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Being right next to the Centrum, we could hear the entertainment, which was generally done by midnight.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? -No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Looking straight down, the view of the water is blocked. This is a hump cabin, and looking forward, you are looking over the tenders. The view looking out is great, and if you are sitting on the balcony, the lack of a downward view is not a problem. The balcony is fully covered so the only sun would be in the afternoon when the ship is heading north.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Oversized. We comfortably had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table.

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Only as stated above

Any other comments? - If you turn in early, the noise from the Centrum may be an issue. Otherwise, location is great - right next to elevators and business center.

We were also on the NYE cruise and it was great. We had a good experience with MTD. We had reserved online and only had a few minutes wait on the first night. Every other night we were seated right away. I also thought the food and choices were very good. The Temptations tribute band was great - we were in the last balcony row, second show...it was hot up there....we should have known better. But the show was great. Our favorite hangout was Schooner's. We enjoyed some pre-dinner drinks in the Diamond Club - great benefit IMHO.

We did not like Cozumel - have been there previously and did tours. This time we just hung out. Next time we will stay on the ship.

~ Jane

We were walking up along a road with cars, so getting up to the castle with a taxi is definitely possible. I also noticed official cars within the castle grounds that were helping people with mobility issues.

We got back from the British Isles cruise about 2 weeks ago. I took copies of all the information in the reviews by DeloreanGirl and Ohhbrother and referred to them daily - thank you so much for all the detail. Your reviews helped so much with our planning.

A few comments/notes:

Just in case you like to make a donation to the casino onboard, the casino was closed when we were in the North Sea due to "UK regulations". I think it was closed the evening we left Belfast and did not open until after we left Queensferry. It was closed one other evening until about 10:30PM, so I guess it was when we were too close to land.

I think the Titanic museum in Belfast read Emily's review, because on the storyboard just before you go into the theatre, it mentions the Titanic broke in half! So Emily, they have 'fessed up!

We had planned to take the train into Edinburgh, but it was raining when we got off the ship. The shuttle bus was sitting right there...it was easier to just jump on the shuttle than to walk to the train in the rain. Actually, the big bus had just filled up, so they put us in an 8 seat taxi and shuttled us into town. Others from our roll call did take the train with no problems. Be prepared if you are walking to the castle - it is a hike UP from where the shuttle bus lets you off. The gardens below the castle are really beautiful and lush...and, there is a clean public WC!

LeHavre - A group from our roll call planned to take a taxi to Honfleur. We did not get off the ship until 9:00AM and by that time, there were no taxis to be had. We waited an hour , split up, and we decided just to take the shuttle into LeHavre. When we got to LeHavre, we decided to check out the buses to Honfleur. There was one at about 12:30, and one coming back about 6:30 (I am going from memory, so the times may be off a bit). We just picked the wrong day! The bus going to Honfleur was about 45 minutes late, and we found out why - the traffic on the Normandy Bridge was moving at a snail's pace. We got to Honfleur about 2:30, and it should only take about 35 minutes. We were a little concerned about getting back to LeHavre, so we just walked around a little bit and took what I think was the next bus back to LeHavre, about 3:30. It took us at least 1.5 hours to get back, as the traffic was awful in both directions. So, for us, LeHavre was a total bust.

All in all, it was a fabulous cruise. We loved the ports, even with the bust in LeHavre. We had some rain, but it was more like occasional "showers" rather than stormy, and we were able to adjust our activities.

~ Jane

~ Jane

Enjoying your review - we are on 7/23 sailing.

~ Jane

I am totally enjoying your review and all your pictures. What a great trip to share with your family and, of course, all of us!

~ Jane

Thank you VirtualRain - This is exactly the info we were looking for.

~ Jane

I saw your post on Naples and the Hertz car rental locations...the Hertz site shows a location at Naples Harbour Via Marina. The google map does not show it that close to the cruise ship terminal. There is another Hertz location that some say is right at the cruise ship terminal. It is called Mergellina Railway Station and says it is located inside the harbor at Naples. Do you know which location you used for your car rental?

Thanks -

~ Jane

Cruisemom42 - Would you please send me a copy of your Herculaneum notes? walkerjanem at yahoo dot com.

Thank you -

~ Jane

We will be visiting Kotor in October, and I just wanted to thank you all for posting such great information!

~ Jane

Larry Dunsmore gets my vote. I became a martini drinker because of him!

We just returned from our cruise and spent a day touring Acapulco with Rudy. It was arranged by someone else on our roll call. We really enjoyed the day, and Rudy was great. He was flexible, willing to make changes on the fly to accomodate our group. There were 6 of us in his van, and he used a microphone, so even though we were sitting in the back, we could hear his comments very well. We were looking forward to enjoying some authentic Mexican food, but the 4 others decided to go back to the ship. We asked Rudy to recommend a restaurant within walking distance to the ship and he dropped us off at Las Canasta. He brought us into the restaurant, and told the staff what type of food we were looking for - Rudy's recommendation was "Filete a la Tampiquena" which is a taco, enchilada, guacamole, beans, rice and steak. My DH decided to have 3 tacos - one chicken, one beef and one pork. The food was good, the staff was friendly, the beer was cold, and we didn't get the "Mexican trots".

You will enjoy your day with Rudy. Do not hesitate to use him.

We had a great cruise on Journey. The only complaint we had was we thought they should have more bottles of wine in the $25 - $40 price range.

We did a back to back boarding Century on 9/29/08, and the Journey experience was much better than Century (Not that we wouldn't sail Century again). Better food, great crew. The public areas are smaller, as Journey is a smaller ship - so less shopping and smaller shows.

At our cc gathering, the cruise director told us they try to have a cc gathering even if they don't have 25 people sign up. We also got to meet the senior officers (including the Captain) and talk with them, one on one.

When we were disembarking, the Captain was outside the ship to shake our hands and say goodbye. What a nice send off!

~ Jane