runningmoms2girls

We drove to Tampa when we cruised. We went down the night before and took the hotel shuttle to the Pier.

Rereading this thread again…..

How early should you be at SJU to get through security and the agriculture line?

My pleasure :)

Yes! Thank you!

Years ago when we sailed Serenade to St.Lucia we got the best tour of Pitons of all. After departing St. Lucia we sailed to the Pitons where Serenade got in the center between the to, did a 360 turn and then settled in so we could all watch an amazing sunset after which we continued the cruise.

 

To this day I will never forget the captain of that voyage, Capt. Stig Nilsen. On the way back to San Juan he gave a brief history of each of the islands that we sailed by as well as giving us a close up view of the volcanic destruction on Montserrat. He made that cruise very special.

I was just on the Brillance in December and he was our captain! How neat!

I'm currently booked with Cosol but I am seriously thinking about switching to an RCI tour. I've read horror stories about Cosol getting back to the ship with 2-10mins to spare.

I'm open to suggestions and opinions. Still on the fence. I know they get such high ratings but I want to be able to enjoy the day and not worry about cutting it that close.

I was on the Brillance in December and had great service in the MDR. No complaints at all.

I have that tour booked too with Nancy and you. Now i'm wonderingif we should back out. It's a bit worrisome. I wonder if we couldn't make it known to the tour leader that we have to be back sooner?

 

~~ Diane (Brightfeather)

 

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Yes it is. The tour with Nancy is full so my husband and I booked ourselves directly with Cosol. It does have me thinking though.

I wrote them a review on tripadvisor if you want to go look at that for a more detailed review, I will write one here as well when it gets to that day, but you can still cancel with them, as they don't hold a deposit and you pay at the end of the tour.

Thanks....I will go check out your trip advisor review. So disappointing. I loved the itinerary. Maybe I'll just book a tour with RCCL to be sure. Lots to think about.

you've won the prize! Yes, we had 10 minutes to spare once we got on board Adventure after touring with COSOL...but more details to come on that later...but do book with caution, I would never book with them again. It was totally avoidable, us cutting it that close. One COSOL bus behind us had 2 minutes to spare! :eek:

Oh dear......I have them booked for next month......

Can't wait! We leave soon!

Here's not a pic of our room. I don't have one with the bed pulled out.

I sailed in December on the Brillance in cabin #7598 with three people. We used the two twin beds and the chair that pulled out to a bed. The only time we felt cramped was in the morning When we were getting ready and the pull out bed was pulled out and made up. We never spent too much time in the room so it wasn't ever really a problem.

I think you'll be fine.

thanks again for the info. we mainly do beach excursions and shopping. i think we would enjoy the zip line too. we steer clear of scuba /boat ride to excursions and anything with a long bus ride.

we are looking at the st.Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St.Lucia, and Barbados intinerary.

 

 

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We are doing that exact itinerary on the Adventure in March!

Hi Amy, we're on the same ship:) We have a 4p flight out of San Juan so I began looking for options myself. Have you found anything else? I JUST began my search for things to do on the day we disembark and the best options for all day Friday and part of Saturday (pre-cruise). I know El Yunque Rainforest, Segways and fort tours are on the agenda - just need to coordinate the timing of each small group tours:) LOL...and a stop at Marshall's (close to our hotel:)

 

Thanks,

Nancy

I have just started looking. Trying to decide between a tour post cruise or just take our time and be last off the ship that morning.

We were on December 8th also! It was that cruise that I officially met the most negative man ever.

 

We decided to try the dining room for breakfast. We were sat at a large table. This man really didn't have anything good to say about the food, and service. The icing on the cake was when he proceeded to tell the entire table that Royal takes all the bad staff and puts them on the Brilliance on purpose. :eek:

 

We nearly got up and walked out of before our food even came. Thank god he was at the opposite end of the table and we were able to strike up a nice conversation with a younger couple who only had positive things to say.

Oh wow!

Some great tips and great advice!

What temps did you have? We leave in a few days and packing now. Wondering if ours will be same temps What did you wish you had? Thanks! 👍

We had mostly 70's but felt chilly with the cloudy skies and wind. It was cloudy most of the time with rain showers off and on (and some times even pouring rain). I'm not sure about anyone else but we never got to do the rock climbing wall as the weather wouldn't cooperate.

Thanks for the review. Is there only one formal night and the rest cruise casual?

I know this is a long shot, but do you know the menu theme order? Thanks:-)

 

 

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Yes….correct.

I can't remember! I'm sorry. I didn't even think to take pictures of the menu.

Bear with me...this is my first review for CC. I was very appreciative of those that took time to write reviews after they cruised so I'm returning the favor.

Traveling: There were three of us - myself, my mom and my sister.

Stateroom: 8598 (hump balcony cabin)

Pre-hotel: Hampton Inn Ybor City. They provided a free shuttle to and from the port. We paid for a cruise and stay package which allowed us to leave our car there. It worked out great!

Shows: We attended The Cat's Pajamas (A Capella men's group) along with the Welcome Aboard and Farewell Show.

Pros:

• Highly recommend going to the top deck while going under the bridge in Tampa. So neat!
  
• We got to the terminal around 10:15am and were on board by 10:30am.
  
• We grabbed lunch early - around 11:30am. Good thing as by 12noon the Windjammer was packed.
  
• We did self disembarkation. Don't let the long line fool you. It moved very quickly. We got in line at 7:20am and were through customs and on the curb waiting for our shuttle by 7:50am.
  

Cons:

• Carrot cake -I love carrot cake but the one they had on was blech. (I know this is just a personal opinion....to some one else it may taste the best!)
  
• We never heard any noise from the centrum until the last night. I'm wondering if they never closed the doors to the hall that night.
  
• The food was good (anything is good if we are being served and not doing the cooking!) but not WOW!
  
• I know I've read this on here numerous times but I can't get over what they allow in the MDR - especially on formal night. Winter tuks, shorts, hooded sweatshirts, baseball caps, etc.
  

Misc tips:

• Pier runners in Cozumel. Need I say more!? LOL
  
• We spent a few hours at Paradise Beach (despite the pouring rain and cloudy skies.) I'd highly recommend it. The food was good.
  
• The weather was colder and cloudier than we expected. We did not pack enough "chilly weather" clothes.
  

If I can figure it out I'll upload some pics later night.

Me too. It would be nice to see more recent reviews and/or cruise compass for Brilliance.

I'll try to get to it very soon! As soon as I got home it was back to work and then my daughter's chorus concert…..etc. It's that time of year!

Looks like another morning fog in Tampa:( I'll assume the cold air jet stream pushing down from the North meeting up with warm air is the cause. Keeping those fingers crossed for our Jan 9th sail date!

We just got back and had a blast. But…I wish I had packed more warmer clothes. It was cloudy, rainy and chilly. Colder than I expected. Definitely bring a lightweight jacket and maybe even a umbrella. It poured the day we were in Cozumel. Just be prepared for chilly weather that time of the year.

Great ship just got off today. I'll post more later this week.

Can't wait!

I am sailing B2B on Brilliance in January. Does the Kronos band happen to be playing on board now?

Not that I can recall. I kept all my compasses. As soon as I get a moment I am going to post a review and answer any questions. I'll try to look tomorrow after work.

I just got off the Brillance this morning and had a great time. Great service.

So my hubby and I are planning our first cruise together.

I've done a bunch of reading on here about the different tours, tour companies and excursions.

What are the benefits/cons with going through RCI versus booking tours on our own? I'm a little overwhelmed with it all. :)