Review of Brilliance Med~Greek Isles 6/5-17/05

We were on the June 5 sailing of Brilliance roundtrip from Barcelona and our 12-night itinerary was Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia, at sea, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Piraeus, Santorini, at sea, Naples, at sea, and back to Barcelona.

We flew Aer Lingus from JFK through Dublin to Barcelona and arrived just before noon on Friday, June 3. We had arranged for Taxi Internacional to take us from the airport to the Apsis Atrium Palace, and the driver was waiting for us outside of baggage claim despite the fact that we were about an hour late in arriving. We were able to check into our room at the hotel upon arrival, and tried to take a nap to make up for the lack of sleep on the overnight flight. The hotel is lovely and the rooms are attractive, but with the wood floors and high ceilings, the noise from the hallway tends to bounce around in the room. And, as has been noted on the Cruise Critic boards, the mattresses are hard.

Later in the afternoon we headed for an ATM, where we decided to take out most of our cash for the trip all at once. It turned out to be a great idea because the Euro was down against the dollar (Italy announced it was considering going back to the lira), and we didn’t have to waste time searching for ATMs in various cities. We then walked La Rambla and the Barri Gotic for a few hours before having an early dinner at Ciudad Condal Cerveceria on the corner of Rambla Catalunya and Gran Via, about three blocks from the Atrium Palace. Two Spanish ham sandwiches, a Coke and a glass of wine came to about 18 Euros. We then walked Rambla Catalunya for about three hours, watching the people eating in outdoor cafes and window shopping.

The next morning we headed up the Passeig de Gracias to see some of the Gaudi buildings. We cut across town and headed to Sagrada Familia, which must be seen to be appreciated. We didn’t go inside since we didn’t want to climb the tower and weren’t interested in viewing scaffolding, but we took a few dozen photos all around the outside. After a brief break at Starbucks, we headed down to the Arc de Triomphe and then back to the hotel. We had lunch at a pizza place in the market off La Rambla, and then headed down to the Christopher Columbus monument and sat by the water for a little while. We made a pit stop in the grocery store on the lower level of El Corte Ingles to pick up wine and water for the trip.

We decided to go back to Ciudad Condal for dinner, this time at its outdoor café across the street, where we spent several hours people watching as we had tapas, veal steak sandwiches, and a bottle of wine for 32 Euros. Since we were still jet lagged, we hit the sack early.

Taxi Internacional picked us up at the hotel at 11. We were at the pier within 15 minutes, waited on the security line for about seven minutes, and walked right up to the check in desk. Check in took less than five minutes (we had completed all of our documents online), so after presenting our cruise documents, passports, and a credit card, we received our SeaPass cards and were on our way.

We immediately noticed that we did not receive the dining time we had chosen, but there was a desk in the terminal building where we were able to change our time and table even before boarding the ship. Dining information is as follows: 6 p.m. on deck 4, 6:30 p.m. on deck 5, 8:30 p.m. on deck 4 and 9:00 p.m. on deck 5. Contrary to previously published reports, the Spanish speaking guests have not been relegated to deck 5 – there are passengers from many countries dining on each deck.

The Windjammer was already open for lunch when we boarded, but we headed first to Chops to make reservations for dinner during the cruise, then up to the salon for formal night hair appointments, and then to guest relations to obtain our Cybercabin connection ($120 for 12 nights plus a $25 refundable deposit for the cord). We had an informal get together of our Cruise Critic group, and only four of the group of 42 who had confirmed did not attend. Muster drill was at 5:15 and then we headed off to dinner.

The menu in the Mediterranean is better, in our opinion, than in the Caribbean. There are a few more appetizer choices and each night there is a “local” appetizer, soup and entrée in addition to the regular menu. The food overall was okay, but not great. We had dinner four nights in Chops, once in Portofino’s and once in the Seaview Cafe, partly to give ourselves some extra time between returning from tours and dinner, and partly to enjoy a better quality of food. The schedule for dining for the duration is as follows:

Monday: Cannes (Villefranche for upcoming itineraries) – casual

Tuesday: Livorno – formal (there are three on this cruise, despite the fact that the cruise materials indicate there are only two); Fiesta Latina

Wednesday: Civitavecchia – casual/country western; Spaghetti Western party; The Quest

Thursday: at sea – formal (Captain’s welcome aboard reception)

Friday: Mykonos – casual; Greek night

Saturday: Kusadasi – smart casual

Sunday: Piraeus – casual/toga party after dinner

Monday: Santorini – smart casual/70s; Love and Marriage Show; 70s Dance Fever

Tuesday: at sea – formal

Wednesday: Naples – casual/50s & 60s; 50s & 60s Dance Party

Thursday: at sea – casual

We ate breakfast either through room service (which only got our entire order correct once) or in the Windjammer because of our early tours. We mainly ate cereal, but the omelets were quite good and food delivered from room service was always hot. There are automatic dispensers of hand sanitizer located at the entrance of the Windjammer and the dining room. We rarely saw anyone use them, but many of those who tried attempted to pump them, not realizing they work like automatic bathroom faucets – just hold your hand under it and the sanitizer comes out.

The ship looks lovely still (this was our third time sailing her). No signs of wear, and everything is clean. The Radiance class ships must be the most beautiful at sea, and all the glass and the décor continues to dazzle us.

We attended the Welcome Aboard show (one time for everyone at 7:45). Bill, the cruise director, seems pleasant, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Clodagh O’Connor, who was our CD on our two prior BOS cruises (she is currently on Explorer). We greatly enjoyed the comedy of Neal Austin. Some of it was very lame, but that made it even funnier. We also saw the oldies group later on in the cruise, who were good and had the audience on its feet, singing and clapping. We were so tired most nights that we only caught those two shows out of 12. We spent most of our evenings in the Colony Club with friends, and one night the guys played pool.

On Monday in Cannes, they started tendering passengers sometime between 10 and 10:30. By the time we went to deck 5 in the Centrum for our tickets at 11:20, they were up to number 10 and we had another 15 minutes to wait. The tenders ran every 30 minutes until 10:30, which was all aboard time.

We had no tours scheduled so we simply walked the waterfront first, then La Croisette (the main drag) and then we boarded Le Petit Train for a 30-minute tour of the old city. The open-sided bus with audio through headphones took us up to Le Suquet where we got some great photos looking over the city and the harbor. There is another bus that goes through the more modern sections of town. Our bus costs 6 Euros pp and I believe the other bus was 8 Euros pp.

We checked out the open air cafes on the main street, but the prices were high for lunch and most of them served Italian food. We ended up on a back street at a little outdoor café where we had beef steaks with french fries and salad, a Coke and a glass of red wine for 29 Euros plus tip. We then went hunting for the two items I read were a must buy in the south of France: olive oil soap and jellied fruits.

Dinner was sparsely attended. Many tours returned late so 6 p.m. seating was quite empty and many of those passengers who did make it arrived late. At 10:45 there was a poolside buffet with food and desserts and it was pretty well attended.

In Livorno, where we docked at 6:30, we had booked the Florence on Your Own tour through the ship. We got on the bus at 8:15 and pulled out right away. We were in Florence in about an hour and 40 minutes and walked about 10 minutes to Santa Croce Square. After being given our meeting time (3:30), we were off. After checking out Santa Croce Square, we headed over to the fountain of Neptune and saw the copy of David in the square. The line at the Uffizi stretched all the way down the building and wrapped around, so we decided to head over to the Duomo. As we came in to the square, the building actually took my breath away. We explored the cathedral and then decided to climb the 461 steps to the top of the dome. It was a tough climb, but not as cramped as I expected, and the views were spectacular. By the time we returned to the ground we were starving, so we had a panini and a glass of Chianti at a wine bar I read about in Gourmet magazine, I Fratellini. From there, we headed over the Ponte Vecchio to another wine bar I either read about: Le volpi e l’uva. The owner, Giancarlo Cantini, speaks English and was very helpful in suggesting various wines. We tasted about six different Italian wines and enjoyed bread and Italian cheeses. We left about 90 minutes later with our bellies full and six bottles of wine, which we had no problem bringing on board. (It actually wouldn’t have mattered if they had held the bottles for us, because we plan to take them home.) We bought a 1999 Brunello for 38 Euros, and can’t wait to enjoy it this summer by the pool.

By that time, it was about 45 minutes before we were leaving and we needed a rest, so we got gelatos from Vivoli on Via Isola Delle Stinche, two blocks from Santa Croce Square. The prices are reasonable and the gelato is fabulous. I had orange chocolate and DH had peach. Yum. Once everyone arrived, it took us 90 minutes to get back. Thank goodness we had made reservations at Chops for 7:30 because we didn’t get back onboard until after 5 and we desperately needed showers. It was a formal night, but we dressed smart casual for Chops and headed right back to the cabin to do some work on the laptop before hitting the sack.

The captain had announced Tuesday evening that there would be strong winds and rough seas, but we never felt anything. However, there are strong winds Wednesday morning and five ships docking in Civitavecchia, and we were delayed about 60 minutes docking but were then able to get off the ship fairly quickly. I had put together a group of 12 to tour with Driver in Rome, and we found our driver and were very surprised to also be greeted by Remo, the owner, who served as our narrator for the day. He told us jokes all the way to Rome, played the accordion at our first stop and later in the day, and eventually sang for us. We made many, many stops and I cannot remember all of them but the highlights were St. Peter’s in Chains, Capitoline Hill, the Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, the VaticanMuseum, where Remo arranged a tour guide for a two hour tour (120 Euros), the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. We had about five minutes in St. Peter’s Square (I wish we had more time there) and it was still full of the chairs from the morning’s papal address so we couldn’t move around too well, but all in all, it was the best day of the cruise so far and that’s because of Remo, Driver in Rome, and the terrific group of Cruise Critic members who joined us on the tour.

Because we left late, the ship didn’t sail until 8:30 rather than 7 p.m. We had dinner at Chop’s again and were so tired we were back in our cabin by 10:15. Thursday was at sea, so we slept in until 8 a.m. and then had breakfast in the buffet. We went to the Meet & Mingle, which was well attended (probably 50 people showed up), and Bill the cruise director raffled off about six prizes. We took some group photos, and by the time we finished chatting, it was time to eat again. We lazed about the remainder of day until it was time to get ready for formal night.

On Friday we were in Mykonos and had a wonderful time. That morning before we arrived at noon, we had to go to the Colony Club at an appointed time and turn in our passports. (We retrieved them on Tuesday during our at sea day.) It was nothing like what we expected. First, there is a $4 per person per way charge for the shuttle to town (you can purchase the tickets ahead of time or right before you are ready to leave at Guest Relations). The ride takes approximately 10 minutes, but it is on a twisty, winding road and there is no shoulder, so I do not recommend walking. We walked around the town, bought an unusual pearl necklace and two pairs of matching earrings (Jewellery Panagiotis), and had lunch in Camares, a restaurant just off Taxi Square. We shared a Greek sausage with spicy sauce appetizer, I had the lamb souvlaki with a yogurt sauce and DH had a chicken breast stuffed with Greek cheese and dates. Both entrees were delicious. We shared a bottle of still water. The total bill came to about 40 Euros – a little expensive, but it was a fabulous meal and we enjoyed it overlooking the harbor.

We then walked around the town and got lost in the warren of small streets and whitewashed buildings. We bought some locally made sandals for 22 Euros, and then made our way up to the windmills which overlook the water and the town. The temperature was about 77 degrees and it was sunny, not too hot for walking around but warm enough for a sleeveless shirt and shorts.

On Saturday we were in Kusadasi, Turkey. Originally we had not planned any activities for this port, but we decided to invite two of our friends from the crew to have lunch with us. We walked around the harbor area and stopped at a “beach club” (the beach consisted of rocks) for some drinks and chatting, and then walked around town until we found a terrific restaurant about four blocks from the harbor called Oz Urfa Restaurant. We had soup, an entrée that consisted of shaved meat on cubed pita with yogurt sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, a hot pepper, rice and french fries, shared a bottle of wine and a bottle of water, and had a fruit plate for dessert. The total for four people was 45 Euros and the food was delicious. We then decided to check out some leather in a shop around the corner called Kira (or something very similar). To make a long story short, we spent an hour and 40 minutes looking at jackets and then waiting for some alterations only to walk out without the jacket. The alterations merely consisted of taking in the lining rather than taking in the leather, and the stitching came out immediately. The prices weren’t bad, but if you have to have alterations, you may want to buy your leather in Italy, wait to have the alterations down at home, or skip the process altogether.

The private and ship excursions to Ephesus were the number one hit for almost everyone we spoke with. Our friends thought they were much better preserved than those at Pompeii, with much more marble and original structures. Even with a stop at a rug factory (which lured quite a good percentage of people to make purchases), everyone spoke highly of the visit and strongly recommended a tour.

On Sunday, we had a tour of Athens through Spiros Taxi. Despite the fact that I had booked a tour with Spiros 15 months in advance, when I confirmed in April that he was going to be our driver, he claimed that someone else had already reserved him. I insisted on a non-smoking, English speaking driver, and we got a good one by the name of Michael Sinanidis. He took four of us in a Mercedes sedan to the Acropolis first (12 Euros entrance fee and you cannot bring in backpacks, but there is a place you can check in your bags for free) and we beat most of the tours. The Acropolis was awesome. I could not believe the scale of the columns, and the museum was very interesting as well. It is very hot and there is very little shade, so be certain to put on sunscreen and carry water with you. It’s also a good idea to make certain you have extra film or memory cards, as you will take LOTS of photos. We also visited a monastery, the Temple of Zeus, took the funicular to the top of the highest point (or nearly the highest point) in Athens, ate at an outdoor café in the Plaka and walked around a bit, and saw the changing of the guard at 11:15. (Be certain to stand across the street before it starts because after the band and the guards pass by, everyone across the street comes to the other side and has a dead-on view of the changing of the guard.) On the way back to the ship, Michael took us for a view of the harbor where all the yachts are docked and a final view of Athens. We could see the Acropolis off in the distance. All in all, it was a terrific day, although it was hot and exhausting.

Michael was sometimes difficult to understand, but he was very pleasant. He, like other drivers we heard about, insisted that we pay him at the last stop minus 6 or 10 Euros, which we were to hand him at the pier. Apparently, since he is actually driving a taxi, he is not supposed to be taking all day tours. Also, four average sized people can fit relatively comfortably in a Mercedes sedan, but it would be much more comfortable with a maximum of three. We took turns riding in the front so that the same person wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of the back seat all day.

That night we ate in Portofino’s after having eaten in Chops three times. The food has improved since our last meal there three years ago, but I personally enjoy Chops better. There was a Greek toga party that night, and it was moved from the pool deck to the Colony Club because of winds. The chocolate buffet was also moved from the pool deck to the Windjammer. We missed both because we were too tired.

Monday in Santorini was relaxing and lovely, with the exception of our vehicle. We took a tour with Santorini Day Tours and had Tina from Australia as our guide. There were eight of us in a nine person van and it was a warm, snug fit. (If anyone books with this company and has eight people, insist on a larger van.) It was okay as long as the windows were open and we were moving, but that made it difficult to hear her speak. She knew quite a bit about the island and its history and she was very nice.

We met at 10 a.m. outside of the cable car station in Fira and headed for the van. From there we went to Oia (or Ia) and toured through the town. Some of our group did some shopping at the many stores along the way, while the rest of us took photos of all of the stunning views that appeared around every corner. From there we visited Pyrgos and walked to the top of the hill for more great views, and then went to the Santos Winery for a wine tasting and some cheese (seven glasses of wine and a plate of cheese for 7.90 Euros). From there we returned to Fira for lunch, as it was after 2:00 and we were hungry. We ate at Tina’s boyfriend’s restaurant, Ampelos, which I do not recommend for the food but the views were spectacular. The appetizers were good, but the pork souvlaki was dry and tough.

There were several other things we could have seen, but everyone was tired from all the excursions and just took it easy. All of the museums and archeological sights were closed because it was Monday, so that cut down on our options.

As an FYI, there were no tender tickets required at least until 9 a.m. and there were only six people on our tender at 8:40. If you plan to get off the ship early, I do not recommend buying your cable car tickets through the ship, as the cost on land is 3.50 Euros while the ship charges your SeaPass account $4.65, and you have to see the booth attendant anyway to turn over your ship-purchased ticket. Depending on the exchange rate, save a few pennies and buy the tickets on land. DH and a friend decided to take the donkeys for 3.50 Euros and laughed all the way to the top. It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the top by donkey (they move fast) and the rest of us had to wait for the cable car so it took a few minutes longer. Some people walked up to the top and many people walked down.

The Colony Club was closed that evening for a party for Philippine Independence Day, which was attended by the staff and crew and ran until midnight. There was a large group of Colony Club devotees who were not happy that a passenger area of the ship was closed for more than five hours on the evening before a sea day when we all had the opportunity to stay up late and enjoy ourselves. Neither the bar manager nor the hotel manager could explain why the party was not held in the crew area of the ship or up in the little utilized jazz club on deck . We think the idea that the ship threw a party for its workers was wonderful, but it should have been held either in the crew area, in a less popular passenger area, or during the day while most of the passengers were off the ship.

Tuesday was our second at sea day, the second formal night, and the Crown & Anchor party, held at 5:15 for main seating passengers and 7:15 for second seating passengers. The captain, Michael Lachtaridis, was the most personable, well spoken, witty captain we have ever sailed with, and we were disappointed to learn that he is retiring in December. He frequently chatted with passengers, and even stopped by our table in Chops one evening, which afforded us the opportunity to pass along our compliments for a job well done. He made one or two announcements a day providing our location, the weather report, sea conditions, miles to our next port, etc. He was very proud when we sailed past his home island after we left Mykonos and blew the ship’s horn as we went by.

On Wednesday, we toured Pompeii and the Amalfi coast with Driver in Rome and Remo was our narrator again. We added six to our original group of eight, as Remo usually only goes out with larger groups. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone the larger the group but Remo is good at corralling people and making sure we keep to our schedule, although he does make changes as we go along to allow for any delays.

We docked in Naples and were off the ship by 7:45. Remo was waiting for us along with Luigi, our driver. We drove out of Naples and up into the mountains for a view over Naples and the surrounding area. I was surprised at how much pollution there was over the valley. We then continued down the other side to Ravello, where we had 20 minutes to walk the main street and take photographs. We then stopped at Hotel San Pietro, which Remo said was voted the number one hotel in the world four times, although he didn’t say by whom. It is a lovely hotel with great views, but I felt we wasted too much time there and as we left he advised us to tip the “doorman” 1 Euro each for allowing us to look around.

From there it was a short drive to Positano, where he took us to lunch at da Constantino restaurant perched on the mountainside overlooking the town and we ran into groups traveling with Daniele of Driver in Rome and Claudio. It was a filling lunch with mineral water, jugs of wine, appetizers (including incredible marinated anchovies), homemade pasta, and dessert for 20 Euros per person.

We didn’t have time to walk around in Positano, which was a disappointment, and we headed to Pompeii. Remo arranged for a guide for 120 Euros (plus the entrance fee of 10 Euros) and we saw some of the important sights there in 90 minutes. We missed quite a bit and the tour left me convinced that you need at least four hours there to do it justice. From there we headed back to the ship and arrived around 5:15. It was a nice day, but it couldn’t compare to the other ports. If we go back, I would spend more time at Pompeii and then go to Capri, which I heard was beautiful.

Thursday was an at sea day. After doing some morning sunbathing, we packed and then shared some wine and cheese with some Cruise Critic friends on our aft balcony. We visited our dining room staff to hand out the tip envelopes, and then headed to Chops for our final dinner. We first did this on our Infinity cruise last December and find it is the best way to end a cruise – a relaxing, quiet, unhurried meal before heading off to say goodbye to our friends among the staff, crew and passengers.

Debarkation was quite easy. We docked around 5:30, had breakfast in the Windjammer at 6:30 and then managed to hang out in our cabin until 7:45 when we headed down to deck 5 to get off the ship. Most of our luggage was already on the turnstile, and we were headed out to the taxis within 10 minutes. We were at the airport by 8:30 and got up to the ticket counter at 8:45, only to find out that Aer Lingus will not allow check in more than two hours before departure. We waited around for an hour to try checking in again, and then waited 2-3/4 hours before our delayed plane took off. It was an uneventful flight to Dublin, where we had a four hour layover. The condition of the Dublin airport is poor, and I would not fly through here again despite the ease of getting through customs. There isn’t much to choose from restaurant-wise, and everything is under construction. After seeing the airport at Barcelona, which is the nicest we’ve ever traveled through, this airport looks even worse.

This was our first experience with Aer Lingus, and it’s likely our last. The flight attendants spent most of the flight chatting with each other and letting passengers get their own beverages. Despite the fact that I asked four different flight attendants about a US Customs form, I got three different answers: I should have received it at check-in (which we didn’t), there weren’t any forms onboard (twice), and it will be handed out during the flight (which it eventually was 10 minutes before we landed). After landing 50 minutes early at JFK, we spent that time waiting for our luggage. Clearing Immigration was quick, and getting through Customs took about five minutes. We slept most of the way during the two-hour trip back home.

In conclusion, port-wise, this was the best cruise we’ve ever taken, and I’m very glad we were able to do mostly with private tours so we could maximize our time (for the most part) and travel with smaller groups rather than following a lollipop around for hours at a time and waiting for 45 people to get together before moving onto the next thing. In the future, though, I hope to join someone else’s tours rather than arrange them. There is a lot of pressure to make sure everyone shows up on time, the money is collected, no one feels pressured to spend more money at lunch or on entrance fees than they planned, and to give those who have different agendas a little space so they aren’t disappointed. On the other hand, we were able to set the main agenda and just needed to find others who wanted to come along. Our favorite ports were Barcelona, Florence and Mykonos, partly perhaps because we were on our own so we developed our own agenda and wandered at our own pace.

I strongly recommend eating lunch in port. It was the highlight of our trip that we were able to eat local foods in small restaurants through the Med, and we generally ate for 10 Euros or less per person, often including wine.

The food onboard was okay, although the selection was better than on Caribbean itineraries. The food in the Seaview Café was really good, and I liked the offerings of custom pizzas and pastas. The food was made and delivered quickly, and on hot days we were still able to find a place to sit indoors.

The service overall was good, although Alston, our cabin steward, Rusty and Gustavo in the Colony Club, Susanna in the Centrum lobby bar, and Camelia and Amanda in Chops were excellent each and every time we dealt with them. We didn’t luck out with our waitstaff in the dining room, although Kersey was the most attentive head waiter we’ve experienced on Royal Caribbean. Our waiter needed a personality and our assistant waiter barely spoke or understood English.

Dinner times really should be moved to 7:00, 7:30, 9:30 and 10:00. There simply is not enough time to get back from excursions, clean up and get to dinner on time. We did hear that the dining room will allow you to arrive up to 40 minutes past your dining time and still be served.

We didn’t use our balcony as much as on previous cruises, but I still wouldn’t have cruised without it. We were able to sunbathe out there in quiet on sea days and caught an hour or so before dinner on a few of the port days. We managed breakfast out there once and had a little party, as mentioned above, on our last day.

We met a lot of great people, mostly Cruise Critic members and our table mates, and it will be a cruise we will always remember. We took almost 900 photographs and shot more than four hours of videotape, so we have lots of memories recorded for future reference.

Karen, thanks for combining all your mini-reviews you provided while onboard. We're also using Taxi Internacional and staying at the Atrium Palace. Glad you had a good experience with the taxi service. I just wanted someone waiting for me after the long flight, and not me waiting for a taxi.

EXCELLENT review karen!

Thanks so much for the great review. Much appreciated information.

Aloha

Ginger

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Your information will be most helpful as we plan our cruise to the Med. next year. Thanks again.

A final thought: As I edit my video to burn onto DVD, I am realizing not only how much we saw on our tours, but how much I wasn't aware we were seeing. One of our friends bought guidebooks at every stop to take home to her kids, and I should have recognized what a great idea that was -- except I could have used them. If you have the extra funds, consider purchasing guidebooks (they are full of photos) especially at the important stops like the Acropolis (the only place I bought one), the Vatican, and Pompeii. There are a lot of things on the video that I am having difficulty identifying because although Frommer's describes things, there are no photos.

If you get tired of looking at the books, you can always sell them on eBay. :)

Karen