Brilliance Feb. 9 to 16, 2 nights San Juan

[EMED2010]

Very nice report! Looking forward to reading about your ports - you have some really interesting ones. I like seeing all the Old San Juan pics - we will have a stop there on our upcoming cruise. Also looking forward to seeing the Brilliance again. My first cruise was on Brilliance and we just loved that ship!

[volunteer cruiser]

I was on a mission to get coconut shaved ice. We finally found this vendor. We got a coconut shaved ice, pinapple shaved ice and 2 bags of garlic plantain chips for $7.

 

 

It started to rain and although the coconut ice was good, I was very hungry. We found a nice cafe called Cafe LaPrincess. It was good for apetizers and local beer. It was outside and had a nice atmosphere. After the brief rainshower, we were the only patrons there. It was around 3:30 to 4 PM. We ordered apetizers: cheviche, fried plantains, and mofongo.

 

[gelo7]

Love your pictures.

[volunteer cruiser]

Friday night dinner at Barrachina. I had made reservations in August on line for 7 PM but only had 8 available at the time. I had not planned on seeing the Flamenco show. You have to call the resturant for show ressies, can't do it on line. About 3 weeks before the trip, I received an email that confirmed 7 PM seating for 2. I really wanted to keep the 8PM time in case we ran late sight seeing. I called the resturant and they had changed my reservation to see the Flamenco show. He sold me over the phone. He said to be there between 6:30 and 6:45PM to be finished with dinner by showtime. One requirement was to purchase at least $25 worth of food.

 

We skipped the wine and cheese reception. Got ready for dinner. Did not have to wait to be seated. There were 2 very large parties in the room that night. One had to be 30 people or more. It was loud and the servers were very busy. I had the Pina Colda, of course, a chicken dish and Lance had grilled Red Snapper. The food was good. The young Flamenco dancers were so lively and powerful. I felt their energy. I thought the evening was worth it.

 

 

 

Next to us was a table of 4. One lady asked if I was on a cruise and signed up for M&M. We had been chatting on the roll call prior to the trip. Jaye and Kevin from Seattle and Sandra and Rick orginally from England but now living in Michigan. We ended up spending time with Rick and Sandra just about every night on the cruise in concierge lounge for great conversation.

[volunteer cruiser]

Very nice report! Looking forward to reading about your ports - you have some really interesting ones. I like seeing all the Old San Juan pics - we will have a stop there on our upcoming cruise. Also looking forward to seeing the Brilliance again. My first cruise was on Brilliance and we just loved that ship!

 

I am a big fan of the Brilliance now. She is beautiful and still in great shape for spending 11 years at sea.

[volunteer cruiser]

Love your pictures.

 

 

Thank you, most of the credit goes to my husband.

[volunteer cruiser]

I absolutely love all the charm and history of Old San Juan. We are definitely going back for 4 to 5 days pre or post cruise next time. We have so much more to explore. Everyone was so friendly and went out of their way to help us find museums and plazes. We never felt unsafe at night. I did not see one pushy vendor. The streets are easy to navigate and as long as you know north, south, east and west you can find your way around. Next is Saturday, Feb. 9 boarding day.

[volunteer cruiser]

We left the hotel at 10:20AM. Took a taxi to the Pan American pier. The driver took us to the curb. Waited in the drop off luggage line for less than 5 minutes, not many people in front of us. After handing luggage to handlers we were in the terminal at 10:45AM. Quick and easy check in, no line. We waited about another 5 minutes seated then a lady exclaimed all excited- "you can go in now". We skipped the picture and were the first to go up escalator. Directed to gangway, people were standing on gangway and lady in front of us on scooter, embarkation staff told another not to let anyone else on gangway because too many on it waiting to either get pic for boarding pass or use pass to get on ship, like b2bs. Then wouldn't you know we hear a loud bang and the gangway drops several inches. We did make it off ok; perhaps it was just settling. The embarkation employee told the one letting people pass " that's what will happen with too many people".

 

We were on the ship at 10:55AM. The ship is beautiful, well kept, and clean. Since the Windjammer did not open until 11:30AM, we soaked our feet in the pool. Lunch was tasty. All the salads were fresh and cold, carved roast beef perfectly cooked to my liking, and honey stung chicken very moist and tender. My husband and I were very pleased with variety and flavor of offerings. We explored the ship a bit. I won't add too many pics of ship because other reviewers have done a thorough job of posting great pics.

 

This is my first radiance class ship. I like the layout, very easy to get from one public area to another. I booked Grand suite 1552. I really wanted 1556 then thought about 1554 but both were not available at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The room was clean and the furniture in good shape. There were some scratches on walls and cabinets. The pillows were very uncomfortable. I am sure if I had asked Ito, our cabin attendant from the Phillipines, he would have given us different ones.

[volunteer cruiser]

We had plenty of closet space.

 

 

I probably will avoid booking this suite because of location of balcony. 1554 aft of us on starboard side is on end of hump and 1552(our suite) is forward of the hump. We could see each others balconies.

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

More tomorrow. I am pretty sure I can get all port reviews in by Thursday evening for those leaving for cruise on Sat.

[volunteer cruiser]

Embarkation day continued: Met roll call cruisers in Schooner bar before muster drill. We had a great turn out. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I really enjoyed everyone's company, including Uncle John and his wife, Mary. They had a knack for making me laugh.

 

 

 

Muster drill were smoothly. We had second sitting dining and it was delayed 30 minutes tonight, so instead of 8:30 it was 9PM. We had extra time so met Sandra and Rick in concierge lounge for drinks. This couple is diamond plus and had interesting stories of all their cruises. Made it to dinner. We signed up for a table of 8 or 10. We hit the lottery again with table companions. They were all great and we all never lacked in conversation. We sat with 4 couples. 2 of the couple were from Virginia and cruised together and the other 2 couples from Massachusetts and Maryland and also cruised together. Besides the late time dining, we all enjoyed ourselfs. It was after 11PM when we were finished. Lance and I were too pooped to do anything so we called it a night.

[volunteer cruiser]

Sunday, Feb. 10, port Tortola

 

Woke up early 6:30 AM (early for me on vacation) in search of a good cup of coffee: first to old concierge lounge on deck 10 for coffee from their fancy coffee/latte machine, it was not working; second to windjammer beverage station and they were out, so third choice I went to Cafe Latitude in Centrum and he opened early for me and I had a great cup of coffee. Had a quick breakfast in Windjammer and off the ship at 8:15AM.

 

I had 2 must do excursions for Tortola: the Baths and Jost Van Dyke. I chose Jost Van Dyke for the beach bars, sand, clear water, and laid back atmosphere. Plus listening to Kenny Chesney's song "Somewhere in the Sun" about the island made me what to experience it more. Met at the pier and left at 8:30AM. The ferry type boat was right at the pier. The boat was large with inside and outside seating. We had 36 total partyers and 3 crew. The boat can hold 100 people. We arrived to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke at 9:15AM after scenic boat ride past many other islands.

 

 

 

 

 

We moored as close to the beach as possible. The crew gave us 2 choices to get to beach: swim or take the tender. Only one lady took the plunge and swam. The tender held about 22 people. Lance and I took the second tender.

 

In this pic you can see the little red tender.

 

[volunteer cruiser]

The excursion guide (one of the crew) gave us information on what was included. The most important was to meet up at the tender at 12:15/12:30PM, The tour company had a building with restrooms, beach chairs, small cash bar, and lunch included to the very left of White Bay. We were each given one beverage and lunch coupon to use at their building. The lunch included burgers with the trimmings, hotdogs and chips.

 

The Soggy Dollar Bar was on the far right of the bay. Lance and I headed there first. It was just as I had imagined. They had just opened for drinks but the gift shop did not open until 10:00AM. Of course I got the famous Painkiller and Lance enjoyed a new beer brewed in St. John for about a year, St. John Summer Ale.

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

The bar was fun and started to get lively as guest staying in onsite hotel walked in and more sailboats and catamarans anchoraged just off shore. The bartender, Oldtimer Nic was entertaining.

 

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

All good things must, no, had to come to an end. After swimming, eating lunch, and one more pain killer for me, we had to meet up for the tender. Lance got one last beer at One Love bar.

 

 

 

Despite thinking that being left behind on this island would be perfect, we got on the ferry boat to continue our cruise of adventures. The crew did not pour rum punch, they poured enough punch in the rum just to give it a pink color.

 

 

Then the gangnam style dancing started.

 

 

Everyone we talked to on the excursion loved it.

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

My thoughts on the ship's excursion Escape to Jost Van Dyke, I would definitely book this again. We had a little over 3 hours on White Bay and although it did not seem long enough, it takes awhile to boat there and back. Even though there were no children on this excursion, I would bring my teenagers and 10 year old niece and nephew. We were all in the party mode and indulged in libations, but noone got out of hand and everyone was friendly and polite. The beach and ocean are perfect for kids, calm and crystal clear. This excursion is suitable for someone with mild walking disability requiring a cane for balance. A wheelchair could not manage do to the jump crossing between pier and ferry and ferry and tender. We had 2 gentleman using canes on this trip and they seemed to do just fine.

[volunteer cruiser]

I should not have to work as long tomorrow, so I expect to be able to post review of St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and Guadelupe tomorrow. I will be glad to answer any questions.

[volunteer cruiser]

Day 2 continued-After arriving back to the pier, we went straight to the ship and swam in main pool and chatted with some CC roll call buddies. An after thought about the days excursion. I have come to the conculsion that most of the sailing/water type excursions I have been on tend to be generous with the alcholic beverages toward the end of the cruise. The first reason is safety after having snorkeled, swam, etc. The second is perhaps the crews think if they a generous with drinks and we get tipsy we will be more generous with tips. Just my observation because I think it worked on me. The crew earned our tip though, they were safety conscious going through the safety drill prior to leaving the docks.

 

I have to say Lance and I over did on this day. Another first for me. We did not go to dinner and it was formal night. We ordered dinner through suite menu room service. It took 25 minutes to be delivered from phone call made. Lance got the ceaser salad, filet of beef, and 2 sourdough rolls and I had the artichoke and cheese stuffed pasta. The food was good and hot. I was impressed with my first experience with this room service. Again we did not go to a show that night.

[printingchick]

Arrived in San Juan about 2:20PM. The airport was not busy. Picked up luggage at baggage claim, walked to the left and out to the taxi stand, and no wait for taxi. Our taxi driver was very friendly and pointed out buildings on way to El Convento. I think one thing that helped break the ice with the spanish speaking people was that my husband would speak Spanish and some English with them. In less than 25 minutes from touching down at airport, we were at side street next to Hotel El Convento. Hotel baggage handlers were waiting on street and took our luggage to front desk for us.

 

You enter the hotel to the left of the large door under the green and white awning.

Our room was not ready, so baggage stored and we went to courtyard bar for a drink and my first mojito.

 

 

Do you remember your cab fare from airport to El Convento? Also, at what time did they hold Muster Drill?

[volunteer cruiser]

Day 3 Monday Port St. Maarten

 

This day I planned no tours on St. Maarten. I like the island but have been here many times so I thought this would be a good relaxation day in the middle of a port intensive cruise. We slept in and had breakfast in Chops for suite guests. It was good. I had eggs benedict and Lance had omelet. There were 2 other couples having breakfast. We used this service 3 mornings. At noon, we went to the spa for an hour long Rasul couples treatment. It was an experience. We changed into robe in dressing/shower area and were led to the room. The room is divided into 3 areas. As you walk into the middle area it has 2 heated tile chairs and a table top with all the scrubs and lotions to slather on each other. To the left is the rain shower/steam room with 4 tile chairs and to the right is a shower with multiple shower heads. The spa member left us to begin. I have to say this was nice, it makes for a relaxing couples time. Lance benefited the most, after all the scrubs, exfoliating, sweating, and lotions, his skin was really glowing. We did get hot and only stayed in the room for 45 minutes. We then went to the changing rooms and I went into the sauna for about 10 minutes. This area is nice with towels, robes, slippers (I always use my own), showers, lockers, sauna, and steam room. There is no charge for this.

 

Finally we made it off the ship to walk around and shop. Before returning to ship, we did our ritual of having a beer at Sharky's bar. We met John and Mary from CC roll call there. Here is another first. The owner of the bar was there.

 

 

 

We watched this interesting looking yacht dock.

 

 

After about 2 hours we returned to ship and had lunch at Sea View Cafe. The service was good, resturant clean, and it was not crowded. I had the tuna melt and Lance had Cuban and onion rings. It was tasty and filling. I will say we went later in the cruise and I ordered crab salad and clam chowder. The salad fixings were good but the crab salad was the size of a table spoon. I like royal's smaller portion sizes so I can try more items without wasting food but this size of crab meat wasn't enough to get a good taste of. Our dining room table mates also commented that they ordered the grouper salad and the grouper was so small, it was smaller than the end of the butter knife. The clam chowder seemed watered down to me, not the thick rich flavor and consistency I was expecting.

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Do you remember your cab fare from airport to El Convento?

 

 

We had 5 bags at $1 a piece for a total of $25 for us. I think this was fair, prior to leaving a browsed through the taxi rates of PR and from zone 1 to zone 4 was $19.

[volunteer cruiser]

Day 3 continued - Next on the agenda was the CC Meet&Mingle. We had a great turn out. The staff member who MCed said he reads cruise critic and he had read about the non US citizens bad experience returning to San Juan during power outage and having to wait so long to leave the terminal. The staff member said their was nothing Royal could do about that situation with the power outage at the port. Next was having a drink in Concierge lounge. We went down to Schooner bar and contemplated about going into the Return Cruiser C & A reception in the Colony Club but chose to stay and listen to The Starlight Trio from the Ukraine. Then we played 70's music trivia, coming in second place with just the 2 of us on our team losing only to a team of 8.

 

On to the dining room. We laughed all night with our table mates. Service was fantastic and the food very good. I had ceviche, rack of lamb, and warm chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.

 

Watched the 70's dance party in the centrum before going back to the room. I always enjoy watching this, it is very funny and entertaining. I never get tired of it. Next post will be about St. Kitts.

[Kevin's girl]

Thank you so much for doing this review. We will be leaving for San Juan, Hotel El Convento and the lovely Brilliance in just three weeks. I can't wait. This will be our fourth time at El Convento and our second Radiance class ship. Your review is just what I need to help pass the time.

[uncle John]

Very nice Laura! I guess I should have posted seperate and not on the thread for the 23rd. oops. Good review.

[msakmom]

So glad I found this review. We leave on the Brilliance in 10 days and reading this is making me anxious to go. We love spending extra time in San Juan also. Keep the review coming :D