Brilliance, Pizza, Drinks and the D Lounge

[polymedia]

Just got off Brilliance and thought I'd give a short report.

 

First of all, I've been on RC 5 times in the last year (and once on Princess), twice on Brilliance. I'm not here to slam RCI, and many of the things I'll refer to differ from ship to ship and not evident across the entire line, in my opinion.

 

First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed Brilliance. There's a lot to do for a relatively small ship. I was on Majesty in December through cold and windy weather and it was the most boring cruise I've ever been on. BOS may be on the older side, but I enjoyed her once again.

 

I did see a big difference in the dining room food from my last cruise though. The menu has been basically the same on the last 5 cruises I've been on and those I enjoyed. Not so much this time. Everything seem overcooked and a little on the dry side. There was really something missing.

 

Windjammer, on the other hand, was better than I remember recently. One thing that was a lot better was the pizza. It's not Princess caliber, but it was quite a bit better than any of my other cruises on RC.

 

One thing I was sorry to see left off the breakfast menu was the smoked salmon and bagel combo. I asked for it, and they did make it one morning, but the bagel tasted like it was a week old. No salmon in the Windjammer either. There was escargot every night, but it seemed we were limited to two lobsters on lobster night.

 

A general observation about the crew on Brilliance was that something is a little off. There were a lot more long faces, the crew wasn't really on the ball with cleanup, and it was hard to find a waiter on the pool deck. I think this reflects more on the captain and/or the hotel manager, as I didn't feel that on any of my other recent cruises. In fact, moral seemed excellent on those ships and it reflected in their service.

 

Speaking of the captain, this is a guy who's not built for the ceremonial side of the business of being a master. His announcements were difficult to understand, not because of a language barrier but because he mumbles. He starts out loudly, then gets really quiet for the remainder of the message. He was pretty lifeless at the C&A party too, giving the impression that he couldn't wait to get out of there. In fact, his part was the shortest I've ever seen from a captain, and he was out of there right away and didn't stay for the officer greeting line at the end if the event.

 

When it came to drinks, I managed to personally defeat the price increase by limiting my intake to the D lounge and the drinks loaded on my Seapass card. I still wasn't able to consume my allotment ever day. Guess I'm a lightweight, but I would have ordinarily had a drink every afternoon and one at dinner as well, so that's $100 or so less out of RCI's pocket. This time I just timed things so I walked out of the lounge with a full glass of wine at dinnertime.

 

Speaking of the D lounge, it was absolutely dead this cruise. There was never more than 12 people in it, and most times it was far less than that. There actually were only around 100 D level members on this cruise, as I understand. I think Spring Break might have scared everyone away. The staff in the lounge was great, by the way.

 

Finally, I have to say that Tampa is a great port to sail out of. Embarkation and disembarkation were extremely fast, easy pickup and lots of parking. I was through customs in less than 5 minutes. Something has to be done about carry-on disembarking though. It's a drag when there's a line with literally half the ship or more waiting to get off with their luggage in hand. It's getting more out of hand with each cruise.

 

With all that, I don't want to sound like a complainer. I really did enjoy myself. Just wanted to report on some of the good and bad that I spotted, again, in my personal opinion.

[cb at sea]

Yeah...we experienced the same "long faces" on our Brilliance cruise...not sure what is up with the crew!

[cruise crazy64]

Wow, this is my friend and I's first RCL cruise. We sail April 11th. I hope they get in a better mood! LOL :eek: By the way, are there any ice cream "shops" on board. My friend is addicted, every cruise we go on she has at least one cone a day! LOL :cool:

[tahqa]

Wow, this is my friend and I's first RCL cruise. We sail April 11th. I hope they get in a better mood! LOL :eek: By the way, are there any ice cream "shops" on board. My friend is addicted, every cruise we go on she has at least one cone a day! LOL :cool:

 

There are soft-serve machines in the Windjammer that will be available during the Windjammer hours. Unfortunately the only hard-pack ice cream is what is available for dessert in the MDR.

[ryano]

and it was hard to find a waiter on the pool deck. I think this reflects more on the captain and/or the hotel manager, as I didn't feel that on any of my other recent cruises.

 

This is now a problem fleet wide it seems unfortunately. The two main complaints i read these days are the food is poorer quality than in the past and bar service is slow to almost non existent. Doesnt really matter what ship it is it seems :(

[Justmekaren918]

Just got off Brilliance and thought I'd give a short report.

 

First of all, I've been on RC 5 times in the last year (and once on Princess), twice on Brilliance. I'm not here to slam RCI, and many of the things I'll refer to differ from ship to ship and not evident across the entire line, in my opinion.

 

First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed Brilliance. There's a lot to do for a relatively small ship. I was on Majesty in December through cold and windy weather and it was the most boring cruise I've ever been on. BOS may be on the older side, but I enjoyed her once again.

 

I did see a big difference in the dining room food from my last cruise though. The menu has been basically the same on the last 5 cruises I've been on and those I enjoyed. Not so much this time. Everything seem overcooked and a little on the dry side. There was really something missing.

 

Windjammer, on the other hand, was better than I remember recently. One thing that was a lot better was the pizza. It's not Princess caliber, but it was quite a bit better than any of my other cruises on RC.

 

One thing I was sorry to see left off the breakfast menu was the smoked salmon and bagel combo. I asked for it, and they did make it one morning, but the bagel tasted like it was a week old. No salmon in the Windjammer either. There was escargot every night, but it seemed we were limited to two lobsters on lobster night.

 

A general observation about the crew on Brilliance was that something is a little off. There were a lot more long faces, the crew wasn't really on the ball with cleanup, and it was hard to find a waiter on the pool deck. I think this reflects more on the captain and/or the hotel manager, as I didn't feel that on any of my other recent cruises. In fact, moral seemed excellent on those ships and it reflected in their service.

 

Speaking of the captain, this is a guy who's not built for the ceremonial side of the business of being a master. His announcements were difficult to understand, not because of a language barrier but because he mumbles. He starts out loudly, then gets really quiet for the remainder of the message. He was pretty lifeless at the C&A party too, giving the impression that he couldn't wait to get out of there. In fact, his part was the shortest I've ever seen from a captain, and he was out of there right away and didn't stay for the officer greeting line at the end if the event.

 

When it came to drinks, I managed to personally defeat the price increase by limiting my intake to the D lounge and the drinks loaded on my Seapass card. I still wasn't able to consume my allotment ever day. Guess I'm a lightweight, but I would have ordinarily had a drink every afternoon and one at dinner as well, so that's $100 or so less out of RCI's pocket. This time I just timed things so I walked out of the lounge with a full glass of wine at dinnertime.

 

Speaking of the D lounge, it was absolutely dead this cruise. There was never more than 12 people in it, and most times it was far less than that. There actually were only around 100 D level members on this cruise, as I understand. I think Spring Break might have scared everyone away. The staff in the lounge was great, by the way.

 

Finally, I have to say that Tampa is a great port to sail out of. Embarkation and disembarkation were extremely fast, easy pickup and lots of parking. I was through customs in less than 5 minutes. Something has to be done about carry-on disembarking though. It's a drag when there's a line with literally half the ship or more waiting to get off with their luggage in hand. It's getting more out of hand with each cruise.

 

With all that, I don't want to sound like a complainer. I really did enjoy myself. Just wanted to report on some of the good and bad that I spotted, again, in my personal opinion.

I might of seen you in Cozumel! It was great seeing Brilliance next too us!

 

I was so looking forward to a slice of pizza at Sorrento's and the stuff was the pits and it was the exact same pizza up at WJ. Isn't Sorrento's a chain or something? It reminded me of that mystic pizza stuff in you frozen isle at the local store.

 

The WJ food was beyond horrible. Same food day in and out and bad/low quality! The staff on Liberty seemed fine. Dru the CD was bad. My cabin person great a few bartenders were great! Never stepped foot in the MDR too much almost controlled chaos going onboard of Liberty! Lines everywhere! Forgot about the cupcake place totally booked for children parties when it was open. The ice cream at Ben Jerry's wasn't that cold was melting pretty quickly in the cone!

 

Nice ship! I also am keeping it real! The food was bad!

[breeze123]

You boarded just as we disembarked!

 

I agree about the mumbling of the Captain, and the long faces of the crew. I felt like it was more of indifference.

 

Tampa was a breeze and I agree, that self-assist line was ridiculous. We paid a porter and zipped out the other side.

[looking4info]

Yeah...we experienced the same "long faces" on our Brilliance cruise...not sure what is up with the crew!

 

How long ago was that? When we were on there were few if any long faces.

[roswellcruiser]

Just got off Brilliance and thought I'd give a short report.

....

 

One thing I was sorry to see left off the breakfast menu was the smoked salmon and bagel combo. I asked for it, and they did make it one morning, but the bagel tasted like it was a week old. No salmon in the Windjammer either.

 

 

I was on the Brilliance in October and January and enjoyed smoked salmon on a bagel a few mornings in the Park Cafe, where they have a small "bagel bar" in the mornings.

[DarthGrady]

Thanks for the review. I noticed a few similar issues on my last BR cruise in January. DL and CL were never very busy, and it seems like it was even less populated on your cruise. It seems that numbers of higher level C&A members is inversely proportionate to the number of younger passengers onboard (Spring and Summer breaks from school especially).

 

I also thoroughly enjoyed the WJ on BR, excellent food and service each night. We never even went to the MDR for dinner. One or more of the chefs would make rounds and speak to us each evening. One of them even brought us a special pasta dish he'd made after he visited us the night before.

 

We were lucky to be among the first off, so it was a breeze getting off. I think the issue with the self-assist is more to do with in ever increasing numbers of past guests. People are figuring out that they can leave earlier if they carry off, so more are taking advantage of it. The only solution I can figure is that Customs add more agents or the cruise lines limit the number of guests that can self-assist. Neither scenario strikes me as very likely, so we're probably going to reach a point where checking the bags is the quicker and easier route.

[closecruiser]

Will be sailing on the 30th, where did everyone park? Off site or the expensive port? Also when going through security did you see anyone being told they couldn't carry on water or a 12 pack of soda.

 

Thanks

[closecruiser]

Thoughts from anyone???

[polymedia]

Will be sailing on the 30th, where did everyone park? Off site or the expensive port? Also when going through security did you see anyone being told they couldn't carry on water or a 12 pack of soda.

 

Thanks

 

I flew in so didn't have to park. That said, there seemed to be plenty of parking across the street that was easy to access.

 

I didn't see anyone try to bring water on board.

[closecruiser]

I flew in so didn't have to park. That said, there seemed to be plenty of parking across the street that was easy to access.

 

I didn't see anyone try to bring water on board.

 

Thanks, thats the port parking garage that is expensive.

[Big_G]

We sailed Brilliance in December and had a great time. The Diamond Lounge was packed every night so we avoided it. The bartenders in the pub and at the pool were some of the most entertaining crew we've seen. We had MTD and thought the food and service were excellent. I'm no pizza aficionado but it worked for me in a pinch. I've never thought much about pizza and any cruise line. Just my opinion but waiters have been a scarcity around the pool for a long time now. Those are bygone days. I have no problem walking to the bar and actually prefer that over the awkward signing of a receipt while sitting on a lounger. We never saw any long faced crew members on the ship. I'm not trying to discount anyone's experience but point out that not everyone's experience is the same. Happy sailing everyone.;)

[GC456]

I was on this same cruise. I had a good time! I only noticed a few "long faces", It seemed worse on at the start of the cruise and got better. For the most part everyone I came in contact with was in a good mood.

 

I thought the pizza in the Park Cafe was amazing, infact the Park Cafe had the best food on the entire ship! Windjammer wasn't too great the first day, but the rest of the cruise was pretty good!

 

My biggest complaint was the lack of "party people". The cruise was so dull, and everyone was so mellow. The StarQuest Club was almost completely dead 3 out of the 5 nights. They really need to advertise it better, people were asking me where it was even on the last day. Also there was no Deck Party/White Party, I always look forward to these.

 

Good news is I achieved Diamond on this cruise! WOO HOO! :D:cool::)

Bad news is, now I'm sick. :(

[Justmekaren918]

I was on this same cruise. I had a good time! I only noticed a few "long faces", It seemed worse on at the start of the cruise and got better. For the most part everyone I came in contact with was in a good mood.

 

I thought the pizza in the Park Cafe was amazing, infact the Park Cafe had the best food on the entire ship! Windjammer wasn't too great the first day, but the rest of the cruise was pretty good!

 

My biggest complaint was the lack of "party people". The cruise was so dull, and everyone was so mellow. The StarQuest Club was almost completely dead 3 out of the 5 nights. They really need to advertise it better, people were asking me where it was even on the last day. Also there was no Deck Party/White Party, I always look forward to these.

 

Good news is I achieved Diamond on this cruise! WOO HOO! :D:cool::)

Bad news is, now I'm sick. :(

Congrats GC on making Diamond!

I hoping I will hit Diamond on my b2b of Brilliance next year! Sorry your sick now! Is CD Steve still there? The 2 nights I was actually roaming Liberty I couldn't find the fun parties at around 12am! I crawled back to bed to think death might be better then this bronical attack; again thanks to DT 60's air system never cleaned. Kudos to the people/medical facilities on Liberty!

[nacdcruiser]

Frequently organizations reflect their leaders.

 

Amazing leaders - amazing staff, and vice versa. Masters I think change every 12 weeks or so and other departmental leadership at a higher frequency as well, so attitudes may vary from sailing to sailing depending on who's "running the ship."

 

However, sometimes it's just a crappy day . . .

[SCOOP]

My wife and I were on this same cruise!

I am going to post a review in the review section for Brilliance in a few days. A few things I noticed 1. Dining room food horrible the first night so we didn't eat there again. 2. I agree there is a long wait time for bar service, it use to be every time you turned around a bar tender was there. 3. Specialty restaurants were really good 4. My back aft was great! 5. Made emerald status not sure if we will get to Diamond, might have to venture out and try some other brands.

[GC456]

Congrats GC on making Diamond!

I hoping I will hit Diamond on my b2b of Brilliance next year! Sorry your sick now! Is CD Steve still there? The 2 nights I was actually roaming Liberty I couldn't find the fun parties at around 12am! I crawled back to bed to think death might be better then this bronical attack; again thanks to DT 60's air system never cleaned. Kudos to the people/medical facilities on Liberty!

 

Hey thanks!

Dang I can't remember the CD name already... he is from Fiji.

 

Sounds like I have what you had... luckily my Doc was in the office today.

 

The late night parties were pretty lame on the Brilliance because no one showed up, and there was no Deck party. :(

[Justmekaren918]

Hey thanks!

Dang I can't remember the CD name already... he is from Fiji.

 

Sounds like I have what you had... luckily my Doc was in the office today.

 

The late night parties were pretty lame on the Brilliance because no one showed up, and there was no Deck party. :(

I think the Radiance class attracts a good deal of seniors this time of year! You see a college crowd show back up end of the month for quick get away! I think it is Clo who is current CD.

 

Cleaning the house before dogs got home only chance since house was empty. Going to see if I can find urgent care instead of ER to get checked to make sure not more serious!

 

Hotels have to be aware of air quality and they were hiding something or not cleaning properly! I was sick within in an hour of arrival!

[cruise crazy64]

Thanks, thats the port parking garage that is expensive.

 

Hey Closecruiser, if you google Tampa Port Parking you will find a couple lots that are secure although not covered that are only about $8.00 a day for parking. They have a shuttle that will take you and pick you up also. Not sure if I can suggest a name... You might want to go ahead and reserve a spot just in case it gets full that day.. me and a friend are driving in from Inverness FL and this is what we are doing. :cool:

[closecruiser]

Hey Closecruiser, if you google Tampa Port Parking you will find a couple lots that are secure although not covered that are only about $8.00 a day for parking. They have a shuttle that will take you and pick you up also. Not sure if I can suggest a name... You might want to go ahead and reserve a spot just in case it gets full that day.. me and a friend are driving in from Inverness FL and this is what we are doing. :cool:

 

 

Thanks, I've heard of premier, parking doctors and something else I can't remember. Did you decide on one to park at yet?

[villager70]

Thanks for the review. I noticed a few similar issues on my last BR cruise in January. DL and CL were never very busy, and it seems like it was even less populated on your cruise. It seems that numbers of higher level C&A members is inversely proportionate to the number of younger passengers onboard (Spring and Summer breaks from school especially).

 

I also thoroughly enjoyed the WJ on BR, excellent food and service each night. We never even went to the MDR for dinner. One or more of the chefs would make rounds and speak to us each evening. One of them even brought us a special pasta dish he'd made after he visited us the night before.

 

We were lucky to be among the first off, so it was a breeze getting off. I think the issue with the self-assist is more to do with in ever increasing numbers of past guests. People are figuring out that they can leave earlier if they carry off, so more are taking advantage of it. The only solution I can figure is that Customs add more agents or the cruise lines limit the number of guests that can self-assist. Neither scenario strikes me as very likely, so we're probably going to reach a point where checking the bags is the quicker and easier route.

 

Hi Grady, Just saw your post and wanted to say Hi. Enjoyed reading the Compasses you sent from Jan. , and now we are only 20 days out to our Brilliance. Booked the 10 day Serenade for 11-13 so will be back in countdown mode. Bob & Nancy, The Villages, Florida

[DarthGrady]

Hi Grady, Just saw your post and wanted to say Hi. Enjoyed reading the Compasses you sent from Jan. , and now we are only 20 days out to our Brilliance. Booked the 10 day Serenade for 11-13 so will be back in countdown mode. Bob & Nancy, The Villages, Florida

Hello, I'm glad they were helpful! Hope you guys have a great cruise!