Brilliance TA Sept 3 N Atlantic Part 3 The Ship

[wassup4565]

Last of my posts, and this one is about the experience of sailing on the Brilliance for 15 days across the North Atlantic.

 

I've sailed on RCI eight times, 3 times on the Brilliance, once on the Serenade, once on the Radiance, twice on the Legend, and once on the Independence. I love the Radiance class, and we chose this cruise specifically because the Brilliance is of that class. The ship is still the ship, but this was the most uneven sailing experience ever for me. So many times I was left shaking my head and asking: What are you people doing? Is this the same ship and the same line I've been on before? Pinch me!

 

The Outstanding Over-The-Top Fabulous: Manda, in the Schooner Bar every night. This woman got a roomful of senior citizens singing, clapping, joining-in, laughing, dancing and grooving every night. She is a miracle, and RCI should sign her to a lifetime contract.

 

The Excellent: Clo, the cruise director. This woman knows her job, and she kept us all entertained, busy, amused, and happy through some very bad weather. The activities and entertainment staff were always on-time, on-point, and upbeat. If you couldn't find something fun and interesting to do on this long crossing, it was your fault.

 

The Ugly and the Much Better: We booked 11 months in advance, but could not get early dining. We took My Time, and on the first night asked what the best time to reserve would be - 7:15 pm we were told. At 7:10 we arrived to find a huge lineup of people, all with 7:15 reservations. Then the 7:30 people started lining up behind us. The Host (is that what you call the guy wearing the black suit at the desk? his name is Hassan) was unapologetic and brusque, rude even. Our traveling companion, who is Diamond Plus, contacted his rep, and from that time onward we were moved to another area, seated promptly, treated politely and served dinner perfectly, on time, every evening. But what the heck??? It is not okay to advise people to reserve at 7: 15, make them stand in line for half an hour, and then get snarky when they complain. And what if our friend wasn't Diamond Plus????

 

The Great Cabin Attendant (Fostor): RCI split his cabins, so half of them were far away from ours. Nevertheless, he did a great job, and attended very quickly to our problem with no heat in the cabin. He was unfailingly cheerful and put up with our stuff all over the cabin - hey we are girls, we have stuff. I'm just sorry he had to be in two places at once all the time.

 

The Windjammer, Not Great: Not happy about this. First, the outer rear deck was closed for the entire voyage. It was warm and lovely all along the southern coast of England and to Ireland, but NO, closed. It was warm and lovely at Halifax and all the way to Boston (1 sea day), but NO, closed. And that after travelling through four frigid days at sea. I think they just didn't want the trouble of cleaning it, so they closed it. This outer rear deck behind the Windjammer is one of the reasons I choose Radiance class ships. Might as well not have bothered on this cruise.

 

I guess the staff just don't serve drinks of any kind in the WJ any more. Not once, through all 15 days and nights, were we ever offered anything. They just clean tables, I guess. Moreover, they put up a rope barrier between the buffet area and the tables. This forced us to walk all around the bar to get back to the tables farthest away from the food. I guess they didn't want us walking that way, even though the space was designed to allow it. So many things on this cruise seemed to be arranged for the staff's convenience.

 

The Ugly: Who the heck is in charge of the security staff on this ship? All too often re-boarding was bedlam, with line-ups and unprepared facilities. Stuff wasn't working and we were herded, patted down, wanded, manhandled and bossed around. My heart went out to the elderly gent ahead of us with evidence of stroke damage, who was yelled at, "Come on, you know what to do, you've been doing this for eight days." He replied, "Forever." It sure felt like that. No, actually it felt like being in an airport.

 

The Food: Too much salt in every cooked dish. My ankles swelled up like balloons, and it can't be good for people with blood pressure and other health issues. There are only so many ways you can serve up tough, cheap meat that has been simmered all day. Sooner or later people are going to notice that underneath that sauce is glorified stew or pot roast. Fresh veg and fruit were scarce on this voyage. Understandable, maybe, but the same old watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe and no-name melon got pretty tiresome at breakfast in the WJ. The salad bar in the WJ featured chopped romaine, and pale iceberg with radicchio. That was it for leaves, from start to finish. I was glad to get off and get some home-cooking after 15 days.

 

Smoking: I know everybody thinks smokers are the scum of the earth. But here's the thing, they have cheerfully adapted to the RCI restrictive rules. Nobody smokes where they should not. On this ship, Deck 5 Port was one of the three designated areas. It was closed often because of winds. And then when the winds dropped off, the staff closed it and started painting, washing, and doing stuff. It was also closed several times because it was being used as a disembarkation or re-boarding location. So please, no more stink-eye from people in the casino if smokers land up there. RCI kept closing the one allowable place they could go outdoors below Deck 11.

 

Did we have a good time? Of course, and this cruise was so diverse and long, it was a life experience like no other. But things on the ship could have been better - in fact they have been better on every other cruise. My eyes are wandering away from RCI for my next cruise. We did not book on board, as we always have previously.

[SAS21]

I was on this cruise also, and have to say I agree with everything you stated plus some.

 

This had to be the worst run ship I have ever been on after 13 cruises with RCL.

 

Windjammer was pathetic. Since when do they close for 3 hours every afternoon. We came back from Cork after doing a tour with RCL, the place they took us to for lunch (at an additional cost) was out of food. We get back on the ship and windjammer was closed. The WJ managers were very rude. Park cafe is very limited with seating for 2500 people. They simply did not care.

 

Dining room for dinner, we had great and attentive waiters but the menu's were lacking after the first week. No taste to most items and too much salt. Too many lamb and Indian dishes.

 

While the cutbacks are obviously noticeable, I won't say I'll never cruise RCL but I won't be back on Brilliance.

 

This ship is not run well at all.

[margeecruiser]

Who was the Hotel Director? Did anyone speak with him/her? These issues seem to be coming from the top down since they involved so many departments. Sounds like our last cruise on Legend. I'm worried the older, smaller ships are getting worse and worse. I wonder if the budget is less on some cruises, so it shows in food, staffing and ship maintenance. Our Legend cruise was also just before the ship went to Asia. Some unhappy crew.

 

Margee

[margeecruiser]

By the way, I'm concerned because we are doing the Mediterranean followed by the TA back to Tampa next year. Now I'm scared!

 

Margee

[Biker19]

And for every critic there are more silent cruisers who had a wonderful time on the same ship.

 

Biker, who had a wonderful time on the eastbound TA on the Brilliance.

[SAS21]

And for every critic there are more silent cruisers who had a wonderful time on the same ship.

 

Biker, who had a wonderful time on the eastbound TA on the Brilliance.

 

Just a note, I did not say the cruise itself was horrible, but that the ship itself is not run very well. Were there good points,yes. However ,the bad seemed to outweigh the good ones.

 

I have always read the negative comments about RCL and taken them with a grain of salt. I have now experienced it for myself.

 

I overheard several cruisers complaining about how the ship was being run, along with several of them being members here on CC.

 

We enjoyed the ports, but not the ship itself.

 

The service from the stateroom attendant, waiters in the dining room were excellent. The ship itself was in good condition.

 

The food selections were horrible, many entree leftovers enhanced (if possible) and served later in the cruise.

 

2500 people with one food option from 3-6 pm each evening in Park Cafe which seats only 60 people max., which was the only option when returning from shore excursions.

 

Just a side note of my observations with the Captain. He was not seen around the ship. Also, a good captain would have made announcement's from the bridge when there were Sea Life that the passengers would liked to have seen.

 

Everyone has an opinion, this is mine. I have never bashed RCL before on CC, but I have to agree with the OP, Brilliance was not up to the RCL standards I have observed in the past.

Edited September 23, 2015 by SAS21

[Biker19]

2500 people with one food option from 3-6 pm each evening in Park Cafe which seats only 60 people max., which was the only option when returning from shore excursions. So, you plan for it. This is true of other ships as well, not just Brilliance.

 

Just a side note of my observations with the Captain. He was not seen around the ship. Also, a good captain would have made announcement's from the bridge when there were Sea Life that the passengers would liked to have seen.

This has been discussed on CC - the decision about limited announcements comes from Miami HQ - RCI wants it that way based on customer feedback

 

Yes, some of the food choices seem stale by the time you get to day 12,13...of a sailing but that seems to be the norm. Again, for a TA that is not unusual. I've done 4 TAs in the past 18 months, including the Brilliance in the May this year and there was not much of a divergence from other TAs. Different from a European or Caribbean sailing, sure, but not from a typical TA.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Biker19

[JudeeJim]

I have to agree about the food. This was our 2nd time on the Brillance. Our 1st was in the Baltic a year and half ago. The food was not good on that cruise and I swore to not sail on RCL again. The service could have been better too. We decided to give it a try one more time as we wanted to do the northern Atlantic. The food only got worse. The first night the menu said some kind of steak which turned out to be Prime Rib. I had to turn back many main main dishes. No more RC for us.

 

Judee