Live From Brilliance. 29th Aug-10th Sept. W. Med

[cinnamon]

We have our new invite now. I still think was sloppy. It wasn't a mis print. It had the wrong day, date, day of the week and month.

 

 

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[cinnamon]

We've docked in a wet but still warm Civitivecchia. Today we're on a tour to Tuscania and Lake Bollsena. Not a good day for the countryside but so be it.

 

Last night we had a good MDR dinner and our waiter confirmed there are no more than 4 on our table for 8. Second seating is full but lots of space in Main seating.

 

The production show was Now & Forever. I'm afraid that other than the final Abba scene it was rather lack lustre. We were reading in bed by 10.00. There was a message on our phone from GS that Security had had a word with our neighbours to moderate their volume and last night was very quiet.

Right. Off to the shuttle bus [emoji590].

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Well this had been interesting. Will post more shortly but this photo should suffice for now.

 

 

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[cinnamon]

At breakfast time it was dry but had obviously rained overnight. We caught the shuttle bus to the dockside and were met by the driver for our tour. Although in theory there could be 30-40 people we were 4 in a mini-van for 8. We drove to Tarquiniua and walked around for half an hour while hearing thunder rumbling around. As we headed to Tuscania the rain began. The roads became flooded and the fields were waterlogged. There were telegraph poles down across the road. At the walled town we decided not to stop as the rain was torrential. We headed on to Lake Bollena where our driver showed us the waterfront but again it was far to wet to get out. [emoji19]. On the phone his boss said it was still dry in Civitivecchia so we thought we might as well head back and abandon the hopes of seeing any more.

 

The storm followed us with a lot of lightning ⚡️. All the traffic on the Autostrada had to pull on to the hard shoulder as the visibility was zero.

By the time we reached the coast it was still torrential. We tried to wait in the van for a bit but it didn't subside. We walked through floods to get to the shuttle bus and got soaked to the skin.

Once back onboard we needed showers and a complete change of clothes, even our underwear!

 

The irony is we've now had lunch, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. [emoji6]

Those who went to Rome may get the storm this afternoon.

 

 

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[Blu Lenda]

Thank you for all the interesting pictures and information.

Sorry to hear about your loud neighbors! Are your beds comfortable? We were on Anthem and the beds were very hard, just wondering if Brilliance has the same beds?

Enjoying taking the trip with you!!!

[cinnamon]

After the first night I asked for an extra mattress topper which has been enough to make it comfy.

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Feel quite cheated that we had such terrible weather ashore now it's so much nicer.

Just heard Muster Drill call on Reflection.

On our side of the dock there is Cunard Queen Elizabeth, Costa Diadema and MSC Orchestra.

 

 

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[Blu Lenda]

Thanks cinnamon, at least there is hope for those beds.

Hope the weather stays clear for you!

[George C]

We did same cruise last September loved it

[cinnamon]

6.40 am. Just coming in to Salerno.

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Having our customary continental breakfast in the CL. Our tour with the independent company is for Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano. Unfortunately heavy thundery showers are forecast again.

 

Last night there was only one show (magic) at 7.45 which we didn't see. We did sit in the Colony Club for a while where the Karaoke was supposed to be but no-one volunteered to sing so we retreated to read.

Maybe stay up a bit later tonight with a sea day tomorrow. [emoji6]

 

 

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Edited September 2, 2017 by cinnamon

[cinnamon]

Weather miserable but Amalfi coast drive still beautiful. And now....... cappuccino. €4.00 each!

 

 

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[MNSusan]

We're on the Brilliance on Oct 3 with a slightly different itinerary. I'm loving your posts. Thank you!!

[Redrobo]

We're on the Brilliance on Oct 3 with a slightly different itinerary. I'm loving your posts. Thank you!!

 

Is that October 4th this year?

[MNSusan]

Yes, you're right. We embark on Oct 4th, this year!

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Good morning from the sole of Italy.

 

Yesterday was very disappointing. Our visit to Pompeii was spoilt by very heavy rain with biblical proportion thunderstorms. [emoji939]⚡️☔️ Some of our tour group did look around but I'm afraid we retreated to the comfort of a cafe. We had been to Sorrento before but it was packed with many tourists trudging around, trying to avoid one another's umbrellas and huge puddles.

 

In the evening we had a pleasant dinner then the C&A Top Tier event. Captain Ole really has no skills of communication but the Hotel Director was very amusing.

There are 125 Diamonds, 55 Diamond Plus and a Norwegian couple were presented with their Pinnacle badges, having just reached those lofty heights.

We headed to the theatre but the production show, Tango Buenos Aires, was late starting due to technical problems, they did one number, everything stopped and eventually the show was cancelled. We wandered into the Colony Club and watched a Trivia Race game show which was quite fun. There was a Pool Party from 10.30-12.00 pm, sponsored by Chandon, but we were too tired to attend that.

 

Today is our first sea day and I'm sure many people who've been doing lots of touring are glad of a lie-in. We had our first breakfast in WJ and I was impressed by the selection. Must better than Navigator last year and a bit better than Rhapsody, including some Berry Smoothies.

 

It was a little disappointing to transit the Straits of Messina during the night but Raphael the Concierge has told us it will be 2-3 pm on the return, which I'm very pleased about. It's quite spectacular to sail through the narrow channel, seeing the land close on each side and the swirling waters as the seas meet.

 

We have the Meet and Mingle at 10.45 this morning in the 'English Pub'.

I am using my first continuous 24 hours of internet today as opposed to using 4G in port so if anyone has questions, today is a good day for me to be able to answer them.

The land is just visible.

Cinnamon.

 

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Ciao Cinnamon from aboard the Jewel in Civitavecchia! I'm doing an in-progress semi-live review as well. I truly hope your weather turns for the better from now on... We had awesome weather through the Messina strait until half R way to Civitavecchia and rough seas all night... Was smooth as glass until then. Greece and Eastern Med was 85-95 last week, no cloud in site. Keep positive it will get beautiful

For you really soon[emoji3]

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Very nice spread for the M&M.

 

 

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[cinnamon]

CD Mercedes and AM Danny.

 

 

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[fulhamgirly]

CD Mercedes and AM Danny.

 

 

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That's a good turn out. Only 7 people turned up to our meet and mingle and we didn't get Mercedes.

 

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[cinnamon]

We had a good turnout, around 40 people out of a thread of 63. The staff told us that last cruise only 8 turned up.

There were some nice prizes given out but it was not our lucky day today.

 

Mercedes has made an announcement that the Tango show which didn't work last night due to computer failure will be restaged on the last afternoon so we'll be happy to see it then.

 

 

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[dreamingcruises]

It was good to meet more people from our Cruise Critic Roll Call.

 

 

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[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Great pics!! And WOW - that is an awesome M&M set-up. I don't even think we had non-alcoholic drinks last year. :/

 

Keep on enjoying your trip!!

[cinnamon]

Well after a light salad lunch in the Park Cafe we've had a very successful afternoon. First of all we won Gold medals in a game show called Brilliance Chaos. Great fun, a mixture of a board game, trivia questions, physical challenges and running round the Colony Club to find the questions. Our team was us two Brit oldies, a retired couple from Florida and a young lady from Canada.

 

As that was such a success we met up again for 'Trivia for Experts'. 35 questions with a possible 59 answers! Managed to win that too with a score of 39. No other team scored over 30 so please excuse my smugness. [emoji4]

 

The weather was glorious but then clouded up. Now this is the bow cam.

I

 

It's Formal night shortly so we need to get togged up. The show is violinist Gary Lovini whom we've seen a couple of times so I'm not too thrilled about that.

We've passed the heel of Italy and are heading north, near Brindisi.

[Redrobo]

Do you know if Mercedes will be onboard on the September 22nd sailing? We think she is great and does a brilliant Quest. We last met her in passing in Civitaveccha when she as on Vision.