Just booked Brillance of the Seas

[CruiseBell]

My sister and I have both just retired and we are celebrating along with our husbands!! We are leaving out of Tampa at the end of this month. I am a major planner, so this is really a challenge for me. Please help me with a few questions I have and thank you in advance.

 

A little background. My husband and I have cruised 8 times but never out of Tampa. My sister and her husband have only cruised once and did not care for it. They are giving it a second chance on our recommendation, so the pressure is on us. :o

 

We are flying into Tampa early evening the day before. Any sugggestions on reasonably priced hotels that provide transportation to the port?

 

Our last two cruises were on Majesty last year. Although I read many negative reviews about Majesty, we loved her and would have chosen that cruise again but she will be in Drydock.

 

How is Brillance of the Sea? Is the crew friendly? That was one of the positives about Majesty!

 

Are the restaurants worth the extra fee?

 

We are booked at the back of the ship on level 9. We usually go for midship but due to the late booking was not possible. Opinions on this location?

 

That’s it for now. Any thoughts on this ship will be appreciated.

 

Happy New Year!

[Clarea]

There are many hotels in the area with cruise packages. We've used the package at the Courtyard Downtown. Others can be found by checking the Florida Departures forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=672.

[karena1]

My sister and I have both just retired and we are celebrating along with our husbands!! We are leaving out of Tampa at the end of this month. I am a major planner, so this is really a challenge for me. Please help me with a few questions I have and thank you in advance.

 

A little background. My husband and I have cruised 8 times but never out of Tampa. My sister and her husband have only cruised once and did not care for it. They are giving it a second chance on our recommendation, so the pressure is on us. :o

 

We are flying into Tampa early evening the day before. Any sugggestions on reasonably priced hotels that provide transportation to the port? Try STAY123dotcom. We used to use them all the time for hotels in Tampa.

 

Our last two cruises were on Majesty last year. Although I read many negative reviews about Majesty, we loved her and would have chosen that cruise again but she will be in Drydock.

 

How is Brillance of the Sea? Is the crew friendly? That was one of the positives about Majesty! We really like Brilliance. It is awesome going under the Sky Bridge. Staff is great, we have always enjoyed our cruises on here. We also love Cozumel so like having the 4 night cruise out of Tampa so we get there. We are booked on Brilliance in Feb

 

Are the restaurants worth the extra fee? Really depends on you. We never pay for the specialty restaurants as we feel the food in the diningroom is fine. I am pretty much a veggie except for chicken, so for me the specialty restaurants are a total waste of money. We just go to MTD and enjoy the food in the diningroom

 

We are booked at the back of the ship on level 9. We usually go for midship but due to the late booking was not possible. Opinions on this location?

 

That’s it for now. Any thoughts on this ship will be appreciated.

 

Happy New Year!

 

See above

[cb at sea]

Are you in an AFT cabin (overlooking the wake) or simply in the "aft" section? On this class ship, there is a vibration which can be felt at time in the aft section. Can be bothersome, for some. The true "aft" cabins have huge balconies but a long walk to the stairs and elevators. We, too, prefer midship cabins.

[CruiseBell]

We are in the aft section, I think 3 rooms from the end of the hall were the aft rooms are. The long walk hopefully will help with the calorie intake!

[njkruzer]

Don't forget to try the pool tables. They are great. You push a button and the surface stays flat even if the ship isn't! Doesn't improve my pool game though. Enjoy.

[George C]

we did a 12 day cruise on Brilliance late 2016, ship is in great shape , we loved our aft suite. We also really liked Giovanni's and also Chops but did not care for IZUMI'S which is unusual since we normally like it on most ships

[hannibal54]

I am also sailing on the Brilliance at the end of the month, the 25th. I am staying at the Holiday Inn Express at Rocky Point. We stayed there earlier this year. They have a free shuttle that picks you up at the airport. For $15 or $20 there will shuttle you to the port. There is a good place to eat right next to the hotel.

[ACruiserinFL]

I'm going on Brilliance on the 11th and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also on the 9th floor but in the center

 

I totally forgot about the Sky Bridge in Tampa, its my first time cruising out of there. Any suggestions for best place to be as we leave the port?

[Clarea]

I'm going on Brilliance on the 11th and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also on the 9th floor but in the center

 

I totally forgot about the Sky Bridge in Tampa, its my first time cruising out of there. Any suggestions for best place to be as we leave the port?

Deck 12, outside, forward.

[Beth_55]

The sky bridge happens about 2 hours after you set sail. I love that part !

[island lady]

Brilliance, as does her other three sisters in the Radiance class, has an outdoor dining area directly on the aft behind the Windjammer. Always a favorite spot for us for lunch on a sea day, or early back from port. :)

 

Had a wonderful time with great crew a couple of weeks ago on board....even WITH breaking my foot on the first night!! :o

 

Enjoy! Radiance is our favorite series. Will be on board sister Jewel on Sunday.

[sand and water]

The only thing I did not like about Brilliance is that the Solarium pool retractable roof never opened.

[island lady]

The only thing I did not like about Brilliance is that the Solarium pool retractable roof never opened.

 

A lot of the Radiance series don't. I don't think I have been on one that had it open.

[OntarioTraveller]

A lot of the Radiance series don't. I don't think I have been on one that had it open.

That is a pet peeve of mine too! On the Jewel last spring it seemed so silly to be sitting around an indoor pool in the Caribbean. I asked about having the roof open and they said they don’t open it because they have the air conditioning running. Nice adult only area though.

Did not like that they did not show evening movies on the big screen outside. No movies under the stars.....

[island lady]

That is a pet peeve of mine too! On the Jewel last spring it seemed so silly to be sitting around an indoor pool in the Caribbean. I asked about having the roof open and they said they don’t open it because they have the air conditioning running. Nice adult only area though.

Did not like that they did not show evening movies on the big screen outside. No movies under the stars.....

 

That's strange. We had movies over the outdoor pool playing on our cruise. Tech problems perhaps? We didn't sit out there and watch them though, but did see the screen running at night.