Just back from the Brilliance

[GranysT]

Judy, thanks for the info on the ports. There is another thread about the Brilliance,from a gal who sailed over Christmas and New Years. She loved the cruise,but experienced plumbing problems the entire cruise. Mainly,a toilet that would only flush occasionally. Many apparantly,experienced this same problem. Now, another gal,just back on the 12th,says the problems still are not solved. You didn't mention any problems,did you experience any with your bath room? I am very interested to find out yes,or no,and what cabin you sailed in?

[jebl]

jalakim, Sorry, I meant to post that last night. The piece I got weighs about 3/4 lb and cost $6. I got it in a linen shop "Little Holland" in Curacao.

 

Didn't hear anything about the Capt. retiring. He was very nice.

[lul113]

Corby44 and Birdergal, as already posted by Bev J, we have a great group on the Brilliance thread, come on over and join us, we are planning lots of activities, and excursions, which all are welcome to join.

 

I will post a link, so you can find us.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=132200

 

Matthew

[Driftwoodgal]

Judy,

 

Thanks for all of the great information. You said that you just got off of the ship in Curacao and got a tour from the pier? What places did you visit when you were there, and the tour was only $15?

 

What were pepole wearing to the dining room for their casual nights, pants dresses?

 

I will be sure to post about out Majesty cruise when we get back from the Brilliance.

 

Birdiegal and Corby44,

 

We would love for you to drop in and say Hi on our Brilliance 1/23/06 Meet and Mingle thread. We have lots of things that you can join in if you would like to.

 

For those that will be going to Puerto Limon, we have used Oscar Brown before. We will be using him again on Jan 31 to do the zipline and the canals. We used him back in 2004 and had a magical day with him. He will tailor a tour to what ever your wants are, you do not have to zipline or go to the canals. He also has helped out people that are disabled.

[lilbit]

Any talk from the crew on the missing honeymooner?

[glassmazza]

The Seaview Cafe has switched their menue yet again. The pizza, Pasta & pannins sandwiches have been replaced with: Head Cheese Wraps, Tripe Soup & Bull Testicle Sandwiches!! The switch should keep everyone happy!!:eek: :eek:

[jalakim]

mmmmgood

[jebl]

The Seaview Cafe has switched their menue yet again. The pizza, Pasta & pannins sandwiches have been replaced with: Head Cheese Wraps, Tripe Soup & Bull Testicle Sandwiches!! The switch should keep everyone happy!!:eek: :eek:

 

 

OMIGOD......BARF, BARF!!! LOL

 

 

Driftwoodgal,

As you leave the ship, there were tour operators there selling all kinds of tours for different prices. We chose the $15 tour that took us up over the high bridge for spectacular views of the downtown area, then to the Curacao factory, to a gift shop high on a hill where there were great views and photo ops of another part of the island and all around downtown. The driver made a stop downtown for anyone who wanted to do shopping. I got off then took a taxi back to the ship. The pontoon bridge is being repaired so the only way to downtown is by ferry, shuttle bus or cab. If you take the ferry or bus it is a long walk back to the ship.

On casual nights you saw all kind of attire. I usually wore capris or pants and a nice top. DH wore khakis and a sport or golf shirt.

 

lilbit, We were talking to one of the bartenders in the Schooner about the case. He didn't have too much to say except that most of what you hear is speculation by the guests. He did say that RCI handled the situation in the best possible manner. Also said that there was some wild partying by the couple and some other guests.

[Aubiecruiser]

Thank's for your review and thoughts. We're certainly looking forward to going on that same cruise in April. It's also good to hear that Eric was back in the Schooner Bar, he and Arvin were a great team the first time we sailed on the Brilliance and were alittle disappointed our second time when they were on vacation. Again, thanks for all the information.

Aubie

[realtordebbie]

Another opinion about BOS. We too sailed the 1/2 Panama Canal. It was fabulous. The Panama canal through the locks onboard is amazing.

 

Look for a longer posting on the January 23 '06 sailing under Meet and Mingle for BOS. DH and I sailed last year on BOS with some of those cruisers and I posted info at their request.

 

Another shore excursion idea. Look in Explorations for the Kookoo Kunuku Dinner and Bar Crawl. It was a blast. Do you like to party, sing,dance, drink and shake maracas? Certainly there will be some who drink more than others. The ages on our bus ranged from 18-75. My group of 4 are in our 50's. Five drinks are included. I drank two alcoholic and the rest diet soda. The evening ends at Carlos n Charlies. At that point we walked back to the ship. Just another idea for you. If you search this site for shore excursions in Aruba it will take you there. The company also has a website.

 

There is more shopping selection in Aruba than Curacao.

 

For previous RCCL cruisers. The Quest game has changed for the good. It was a riot. Not sure if this is due to RCCL or Becky, the CD. I would also say the Love and Marriage game has improved.

 

Please make your opinions known to the Head Waiter about Seaview Cafe if you liked the previous menu.

 

Have a wonderful time. With several sea days it is a great time for relaxation. We feel it was one of our best.

 

Debbie

[dralston]

Hi. I am the brother of Birdergal. I went on the Southern Caribbean cruise with her and her husband last January but am sitting at home now being very jealous. In an e-mail earlier this morning she said they left Curacao and are making their way to the canal. She said it is "rocky" today but they are holding up. They are going to Chops tonight and said "sorry" to me because she knew I enjoyed our dinner there on the cruise last year.

 

But here is my question. According to her, "We go thru the locks early in the morning then have a tour scheduled." I was wondering if I could see the ship in the locks. I found these webcams, might they show me?

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

From what little I can find out, they would be going through Gatun Locks, right? And just as important any notion of approximately what time "early in the morning" would be. I am assuming people come out on deck or their balconies to watch. I would not expect to see them but it would be cool even to say I saw the ship.

 

Sorry to wait until the last minute but if somebody could be kind enough to help me out today (Sunday) it would be appreciated.

[gailc]

dralston - I hope you are looking at the canal right now! Yes, that is the right link. We have gone thru the Canal (Gatun) 2 times & are going again in March. It's a wonderful cruise. The 1st time we were on the Sun Princess & the 2nd on the Brilliance.

 

Gail

[dralston]

dralston - I hope you are looking at the canal right now! Yes, that is the right link. We have gone thru the Canal (Gatun) 2 times & are going again in March. It's a wonderful cruise. The 1st time we were on the Sun Princess & the 2nd on the Brilliance.

 

Gail

Indeed I was. I was up at 4:30 and first watched a freighter go through, then I saw a cruise ship but as it appeared it did not look like the Brilliance. But then another ship started to appear in the closer lock. As it came more and more into view I felt pretty sure that was the Brilliance. I hope someone can confirm. It definitely looks to me like Radiance class of the Royal Caribbean and am sure would have been the only one there at that time. The only thing that throws me is the time since it was listed to be in the canal to be tendered at 7:00 am. My recollection from my cruise was always that we were always in port a little before the listed time. I dutifully did screen captures and they are now online at:

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/546916561LEgjqg

 

If you have a decent connection, it is cool to set the slideshow to 2 seconds and watch it this way, sort of a choppy video watching the ships rise and move forward. Unfortunately the picture went out but not until the end (next to last picture). The last picture is when I got the picture back 12 minutes later and the ship has passed out of view and revealed yet a third in the far lock, which you can see a lttle of behind the other ship in the previous shot.

[gailc]

This is another website with the Canal. Scroll down the page, & you will see the schedules of the ships going thru the canal.

 

http://www.seacruisechat.com/panamacanal/

 

Gail

[Squire5000]

Great information. What time was the early seating?

[dralston]

This is another website with the Canal. Scroll down the page, & you will see the schedules of the ships going thru the canal.

 

http://www.seacruisechat.com/panamacanal/

 

Gail

Thanks I had seen that site but never scrolled down far enough to see the schedule. According to that, today two ships were scheduled into the Gatun Locks and Gatun lake:

 

Zaandam

Brilliance of the Seas

 

Perhaps that first ship is the Zaandam?

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/fleet/fleetHome.do?ship=za

[Host Karen]

Here's one vote for the new Seaview Cafe menu. We weren't at all interested in the previous menu, so we were especially pleased to find it changed to pizza, pasta and pannini during our Med cruise last year. We thought it was a temporary change due to location, so I'm thrilled to learn it's permanent. We'll look forward to eating there when we get back one day to Brilliance, our favorite ship.

[GranysT]

dralston, what great pics of the ship in the canal. Thanks for posting. :)

[dralston]

I got an e-mail from sis today as they head back to Miami. Here is what she had to say on the pictures:

 

"That looks like us. The other ship would have been Holland American Zaandaam (sp?).It was right ahead of us. You can't see us but we were standing on our balcony about 6 balconies down from the Centrum (part that juts out)."