Who is disappointed with RCCL Brilliance?!

[krewzin]

We cruised Brilliance 9 years ago, and it was immaculate; we loved it. 

[manders175]

We love Brilliance! We cruised on her in March of 2015 and again just this past January. We had an aft balcony on the past cruise, and while there was a little rust, (which in no way had ANY impact on our cruise), it was clean and no issues whatsoever. The shows were great and the food was amazing. Nothing beats the view from the Windjammer aft outside eating area.  Would cruise again on her in a heartbeat. 

[hiflyerint]

I was on that cruise. It was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare to, however, I had a great time. My stateroom was small as expected (solo cruise), but well prepared and maintained. I thought the staff was friendly and helpful also. When my luggage arrived to my stateroom one of the casters was broken off and missing, I visited Guest Services and they replaced the luggage no questions asked. I also liked the fact that I didn't have to pay for double occupancy as most cruise lines require, so I got a great deal on the cruise. As far as some of the comments about being a "party boat" or "hook-up fest", well I am single so not a problem here. All in all I had a great experience, met some really nice people and made some new friends. Weather and sea's were perfect. I plan on another next year..

[MandyMooToo]

We were on Brilliance in February and did not experience any of the OP's issues.  Had a great cruise, even with crappy weather!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

Hubby and I were on a 12-night Med cruise out of Barcelona in 2017 and I have to say the ship and crew along with the ports made it our best cruise to date!

 

Our room was kept immaculate by our steward and everything was top notch.

 

The service and entertainment were all amazing!  We love the Radiance class ships and wouldn't hesitate to sail on any one of them again (I actually did sail Radiance last August to Alaska).

[Robo1098]

Cruised on Brilliance a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. It was my first cruise on a smaller Royal Caribbean ship and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I have sailed on other smaller ships since then but that made me open to the idea.

It was a four day cruise and wasn't a "party barge" at all. Maybe a little rust but nothing that affected me or the cruise.

 

[steveru621]

Once you have decided that dirt and rust are a problem it becomes self fulfilling.

 

There is rust on every RCI ship if you look.

 

We did Baltics last year and it was fine.

[ReneeFLL]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:02 PM, LeeW said:

Five nights in November was fine for us.  Only "issue" is don't get a cabin near the atrium, since a lot of the cruise events are held there.  But noise pretty much was gone by 11.

 

What room were you in? I'm thinking of booking 8104.

[budmeister]

The Brilliance is  my favorite smaller ship. I sometimes think I like it better than the larger ones. We have done 5 night cruises several times. We would not do a 3-4 night on any ship after experiencing the crowd that tends to be on the shorter ships.

[sbfanatic]

We were on the 4/29 sailing and loved it. No complaints here.

[royalfan1]

We were also on the April 29th sailing and I have no complaints other  than losing money in the casino!  

[ZandZ]

I was on her in February.  While I think she is my least favorite ship, I didn't find my cabin particularly dirty or the ship worn.  I personally would not go back on her but mostly because it does not have a boleros which is my favorite spot on any ship.  I didn't like the entertainment overall and found it boring but again, that's a question of personal taste.  Service was immaculate tho, one of the best in all my cruises.

 

Edited to add: Agree on the smoke but being an ex smoker it does not bother me.

Edited May 14, 2019 by ZandZ

[dwhe]

3 hours ago, ZandZ said:

Agree on the smoke but being an ex smoker it does not bother me.

 

Funny that, I'm an ex-smoker and it annoys the hell out of me. I hate the smell.

[ZandZ]

4 minutes ago, dwhe said:

 

Funny that, I'm an ex-smoker and it annoys the hell out of me. I hate the smell.

I loved everything about smoking - not an issue for me.  But I know most people would be annoyed, yeah.

[MrMarc]

This thread is an amazing example of why it is really impossible to base your choices on reviews.  The exact same cruise, with rooms next to each other, can get a 1-star and a 5-star review.  It really comes down to personal experience.  If 1 thing bad happens, and you let it get to you, everything can start to annoy you.  I have had that happen many times.  I have gotten better at trying to move on and have a good time anyway, but I know that is hard sometimes.

[Mikew0805]

On 4/26/2019 at 6:45 PM, consig1 said:

Currently cruising on Brilliance of the Sea and I have been a long time fan of RCCL. Our cabin has dust and dirt everywhere from prior cruisers. There no longer seems to be any kind of luxary to our room or the ship in general. Everywhere I look there is rust. It seems to have become a party boat as all I could hear were several passengers screaming and partying by the spa as well as our neighbors at 2am.....not to mention the heavy smoked air throughout the ship.....I convinced my friend of how amazing RCCL is and it is her 1st time cruising with them. We are both GREATLY disappointed!!!!

Not disappointed here. Did a 5 night last October, and it was a great time. If your cabin had dust and dirt everywhere, a simple request to the cabin steward would likely have resolved that. 

 

[Big_G]

We've sailed her twice and had a great time but Brilliance is probably the worst RCL ship for casino smoke permeating other areas of the ship. That said, we'd sail her again.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

On 5/10/2019 at 12:40 AM, steveru621 said:

Once you have decided that dirt and rust are a problem it becomes self fulfilling.

 

 

Best comment l have read on CC for a while (see the 'photos of the Explorer' thread)

[dwhe]

Just off the Brilliance and I'm far from disappointed. Staff fantastic, food usual cruise fare, a few rust spots here and there but nothing more than you would expect, smoke nowhere near as bad as I expected, room clean.

 

In short, I don't recognise it as the same ship the OP sailed on, loved every minute of it and met some great people, especially doing tea time trivia.

[loveheart]

We were on Brilliance 2 years ago and thought it was one of the best cruises we have ever been on and we loved the ship, the food and ambience.

[emory2001]

It's not just you. I've cruised 3 Radiance Class ships (Brilliance, Radiance, Jewel), and there was something about Brilliance I didn't care for as much as the others. That being said, I'm cruising her again next March because it works best for our dates and desired ports for the kids' spring break.

Edited June 8, 2019 by emory2001