CruisingWithMatt Posted April 29, 2019 #1 Share Posted April 29, 2019 Hello Royal Caribbean Blog members! My wife Corin and and I will be embarking on our first cruise which happens to be a TA. Go big or go home I guess. I will be doing a daily blog with a few photos and updates starting on the 4th. Stay tuned! *Crossposted on *****.com under CruisingWithMatt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcmagnum Posted April 29, 2019 #2 Share Posted April 29, 2019 Have a great trip!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermit 38 Posted April 30, 2019 #3 Share Posted April 30, 2019 We will be on this sailing, hope to see you around. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBumb Posted April 30, 2019 #4 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Bon voyage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPCRUISER2 Posted April 30, 2019 #5 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Thank you for serving young man! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare momofmab Posted April 30, 2019 #6 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Following! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbri Posted April 30, 2019 #7 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Have a great trip! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpostman Posted April 30, 2019 #8 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Following. Take care of her on the way over since we are counting down the days for our Brilliance Baltic cruise in August. dp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingWithMatt Posted April 30, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Officially packed! We are flying out a few days early to spend time in Tampa and visit the Tampa Zoo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingWithMatt Posted May 3, 2019 Author #10 Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) We spent yesterday at the Tampa Zoo. It was a great day for the wife (the every animal everywhere lover). Then spent the late afternoon relaxing outside our air bnb watching the lightning/thunder Strom; drink in hand. Today we will be touring the SS American Victory down in the Tampa Port. One more day! Edited May 3, 2019 by CruisingWithMatt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanneful Posted May 3, 2019 #11 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Hope you have a great cruise!! Waiting for your posts!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla103 Posted May 3, 2019 #12 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Have a great time! Excited to hear of your adventures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Teeara Posted May 3, 2019 #13 Share Posted May 3, 2019 2 hours ago, CruisingWithMatt said: We spent yesterday at the Tampa Zoo. It was a great day for the wife (the every animal everywhere lover). Then spent the late afternoon relaxing outside our air bnb watching the lightning/thunder Strom; drink in hand. Today we will be touring the SS American Victory down in the Tampa Port. One more day! I am sooooo jealous of that 1 day to go! Mine would read "548 days to go". Have a WONDERFUL cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingWithMatt Posted May 3, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, singinalot said: ooh looking forward to pictures of your SS Victory tour The victory ship was a self guided tour. I believe they do guided ones on the weekend. $10 adults $5 veterans. Very cool and it took us a little over an hour to see everything at a very relaxed pace. Tomorrow we board Brilliance! Edited May 3, 2019 by CruisingWithMatt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beav1279 Posted May 3, 2019 #15 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Looking forward to your cruise live review! Thanks for sharing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindypops Posted May 4, 2019 #16 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Please can you post some photos of the cruise compass showing what activities there are during the sea days thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingWithMatt Posted May 4, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted May 4, 2019 6 hours ago, Lindypops said: Please can you post some photos of the cruise compass showing what activities there are during the sea days thanks I sure can 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFunInTheSun Posted May 4, 2019 #18 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Thanks for bringing us along! You’re going to love Brilliance of the seas. From most places on the ship you can see the sea too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugtech Posted May 4, 2019 #19 Share Posted May 4, 2019 21 hours ago, CruisingWithMatt said: The victory ship was a self guided tour. I believe they do guided ones on the weekend. $10 adults $5 veterans. Very cool and it took us a little over an hour to see everything at a very relaxed pace. Tomorrow we board Brilliance! Nice pics of the ship, if you get to SF you might want to check out their victory ship at docks. It also does a few cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishuponasea Posted May 4, 2019 #20 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Hello from another MN person (Maple Grove)! We have not been on a transatlantic (yet?) and will be very interested in hearing about your adventures. Sounds like a great itinerary! Wondering how interesting (or boring) a lot of sea days in a row would be -- as well as how rough the ocean gets. Those are the 2 things that we are most concerned about. Will be following along with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugtech Posted May 4, 2019 #21 Share Posted May 4, 2019 We are doing the Brilliance TA next year, 5/2/20 to 5/17/20 followed by 12 days in the Baltic. We have never been on the Brilliance, hoping to learn from your experiences.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwhe Posted May 4, 2019 #22 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I'm getting on the Brilliance on the 19th in Amsterdam, so looking forward to this review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONECRUISER Posted May 4, 2019 #23 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Thanks for posting, doing this cruise myself in 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted May 4, 2019 #24 Share Posted May 4, 2019 12 hours ago, Lindypops said: Please can you post some photos of the cruise compass showing what activities there are during the sea days thanks While the itinerary isn't the same, the link below is from the cruise compasses from the Fall Westbound Brilliance TA. Gives you some idea of the sea day activities. It was probably the best cruise we have been on out of our 33. https://issuu.com/hochmania/docs/brilliance_9-1-18_transatlantic_cru/28 mac_tlc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingWithMatt Posted May 5, 2019 Author #25 Share Posted May 5, 2019 (edited) Embarkation day success! Tampa Port security was a breeze as was check in. We have never had so many friendly people around us before. We arrived at the port between 1015-1030 and we're through security within 5 minutes. Check in took no more than another 5 minutes. We had the pleasure of enjoying some company and conversation of Candice and Roy that we had met on the message boards. Once onboard we headed straight for the helipad and were the only ones out there exploring. The windjammer buffet was packed full with no available seating in or outside so we decided to go to the park café. We were able to get a salad and sandwich from there which was more than enough for us. We grabbed drinks at the pool bar which was not busy and by that time it was still only 1300. Our rooms were ready by 1330 and all of our prepaid paperwork was waiting for us (Excursions & arcade credit). The only confusion was with our BOGO dining package. We where initially told that a reservation would be made on our behalf for the first night but that was not the case. We called Chops after the must drill and were told that both Chops and Giovanni’s was booked full for the first two nights but we could pick a different day. We ended up stopping by Chops on the way to the windjammer just to double check and the were actually able to get us into Giovanni’s at 1730 that night. The food at Giovanni’s was phenomenal. Corin and I were in agreement that we apparently had never eaten good food before because our taste buds were stimulated in ways we had never had. I would list exactly what we ordered but I couldn’t pronounce it let alone remember what it was called. (I do have pictures of the menu for anyone interested) we split the pork belly appetizer and each ordered the filet mignon main dish. Both were FULL of flavor and melted in your mouth. By far the best restaurant experience we have ever had. We have Chops booked for day 5 and the chef’s table on day 6 so our standards are very very high for the next two. We wrapped up our evening watching the ship pass under the bridge out of Tampa from the helipad and then taking a dip in the pool while (it seemed like) everyone else was eating. So far we really feel like Royalty with Royal Caribbean. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. *Sorry for the lack of pictures form the first day. Was a little hectic. Edited May 5, 2019 by CruisingWithMatt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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