Just Back From Brilliance and Wonder in Europe!

[Host Jacquelyn]

Any questions, let me know!

 

Both cruises were spectacular. I found Brilliance more friendly, people were talking to one another and the overall vibe was very warm. Wonder seemed to have more groups, and people kept to themselves. Covid on both ships, I think it is unavoidable. I would be glad to answer any questions.

[soremekun]

We're the sailings near capacity?

Which ship did you enjoy more?

[karl_nj]

I believe you mentioned in another post that you boarded Wonder in Italy--did you run into any issues due to that?  I've read that the app doesn't work well in that case, even after boarding?

 

[Host Jacquelyn]

1 hour ago, karl_nj said:

I believe you mentioned in another post that you boarded Wonder in Italy--did you run into any issues due to that?  I've read that the app doesn't work well in that case, even after boarding?

 

Hi @karl_nj,

 

Boarding in Italy for Wonder was the easiest and smoothest ever. There is a huge new terminal, and most people board in Barcelona. I heard only 800 boarded in Civi. We arrived around 2 pm, and it was only us and another family in the terminal. No lines, no waits at all. The ship was also empty, since most of the pax were off on their excursions in Rome.

 

That said, you are correct that the app did not work for us. We needed to "find another sailing" and enter both Barcelona departures. We were then able to see the daily Cruise Compass activities, but our excursions and charges were not linked. To review our charges, we needed to use the Smart TV in the room. I recommend doing that as well, since we were charged for a number of Diamond drinks.

 

There was no fanfare at all boarding in Civi. We almost felt like we were boarding someone else's sailing. Most of the pax were at the end of their vacation, and there was none of that first-day buzz. By contract, the ship was electric and full of excitement when the new batch of pax boarded in Barcelona on Sunday.

 

Note of warning for Barcelona excursions - you are stuck leaving in the same queue as those debarking. We had previously been told there is a separate line for people leaving vs people off on excursions. That is not correct. You need to leave via the same queue and wait in the same taxi line as folks departing. Be sure to give yourself extra time in the morning if you have tickets for Sagrada Familia or Park Guell.

[Host Jacquelyn]

3 hours ago, soremekun said:

We're the sailings near capacity?

Which ship did you enjoy more?

I heard that both were around 70% capacity. The only time the ship felt full was on Sea days, especially on Brilliance. We spent over 30 mins trying to find a chair across all 3 decks. Lots of towels on empty chairs, it was frustrating. Other than that, we never had issues at bars or the Windjammer. There was always a good amount of people - not too crowded, but not at all empty.

 

I found the overall vibe friendlier on Brilliance. Not sure why, maybe because more groups were sailing on Wonder and they tended to keep to themselves. Brilliance was also way smaller so maybe we saw the same people more often. The bartenders were miserable on Wonder, it was so odd. I think there were too few bartenders vs so many people with the drink package, they just did not even try to be friendly. By contrast, the bartenders on Brilliance really made the effort to get to know you and seemed really happy.

 

There was obviously so much more to do on Wonder vs Brilliance, but it seemed much colder.

[smarcbie]

We are sailing out of civi too. What time did boarding start? 

[Host Jacquelyn]

23 minutes ago, smarcbie said:

We are sailing out of civi too. What time did boarding start? 

I believe around 11. You select your time slot when you do online check in a month before. We spent the night in Rome, so we only checked in around 2:30. 

[Billy Baltic]

Do you know how deep the pools are on Wonder or if any have a shallow end? We have two novice swimmers who love time in the pool when it’s not very deep. 

[Host Jacquelyn]

12 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Do you know how deep the pools are on Wonder or if any have a shallow end? We have two novice swimmers who love time in the pool when it’s not very deep. 

That's a good question! I did not notice whether there were any shallow pools. Lots of kids in floaties in the main pools, and of course there is a huge kids' water playground

[dunedinmaiden]

1 hour ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Hi @karl_nj,

 

Boarding in Italy for Wonder was the easiest and smoothest ever. There is a huge new terminal, and most people board in Barcelona. I heard only 800 boarded in Civi. We arrived around 2 pm, and it was only us and another family in the terminal. No lines, no waits at all. The ship was also empty, since most of the pax were off on their excursions in Rome.

 

That said, you are correct that the app did not work for us. We needed to "find another sailing" and enter both Barcelona departures. We were then able to see the daily Cruise Compass activities, but our excursions and charges were not linked. To review our charges, we needed to use the Smart TV in the room. I recommend doing that as well, since we were charged for a number of Diamond drinks.

 

There was no fanfare at all boarding in Civi. We almost felt like we were boarding someone else's sailing. Most of the pax were at the end of their vacation, and there was none of that first-day buzz. By contract, the ship was electric and full of excitement when the new batch of pax boarded in Barcelona on Sunday.

 

Note of warning for Barcelona excursions - you are stuck leaving in the same queue as those debarking. We had previously been told there is a separate line for people leaving vs people off on excursions. That is not correct. You need to leave via the same queue and wait in the same taxi line as folks departing. Be sure to give yourself extra time in the morning if you have tickets for Sagrada Familia or Park Guell.

I agree with your "no fanfare boarding in Rome".  We were on the Wonder May 19th and I wouldn't choose an interporting cruise in the future -- it just felt disjointed, especially with the app issues.  We were also stuck in a taxi line in Barcelona trying to go to Sagrada Familia with others actually departing the ship that day 😔

 

[elaine5]

were you able to get dining/seats at shows since you got on Wonder later?

[Host Jacquelyn]

50 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

were you able to get dining/seats at shows since you got on Wonder later?

 

We had reserved late dining, so we did not need to make reservations. For the shows, we didn't bother with reservations since we arrived just before the show started. We saw both the aqua and ice shows twice. Both are spectacular. We ended up standing at the back once for each show, and still had a great view. 

I suppose you can book your shows early on Sunday / Barcelona and get first pick.

[little britain]

6 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

Do you know how deep the pools are on Wonder or if any have a shallow end? We have two novice swimmers who love time in the pool when it’s not very deep. 

The pools are very shallow on Wonder- the kind where you stub your toe when you’re swimming!!!

The two I tried were near the spaceman.  Very disappointing. 
 

I agree about the waiters: the ones in Giovannis wine bar exceeded in being miserable! 

Edited June 11, 2022 by little britain

[Host Jacquelyn]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

I agree about the waiters: the ones in Giovannis wine bar exceeded in being miserable! 

Pool bar bartenders were the worst, and the crowds didn't help. They needed more staff.

 

Another thing I found was that there was no place to get a glass of water by the pool. On Brilliance, there was an outdoor part of the Windjammer you could access from the pool area. I remember on Harmony a few years ago the bars would have glasses of water off to the side that you could take. 

[Jimbo]

10 hours ago, dunedinmaiden said:

I agree with your "no fanfare boarding in Rome".  We were on the Wonder May 19th and I wouldn't choose an interporting cruise in the future -- it just felt disjointed, especially with the app issues.  We were also stuck in a taxi line in Barcelona trying to go to Sagrada Familia with others actually departing the ship that day 😔

 

Sounds like Wonder is a no go then for a Europe Cruise since that is all that ship does is inter port.

[artvlay]

How did you get to the port in Ravenna?

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Sounds like Wonder is a no go then for a Europe Cruise since that is all that ship does is inter port.

O class usually do that in the Med. One of the Vision class will do that as well in Western Carib. 

[Host Jacquelyn]

13 hours ago, artvlay said:

How did you get to the port in Ravenna?

There's a very long story here... short story is that we took the RCCL shuttle to and from the airport. We stayed in Venice for a couple of days pre and post cruise, so we just needed to make our way back and forth from the airport  to the hotel on our own. Let me know if you want the longer story, as logistically RCCL did not officially allow anyone to use the shuttle unless their flights were day-of.

 

There was pandemonium in Ravenna as people could not catch cabs from the train station. I hear RCCL is now starting to run a shuttle. I spoke to a passenger who lives in Ravenna, and he said the town only has 10 taxi drivers. I assume more will be popping up!

 

 

[miami562]

I really don't understand the policy on the shuttle from the Venice airport. How many people (especially from the US) are flying in the day of the cruise and cutting it that close? Same for the departure. So the only solution is to make up flight numbers.

[Host Jacquelyn]

2 minutes ago, miami562 said:

I really don't understand the policy on the shuttle from the Venice airport. How many people (especially from the US) are flying in the day of the cruise and cutting it that close? Same for the departure. So the only solution is to make up flight numbers.

 

Yes, that's exactly what we did, and so did almost everyone else we spoke to. It's awful, no one wants to be dishonest, but their system is very ill-designed. Not only that, we needed DIRECT flights. The system rejected flights that were transferring in Europe in either direction. I am sure the is not a RCCL requirement, but rather a coding bug in their software that hopefully will get resolved for future sailings.

 

 

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

There's a very long story here... short story is that we took the RCCL shuttle to and from the airport. We stayed in Venice for a couple of days pre and post cruise, so we just needed to make our way back and forth from the airport  to the hotel on our own. Let me know if you want the longer story, as logistically RCCL did not officially allow anyone to use the shuttle unless their flights were day-of.

 

There was pandemonium in Ravenna as people could not catch cabs from the train station. I hear RCCL is now starting to run a shuttle. I spoke to a passenger who lives in Ravenna, and he said the town only has 10 taxi drivers. I assume more will be popping up!

 

 

I understand RCI are now offering transfers from Tronchetto which necessitates a ride in the People Mover to the end.  $58 from Tronchetto vs $45 from airport. 
Ravenna train station to port $10

Edited June 12, 2022 by little britain

[Host Jacquelyn]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

I understand RCI are now offering transfers from Tronchetto which necessitates a ride in the People Mover to the end.  $58 from Tronchetto vs $45 from airport. 
Ravenna train station to port $10

 

Sounds like they are getting their act together, which is good. I hope they fixed their process so  now anyone can book from the airport!

[ONECRUISER]

On 6/11/2022 at 9:48 AM, Host Jacquelyn said:

I heard that both were around 70% capacity. The only time the ship felt full was on Sea days, especially on Brilliance. We spent over 30 mins trying to find a chair across all 3 decks. Lots of towels on empty chairs, it was frustrating. Other than that, we never had issues at bars or the Windjammer. There was always a good amount of people - not too crowded, but not at all empty.

 

I found the overall vibe friendlier on Brilliance. Not sure why, maybe because more groups were sailing on Wonder and they tended to keep to themselves. Brilliance was also way smaller so maybe we saw the same people more often. The bartenders were miserable on Wonder, it was so odd. I think there were too few bartenders vs so many people with the drink package, they just did not even try to be friendly. By contrast, the bartenders on Brilliance really made the effort to get to know you and seemed really happy.

 

There was obviously so much more to do on Wonder vs Brilliance, but it seemed much colder.

Not surprised, always had same great experience on Brilliance along with Serenade and Jewel.

[hopebh]

We flew into Bologna and took the train into Ravenna and then the Royal transfer from the train station.  The train from/to Bologna was crowded and generally unpleasant and I doubt I’d go that route in the future.  
 

My son arrived on the train around 11 and ended up waiting at the station for an hour for the buses.  We arrived around noon and there were plenty of busses and we had no wait.

We were on the May 29th Brilliance.

 

OP, thanks for starting this thread.  We are looking at cruises for next spring and although we want to try the O class ships, we are wary about doing so in Europe. 

 

[Jimbo]

52 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Not surprised, always had same great experience on Brilliance along with Serenade and Jewel.

Radiance Class ships much  more the early Cruise Ship like then the larger ships which are more Amusement Park/ Disney  Kids Crowded like.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Jimbo