Best Cruise EVER!!! Brilliance 11 day Panama Canal 3/26/07

[sailor moon]

Keeping our fingers crossed that we will go in January for our Panama cruise!

[Tibear]

Thanks for the review as well Sue

I would like to add a few comments as we were also on the same cruise.

First for those who are travelling with disabled or who are disabled, the ship is very accessible, and the staff are very helpfull right from boarding to leaving. The elevators and the people using them were never a problem. Yes we had to wait because of full elevators, but everyone would make room without hesitation..

There had been some posts about drinking the water from the ship. Please beware that the "cold" water is warm enough to take a shower in... way to warm for drinking.

As well we decided to use the laudry service on board. The close we had dry cleaned came back fine, but the stuff we had laundered came back smelling salt water. Very strong and unplesant. We had to rinse them out and hang them up to dry.

Every thing else, was nothing short of fantastic. We had the vacation of a lifetime and would do it again in a heartbeat.

We had a grand suite and really enjoyed the extra space.

 

Any questions I would be happy to answer

[Sue L]

Hey Tibear,

 

 

Thanks for adding your thoughts. I loved you room that was absolutely beautiful and thanks again for being the resident optician!!!:D

[molaurie]

Thanks for the great review. I leave in 2 days for the transatlantic to Barcelona. Needless to say, I am very, VERY excited!!!

 

Question: what about the Thermal Spa? Is it worth it? And how much does it cost for one person? Are there other steam rooms/saunas that are free?

 

How crowded is the solarium? Is it generally pretty peaceful? And what about the food in the solarium?

 

I'm trying to decide to pay for the thermal spa, or if hanging out in the solarium will be just as good(and free).

 

Thanks!

[Sue L]

Thanks for the great review. I leave in 2 days for the transatlantic to Barcelona. Needless to say, I am very, VERY excited!!!

 

Question: what about the Thermal Spa? Is it worth it? And how much does it cost for one person? Are there other steam rooms/saunas that are free?

 

How crowded is the solarium? Is it generally pretty peaceful? And what about the food in the solarium?

 

I'm trying to decide to pay for the thermal spa, or if hanging out in the solarium will be just as good(and free).

 

Thanks!

 

I didn't do the thermal spa, but we did the couples rasul, I know there were a lot of packages and such for the spa but I don't remember them. The solarium was packed everyday so if you want a seat get there early. There is a little snack bar in the Solarium but I don't remember what they had, though I think it was like wraps and stuff. We went to the Seaview several times and their food was yummy with made to order pizzas, pasta and panninnis . I am a super pizza snob (new yorker) and I loved the food there.

[cruisinMike]

Sue, nicely written. As you can see in my signature we are booked on this next year and I think we will have a great vantage point once were in the canal from cabin 1100. I found your white water experience interesting and will definitly look into that.

 

One question, and something I like to see in reviews, do you have a summary of lessons learned, somethings you now know that you would do differently (now I'm not meaning the G vs. X thing in the Couples Spa :D). Also any negatives that you found that RCI could improve on.

 

Thanks again for the well written review.

[molaurie]

Thanks, Sue. We're leaving from Miami and it should be warm the first few days--I'll probably hang out at the outdoor pool. Then migrate to the solarium as we approach Europe and it gets cooler.

 

The Seaview sounds great--is it open for lunch?

[lszu]

Totally agree with the Brilliance / Panama Canal cruise being totally awesome. DH and I did this one a few years ago and it's tied for our favorite cruise with Hawaii.

[lszu]

Thanks for the great review. :)

 

We are just starting to look at the possibility of a Panama Canal cruise - and I have a question for you. Do you think you were disappointed at all that you just went "half-way" and then came back? Do you think a full-transit would be much different? Of course, those are more days - and you have the added airfare for two locations versus a round-trip....

 

 

If I may throw my 0.02 in...We did a partial transit, but chose the Locks by Ferry excursion. We got to go through the Atlantic side on the ship and the Pacific side on a much smaller (maybe 100 person) ferry. It was very cool to see it from two such different perspectives.

[Sue L]

Sue, nicely written. As you can see in my signature we are booked on this next year and I think we will have a great vantage point once were in the canal from cabin 1100. I found your white water experience interesting and will definitly look into that.

 

One question, and something I like to see in reviews, do you have a summary of lessons learned, somethings you now know that you would do differently (now I'm not meaning the G vs. X thing in the Couples Spa :D). Also any negatives that you found that RCI could improve on.

 

Thanks again for the well written review.

 

 

This biggest lesson we learned is we will not assume everything is okey dokey with the excursions since we have a confirmation in hand. I explained it in my review, but I will now double check upon boarding that none of the excursions are on the verge of being canceled like the bike tour or were canceled like the snorkeling tour. We lost out on the bike tour and I think we should have been given earlier warning so we would have a better choice of tours. I spend a lot of time researching the excursions we are taking and I was very disappointed and the tour desk was like "too bad so sad" If it wasn't for the Ingrid at the purser's desk we would have really been out of luck since the tour desk had VERY limited hours. This was our 11th cruise and it seems each time there is a new obstacle to overcome but we don't let it bother us. We had a fantastic time!!!

[Sue L]

Thanks, Sue. We're leaving from Miami and it should be warm the first few days--I'll probably hang out at the outdoor pool. Then migrate to the solarium as we approach Europe and it gets cooler.

 

The Seaview sounds great--is it open for lunch?

 

The Seaview had odd hours like 3pm-8pm and such and were different many days (check the compass each day) but it was great for a late lunch when we got back from port.

[Welshlady]

Sue, My dh and I were puzzled at your picture of fishermen near the elevators?? Were they really fishing on the ship?? My dh wondered if they were statues?!

[Sue L]

Sue, My dh and I were puzzled at your picture of fishermen near the elevators?? Were they really fishing on the ship?? My dh wondered if they were statues?!

 

 

Yes they are statues and the only place you can see them is from the ocean facing elevators when you go up to the 12th or 13th deck. It is very cool to have them just sitting there. There are a lot of little surprises all over the ship. Even on the last day we were finding new things.

[jeffw47]

Thanks Sue for the great review. My wife and I have the cruise booked for next March in cabin 9078. We are really looking forward to this cruise, especially after reading your review.

[1realityshowfan]

molaurie,

 

We were on the March 16th Brilliance sailing and used the Thermal Spa. It was $99 per person or $120 per couple for the whole cruise. You could also pay $15 a day. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Thermal Spa and would do it again. The only bad part about it was, that it was only open during the spa hours which were usually 8am to 8pm, so you couldn't use it late at night. This made it hard to use on the days we were in port. Next time I will do less ShipShape activities and spend more time in the Thermal Spa and by the pool.

 

Jackie

[wolfcathorse]

Sue L did you have Capt Lindegren?

[Sheik]

Yes, his name was Lindegren.

[Sue L]

Sue L did you have Capt Lindegren?

 

 

Yep and boy was he a handsome man!