Some thoughts on our Brilliance 11/23/07 cruise

[grannynanny]

Wow, this was definately a fantastic cruise. We are still trying to get back to our daily schedule, so much to do, so this will be brief. Just want to metion a few highlights now, more to follow soon.

 

1. Hotel Golden in Rome is a gem, there were 14 of us from our cruise staying pre-cruise at this family owned hotel, which only has 15 rooms. We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise. We couldn't be more pleased with the accomodations. We had one of the larger rooms while our friends checked in a day later and had one of the smaller rooms. Regardless of the size of the room, the beds are extremely comfortable, the brothers who are at the front desk,Guisseppe and Marco are wonderful and the breakfast room is small, as we read on Trip Advisor, but we didn't have a problem getting in and the breakfast buffet was very adequate and good.

 

2. Our private tour with Rome in Limo in Naples, APTours in Naples and Romeinlimo in Florence were fantastic. All the ports were wonderful. We did Dubrovnik on our own, walked the wall and walked around Old Town, also toured the Synagogue. We did a ship's tour in Corfu which was very good, and in Toulon, we spent the day with cousins.

 

3. Hotel Continental in Barcelona is recommended very often on CC. It also was a gem. The location was the best, right at the top of Las Ramblas, the beds were extremely comfortable, the 24 hour buffet and drinks were very good, and the beds were extremely comfortable.

 

4. We have been on 2 other Radiance class ships and they are definately our favorites. We had corner aft cabins for our previous cruises, but this time lucked out with a "hump" cabin on Deck 8...now we know why these cabins are so popular. Loved the location!!! The ship is in very good condition, we had a table for 6 on Deck 4 and enjoyed the food. We ate in Chops and Portofino's and enjoyed the Seaview Cafe many times. The menu in this Seaview if different than on Raidance and Serenads, and although some people thought different, we liked the menu inthe Seaview better on Brilliance.

 

We took over 3,500 pictures, so our goal now is to sort them out. Once that is done, I will have more time for a more detailed review.

Nancy & Harvey

[Host Karen]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your experience on Brilliance. She's our favorite ship and we're looking forward to sailing her again in May in the Med.

 

I agree about the food in the Seaview Cafe. We like the selections offered on Brilliance more than those offered on Serenade, for example. The made to order pizza, pasta and paninis were delicious. Our only regret is that we didn't try it out until the 9th night of a 12 night sailing!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[SkiCruiser44]

Loved your mini-review - sounds like you guys had a great time. Was Angela back on the ship? Hotel Continental really is a great find - I can't wait to go back - 2009 won't get here soon enough.

 

 

Kathy

[phoenix1181]

Can't wait for the long version!

Did you stay at the Hotel Continental or the Hotel Continental Palacete?

[grannynanny]

We stayed at the Hotel Continental, but know some people who stayed at the Palacente in the past and they gave it a great rating also. We didn't see the need for the extra cost per night, and as I said, the location of the Continental was perfect!!

 

Kathy, I remember you telling me Angela was in the Hollywood Odessy, we were up there many nights for the Concierge Lounge and she was not there.

We did however, get to know Suzanne in the Champagne Bar, she was a sweetheart and so friendly.

 

Hope to have a complete review this weekend.

Nancy