monctonguy Posted February 19, 2019 Report Share Posted February 19, 2019 Great pics...been a few years since on Brilliance...still looks great! This just made waiting till Nov for my next cruise so much harder... Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Gadwa Posted February 19, 2019 Report Share Posted February 19, 2019 Thanks for the blog & pictures. Enjoyed!!! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 Dang it! You've forced me to look at Brilliance sailing out of Tampa! JennyB, SpeedNoodles, Lovetocruise2002 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said: Dang it! You've forced me to look at Brilliance sailing out of Tampa! AND/OR the Group Cruise on Brilliance out of Boston in October, 2020!! (Do eet!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 12 hours ago, CGTLH said: Only problem is this format really opens you up to PWI... Trust me I've had a hair trigger and really had some deep thoughts of posts. Luckily just a smidge of sanity still existed before I hit "Submit Reply". Then again the "P" portion doesn't apply to just message boards, rather any real time form of communication... I literally had to look this up in the Urban Dictionary (I'm so unhip). The first definition did NOT fit, lol. CGTLH, JLMoran and Baked Alaska 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said: I literally had to look this up in the Urban Dictionary (I'm so unhip). The first definition did NOT fit, lol. Yeah, I read the first definition and I said "Whaaaaatttt?" then read on and the second definition, YEP! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said: AND/OR the Group Cruise on Brilliance out of Boston in October, 2020!! (Do eet!) Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to, BUT! School year and will have just disembarked Adventure on the the 9-night Canada/New England in late July 2020. Some day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 Just now, Baked Alaska said: Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to, BUT! School year and will have just disembarked Adventure on the the 9-night Canada/New England in late July 2020. Some day! Hehe, hey, I tried :) Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlovely Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 Finally caught up and now even more excited for my Brilliance cruise! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 21 hours ago, Kyle_cardinalsfan51 said: Do they have decent bar darts there or should we pack our own? If you want anything other than amateur hour experience, pack your own.....assuming of course you are allowed to bring darts onboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 12 hours ago, Baked Alaska said: Dang it! You've forced me to look at Brilliance sailing out of Tampa! SpeedNoodles and JLMoran 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle_cardinalsfan51 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 3 hours ago, Matt said: If you want anything other than amateur hour experience, pack your own.....assuming of course you are allowed to bring darts onboard After I posted that, I thought they probably wouldnt appreciate throwable pointy steel objects to be brought on board lol. All good, we can just have some fun with what they have. Appreciate the follow up @Matt ! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2019 In case anyone is interested, here is the Cruise Compass from our sailing: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/brilliance-of-the-seas/thu-2019-02-14-0000 JennyB, rjac and coneyraven 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaN Posted February 28, 2019 Report Share Posted February 28, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 8:32 AM, Matt said: The app does allow you to add events to your own calendar. Very handy. Did this only work after your cruise started? I can’t do it for my April cruise yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 18 hours ago, LindaN said: Did this only work after your cruise started? I can’t do it for my April cruise yet. Yes, I believe so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepperandchips Posted March 4, 2019 Report Share Posted March 4, 2019 Thanks for the awesome live blog, Matt! I liked this format too. I am super excited about our upcoming sailing on Brilliance. Four weeks from today!!! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June_B Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 1/11/2019 at 9:10 AM, WAAAYTOOO said: Just booked a Brilliance cruise yesterday. Thanksgiving 2019. It was on the list of "free" cruises that I received yesterday from Club Royale...so why not ? So now we will be doing our FIRST EVER Side to Side (S2S). We will be on Brilliance 25-30 November, then drive down to Miami to catch Oasis (hopefully disease-free by then !) on 1 Dec - STAR CLASS <balloons drop, confetti falls from the sky !!> (also a [upgraded] free cruise from Club Royale !). Dan isn't real excited about the 4 hour drive from Tampa to Miami but he'll get over it. We will do some relocation recon while we're down there. He has decided that he wants SOUTH Florida for retirement. Come on, Oct 2020.... We just booked Brilliance for the Thanksgiving 2019 cruise as well. Excited to be sailing on Brilliance for the first time and first ever holiday cruise. Any tip or inside tricks to cruising over a holiday, would love to know! WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June_B Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 1/11/2019 at 1:51 PM, eaglesfaninfl said: We are also on this cruise next November. Having cruised over Thanksgiving the last three years on Brilliance, I know you will enjoy the ship. Unfortunately, the Christmas decorations generally don't go up until the Friday after turkey day, so we probably miss out on that. Also the the Tampa-Miami trip is not too bad until you pass FLL, and that last part down 95 is pretty awful...but, you are headed for another cruise, so you have that workin' for ya!! I would love to hear more about this! I just replied to another comment about the Thanksgiving sailing, but it seems you might be the go-to guru having done the last 3 years! How is it? @eaglesfaninfl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 1/11/2019 at 7:17 PM, WannaCruise said: DH and I did that in December on Indy (also 4 night with Cozumel). We were on a December Indy 4-night cruise to Coz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 17 hours ago, June_B said: Any tip or inside tricks to cruising over a holiday, would love to know! I sailed on Brilliance over Thanksgiving, so here's my live blog from that: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/11/24/brilliance-of-the-seas-live-blog-preamble JennyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 10:21 AM, Matt said: Happy Friday! A little inspiration for everyone, as I share my current situation. OOOHHH...that's a pretty solarium! makes it feel like an african safari vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 11:38 AM, KLA said: with my family and we had the balcony dividers taken down between our rooms and it was a blast. how do we make this happen? we're taking my 16yo DS and his best friend and only thought they could be partially "rolled" back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 I've cruised during most all of the US holidays at one time or another. We almost always cruise for Christmas and NY....at least up until this year when they no longer have ANY cruises that cover both holidays ! <mad face> To be honest, there really isn't a lot of difference between holidays and non-holiday cruising. Obviously, during Christmas/NY there will be decorations on the ship and they will do a few things like singing Christmas Carols and Santa will be there but it's really still just a cruise. Where you will really notice the difference is in your wallet ! The most expensive week to cruise is over NY. The second most expensive week is Christmas and the LEAST expensive week to cruise are the first 2 weeks of December. I, like Matt, was on a cruise this past Thanksgiving (NAV) and I will say that the Thanksgiving meal that they served in the MDR was the single worst meal I have EVER experienced on a cruise ship. The food was just awful. Enough said. I will never ever have a Thanksgiving meal in the MDR again. We also sailed during the 4th of July last year (Grandeur) and it was so cool to be coming back on July 4th, cruising through the Chesapeake Bay and seeing all the fireworks along the shore, from the Bay. Of course, that was a function of timing, since we were coming back on the actual 4th of July. Had we been at sea that day we wouldn't have seen ANY fireworks. If it's a major US holiday, expect there to be MANY children aboard. That has never bothered us really, as we spend most of our time in the casino anyway and [lately, anyway] almost always have the Ultimate Dining Package and therefore eat most of our meals in a specialty restaurant. But if lots and lots of kids bother you, I recommend avoiding major US holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/16/2019 at 6:40 PM, Matt said: I stopped by the main dining room before dinner began just to see how lovely it looks in there. I just love the Main Dining Rooms. They are all so pretty. AND I get SERVED there. I do NOT appreciate buffets in real life...they gross me out. So, I do not frequent the Windjammer. PLUS, I'm on vacation. If I can sit at a fancy table, in "fancy clothes" and not have to cook the food, clean up afterwards AND have someone wait on me and bring me anything I want to eat AND have wine...yeah...MDR is MY kind of vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/16/2019 at 7:01 PM, Matt said: Drink card is alive and well! Does this show up on all cruises at some point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/20/2019 at 1:13 AM, Baked Alaska said: Yeah, I read the first definition and I said "Whaaaaatttt?" then read on and the second definition, YEP! me too LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said: and the LEAST expensive week to cruise are the first 2 weeks of December. We've found that to be true...those two weeks in December, which is perfect for me and my job. Plus our anniversary is in Dec., so that is a good time for us. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 2 hours ago, JennyB said: how do we make this happen? we're taking my 16yo DS and his best friend and only thought they could be partially "rolled" back. So, not ALL ships can have the balcony dividers taken town - seeing that you have Navigator and Harmony listed, it should be fine, but I know on some of the older ships they can't do it. However, in order to set this up you have to talk to your stateroom attendant once you board and get to your room. It might take them until the end of the first day, but it's doable. JennyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 2 hours ago, JennyB said: Does this show up on all cruises at some point? No. No way to know in advance if it does show up or not. JennyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 3 hours ago, JennyB said: how do we make this happen? we're taking my 16yo DS and his best friend and only thought they could be partially "rolled" back. As @KLA alluded to, you cannot remove balcony dividers on all ships. Ask stateroom attendant for clarification on your ship. JennyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyB Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, KLA said: So, not ALL ships can have the balcony dividers taken town - seeing that you have Navigator and Harmony listed, it should be fine, but I know on some of the older ships they can't do it. However, in order to set this up you have to talk to your stateroom attendant once you board and get to your room. It might take them until the end of the first day, but it's doable. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesfaninfl Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 On 3/7/2019 at 10:38 AM, WAAAYTOOO said: I, like Matt, was on a cruise this past Thanksgiving (NAV) and I will say that the Thanksgiving meal that they served in the MDR was the single worst meal I have EVER experienced on a cruise ship. The food was just awful. Enough said. I will never ever have a Thanksgiving meal in the MDR again That's a shame WAAAY, we have thoroughly enjoyed each Thanksgiving dinner in Brilliance MDR every year we've sailed! Different ships, different tastes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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