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LIVE - Brilliance of the Seas TA May 4-19, 2019


CrusingWithMatt

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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 cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt

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Following! Not sure I'd have had the bravery to do a TA as my very first cruise, but you're the guy in uniform so I guess bravery comes with the package. ? Have a great time and enjoy all the couples time you'll get!

When you have a moment, what's the itinerary / ports of call?

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15 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Following! Not sure I'd have had the bravery to do a TA as my very first cruise, but you're the guy in uniform so I guess bravery comes with the package. ? Have a great time and enjoy all the couples time you'll get!

When you have a moment, what's the itinerary / ports of call?

Bravery or stupidity... We will find out ?
Here's the Itinerary.

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On 4/29/2019 at 3:09 PM, CrusingWithMatt said:

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 cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt

 

Following. What a great trip! Have a fabulous time.

6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

10 sea days would be heaven !  

We have a 12 nighter on Adventure next year with 6 sea days....would that be about half heaven??

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There is nothing not to like about Brugge...beer, chocolate, fries, and waffles!

I was just in Cobh (pronouced "cove" btw) a couple of weeks ago, very cute town on the water, with a decent musuem about Irish Emmigration, if that is your thing (or just have a few Guinness).

Have a great time!

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20 minutes ago, Auto said:

There is nothing not to like about Brugge...beer, chocolate, fries, and waffles!

Actually my husband would disagree with the "there is nothing not to like".....Belgium is known for what every woman loves.....DIAMONDS, granted it is not Antwerp, but you still can get some great diamonds.  

For me I have made sure that my husband never drinks Chimay beer ever again.  

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On 4/29/2019 at 2:09 PM, CrusingWithMatt said:

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 cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt

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Can't wait for your posts + pictures! Only a few more days in the countdown!

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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!

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13 hours ago, CrusingWithMatt said:

We spent yesterday at the Tampa Zoo. It was a great day for the wife (the every animal everywhere lover).

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Fellow animal lover also from Minnesota here - worked for over 16 years as a zookeeper at the Minnesota Zoo. Tampa Zoo is on our radar for things to do when we take our cruise out of Tampa next!

 

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17 hours ago, CrusingWithMatt 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!

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That brings back some memories.  I served on a ship that was commissioned in 1944 and she served from WWII until the 90's.  Nothing like haze gray and underway.

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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.

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Chef’s table is going to spoil you for all other meals. If there’s a particular wine you find you really like, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds. (or thirds/fourths! ?) They don’t always allow it, but seems to happen at least as often as not.

I agree joe that both chefs tables I have been to were amazing!!   Best meals I have had on the cruises!  Jane

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15 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Chef’s table is going to spoil you for all other meals. If there’s a particular wine you find you really like, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds. (or thirds/fourths! ?) They don’t always allow it, but seems to happen at least as often as not.

I agree with Chefs table being great and sicking with a wine you like .  My daughter stuck with one the entire dinner.  They opened a second bottle for her and then sent a bottle to her cabin.

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Day 2 update:
I was woke by the sun rising through our balcony window and was lucky enough to be able to grab a decent picture. Quite honestly day 2 was a bit of a blur I swear we did a bunch of things but I can’t really remember them. We did some exploring and saw the show which was the  instrumental men’s singing group Revoiced. We attended the Captains welcome aboard reception and it just so happened to be formal night in the minstrel dining room.

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