Kelly

Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Name of Ship: Brilliance of the Seas
Sailing Date: December 23rd, 2002
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean


My family went on the Dec 23rd, 2002 11 night cruise from Miami. I would definitely go on this cruise again, as long as it’s during the holiday season, where people my age will be going I'm 20) I heard that the cruise before the one I went on, the average age was late 60's.

I thought the Brilliance is a great cruise!! Its' great for teens and people under 30 only during holiday season, otherwise its more of a retire cruise! The only problem was the food in the dining room! The dining room food was awful , and very VERY SLOW service…(We didn’t get out the first night until 12:00AM…we started at 7:30pm)My family and I ended up going to the Windjammer Cafe for dinner instead as it was sooo much better! It was well organized with different stations for different types of food! They had every morning a station where they can make you any type of omelet, and during lunch an dinner they always had something like a stir fry they make you with choices of tofu, chicken, beef…etc They even had sushi! Oh, and during lunch, they have these amazing spinach noodle wraps where you can put turkey or chicken or just vegetable in it…they make you it right on the spot with whatever you want! The desserts there are GREAT!

The staff there was very friendly. The kids on the boat obviously looked like they we’re having a blast! The kids’ staff on board really made sure all the kids had fun. There was even a club for teens there until 11pm…and their strict rule of 18 and older for the adult club was highly appreciated! At the beginning of the cruise, it wasn’t too much into effect, but soon after everything was good! I wouldn’t worry about this though unless you’re on a cruise during the holiday season.

I would recommend going off on the islands yourself, and exploring them by renting jeeps, since the islands aren’t so big. There’s soo much more to see in Cozumel, Mexico and Jamaica etc… then just the waterfalls. At Cozumel, I would recommend renting a jeep, and asking someone how to get to this restaurant called “Coconuts” …It’s got great food, and you’ll love the backdrop!! The beautiful turquoise ocean is right in front of you while you’re eating…makes great pictures!

At Aruba, we did the jeep tour there…it was a lot of fun!!! DEFINITELY worth the money! Just make sure that you know how to drive a standard car…As long as you know the basics of a standard car, you should be fine…I only drove standard once…and it sure made the trip very interesting!!...and loads of fun! There are 2 automatics however, in case you don’t know how to drive standard. In Aruba, your there till 12:30AM…I don’t know if it was because it was close to new years eve (1 day before), but there were loud noises ( and when I mean loud, I mean like as if an explosion happens literally right in front of your face,) going on during our dinner there. It was nothing to worry about, but being tourists, we did have the urge to duck under our table! At night, EVERYBODY goes to Carlos And Charles! It’s a great club/bar/pub that you should definitely try! They’ve got contests, and fun little games that they play with everybody!! They literally got everybody in that place (it was packed solid…2 floors) sitting down on the floor…They wouldn’t put any music on until the whole place sat down!...It was quite amusing!

Curacao was a beautiful place, but not too much to do. We heard those bomb noises there again; however it sounded more like shotguns going off non-stop for about 2-3 minutes each time. We later found out, because that day was new years eve, once a company closes down that day, they light firecrackers in spirit of new years!...I just wish that the cruise line would have told us this ahead of time so you don’t get the urge to run for your life!

They had this Chocolate buffet one of the nights, and let me tell you, the wait is worth it!...you’ll find EVERYTHING there…but make sure if you like the chocolate covered strawberries, run for them! They go very fast!

One more thing... Petrofina's and Chops Grille are great places, and definitely worth the 20 dollars you pay for it!... Murder mystery night at Portofino's was a lot of fun as well...you get to meet some of the actors that play in the show! REALLY listen to the story though….It’s a tricky ending…but I seemed to get the answer right...Oh, and yes…there is a reward for the people who answer the right question! Chops Grille was great as well, as long as you aren’t a vegetarian like I am!... But the cheesecake there is beyond amazing!!! Hope this review helps a little bit!

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