Janice
Shaughnessy
janshaughnessy@comcast.net
Itinerary: Eastern
Mediterranean
Sailing Date: November 30th, 2009
Occupation: Travel Agent/Retired Air Force
Number of Cruises: 74
BRILLIANCE OF THE SEAS - 12NT MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE NOVEMBER
30-DECEMBER 12, 2009
INTRO- My husband I
have traveled almost all over the world, but this was our
first time to the Mediterranean. We booked this cruise for
the highlight and opportunity to see the Giza Pyramids in
Egypt. The Brilliance of the Seas is an absolutely beautiful
ship in great shape, and has excellent service. Traveling at
this time of year is a good time to travel. The weather is
still good, mostly in the low to high 60's. We only had one
day of rain. Crowds in most of the stops are much lower than
in peak season.
We flew in to Barcelona, Spain one day prior to the cruise.
I always recommend flying in a day early to rest and relax.
This is especially needed when you have big time changes.
There is a six hour time change between the East Coast, US
and Barcelona. We stayed at a boutique hotel, the Hotel
Inglaterra. Typical of European hotels the rooms were small,
but adequate and clean. It has a small restaurant and bar,
and small spa. The location of this hotel is only a couple
blocks from the famous La Rambla street in Barcelona. A taxi
ride for four of us with tip was 50 Euro. It will take
between 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. La Rambla street
was quite an experience. It is close to a mile long; but one
doesn't notice how long it takes to walk when your busy
looking at all the flowers, art & crafts, mimes, and
merchants selling their wares. Outdoor cafes line the street
showing their menus with tempting Tapa dinners. Barcelona
has a Hop On/Off bus system which allows you to see the
sights for about 21 Euro. They also have an easy to use
underground system agents and one found a quaint restaurant
down a side street off La Rambla. It was the "Los Caracoles"
on Escudellers street. We were seated in a quiet room in the
back of the restaurant. To get there we had to walk through
the kitchen area where food was cooking over open pits. I
tried a sausage dish which was very tasty and reminded me of
the wonderful sausages I had tried at the Christmas markets
in Germany last year. My husband had a rabbit dish which he
said was very good. Others had tender roast piglet, chicken,
and paella. All reportedly good.
A taxi to the pier the next morning cost 30 Euro with tip
for four of us. We were at the pier by 11:30AM and there
were no lines yet. We were checked in and on the ship in 10
minutes. Note: Check your heavier luggage with a porter. The
gangway to get on the ship is long, and the last part is
very steep. This can be challenging when carrying too much
luggage, or for elderly people.
The Ship - BRILLIANCE OF
THE SEAS - The Brilliance is a Royal Caribbean Radiance
class ship. She came out in 2002 and is 90,000 ton. Smaller,
at half the size of the new Mega ships Royal Caribbean is
producing. Two unique features this class of ship is known
for are the self-leveling pool tables, and lots of glass for
viewing throughout the ship. The glass elevators on the side
of the ship did indeed provide for a nice view. I had an
outside cabin 3070. I found this to be a great location.
It's close to elevators, but It sits down the hall far
enough that you don't hear any noise coming from activities
in the Centrum area. The ship is very easy to maneuver. The
main dining rooms are on decks 4 & 5. The majority of public
places are on decks 5, 6, and 11. The Schooner Bar and
Colony Club are a beautiful area on this ship. The rich dark
wood look adds an elegance to the ship. The pool tables can
be found between the Schooner Bar and Colony Club. The two
pay restaurants; Chops and Portofino's are adjacent to the
Schooner Bar. Up on deck 11 you'll find the Windjammer
lounge, main pool, and the Solarium pool area. On this
cruise the Windjammer and Solarium often seemed busy. While
the weather averaged in the 60's it was still too cool for
most people to spend a lot of time by the main pool area.
Especially when the ship was sailing the winds made the
temperature by the main pool even cooler. Some brave soles
took advantage of the sunshine during the day though. I
preferred the beautiful India themed solarium where the
retractable roof stayed closed, and I stayed warm and
toasty. Another of my favorite areas is the signature Viking
Crown Lounge up on deck 13. Sweeping views from it's glass
windows make for a great place to sit when leaving a port.
The lounge was used for the Diamond member nightly event.
The lounge takes on a different ambiance at night. On this
cruise the nightly Diamond event was often under used. I
enjoyed the quietness as I sipped wine and watched the waves
from the wake of the ship.
The ship has a cinema on deck 6 which showed several movies
each day. One show each day was in Spanish. The movies were
repeated several times through out the 12-night cruise. The
casino was large and offered all the normal games including
poker. It seldom seemed busy whenever I walked through it.
There was a wide array of activities planned everyday. Some
were the usual activities of spa talks, Bingo, art auction,
Newly Wed game, trivia, and towel folding. Unique to this
cruise was lecture talks on Egypt and another called
"Looking at the View", a slide show of beautiful places
mostly in Italy. The main entertainment each evening varied
from singers, comedians, and illusionists. They didn't have
big production shows on this particular cruise. I was
informed it was because the ship would soon be changing
itineraries for the winter and the production show people
were in between contracts.
DINING- I chose My Time
Dining for this cruise. I enjoyed the flexibility. Normally,
I am one that likes fixed dining with the same waiter and
table. However; you can make reservations each night for the
same waiter and table with My Time Dining. Reservations are
highly recommended. Without them, you may have a wait. You
can request tables for two or a shared table. The food was
superb on the Brilliance. The main dining room food was
good, and steaks cooked as requested. The food in the
Windjammer Cafe has a wide variety and is very good. In
fact; it is so good that I ate several dinners up in the
Windjammer. The Windjammer has most of the dinner entrees
that the main dining room offers. Some new things I enjoyed
about dinner in the Windjammer was they offered a Make Your
Own pizza and on a couple nights Mongolian Barbeque. The
Mongolian offered cut-up chicken, beef, and fish, along with
a variety of vegetables. Once you picked out your choices
you handed your plate to the chef who would then stir-fry
your dish and add your choice of sauce (medium, hot, very
hot). The Mongolian was very tasty. The Windjammer also had
a nice variety of desserts including sugar-free.
The Brilliance also has a Seaview Cafe up on deck 12. It is
easy to miss this extra cafe. It's small and served a
limited menu of pizza, sandwiches, and pastas complimentary.
Ice cream sundaes and malts were extra. I tried a chicken
sundried tomato sandwich which was very good.
I didn't try Chops or Portifinos at $25 and $20 per person
respectively. Their menus looked good though. They offer a
special wine and dinner paring on one night of the cruise.
This is about $57 per person and offers different wines with
each course.
CABIN - My cabin 3070 was an outside cabin with large
round window. It was adequate at 170 square feet. Twin beds
convert to a queen. There's a minibar, television, safe,
hairdryer in one of the drawers, vanity, couch and mini
table. Storage is adequate for two people and luggage can be
stored under the bed. The bathroom is still the older style
with a shower curtain instead of the glass doors like on
newer ships. My cabin attendant Marianna was very friendly.
She seemed to always be in the hallway and would always talk
to you and inquire if everything was alright.
SERVICE - The whole crew was very attentive and
friendly. Waiters in all dining areas were attentive to any
requests. The Windjammer staff was very quick in removing
your dishes and asking if you needed anything else. They
would get coffee, coke, or anything you requested.
I only had drinks in the Viking Crown lounge in the evening.
One bar waiter Eric was outstanding. He was there every
night and remembered our drinks. He was very friendly and
enjoyed talking to you about anything.
ITINERARY AND PORTS - This itinerary is outstanding.
The main highlight was seeing the Pryamids. The weather was
in the mid-high 60's and it only rained one day. We left
from Barcelona and sailed to Malta, Alexandria (overnight),
Cyprus, Rhodes, Athens, and was suppose to visit Sicily but
the port had to be missed.
Malta - A beautiful European island with Arabic influence.
All buildings on the island are made out of limestone.
Medina is a charming Old Town walled city with beautiful
cobblestone streets and narrow alley ways. Medina sits high
and you can get a great view of the island. There are
several shops with handcrafts, art, and the beautiful Medina
glass. The capital Valletta, has several museums and
cathedrals and great shopping. A short walk from the ship
you can catch the hop on/off bus to the main bus terminal,
or you can walk up hill to the main bus terminal. Then you
can switch to another bus for the ride to Medina. Directly
across from the main bus station is the entrance to shopping
in Valletta. There's a lot of walking in Malta, and streets
are cobblestone and can be uneven. Wear good shoes.
Alexandria, Egypt - The ship was docked over night.
On the first day we took a 12-hour tour to Cairo and the
Giza Pyramids. It is close to a three hour ride just to get
to Cairo. We were shocked at just how close the Pyramids are
to the city of Cairo. The Pyramids are indeed an awesome
experience. Sadly though, they have become very touristy. On
the day we visited there were many tour busses, private
cars, and hired cars. Locals were selling their wares all
over. You should use caution on those that come up and wave
stuff in front of you. You will see many camels at the
Pyramids and have an opportunity to ride one if you wish.
Also, be cautious here. There have been many people report
they were scammed on camel rides, where once they were on
the camel they had to pay much more to get off. If you are
on a tour I would stay near your guide and let them assist
you with camel rides.
Day 2 in Egypt - My husband and I took the ships tour
to the World War II El Alamein Museum. We traveled about 1
1/2-2 hours from Alexandria through many of the resort
towns. This time of year they are all unoccupied. The El
Alamein is a museum dedicated to the allied forces of WWII.
We toured the museum which has many artifacts from the war.
It has separate rooms for each of the Allies. We also toured
the cemetery of each. The tour was interesting but was tour
short on time spent at the museum.
Limassol, Cyprus - This was the only day it rained on
our cruise. It was cold and damp and I actually didn't do
anything in Cyprus. It was a Sunday and those that did go
into Limassol said they found some shops opened, and quaint
cafes. There is a Limassol Castle and several museums also.
Rhodes, Greece - This was my favorite stop. A short
walk from the ship you'll enter the beautiful medieval
walled city. Up and down the beautiful cobblestone streets
and alleyways you'll find shopping, and lovely cafes. At the
lovely sidewalk cafes you will find a variety of food and
drink from Gyros, Calamari, seafood, Gelato and Greek beer.
Down a small alley I found a beautiful outdoor cafe,
Socratous Garden. It had a beautiful setting surrounded by
trees and flowers and a waterfall. In Rhodes you will find
nice souvenirs like Pashima scarfs, soaps made with olive
oil, pottery, leather goods, and beautiful fur coats. A
surprise was all the cats that are allowed to run lose all
over Rhodes. The cats are beautiful, healthy, and not
bothersome. I enjoyed my day in Rhodes very much and would
definitely love to go back and see more.
Athens, Greece - Athens is about seven miles from the
cruise port at Piraeus. You can take a taxi to Athens for
around 15 -20 Euro. You can also walk to the Metro bus and
train station which would only be a few Euro. I found the
walk much longer than anticipated, and signage wasn't very
clear where the bus and train station were located. It also
wasn't the best walking conditions. I wished I had saved my
time and just took a taxi from the pier. Tell the taxi
driver to drop you off at the Plaka area. This is the area
where you can walk the cobblestone streets discovering
shopping, taverns, and narrow winding staircases. The Hard
Rock Cafe Athens is located near the Plaka. We discovered a
large park on the outskirts which had remains of ancient
ruins of Greek columns. We had a nice view of the Parthenon
at the Acropolis from the park. You can also catch glimpses
of the Acropolis from side streets in the Plaka. If you are
into climbing stairs and walking you can walk to the
Acropolis. The museum is a must see. Shopping in Athens at
the Plaka was similar to Rhodes, but I enjoyed Rhodes
shopping better. I actually think Rhodes had more selection
and better prices.
Palermo, Sicily - I was looking forward to visiting
Sicily. Unfortunately, we had to miss this port. (Note: This
is one good reason to not wait to do shopping for souvenirs.
I was glad I had bought souvenirs in Rhodes.) Evidently, the
Pilot who was to guide our ship through the channel between
mainland Italy and Sicily couldn't get on the ship due to
high waves. After several attempts he aborted the mission.
The distance from the channel to go around the island to
Palermo was too far to call on that port, and make it back
to Barcelona on time.
OVERALL - This is a great itinerary and a fabulous
ship. I would do this cruise over again and highly recommend
it.
