Brilliance of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We were part of a 75-person group from our church, and everything went smoothly. We were booked on different flights, excursions, etc., and RCI did a great job handling this.
Our ports of call and excursions were: Barcelona, Cannes (Monaco and Monte Carlo), La Spezia (Cinque Terre), Civitavecchia (Rome and the Vatican), Piraeus (Acropolis and New Acropolis Museum), Mykonos (on our own), Santorini (Akrotiri and Oia Village), and Valletta, Malta (Grand Malta Highlights). Our favorites were Monaco, Cinque Terre, and Malta.
This cruise was October 28 to November 9, which was the last cruise of the season. Brilliance was next re-positioning to Tampa Bay. I think the ship was not fully booked because nothing was ever terribly packed. Very few kids on this cruise due to the time of year. The weather was mid-60s most days which made for great touring, but it was a little chilly and choppy on sea days. If you're not a fan of the heat and don't mind throwing on a jacket or ducking from a stray shower once in a while, this is a fabulous time of year to travel the Mediterranean.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
The staterooms are pretty typical, with two 110 outlets, hair dryer, and safe. There is a cooler (not a refrigerator!). Bathrooms have soap bars and shampoo dispenser. The showers in the locker room have nicer body wash and shampoo/conditioner combo.Our stateroom was 8518. This stateroom has a door adjoining the room next door, and my only complaint is that on a rough sea night, the door caused quite a bit of creaking noise. I would try to not book a room with an adjoining door again. Also, the other side of the ship would have probably afforded better coastline views for the travel from Barcelona to Santorini.
Port Reviews
Cannes
Monaco is incredibly charming and clean. Highly recommend.
La Spezia (Cinque Terre)
If you haven't seen Cinque Terre, go. It's a long bus ride into Florence from La Spezia and you will see some amazing Italian coastline and countryside on this excursion.
Barcelona
We arrived in Barcelona the day Catalonia voted for independence, so essentially the entire city was in party mode! Beautiful city and I'd like to go back.
Athens (Piraeus)
You have to see the Acropolis and Parthenon. Athens is an interesting city, but suffers from size and graffiti (similar to Rome).
Mykonos
Mykonos village is so quaint and was easy to walk through the alleys and streets, see the windmills, etc. Too many junky souvenir shops. Go to Gioras Wood Medieval Mykonian Bakery and have baklava. Greece was the first place we saw craft beer, so sample the local brew!
Malta (Valletta)
Grand Malta Highlights took us to Valletta, Mdina, Golden Bay, Tarxien Temples. Absolutely loved Malta.