Did anyone go to the royal Caribbean cruise brilliance of the sea from Barcelona?need to know more about it?

Question

Did anyone go to the royal Caribbean cruise brilliance of the sea from Barcelona?need to know more about it?

Answer 1

Last year i went on Royal caribbean Voyager of the seas from Barcelona. Royal Caribbean ships are of a very high standard, the food is great, so is the entertainment. You'll have a blast! If those are the same destinations as we went to, they are all great as well! My only tip would be not to try and do the whole of Rome in one day like we did!

Answer 2

I answered your tips question above with most of this.

We cruised the Mediterranean on the Brilliance a couple years ago. Its a beautiful ship and my favorite, along with its three sister ships the Jewel, Serenade, and Radiance of the Seas ships.

When we cruised on the Radiance we did a 12 day cruise and it was rather tiring because there were parts of the tour when there was a port stop each day. But after you fly all that way you don't want to miss all of the historical things to see, especially Rome. I am not sure which port stops you will have but I'll tell you about the ones we did just so you know.

Our first stop was Nice/Monte Carlo and we did a tour that went first to a Medieval city of Eze, then to Monte Carlo and a casino and changing of the guard at the royal palace. That was nice but not a must do. If you go to where the Monte Carlo Casinos are it cost $10 a person to go in and you cannot take cameras and things in and its really not worth the price to see. There are much better casinos all over the US. the city of Nice was OK but you can really see that on your own from the ship rather than a tour.

Our next stop was Florence/Pisa and we did a tour of both cities. It was quick but I did not want to miss the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You really need a tour from the ship or on your own to see these.

Rome was our next stop and it is a good hour or more from the port city of Civitavechhia. So its not advisable to do Rome on your own, unless you goon the ship's tour that lets you do it any way you want. They drop you at a point in the city in the morning and then pick you up there later in the afternoon. We took a tour that went to the Vatican City and the Colosseum, plus lunch in an Italian restaurant. It was very nice; its should be in your book of tours. Our tour got to Rome later because of a traffic accident on the highway and then we got caught in traffic headed back to the ship and were an hour late. Good thing we were on a ship sponsored tour.

Mykonos is a beautiful place (if you go there) and you don't really need a tour. Just explore the town on your own. Same with Santorini. We did a tour that included a stop at a winery but it wasn't that great.  On hind sight we could have just taken the tram up to the city and walked around the city.

In Athens we did a city tour that included the Acropolis. The Acropolis is a must but be prepared to walk up steep hills.  We  saw the city and the Olympic stadium but that was kinda passe.

Kusudasi (Ephesus) is a must and worth the tour. You have to do a tour as its a good ways from the port. We had a great tour guide. We did the tour that included lunch at a Turkish restaurant and that was nice.

In Naples we did a tour that went to Pompeii and to Sorrento to a lemon and Olive farm. The Pompeii part was great but not the lemon/olive farm. If you can do just Pompeii, skip the other.

Here's some advice from an experienced cruiser. First, check in at the cruise ports goes like this.

I have cruised out of Barcelona twice.   In Barcelona the cruise port is right downtown; your cab/bus will have to go across a bridge to get to it so you cannot walk it. The port is about 30 to 40 minutes from the airport. Its a really nice port and RC has a nice procedure for getting you on the ship quickly.

Don't forget to print your Set Sail Passes as they check them first to be sure you are to sail at that date and time. You are supposed to print it off on your printer at home and bring it with you (one for each person in your cabin).

Then you get in line to go to a window to have your passport and other paperwork checked and to give your credit card so they can set up your on board cruise account. All transactions on ship are cashless. Everything you buy on ship goes on the cruise account established for you at checkin. You will need cash for things you buy off the ship in port stops, unless you use your credit card, but no cash on ship except to gamble in the casino.

Then the cruise lines take your photo at the check in desk; its embedded in the magnetic strip on your card. Then they issue you your cruise card which serves as your room key, pass to get off and on the ship in ports and your charge card for everything you buy on ship.

Then you and all of your carry on things (including handbags, camera, cell phone, and all packages) go through a scanner just like at the airport. Everything you are carrying goes on a belt to go through an X-ray machine, just like at the airport.  

When you clear the scanner/x-ray machine you head to the gangway and put your card in the scanner to get on the ship.

As soon as you get on ship there will be lunch available in the Windjammer Cafe (its on the rear of the ship up top), so go eat and then you can explore the ship. You can also get in the pool and hot tubs if you brings swim wear in your carry-on.

You do have to watch out for pickpockets  in Barcelona and in Italy's port stops.  You have to  be careful both when you are on your own and also when you are on tours/ with tour groups.  Sometimes the pickpockets will try to disguise themselves as tourist by walking around with a camera hanging around their neck.  DO NOT give the gypsies any money; if you give to one others will show up.  They will also pick your pockets.

Both times that we cruised out of Barcelona we flew in a day early so we could rest up, adjust to the time difference and mostly so we would not have to worry about a flight delay or a missed flight.

Since Spain, Italy and Greece all use the Euro its a good idea to purchase some before you leave home (we ordered ours from our bank; took about 3 days).  You will need Euros for the taxi to the hotel or port and you will use them in each city that you visit.  If you go to Ephesus the markets there will take them (and US dollars) so there's no need to get Turkish currency.  The purser's desk on ship has some currency but it can run out.  If you have an ATM card you can get Euros from the ATM but I suggest using it only at a bank (not a streetside or shopping mall ATM) and then only as a last resort.

Answer 3

My best tip whilist in Barcelona is buy the T10 travel card available at any subway station. About 7 euros but allows up to 10 journeys train and/or bus. Great value for money!

Check out this website

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/

Answer 4

I haven't but i saw a cruise special on the travel channel about it. Samantha Brown's 1st cruise! It looked very nice. Royal Caribbean is the BEST cruise line!! They have such nice staff and there are so many fun activities to do! Brilliance is a nice ship and the ports looked beautiful! If you need more information go to www.royalcaribbean.com and look it up. Their website is very helpful and full of info. have fun!!