Thread: Transatlantic Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas

just discovered this site today and I've enjoyed reading many of your comments.We have booked a transatlantic cruise on Brilliance of the Seas at the end of April and are we excited! Our son is in Iraq and this is how we will celebrate his homecoming!!:headbang2 We have never cruised on RCI and certainly never done a cruise this long - do any of you have any hints on what six days in a row at sea are like? When will RCI tell us about formal nights, etc. so we know what to pack? What about weather on a transatlantic crossing the end of April beginning of May? Since school is still in session at this time, will this be an older crowd and our son is going to be totally bored (I hope not!!!). I'm disturbed by the "no booze in your room" comments. We could go bankrupt paying cruise ship prices for 13 days!

Thanks for your comments and advice.

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Past Cruises: Ocean Princess 7-day Alaskan Cruise August 2000; 7- day Western Caribbean NCL Norwegian Dream April 1998, 7- day Eastern Caribbean - NCL Starward 1992
Future Cruises: Transatlantic respositioning cruise - Brilliance of the Seas April 2005.

Wow! Transatlantic is something I've always wanted to do!

Since you're doing the transatlantic in April, you'll be on Brilliance just before I will in July for a Med/Greek Isles cruise.

Let me tell you that on RCI, you're never ever bored. I'm 25 and I've had more fun on RCI cruises than on any other cruise line! There's always something to do and tons of activities! You're son won't be bored!

As for formal nights, you don't get a schedule of when those days occur. All RCI will tell you is how many there will be on your cruise. You could perhaps call their Customer Service and ask them if they could tell you exactly what days those formal nights are. They might be able to tell you.

Buffy

Welcome to CLF..............

Let me try and answer a few of your questions............normally the schedule for formal nights won't change........you need to find someone on the boards who has taken this transatlantic crossing before and they can tell you which nights are formal nights. The Brilliance has done this transatlantic for the last 2 years or so...........so if you can find someone who has done it, then chances are you will know with 90% certanty........

Yes it will be an older crowd that time of year. To be honest, I doubt you will find 40 kids on the ship for the transatlantic..........but if you son is in Iraq and you are celebrating.........he should be old enough to enjoy ALL the activities you will find on this cruise. Still I would bet your average age for this cruise will be 60+..........but don't let that concern you.

Welcome to CLF and don't forget to start a roll call for your cruise in the RC roll call section and you might ask some questions in the general RC section of these boards.

Jim

Thanks for your thoughts. All our son really wants to do is lie on a chaise lounge and every now and then raise a finger and somebody will bring him a beer - so I don't think the lack of activity or young people will bug him too much. We'll try not to harm the ship before we turn it over to you for your Greek Isles cruise!

I am sure that your son will love the cruise.

Are you guys planning on doing any post cruise time in Barcelona?

buffyr, you couldn't have picked a better ship to sail on. I'm sure you will enjoy the whole experience, and your son should be able to get a beer or two.

Yes, we are. Do you have any hints? We want to spend a week and work our way back to Lisbon and fly home from there. Actually, my husband will probably go on to Paris for business and Adam will go with him. Poor me, I'll go home and back to work. :thumbsdow The ship is only in port in Lisbon about five hours and we have always wanted to go there so we will use this chance to go back for a better look. We also want to see Spain and this seems like a good chance. We have been to northern Spain - so a southern route to Portugal seems like the plan of the moment. We haven't decided yet whether we want to rent a car or take trains. Of course I'm worried about all the clothes we will have to take on the cruise and lugging them around on land. I would pack very differently for a driving or train trip (only the bare essentials) then I will for a cruise where we will be dressing up and not having to unpack and repack.

Thoughts about the land excursions are also appreciated. Planning this type of trip is great therapy and takes our minds off the worries around having a son fighting a war.

Buffy

Its so great that you are planning this for your son after all that he has done for our country! I really have great admiration for your son and our fellow soldiers.

Anyhow, I am planning only to do a 1 day pre cruise stay in Bareclona. Unfortunately, I have limted time off of work and 1 day pre cruise is all I can fit in after a 12 day cruise!

I am thinking of booking at the Hotel Continental Las Ramblas. I've heard a lot of reviews on the hotel. Its right in the heart of the city on Las Ramblas and right near Placa Catalunya which is the transpo hub. Its more an economy hotel for those who don't want to spend too much money on a hotel. They recently added air conditioning this year. They have free breakfast, plus 24 hour snack bar and all bottled water and drinks are free as well as free internet connection. They also have a sister hotel not too far away that is supposed to be nicer, but of course costs more.

I've also heard good things about the AC Dimplomatic hotel and the Hotel Atrium, both hotels which RCI uses for pre and post cruise stays for their guests.

As for the land excursion part, I can't really help you out there as I've never been to Spain or Portugal before.

what other ports are included on your cruise? How long is it?

It's 13 days! We stop at Funchal (Madeira), Lisbon, Malaga, Spain, Villefranche sur Mer (Nice), France, and Barcelona. We've never been to any of these ports so the combination of new things to see and lots of days at sea makes it ideal.

Where do you go on your cruise?

Wow that sounds nice! Do you leave from FLL? Doing any pre-cruise time there?

Where in AZ do you live?

I've been to Europe before, but not any of the places on my upcoming cruise.

We start and end in Barcelona
Ajaccio, Corsica
Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
Mykonos, Greece
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Santorini, Greece
Naples, Italy
Villefrance (Nice), France

It looks like we have one port in common in Villefranche. What are your plans there?