Brilliance of the Seas in the Med B2B Leg 1 and 2 and ship impressions. - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

Cruisinscot · 10-29-2009, 02:08 PM

Thought I'd give you a port review on the first leg.

Villefranche: Took a cab into Nice with friends (Vana and Eric) Patti, Nancy,you'll remember them. They are French Canadian so no problem with the language for us. We strolled down the Promenade Anglais and then took a site-seeing little train around the old part of the city. Walked the streets after that and had a lovely lunch then taxied back to the ship. It was a lovely sunny day.

Livorno: Stayed in Livorno and took a boat trip through the canals of the city then spent some time down-town before returning to the ship. (Saving Florence and Pisa for 2nd leg)

Civitavecchia: Went out into the countryside and visited the old town of Toscania then went to a farm which produces Olive Oil and saw the process then had a wonderful lunch with great wines.

Mykonos: What a lovely place. Bright white houses with bright blue doors and shutters. (Think Mama Mia) We walked up to the famous windmills from the middle ages then walked through town in the little narrow wyndy streets and had Gyros and Baklava. Great weather, beautiful place. We found Petros the pelican who struts all over town but he was asleep in a corner.
Kusadasi: Had a private tour to Ephesus. We got their very early before the buses and had the place to ourselves for a while. It's amazing. Such detail still visible in the ruins. In the Terrace Houses the frescos still have vivid color. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we had a fascinating day. We asked to see a mosque and got there just as the Imam was calling the people to prayer from the minaret. Bought a small rug for a wall hanging.

Santorini: another lovely place. The town of Fira is built way up on top of the cliff with 3 ways up. We tendered in and then it was donkeys or walking among the donkeys to get up there or cable car. The smell from the donkey trail was bad so we took the cable car. It's a very nice town which we walked for a while. Amazing views. Not as pretty as mykonos IMHO.

Athens: Another highlight. Took a ship tour. Did a panoramic around the city with stops along the way then we climbed all the way up to the Acropolis with a guide. Again an amazing place with so much history.

Naples: Took the ferry to Capri and then a little bus up to the very top to Ana-Capri. A pretty town with a mansion of a wealthy Swede which we toured. Amazing views. The road is a switchback and very narrow and I swear the mirrors clicked when another vehicle passed us.Sheer drops on the sea side. We came back down to Capri Town and shopped a little then took a Funicular back down to the Marina and took the ferry back. Great day.

You know about the rocky ride back into Barcelona. Thus ended the first leg.
My Signature Sheila

*Lars* · 10-29-2009, 03:33 PM

Thank you Sheila for taking the time to post your port review from your Brilliance cruise.
I am looking forward to read part. 2

Char · 10-29-2009, 03:36 PM

Thanks Sheila! We want to hear it ALL! Including the "rocky" parts.

LuLu · 10-29-2009, 06:11 PM

Thanks, Sheila!

Enjoyed Part 1 and am looking forward to Part 2!

Happy Sailing!

nealberk · 10-29-2009, 11:24 PM

Nice, Sheila. I saw the Elgin marbles in the British Museum. How does the rest of the Parthenon look?

luckybluesman · 10-30-2009, 06:22 AM

More, more, more. Thanks Lee

Cruisinscot · 10-31-2009, 12:46 AM

Here's my port review for the 2nd leg.

As you know, the ship encountered a storm and had damage on the way back to Barcelona, so we were late getting in and then we had to stay in port an extra day for repairs to be done. The result was that we had to miss Cannes which was our first port. We were told that we would possibly get there on the last sea day but that's a whole other story. The first port then became

Livorno: This time we had a private tour with 6 other people and we first went to Pisa. Yes the tower really leans. I was impressed by the white marble of the tower and the Baptistry and Cathedral. They are really beautiful. We took the obligatory "I'm holding up the tower" picture and walked around a bit. Our driver took us on a tour of the Tuscan country-side on the way to Florence. We stopped at a beautiful overlook first and then drove into Florence where we walked to and over the Ponta Vecchio and then saw some of the beauty of Florence. After lunch we went to the Academia and saw David. How impressive. The weather had changed a bit and today we were wearing jackets.

Civitavecchia: 8 people again on a tour and off we went to Rome. What a day. It's like sensory overload. Our first stop was the Colliseum and unfortunately the workers were on strike so we couldn't go in but our guide took us all the way around and explained everything about the history. From there it was one thing after another. Circus Maximus, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and many all the wonderful sights as we drove from place to place. After lunch was the highlight of the day, The Vatican. We had 2 hours with a guide in the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. I could spend days. It was totally overwhelming and unforgetable. We then spent time in the Basilica and the Square before our drive back to the port.

Naples: Again a private tour. Our driver took us to Pompei where we had a guide to take us through the ruins for 2 hours. Again an amazing experience. Our guide took us through a typical day in the life of a family in Pompei. I am amazed at how advanced they were in there way of life. We then drove up the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento where we had a marvelous lunch and spent some time in the town then on to Positano another lovely town. The views along the way were outstanding and the weather cooperated. It only rained while we were at lunch.

Venice: Wow!!!!! The sail in is unbelievable. A huge ship sailing up a narrow channel with incredible buildings on each side. We were 2 hours late arriving but for the first day we were docked right by St. Mark's Square. We docked at 2.45pm and we had a walking tour booked for 3pm. We had called to tell them we'd be late but they said they couldn't wait too long so we ran over 6 bridges into the Square. They had started out but left a representative to hustle us through the alleys to catch up which we did. Our tour was great and ended with a 30 min Gondola ride into the back canals and finally out into the Grand Canal up to the Rialto Bridge. Unbelievable dream of a lifetime. We spent some time exploring on our own and shopping then walked back to the ship. Early in the morning the ship moved to the regular mooring so we got off and took the shuttle back down the the Square for our tour of the Doges Palace and the Basilica after which we had just enough time to take the Vaporetto which is the local water bus system all the way up the Grand Canal and under the Rialto Bridge back to Piazza Roma where we got off and walked back to the ship. I love Venice!!!

Dubrovnik Croatia: A wonderful old walled city where you can walk on top of the walls all the way around. We first went out into the countryside which is quite lovely and very hilly. We heard stories about the war in 1991-92 and saw evedence of damage. We had the most wonderful lunch at a farm house which was Napalmed and totally destroyed then rebuilt. There was great food and wonderful folk music. A magical experience. Afterwards we went into the town to explore.

Corfu: Anothe Greek Island but very different from the others we saw. Not the white buildings. A different style altogether. We toured around the island and saw the Palace of Catherine of Austria who lived on the island for a while. We walked in the town and shopped a bit.

Corfu was our last port and we stayed there longer than planned because of the storms which were gathering. In order to stay away from all the storms we had to hug the coast of Italy and France for 2 days not making much speed and so we were told that Cannes would be out of the question. We limped back into Barcelona at 8pm at night instead of 5am and that caused a lot of problems with flights. We were told we could debark or stay on board. We had a Hotel booked but chose to cancel it and stay on board. Our flight was 11am so we got off early and took a cab to the airport. We had no problems at all and felt sorry for those who missed flights and were paying big bucks to re book.

We enjoyed every aspect of this wonderful adventure warts and all.

I'll give my impressions of the ship, crew and service later.
My SignatureSheila

luckybluesman · 10-31-2009, 04:37 AM

Once again I really enjoyed your report. After reading a report on Venice, written by Lars, Maria and I decided to spend 2 weeks in Venice this year. We have been ready to go back from the day we returnded home to Sweden. I am interested on first hand information on Dubrovnik. We may want to visit there and we do not drive. Can you provide more information on how you got around. Thanks in advance for your time. Your experience at the farm house is the why my wife and I love to travel. Lee

MD11F · 10-31-2009, 04:40 AM

Hi Sheila, I read about the storm and Brilliance returning late. I enjoyed reading you review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

MD11F · 10-31-2009, 04:41 AM

Again, very nice review. Thanks for telling us about your trip.