Royal Caribbean “Brilliance of the Seas”
Our cruise started on Sept. 22, 2018 leaving the port of Tampa, Florida. The beginning of our trip started out in customs with a service dog sniffing my purse and I made the mistake of petting the dog, because I love dogs, not thinking he was a service dog and not to touch him, but the officer yelled at me and looked at me like he wanted to kill me stating, “Don’t touch my dog!” “Do I come to your work and touch you?” Of course I was embarrassed and apologized immediately not thinking of the harm I must of caused this dog, but it was not a good way to start out my vacation. So to any other person who loves animals, just remember, don’t touch the service animals!
After coming aboard we grabbed some drinks, lunch, and started to relax after a long week of work and stress. Our room was available quickly and we had not problems receiving our luggage on time. We were very pleased with our room and balcony was great size compared to our cruise we took last Sept. on Carnival. Our travel agent was wonderful setting everything up for us and she left us Royal Caribbean hats on our bed which was a wonderful surprise. It really does pay to choose the right travel agent! Thanks again Judy!
We loved these hats, can’t you tell? Everyone knows they love selfies! Here are some pictures of our room and balcony, just in case you were wondering. This room was a little smaller than our last cruise cabin, but it was very clean and nice. One major problem we had was the bed was as hard as a rock and that is one of my first issues I look for when I travel, how soft is the bed and pillows? A poor night sleep is no way to vacation!
Leaving Florida we passed under the Ski way Bridge which was really exciting. Closest I’ve ever been under such a big bridge, almost felt like we wouldn’t clear it!
We felt that this ship, “Brilliance of the Seas” was a very nice boat, but we have certainly been on nicer ships. The fact that you only have two pools to choose from and they are both very small, was disappointing. The outside pool is always crowded and the inside pool is air conditioned, which is nice, but crowded as well. The ship has a nice gym looking out over the front of the boat which was nice but we didn’t feel like working out much after long days in the sun and eating too much. The food is not perfect but we enjoyed it. The main dining room of course is the place to eat the best food, we did not want to dress up every night so we chose to eat in the Windjammer which was very casual and quick when your hungry. I remember in the past while cruising that the ships always had lots of decorative foods including carved out watermelons to make you feel like you were eating someone fabulous, but now they don’t do anything elaborate. The presentation is nothing special and they rush around trying to take the dishes away when its close to time for meals to end instead of just closing the doors. I would definitely just eat in the main dining room next time and get the best food and service you’ve paid for even if you have to dress up.
The second day on board was at sea so we spent the day relaxing in the sun during the day and after dinner we spent some time in the casino, we didn’t win much, but it was a good time! Finally arrived in Grand Cayman and boarded a bus to our excursion to swim with the dolphins and stingrays. It was a short drive to our destination and we arrived on a beautiful, sunny morning eager to kiss our dolphin. We were not allowed to take our own pictures during the dolphin discovery but we bought our pictures afterwards, which are very expensive, so we just bought the whole package, which is the better deal for $140.00 US money. If you choose to buy just one, and who can do that, it will cost you $38.00 for each picture. We did take our own pictures on the stingray part of the tour but we bought their pictures as well.
This experience was amazing. You won’t ever get up and personal with a dolphin or stingray like this. The dolphin was so cute and sweet, as well as, strong. Our dophin was named “Cappi” and he loved attention. He was so strong pulling us and pushing us through the water. It was a little scary to be pushed by a dolphin but I left feeling like I should have looked more into the career of Marine specialist! We love the Caribbean! The experience only costs $99.00 per person and then of course your pictures are extra but the crew at Dolphin Discovery and the boat crew to Stingray City were very nice and accommodating. We would definitely go back to Grand Cayman. Great shopping but you need more time if your doing an excursion like we did. On a cruise you need more time in port than you get, so if you plan to shop or see the town, you will need more than 8 hours in port.
Back on board we got ready for dinner and some more fun!
We arrived the next morning in wonderful Cozumel, Mexico. So excited to arrive and walk through all the shops. We couldn’t shop too long because again we had an excursion to get to! This time we chose to spend our day on the beautiful beach in Cozumel. We decided to go to Mr. Sanchos which is a tropical private getaway you must try to visit if you go to Cozumel. We pulled into the tropical driveway greeted by smiling faces and welcomes. We purchased the all-inclusive package for $60.00 each and were able to get all the drinks and food we wanted all day. The non motorized toys were included, but we never really use the kayaks or boards, so we rented a jet ski instead and rode horses on beach! These were extra of course but were not expensive. We rode the horses for $30.00 each and the waverunner was 55.00 for half hour and was a three seater. We had a great time here at Mr. Sanchos. The staff were wonderful, especially our guy “Francisco”. There are two large pools with swim up bars, swings to sit on while you sit at the bar outside of the pool, hammocks to relax in, massages on the beach, plenty of lounge chairs, tropical trees everywhere, clean bathrooms, lockers to keep your valuables in, and a aquatic playground as well. Our waiter took great care of us all day, remembering all our drinks, food, and bringing us drinks right into the water if we asked him too. The water was so clear and cool. We spent the whole day here, received a great picture from the photographer who took our picture while riding the horses. We got great video as well. We ended our day shopping, which I will tell you to bring alot of money because they have great deals, rare finds, and no tax! I will be going back next year with more money to shop for sure!
Back on board we relaxed for awhile before more drinks and dinner again. You just keep eating on a cruise and more pictures, lol.
We had a great time on this vacation and look forward to our next vacation planned for Big Sky, Montana!!! Keep checking back to see more of our adventures. Leave us a comment if you like our blog. Love to hear what you think! Happy Travels…
Weekend Getaway Travel Company 