< Continued from page 1
The presentation of the shish kabob was outstanding. They were presented hanging on a chain. Having all six of these hanging shish kabobs brought to the table made quite an esthetic impression. The lobster was fantastic as was all of the food. The desserts were decadent and worth saving room for. Note: The gratuity for Portifino was automatically added to the bill. This was our favorite meal of the cruise.
My wife really didn't want to try the Portifino, but even she was glad that we had. Breaking up the routine of the Minstrel every night was a nice treat.
Next to Portifino and Chops was the Schooner Bar. It was here that I spent my fifth night. This nautically-themed bar offered a full selection of spirits, beer, beer on tap, and champagne. Large models of schooners, some six-feet long, decorated the bar. Every night piano music was played in the Schooner. This music tended to go a little later than the Hollywood Odyssey and certainly started much earlier. On sea days, the first set started as early as 5:30 p.m. Some nights there were sing-alongs as well. Sing-alongs were not to my taste, but I did experience one on a subsequent night; I must confess, everyone seemed to have a great time.
On this first evening Pete Thompson played the piano. Mr. Thompson created a festive mood any time that I heard him play. The atmosphere in the Schooner was a little louder and the music more up-tempo than the Hollywood Odyssey.
The Schooner Bar was a great place to hang out; however, it did have one flaw. It was located in a thoroughfare between the colony club and points forward. The result was people were always briskly walking right through the middle of the bar. When an event was beginning in the Colony Club, the number of people moving through the Schooner Bar could be disquieting. Despite the ergonomic flaw, a nice night was enjoyed at the Schooner Bar on the way to day six and the Mykonos.
While cruising to the Mykonos, clocks went forward one hour. Individuals with excursions who forgot to change their clocks missed their excursions. This raises the question," Excursion or not at the Mykonos?" In the end we chose not to book an excursion, and we were quite happy with our decision. This was a tender port. Some reviews have stated that once passengers land they must take a shuttle to the town. This was not the case for our cruise. Our tender landed right at the town. We were in shops sixty seconds after landing. The town was really an attraction unto itself. A blue and white theme dominated everything. Wonderful cafes were abundant. After shopping, we settled into an open-air café with a roof made of flower-adorned lattice. We sat down at 2:30 p.m. and finished at 6:00 p.m. (this was not cutting it close as the ship did not leave until 9:00 p.m.). Beer, Greek breads, mushrooms, and Greek pastas satisfied our culinary needs. Leaving plenty of time for café dining saved us from becoming angry tourists. Note: If after looking at the town visitors wanted to see more of the island, cars and scooters were readily available for rent. I noticed a price of 4 Euro for a two-hour scooter rental.
Dinner after the Mykonos was casual. However, from about day six on the number of people dining in the Minstrel declined, except on formal nights. Entrees included cheese tortelloni in a light blue cheese sauce, orange lime salmon, thyme and garlic lamb t-bones, risotto primavera, and grilled pork chop. I opted for the tortelloni. As a Blue cheese lover I found this a wonderful change from a regular cream sauce or marinara. Unfortunately, it was flavorful enough that non-blue cheese lovers probably could not enjoy it. The sad reality was it was about this point we started to eat all of the desserts. Here was what was on the menu (we ate all of it, and it was all good): black forest mousse, dulce de leche cheesecake, flavored baked Alaska, and low-fat Washington apple cobbler; the low-fat in the name was just a cruel joke.
Following dinner, we attempted to work off some calories by strolling on the upper decks. The Brilliance had many outside and windowed areas that were perfect for strolling. The velocity of the wind on the top decks became surprisingly powerful. It was very easy to see how an intoxicated person could have gone overboard in the strong winds. Winds that night were 25 mph +, when combined with the ship's speed, gusts of 50mph were occurring frequently. Royal Caribbean could have aided in passenger safety by posting wind warnings on deck 12.
After our stroll, we went to the Pacifica Theater (the primary entertainment venue on the ship) to enjoy a show titled "Big Time Swing." The house dancers and singers provided all the music and dancing. They did a good job for a ship's band. In the past it has been very easy for reviewers to criticize shipboard entertainment, but the musicians were professionals and provided a nice hour of entertainment. My wife and I sat in the balcony every night we went to the Pacifica. The most forward balcony seats looked right down on the stage, which seems to be a small secret as almost nobody sat in the balcony. Additionally, at the beginning of most performances, a bar waiter took orders in the balcony.
Day seven found us at the port of Kusadasi, Turkey. The wharf was within easy walking distance of the primary shopping area as well as Pigeon Island. We chose an excursion that took us to the Roman ruins at Ephesus. Our driver spoke good, if not great, English. Ephesus was so large that a four-hour excursion only allowed enough time to hit the highlights; these included the library, amphitheatre and a small portion of the residential section. A short reenactment greeted visitors before entering the actual ruins. The reenactment was not well done and stole time from visiting the ruins themselves. When we were given fifteen minutes on our own, we made our way into several homes in which floor mosaics were still extant. In one home a small bowel was still on the floor. Almost total access was granted to the ruins, which was great for tourists, although probably not for the preservation of the site.
Part 2 - Page 3 > > More Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review > >
The presentation of the shish kabob was outstanding. They were presented hanging on a chain. Having all six of these hanging shish kabobs brought to the table made quite an esthetic impression. The lobster was fantastic as was all of the food. The desserts were decadent and worth saving room for. Note: The gratuity for Portifino was automatically added to the bill. This was our favorite meal of the cruise.
My wife really didn't want to try the Portifino, but even she was glad that we had. Breaking up the routine of the Minstrel every night was a nice treat.
Next to Portifino and Chops was the Schooner Bar. It was here that I spent my fifth night. This nautically-themed bar offered a full selection of spirits, beer, beer on tap, and champagne. Large models of schooners, some six-feet long, decorated the bar. Every night piano music was played in the Schooner. This music tended to go a little later than the Hollywood Odyssey and certainly started much earlier. On sea days, the first set started as early as 5:30 p.m. Some nights there were sing-alongs as well. Sing-alongs were not to my taste, but I did experience one on a subsequent night; I must confess, everyone seemed to have a great time.
On this first evening Pete Thompson played the piano. Mr. Thompson created a festive mood any time that I heard him play. The atmosphere in the Schooner was a little louder and the music more up-tempo than the Hollywood Odyssey.
The Schooner Bar was a great place to hang out; however, it did have one flaw. It was located in a thoroughfare between the colony club and points forward. The result was people were always briskly walking right through the middle of the bar. When an event was beginning in the Colony Club, the number of people moving through the Schooner Bar could be disquieting. Despite the ergonomic flaw, a nice night was enjoyed at the Schooner Bar on the way to day six and the Mykonos.
While cruising to the Mykonos, clocks went forward one hour. Individuals with excursions who forgot to change their clocks missed their excursions. This raises the question," Excursion or not at the Mykonos?" In the end we chose not to book an excursion, and we were quite happy with our decision. This was a tender port. Some reviews have stated that once passengers land they must take a shuttle to the town. This was not the case for our cruise. Our tender landed right at the town. We were in shops sixty seconds after landing. The town was really an attraction unto itself. A blue and white theme dominated everything. Wonderful cafes were abundant. After shopping, we settled into an open-air café with a roof made of flower-adorned lattice. We sat down at 2:30 p.m. and finished at 6:00 p.m. (this was not cutting it close as the ship did not leave until 9:00 p.m.). Beer, Greek breads, mushrooms, and Greek pastas satisfied our culinary needs. Leaving plenty of time for café dining saved us from becoming angry tourists. Note: If after looking at the town visitors wanted to see more of the island, cars and scooters were readily available for rent. I noticed a price of 4 Euro for a two-hour scooter rental.
Dinner after the Mykonos was casual. However, from about day six on the number of people dining in the Minstrel declined, except on formal nights. Entrees included cheese tortelloni in a light blue cheese sauce, orange lime salmon, thyme and garlic lamb t-bones, risotto primavera, and grilled pork chop. I opted for the tortelloni. As a Blue cheese lover I found this a wonderful change from a regular cream sauce or marinara. Unfortunately, it was flavorful enough that non-blue cheese lovers probably could not enjoy it. The sad reality was it was about this point we started to eat all of the desserts. Here was what was on the menu (we ate all of it, and it was all good): black forest mousse, dulce de leche cheesecake, flavored baked Alaska, and low-fat Washington apple cobbler; the low-fat in the name was just a cruel joke.
Following dinner, we attempted to work off some calories by strolling on the upper decks. The Brilliance had many outside and windowed areas that were perfect for strolling. The velocity of the wind on the top decks became surprisingly powerful. It was very easy to see how an intoxicated person could have gone overboard in the strong winds. Winds that night were 25 mph +, when combined with the ship's speed, gusts of 50mph were occurring frequently. Royal Caribbean could have aided in passenger safety by posting wind warnings on deck 12.
After our stroll, we went to the Pacifica Theater (the primary entertainment venue on the ship) to enjoy a show titled "Big Time Swing." The house dancers and singers provided all the music and dancing. They did a good job for a ship's band. In the past it has been very easy for reviewers to criticize shipboard entertainment, but the musicians were professionals and provided a nice hour of entertainment. My wife and I sat in the balcony every night we went to the Pacifica. The most forward balcony seats looked right down on the stage, which seems to be a small secret as almost nobody sat in the balcony. Additionally, at the beginning of most performances, a bar waiter took orders in the balcony.
Day seven found us at the port of Kusadasi, Turkey. The wharf was within easy walking distance of the primary shopping area as well as Pigeon Island. We chose an excursion that took us to the Roman ruins at Ephesus. Our driver spoke good, if not great, English. Ephesus was so large that a four-hour excursion only allowed enough time to hit the highlights; these included the library, amphitheatre and a small portion of the residential section. A short reenactment greeted visitors before entering the actual ruins. The reenactment was not well done and stole time from visiting the ruins themselves. When we were given fifteen minutes on our own, we made our way into several homes in which floor mosaics were still extant. In one home a small bowel was still on the floor. Almost total access was granted to the ruins, which was great for tourists, although probably not for the preservation of the site.
Part 2 - Page 3 > > More Brilliance of the Seas Cruise Review > >
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