“The sea is calling and I must go.”
The day to start our cruise to Grand Cayman and Mexico on Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas was finally here.
Getting to the Port
Our hotel offered free breakfast so we ate a light breakfast and then used the Lyft app to call for a car. Because there were 4 of us and 7 suitcases, we needed a bit bigger vehicle. For those who haven’t used Lyft, it is very similar to Uber. You use your phone and enter your current location and where you want to go and it gives you a price for the trip and drivers available. You select the one you want and it notifies them to come to pick you up. It is sort of like having a personal taxi service.
It took about 20 minutes to get to the ship and we were anxious to get on the ship and explore.
Boarding the Ship
In the picture above we are getting ready to board the ship. The cruise line has photographers available to take pictures throughout the cruise.
It was my son and his girlfriend’s first cruise. So they were both excited.
Exploring The Ship
Because people had just got off the ship a few hours before, staterooms were not ready at 11. So we took some time to explore the ship.
We ate lunch in the Windjammer where they served a buffet of just about everything you can imagine from burgers and fries to chicken, spaghetti, salads, roast beef, more side dishes than you can imagine, fruits, and lots of desserts.
Our Rooms
After lunch, we explored more. We played a round of miniature golf. The mini golf was on the 13th deck of the ship.)
Around 1:30 PM our staterooms were available and we went to check them out.
A bottle of Champagne was waiting for us in our stateroom. Thank you, AAA for remembering us.
We took some time to unpack and get settled.
Sail Away
Around 4 the ship departed the port and we were on deck to watch.
We had some free time to relax and get ready for dinner.
Dinner
Dinner was served in the Minstrel Dining Room.
They have two dinner seatings 5:30 and 8 PM. We chose the 8 o’clock dinner.
Carlos and Edwin were our servers. They were wonderful.
Here we are at dinner the first evening.
Mike and Robin
After dinner, we visited the Centrum, (Center of the ship area where there is entertainment and a dance floor.) They had karaoke going on so we watched for a while and then moved on the Piano Bar to listen to music.
Other Cruise Posts
Some other posts you might enjoy about our cruise:
Our Brilliance of the Seas Cruise – January 2019
Boarding the Ship – Cruise Day 1