Here is my review of our cruise on Brilliance of the Seas Eastern Med itinerary.

We had good flights on Easyjet from Bristol arranged by RCI ...We saw a rep at Bristol airport and were met by others at Barcelona who put us on the coach to the port which was about half an hour away.  There was a queue for security at the port but once through there it was an easy check in as we had done most of it online beforehand.  We bought 6 x 2 litre bottles of water from the Duty Free shop to carry on and there was no problem with this.  It was a little confusing as we boarded (it was 2.30pm)...no-one told us if we could go to our cabin or if there was food available, etc. There was lots of activity in the atrium (or Centrum as they call it) but no-one obvious to ask.  Anyway eventually I found someone who said we could go to our cabin...so we found our own way to our cabin (balcony on Deck 9 forward) and we were quite pleased with it...much the same as other lines..balcony with two chairs and small table...there was a kettle but only paper cups (we fetched two plastic mugs from the Windjammer later and kept in the cupboard!) The luggage arrived around 4.00p.m. and we had dinner at 6.00 pm (a fairly early first sitting) there is 'my Time Dining' available which means you can dine when you like.
We explored the ship after a very good nights sleep and must say that the decor and soft furnishings throughout the ship are superb and stylish.  the favourite spot on this particular cruise seemed to be the Solarium which is like a conservatory with plants and steamer chairs with a swimming pool in the centre..it has a glass roof and was pleasantly warm for the whole cruise.  the food in the main dining room and the Windjammer self service was excellent with plenty of choice for all tastes.   We felt the price of drinks was extortionate....we bought two (not large) glasses of house wine at dinner on the first night which costs 14.99 dollars (about œ10)...so the rest of the cruise was tee total for us!!  We were on a table for 10 and only two people had wine each evening..the entertainment was very mixed with our favourite being a string quartet 'Graffiti classics' who played pop classics with a twist ...very funny and excellent musicians.  The ships entertainers put on three shows over the 11 nights which were mediocre and in my opinion amateurish.  there was an Italian singer another night who was quite good, a pianist on another and David Copperfield, comedian who used to be with Tracey Ullman in 'Three of a Kind' on TV, who was excellent, a female opera singer did a show and was good but not our cup of tea.  A close second favourite was a Motown group Soul Satisfaction who were brilliant and had everyone clapping, cheering and dancing...the Cruise Director was English and called Gordon, was quite funny and a good singer!! there appeared to be plenty of deck space to sunbathe should the weather allow....we actually did not have much chance to enjoy the sunshine because there was very little!!! but the promenade deck is quite wide so one could sit there without blocking the way for walkers!  We thought the shops were disappointing and expensive..of course the exchange rate is not good at present. the ports of call were a good mix....Palermo, Sicily where it rained...we did go into the town to explore but got fed up with the rain and drivers so after a spot of photo taking we came back on board.  The following day at sea was quite pleasant and we sat in warm sun for a while..Piraeus was very cold (6 degs) with a biting wind...we've done Athens and Piraeus before so walked around the front for about half and hour and then back again inland a block!  Next day was Rhodes still windy and chilly but sunny so we walked into the old town and explored and then into the new town, we've been here before but there's lots to see.Limassol, Cyprus was next where we did a trip to Roman ruins and a temple and then to a mountain village which was freezing!  But it stayed dry thank goodness.  Alexandria was the next port of call where most of the passengers went off to Cairo (there had been a bomb blast the previous day)  this was our third visit to Alexandria so we stayed on board and just wandered down to the row of shops/stalls on the quayside and did a spot of bartering !!  It was possible to walk over the flyover to some shops but from all accounts it was not really worth the bother!!  We enjoyed the ship to ourselves nearly!!   the next day at sea was cold and cloudy with rain p.m. We went to a lecture on Malta which was interesting.  The sea was very rough during the night and according to the ships weather report the wind was force 10 at one stage!!  I did take a Stugeron (just in case) for only the second time in 12 cruises !!! but actually even though we were on Deck 9 and quite forward...it was a comfortable ride.  next day was Malta where we did a trip to Mdina as we've done Valetta before...it poured with rain the whole time and we were late back to the ship and then had to stand in line to board with no shelter!!  Last sea day was warmer (13 degs) sunny, and calm after a choppy night then of course when we arrived back in Barcelona it was a brilliant blue sky and warm sunshine!!!  We did enjoy this cruise in spite of the weather and thought the ship was lovely...however there didn't seem to be much going on during the 4 sea days when we were confined to the inside because of the weather...perhaps they could have booked a guest speaker or two !