We sailed on the Brilliance 12/28 for a New Year Eve cruise and really enjoyed it. It is a smaller ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet but it didn't seem like it. It had great amenities and entertainment onboard and all were easy to get to since the ship was not massive. We took the stairs most of the time.
We stayed in a balcony on deck 10, just below the adult swimming pool and right near the FWD elevator. I was nervous that it would be noisy but to my surprise, it was not. I could hear water noises above us from the pool in our bathroom but it was faint and nothing to complain about. Traffic from the elevator was quite too.
I enjoyed the layout of the casino. It has a nice selection of slot machines and the tables were nice and spread out, not too crowded when sitting at them. The only thing I did not like about the casino was the smoke. I do not mind cigarette smoke at all but it was VERY bad on the first few days. They are aware of the problem and they have air purifiers at the end of several groups of slots to clear the air. There is a small non-smoking section that was not as bad. The casino host Gabriella was amazing and attended to us when we had questions. The staff at the casino bar was great too! The cruise was packed since it was a holiday and they were quick to take and fulfill drink orders.
Great 5-day cruise out of Tampa!