I was on the Radiance a year ago, a sister ship to Brilliance. It was my first cruise, and I had a blast! We went to Alaska.

We gave our tip in cash, as we had made up envelopes before we departed with the correct amount. I'm going to be on the Brilliance on a cruise next year, and I think I'm just going to charge the tips to my credit card. It's a 12-night cruise, and that'd be quite a bit of cash to have.

Darlee, as the previous poster stated, the Windjammer has open seating. Although it's buffet style, I found the food to be quite appealing. And there was plenty of selection. We opted to eat there for breakfast and lunch every day. But we ate at the main dining room for dinner every night. We enjoyed the Windjammer because it was more casual and took less time. The formal meals in the main dining room tended to take quite a bit of time, and we usually wanted to get moving during the day.

Enjoy your cuise!