 Brilliance of the Seas
is currently (November
15, 2002) the latest version of RCI’s Radiance class of ship. No question about it,
the Brilliance of the
Seas is physically a very attractive ship
both inside and out. Delightfully decorated with many
intimate lounges and larger public areas, all of which
belie the fact that she carries 2501 passengers.
My experience of the
ship was limited to an overnight inaugural out of
Miami. Sadly not long enough to really get the feel
of cruising on such an expansive vessel. I did walk
the ship and visited all the public rooms, lounges,
bars and restaurants, but being a brand new ship, I
had the feeling that it needed a little more time to
settle in, as some area looked as though they where
still not totally up and running.
However, all in all
it was a nice opportunity to see the new ship. One can
easily see why so many cruising folk like to sail on
RCI’s new ships. Big they certainly are, but not in
anyway overwhelming, there is so much to do on-board,
so many places to meet your friends and hangout. At
no time did I feel we where part of a huge floating
party.
Trying to describe
the ship in a few words is rather daunting, but to
give a general impression for our corporate clients, I
would list the positives as; usual RCI great service,
an abundance of lounges and on-board activities
including a golf simulator, rock wall climbing,
putting green, basket ball court, terrific spa and
solarium, excellent gymnasium, and a large theatre
(although I can’t vouch for the quality of the
entertainment as our show was a pre-production effort
and obviously needed some polishing). In all, your
clients will not get bored.
On the somewhat
negative side, food both in both the buffet
(Windjammer Café and the Main Dining Room) was very
ordinary, which may have been partly due to our cruise
being an over-night inaugural. The Main Dining Room is
an attractive and very tastefully decorated area and
along with the Windjammer Café are the restaurant
facilities that are available in the price of your
cruise. Of of the alternate (specialty) dining rooms,
Chops Grill can be reserved on an exclusive arrange by
prior notice, but is not very large. The Portofino
Restaurant is larger but may present a problem for
exclusivity.
For corporate
clients, there is also a lack of larger facilities for
entertaining and meetings, there is a cinema that can
be used for meetings and there are some large lounges,
but these are generally pretty open to the public and
may not be available to close off for corporate
events.. The most usable larger space would be the
Viking Crown Lounge, which could overflow into the
Starquest nightclub, and between them have the
potential to cater to a large cocktail party on a
private, exclusive basis.
I was accommodated
in a Cat K which is a “ Larger Stateroom” and whilst
the stateroom was very nicely decorated and well
appointed, the actual square footage was rather small
and some maneuvering around the cabin was required
when two adults where dressing. The bed sizes are
also short and to compound the problem, the edges are
rounded off to give some access to the outboard end of
the stateroom; hence taller people have the problem of
short beds. One has to go to the higher category
accommodations to find more square footage and the
number of these are limited and of course, more
expensive.
A positive plus is –
the ship is wired for internet access and you can plug
in your lap top right in your cabin. Around the ship
there are also a number of terminals that allow you
access to the worldwide web.
The trend in
cruising these days is for the cruise lines to build
revenue on-board the ship and the
Brilliance of the Seas
is no different. On-board pricing reflects the growing
trend of charging close to shore side prices for
beverages and other items, the specialty restaurants
are available for a supplementary fee and can run
upwards of $50 per passenger if you choose to partake
of one of the theme nights (Mystery Murder and so
on). The boutiques are well stocked, but have a low
quality level of goods and lots of sale items. The
real revenue earner on my cruise was the Casino, which
was packed the whole time it was open as far as I
could see. With slot machines starting at $0.25 and
going up from there, there is obviously a price level
to suit everyone’s pocket.
The Brilliance of the Seas
will be doing a combination of :
12 Night
Mediterranean
10 Night Western
Caribbean
10 & 15 Day
Trans-Atlantic
We appreciate these
are long itineraries for corporate clients and as such
this may not be the ship for you, but the class of
ship is certainly worth considering on other RCI
itineraries.
Some pertinent
dimensions:
Length overall:
962 ft.
Beam:
105’ 8”
Draft: 26’ 7”
Speed:
25 knots
Passenger
capacity 2501 (double occupancy)
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