Brilliance of the Seas prepares for departure
Royal Caribbean hope to shake up all cruise preconceptions when holidaymakers board the new "revitalized" Brilliance of the Seas.
The cruise line has invested in those specialty restaurants that encourage higher on-board spending and its new Japanese restaurant Izumi, complete with red-hot rocks to cook your meat and seafood on.
The 2,112-guest Brilliance of the Seas is designed to fit in something for everyone, from the casino and Centrum Shops to the child-free solarium with retractable roof .
The $30 million drydock revamp followed Brilliance being based in Europe during the summer, and Dubai for the winter month. Now the ship’s arrived in Harwich.
This marks the largest-ever deployment to the UK from Royal Caribbean, with Adventure of the Seas and Independence of the Seas sailing from Southampton – and at a time when Carnival has just announced it is pulling out of Europe for 2014.
For cruisers in the east and south east of England, Harwich is popular and handy.
The port is also frequented by Americans; only 30% of the passengers are from the UK compared to almost 100% of passengers leaving on Royal Caribbean ships out of Southampton.
The new Royal Babies and Tots nursery caters to babies from six months to three years. For older children, there’s numerous computer screens, sports courts, and an adventure beach.
The screens don’t stop there. Each stateroom has its own flat screen TV. The layout of the rooms is similar to before, ranging from the Royal Suite with its automatic playing piano and suite attendant to an interior stateroom, but they have all been freshened up.
Brilliance of the Seas is sailing to Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea on 11- and 12-night cruises.
A 12-night Scandinavia and Russia cruise departing Harwich calls at Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Talinn, Estonia; Gothenburg, Sweden; and an overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia. Departs 27 May 2013.
A 11-night Norwegian Fjords and Iceland cruise departing Harwich and calling at Bergen and Geiranger, Norway; Lerwick/Shetland, Scotland; Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; and an overnight in Reykjavik, Iceland. Departs 27 July 2013.
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