Talking with the Captain of Brilliance of the Seas; Seaview Cafe Review

Captain Sorensen of Brilliance of the Seas

The objective of Beyondships.com is to give you a feel for the ships. Accordingly, I try to provide information about the ships in a number of ways including photographs, copies of daily programs, menus, items distributed onboard as well as my own writing. Another perspective I like to give you is that of the officers who actually operate the ships. They are the ones who are in charge of delivering the cruise experience to you so I think it is valuable to know what they are aiming to deliver.

As discussed in this blog last week, Brilliance of the Seas is a special ship. Thus, I wanted to get her officers' perspective about what makes her special. Accordingly, I spoke with Captain Henirk Loft Sorensen and Hotel Director Erik Speckenbrink about what makes Brilliance special. They emphasized the international atmosphere on board that gives it a more cosmopolitan feel than most ships. They also used words such as elegant, personal, and high quality. In addition, Captain Sorensen confirmed what I had heard from several other captains, Brilliance is a wonderful ship to drive. My interview with Captain Sorensen and Hotel Director Speckenbrink is at http://www.beyondships2.com/brilliance-of-the-seas-captain-interview.html

Another way of giving you a feel for the ships is through articles about the food on the ship. Dining is an important part of the cruise experience and so I like to do interviews with chefs and restaurant managers and to do restaurant reviews where possible.

Normally, I do not like to do a review of a restaurant that is going to be replaced with another venue in a future refit of the ship. However, I enjoyed the Seaview Cafe on Brilliance so much that I thought I would go ahead and write a review anyway. After all, the Seaview on Brilliance will be in operation for a few more months and the one on Jewel of the Seas should keep going even longer.

In April 2013, Brilliance is scheduled to have a major revitalization. This is part of a program where Royal Caribbean is bringing some of the more popular features that were developed for Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas to the rest of the fleet. The details of what will be done to Brilliance have not been announced but when her sister ship Radiance of the Seas went through a similar revitalization, the Seaview Cafe was replaced with another venue.

The Seaview is a casual venue in an out of the way location on the back of the ship. You can eat outside or in the charming little clubhouse. But what makes this venue so nice is that you have a world of choice in designing your meal. You select the combination of ingredients that you want on your pizza, pasta dish or panini and they make it for you fresh.

My review of the Seaview Cafe with photos is at http://www.beyondships2.com/brilliance-of-the-seas-seaview-cafe.html

Cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas

I was really excited when I saw that Brilliance of the Seas was coming to the Cape Liberty cruise terminal on the New Jersey side of New York harbor to do a cruise. It had been more than five years since Brilliance had last done a cruise from the continental and here she was going to do one from the Port of New York, which could not be more convenient for me.

Why the excitement? Brilliance is one of four Radiance class cruise ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. If you think you know Royal Caribbean but have not sailed on a Radiance class ship, you are in for a surprise.

The cruise experience on the Radiance class ships is different than on the giant Royal Caribbean ships. Brilliance and her sisters at approximately 90,000 gross tons are big ships but on a relative scale they are much smaller than the Freedom and Voyager classes, not to mention the Oasis class. There is no Royal Promenade, no ice skating rink, no surfing simulator. The facilities are not as Wow-oriented. Rather, they are more subtle, high quality features. These ships could easily fit in the fleet of Royal Caribbean's premium category affiliate Celebrity Cruises.

They are also different than Royal's Vision and Sovereign class ships. Those ships do not have the features of the Voyager class ships because they were built before the Voyagers. The Radiance class ships were built contemporaneously with the Voyager class. Thus, they were intended to provide a different cruise experience than the Voyagers. Moreover, they were designed to provide a different cruise experience than Royal's older ships. For example, although they are bigger than the Sovereign class ships, they hold fewer passengers. This means more space for each passenger.

Do not get me wrong - - I like the cruise experience provided on the other Royal ships. I am constantly recommending Allure of the Seas to people who ask what are my favorite ships. Along the same lines, I had a great cruise on Enchantment of the Seas earlier this fall. Rather, the point is that the cruise experience provided on Brilliance and her sisters is a special version of the Royal Caribbean product. A fine wine that attracts many of the most experienced of Royal's frequent cruisers.

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This week we are adding Brilliance of the Seas to Beyonship's cruise ship profiles. http://beyondships.com/RCI-BOS-Profile.html It is the 99^th cruise ship to be profiled on Beyondships. The profile has daily programs, menus, deck, plans and other information about the ship. In addition, there is a multi-page photo tour and commentary about the ship. http://beyondships.com/RCI-BOS-Tour-1.html

More on Brilliance next week.

Aboard Caribbean Princess in Hurricane Sandy

I hadn't intended to write about this but so many people have asked me about what it was like to be on a cruise ship during Hurricane Sandy, I thought I would put aside what I had planned on writing about this week and instead put together a cruise review of my voyage on Caribbean Princess.

The cruise was scheduled to be a short four day cruise including a day in Bermuda. Having sailed on Caribbean Princess several times before, I knew that she provided a good cruise experience. Bermuda is one of my favorite cruise destinations. Friends were going on the cruise so it looked quite attractive.

I must admit that I experienced some trepidation as reports of a hurricane coming up the Atlantic coast dominated the media in the days before the ship was scheduled to embark from New York. I have been in a hurricane on a passenger ship and it is not the most comfortable place to be. Still, I had faith that Princess would somehow keep us safe and relatively comfortable.

My faith turned out to be justified. Princess did keep us safe. We didn't get to Bermuda but they managed to provide a good onboard experience in rather trying circumstances.

There was some tension aboard. People were worried about friends, families and property at home. Also, with the closure of the Port of New York, there was uncertainty about when and where this cruise would end. Some passengers chose to take their anger out on Princess - - the closest authority figure. I overheard one passenger who, although he said he was not a lawyer, was orating about various legal strategies passengers could pursue. Having practiced law for 20 years, I saw no merit to what he was saying. But he was probably just venting frustration.

When I returned to New York, I found out just how lucky I had been to have been on Caribbean Princess. There was no electricity and no heat for a week after the storm and in the icy cold, I longed to be back on the warm ship. I sustained some property damage but it was nothing compared to the damage and injury that occurred elsewhere in the vicinity. Thus, I felt very thankful that I had been away.

My account of my experiences is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-shelter-from-the-storm.html.

On a lighter note, I have also included dining reviews of the afternoon tea http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-aternoon-tea.html and the pub lunch on Caribbean Princess. http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-pub-lunch.html These are additional dining events designed to enhance the onbaord experience.

I have also added new menus http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-menus.html and daily programs http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-daily-programs.html to Beyondship's existing profile of Caribbean Princess.

Cruising to Charlottetown and Visiting Anne of Green Gables

 Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island in Canada is becoming an increasingly popular cruise destination. Indeed, during the course of one week last month 12 cruise ships called in Charlottetown.

Why this surge of interest in Charlottetown? Charlottetown is not an international capital nor is it a favoirite playground of the rich and famous. Rather, Charlottetown is an unpretentious little city that does not participate in the hectic pace of modern life. In addition, the rest of Prince Edward Island has a charming countryside consisting of farmland, rivers and woods. Then, along the coast is the natural beauty of red sand beaches, wind-carved dunes, and dramtic red sandstone cliffs.

Charlottetown is also known as the birthplace of Canada. It was here that delegates first gathered to discuss forming the confederation that would become Canada. You can see where it all took place at Province House.

But the charm of Charlottetown lies in its less well-known attractions - - the Victorian architecture, the boardwalk along the sea at Victoria Park, the Confederation Centre Art Museum.

PEI is home to one internationally famous individual - - the fictional Anne of Green Gables. Lucy Maud Montgomery set her much-loved novels about a young orphan girl in her native PEI. An entire industry has sprung up on PEI around Anne but the most popular attraction is the charming farm that was the chief inspiration for Montgomery.

Thus, Charlottetown makes an attractive port of call on Canada/New England cruises and on fall foliage cruises. The home page for our illustrated guide to Charlottetown is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-destination---charlottetown.html

In addition, we have an article and slideshow on visiting the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Place. http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-destination-charlottetown-anne-of-green-gables.html

Finally, we have a glimpse of the natural beauty of Prince Edward Island National Park with our short video on the island's red sandstone cliffs. http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-destination-charlottetown-sandstone-cliffs.html