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.
on
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 99th 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.
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