Tuesday was a very active day onboard Brilliance of the Seas and back in Miami as well. The media interest in the ship and its guests was very high and many U.S. and U.K. television networks were waiting for the ship’s arrival in Malta. When Captain Bill Wright, our SVP Marine Operations arrived from Miami in the afternoon, he and Captain Erik Tengelsen escorted the media to all parts of the ship including the three areas that we thought would remain out of service until the end of this cruise. They had a surprise on their tour however as repairs have progressed so quickly that only one area, the video arcade, will be out of service until the end of the cruise. The hair salon will be partially running today and we heard the disco was scheduled to be open tonight. We don’t normally like to disappoint the media, but the crew’s efforts to clean up and restore the ship have been so phenomenal that there wasn’t much to see. Brilliance of the Seas looked like, well, Brilliance of the Seas. We now expect all of her features to be fully available to the guests on the next cruise. Kudos to the team on a remarkable recovery.
While the main burden of recovery from the incident rested with the Brilliance crew, the support teams in Miami worked relentlessly around the clock to support the ship with myriad details. There are at least two major conference calls per day between the ship and Miami going over all aspects of the situation: guests, crew, clean-up, provisioning, media, upcoming turnaround in Barcelona, etc. Most all of the effort is on the here and now, but almost from the beginning we have been organizing our thinking around lessons learned. We learn from every unusual event, and this will not be an exception to the rule.
While the majority of the guests are supportive of our efforts (and in many cases vocally so), we completely understand that some of the guests remain unhappy and/or frightened by what they experienced. Once again, we are very sorry that our guests were affected by such unusually violent weather that caused Brilliance of the Seas to roll as she did.
Even in adversity, RCCL is a class act. And up front with the guests and media. See you all in January.
Thank you for your sincere comment Douglas and we look forward to seeing you this January as well.
I went on my first cruise in Sept when it was supposedly hurricane season. The trip was well I enjoyed every bit and even after all the media on brillance of the seas I would still gladly climb aboard brillance or any other rcc cruis ship. Your enployeees are so very pleasant If they have same kind of crew on brillance I alm sure everyone will eventually calm down and get back on. Yor cruise ships
We are glad to hear that Roxanne. Thank you very much.
My wife and I love sailing with RCCL and Celebrity. The way they have handled this, even though it was an act of nature, shows you why they are the BEST.
Your kind words mean so much to us. Thank you so much, Mark.
Hi Mr president!
We are from Brasil and we’ll go to the ship in february 6…our honey moon
We want mazal tov from the Allure team!
Claudia Dutkiewcz
Mazel Tov Claudia! Congratulations and have a great time on your honeymoon this February.
Royal Carribean is the best cruise line in the industry, I was on a cruise in August with them during the Atlantic hurricane season, and even before we left Port Canveral Florida. The captain had already decided to change itineries to the west from the east to avoid a potential hit from a hurricane.
Thanks so much for your comment Anthony. Our captains have a very important job, and are well trained in having to make very important decisions like these. We’re glad you hear you had a safe trip and we hope to see you back onboard soon.
Was Brilliance of the Seas removed from its planned Summer/Fall 2011 Mediterranean schedule? My wife and I were considering a Mediterranian cruise for August or Septemeber 2011 aboard Brilliance, but we cannot find a listing for it now. We did a few months ago.
Mike, thank you for reaching out. The 2011 plans for Brilliance of the Seas are that it switches between the Mediterranean and Dubai and India. You can check on the itinerary for Brilliance of the Seas here: http://bit.ly/fDytWf
The worlds best and most caring Cruise Line.But time Adam you told the Media and future passengers the capabilities of “Brilliance” as one of the safest vessels afloat.Yes, I am now part of the fixtures and over 31 yrs have never had any issue unresolved and always with dignity.But to refund fully all passengers following the incident is a little over the top dont you think,and be left with a bill of a million dollars.The Captain did exactly what the book said.Bill Wright is the man for the job of bringing normality back amonst the doubters.A terric post by yourself,cool and calm as always.
great cruise line RCCL. enjoyed them much more than Carnnival, and even Princess. cannot wait to go on Allure of the Seas one day.
Thank you for your kind praise, Sue. We’re definitely looking forward to the opportunity of having you onboard Allure of the Seas with us.
I second the comment that Royal Caribbean is “class act”….I have been on six Royal Caribbean cruises with my husband and intend on going again in the future; unfortunately, my husband passed away this year and I am unable to go in March as we usually do, but I have no trepidation whatsoever knowing that Royal Caribbean responds quickly, cares deeply and provides world class service, even in the wake of huge storms. You have wonderful employees and the guests truly do appreciate it. Thanks for the update.
We are sorry to hear about your loss, Deb. Thank you for your warm comments and are so honored that you will continue sailing with us in the future. We are definitely looking forward to it.
We cruised the Brilliance of the Seas November 11, 2010 through November 23, 2010. There were 36 of us traveling the Mediterranean for our daughter’s wedding in the port of Santorini. We all had an awsome time and made some wonderful memories. We hit some pretty rough seas our last night sailing back to Barcelona, and the captain was amazing in steering that big ship. To the crew of the Brilliance of the Seas, thank you, you deserve a big thank you for bringing your passengers safely to port. The Olivas Family
Congratulations on your daughter’s wedding, Henrietta! We are so glad that you and the wedding party had such a great time onboard. We, along with the entire Brilliance of the Seas crew, appreciate your kind words and support. It’s the great support from our fantastic guests, like your entire Olivas family, that is the driving force behind everything we do, and for that we thank you. We look forward to seeing you onboard with us again soon.
I must say that Royal Caribbean continues to impress me by handling this incident in an exemplary way. From the start you have been very up front with the details, both here on the blog and in the videos with Captain Wright. It makes me, as a future cruise guest, feel very safe. And as a collegue within the marketing/brand management field it’s a great example to follow.
That means so much to us, Per Arne. We are happy to hear that you will be coming onboard in the future, and rest assured each of our guest’s safety and enjoyment is our top priority. We can’t wait to have you onboard.
I must say I have been on many of cruises with Royal and ama proud Diamond plus member. I was married on one of Royals ships and we partied for a week. We hit rough water on our laast night coming up out of Mexico and but the ship handled it well and we all made it save to our port.
Also we did Allure of the Seas maiden voyage to Labadee, had a suite window shatter being the ship was new but the crew and Julie from guest services was awesome.
Look forward to many more cruises with Royal, 5 already booked for 2011 and sure I will do more than that next year.
Look forward to more fun times on the best cruise line.
Sounds like quite the adventure, David. We’re glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed cruising with us all these years and we look forward to having you back onboard with us in 2011.
I think that the media got just what they deserved
“NOTHING to complain about” you know I am so happy
that no one was really hurt but I am upset that so many people were so ready to blame your cruse line
for something that was out of the hands or the crew
and I am still so excited about my upcomming holiday
on feb 7th because I know without dout it will be spectacular as only Royal can do. Cheers to you all.
Thanks for your comment and support, Will. We are also very happy that no one was seriously hurt. It is a credit to our crew for handling the situation so well. Also, we are just as excited to have you onboard with us in February!
We will be on brillance oct 10 2011 for a eastern med cruise. We just returned fron Oasis in oct it was great.Thank you for your blogs on everything. Im surem that the ship is OK. The crew probaly was very busy getting it back to normal.
We are glad to hear you had a great time on Oasis of the Seas, Mario. The crew has been hard at work and we can’t thank them enough. Thanks for your comment and we look forward to seeing you onboard Brilliance of the Seas next October.