I am currently aboard the Symphony of the Seas and went to the Next Cruise office to inquire.
I was told that the booking is "closed
for inventory maintenance." They said that this could be one of several reasons:
1. The ship is close to selling out (but not in this case since it is for almost six months)
2. The sailing has been chartered (but not in this case again, not for six months)
3. They are juggling the itinerary (possible but unlikely, though some sailings received an email about a port change just last week)
4. Another ship has been pulled from Europe and they are offering rebooking to those passengers first before reopening bookings to the general public (fingers crossed for this one, as the Serenade has most definitely recently been pulled from Europe's Russia sailings due to obvious political reasons and is leaving the area for another location or dry dock, I don't remember what they said).
5. The Brilliance of the Seas is being pulled and going to dry dock. (The consensus onboard is that this is most likely the case since it is an extended online absence).
I was also told to call royal's hq In Miami for the best answers, which I did FROM THE SYMPHONY of the seas, thinking they may give more info that way. No one there would give me a straight answer other than "closed for inventory maintenance".
For those of you who are booked, hold off on purchasing airfare. We should know something in the next few weeks but I am losing optimism.
