Brilliance cruises from Dubai

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

Has anyone done the Brillance of the Seas 7-day cruise out of Dubai? How was it? This seems like a very interesting alternative to the standard North American cruise.

 

Chuck

[heatherb1958]

Brilliance hasn't sailed out of Dubai yet, this is a new itinerary for her for 2010, we will be on the repositioning cruise in Jan from Barcelona to Dubai , can't wait to sail through the Suez canal. Brilliance is also our favourite ship in the fleet

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Dubai was on the Amazing Race this past Sundays episode.

The indoor winter park was amazing....RC isn't offering any excursions for it. :confused: The rest of it looks interesting though.

Anyway....its HOT there, its hot here...no thanks! :D :rolleyes: :eek:

 

***

[DavidJrandRichard]

It's very easy to get to the mall where the indoor ski slope is located..just take a taxi there..

[caribbeanboy]

And Dubai is a great city. Have been several times there and love it. If you go on a cruise out of Dubai, you will have to go a few days before the cruise to enjoy the city.

[Rancher Dave]

Dubai was on the Amazing Race this past Sundays episode.

The indoor winter park was amazing....RC isn't offering any excursions for it. :confused: The rest of it looks interesting though.

Anyway....its HOT there, its hot here...no thanks! :D :rolleyes: :eek:

 

***

 

*LOL* Seeing someone from AZ talking about Dubai being hot...

 

I want to do that cruise, but DW said no way will she go on it. I guess one of these days I will be able to go to the Middle East on my own or will take DD with me and leave DW at home. Seems like it would be a great ship for that run as well...not too big and not too small.

 

Actually if I can pull off a trip to the Maldives, we will stop over for 24-48 hours in Dubai....non-stop flight from here to Dubai and one hop after the Maldives...

[tocanada]

Brilliance hasn't sailed out of Dubai yet, this is a new itinerary for her for 2010, we will be on the repositioning cruise in Jan from Barcelona to Dubai , can't wait to sail through the Suez canal. Brilliance is also our favourite ship in the fleet

 

Hi Heather and John,

Brilliance is my favourite ship as well. Will be on her on Nov 30th, 2009 but am also now looking to do the Dubai to Barcelona cruise in April 2011.

andrew

[Blue Skies]

Hi Andrew

 

How are you? still cruiseing lots I see.

We are on her too from Barcelona to Dubai then staying on for the 18th January round the Emirates, could be a reunion cruise with Heather and John and You?

Ruth and Mike (ex 'jerseyfearnley')

[ChipLondon]

We are sailing on The Brilliance out of Dubai in April, if anyone is looking for a hotel for a night or so check out The Bonnington Towers in the Jameirah Beach area, it is a 5* and at the moment under £100 per night on LM the cheapest I have found by far. It is a new hotel and in a good location. It will be great to stick with Royal and yet still have a new itinerary.

[little britain]

Hi Heather and John,

Brilliance is my favourite ship as well. Will be on her on Nov 30th, 2009 but am also now looking to do the Dubai to Barcelona cruise in April 2011.

andrew

Hey Andrew!

How are you? We are looking to get on her March/April next year. I doubt if we will luck out and get #1100 again though!!! She is my favourite ship too - but could be losing out to Solstice class which are simply stunning! Have you left your 'flag' in any cabin on board?!

[heatherb1958]

Hi Heather and John,

Brilliance is my favourite ship as well. Will be on her on Nov 30th, 2009 but am also now looking to do the Dubai to Barcelona cruise in April 2011.

andrew

 

Hi Andrew,

 

You may see is on that one then:). We booked return flights as it was cheaper than doing one way so we have the option of booking the April repo as well. treating it like a transatlantic;):D Whoops I just noticed you said 2011, can you wait that long??:p !!

[tocanada]

Hi everyone and so nice to see your postings. Wish I could also do the Barcelona to Dubai cruise but I will be on Independence for the transatlantic crossing.

Just found out that with 49 C&A credits, not only does the single supplement go down to 50% but I now get two bottles of free wine in my cabin. Life is good!

I am so looking forward to the Voyager and Brilliance Med cruises next month.

I do still want to try Solstice as everyone seems to love it.

Not sure where all my flags are now but new ones will be flying on these cruises!

andrew

[Osnab]

Hi,

 

Has anyone done the Brillance of the Seas 7-day cruise out of Dubai? How was it? This seems like a very interesting alternative to the standard North American cruise.

 

Chuck

 

Chuck:

I'm looking at that cruise myself. I've heard such fantastic things about Dubai.

 

My problem is the flights. I'm not sure what to do about the return. It arrives back in Dubai on April 4 but it appears you don't get off until April 5. If I book my flight on 4/5, it's really at midnight-ish (no day flights) and I'm not sure if I can get off the ship on the 4th at night. (Don't know what the laws are re: this.)

 

Plus, I would have a 10 hr layover in Atlanta. I suppose I could go into the city for lunch, maybe do a little shopping, but I'd have to drag my suitcase all over the place with me. (I'm not checking my suitcase.)

 

The flight situation is my only hangup.

 

Felicia

[kofamily44]

Just booked the Brillance of the Seas out of Dubai on Feb. 1, 2010. Is anyone

else on board this cruise?

[Britcruiser81]

yes, we're on 1st Feb - just booked!

[where to next?]

Hi

We too are doing Dubai in March next year. We have not seen a list of the ships excursions yet and wonder how safe and how much cheaper it is to take independent excursions (maybe hook up with other passengers to take excursions would be good). Would have liked to go to Bahrain really and Fujairah seems to be not at all interesting according to various threads. Also seen different reports on the ship (Brilliance OTS) some say great and others don't have a good thing to say about the ship/food/cabin etc. hope we have done the right thing booking this cruise for our 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!!!:rolleyes: Any info appreciated.

[little britain]

Hi

We too are doing Dubai in March next year. We have not seen a list of the ships excursions yet and wonder how safe and how much cheaper it is to take independent excursions (maybe hook up with other passengers to take excursions would be good). Would have liked to go to Bahrain really and Fujairah seems to be not at all interesting according to various threads. Also seen different reports on the ship (Brilliance OTS) some say great and others don't have a good thing to say about the ship/food/cabin etc. hope we have done the right thing booking this cruise for our 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!!!:rolleyes: Any info appreciated.

Trust me: you are not missing anything by not going to Bahrain.;)

My favourite ship - fantastic itinerary and the best food I have had and the best CD in Gordon Whatmore - please read my review of our cruise in March- and because they have now added an overnight in Muscat (which was by far our favourite port) we will certainly be doing this cruise again!!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=65236

[Osnab]

Hi

We too are doing Dubai in March next year. We have not seen a list of the ships excursions yet and wonder how safe and how much cheaper it is to take independent excursions (maybe hook up with other passengers to take excursions would be good). Would have liked to go to Bahrain really and Fujairah seems to be not at all interesting according to various threads. Also seen different reports on the ship (Brilliance OTS) some say great and others don't have a good thing to say about the ship/food/cabin etc. hope we have done the right thing booking this cruise for our 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!!!:rolleyes: Any info appreciated.

 

 

Personally, I liked Bahrain and did not care much for Fujairah. But to each his own.

To answer your questions about the excursions....you will not see various independent organizations outside the ship, hoping you will book wtih them. It's not like in the Caribbean or in Alaska, for example where you can get off and walk around and choose what you want to do. As a matter of fact, you won't even see vendors hawking their goods.

 

So if you wanted to book something on your own, it would require making a reservation ahead of time and getting to the place on your own. I also don't recall seeing taxis outside either, although they may have been there in Abu Dhabi (and certainly in Dubai)....I know not in Muscat and in Fujairah.

 

Food on the ship ~~ this is always a hot topic. I liked it. I've really never met much food I didn't care for, though! There is a large variety of lighter fare and the food had flavor, something important if you're going to eat!

 

I also thought the ship was nice, clean and maintained well. The only issue I had was there was not a constant barage of activities. If you are one who likes to have a lot to choose from, you might reconsider this itinerary. I was never bored, but most of the time, I've chosen itineraries that allowed me to have to make a choice between two different activities if they overlapped in time.

 

Muscat (Oman) was absolutely my favorite stop. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are more westernized than I'd thought, but Muscat was genuinely "Middle Eastern", so I got a really good flavor of the culture.

 

If you are interested, I can email my trip report, which will give you some ideas of things to do, at least until the excursions are posted.

Felicia

[worldtraveler19]

I inquired about this b/c our flights leave at 235am on a monday morning. The ship docks in Dubai overnight and most people will disembark the ship by monday midmorning. All you do if you need to disembark early is write a letter with your information and request and email airseagfo@rccl.com no later than 1 week before your expected sail date and they will confirm this.

[jotabecu]

Personally, I liked Bahrain and did not care much for Fujairah. But to each his own.

To answer your questions about the excursions....you will not see various independent organizations outside the ship, hoping you will book wtih them. It's not like in the Caribbean or in Alaska, for example where you can get off and walk around and choose what you want to do. As a matter of fact, you won't even see vendors hawking their goods.

 

So if you wanted to book something on your own, it would require making a reservation ahead of time and getting to the place on your own. I also don't recall seeing taxis outside either, although they may have been there in Abu Dhabi (and certainly in Dubai)....I know not in Muscat and in Fujairah.

 

Food on the ship ~~ this is always a hot topic. I liked it. I've really never met much food I didn't care for, though! There is a large variety of lighter fare and the food had flavor, something important if you're going to eat!

 

I also thought the ship was nice, clean and maintained well. The only issue I had was there was not a constant barage of activities. If you are one who likes to have a lot to choose from, you might reconsider this itinerary. I was never bored, but most of the time, I've chosen itineraries that allowed me to have to make a choice between two different activities if they overlapped in time.

 

Muscat (Oman) was absolutely my favorite stop. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are more westernized than I'd thought, but Muscat was genuinely "Middle Eastern", so I got a really good flavor of the culture.

 

If you are interested, I can email my trip report, which will give you some ideas of things to do, at least until the excursions are posted.

Felicia

 

 

 

We are booked on the April 7 2012 sailing which stops in Muscat.

Could you also e mail me your trip report at jotabecu@gmail.com

Thanks a lot.

[little britain]

We are booked on the April 7 2012 sailing which stops in Muscat.

Could you also e mail me your trip report at jotabecu@gmail.com

Thanks a lot.

 

Here is my trip review including details of the fabulous private tour we took in Muscat - my favourite stop.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=65236

 

Because the new itineraries include an overnight in Muscat we will definitely do this cruise again.

[jotabecu]

Here is my trip review including details of the fabulous private tour we took in Muscat - my favourite stop.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=65236

 

Because the new itineraries include an overnight in Muscat we will definitely do this cruise again.

 

 

 

Thanks, a very thorough review.

[Lcmandell]

Personally, I liked Bahrain and did not care much for Fujairah. But to each his own.

To answer your questions about the excursions....you will not see various independent organizations outside the ship, hoping you will book wtih them. It's not like in the Caribbean or in Alaska, for example where you can get off and walk around and choose what you want to do. As a matter of fact, you won't even see vendors hawking their goods.

 

So if you wanted to book something on your own, it would require making a reservation ahead of time and getting to the place on your own. I also don't recall seeing taxis outside either, although they may have been there in Abu Dhabi (and certainly in Dubai)....I know not in Muscat and in Fujairah.

 

Food on the ship ~~ this is always a hot topic. I liked it. I've really never met much food I didn't care for, though! There is a large variety of lighter fare and the food had flavor, something important if you're going to eat!

 

I also thought the ship was nice, clean and maintained well. The only issue I had was there was not a constant barage of activities. If you are one who likes to have a lot to choose from, you might reconsider this itinerary. I was never bored, but most of the time, I've chosen itineraries that allowed me to have to make a choice between two different activities if they overlapped in time.

 

Muscat (Oman) was absolutely my favorite stop. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are more westernized than I'd thought, but Muscat was genuinely "Middle Eastern", so I got a really good flavor of the culture.

 

If you are interested, I can email my trip report, which will give you some ideas of things to do, at least until the excursions are posted.

Felicia

 

 

Hi, Felicia,

 

Can you please sent me your trip report at Lcmandell@verizon.net. Thank you.