Brilliance of the Seas has Disappeared from the Mediterranean from May to September in 2023.

[little britain]

3 hours ago, RosieCanberra said:

Brilliance for 2023 still for sale here in Oz. I received an email this morning advising of a port change on 12 June 2023 cruise. 

Interesting… what port was changed as that may give a guide as to whether they are juggling ports? 

[mtempelaar]

4 minutes ago, little britain said:

Interesting… what port was changed as that may give a guide as to whether they are juggling ports? 

I am curious as well, but it may be as simple as the marketing department not talking to the reservations department or something.  May have been a pre-scheduled email from last week that wasn’t pulled.  

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

I really don‘t understand why they change the perfectly Europe sized ships from Radiance Class to the Caribbean now.

The bean counters at RCI may have an explanation.

[Blue Eyed Belfast Belle]

22 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I think its just demand in Europe is down in general

Our prices in Europe have become so expensive, especially with flight prices these days.  It is usually less expensive to fly from Ireland to US for a cruise than it is for me to sail from Europe.

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

Our prices in Europe have become so expensive, especially with flight prices these days.  It is usually less expensive to fly from Ireland to US for a cruise than it is for me to sail from Europe.

That’s not my experience. If you book ahead, you can fly to a lot of places in Europe for 100euro each way

[RosieCanberra]

10 hours ago, little britain said:

Interesting… what port was changed as that may give a guide as to whether they are juggling ports? 

Messina, Sicily has been changed to Siracusa, Sicily. Minor change, blamed on a berthing conflict. 

[little britain]

Just now, RosieCanberra said:

Messina, Sicily has been changed to Siracusa, Sicily. Minor change, blamed on a berthing conflict. 

I’d take that! Never been to Siracusa! 

[MamaDuckThe CruisingQueen]

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.

[RosieCanberra]

@MamaDuckThe CruisingQueen

Many thanks for that update. I guess we will hear shortly one way or the other. We haven't booked our flights yet.

[little britain]

If they are pulling ships or changing itineraries; then the Next Cruise people and the call centre staff will be the last to know. They will see the cruise as Code Red ( aka closed for new bookings) so they can only guess as to what is happening.

The changes will be a closely guarded secret by the deployment team until they are announced. 

As many people have already booked flights for the earlier Brilliance itineraries this change is going to cost RCI more $$ in compensation than the Serenade cancellations as it was too early to book flights. 

[vjmatty]

I noticed on Cruising Power you can still book inside and outside guarantees, at least on the 10/9/23 sailing. That would support theory #4, that another ship such as Explorer is being pulled, since guarantees would still be easy to accommodate even after merging passengers. Pure speculation of course, but that’s all we’ve got. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[RosieCanberra]

36 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I noticed on Cruising Power you can still book inside and outside guarantees, at least on the 10/9/23 sailing. That would support theory #4, that another ship such as Explorer is being pulled, since guarantees would still be easy to accommodate even after merging passengers. Pure speculation of course, but that’s all we’ve got. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

I saw that V T G had all the cruises for sale, but only inside cabins. It's very odd.

[Jimbo]

Can't believe this issue has not been resolved yet.Why does Royal leave their customers hanging like this? Just poor management on their part.

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

That would support theory #4, that another ship such as Explorer is being pulled, since guarantees would still be easy to accommodate even after merging passengers

If RC were going to pull another ship, then that ship would be closed to bookings too. It would make more sense to close the ship being pulled than the ship people may or may not transfer to. 

[Beth and Bailey]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:32 PM, vjmatty said:

 

Cruising Power is showing closed even past summer.... including our Oct 2023 cruise and all the way up until the Westbound TA.

 

ETA: Everything between the spring and fall transatlantics are showing either 0.00 or Not Available

 

 

We are also booked on 10/30 out of Rome.  Nothing shows and RCI has no 'true response' when calling.

[Beth and Bailey]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:32 PM, vjmatty said:

 

Cruising Power is showing closed even past summer.... including our Oct 2023 cruise and all the way up until the Westbound TA.

 

ETA: Everything between the spring and fall transatlantics are showing either 0.00 or Not Available

 

 

We are also booked on 10/30 out of Rome.  Nothing shows and RCI has no 'true response' when calling.

[ARandomTraveler]

21 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

That’s not my experience. If you book ahead, you can fly to a lot of places in Europe for 100euro each way

I would agree. My flight from the west coast of the USA to Europe in September is half the cost of my flight to Florida in November. 
 

My flight between 2 European countries was only about $200, and that was because I wanted a better flight time and a refundable fare. I could have gotten a flight for $100 if I wanted the first flight out or a non-refundable fare. 

[springaussie]

I have tried finding Brilliance on port schedules in other areas with no luck. 

[Another_Critic]

12 hours ago, MamaDuckThe CruisingQueen 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). 

Polish her up and head to Baltimore.  🙂

[sowhat]

23 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I would agree. My flight from the west coast of the USA to Europe in September is half the cost of my flight to Florida in November. 
 

My flight between 2 European countries was only about $200, and that was because I wanted a better flight time and a refundable fare. I could have gotten a flight for $100 if I wanted the first flight out or a non-refundable fare. 

That's  not my experience,  the flight price from  Birmingham  to Barcelona  to sail on Wonder  was £ 370 each,  could not find a cheaper  flights without  staying  extra  days in Barcelona  with additional  cost, which  was more expensive.

[mtempelaar]

1 hour ago, Beth and Bailey said:

We are also booked on 10/30 out of Rome.  Nothing shows and RCI has no 'true response' when calling.

Same cruise booking.  Hope we all actually are able to go!   My TA has not responded to me at all 🥺

[Beth and Bailey]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:32 PM, vjmatty said:

 

Cruising Power is showing closed even past summer.... including our Oct 2023 cruise and all the way up until the Westbound TA.

 

ETA: Everything between the spring and fall transatlantics are showing either 0.00 or Not Available

 

 

We are also booked on 10/30 out of Rome.  Nothing shows and RCI has no 'true response' when calling.

[Beth and Bailey]

Just checked RCI site and they now have the Brilliance scheduled for Western Caribbean 12/2/2023 through April 2024.  

 

[Saab4444]

42 minutes ago, Beth and Bailey said:

Just checked RCI site and they now have the Brilliance scheduled for Western Caribbean 12/2/2023 through April 2024.  

 

That is not new and those cruises have nothing to do with the European deployment.

[Beth and Bailey]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

That is not new and those cruises have nothing to do with the European deployment.

ah, I just thought maybe this supported it's not being in the Med.  I had never looked before so thought it was new.  Thanks for clarification.