Brilliance of the Seas, the luxurious cruise ship from Royal Caribbean, undertook her maiden Gulf voyage from Dubai, UAE on January 18.
The vessel, which has 10-deck-high windows and ocean-facing glass elevators, boasts one of the highest space-per-guest ratios in the industry and is expected to bring 32,000 visitors to the region during her first season.
The ship’s seven-day itinerary sees her calling at Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain before heading back to Dubai.
The Brilliance of the Seas has been met by officials as she has docked in each port with many of the host nations showcasing new docking facilities. Royal Caribbean’s regional sales director, Helen Beck, said the arrival of the ship is an important catalyst in driving forward regional cruise tourism growth.
She also announced that Brilliance of the Seas will return to the Gulf in 2011 saying: “The Middle East’s prospective growth figures for luxury cruising are remarkable and we expect Brilliance of the Seas to establish itself as the leading cruise option for years to come.”
Although the majority of guests at present come from traditional western markets, such as the UK, US and Germany on fly-and-cruise packages, Beck believes that, as regional awareness grows about cruise holidays as a viable vacation option, there will be a significant increase in local and regional passengers signing-up.
“Already there is high demand from our key global source markets,” she said. “But as news of our on-board facilities, great shore excursions and exceptional service has spread, we have also seen strong levels of interest from the more traditional Middle Eastern markets.”
As with any maiden voyage, there have been a few wrinkles to iron out including the ship’s arrival in Bahrain which saw passengers overwhelmed by the reception from local taxi-drivers offering what have been reported as extortionate fares.
However this has now been resolved with Beck explaining: “The swift action taken by Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Culture and Information Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa is much appreciated and is very much in line with the relationship that Royal Caribbean International is developing with the Kingdom of Bahrain.”