Brilliance of the Seas

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Brilliance of the Seas docked in Argostoli, Kefalonia
History
Bahamas
Name	Brilliance of the Seas
Owner	Royal Caribbean Group
Operator	Royal Caribbean International
Port of registry	Nassau,  Bahamas[1]
Ordered	9 April 1998
Builder	Meyer Werft, (Papenburg, Germany)[1]
Cost	US $350 million[1]
Yard number	656
Laid down	25 June 1998[2]
Launched	1 December 2001[2]
Christened	13 July 2002 by Marilyn Ofer in Harwich, England
Acquired	5 July 2002[2]
Maiden voyage	19 July 2002[3]
In service	2002–present
Identification	Call sign: C6SJ5 DNV ID: 21563 IMO number: 9195200 MMSI number: 311361000
Status	Cruising
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Radiance-class cruise ship
Tonnage	90,090 GT 53,812 NT 10,759 DWT[2]
Length	292 m (958 ft 0 in)
Beam	39.8 m (130 ft 7 in)[2]
Draft	8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)[2]
Depth	11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Decks	12 decks[1]
Installed power	Two General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines (20.5 MW each)[1][4]
Propulsion	Diesel-electric Two ABB Azipods (2 × 19.5 MW)[1] Three bow thrusters[4]
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)[1]
Capacity	2,140 passengers (double occupancy) 2,543 passengers (maximum)
Crew	848

Brilliance of the Seas is a cruise ship belonging to the Royal Caribbean's Radiance class. Brilliance of the Seas is operated by RCL UK Ltd., a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Brilliance of the Seas has a maximum capacity of 2,543 passengers and carries 848 crew.^[5]

Areas of operation

Brilliance of the Seas undertakes Western Caribbean cruises out of Tampa, Florida, during the winter season and cruises Vancouver to Alaska in the summer. Now it also offers cruises to the Bahamas and to the Caribbean.^[6]

Incidents

Heeling incident

On December 11, 2010, Brilliance of the Seas left Rhodes, Greece on a cruise around the eastern Mediterranean, and experienced very high seas and 80 mph (130 km/h) wind gusts. At around 2:15 AM, it was reported that in a cluster of ships rushing to enter the port of Alexandria, a freighter turned in front of Brilliance of the Seas, forcing the ship's captain, Erik Tengelsen, to slow below the 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) necessary to maintain her stabilisers' function. The ship started to heel to port and starboard violently. Passengers reported that they were thrown out of beds; furniture and unsecured objects tossed and slid about their staterooms. Two grand pianos broke free and were demolished during the incident. Windows and mirrors were smashed, and the spa basins were damaged. A reported 138 passengers needed medical treatment for their injuries, the most serious of which were two guests that sustained broken bones. The heeling incident lasted several minutes, after which the captain acknowledged that it had been a "horrifying experience." Captain Tengelsen reported to news outlets that he was taken by surprise at the force of the storm when, he said, weather reports leaving Rhodes only forecast winds at 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph) with gusts of 50–60 knots (93–111 km/h; 58–69 mph). The next morning, Royal Caribbean International announced through its crew that a $200 per-stateroom refund would be given. Following a brief, but vocal outrage by passengers, Royal announced that on top of the $200, passengers could also expect a full refund of each passenger's stateroom fare.^[7][8] A lawsuit brought by the husband of Barbara Davey, a Scottish woman who fell into a coma three days afterwards and later died, claimed that her death had been caused by head injuries sustained during the incident.^[9]

Disappearance of George Allen Smith

George Allen Smith disappeared on July 5, 2005, when the Brilliance of the Seas was between Greece and Turkey. He was a passenger on his honeymoon. Blood was found inside and outside his room. His family accuses Royal Caribbean of failing to adequately handle the case. The case led to an FBI investigation and a congressional inquiry in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

2024 Propulsion Issues

On March 21, 2024 a mechanical issue developed with the propulsion system of the Brilliance of the Seas impacting its speed during an 11 night South Pacific sailing. The following morning, an announcement was made by the ship captain, Juan Caranti and Cruise Director, John Grantham that the ship would be arriving into its first port, Lifou, New California, 90 minutes late due to headwinds. The mechanical issue was not disclosed to passengers until nearly 24 hours after the issue started. At that time it was announced that the ship would be skipping its next port, having a sea day instead as it makes way to the next port. Instead the ship turned around and made way to Sydney, Australia skipping all but one of the original 6 scheduled ports. This was not announced until the following day at 12:30 PM however multiple passengers and crew noticed we were heading away from the next port and AIS (Automatic Identification System) showed the next destination as Sydney as early as 7 PM. Passengers on the cruise arrived in Sydney 4 nights early, and were given only 3 nights in the hotel. In addition passengers were given a 50% refund back to their onboard account, 50% future cruise credit, and free internet to allow rebooking of onward travel. All alcohol was also discounted by 50% for the remainder of the cruise. Many passengers were unhappy with the lack of initial disclosure, the deception, and compensation provided.

The ship continued without passengers to Newcastle, Australia for repairs and the following cruise was cancel with little notice to passengers. ^[10]

References

Departing Sydney

Closeup pano view at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMO 9195200.

• Official website
• Transcript of an interview with family of George Smith on Larry King Live
• Brilliance of the Seas Cutaway