Delayed Brilliance of the Seas heads to Hobart not Pacific 

Recently repaired Brilliance of the Seas has amended its Sydney to the Pacific islands 8-day itinerary on April 4 and will now set sail for Hobart on April 7 instead.

“Additional work on Brilliance of the Seas is in progress,” operator Royal Caribbean International said. “The original cruise has been adjusted to a 5-night sailing to Hobart. 

“Our guests and travel partners are being notified of the update and compensation options directly.” 

Brilliance of the Seas had developed a technical issue with its propulsion system on its previous itinerary. That required the ship to sail at a slower speed. 

As a result, Brilliance did not make its scheduled itinerary calls to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. It arrived back in Sydney early, on Tuesday, March 26. It then headed straight to Newcastle for repairs

The cruise scheduled to depart on Saturday, March 30, was cancelled. Guests were offered compensation because of the change. 

Extra repairs needed

Brilliance remained at the Port of Newcastle for the next week as it underwent repairs to the Azipod propulsion system. But passengers then received a statement from the line.

“While repairs for the technical issue that we encountered on one of our previous sailings was completed, during routine testing, we discovered that we’re going to need some extra time to get the ship ready for our guests. 

“As a result, today’s Brilliance of the Seas 4 April 2024 sailing will now set sail on Sunday, 7 April 2024 as that is the earliest date we are able to secure a terminal in the Port of Sydney.

“We are terribly sorry for this last-minute change. We understand this news is disappointing, but we hope your guests will join us on the alternate itinerary we have planned.

“All communications have been sent overnight to affected travel partners with guests scheduled to sail.”

RCI Refund terms
Compensation correspondence from Royal Caribbean.

Passengers disappointed

Passengers expressed their disappointment in a Facebook forum.

“I’m literally (on) the way to Sydney and get an e-mail trip to the islands canceled offering 5 days to Hobart leaving Sunday! Not happy very p***** off ! Very bad form from Royal Caribbean,” said one.

Asked one mum: “Will Brilliance actually sail on Sunday? I just don’t want to wait in Sydney with my three kids to then be told on Sunday that it’s not sailing. If it’s not sailing then I want to know today so I can try and arrange an alternate holiday for my kids.”

Responded another: “What a mess, feel so sorry for people getting caught up in this. If it was me, I’d be demanding a full refund (with some future credit as well) and I’d arrange an alternate holiday. Waiting around in Sydney (especially with the bad weather forecast) isn’t going to be much fun.”

And finally: “To be honest 14k that I paid to go on this cruise with my family to spend 2 days in Hobart is not worth the money. Unfortunately is a cancellation by us and I’m assuming if most people are going to cancel they won’t be going. I would imagine it will then cost them too much to take us.”

  • At the time of writing, Thursday afternoon, Cruise Mapper had Brilliance of the Seas leaving Newcastle for what appeared to be sea trials. She returned to Newcastle Harbour and was last positioned there Friday morning.
Brilliance heads into Newcastle for repairs. Photo: Royal Caribbean Australian Cruisers, Dylan Steel
Brilliance heads into Newcastle for repairs. Photo: Royal Caribbean Australian Cruisers, Dylan Steel

11 thoughts on “Delayed Brilliance of the Seas heads to Hobart not Pacific ”

  1. Yes i was on the cruise that left 19th march and cut short. Disappointing thing is that the problem was discovered at 4.30 in the morning instead of slowing down and making it to lifou at 11 instead of 8 they should have decided at that point to not go there. We got off ship at 2.30 it was raining and nothing there total waste. I believe it was a definite ploy to not have to refund us 100 per cent. We paid 2700 each so far we have received 700 each and a 50 per cent discount on another cruise. Im disappointed i didn’t get to the islands and lucky it was nice weather otherwise it would have been a very boring cruise at least i was able to enjoy pool and spa. Food was good but i booked a cruise to go to islands not to sail the seas. I also had to change flights and book a hotel which they will refund but have to put in a claim, i dont know where to send th claim to. I hadn’t had a holiday for 3 years and was really looking forward to it. Once we were going home they really dropped their bundle on entertainment no party vibe very boring. Staff were amazing.

  2. Very disappointing 10 year wedding anniversary trip, taking my kids and chasing the Sun!!!

    Unfortunately, I’m not rich enough to wait for them to reimburse me to take another holiday so have to hope that it still sails to Hobart. So now it’s pack for a cold holiday

    Disappointed isn’t a strong enough word, being told the morning of that we were not going is just unfair!!!

  3. All I can say is ‘thank you’ to Marriott Hotel SYD, I couldn’t extend my hotel stay at the one I was already at – so it was 11am and I was homeless in Sydney because of this saga. I was meant to be on Brilliance at 12:30pm. It was pouring raining and I had 35kg of luggage to carry. I was soaking when I got to Marriott who kindly took me in and let me shower. I had to find extra money to survive the next few days (meals, transport, flight changes) and managed to get a flight home (without a holiday!)
    Now I’m home and overwhelmed with finding all my receipts so I can get a portion back! Devastated.

  4. I was on the Cruise where ship broke down, our FCC is a lousy $655aus, what about the original $1546aus from previous cancellations, spent over an hour on phone so far with no joy.

  5. Understand disappointment but can’t believe the belly aching over changes due to mechanical issues. Any travel involving machinery (trains, boats, planes, vehicles, etc) will always be subject to mechanical fittness of the transport medium. Harden up. Sh*t happens.

  6. I was on the 19th March 2024 cruise….I did get this cruise on points from the casino…this cruise was the cruise from hell…food was terrible…crew did there best…I was given $300 us….what a joke….I lost my cruise of 11 days…all for $300 us…it cost me 72.00 a day to get my dog minded…came in to Sydney around 9…got off 11…taxi cost me $250 to get home…so this cruise cost me plenty…why would u use Royal Caribbean and I am not just one person this happen to..many this effected…they went to one island 4 and half hours plus late so they wouldn’t have to paid all the cost of cruise back….some people got off ship at 3.30 as it took so long…..there were many who were not happy with the way they were treaded…and I am one…..Room 3075

  7. I was on the recent cruise when the drive to one engine failed. It failed the night before we reached our first destination. They pushed on to Lifou knowing full well we needed to return to Sydney. They did this so they didn’t have to provide a full refund, instead we got a 50% refund. Choose another cruise line as Royal Caribbean make decisions that suit their profit margin.

  8. Our cruise was cancelled the 30th march was a 50% fcc for next trip I am sure I paid $1800 each for a window cabin. Waiting refund to see what I paid. Well we got. A fcc today it was a lousy $327.00 each my parking cost more than this they better up the credit as I am not happy I didn’t break the ship so I expect to be completely compensated as it was a wedding anniversary 40 years trip.

  9. Well, well. Brilliance of the Seas is back in Newcastle this morning after leaving late yesterday.

  10. Gutted and the way the company explains it as a Hobart alternative shows they don’t care about their travellers at all – don’t book royal Caribbean ! Go celebrity

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