This was my 15th cruise with Royal Caribbean and my 6th time on Brilliance of the Seas. I was on the transatlantic crossing on April 14th, 2008 and took this cruise as I was interested to see what changes had been made to the ship while in Dry Dock in Hamburg. Initially, I was a little disappointed as there did not appear to be much change but as I walked around the ship, I saw quite a few improvements. I had the same cabin (1104). There was new carpeting, a new chair and perhaps best of all a new toilet flushing button which worked significantly better than the previous one. The television set, three seat couch, balcony furniture etc was unchanged. Around the ship, I noticed new carpeting in the dining room, the theatre has new big screens on each side of the stage, and there is some new furniture. In the Concierge lounge, the wood floor has been replaced (same design as before) but everything else looks the same. The big change is that the ship looks a lot cleaner and fresher. All the carpeting and furnishings have either been replaced or cleaned. The main reason for the dry dock was to install a new diesel engine that will be used while the ship is in port. I heard that it is currently not working. As for the cruise, it was a wonderful four days. The sail away from Hamburg down the Elbe river was fantastic. We had a day at sea followed by a day in Oslo, another day at sea and then to Southampton. I arrived at the ship at about 11.20 and check-in commenced about 11.40. It was very quick and we were able to go straight to our cabins. My luggage was in my cabin before 2.00pm ( a record - good German efficiency!). Most of the officers were the same as the transatlantic crossing but the captain is now Hakan Lindegren. Bill Brunkhorst was back as cruise director and did a great job. Of the 1,800 passengers, 1,600 were German so Bill had Katja Hermann translate on stage. I was very impressed with Bill whose attempts at German seemed to get better each day! Ingrid Ruiz De Castilla was in the Concierge lounge and was just excellent and a real credit to RCL. I hope she stays in that job. Pablo was the Loyalty ambassador and did his usual excellent job. I was thrilled to see Grace back in the Centrum. It was so nice to hear her beautiful voice again. As one crew member told me - "The Brilliance, the Med and Grace in the Centrum - what could be better!" I totally agree. On Cruise Critic, there was mention of new laundry discount coupons but we still had Version 8, which includes the Casino Credit coupons of $12 for $10 (a better deal!) Portofino's was closed for the cruise. Initially, I heard that there was a problem in the galley but then I heard that they did not have enough staff. There were no production shows as the singers and dancers were to join the ship in Southampton. We docked at Southampton about 7.30am and I walked off the ship with my luggage and then walked to the railway station (about a 10 minute walk). All very quick and efficient. Brilliance was my first RCL cruise and it will probably always be my favorite ship. What stands out for me about Brilliance is their exceptional crew. They are all so friendly and helpful and it was great to be back onboard again. andrew