Our pre-cruise stay at the Hilton Beach Resort and Spa in Ras al Khaimah was the perfect location to unwind from the flight from the UK and may have spoilt us for what what was our first (and last) cruise experience.

On arrival at dockside in Dubai we could not board The Brilliance of the Seas because all the check-in computers were down and we had to wait almost 2 hours before being processed and allowed on board.

The stateroom we had booked was their largest but when we saw what space we had we were gobsmacked, at its widest you had about 3 feet of space between the end of the bed and wall, about 10 feet in all, if I opened the toilet/shower room door when my wife was getting dressed, she ended up being knocked into the wardrobe. Having said that, the queen size bed was comfortable and with a small sofa in front of the television, it was just about adequate. Read more