Just came home following a week's cruise of the Middle East with Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. This is my 4th cruise with them but sadly it may be my last. The ship is lovely not as modern as some of the newer ships but this is to be expected. Our inside cabin was lovely no complaints, more room than some other cruise lines and we loved our large kingsize bed, very comfortable. Three ports of call were very interesting,Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We did not do a trip on our first port of call Fujairah because I had read reviews before going on trip which advised there was not much to see, instead we took the free shuttle bus into the local town to visit an indoor shopping centre to but a scarf to cover my head for my visit to Muscat mosque - TIP * the scarf was not expensive but women bring something with you from home to do this then you do not have to get off the ship. The other 3 ports of call were great especially the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi it was fantastic, to visit this women are given a long black dress to go over their clothes and a larger black scarf to cover their heads - this is mandatory not matter how covered up you are - the over dress is very long so if you are short you could take a black belt to stop you tripping up. When we were in Dubai we visited the Burg Kalifa great fun and recommended.
The only problem the 4 of us had with the ship is their drink prices I will list a few for you to compare and have used a currency converter to show them in GB pounds - bottle of budweiser $6.00 or £3.85, bottle of strongbow $6.50 or £4.17, a cocktail I enjoyed Lava Flow $8.00 or £5.13 and a small glass of sparkling wine cost $7.00 or £4.50. My friend bought a glass of house wine with her evening meal in the restaurant and it cost over £10 a glass! The only other gripe we had was the lack of atmosphere around the pool, background music was too quiet to hear unless you had a sunbed around the pool, very difficult to get - and not much fun and games happening which we usually enjoy.
The evening entertainment was ok not brilliant, a man who impersonated Elton John was great and we enjoyed the magician and 2 acrobats, but the main show Tango In Buenos Aires was not our cup of tea and we did not go to the last show BUT this is a personal opinion other people raved about the Tango show.
Great cabin no complaints, larger than some ships, plenty of storage space, take some extra hangers.Shower room small but expected, no toiletries except shampoo in a dispenser and soap. No chocolate on pillow any more. Great service from cabin boy.