This editor’s letter has been penned from an unusual location this month, where exactly I am not even sure. On board the Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship for Royal Caribbean International’s maiden Middle East voyage, I believe this was written somewhere between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi in the Gulf of Oman.

The cruise was a seven-night tour, starting in Dubai and stopping for a day each in Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain before returning to Dubai for an overnight stay.

While I would happily have swapped my cabin — sorry, stateroom — for any basic hotel room and my cubicle — sorry, bathroom — for a shower I could lift my arms up in, I discovered that accommodation aside, this cruise ship quite easily trumps many of the hotels I have stayed in.

And I have been lucky enough to experience some of the region’s very best hotels, so the bar is set very high.

Food and beverage was one of the areas that really stood out. Assuming you had an outlet big enough, could your F&B team serve 1000 people twice over in one evening? And could it do this providing hot food at the same time for every person on tables of 10, while also managing multiple drink requests and adding the occasional skit and song to keep guests entertained? I didn’t think so.

I’ll concede that the dishes were not that adventurous compared to the wealth of cuisine offered by the region’s outlets, but there was a choice of at least six options for each course. Plus, the scallop risotto I had on ‘Italian night’ was faultless and the omelette cooked fresh for me at breakfast was one of the nicest I have ever had. I heard no complaints from any of the guests I spoke to about the food, but I think I was more impressed than anyone by the level of speed and skill with which the food was produced; perhaps I have got used to slow service that other people — particularly older generations — would just not accept.



And then onto housekeeping, another highlight for me. Having checked in, there was soon a knock on the door from my room attendant, introducing herself to find out if I would have any specific needs during my stay. She was to become a companion for the trip, laughing along with me while I tried to master the cruise dress codes and having a chat with me morning and evening.

The secret behind the success of both the great dining experiences and the immaculate housekeeping is service — or Royal Caribbean’s Gold Anchor service to be precise.

Brilliance of the Seas has a crew of 800-plus, and I probably came into contact with 30 or so of these during my cruise. Without exception, they were friendly, welcoming and genuine — nothing was scripted, instead personalities were really shining through.

A cruise ship can’t be the easiest or most comfortable environment to work in, yet everybody was upbeat and dedicated. It was impressive and inspiring to see the crew interact with guests of all ages and nationalities —Brilliance of the Seas will carry people of 65 different nationalities during its 14-week Middle East tour.

The overall feeling, even as a first time cruiser somewhat outside the average age bracket, was that you were part of a family. So many hotels talk of creating a ‘home from home’ — but I have never before seen this achieved better than on a cruise ship.

Now where’s the sense in that?