Brilliance of the Seas Changes Homeport for Summer Sailing

Planning flights to a distant cruise homeport can be tricky, especially with the possibility of delays and cancellations. It gets even trickier when that homeport might be many thousands of miles away.

What can make it trickier still is if the cruise line then changes the homeport, and now you may be visiting the wrong city to board a cruise ship that won’t be there.

This is just what guests booked for Brilliance of the Seas‘ August 10, 2026 departure are finding out, as Royal Caribbean has now notified them of a homeport change.

“A construction delay has led to a berthing conflict in Ravenna, Italy,” the email states. “As a result of this change, we’ll now begin our European summer adventure in Trieste, Italy, instead.”

While both Ravenna and Trieste are in northern Italy, the two cities are 185 miles apart. This can be a 4-hour drive or longer, depending on route and traffic, though there are also train options and other ways to transit between the two homeports.

“You may already have arranged transportation, and we know this unexpected change may cause inconvenience,” the email acknowledges.

To help guests adjust their pre- or post-cruise travel plans, Royal Caribbean is offering reimbursement of up to $200 (USD) per guest for domestic travel fares or up to $400 for international changes.

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This reimbursement can apply to changes for flights, trains, or rental cars. Guests must submit reimbursement requests for consideration.

While it will be disconcerting to guests to have to rearrange plans to reach Trieste rather than Ravenna, fortunately, the impacted cruise is not setting sail for nearly eight months.

This gives guests plenty of time to make necessary changes to prepare for their 7-night sailing and the outstanding ports it will visit.

No Further Itinerary Changes

Rearranging the homeport may be a hassle, but the weeklong itinerary has not been changed. Brilliance of the Seas will still be visiting all five outstanding ports on the original schedule:

• Koper, Slovenia – Tuesday, August 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Split, Croatia – Wednesday, August 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Dubrovnik, Croatia – Thursday, August 13 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Kotor, Montenegro – Friday, August 14 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Naples, Italy – Sunday, August 16 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The arrival in Rome (Civitavecchia) on Monday, August 17, is still planned for 5 a.m., though guests should be aware that Brilliance of the Seas will depart Trieste at 8 p.m. to begin the sailing, rather than the 5 p.m. departure that had been planned from Ravenna.

Why the Homeport Change?

Royal Caribbean has not provided any further details on the “construction delay” that has required this itinerary change, but Ravenna is in the process of building a new cruise terminal.

That project may be running behind schedule, and therefore, the port is unable to accommodate as many ships as previously anticipated.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Viva is also scheduled for Ravenna on August 10, 2026.

Comparing the vessels, Norwegian Viva is 142,500 gross tons and can welcome 3,195 guests, while Brilliance of the Seas is 90,090 gross tons and has a guest capacity of 2,142.

If only one ship can be accommodated, it makes sense that the larger vessel would take priority, as fewer travelers overall would be inconvenienced.

The new cruise terminal in Ravenna is scheduled to open in 2026, but no firm date of its debut has been announced.

Guests on any cruise line sailing to or from Ravenna in the next few months should stay in close communication with their cruise line in case of additional changes to homeport or port visit arrangements.

Hopefully, plenty of advance notice will make it possible for any future frustration to be minimal as guests rearrange their travel plans.