ROCKLAND — The Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines vessel, Brilliance of the Seas (2,100 passengers, 929 crew) will visit Rockland Harbor for its inaugural port of call Sunday, Sept. 20. The cruise, a nine-day Canada/New England Two Nation Vacation Tour has other stops along the way in Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Charlottetown, and Sydney, Nova Scotia.  

The Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce will have an information booth and welcome area set up the morning of Sept. 20 in Harbor Park in Rockland and in Camden (at the Village Green) to greet passengers and provide information on the entire region. The passengers will be exploring the region on their own and also have access to custom shore excursion itineraries throughout the region. A detailed walking map of Downtown Rockland and Camden has been designed by Woody Emanuel of Admiral's Buttons for distribution to the passengers.

Built in 2002, the ship is 952 feet in length, weighs 90,090 tons, and is 105.6 feet at the beam. Top speed for the Brilliance of the Seas is 25 knots.

At Harbor Park in Rockland, there will be representatives from Schooner Bay Taxi (for taxi and driver services). The Public Landing will be open to vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic.  

The ship will be anchored in Rockland Harbor (off of Owls Head) and passengers will be transported via tenders throughout the day to the Public Landing in Rockland Passengers will be tendered in starting at 8 a.m., with the last tender leaving port around 4 p.m.

The Public Landing/Harbor Park will be open to vehicle (in a limited area) and pedestrian traffic. The area directly in front of Fisherman’s Memorial stage over to the Harbormaster’s building will be blocked off for the shore excursion buses and taxis. Parking will be available directly along the sea wall area of Harbor Park over to the Harbormaster’s office. Harbor Park will be used for staging of the shore excursion buses and shuttles to both Rockland and Camden destinations.

For more information, visit royalcaribbean.com. 

For more information on the Chamber of Commerce or if you have any questions regarding this or any other port visits, please contact Alicia Bagnall at the Chamber Office, 596-0376, ext. 106 or alicia@penbaychamber.com