jcc1025

After 24 cruises we have been on every class up to Oasis, even including one that doesn't exist anymore. The decision is hard as we have liked each for their own different reasons, and in some cases, it might have to do with the Interary. If we had to pick one, it would be Oasis. Before that we liked Radiance because of all the outside viewing. Oasis class has so many option from the peace of Central Park to the party on the promenade and shows at the aquatic center. The food options are the best and we love Central Park 150 so it gets the nod if we can only go on one. We just got off the Radiance test cruise and had sailed on her the first year she was in service and all the upgrades are amazing. So they are all great in our mind and we are looking forward to going on Navigator in August.

I seem to remember they close at 10:30 or 11:00

We were on the Radiance shakeout cruise about a month ago in LA before they moved to Alaska. It was a great time, but we could sense that a number of the crew were new and learning on the job. Like always they were all wonderful, but you could tell a lot of training was going on. There were only about 450 passengers, and this cruise was designed to give them some experience before paying passengers came on board. I got into a discussion with a long-time crew bartender in the Schooner bar on day and he said that over 2000 crew members did not return from the pandemic break. That Royal was working at recruiting like all service industries. He said no passengers had been on the ship in two years and that most of the crew had only just got on board as they had come over from Malta. The ship was in great shape and the staff in the specialty restaurants were what we would expect, it was more the main dining room and some of the bars that we noticed the learning curve. We see the same thing on shore-based service businesses and is part of the move back from the break. We have a couple of cruises booked and know that it will return to past levels and after working in the customer service industry all my working life I don't complain as much as others on this site. I am always amazed at the number of people on these boards who complain and complain about anything and everything but continue to cruise. Happy sailing to everyone.

Deck 5 where the old coffer shop was, I think it is close to the Next Cruise office. They told us we were the first passengers on board in two years, so they have done some changes to the ship. It really was nice. We highly recommend Vince in the Pub bar in the evening.

We sailed the Radiance's CDC two-day test cruse three week ago out of LA before it went to Alaska. The ship has been retrofitted and now has a small Starbucks on board. Not exactly the Oasis class size but still is now available for the Starbuck fans out there.