Anyone Back From The Radiance Lately?

[CRUISEALLDAYLONG]

Has anyone stayed in cabin 1028 or 1024? I would love to see pictures, also did anyone experience much noise from above or from the anchor

[CGAGE]

CRUISEALLDAYLONG...We'll be in cabin 1024 exactly 2 weeks from tomorrow...so I'll either post pics or describe them in great detail! I'm not so hot with posting the pics...but I'm sure my hubby can! Do you have those cabins booked for a future cruise?

 

Chelle...We're definitely going to look for Vinny and Sagar for drinks...and I know we're going to try Portofinos and Chops at least once! I'll pass on friendly hello's and hugs for you to them and Alan as well! Hopefully we'll both make Diamond Plus someday...you'll most likely be there before me though!

I'm so excited about seeing this ship I can hardly stand it!

 

I hope all the CCer's in the frozen North are all staying warm! It's very dreary here, but the temp is in the high 60's. The weather is supposed to turn bad here by tomorrow and down to freezing temp's by Monday!

 

Take care everyone!

[chelle the cruise junkie]

Carrie;

 

 

Your going to love the Radiance..its truly a beautiful ship, all gleaming wood and so much glass that it is like sitting in a sun room that happens to be surrounded by beautiful torquoise water. The crew is all wonderful and warm and nice to everyone, they go out of their way to make your trip totally enjoyable. There is such a over abundance of things to do from the movie theater to the rock climbing wall and anything else you can imagine. I love cruising and I do it as often as my schedule allows, but there is a reason I return to the Radiance again and again....the absolute joy and feeling of "homecoming" that greets you from the moment you step onboard.

 

Have a blast and enjoy the ports and remember that no one cares how you behave and no one is watching you so let loose and join in on all the silly games and experience it all to the fullest.

Celia; I see from your signature that your doing the Panama Canal cruise in April, your going to love it, we just did it on the Radiance in October from San Diego to Miami and it was awesome...Aruba was a blast and Mexico was so pretty and the Canal was just so peaceful since the journey is a very slow, leisurely kind of sail...have fun!!!!:)

 

chelle the cruise junkie:D

[CRUISEALLDAYLONG]

CGAGE

I would love to see your pics and overall review of that cabin/cruise. We are trying to decide on 1024 or 1028, both are handicap accessible rooms of which we most definitley are in need of. So any information or pictures would be extremely helpful.

 

CGAGE, enjoy your cruise and I'll check this thread when you return.

 

Does anyone have any pictures of either one of the handicap cabins or does anyone know of any links or websites that I could go to for info and pictures?

[CGAGE]

CRUISEALLDAYLONG...I just wanted to clarify something...according to my 2005-2006 vacation planner from RCCL...cabin 1024 isn't designated as a handicap room in the plans for the Radiance, the Jewel or the Serenade. Cabin 1028 is handicap and a JS as you stated earlier. I'm sure 1028 would be awesome and would accomodate your needs as well. Too bad the prices probably aren't similar!!!

I'll definitely post when I get back...when are you planning on going?

[que sarah sarah]

Hi , we are also going on Radiance of the Seas in April doing the Panama Canal full transit . Tinkerme is on the same cruise . Hi,tinkerme .

This will our first time on Radiance although we have sailed on Brilliance 4 times previously .I guess they are similar ships .

We had a wonderful cruise on Brilliance in the Med last October but the May of the same year I was ready to jump ship . In all our 20+ cruises with RCL I have never had a cruise like it and don't want the same experience again. Crew and food really awful !!!!

 

I so far haven't heard a bad report about Radiance only from REDHEADS5 on this thread .

 

We always buy the wine package on board and I see in one of your earlier posts you say ----if you buy the package with C&A you get 25% off per bottle . IF I am reading this correctly ---how do you do this .???? We always just give our cruise card to the waiter .?????

I look forward to hearing from you .

[tinkerme1]

Chelle, I know this is off-topic for this thread, but if possible, would you let me know what shore excursions you did on the trip in each of the ports and if you really enjoyed them, or have other suggestions for us. Having an awful time figuring out the shore excursions on this trip. The only one that is "done" is Acapulco. Thanks so much!

 

micknminy@aol.com or micknminy@earthlink.net

 

:D

[chelle the cruise junkie]

Que Sarah Sarah;

I assume your a Crown and Anchor member because this package only applies to Gold, Platinum or Diamond members....on Sunday when you board and for a limited time only this package is available, we usually go to the Guest Relations desk on Deck 4, sometimes you can buy it there and sometimes they direct you to where you can...basically what the package entails: you buy a predetermined number of wine bottles from a list and you receive 25% off the price of each bottle. There are other wine and dine packages available but they MUST be purschased on the day of sailing and are available for a limited time only and before dinner begins because they give you a card that the waiter stamps each evening when you order your wine...

TINKERME1:

the following are excursions we did or someone in our party did for the Panama Canal...

ARUBA---this was a shopping and exploring port, its beautiful and safe with no pan handlers (they are against the law here!!), its actually fun to walk around..we explored the malls and the hotels. Others who did tours said they wished they hadn't because they got such a short amount of time to shop and they said this was the best shopping on the trip.

PUNTARENAS: the Aerial Tram is worth every bit of the money you pay for it, its beautiful and so relaxing, others of us did the Corobici River Rafting which was loads of fun and a little more heart pounding than the Aerial Tram.

CABO SAN LUCAS: part of us did the Deluxe Coastal Cruise which shows you some of the most beautiful parts of Cabo and then we all went to Cabo Wabo which is Sammy Hagars (from Van Halen) cantina which is fun...pizza is very good and the margaritas are quite tasty.

CRISTOBEL PIER: this is only a small building built at the end of the Canal where they have shopping, native music and a bar...some people who got off the ship to take a train through the canal said not to do it because you don't see as much and those of us who stayed on the ship through the canal got to see it up close and personal.

HUATULCO: the scenic drive and La Crucectia was very good, the drive is beautiful and the market at the end has very nice goods for sale and we saw some beautiful sights on the drive both ways...after we went into the town of Huatulco off the ship and this kind of ruined the day...the shop keepers were VERY PUSHY and they tried to block your way out of the shops...

This was a great cruise, the number of sea days makes it so relaxing and peaceful, its completely different from the caribbean, but still enjoyable and fun.

hope this helps you both,

chelle:D

[KamloopsCruisers]

We cruised on the Radiance last September - Vancouver to Hawaii. While all cruises are wonderful (IMHO), this trip was FANTASTIC. This was due, in part, to our onboard eperience.

 

From Captain Kent (don't miss him singing), our waiters, Raj & Luis, who made each evening a delight, Allen our favourite poolside waiter, and the many others who went out of their way to make us feel pampered and spoiled. Many of the staff have worked on the Radiance for a long time - several explained to me that there is such a family spirit onboard amongst them, they don't want to leave. They are happy and it shows.

 

The food was considerably better than what we experienced on the Brilliance. The head chef is East Indian. Friends cruising with us (but unfortunately not tablemates) mentioned to their waiter how much they enjoyed east indian food. Two nights later, they were presented with an east indian banquet at dinner. These friends live in London where there are many really good east indian restaurants and they reported this food was one of the best meals they had the pleasure of eating.

 

Overall, the food was really good and it didn't matter whether we ate in the dining room, Windjammer, Seaview Cafe or Portofino's, all met or exceeded my expectations.

 

I especially enjoyed the thermal suite in the spa. This service must be purchased, and I don't know if I would pay for a port-intensive Caribbean cruise, but on our Hawaiian trip with many sea days, it was wonderful.

 

We didn't experience any plumbing problems on deck nine - in fact, this cruise was PERFECT. I know your experience will be different than ours - as we had Hawaiian entertainment, etc. on our cruise. But, based on our experience, I believe you will find the beauty of the ship and her staff first rate.

 

A few things not to miss: Try a game of pool on the self-levelling pool table; Order onion rings and clam chowder in the Seaview cafe (delicious); Play the Quest game; Have a drink (or two) in the Colony bar.

 

Pack a happy attitude and your cruise will be perfect - just like ours.

 

Enjoy,

 

Sue

[que sarah sarah]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

We always take the "wine and dine" package (was $109 for 7 bottles/7 nights).

Is the package you refer to a special for C&A members? We are Diamond and will be Diamond Plus after the Canal cruise. If it's special to C&A members, where can I read about it?

That's good information on the tours. Were they all RCI tours or were some done privately?

[chelle the cruise junkie]

SARAH;

 

I am not sure where you can read about it, I called Crown and Anchor and asked them about the wine and dine and they told me about it, I was Platinum then, Diamond now, and it worked out well...depending on the bottles you chose it can be more or sometimes less than the 7 bottles package for $109.00, I think it works out well if your a real wine person and like the more expensive brands...

all the excursions were done with RCI, we don't normally use RCI since they tend to be a little more expensive but in this case we felt safer since the areas where you are stopping are a little more remote and a lot of the people didn't speak English and you hear a lot about drug runners and stuff...matter of fact the cab drivers in Cristobel Pier REFUSED to take anyone not from Panama into town because its not safe...I just felt safer knowing the ship knew where we were and they trusted the guides!!

chelle:D

P.S. I always check the board two or three times a day so you'll always get a prompt response....

[que sarah sarah]

So far we have only 1 private tour booked with timkerme and friends in Acapulco . We thought if we wanted to do other tours we would book them with RCL. You have just confirmed my thoughts on why we should :)

you have been very helpful , thanks .

[gfleischha]

[We tried to get the same cabin we had on our first cruise 1602 but it was booked so we up graded to the GS 1600. You got to love those aft balconies.

 

 

 

Hello GFL.....

 

I will be on Radiance this May in room GS 1600 AFT also. Can you share a little bit about the room in respect to layout and balcony size, or any other bits of information you care to mention?

 

Thanks for your time!

 

MTS

We are in this cabin on February 27th we will have tons of digital pictures I will share with you.

[chelle the cruise junkie]

Sarah;

 

Glad I could help, I hope you have a wonderful time on the cruise, but then again its hard not too, even the worst day cruising is better than the best day on land!!!!

 

If I can be of anymore help please let me know.

 

chelle:D

I just realized your from England...my family is too, Ipswich, Colchester and Manningtree and a few in Manchester.;)

[CGAGE]

This has turned out to be a great thread! And I'm not saying this because I started it...but because of awesome people who share lots of informative, great info!

Thanks again and lets keep it going!!

[Pandora06]

Any idea how many teens were on the ship?

 

My daughter is getting nervous and wondering if there will be any on ours.

 

We are on Radiance Feb 6 - 13

 

Last February there were only a handful of older teens on Soveign but they got along great.

[PolPakCan]

Hi Pandora06,

we just finished Radiance 01/09-01/16 sailing that was past Christmas break. We have 2 teenage twin boys (14) who were very nervous about not having anybody beside parents (how boring...), as they thought everybody is back at school. Well there was about 20 other teens in their age group (12-14), and they were busy all day. We only saw our boys at dinner and on the tours we did on shore, as from the time they got up till 01:00 am (curfew time) they were gone. Robert from Canada was a director of teen program, and sure he did an excellent job. Our sons did not want to leave the ship at the end of the cruise, and now they keep in touch with few of their new friends. FYI: there is another web site (cruisemates.com) where there is a place for teens to chat and post info about who is going when and where. You daughter will find some friends for sure, and will have a wonderful time. Promise.

[Pandora06]

Hi Pandora06,

we just finished Radiance 01/09-01/16 sailing that was past Christmas break. We have 2 teenage twin boys (14) who were very nervous about not having anybody beside parents (how boring...), as they thought everybody is back at school. Well there was about 20 other teens in their age group (12-14), and they were busy all day. We only saw our boys at dinner and on the tours we did on shore, as from the time they got up till 01:00 am (curfew time) they were gone. Robert from Canada was a director of teen program, and sure he did an excellent job. Our sons did not want to leave the ship at the end of the cruise, and now they keep in touch with few of their new friends. FYI: there is another web site (cruisemates.com) where there is a place for teens to chat and post info about who is going when and where. You daughter will find some friends for sure, and will have a wonderful time. Promise.

 

Thanks for the reply,

 

This is my daughter's 7th cruise and like your sons she can never stand to leave the ship. She is 17 now and insisted that this would be a great year for a cruise since it's the last year she can do the teen program.

(I wanted to fly to Hawaii.) It was also the deciding factor between Carnival and Royal Caribbean since Carnival doesn't have a teen program for the older teens.

 

Last year there were only a few teens on the ship but she got along with them great. They bonded on the first day and had to be torn apart when we left the ship. She's nervous that there may not be many teens again.