Carnival Radiance info

[lake53]

Hi all, 

I was wondering if anyone has been on the Radiance since it was updated recently. 
Happy Holiday stay safe! 

[DrSea]

I'll upload a bunch of information in 1 week when I am on the radiance.

[LRDR01]

I haven't seen any info on this ship either.   We are sailing on her on Jan 10th.  Will try to post pics upon our return, but, would love to see some pics and info ahead of cruising.  

[heffy2]

I was on the Radiance's inaugural sailing. The ship looked beautiful inside, but I really missed the Farcus interiors, oddly enough. She was NOT ready for PAX though. For the first time in 24 Carnival cruises I had a pretty major cabin issue. I've never been to guest services so many times. I was in a Spa interior on deck 10, and I had NO hot water for the first three days. I tried to have my wonderful cabin steward handle the issue, and he assured me that the plumber told him it was fixed, about two hours after I reported the issue, on day 2. When I tried the shower, there was no hot water, it didn't even get lukewarm. When I worked onboard a ship years ago, I learned a little trick. You pull the shower head over to the sink and let it run, sometimes it can take several minutes to get warm. Mine never did, so I went to guest services. I reported the issue to them, and they were already aware, because most cabins on deck 10 were in the "same boat". When I saw my steward in the hallway, about 4 hours later, he said it was definitely fixed. I tried the water again, and it was cold. I went back down to the desk, and was very thankful for the Platinum line, as there was a long line. This time I was quite frustrated, because I really wanted a shower. I asked for a supervisor or the GSM, and a very nice woman listened to my angry rant. She offered to come up to my cabin to see if I was operating the faucet correctly. 

 

The Guest Service Supervisor came with me, and noticed how cold the water was. She apologized profusely, and offered to move me to a Spa balcony cabin on deck 11. I honestly didn't want to move, as I was all unpacked, and wasn't looking for anything but hot water. We worked out that she would have the chief plumber up to my cabin first thing in the morning, while I was in Avalon Catalina. If that didn't work, I would move up to deck 11. 

 

When getting back to the ship, I tried the water again, and there was still no hot water. At this point the guest service supervisor was tired of seeing me, and also very frustrated with the plumber, as he told her personally that it was fixed. It was dinner time, so I let them know that I would move after dinner. Guest Services said that was fine, they were going to make sure the new cabin had hot water. 

 

After dinner I moved up to cabin 1117, a brand new Spa Balcony. I tired the water, and it was warm, so I took a shower and went back out to comedy. When I woke up the next morning in Ensenada, I took pics of our arrival from my new balcony. After that I went to breakfast at Big Chicken, and then went back to my cabin. When I got there the door was open, and the friendly houskeeping supervisor was in my bathroom. She said cabin 1117 was on her list as not having hot water, lol! While she was testing the shower, it didn't have any hot water! SHe called the chief plumber right away, and he came to the cabin in about 5 min. It turns out that the faucet was broken, which he promptly fixed. That was the end of my water issues, but it was also the last day of the cruise.

 

Sorry for my long rant, but I've never had this kind of an issue on a cruise. The ship came out of drydock two months prior to our cruise, and the whole sailing all the crew made a big to do about how it was the longest drydock in CCL history. I expected there would be some issues, as there usually are after any drydock, but not being able to shower for a few days was not fun. What I should have done was shower in the spa.

 

[heffy2]

[lake53]

5 hours ago, DrSea said:

I'll upload a bunch of information in 1 week when I am on the radiance.

Thank you! 
Have a great safe trip! 

[copman]

We were on the inaugural cruise in one of the two Captains suites and it was the worst cruise I ever had with Carnival.  In fact, when we got back home I cancelled two of our upcoming cruises on the Radiance in 2022 and 2023.

When in the dedicated bedroom of our cabin, we could hear the guests in the adjacent cabin talking like they were our cabin.  Kept us awake at night and we had to end up sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room portion of the cabin to avoid the noise.  Additionally, no hot water in either bathroom, and the balcony door whistled all night long sounding like a dying animal. 

The toilet in one of the bathrooms gurgled all night and day and the closet sliding doors fit horribly in the opening and could barely be slid open or closed. 

Finally, one electric window shade on the two large front windows did not work and had a cloth curtain installed over it instead.  Of course, it would take a person about 8" in diameter to close the curtain since one has to wedge themselves between the sofabed and the windows to close the curtain. 

Clearly, the rehab ignored many cabin issues with this ship.  However, the paint on the outside of the ship looked good. 

[lake53]

34 minutes ago, heffy2 said:

I was on the Radiance's inaugural sailing. The ship looked beautiful inside, but I really missed the Farcus interiors, oddly enough. She was NOT ready for PAX though. For the first time in 24 Carnival cruises I had a pretty major cabin issue. I've never been to guest services so many times. I was in a Spa interior on deck 10, and I had NO hot water for the first three days. I tried to have my wonderful cabin steward handle the issue, and he assured me that the plumber told him it was fixed, about two hours after I reported the issue, on day 2. When I tried the shower, there was no hot water, it didn't even get lukewarm. When I worked onboard a ship years ago, I learned a little trick. You pull the shower head over to the sink and let it run, sometimes it can take several minutes to get warm. Mine never did, so I went to guest services. I reported the issue to them, and they were already aware, because most cabins on deck 10 were in the "same boat". When I saw my steward in the hallway, about 4 hours later, he said it was definitely fixed. I tried the water again, and it was cold. I went back down to the desk, and was very thankful for the Platinum line, as there was a long line. This time I was quite frustrated, because I really wanted a shower. I asked for a supervisor or the GSM, and a very nice woman listened to my angry rant. She offered to come up to my cabin to see if I was operating the faucet correctly. 

 

The Guest Service Supervisor came with me, and noticed how cold the water was. She apologized profusely, and offered to move me to a Spa balcony cabin on deck 11. I honestly didn't want to move, as I was all unpacked, and wasn't looking for anything but hot water. We worked out that she would have the chief plumber up to my cabin first thing in the morning, while I was in Avalon Catalina. If that didn't work, I would move up to deck 11. 

 

When getting back to the ship, I tried the water again, and there was still no hot water. At this point the guest service supervisor was tired of seeing me, and also very frustrated with the plumber, as he told her personally that it was fixed. It was dinner time, so I let them know that I would move after dinner. Guest Services said that was fine, they were going to make sure the new cabin had hot water. 

 

After dinner I moved up to cabin 1117, a brand new Spa Balcony. I tired the water, and it was warm, so I took a shower and went back out to comedy. When I woke up the next morning in Ensenada, I took pics of our arrival from my new balcony. After that I went to breakfast at Big Chicken, and then went back to my cabin. When I got there the door was open, and the friendly houskeeping supervisor was in my bathroom. She said cabin 1117 was on her list as not having hot water, lol! While she was testing the shower, it didn't have any hot water! SHe called the chief plumber right away, and he came to the cabin in about 5 min. It turns out that the faucet was broken, which he promptly fixed. That was the end of my water issues, but it was also the last day of the cruise.

 

Sorry for my long rant, but I've never had this kind of an issue on a cruise. The ship came out of drydock two months prior to our cruise, and the whole sailing all the crew made a big to do about how it was the longest drydock in CCL history. I expected there would be some issues, as there usually are after any drydock, but not being able to shower for a few days was not fun. What I should have done was shower in the spa.

 

Thank you for the info. That’s sounds very frustrating. Hopefully you want have those issue every again. Best Tom 

[lake53]

3 minutes ago, copman said:

We were on the inaugural cruise in one of the two Captains suites and it was the worst cruise I ever had with Carnival.  In fact, when we got back home I cancelled two of our upcoming cruises on the Radiance in 2022 and 2023.

When in the dedicated bedroom of our cabin, we could hear the guests in the adjacent cabin talking like they were our cabin.  Kept us awake at night and we had to end up sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room portion of the cabin to avoid the noise.  Additionally, no hot water in either bathroom, and the balcony door whistled all night long sounding like a dying animal. 

The toilet in one of the bathrooms gurgled all night and day and the closet sliding doors fit horribly in the opening and could barely be slid open or closed. 

Finally, one electric window shade on the two large front windows did not work and had a cloth curtain installed over it instead.  Of course, it would take a person about 8" in diameter to close the curtain since one has to wedge themselves between the sofabed and the windows to close the curtain. 

Clearly, the rehab ignored many cabin issues with this ship.  However, the paint on the outside of the ship looked good. 

Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. I’m hoping they get these plumbing issue figured out soon. Was the food, activities at least  good? 
Best Tom

 

 

 

 

 

[csm5986142]

I am also watching for reviews and pictures (we will be sailing on Radiance in Feb). 

 

Thank you for the pics posted so far - it looks very nice (the new color scheme is so much better).  I would have been pretty unhappy with the shower situation also.  Fortunately, the ships are not full, and another cabin was available.

 

I'm curious to see how Radiance's makeover compares to Sunrise - both recently underwent an approximate $200 million drydock renovation.  We were on Sunrise in August and the interior of the ship looked very nice and updated, but not so much on the outside.  The windows and exterior had rust and stains, and just looked worn in general.  We were surprised to see a fairly large crack in the deck (on the stairs).  I was not surprised to see that some spring sailing dates have been cancelled, and Sunrise is headed back to drydock for maintenance.  It will be interesting to see if a more thorough update was done on the Radiance.

[heffy2]

They replaced all the teak decking onboard except on the forward "secret decks" and the deck 3 promenades.

[heffy2]

[DrSea]

4 hours ago, heffy2 said:

I was on the Radiance's inaugural sailing. The ship looked beautiful inside, but I really missed the Farcus interiors, oddly enough. She was NOT ready for PAX though. For the first time in 24 Carnival cruises I had a pretty major cabin issue. I've never been to guest services so many times. I was in a Spa interior on deck 10, and I had NO hot water for the first three days. I tried to have my wonderful cabin steward handle the issue, and he assured me that the plumber told him it was fixed, about two hours after I reported the issue, on day 2. When I tried the shower, there was no hot water, it didn't even get lukewarm. When I worked onboard a ship years ago, I learned a little trick. You pull the shower head over to the sink and let it run, sometimes it can take several minutes to get warm. Mine never did, so I went to guest services. I reported the issue to them, and they were already aware, because most cabins on deck 10 were in the "same boat". When I saw my steward in the hallway, about 4 hours later, he said it was definitely fixed. I tried the water again, and it was cold. I went back down to the desk, and was very thankful for the Platinum line, as there was a long line. This time I was quite frustrated, because I really wanted a shower. I asked for a supervisor or the GSM, and a very nice woman listened to my angry rant. She offered to come up to my cabin to see if I was operating the faucet correctly. 

 

The Guest Service Supervisor came with me, and noticed how cold the water was. She apologized profusely, and offered to move me to a Spa balcony cabin on deck 11. I honestly didn't want to move, as I was all unpacked, and wasn't looking for anything but hot water. We worked out that she would have the chief plumber up to my cabin first thing in the morning, while I was in Avalon Catalina. If that didn't work, I would move up to deck 11. 

 

When getting back to the ship, I tried the water again, and there was still no hot water. At this point the guest service supervisor was tired of seeing me, and also very frustrated with the plumber, as he told her personally that it was fixed. It was dinner time, so I let them know that I would move after dinner. Guest Services said that was fine, they were going to make sure the new cabin had hot water. 

 

After dinner I moved up to cabin 1117, a brand new Spa Balcony. I tired the water, and it was warm, so I took a shower and went back out to comedy. When I woke up the next morning in Ensenada, I took pics of our arrival from my new balcony. After that I went to breakfast at Big Chicken, and then went back to my cabin. When I got there the door was open, and the friendly houskeeping supervisor was in my bathroom. She said cabin 1117 was on her list as not having hot water, lol! While she was testing the shower, it didn't have any hot water! SHe called the chief plumber right away, and he came to the cabin in about 5 min. It turns out that the faucet was broken, which he promptly fixed. That was the end of my water issues, but it was also the last day of the cruise.

 

Sorry for my long rant, but I've never had this kind of an issue on a cruise. The ship came out of drydock two months prior to our cruise, and the whole sailing all the crew made a big to do about how it was the longest drydock in CCL history. I expected there would be some issues, as there usually are after any drydock, but not being able to shower for a few days was not fun. What I should have done was shower in the spa.

 

Pro tip: when they offer you a new room, take it. I have had MANY pluming issues on cruises on multiple cruise lines. It is almost never fixed during the duration of your cruise.

[heffy2]

Exactly what another friend mentioned to me, and it was a balcony which was fabulous. The bad part is it still didn’t have hot water, but it was promptly fixed.

[britbritrawr09]

57 minutes ago, heffy2 said:

Exactly what another friend mentioned to me, and it was a balcony which was fabulous. The bad part is it still didn’t have hot water, but it was promp

7 hours ago, heffy2 said:

I was on the Radiance's inaugural sailing. The ship looked beautiful inside, but I really missed the Farcus interiors, oddly enough. She was NOT ready for PAX though. For the first time in 24 Carnival cruises I had a pretty major cabin issue. I've never been to guest services so many times. I was in a Spa interior on deck 10, and I had NO hot water for the first three days. I tried to have my wonderful cabin steward handle the issue, and he assured me that the plumber told him it was fixed, about two hours after I reported the issue, on day 2. When I tried the shower, there was no hot water, it didn't even get lukewarm. When I worked onboard a ship years ago, I learned a little trick. You pull the shower head over to the sink and let it run, sometimes it can take several minutes to get warm. Mine never did, so I went to guest services. I reported the issue to them, and they were already aware, because most cabins on deck 10 were in the "same boat". When I saw my steward in the hallway, about 4 hours later, he said it was definitely fixed. I tried the water again, and it was cold. I went back down to the desk, and was very thankful for the Platinum line, as there was a long line. This time I was quite frustrated, because I really wanted a shower. I asked for a supervisor or the GSM, and a very nice woman listened to my angry rant. She offered to come up to my cabin to see if I was operating the faucet correctly. 

 

The Guest Service Supervisor came with me, and noticed how cold the water was. She apologized profusely, and offered to move me to a Spa balcony cabin on deck 11. I honestly didn't want to move, as I was all unpacked, and wasn't looking for anything but hot water. We worked out that she would have the chief plumber up to my cabin first thing in the morning, while I was in Avalon Catalina. If that didn't work, I would move up to deck 11. 

 

When getting back to the ship, I tried the water again, and there was still no hot water. At this point the guest service supervisor was tired of seeing me, and also very frustrated with the plumber, as he told her personally that it was fixed. It was dinner time, so I let them know that I would move after dinner. Guest Services said that was fine, they were going to make sure the new cabin had hot water. 

 

After dinner I moved up to cabin 1117, a brand new Spa Balcony. I tired the water, and it was warm, so I took a shower and went back out to comedy. When I woke up the next morning in Ensenada, I took pics of our arrival from my new balcony. After that I went to breakfast at Big Chicken, and then went back to my cabin. When I got there the door was open, and the friendly houskeeping supervisor was in my bathroom. She said cabin 1117 was on her list as not having hot water, lol! While she was testing the shower, it didn't have any hot water! SHe called the chief plumber right away, and he came to the cabin in about 5 min. It turns out that the faucet was broken, which he promptly fixed. That was the end of my water issues, but it was also the last day of the cruise.

 

Sorry for my long rant, but I've never had this kind of an issue on a cruise. The ship came out of drydock two months prior to our cruise, and the whole sailing all the crew made a big to do about how it was the longest drydock in CCL history. I expected there would be some issues, as there usually are after any drydock, but not being able to shower for a few days was not fun. What I should have done was shower in the spa.

 

Was it worth it to have the spa room? Did you go into the thermal suite in the spa? Thank you 

[whitshel]

I just got off this morning.   Actually my 1st Carnival Cruise.  The ship looked nice but I do have to say, navigating the ship is the worst!  Probably my greeness of Carnival but man oh man.  There is no easy way to get from one end to the other. 

 

I found the 4 complimentary food options very good (Guys, Big Chicken, Blue Iguana and the pizza place) but the buffet is crazy small.  I guess I'm used to sprawling areas, wide open stations, this buffet had 1 island with the same food on both sides and 1 wall for like salads and fruit, that's it.  I was amazed, people are always talking about how good Carnivals lido deck is, The Radiance definitely not the case.  The other thing that really got me scratching my head was the buffet and like the condiment bars at Guys and Big Chicken were serve yourself, I thought I read that all cruise lines right now the buffets etc were all being served by staff, not the case here.  I normally wouldn't care until you see all the people getting their own stuff without masks yelling to their friends, laughing touching everything.   But yes Guys burgers are the best!!  We only had 1 dinner in the MDR (Formal Night) and I'm not even going to talk about it (I dont want to get flamed)  We did 2 of the specialty dining venues, The Italian and Fahrenheit 55.  Both excellent!!  I think Fahrenheit 55 blows Chops out of the water.

 

Our balcony was really nice but again, one thing I noticed is the door going in to the room was really light, (RCCL the doors are really heavy and it takes some muscle to open them),  which made the room really noisy, you could everything a passerby was saying etc.

 

The cruise experience I don't think I would be able to tell it apart from Royal both really good. 

 

Did I enjoy the cruise?  You're damn right I did (1st Cruise since Jan 2020) but the ship definitely fell short to what I am used too.  Once the cruise was over I wanted a reason to say "I need to book another Carnival Cruise"  unfortunately I can't say there was.  As most of you know when our hearts lay with another Cruise line, there needs to be something special to pull us away.  Will I sail again on Carnival?  most likely but probably only on the Mardi Gras. 

 

If you have any questions, I can try and answer them 🙂

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by whitshel

[whitshel]

 

 

 

[lake53]

4 hours ago, whitshel said:

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the info. How was boarding? Is there a bar in the casino or did you try it? We’re looking forward to Shaq’s chicken. Happy Holidays 

[whitshel]

9 hours ago, lake53 said:

Thank you so much for the info. How was boarding? Is there a bar in the casino or did you try it? We’re looking forward to Shaq’s chicken. Happy Holidays 

Boarding was super easy.  Maybe 30 mins tops.  Disembarkation was even easier.  Facial recognition for customs, didn't even have to get our passports out.  There is a nice bar in the casino.  Shaq's chicken was great, the best fry's  you'll ever eat!  Like I said the only off putting part of the food is all the grubby hands at the condiment bars.