Carnival Radiance June 27-July 1 Observations & Thoughts

[nslatin]

Just some observations from our 4-day cruise.

 

Pig & Anchor was only open on the sea day.  It was not open for lunch on embarkation day,

 

Sea day brunch was from 8:30am-12:00pm.  No lunch served in MDR.  These hours seem to be reduced from past cruises.

 

First night in steakhouse promo gets you a free bottle of house wine or 50% ALL wine purchases. We bought all of our wine for the whole cruise at the steakhouse and had them store the bottles for consumption in the MDR during the cruise.

 

For this cruise the sea was so calm when we left Ensenada, we just floated along not moving or just cruising along at +/- 3 knots.

 

Ensenada port. 

 

You cannot get or return to the cruise terminal by taxi/uber.  You must either shuttle downtown & back or walk out to/from main street.

No shops are open in the terminals.

 

And finally.,

 

If room attendants (pre-covid) were doing 20 rooms twice a day and getting x$ in tips per room, they were getting 20x$ in tips, assuming nobody reversed the tip charges.

For this the did 40 cleanings.

 

Now post-covid they are cleaning twice as many rooms 1x per cabin and receiving twice as many tips for the same amount of work, 40 cleanings. 

 

In addition, they have twice as many opportunities for additional cash as before.  This is not a complaint or a criticism, just an observation.  I have always felt that the room attendants work extremely hard and deserve all of our appreciation, spoken and cash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buffettfan 225]

We are sailing same cruise in Aug, bringing Senior parents with us, since they like sitting just watching from balcony - which way did ship face in Ensenada please- was the port side looking down on pier, or starboard.

Same with Avalon tendering- which side faced the tendering boats and Avalon? 

Thanks.

Can you comment on lines for Long Beach check in? They cannot stand long, and wondering if had a handicap line. Appreciate anyone chiming in. 

 

[jamscckmc]

We will be on her for 2 weeks in October and would love more info. Do you know if your ship was at capacity or are they still running at less than capacity? Did you find it hard to get seats in the main theater or comedy club? If you were in the casino at all was there a non smoking section? Any info on the ship would be appreciated. We were supposed to be on the Miracle and weren’t too happy they changed the ship. Thanks!

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, Buffettfan 225 said:

We are sailing same cruise in Aug, bringing Senior parents with us, since they like sitting just watching from balcony - which way did ship face in Ensenada please- was the port side looking down on pier, or starboard.

Same with Avalon tendering- which side faced the tendering boats and Avalon? 

Thanks.

Can you comment on lines for Long Beach check in? They cannot stand long, and wondering if had a handicap line. Appreciate anyone chiming in. 

 

 

I just checked my photos - in Avalon the port side had the view of the island and starboard would have been looking at just the water. It looks like in Ensenada we had it on starboard. I think Catalina was a lot prettier to look at than Ensenada. 

 

Though you didn't ask, at embark and debark we had the view of port from our starboard balcony and I am not really a balcony dweller, but I ended up spending a LOT of time out there on embark day as we were among the first on the ship and in the rooms right at 1 when they opened, with a few hours before they left. I enjoyed watching crew members coming back aboard after obviously doing some shopping in town, and saw 2 or 3 male crew members leave the ship with big rolling suitcases - I assume their contract ended and they were heading to LAX. 

 

At Long Beach we were able to sign up for an early arrival time - I believe it was 10-10:30; however we didn't actually arrive until about 11ish. There was a bit of a line for the check in but it moved very fast, one of the fastest check ins we have seen. There were lots of places to sit in the terminal but we moved through so fast this was never needed. However I did see other people sitting there - it seemed perhaps they allowed everyone to come in and get checked in regardless of arrival time, but then didn't let you get on the ship itself before your arrival time as people were given zones on their boarding passes which were called for embark. If you arrive later than your time, there is no penalty and you just get waved on whenever you are checked in.

 

I'm sorry but we had no need for handicap assistance this time so I can't comment. We had two prior cruises this past year with seniors who rented Scootarounds at other ports (PC and Baltimore) and we picked them up right outside the terminal building and they just drove through the whole process. That was kinda a pain for me, because the scooters are bulky and the drivers need a little practice maneuvering, but they loved them.

[Buffettfan 225]

Thank you for info. Looking forward to cruise- sailed in afeb, but covid cancel in June.  Really appreciate it. A bit disappointed Ensenada change from port side but acaralina is a great trade on view. Prior cruise we enjoyed looking down on the sea lions on the Ensenada pier. We watched crew get ropes to leave (which requires going past sea lions) the two crew were “discussing” “I did it last time - you go…” they made a run & hopped over concrete barrier and un hooked ropes. Can’t imagine why Carnival doesn't give crew a safe passage to ropes easier. 

[csm5986142]

2 hours ago, Buffettfan 225 said:

which way did ship face in Ensenada please- was the port side looking down on pier, or starboard.

 

We are currently on miracle, docked next to Radiance in ensenada, and right now Radiance's port side is facing the pier. 

[Buffettfan 225]

On 7/3/2022 at 12:32 PM, csm5986142 said:

 

We are currently on miracle, docked next to Radiance in ensenada, and right now Radiance's port side is facing the pier. 

Thank you 😊 Hoping we dock same way, 

[nslatin]

Other have chimed with good info for your questions.  My wife was having some mobility issues during the boarding.  We had no wait for the vax card/Verifly checks and once we passed thru security we were directed to the diamond/platinum lane and a staffer Immediately dropped the ropes so we could go direct to the handicapped counter.  This staffer opened the conversation by asking if we wanted a wheelchair for boarding, which we agreed was a good idea.  We later found out that the elevator was out of order (fixed by the time we returned).  With no elevator you either walk up the ramp or use the escalator.  Be aware that you cannot carry any luggage on the escalator.  Nothing.  Nada.  The security guard was very clear about that.

[yakefu]

I was on the same ship at the same time. To me ,the whole trip is good.However, I really don't like the buffet. The selection is very limit. But the MDR is very good. The food is tasty and service is excellent. 

 

[Buffettfan 225]

On 7/6/2022 at 5:34 PM, nslatin said:

Other have chimed with good info for your questions.  My wife was having some mobility issues during the boarding.  We had no wait for the vax card/Verifly checks and once we passed thru security we were directed to the diamond/platinum lane and a staffer Immediately dropped the ropes so we could go direct to the handicapped counter.  This staffer opened the conversation by asking if we wanted a wheelchair for boarding, which we agreed was a good idea.  We later found out that the elevator was out of order (fixed by the time we returned).  With no elevator you either walk up the ramp or use the escalator.  Be aware that you cannot carry any luggage on the escalator.  Nothing.  Nada.  The security guard was very clear about that.

Thank you- assume then she did not get to use the wheelchair as never seen kne in an escalator? So you used ramp, pulling luggage and she did escalator? Traveling with to seniors who would benefit from a wheel hair, but we will have carryons, so tough to assist. Hope fingers crossed elevator works. 

 

Another question- what time did you arrive, and did you have to wait in a line before getting in being with mobility issues? Mine will have canes at this point, but no way can do the ramp up in Long Beach. 

 

[EarloftheSeas]

Yes, that had to be the smoothest departure from Ensenada I've ever experienced.   Great cruise!!

[nslatin]

We all went up the ramp with two staff members, one was new and training, to push my wife up the ramp.  We arrived around 11:30 and had no significant wait anywhere.

[pc_load_letter]

Thanks for the tips! We are on Radiance Monday. Looking forward to it. Miracle was fun in March so I hope to have the same good time next week.

[mexicobob]

On 7/3/2022 at 12:23 PM, Buffettfan 225 said:

We are sailing same cruise in Aug, bringing Senior parents with us, since they like sitting just watching from balcony - which way did ship face in Ensenada please- was the port side looking down on pier, or starboard.

Same with Avalon tendering- which side faced the tendering boats and Avalon? 

Thanks.

Can you comment on lines for Long Beach check in? They cannot stand long, and wondering if had a handicap line. Appreciate anyone chiming in. 

 

On any ship, in any port in the world you never know which side of the ship will face the port. Will only know when you get there. Many variables factor in the location of where the ship docks or anchors.