Just back from the Radiance of the Seas 2/19-2/26

[beachlady58]

:)

Just back from the Radiance of the Seas Western voyage 2/19-26. I am in the process of a review but have much work to carch up on so in the meantime if there are any questions please let me know. She is just out of drydock and very nice with new carpet and chairs in the windjammer. We did stop in Labadee and it was great! I had a balcony deck 8 mid ship with an inside cabin and then was upgraded mid-trip to a family suite deck 8 aft with 2 BR, 2 BA (tub) huge balcony and an living room...GREAT! Terrible entertainment (all new people) and food fair. Excellent customer service and great wait staff and cabin steward.

[trixie54]

Welcome back! Glad you had a great cruise, & what a happy surprise upgrade! Wonder why they waited til half way through?

Were all the nights casual except for the formals? Are people dressing more casual than they did for "smart casual" (if you've been cruising before)?Thanks!

[mortypro]

we are going on in july 29 to alaska hope entertainment is better by then

did you go to the specialty dining rooms

[BobBeaSea]

Thanks beachlady, was hoping to hear from a cruiser on Radiance's first post drydock sailing. You mentioned the entertainers were new to the ship...how about the rest of the crew...are they new to the ship as well? Look forward to your review:) and congrats on the upgrade.

[DHADEN]

Thanks for your input, Beachlady58;

 

We have a group (see link to our rollcall in signature) going on the Radiance in a few weeks. Also the Western Itenerary. I have a few questions, if you don't mind the time & effort.

 

How was Cozumel when you were there?

 

Did you spend much time in the lounges after hours? If so, how would you rate "Santino & Blackjax", the showband. Also, I have been told the entertaner in the Centrum is the "Serenade Trio". Were they very good? and was there a lot of dancing?

 

Did you keep copies of the Cruise Compasses and Shopping Guides, and is there any way you could share those with us? (scanning and emailing, making copies and mailing -- I would gladly pay the postage and expenses, or any other way you know)

 

Again, Thanks a lot for any information you can share.:D

[CRUZ-AHOLIC]

Eagerly awaiting your review Beachlady, as I am sailing on Radiance 4/2 and can't wait! Please share any and all details!!!

 

Thanks in advance!

Cindy

[beachlady58]

Here are some of the answers to your questions:

 

The attire of the cruisers was everything from very formal to chicken hats(???). On formal nights there were a number of tuxes and we do that as it is easy to order on and not pack a suit. I dressed up every night and felt comfortable.

 

I did not do the speciality dining as we were traveling with children and the dining room was fun for them. We loved our waiter Sammy and his assistant Wilson. Table 502 right near the big window on the 5th deck.

 

Most crew that I came across were new. Delightful Captain - very young and quite funny at the Captian reception.

 

Cozumel is destroyed. I had a great time on the sail and snorkel Fury catamaran and the beach was to die for - wish I was there right now instead of freezing in Boston!

 

I did visit a few of the lounges and Santino is A+++++ - I did not include him in my entertainment comment - I judged that on the Auara Theater experience. He is everywhere and standing room only.

 

Quest was really fun as well - again, not included in my comment.

 

I had a great time, wish I was still there. Ship is beautiful. However, I prefer the voyager class better. Review to be posted soon.

 

I did not save any of the compasses - we barley were able to zip our suitcases!

[wyattm]

Who was the CD and how was he or she. Didn't they change after dry dock?

[beachlady58]

I was so unimpressed with the CD that I THINK his name was Peter- from England - and it was his first curise with the Radiance. Simon the asst wa really great and ran a great (but pricy) bingo - day at sea you can win an upgrade to the Grand Suite!

[ckrobyn]

:)

Just back from the Radiance of the Seas Western voyage 2/19-26. I am in the process of a review but have much work to carch up on so in the meantime if there are any questions please let me know. She is just out of drydock and very nice with new carpet and chairs in the windjammer. We did stop in Labadee and it was great! I had a balcony deck 8 mid ship with an inside cabin and then was upgraded mid-trip to a family suite deck 8 aft with 2 BR, 2 BA (tub) huge balcony and an living room...GREAT! Terrible entertainment (all new people) and food fair. Excellent customer service and great wait staff and cabin steward.

 

How did you manage that upgrade? Was there something wrong with the cabin(s) you had??

[beachlady58]

Regarding how I got the upgrade from the inside cabin on deck 8 with the balcony to the family suite...Day 1 we had an issue with the smokers in the cabin next door to us and being allergic I presented them with the situation. It became an issue and we could not use the balcony we paid for. I went to guest relations and it turns out that in Jamaica someone did not show up so they moved us to retify the situation. They really want to get the smoking under control and management lobbying for a smoking side and a non-smoking side of the ship. Makes sense. I was very pleased with the actions of the guest Relations staff and they were very pro-active.

[zotzer]

Simon the asst wa really great and ran a great (but pricy) bingo -

 

Is Simon the cute, blonde Australian guy? Trying to place him. Marc (bing bong) Walker was the CD when I was on her, and he was wonderful. Understand he is on vacation, and then will be on a Euro itinerary.

 

Tracy

[Bennett'sCruise]

I was so unimpressed with the CD that I THINK his name was Peter- from England - and it was his first curise with the Radiance. Simon the asst wa really great and ran a great (but pricy) bingo - day at sea you can win an upgrade to the Grand Suite!

 

Was it Kieron Buffery?

[SPARKLE10]

Hi:

 

We're Diamond Members with RCL, and we were on the Radiance last September for their Vancouver to Hawaii Cruise. It was our 35th cruise and the first time we encountered cigarette smell so bad in our cabin that I called guest relations and later went and talked to them about moving to a different cabin. We had a balcony cabin and we were not looking for an upgrade, but our cabin smelled so bad, even after we opened our balcony door and let it air out that I couldn't stand to be in there. I am also allergic to smoke and have asthma and allergies. I was always a big fan of RCL and so much in fact we have three booked this year; but to my surprise, not only did they refuse to move us to a different cabin, they told us that none were available. I found out later that there were quite a few empty cabins on our cruise. I don't know what upset me more, the fact that they wouldn't move us to a different cabin, or the fact that they lied to me about it. I will say that was my only complaint, but I was very disappointed in the way I was treated. I've never complained about anything before, in all of the cruises I've taken, and I had a real complaint this time and they didn't seem to care. Like I said, I have three cruises booked with RCL this year, so you can tell they are my favorite cruise line but I was just so surprised at the way they handled this situation. All they did was clean some more and spray in our cabin and that was it.

 

Happy Cruising....Sparkle 10

 

PS We also have a cruise booked on the Radiance again this September for a cruise to Hawaii. I certainly hope this won't happen again. This wil be our third time on the Radiance.

[cincicruisers]

Glad you had a good trip and looking forward to reading your review.

Were the cabins updated?

[beachlady58]

Sparkel10-I can really appreciate how you feel. I stayed in their face and actually told the purser that I wanted a refund of the difference between the balcony and an inside as we could not go out on the balcony...too much smoke and the Radiance balconys are really small and close as you know - It took 3 days but they did move me and lucky for me it was a suite. I did not make the fuss just to get an upgrade but I did appreciate it

 

The cabins have new carpet and do the hallways. The baths have nice tile but are very small with the awful shower "cape". My 1st cabin had scrathes in all the wood and it looked very bad - I was suprised that they did not touch up while in drydock

[beachlovergirl]

beachlady -

We'll be on the Radiance on Oct 28th out of Ft. Lauderdale for it's 8 night eastern itinerary. I know food opinions can be subjective but was wondering why you felt the Radiance's food was "fair"?

 

Looking forward to your review.

 

Thanks!

Dee

[beachlady58]

Dee

I considered the food to be fair as it was OK - we were on a 7 day cruise and we were offered Prime Rib twice (it wa very good) Lamb twice...The menu used to be varied and we looked forward to a suprise with the menu each day. While the prime rib was good it came with a baked potato that wa not cooked all the way through. The soup at dinner was lukewarm...The deserts were good but we don't eat deserts. The fish was blah and it did not excite me...The windjammer was better than the dinning room however I do not like buffets, I want to be pampered!

 

Have fun!

[megessey]

I was so unimpressed with the CD that I THINK his name was Peter- from England - and it was his first curise with the Radiance. Simon the asst wa really great and ran a great (but pricy) bingo - day at sea you can win an upgrade to the Grand Suite!

 

Can you elaborate on this, do you mean he had no personality or wasn't funny? I was disappointed to hear this, but maybe he needed to just get his feet warmed up a bit? -- we'll be on the Radiance april 9.

[beachlady58]

Megessey

Peter the CD ( I think that was his name, Simon was everywhere and he was not) was just OK and pretty non-impresionable. I usually love the CD and in this case he actually just annoyed me and was no help to my cruise. He ran a geat QUest but that was about it... I am pretty high maintance and have very high standards but that is why I choose to cruise RCCL and not the other lines...

 

You will have a great time on the Radiance - I did even though I gave it a tough review and scores...I miss her!

 

HAVE FUN!

[BobBeaSea]

beachlady58, we are on the same itinerary as you in about a month :D. Am I correct in thinking the formal nights are Mon. and Thurs. with Wed. being Caribbean night? We plan on going to Chops Caribbean night. Thank you :)

[BEVGOO]

Glad you had a good trip and looking forward to reading your review.

Were the cabins updated?

We too are from cincy and going on the radiance again this year after sailing on her in Dec of 2005. Would love to meet you guys and talk crusing. have a good one

[megessey]

Can you remember what movies were shown -- theatre and in-room? I know they may be different by the time we get there (april) but just curious...

[familymom]

We're first time cruisers and found this website to be enormously helpful so I'll share our thoughts too.

 

The ship was in fine shape. The drydock was generally mechanical but they did put down new carpet and made some other minor changes. There were minor signs of wear but generally the ship looked fine. We found our cabins to be comfortable although the beds were a little uncomfortable.

 

We also found the food in the main dining room disappointing. Bland, tough, lukewarm, and in the case of one pasta main dish, unedible. However, we were paired with a nice couple with children the same age as ours (generally) and we enjoyed comparing experiences. The food in the Windjammer was better but still not great. Even compared to Club Med, the food suffered in comparison. We ate in Portofino one night and enjoyed it. It wasn't crowded and the food was better (but not fabulous). The service was great and we enjoyed our waiter both in Portofino and in the Main dining room.

 

I also agree the main entertainment in the Aurora Theater was terrible with the exception of the guy from Foreigner. I left in the middle of one show and would have left in the middle of another but we were seated in the middle of the row and I couldn't get out. Generally the turnout for the shows was poor. I also agree that the violinist and singer were great but we were frustrated that we couldn't find dance music at a reasonable hour (I can't stay up until 11 am and still get up with children the next morning).

 

My younger children loved the kids program but my teenager was very disappointed. There were over 100 teens on the boat (and more than 400 kids overall) as it was President's week but they couldn't get enough kids to run many of the teen sports events and it didn't seem like the teen coordinators tried very hard to coordinate anything.

 

The weather was perfect, the seas were calm and the Captain was very funny.

 

The ship was close to capacity and, at times, we found this annoying, particularly on the first sea day when there were no lounge chairs to be found. My husband and I never went in a pool the entire week as they are tiny and very overcrowded. But we enjoyed the pool table (self-leveling), the ping-pong, the chess, the Colony Club in general and my older son won the teen rock climbing challenge. And my boys (and husband) liked the golf simulator. We finally found that the back of the boat was less crowded and enjoyed sitting back there during the sailaways with a drink and some snacks. We have some fabulous pictures.

 

The CD was new to the ship for the cruise and, although I thought he was funny, I didn't think that the activities really clicked. But I'm a Newbie to cruising and don't have any comparisons.

 

Having said all that, my kids had a great time and my husband would cruise again, perhaps on a smaller ship.

[BobBeaSea]

familymom, thank you for the info. Glad you had a great time. Personally, I am interested in the comments of all cruisers but I particularily like reading the comments of new cruisers (we were all there at one point in time :)). Just a thought, the kids might prefer the Voyager class ships-tons for them to do and I think these ships might be a good choice for children, even though your husband might prefer a smaller ship. Tons to do on these ships for the kids. Again, thank you. :)