It's been fun Radiance, but we're done ...

[csm5986142]

I can’t say you all didn’t warn me, but we’d had such good luck with these shorter cruises in the past.  We just got off Radiance this morning (this was our 3^rd time on this ship).  We had really enjoyed seeing her emerge from her $200 million renovation and provide another good option for the west coast (it’s a fairly convenient port for us).  But now we are done - it just wasn't a good experience.

Granted our first two cruises on Radiance were likely capacity controlled (which I had not taken into account when I booked this one).  Carnival crammed 3600 passengers onto this ship with a published capacity of 2,984.  I understand how capacity is calculated (based on double occupancy, etc.) but this was just way too many people for this size ship.  Common areas were always extremely crowded, and there were constant lines for everything. 

At 1:30 on embarkation day, when the announcement was made that cabins were ready, we found that they had not even started to prep ours (the beds were still stripped, etc.).  In 23 cruises with Carnival, we’ve never had that happen.  Later we discovered we were not given enough towels either.  It was clear the crew was overwhelmed.

Worst of all was the yelling, loud laughter, and door slamming throughout the hallways until about 2:00 am each night.  It reminded me more of a college dorm than a cruise ship.  And I had purposely booked a room at the very front of the ship (which has proven to be a pretty quiet location in the past, but not this time). 

The smell of sewage in a variety of areas around the ship was bad, but again, I think the system was overloaded being so far above capacity.

And for the first time, I have to say the food was not very good (or maybe I should say hit or miss).  I’m not a foodie, and just not that picky - I can usually find something decent to eat.  And I will say, there were some good meals, but there was one evening where nothing on the buffet was good (soup way too salty to eat, meat was cold and dry, etc.) so I grabbed a couple slices of pizza and called it a night.  The salad bar/fruit was good the entire time.  We never made it to the dining room – with the huge crowds, we were afraid service would be slow.

I’m thankful we got to experience Radiance when she first started sailing as she is unique ship, but unfortunately with the way things are now, we are done. 

On positive note – we thought the check-in-process at Long Beach had really improved since we were on Panorama about 5 months ago.  We arrived during our arrival appointment window and were through check-in/security in about 6 minutes.  The Captain’s Lounge is once again open/designated as a Diamond/Platinum waiting area, which is nice. 

[jsglow]

That does seem particularly crowded.

[KarmaCruisers]

So we‘ve been on the radiance recently for a 3-night and a 4-night cruise..

we can DEFINITELY agree with you that it feels like a dorm (you can literally hear everyone around you like the walls aren’t even there and also the door slamming is insane! It’s almost like people were PURPOSELY slamming them, it happened so much)

And yeah..the “buffet” is a poor excuse (as it’s literally just the small rear area where usually it’s the dessert area only)

I mean..it is what it is here in LBC..

[Joebucks]

I agree that may be too many people for that ship. Once you go into lack of towels, salty food, and slamming doors, the level of sympathy you get may decline.

[Guest BasicSailor]

7 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

Carnival crammed 3600 passengers onto this ship with a published capacity of 2,984

Wow, do you think they had enough lifeboats for all those people 😐🤐

[d9704011]

7 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

On positive note – we thought the check-in-process at Long Beach had really improved since we were on Panorama about 5 months ago.

Given your experience, why would you see an improved check-in as something positive?  I would have thought you'd be more likely to praise a quick, easy and timely disembarkation.

[sanmarcosman]

Thank you for this information. What were the dates of your cruise? I know they offer 3 and 4 day cruises.

[csm5986142]

1 hour ago, sanmarcosman said:

Thank you for this information. What were the dates of your cruise? I know they offer 3 and 4 day cruises.

 

This was over the Presidents Day weekend (2/17 - 2/20) and I should have known better than to book a short cruise over the holiday weekend, but it was great the previous year (now I realize it was probably because it was still capacity controlled at that time).  If I remember correctly we had right around 2,200 people on this cruise last February.  

Also, from what I've read, Carnival Victory (before she became Radiance) had a capacity of 2,764. So they reduced common space to accommodate more cabins during the refurbishment.  Unfortunately the weather was not as good this year, and there just isn't enough inside common space inside for that many people.  

Which reminds me, I should give credit where credit is due - the crew was amazing. They were cleaning constantly (they had to in order to keep up with that many people).  They were definitely working hard.

And one last clarification 🙂 this is not a deal breaker for us as far as other Carnival ships (we still have several future cruises booked and look forward to them).  We will just avoid this particular ship that specializes in the shorter voyages.  Maybe we have just aged out of the booze cruises.  😄  

I'm not looking for sympathy, it was still better than being at home working. Anytime I can get aware from the ice and snow at home and see sunshine is a good day. 🙂  I just wanted to share in case it was helpful to anyone.  I honestly didn't realize they could put that many people on a ship that size.  

Edited February 21, 2023 by csm5986142

[sanmarcosman]

2 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

 

This was over the Presidents Day weekend (2/17 - 2/20) and I should have known better than to book a short cruise over the holiday weekend, but it was great the previous year (now I realize it was probably because it was still capacity controlled at that time). 

Thanks for these details. I have sailed Radiance recently and the cold weather here in so.cal has been a contributing factor to guest space in the public rooms. Last August the interior spaces weren't as crowded and the ship was close to capacity. 

 

I prefer the 4 day sailings because they typically have fewer under 12's and I avoid holidays. Nevertheless, the ship is tight at capacity for sure.

 

These days the behavior of guests on most ships is a gamble. I had fewer pot smokers on Panorama but a lot more door slamming in the same area forward on the Radiance. On the Radiance more pot with less slamming doors. 

 

Some Carnival cruises I mentally put my hands in the air and move to another place, when possible, to avoid the unpleasant.

 

Earlier this month on Radiance the cabin wasn't ready when I boarded at 11:20am but the stewards had no issue with me dropping off my back pack and leaving them to finish up. It's a platinum perk I like and use.

 

The crew have been hard working and making a good effort but they are short handed at times and I have heard that many service crew left the industry for good during covid. Lots of reasons but no excuses.

 

I respect your decision and I'll see how the Radiance is doing next Monday when I board for another 4 day cruise. The weather isn't supposed to be good so I am going in knowing the public rooms will likely be tight.

[csm5986142]

3 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

I respect your decision and I'll see how the Radiance is doing next Monday when I board for another 4 day cruise. The weather isn't supposed to be good so I am going in knowing the public rooms will likely be tight.

 

I think the Monday - Friday itenerary is better for a variety of reasons (I have done it also). It's unfortunate the weather will be cold because this ship has a lot of deck space.

The staff person who told me we had 3,600 passengers also told me 4-day cruise previous to ours was 3,100.  

 

 

[jsglow]

I think the OP hit on something here.  Bad weather and a holiday weekend cruise is certainly going to stress the limits of a ship.  I think it's more about one particular cruise than anything else.  I've been on Sunrise and Radiance multiple times never having an issue.

[dolphinsfan246]

4 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

Wow, do you think they had enough lifeboats for all those people 😐🤐

Well they literally can’t sail without proving that they do so I’m gonna say yes. Lol. The max capacity of Radiance is listed at 3,873 with every berth filled. A ship rarely sails at double occupancy capacity or less, so you can almost always expect the guest count to be between the double occupancy and max capacity.  

-

As for the crowding problems I can totally see it, that class of ship was crowded before they renovated it and added even more cabins. That’s exactly why they made the Conquest class, same ships just 60 FT longer to double the space on lido. 

[sanmarcosman]

14 minutes ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

Well they literally can’t sail without proving that they do so I’m gonna say yes. Lol. The max capacity of Radiance is listed at 3,873 with every berth filled.

I took that as sarcasm but you are correct.

[ObstructedView2]

Hi 🙂

 

Radiance Grand Total Life Saving Capacity: 5725

 

 

 

 

 

Information located (Click Link) @:

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5525/~/carnival-radiance-(rd)-fact-sheet

 

 

 

 

 

🍹

Edited February 21, 2023 by ObstructedView2

[PattiPB]

I was also on the Pres Day weekend cruise in both 2022 and 2023. The difference was absolutely tangible.

 

Embarkation and debarkation are AMAZING at LBCT. I also found the food to be good---there are so many options at lunch it's difficult to choose.

 

It was super crowded in the common areas, and walking bar service was non-existent. We had to go to bars---mostly two-deep---to get drinks all three days. Not thrilled with that. 

 

Poor weather Sunday did make things worse because indoor relaxation space is scarce on this ship, and nothing was open since we were in port. 

 

All things considered...we will be back next President's Day for sure! I love my Carnival, and will be platinum on my European cruise this summer. 

[n6uqqq]

I just got off the Radiance and it is one and done for me. I felt like a pinball bouncing off other guests! The hallways by Guy's and Blue Iguana are tiny and cause big traffic jams! 

[Guest BasicSailor]

34 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

I just got off the Radiance and it is one and done for me. I felt like a pinball bouncing off other guests! The hallways by Guy's and Blue Iguana are tiny and cause big traffic jams! 

Doing a review?

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:00 AM, csm5986142 said:

 

I think the Monday - Friday itenerary is better for a variety of reasons (I have done it also). It's unfortunate the weather will be cold because this ship has a lot of deck space.

The staff person who told me we had 3,600 passengers also told me 4-day cruise previous to ours was 3,100.  

 

 

well at least it wasn't at full capacity of 3873 people. 😲

[mz-s]

I have been on several cruises that were that full and it is positively miserable. You get so sick and tired of standing in lines and waiting for a crowd to pass so you can walk down the aisle etc. 

[john91498]

We've been on 2 cruises on her and enjoyed both times. Looking forward to many more trips on her.

[Illbcruzn4life]

29 minutes ago, mz-s said:

I have been on several cruises that were that full and it is positively miserable. You get so sick and tired of standing in lines and waiting for a crowd to pass so you can walk down the aisle etc. 

That's why I love the havana area. Still have to deal with the mass of humanity at night be at least during the day you don't.

[mz-s]

21 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

That's why I love the havana area. Still have to deal with the mass of humanity at night be at least during the day you don't.

 

Definitely going to try that one day. So far I haven't been on a ship so equipped.

[n6uqqq]

9 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

Doing a review?

No formal review but I can do a synopsis here. This was my first 3 day cruise and first time on Radiance. I have determined 3 days is way too short. Besides the crowds I mentioned above, everything was typical Carnival. So so food, my room steward was good, the ship was in good shape. Despite Carnival spending 200 million to retrofit the ship, I could still see the age in areas. Besides adding the rooms, the decor has become more blah to me. I actually like the gaudiness of the older ships. I am used to the easy to navigate decks of the Spirit class, so the crowds were way more than I am accustomed to except for the Panorama, which is also pretty crowded. It was a cold time at Ensenada, 65 degrees and wet and foggy on March 12th. I stayed onboard. 

[missholly24]

On 2/20/2023 at 11:34 PM, csm5986142 said:

I can’t say you all didn’t warn me, but we’d had such good luck with these shorter cruises in the past.  We just got off Radiance this morning (this was our 3^rd time on this ship).  We had really enjoyed seeing her emerge from her $200 million renovation and provide another good option for the west coast (it’s a fairly convenient port for us).  But now we are done - it just wasn't a good experience.

Granted our first two cruises on Radiance were likely capacity controlled (which I had not taken into account when I booked this one).  Carnival crammed 3600 passengers onto this ship with a published capacity of 2,984.  I understand how capacity is calculated (based on double occupancy, etc.) but this was just way too many people for this size ship.  Common areas were always extremely crowded, and there were constant lines for everything. 

At 1:30 on embarkation day, when the announcement was made that cabins were ready, we found that they had not even started to prep ours (the beds were still stripped, etc.).  In 23 cruises with Carnival, we’ve never had that happen.  Later we discovered we were not given enough towels either.  It was clear the crew was overwhelmed.

Worst of all was the yelling, loud laughter, and door slamming throughout the hallways until about 2:00 am each night.  It reminded me more of a college dorm than a cruise ship.  And I had purposely booked a room at the very front of the ship (which has proven to be a pretty quiet location in the past, but not this time). 

The smell of sewage in a variety of areas around the ship was bad, but again, I think the system was overloaded being so far above capacity.

And for the first time, I have to say the food was not very good (or maybe I should say hit or miss).  I’m not a foodie, and just not that picky - I can usually find something decent to eat.  And I will say, there were some good meals, but there was one evening where nothing on the buffet was good (soup way too salty to eat, meat was cold and dry, etc.) so I grabbed a couple slices of pizza and called it a night.  The salad bar/fruit was good the entire time.  We never made it to the dining room – with the huge crowds, we were afraid service would be slow.

I’m thankful we got to experience Radiance when she first started sailing as she is unique ship, but unfortunately with the way things are now, we are done. 

On positive note – we thought the check-in-process at Long Beach had really improved since we were on Panorama about 5 months ago.  We arrived during our arrival appointment window and were through check-in/security in about 6 minutes.  The Captain’s Lounge is once again open/designated as a Diamond/Platinum waiting area, which is nice. 

I sure wish Carnival would pay attention to these types of reviews. You have 23 cruises with Carnival so its not as if you are new. They won't care though because the problem is crowding. No one cares about too many customers. 😩 So many of the same issues. (I did give up on the buffet about 5 cruises ago-just not good-- but so many other options it didnt matter to me). 

[tytanbri]

On 2/20/2023 at 11:34 PM, csm5986142 said:

I can’t say you all didn’t warn me, but we’d had such good luck with these shorter cruises in the past.  We just got off Radiance this morning (this was our 3^rd time on this ship).  We had really enjoyed seeing her emerge from her $200 million renovation and provide another good option for the west coast (it’s a fairly convenient port for us).  But now we are done - it just wasn't a good experience.

Granted our first two cruises on Radiance were likely capacity controlled (which I had not taken into account when I booked this one).  Carnival crammed 3600 passengers onto this ship with a published capacity of 2,984.  I understand how capacity is calculated (based on double occupancy, etc.) but this was just way too many people for this size ship.  Common areas were always extremely crowded, and there were constant lines for everything. 

At 1:30 on embarkation day, when the announcement was made that cabins were ready, we found that they had not even started to prep ours (the beds were still stripped, etc.).  In 23 cruises with Carnival, we’ve never had that happen.  Later we discovered we were not given enough towels either.  It was clear the crew was overwhelmed.

Worst of all was the yelling, loud laughter, and door slamming throughout the hallways until about 2:00 am each night.  It reminded me more of a college dorm than a cruise ship.  And I had purposely booked a room at the very front of the ship (which has proven to be a pretty quiet location in the past, but not this time). 

The smell of sewage in a variety of areas around the ship was bad, but again, I think the system was overloaded being so far above capacity.

And for the first time, I have to say the food was not very good (or maybe I should say hit or miss).  I’m not a foodie, and just not that picky - I can usually find something decent to eat.  And I will say, there were some good meals, but there was one evening where nothing on the buffet was good (soup way too salty to eat, meat was cold and dry, etc.) so I grabbed a couple slices of pizza and called it a night.  The salad bar/fruit was good the entire time.  We never made it to the dining room – with the huge crowds, we were afraid service would be slow.

I’m thankful we got to experience Radiance when she first started sailing as she is unique ship, but unfortunately with the way things are now, we are done. 

On positive note – we thought the check-in-process at Long Beach had really improved since we were on Panorama about 5 months ago.  We arrived during our arrival appointment window and were through check-in/security in about 6 minutes.  The Captain’s Lounge is once again open/designated as a Diamond/Platinum waiting area, which is nice. 

Can you tell me if the FTTF folks were permitted in the priority line? We are headed out in June. We have one cabin with Platinum passengers and got FTTF for the other rooms so they could stay together on embarkation and debarkation. Someone on this forum reported the FTTF were directed to the regular line instead of the priority line. Just trying to get a game plan.