Radiance of the Seas Review: September 16, 2006 Pacific Northwest Cruise

[Sailfish]

Radiance of the Seas Review: September 16, 2006 Pacific Northwest Cruise

 

My husband and I departed from Vancouver, British Columbia on September 16, 2006 on a seven night Pacific Northwest one-way repositioning cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas; a relaxing voyage calling on Nanaimo and Victoria in British Columbia, Astoria Oregon and San Francisco. Our final destination was Los Angeles, California, with two days at sea.

 

As you may already know, the Radiance has a seasonal itinerary that takes it to Alaska in the summer and to Hawaii and through the Panama Canal before arriving in south Florida, where she winters. We had a very enjoyable cruise and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Not every aspect of the cruise was perfect, but we didn’t have any major issues that put a damper on our vacation. And we found the ship, our accommodations, service and overall value to far exceed our expectations.

 

Ship Overview

 

The Radiance of the Seas is the first Radiance class ship to be built; it is slightly larger than Royal Caribbean's Vision class ships and a little smaller than Voyager class ships. Its design incorporates the best of both ships, including a solarium and lots of glass everywhere, making it perfect for Alaska and the Pacific Northwest as the glass provides lots of windbreaks. It also has a lot of the features that have made Voyager class ships so popular, including a rock climbing wall and two alternative restaurants. If you ask people who are familiar with Royal Caribbean’s fleet, they will tell you it has many Voyager class ship features without the hoards of people. As a fan of Voyager class ships, I can see why so many people consider the Radiance class of ships their favorite. Its interior is done in muted colors and has a very upscale feel to it. The designers did a great job incorporating all the windows – those glass elevators overlooking the water while the ship is in motion are not to be missed!

 

The Radiance was built in 2000, making it six years old. It’s a fairly large ship, weighing in at around 90,000 tons; it can accommodate around 2500 people, though it was announced that we had about 2100 people. The ship was surprisingly well maintained and sparkling clean; there had been another Norwalk Virus breakout a few weeks earlier, so all the public areas were kept very clean. This issue also had a few negatives; until the captain gave the order to relax the “outbreak procedures” no one could serve themselves in the Windjammer Buffet. This caused long lines and a lot of headaches, as they didn’t bother to open up the formal dining room to ease some of the congestion. Eventually, by mid-cruise, we could serve ourselves in the buffet lines, but until then, it took twice as long to eat breakfast or lunch.

Embarkation

 

We flew into Seattle and took the cruise line bus to the port in Vancouver. After collecting our luggage, we checked in with the Royal Caribbean reps who handle the bus transfers. We waited about 20 minutes, got on the bus and arrived at Canada Place three hours later. The bus ride over took longer than our flight to Seattle! The tour bus that transported us wasn’t in the best shape, but it was convenient and we arrived exactly like they said we would. We got off the bus, checked in and found that our cabin on Deck 7 wasn’t ready. A land-based company was replacing all balcony dividers, and they were still working on the cabins on our deck. About the time they were announcing the lifeboat drill was when we finally could go to our room. Was it a little irritating to not be able to get to you room? Sure, but what can you do; we went to eat a late lunch and then it was off to the lifeboat drill. By the time we returned to our room, our luggage was outside our door, so we proceeded to unpack; then it was off to the Concierge Lounge to decompress.

Our Stateroom

 

We had a low-end balcony on deck 7, a very “standard” stateroom with a nice balcony towards the front of the ship which we received as an upgrade. It was tastefully decorated; our two beds were moved together and made up as a queen size bed. The beds were okay, and by cruise end, we got used to it. But they weren’t in the best of shape – some lumps and bumps mostly. I understand that the Radiance is scheduled to get new beds, so by the time you cruise, this may be a mute point. As a side note, I never sleep that well in strange beds, so more often than not, I have to make due with what we get. The only exception was on our last Carnival cruise in February; that bed was better than any other we have had on a cruise!

The room had a small couch, a glass topped coffee table and a lighted vanity desk. Storage wasn't a problem, as we had two night stands, shelf storage in and around the vanity with a few drawers, as well as a divided closet with shelves and hangers. There was a minibar/refrigerator in our cabin though we never used it. Our on-board telephone had a great voice mail system, so new friends and people traveling with you can leave you a message anytime. The bathroom came equipped with shampoo and soap, but no conditioner. The shampoo can double as a nice body wash, but I wouldn't recommend it for your hair. There was a hair dryer in the vanity – it worked quite well, so I never used the one I packed. I found the storage space in the bathroom more than met our needs, and I always seem to over pack when it comes to toiletries, so I'm pretty sure you too will find the storage space adequate.

 

All in all, I really had no disappointments when it came to our stateroom. At 200+ square feet plus another 45 on the balcony, we found our room very comfortable. Our balcony was everything you would expect a balcony to be. I know people who would never cruise with anything less than a balcony stateroom; but I have to be honest with you, those times we cruised in inside or outside accommodations were no worse than our balcony, as we never spent much time in any of our rooms. Having the additional square footage that comes with a balcony is by far the best benefit I can see. But on most new ships, even inside cabins these days have larger rooms. At least that is what I have noticed. It's up to you whether it's worth spending the extra money on a balcony. If you do, I recommend you make an effort to use it!

 

Public Areas of the Ship

 

All in all, the public areas of the ship such as the Aurora Theater show lounge, the many bars around the ship, the pool areas and the dining room were tastefully decorated. The Radiance is now six years old, and with constant use, it does in places, show some wear and tear. But for the most part, it's in good repair and it's very clean. Everyone from officers, to management to custodial staff to service personnel were for the most part friendly and professional.

 

What Is There To Do?

 

You will find destination & shopping lectures presented by cruise staff and guest lecturers, a fully equipped Shipshape Fitness Center with state-of-the-art gym and aerobics room, and a full service spa with sauna/steam rooms and massage. There are three swimming pools, including one with a retractable roof and several whirlpool spas. There's also a couple of “way cool” self-leveling pool tables, a sports court with basketball (no volleyball), a jogging track and a rock climbing wall. All in all, you will find quite a bit to keep you entertained when you are NOT in ports of call. Like Voyager class ships, all Radiance class of ships were designed for the more active person in mind.

 

Formal and Informal Dining

 

A lot has been written about the food one can get on a cruise ship, and yes, you'll find plenty to eat on the Radiance of the Seas. But the quality of the food one gets today is NOT what it used to be, even if the quantity is the same. I found the dinners we ate in the formal dining to be very good, but NOT outstanding; meaning it was comparable to the quality you would expect from a mid-range restaurant. I always managed to find something I liked. Our meals were warm, but never piping hot; the service was excellent and special requests were accommodated cheerfully. This is NOT four star cuisine, however, the menu items were tastefully presented, and offerings included escargot, refreshing cold soups, and lobster tail and rack of lamb. Suffice it to say, everyone at our table came away having enjoyed their dinner.

 

The Windjammer Buffet is where we ate breakfast and lunch most days. It was standard buffet type food; nothing out of the ordinary, but lots of fresh fruit, home baked breads and pastries for breakfast as well as eggs and pancakes. At lunch, there were sandwiches and hot food items, a salad bar and even pizza. The Windjammer buffet was always busy, so staff was constantly refilling empty food containers with fresh items. As I mentioned earlier, the formal dining room was never open for lunch on days we were in port. It was such a chore to eat in the Windjammer early in the week – long lines, rude people everywhere cutting in, overworked staff members serving the food, and finally, never being able to find a clean table! Thankfully, the “outbreak” procedures were relaxed by the fourth day and the Windjammer got back to normal! On the two days at sea, the dining room was open for both breakfast and lunch and we made a point of eating there. The lunch menu was just okay, and the quality of the food wasn’t really any better than what you could get up at the Windjammer, in my opinion. But you didn’t have to fight the crowds, so it was more relaxing and much less stressful. I never ate dinner up at the buffet, but heard it was “just okay”; people remarked that many of the same dinner items served in the formal dining room were available in the buffet but were consistently less fresh and dried out.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

It's been a while since we took a "perfect" vacation; our trip to the Maui Four Season's a few years ago comes to mind. Although enjoyable, our cruise had a few minor "issues" that are probably not even worth mentioning – they weren’t enough to put a damper on our vacation. Suffice it to say, they guy who ran the Concierge Lounge had his “favorite” past guests – and pretty much ignored everyone else. This was by no means a problem for us, as we stuck pretty much to ourselves and we had no problems going up to the bar to request drinks. Willie, the Concierge, had a tendency to be short with some passengers (like me) when asked for assistance; others we spoke to felt he was the best Concierge ever! Therefore, please take my comments with a grain of salt – I have never met this person before, so it could be he was just having a bad day!

 

In case you are wondering, the Concierge Lounge is a very nice past guest perk for Diamond and above Crown & Anchor Society members (Royal Caribbean’s past guest program – Diamond level is 10 cruises or more) and for high-end suite passengers where they serve complementary drinks every night from 5:00pm-8:30pm. The evening lounge was in the Hollywood Odyssey Lounge, Deck 13, but the Concierge was located on Deck 10.

 

Our second "issue" really wasn't Royal Caribbean's fault, as it had to do with rude and aggressive passengers. Not sure why there were so many aboard this particular sailing, but they were out in-force EVERYWHERE! The “outbreak” procedures in the Windjammer probably caused this, however, once they relaxed a bit, it did get better.

Ports of Call

 

The reason we booked this cruise was for the ports of call. We had never visited Nanaimo, Victoria or Astoria, so it was a real treat to explore these ports of call. We also called on San Francisco, and made the decision to visit areas we had never been to, so getting off the ship was a real adventure. In San Francisco, Nanaimo and Victoria, we booked shore excursions through Royal Caribbean. They were well run and enjoyable.

 

We took a walking tour of the city in Nanaimo – it was very informative and I came away learning about its culture and history. In Victoria, we visited BuchartGardens and a small winery. I felt we didn’t have enough time at the Gardens, so next time I would NOT do a forma tour, but rather go on my own. In Astoria, we had access to a car and drove up and down the coast – from the mouth of the Columbia River to CannonBeach. That was by far the best day we had in port. In San Francisco, we took a tour to Muir Woods and Sausalito; it was okay – however, one hour was not enough time at Muir Woods. Sausalito was okay if you liked strolling up and down a tourist hot spot – restaurants, tee shirt stores and art galleries.

 

About Us

 

We are in our 40’s – work full time and have no kids. We enjoy scuba diving, skiing and hiking vacations and although we do enjoy cruising, it’s not the only type of vacation we take. I lead “active” cruise groups for Cruise Critic a few times a year and occasionally we cruise to simply “get a way” – as was the case this time. I also used to consult for the cruise lines “education” programs years ago when they restructured their kid’s programs.

 

We run into many “cruise experts” who cruise all the time – they are on a first name basis with ship staff and seem to be “in the know” when it comes to the ship all the time! Many work in the travel industry or are retired. Many cruise to cruise – the ports of call tend not to always be that high up on their list of priorities. I am just the opposite – the ports of call are more important to me than the cruise “experience” or the ship. Sure, when given a choice between identical itineraries I will go with the ship that gets the better reviews, is recommended or somehow offers me “something special”. But please note that I base my decision to cruise on the itinerary.

 

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions.

[isujim]

Thanks for the review...........you guys have a great attitude and didn't let the little things get you down!!

 

I will be on the Radiance a week from Saturday for a full 15 night Panama Canal transit.........

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[isujim]

Thanks for the review...........you guys have a great attitude and didn't let the little things get you down!!

 

I will be on the Radiance a week from Saturday for a full 15 night Panama Canal transit.........

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Straughn]

Sailfish-

I found your review to be very well-balanced and informative. We will be sailing on Radiance at the end of October for the second time. Your comments on the food mirror my reaction two years ago when we sailed on her for the first time. Your comments also reflect our experiences with the food on Serenade and Grandeur. It is good, middle-of-the-road food, but nothing to write home about If high-end gourmet meals were one of our must haves, I doubt that I would be cruising on RCCL. Hopefully, there will be no repeat outbreak of the Nurovirus and we won't have the problems you had in the Windjammer.

 

If you spent time at the pool, what were your experiences with chair saving? Is the pool staff monitoring the situation and freeing up chairs?

 

Thank you for the review.

[JJ2sail]

Suzi, Great Review, we will be on the Radiance repositioning cruise next year.

 

May I ask why you flew into Seattle and not directly to Vancouver?

 

Jen

[Sailfish]

If you spent time at the pool, what were your experiences with chair saving? Is the pool staff monitoring the situation and freeing up chairs?

 

I went swimming in the Solarium one afternoon on a day we were at sea. There were lots of available lounge chairs, but it was also kind of a cool day; not the kind of day one would want to be outside.

 

There seemed to always be available lounge chairs out on deck from what I could tell - it was in the mid-70's the day we were in San Francisco and there were people in bathing suits out on deck. But I was passing through and I must confess, we were heading back out to Pier 39, so I didn't pay all that much attention. Our voyage had a little of everything - fog, sprinkles, warm sunshine, cool overcast. I don't consider it a vacation until I get wet - so I went swimming one day. But that was it!

 

Hope this helps!!

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

Suzi, Great Review, we will be on the Radiance repositioning cruise next year.

 

May I ask why you flew into Seattle and not directly to Vancouver?

 

Jen

 

We made the decision to fly into Seattle because even with the extra cost of cruise line transfers, it would have cost us significantly more money to fly directly into Vancouver.

 

We purchased two one way fares - to Seattle and the return from L.A. on Southwest - it cost us $79 to fly up to Seattle, and $39 to go home from L.A. The transfers were a gift from our TA - it would have cost us more to fly into Vancouver as it will for us to fly into Fort Lauderdale this December.

 

The time it took to drive up from Seattle was in my opinion a good trade. It was also convenient - wait time to depart was minimal.

[Sailfish]

Sailfish-

I found your review to be very well-balanced and informative. We will be sailing on Radiance at the end of October for the second time. Your comments on the food mirror my reaction two years ago when we sailed on her for the first time. Your comments also reflect our experiences with the food on Serenade and Grandeur. It is good, middle-of-the-road food, but nothing to write home about If high-end gourmet meals were one of our must haves, I doubt that I would be cruising on RCCL. Hopefully, there will be no repeat outbreak of the Nurovirus and we won't have the problems you had in the Windjammer.

 

We ate at Chops and Portofinos - Chops had a $20pp surcharge and Portofinos was $15pp extra. Both restaurants are very nice, have excellent service and food quality that we all used to enjoy in the formal dining room years ago. I like good, attentive service, but I also don't want to spend 3+ hours eating dinner, which was the case at Portofinos. We finished a very relaxing dinner at Chops in just over 90 minutes - this included enjoying a bottle of wine and desert. We had the fillet, which was grilled to order.

 

At Portofinos, I had a lobster brochette (two small pieces of lobster, scallops and shrimp). It was excellent, but combined with the other courses, I was too full to enjoy it! Add on a bottle of wine and desert, and it was just too much food for us.

 

We went to Chops mid-cruise and to Portofinos on the last night of the cruise. As our reservation was for 8pm at Portofinos, we figured we would be done in time to bid farewell to our table mates and wait staff; not so! I finally sent my husband down at 10:30pm to take pictures and to hand out our gratuities! It was after 11pm when we finally finished. Like I said, no complaints really about the food quality - just too much of it which caused us to finish late.

 

Suzi

[critterchick]

Great review, Suzi! It appears that the food hasn't improved much since we were on Radiance in 2004, but our dining room staff was so terrific that we didn't mind. I thought WJ was pretty good, and just loved the Seaview Cafe (fabulously friendly crew up there 2 years ago), so I'm looking forward to being back on board for the 9/07 repo!

[Sailfish]

Great review, Suzi! It appears that the food hasn't improved much since we were on Radiance in 2004, but our dining room staff was so terrific that we didn't mind. I thought WJ was pretty good, and just loved the Seaview Cafe (fabulously friendly crew up there 2 years ago), so I'm looking forward to being back on board for the 9/07 repo!

 

The crepes in the Solarium and the onion rings, clam chowder and reuben sandwiches in the Seaview Cafe were "to die for"! The guys working in the Seaview Cafe were awesome, though we always took our yummies "to go" - down one deck to the aft (which also was never open, but we went there anyway). My only complaint was it wasn't always open! Food quality was far superior to that of the Windjammer!

 

Suzi

[skandls]

Sailfish,

 

We were on the cruise with you. I do apologize for having a very rude person as part of our little 'group'. She was a constant complainer and was driving all of us crazy. DH finally got fed up and told her no one wanted to hear any more complaints. She sent at least one thing back at every meal.

 

It was a lovely cruise with different ports. As you said the ship was a little worn here and there. The staff did an outstanding job considering all the extra work due to the code red.

 

We ate at Chops twice - once just DH and I and another night with Complaints and my friend. We did Portofino on the last night also. DH took the envelopes down during first seating so we would not have to rush the multi-course dinner. Also ate off the boat in San Francisco. We did inform our table mates when we would be absent at dinner. Just a little sad that we now have to pay up for great food on the ships but for the per diems we are now paying I can understand the cruise lines need to cut costs.

[Dave4120]

Hello Suzi...I must commend you on a quality review. Your review was very open minded and without a self centered attitude. There are too many people that go on cruises that thinks the world owes them a favor.

 

My wife and I were on the Radiance last December, and will be going on the Radiance again a couple of days after Thanksgiving this year.

 

I must agree with everything you said. For a ship 6-years old, the Radiance is still in very good shape. We have cruised on RCCL 14 times up to this point, and even though we love the Voyager class ships, we also love the Radiance class ships. They each have their own personalities that we like.

 

Even though the food is average, like you said, it's not any worse than eating at an Applebees, or a restaurant of that caliber. I also put in my mind that the Windjammer was like eating food at a bowling banquest or sports banquet, so we never get upset either at the food.

 

Willie was our Concierge person last December and we thought he was outstanding. The best Concierge person we ever had. So, even though you had a bad experience with him, I hope it was just Willie having a bad day like you indicated. We were hoping he would still be there in November.

 

We also stay on the 7th or 9th floor on the hump. love rooms 9078 or 7108. They both have huge balconies almost as big as the cabin itself. I do not know if you discovered it or not, but The Seaview Cafe which is hidden on the 11th or 12th deck, just outside the arcade games had some outstanding food, including fish, cuban sandwiches, etc.

 

Anyway, thanks for the great review. Good to hear how the Radiance is doing before we sail on her again. I thought that the Radiance just finished being in Dry Dock in the early part of 2006. If that was true, I wondered what they did. Maybe some new carpets, etc.

 

Dave

[mrstay]

We went on the Pacific NW repo cruise in 2002 - but it was a 4 night. We are now booked on the May 07 repo to take the Radiance back to Vancouver for the summer. A couple of questions:

 

1. Was your cruise a 6 nighter also?

 

2. How many formal nights are there? I assume one.

 

3. Was lobster served on formal night?

 

4. What pier did you dock at in San Fran?

 

Thanks

[SeaDays]

Suzi,

 

Thanks for this. We were there with you, and you couldn't have expressed our opinions better -- on every topic.

[Sailfish]

We went on the Pacific NW repo cruise in 2002 - but it was a 4 night. We are now booked on the May 07 repo to take the Radiance back to Vancouver for the summer. A couple of questions:

 

1. Was your cruise a 6 nighter also?

 

2. How many formal nights are there? I assume one.

 

3. Was lobster served on formal night?

 

4. What pier did you dock at in San Fran?

 

Thanks

 

Here are the answers to your questions:

 

1. Was your cruise a 6 nighter also?

 

No, we were on a 7 night voyage - September 16-23, 2006. We departed from Canada Place in Vancouver, BC and called on four ports of call - Nanaimo, Victoria, Astoria and San Francisco. We also had two days at sea in the mix. Our final destination was Los Angeles, where we disembarked the Radiance.

 

2. How many formal nights are there? I assume one.

 

There were a total of two formal nights.

 

3. Was lobster served on formal night?

 

They had fillet and escargot on the first formal night and they served lobster on the second formal night.

 

4. What pier did you dock at in San Fran?

 

Hopefully someone else who sailed on my cruise can give you more specific information; however, we were walking distance from Pier 39. I noticed as we returned back to the ship, we walked through doors above which had the sign that read "Cruise Terminal". I couldn't tell you exactly what cruise pier number we were docked at, but we were very close to all the tourist activity associated with the waterfront.

 

I'm sure others from this voyage will chime in and hopefully give you more specific information! Thanks, guys!

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

Sailfish,

 

We were on the cruise with you. I do apologize for having a very rude person as part of our little 'group'. She was a constant complainer and was driving all of us crazy. DH finally got fed up and told her no one wanted to hear any more complaints. She sent at least one thing back at every meal.

 

It was a lovely cruise with different ports. As you said the ship was a little worn here and there. The staff did an outstanding job considering all the extra work due to the code red.

 

We ate at Chops twice - once just DH and I and another night with Complaints and my friend. We did Portofino on the last night also. DH took the envelopes down during first seating so we would not have to rush the multi-course dinner. Also ate off the boat in San Francisco. We did inform our table mates when we would be absent at dinner. Just a little sad that we now have to pay up for great food on the ships but for the per diems we are now paying I can understand the cruise lines need to cut costs.

 

I don't recall ever running into any complainers! Sorry, but did I meet you and your group while on the cruise?

 

We had late seating and all the people at our table were excellent tablemates - no complainers in the bunch! We didn't attend any Cruise Critic functions nor did we attend the sail-away get together. I'm glad you also had a good time while on the cruise - not need to apologize, though!

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

Willie was our Concierge person last December and we thought he was outstanding. The best Concierge person we ever had. So, even though you had a bad experience with him, I hope it was just Willie having a bad day like you indicated. We were hoping he would still be there in November.Dave

 

Willie wasn't so bad - just a little stressed out maybe. I noticed he was training several people while we were there in the evening, and during the morning up on Deck 10, he always looked very busy. I overheard him say that next week (Hawaii Voyage) there will be two Concierge Lounges open in the evening due to the high volume of past guests, so he has to train two guys in a hurry to run the other bar/lounge.

 

I can't say what his issues were - we all have bad days, and it could be I caught him at a bad time. We tend to be low maintenance, so when he wasn't able to help with dinner reservations, I made them myself.

 

I also overheard him say to another guest (while waiting in line for my drink) that he will be heading home in January. So, I'm guesing he will be on the ship in November.

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

I thought that the Radiance just finished being in Dry Dock in the early part of 2006. If that was true, I wondered what they did. Maybe some new carpets, etc.

Dave

 

I had heard that all the ships were eventually going to be getting new/improved bedding after their drydock - I was told that the Radiance had not been in for her's yet.

 

Both our beds were pretty lumpy. The linens were in good repair, the bedspread was spotless and the pillows were fairly new. Even the towels were in good shape. I guess we could have asked our room steward for an extra matress pad or one of those egg crate pads, but we made due with what we got - and by cruise end, got used to it.

 

I saw a dry dock schedule somewhere here at CC - you may want to do a search and check out when the Radiance is scheduled for her face lift!

 

Suzi

[IMNiles]

I was also on this sailing... The Radiance is definitely due for new bedding, and if I'm not mistaken she is due to get the new bedding in Jan or Feb of next year. I was sailing alone, so I was able to avoid the dreaded crack, and actually my bed wasn't too bad.

 

In San Francisco, we were moored at the cruise terminal at Pier 35. It's just a hop-and-a-skip from the toursity Pier 39, and a nice 20 minute walk up to Pier 1, the old Ferry Terminal, and the embarcadero shopping center (as well as transit links to the rest of the city). You could take a cab, but if you're fit, it's a lovely walk up to Market Street.

 

Alas, I'm still not diamond so I can't comment on the concierge lounge, but so far everyone I've spoken to agrees that Soledad, the future cruise consultant, was less than helpful. Certainly the least-friendly loyalty ambassador I've encountered on any of my previous voyages. I understand she's fairly new, so perhaps she's just learning the ropes. Most of us finally just gave up and made "any" booking, resolving to fix it later with a travel agent who could give us more assistance.

[Sailfish]

I was also on this sailing... The Radiance is definitely due for new bedding, and if I'm not mistaken she is due to get the new bedding in Jan or Feb of next year. I was sailing alone, so I was able to avoid the dreaded crack, and actually my bed wasn't too bad.

 

In San Francisco, we were moored at the cruise terminal at Pier 35. It's just a hop-and-a-skip from the toursity Pier 39, and a nice 20 minute walk up to Pier 1, the old Ferry Terminal, and the embarcadero shopping center (as well as transit links to the rest of the city). You could take a cab, but if you're fit, it's a lovely walk up to Market Street.

 

Alas, I'm still not diamond so I can't comment on the concierge lounge, but so far everyone I've spoken to agrees that Soledad, the future cruise consultant, was less than helpful. Certainly the least-friendly loyalty ambassador I've encountered on any of my previous voyages. I understand she's fairly new, so perhaps she's just learning the ropes. Most of us finally just gave up and made "any" booking, resolving to fix it later with a travel agent who could give us more assistance.

 

I also heard about Soledad, but as we didn't book another cruise on the ship, I had no contact with her. There are always a few "bad apples" in the bunch - that's life, I guess.

 

Suzi

[Fran Harp]

We also stay on the 7th or 9th floor on the hump. love rooms 9078 or 7108. They both have huge balconies almost as big as the cabin itself. I do not know if you discovered it or not, but The Seaview Cafe which is hidden on the 11th or 12th deck, just outside the arcade games had some outstanding food, including fish, cuban sandwiches, etc.

 

Dave

 

Thanks for this, Dave.....slightly off topic but glad to hear that the balcony on the hump is so large. When you look at the deck plans, it looks large but the little info box says it's the same size as the regular balconies. We've booked 9576 on Brilliance next year, and it looks to be one of the larger balconies.:D

 

We didn't try the Seaview Cafe on the last cruise, but I am going to next time!!!!:D:D

 

Fran

[Dave4120]

Hi Fran....You had indicated that you have Hump Room cabin 9576 on the Brillance. That cabin has a decent sized balcony, however, the hump cabins on the other side of the ship are the larger balconies. If you go on the RCCL website and pull up the 9th floor deck plans, you will see that 9078 and 9092 are the largest D-1 Hump cabins, and they are big. We have been in 9078 before and will be on the Jewel next year, again, in 9078. Rooms 9076 and 9094 are the 2nd biggest hump cabins on the same side.

 

So, even though your 9576 has a larger cabin than most D-1 rooms, the four cabins I just listed are much bigger, if you still have an opportunity to switch, and of course, if they haven't been taken already.

 

For our upcoming November cruise on the Radiance, we tried an E category and are in 7108 which is almost the same sized balcony as the 9078 on the 9th deck. My point is that any cabi, in the same location whether it's on deck 7, 8, or 9 has the largest balconies, except for the back of the ship.

 

Dave

[fozzyfoz]

We went on the Pacific NW repo cruise in 2002 - but it was a 4 night. We are now booked on the May 07 repo to take the Radiance back to Vancouver for the summer. A couple of questions:

 

1. Was your cruise a 6 nighter also?

 

2. How many formal nights are there? I assume one.

 

3. Was lobster served on formal night?

 

4. What pier did you dock at in San Fran?

 

Thanks

 

We did the May 2006 repo from San Diego to Vancouver. It was a 6 nighter with 2 formal nights (the 7 nighter's include Nanaimo, the 6 nighter is SF, Astoria and Victoria). I think lobster was served on the first formal night but we were so worn out we skipped the dining room that night (I dont eat seafood anyway so it didnt matter to me).

 

In San Francisco we docked at Pier 35 which is very convenient for the touristy Pier 39 shops and restaurants and near the dock for the Alcatraz ferry and other boat tours. Easy walk to Fishermans Wharf and Ghiradelli Sq. as well. Several places to rent bikes if you're interested in that. We did and rode over the GG bridge into Sausalito then took a ferry back. Very easy and scenic! Any other questions just ask.

[skandls]

I don't recall ever running into any complainers! Sorry, but did I meet you and your group while on the cruise?

 

We had late seating and all the people at our table were excellent tablemates - no complainers in the bunch! We didn't attend any Cruise Critic functions nor did we attend the sail-away get together. I'm glad you also had a good time while on the cruise - not need to apologize, though!

 

Suzi

 

We did not socialize too much because we did not want to saddle anyone else with the 'cruise crabber'. So other than our table mates we kept her away from others as much as possible.

 

And I agree big time the Seaview was great. Too bad it wasn't open for lunch. I ate a few extra 'snacks' because of the odd hours. Really great staff. I did not see very many people leaving tips for them.