Radiance of the Seas Review Nov 5-11/06

[Murphy]

... Why not join us on the C&A Member's cruise next September 14 for the Alaska repo cruise.

Yeah, Robyn, why don't you join us for the Sept 14th Alaska cruise???? :D :D :D

[Murphy]

Never did get my Key Lime Pie on a stick though:( , but we did manage to find our way back to the ship, so all was well.:D

 

 

Sharonna

Well, I guess that's a good reason to go back to Key West on your next cruise! Sorry we didn't make it there... it was "on the map", but we were having too much fun in the bars and you know I do get paranoid about missing the ship! :)

[Murphy]

OK, let's see what I can add to this little review site... I was the "US" ring leader of our North American "Girls cruise" and we ALL had a BLAST! Thank you fellow CC members, new Canadian friends and now "extended family"! My clan of 10 chose late seating, but it ended up being too late for several of our group who ended up in the Windjammer for earlier dinner several times and 8 of us did Chops one night and 4 of us did the Murder Mystery, so our dining table was only full twice. Which was a good thing, as we had the world's worst waiter. He never asked us our names or cabin numbers until the second to last day. When he brought me a pork chop when I'd ordered the lamb, he told me "NO, you ordered the port". On the dessert sampler night, he came out of the kitchen and literally frisbee'd the desserts around the table, without giving us a choice of desserts. When I asked if I could have the raspberry bomb I had seen at another table, he told me "NO, you won't like it, it's sugar-free". I had a little "chat with the head waiter and there was a significant improvement for the last night, but I'm afraid it was a little too little too late! But, we did NOT let this impact our dining and we truly did have a blast!

 

Most of my group arrived the day before sailing and we stayed at the Lago Mar, a truly fabulous resort. Not the cheapest, but most of the rooms are suites, so we could easily put 3 in a room and had a nice sitting area as well. The only bad thing was the wind that literally beat sand at our calves as we walked the beach and the fact that we ordered a stone crab dinner without asking the price and ended up with a $300 dinner bill! :) But it was GOOD!

 

We did the Unofficial Umbrella Drink Pub Crawl in Key West. The only complaint here was we really needed to be in Key West at least a few hours more! But we did our best to use the hours we had!

 

In Cozumel most of us did the Mexican Cooking Class. It was good, but the tendering process was long and it was HOT,HOT, HOT even under the cooking tent. In hindsight, I wished we'd just done the beach excursion that Robyn and Shar took.

 

In Grand Caymans our stingray excursion was cancelled and after the previous day tendering I can't say that I was sorry! I ended up staying on the ship and most of my group got off and shopped and did Senor Frogs.

 

In Jamaica I was able to book a last minute seaweed wrap and massage while my newbie cruisers all ventured out by themselves. They got in the wrong van, where a driver tried to tell them they needed to pay him $30 a person for a trip to the beach and back and he would stay and be their bodyguard! Thankfully my best friend Jenifer hauled the group out of his van and they found the $12 RCCL shuttle that took them to the beach and Margarittaville, where they had a good time!

 

We woke to stormy weather on our only sea day. Rushing to the Solarium trying to grab a lounger seemed the good thing to do, but thankfully by 10:00 the skies cleared and we had a great sea day.

 

THANK YOU to all my new friends. You truly made this one of the best weeks of my life!

[ckrobyn]

THANK YOU to all my new friends. You truly made this one of the best weeks of my life!

 

Hurdy Gurdy - Kiss Kiss - Give yourself a HUG!

Love Ya Murph! :p

[Shar27]

Well, I guess that's a good reason to go back to Key West on your next cruise! Sorry we didn't make it there... it was "on the map", but we were having too much fun in the bars and you know I do get paranoid about missing the ship! :)

 

Not to worry, I had so much fun, it wasn't missed at all. It probably wouldn't have gone well with all of the booze anyways.:rolleyes:

[Shar27]

Yeah, Robyn, why don't you join us for the Sept 14th Alaska cruise???? :D :D :D

 

As it happens, there is a $220 CDN room credit right now on the Crown & Anchor list. Hmmmm:p

[Murphy]

As it happens, there is a $220 CDN room credit right now on the Crown & Anchor list. Hmmmm:p

And you are waiting for... what exactly? :rolleyes:

[lorilea]

Thank-you for sharing your review and your pictures. Loved the pictures of Sunset Beach Resort in Montego Bay! We're sailing 02/25/07 6 night Western as well and had no clue what to do in Jamaica. I think I've just made up my mind.

Lori

[BobBeaSea]

Great review Robyn (and Murphy). Keiron Buffery is pretty good isn't he? A refugee from NCL, he was our CD in April. Robyn, I am SHOCKED, absolutely shocked, this sailing was the first time you made it to Quest and one of the specialty restaurants. An experienced veteran such as yourself! I know you have your DD with you on cruises BUT that's no excuse, something can always be worked out :D Enjoyed your review....

[critterchick]

Great reviews! I'm surprised at your comments that JS no longer qualify for the upgraded amenities - we had them on Serenade, although I notice that they have the good sense to have made the bottles a lot smaller. I bring my own shampoo, & had better advise DH to do the same on Jewel, just in case....

[Kjudge]

How could I forget to tell you about the QUEST??? :eek:

This was the very first Quest I attended and it was a load of laughs! We managed to get a # and pulled together a pretty amazing team. Special thanks to our Captains - Kim and Craig - they ran around like lunatics for us and Craig undressed down to his scivvies all in the name of the team spirit!

Here are Kim and Craig - Hats off to you both for a great evening!

Could you remind me about Quest. Was that when they set you into teams and you go into the audience to find things like tatoos and the like. We were on EOS 2 years ago and I think we played it there. Fun time if that is what you were talking about.

[Cruising89143]

Great review Robyn. Thanks for sharing.

[printess]

Thanks for the review - we are sailing on Radiance 12/3-12/9.

 

Did you do any excursions? How were the ports?

 

Which ports did you dock in and which were tenders?

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

ALSIGKAP

Message to Alsigkap:

 

We are on the same cruise, why don't you stop over to the roll call, lots of people going on the same cruise, we are up to 50 so far! Lots of neighbors as well! We will be spending thanksgiving with relatives in reading!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=270251

[ckrobyn]

And you are waiting for... what exactly? :rolleyes:

 

Murphy - quit tempting me you nut case! You know I am in severe cruise withdrawl and am likely to book just about anything at this point!!! :eek:

[ckrobyn]

Thank-you for sharing your review and your pictures. Loved the pictures of Sunset Beach Resort in Montego Bay! We're sailing 02/25/07 6 night Western as well and had no clue what to do in Jamaica. I think I've just made up my mind.

Lori

 

Lori - You will love Sunset Beach Resort! It is a short taxi ride from the port...literally 10 minutes. The resort itself is gorgeous as you can see from my pics :) The swim up pool bar was amazing (spent a lot of time there!) There is also an area to shop - lots of vendors selling their wares, and none of them were pushy...just really friendly.

 

Have a great cruise!

[BobBeaSea]

Murphy - quit tempting me you nut case! You know I am in severe cruise withdrawl and am likely to book just about anything at this point!!! :eek:

 

Maybe Carnival ? :)

[ckrobyn]

Great review Robyn (and Murphy). Keiron Buffery is pretty good isn't he? A refugee from NCL, he was our CD in April. Robyn, I am SHOCKED, absolutely shocked, this sailing was the first time you made it to Quest and one of the specialty restaurants. An experienced veteran such as yourself! I know you have your DD with you on cruises BUT that's no excuse, something can always be worked out :D Enjoyed your review....

 

Bob - Go easy on me will ya?? :rolleyes: LOL

Yes, this was my first Quest but surely not my last! It was a load of fun - Keiron was great! Again yes, never been to a specialty restaurant before this cruise.....I can assure you I will be booking one on the AOS....did I mention my next cruise is in 103 sleeps????;)

[ckrobyn]

Maybe Carnival ? :)

 

BITE YOUR TONGUE! :eek:

[ckrobyn]

Great reviews! I'm surprised at your comments that JS no longer qualify for the upgraded amenities - we had them on Serenade, although I notice that they have the good sense to have made the bottles a lot smaller. I bring my own shampoo, & had better advise DH to do the same on Jewel, just in case....

 

It's true, our cabin attendant told us that the bathroom toiletries are no longer being placed in JS cabins. When I asked her why, she replied that the "JS is not a suite"....hmmmmm......funny that it is listed as a Junior SUITE! LOL ! Maybe RCI should consider changing the category? There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what exactly we are entitled to in a JS - even more confusing with the new brochures from what I hear.

In any case, we asked for the lotions and potions and Vivian brought them to us......I too bring my own shampoo....it was the lotion that I wanted :o

[ckrobyn]

Great review Robyn. Thanks for sharing.

 

You're very welcome gator! I really enjoy writing these reviews and posting pics :) It's a small way to give back to the CC folks who are always so willing to share their stories!

[ckrobyn]

Could you remind me about Quest. Was that when they set you into teams and you go into the audience to find things like tatoos and the like. We were on EOS 2 years ago and I think we played it there. Fun time if that is what you were talking about.

 

You can come with your own team ( as many do) or you can join in a team for Quest. Many people were working together to find the articles Keiron was calling for, and they were total strangers! How cool is that??

 

I can't tell you what "articles" you will be asked to find - that would ruin it for everyone ;) My advice to you is - get there early and find a seat near the stage! :p

[ckrobyn]

I almost forgot....

Not much to watch on TV in the cabin.......if you like The Jeffersons you are in for a real treat! LOL :D

[Murphy]

I almost forgot....

Not much to watch on TV in the cabin.......if you like The Jeffersons you are in for a real treat! LOL :D

Yeah, what was with the TV? I've never been on any ship with fewer channel options! Of course we only had the TV on about an hour total the entire week. So maybe that's a good thing, GET OUT THERE!

[Shar27]

I can't tell you what "articles" you will be asked to find - that would ruin it for everyone ;) My advice to you is - get there early and find a seat near the stage! :p

 

All I can tell you is, some poor animals gave their life for the quest game.:eek:

 

Good thing they were stuffed.:D

[Murphy]

All I can tell you is, some poor animals gave their life for the quest game.:eek:

 

Good thing they were stuffed.:D

Yes, Quest got a little rough for a while! That was the first time I'd seen that particular request. good thing there weren't any animal activists onboard!