Radiance of the Seas - Sept. 25-30 - Review...

[ejeffo]

So my GF, 9 YO son, and I sailed on the Radiance to Cabo Sept. 25-30. Here is my quick review...

EMBARKATION - Smooth as glass. We were at the pier at about 10:30 and were on the ship sipping a drink of the day at about 11:30 or so. Quick and painless I must say. The ship did sail a bit late, but can be expected, being the first sailing out of San Diego. We were watching them load more and more luggage from our balcony.

FOOD - I had to hit this topic up next because I have heard so many conflicting things about the food... In one word, it was phenomenal. I had salmon, escargot, lobster, shoulder beef, etc. etc. and honestly, everything I had was absolutely fantastic. Everything that is... EXCEPT for the Chops steak. I can honestly tell you that I grill up a better filet in my backyard on my Char Broil. (Go ahead and flame away, it is the truth.) My opinion... stay in the MDR. I did not try Portofinos because we had great table mates and decided to stick with them. Oh, and Ismael is the best head waiter in the world. Just from the luck of the draw, we got a fantastic table set apart from the rest and up 2 or 3 steps. It was amazing! Also, everything in the Windjammer was very good as well. No complaints. Food gets a 10/10.

ENSENADA - We took the bus tour to the blowhole (La Bufadora). It was a lot of fun and our guide (Hanz) was also really entertaining and fun. We did some shopping, had our free margaritas at Habana Banana, ate at a fantastic little restaurant (I cannot remember the name but it was our meeting place for the tour). Great tacos with hand made tortillas.

SEA DAYS - Interestingly enough, it is strange to me that everyone bashes Carnival saying that they are the "party" ships. There was no lack of a good time around the pool (I am in no way complaining, it was fun). It was actually more of a party atmosphere on this ship than my Elation cruise. The Elation was pretty mellow (But also a great time). As you can probably tell, I am not difficult to please. We have a great time just knowing we are on a cruise. The second sea day was cold and windy, so not a lot of people by the pool.

ADVENTURE OCEAN - The AO program was great. The people working there were very nice. My son is 9 years old, so he was in the 9-11 group (Explorers I think). The hours are kind of screwy, but it makes sense, I guess more so people don't just drop their kids off and forget about them. You have to pick them up for lunch and dinner (which was what we would do any ways). My son made a lot of freinds on the ship and would constantly be saying Hi to other kids walking by. Overall, he had a lot of fun there.
CABO - In a word... "CROWDED!" And another couple of words... "HOT AND HUMID!" There were 5 ships in port that day... The Radiance, 3 NCL ships, and the Carnival Elation (Which holds a special place in my heart, being my first cruise and all). The Radiance was by far the prettiest of all from the outside, and I heard a lot of complaining coming from NCL pax in common areas (Once again, flame away NCL peeps, it is the truth). We did the Beach, buggy, and swim tour. This is where my only real complaints comes in... First off, there were 3 of us, so we had a single person come with us in our buggy and I had to share driving time with a young kid who had never driven a stick before. I was okay with it but my GF wasn't too thrilled. I had to keep telling him how to drive and that I had precious cargo on board so to take it easy. It was amazing how warm the water was. If anyone wants more info on this excursion, let me know and I can tell you more. It is a fun excursion. Oh and we ate at a great little Irish Pub near the Marina. Very good food and atmosphere.

SHOWS – They were all great. The City of Dreams show was awesome and also my favorite. Great music, excellent choreography, and a lot of fun. The music impersonator was very good as well. Honestly, the impersonations were not so great (some were) but the entertainment factor was very high. The Piano Man show was probably my second favorite. If you like Elton John, Billy Joel, etc. you will definitely like this show. Every show was about 1 hour. Shows get a 8/10.

CASINO – We are video poker players, so I can only comment on that. The pay tables are horrible (6/5 for quarters), but as much can be expected for a captive audience. We will be heading to Vegas in January anyways where we can get 9/6 and free drinks . We still managed to dump in plenty of cash and had a lot of fun doing it. I hit four 4’s for $100 but that was about it. The drink service in the casino was sparse as well. You had to go to the bar, and when we did ask someone if there was a waitress, the bartender came over asking if we wanted drinks. No biggie, but drink service would have been a plus.

STATEROOM – We were in JS 1548. What a great room in a great location. We were close to the elevators, had plenty of room for the three of us to move around, and the pullout bed was great for my son. He loved it. The balcony was nice, especially being our first one. It would be hard to go back to an oceanview room. The only down point was the bathtub. Although it was nice to have one, it was set higher than the bathroom floor. I am 6’ tall and literally my head touched the ceiling. You have to be careful stepping out as well. Since the tub floor is higher than the bathroom floor it is a big step and I almost fell my first time. This room is not for everyone for those reasons. The walk-in closet was nice too!

DEBARKATION - Attn. non-US citizens... "GET DOWN TO THE COLONY CLUB WHEN YOU ARE CALLED!" Our debarkation was delayed because there were a few people who didn't show up for the immigration inspection. As a matter of fact, they finally did release us for debarkation and when we were leaving, the guy in front of us handed over his sea pass card and they said "Oh, there you are. We have been paging you all morning." and pulled him aside, back onto the ship. I heard him talking, he spoke perfect English. Then we saw him again waiting for our shuttle and he was telling his friend "I guess next time I will see what they want when they page me." I felt like saying something, but I kept my mouth shut.

COMPLAINT – Yes, I do have one complaint… So we were scheduled to meet at 8:30 AM for our Cabo excursion in the Aurora Theater. We even checked the time with the Explorations desk before we went to sleep at about 10:00. We place our breakfast room service order on the door for 7:00-7:30. So, we wake up at about 6:45 and start getting ready leisurely. I jump in the shower a few minutes after 7. Suddenly, my GF barges into the bathroom saying we have to meet at 7:30 for the excursion… they changed the time. They left a message on the phone (never called, just left a message at 11:47 PM when we were fast asleep). We had to race to get ready and had to rush to the theater with no breakfast, no coffee, no nothing. Oh, and on the way out of the room, we found a letter stating the same thing on the outside of the door. It is a good thing my GF picked up the phone to see where our breakfast was or we may have missed the excursion. Defend RCCL all you want, but they should have done more to let us know. Even a phone call at 11:47 waking me up would have been better.

IN A NUTSHELL – I absolutely loved this cruise, the ship, the CD, the shows, the food, everything. It was a fantastic vacation in which we met some great people who will surely become long time friends. Sorry for missing all of the CC events, but we were just having too much fun and busy chasing the kids around. All of the reviews saying The Radiance is beautiful, well decorated, clean, etc. etc. are all wrong. They are UNDERstatements! This ship is too awesome for words. If you are planning to sail on the Radiance, you will not be disappointed.

If I think of anything else, I will post it in this thread. If anyone has questions, let me know.

[travelteam]

Originally Posted by ejeffo

So my GF, 9 YO son, and I sailed on the Radiance to Cabo Sept. 25-30. Here is my quick review...

EMBARKATION - Smooth as glass. We were at the pier at about 10:30 and were on the ship sipping a drink of the day at about 11:30 or so. Quick and painless I must say. The ship did sail a bit late, but can be expected, being the first sailing out of San Diego. We were watching them load more and more luggage from our balcony.

FOOD - I had to hit this topic up next because I have heard so many conflicting things about the food... In one word, it was phenomenal. I had salmon, escargot, lobster, shoulder beef, etc. etc. and honestly, everything I had was absolutely fantastic. Everything that is... EXCEPT for the Chops steak. I can honestly tell you that I grill up a better filet in my backyard on my Char Broil. (Go ahead and flame away, it is the truth.) My opinion... stay in the MDR. I did not try Portofinos because we had great table mates and decided to stick with them. Oh, and Ismael is the best head waiter in the world. Just from the luck of the draw, we got a fantastic table set apart from the rest and up 2 or 3 steps. It was amazing! Also, everything in the Windjammer was very good as well. No complaints. Food gets a 10/10.

ENSENADA - We took the bus tour to the blowhole (La Bufadora). It was a lot of fun and our guide (Hanz) was also really entertaining and fun. We did some shopping, had our free margaritas at Habana Banana, ate at a fantastic little restaurant (I cannot remember the name but it was our meeting place for the tour). Great tacos with hand made tortillas.

SEA DAYS - Interestingly enough, it is strange to me that everyone bashes Carnival saying that they are the "party" ships. There was no lack of a good time around the pool (I am in no way complaining, it was fun). It was actually more of a party atmosphere on this ship than my Elation cruise. The Elation was pretty mellow (But also a great time). As you can probably tell, I am not difficult to please. We have a great time just knowing we are on a cruise. The second sea day was cold and windy, so not a lot of people by the pool.

ADVENTURE OCEAN - The AO program was great. The people working there were very nice. My son is 9 years old, so he was in the 9-11 group (Explorers I think). The hours are kind of screwy, but it makes sense, I guess more so people don't just drop their kids off and forget about them. You have to pick them up for lunch and dinner (which was what we would do any ways). My son made a lot of freinds on the ship and would constantly be saying Hi to other kids walking by. Overall, he had a lot of fun there.
CABO - In a word... "CROWDED!" And another couple of words... "HOT AND HUMID!" There were 5 ships in port that day... The Radiance, 3 NCL ships, and the Carnival Elation (Which holds a special place in my heart, being my first cruise and all). The Radiance was by far the prettiest of all from the outside, and I heard a lot of complaining coming from NCL pax in common areas (Once again, flame away NCL peeps, it is the truth). We did the Beach, buggy, and swim tour. This is where my only real complaints comes in... First off, there were 3 of us, so we had a single person come with us in our buggy and I had to share driving time with a young kid who had never driven a stick before. I was okay with it but my GF wasn't too thrilled. I had to keep telling him how to drive and that I had precious cargo on board so to take it easy. It was amazing how warm the water was. If anyone wants more info on this excursion, let me know and I can tell you more. It is a fun excursion. Oh and we ate at a great little Irish Pub near the Marina. Very good food and atmosphere.

SHOWS – They were all great. The City of Dreams show was awesome and also my favorite. Great music, excellent choreography, and a lot of fun. The music impersonator was very good as well. Honestly, the impersonations were not so great (some were) but the entertainment factor was very high. The Piano Man show was probably my second favorite. If you like Elton John, Billy Joel, etc. you will definitely like this show. Every show was about 1 hour. Shows get a 8/10.

CASINO – We are video poker players, so I can only comment on that. The pay tables are horrible (6/5 for quarters), but as much can be expected for a captive audience. We will be heading to Vegas in January anyways where we can get 9/6 and free drinks . We still managed to dump in plenty of cash and had a lot of fun doing it. I hit four 4’s for $100 but that was about it. The drink service in the casino was sparse as well. You had to go to the bar, and when we did ask someone if there was a waitress, the bartender came over asking if we wanted drinks. No biggie, but drink service would have been a plus.

STATEROOM – We were in JS 1548. What a great room in a great location. We were close to the elevators, had plenty of room for the three of us to move around, and the pullout bed was great for my son. He loved it. The balcony was nice, especially being our first one. It would be hard to go back to an oceanview room. The only down point was the bathtub. Although it was nice to have one, it was set higher than the bathroom floor. I am 6’ tall and literally my head touched the ceiling. You have to be careful stepping out as well. Since the tub floor is higher than the bathroom floor it is a big step and I almost fell my first time. This room is not for everyone for those reasons. The walk-in closet was nice too!

DEBARKATION - Attn. non-US citizens... "GET DOWN TO THE COLONY CLUB WHEN YOU ARE CALLED!" Our debarkation was delayed because there were a few people who didn't show up for the immigration inspection. As a matter of fact, they finally did release us for debarkation and when we were leaving, the guy in front of us handed over his sea pass card and they said "Oh, there you are. We have been paging you all morning." and pulled him aside, back onto the ship. I heard him talking, he spoke perfect English. Then we saw him again waiting for our shuttle and he was telling his friend "I guess next time I will see what they want when they page me." I felt like saying something, but I kept my mouth shut.

COMPLAINT – Yes, I do have one complaint… So we were scheduled to meet at 8:30 AM for our Cabo excursion in the Aurora Theater. We even checked the time with the Explorations desk before we went to sleep at about 10:00. We place our breakfast room service order on the door for 7:00-7:30. So, we wake up at about 6:45 and start getting ready leisurely. I jump in the shower a few minutes after 7. Suddenly, my GF barges into the bathroom saying we have to meet at 7:30 for the excursion… they changed the time. They left a message on the phone (never called, just left a message at 11:47 PM when we were fast asleep). We had to race to get ready and had to rush to the theater with no breakfast, no coffee, no nothing. Oh, and on the way out of the room, we found a letter stating the same thing on the outside of the door. It is a good thing my GF picked up the phone to see where our breakfast was or we may have missed the excursion. Defend RCCL all you want, but they should have done more to let us know. Even a phone call at 11:47 waking me up would have been better.

IN A NUTSHELL – I absolutely loved this cruise, the ship, the CD, the shows, the food, everything. It was a fantastic vacation in which we met some great people who will surely become long time friends. Sorry for missing all of the CC events, but we were just having too much fun and busy chasing the kids around. All of the reviews saying The Radiance is beautiful, well decorated, clean, etc. etc. are all wrong. They are UNDERstatements! This ship is too awesome for words. If you are planning to sail on the Radiance, you will not be disappointed.

If I think of anything else, I will post it in this thread. If anyone has questions, let me know.

great review...............we will be on her in September..............how was the indoor pool area...........and the famous chair hogs? Glad you had such a wonderful time.

[wolfcathorse]

I can't wait for Radiance to start sailing out of Tampa Bay! Was Capt Trym Selvag your captain?

[ejeffo]

Originally Posted by travelteam

great review...............we will be on her in September..............how was the indoor pool area...........and the famous chair hogs? Glad you had such a wonderful time.

The Solarium was fantastic. I forgot to talk about that. I did jam my toe pretty bad in the pool there, but that was my own stupid fault. It is very relaxing in there and it was nice being away from the crowds at the outside pool.

[cruisenfever]

Originally Posted by ejeffo

The Solarium was fantastic. I forgot to talk about that. I did jam my toe pretty bad in the pool there, but that was my own stupid fault. It is very relaxing in there and it was nice being away from the crowds at the outside pool.

Did you get to try the Crepes at the Solarium Cafe or the onion rings at the SeaView Cafe?

[cruisenfever]

Originally Posted by wolfcathorse

I can't wait for Radiance to start sailing out of Tampa Bay! Was Capt Trym Selvag your captain?

Karen, Captain Trym is there until November 21 when he and Chantal leave for vacation.

[ejeffo]

Originally Posted by wolfcathorse

I can't wait for Radiance to start sailing out of Tampa Bay! Was Capt Trym Selvag your captain?

Yes, it was Captain Trym. He was great. Especially at the cake decorating class. He was splashig whipped cream and toppings all over people. It was really funny.

[ejeffo]

Originally Posted by cruisenfever

Did you get to try the Crepes at the Solarium Cafe or the onion rings at the SeaView Cafe?

No on the Crepes... I had the cheeseburger and fries at the Seaview. That was very good too. I like the fact there is a bar in there so you can easily order a beer with your burger.

[lvcruiselover]

I'm sailing on the Radiance 10/29 and am also a video poker player. How many machines would you say they have? Were they crowded or could you get on easily?

Thanks!

[ejeffo]

Originally Posted by lvcruiselover

I'm sailing on the Radiance 10/29 and am also a video poker player. How many machines would you say they have? Were they crowded or could you get on easily?

Thanks!

They have about 8-10 quarter machines in the non smoking section, 10 in the smoking section, and about 10 dollar machines scattered around. There was never a problem getting on a machine and this was a sold out sailing.

[lvcruiselover]

Originally Posted by ejeffo

They have about 8-10 quarter machines in the non smoking section, 10 in the smoking section, and about 10 dollar machines scattered around. There was never a problem getting on a machine and this was a sold out sailing.

Thanks for the quick response! So there's a non smoking and a smoking section every night? Interesting. I don't remember that being the case on the Mariner but I could be wrong.

[cruisenfever]

Originally Posted by lvcruiselover

Thanks for the quick response! So there's a non smoking and a smoking section every night? Interesting. I don't remember that being the case on the Mariner but I could be wrong.

Yes there is.............and on at least one night a week it is completely smoke free.

[ztacruisnmommy]

we ae goingn nov 7...

what night was formal

did they have texas holdem tournament

do you have the compass with the activities

thanks in advance

[KandMGIn]

Wow...4 days for me...yippee..thanks for making me happy with a great review!!!

[bigpuma]

Originally Posted by ztacruisnmommy

we ae goingn nov 7...

what night was formal

did they have texas holdem tournament

do you have the compass with the activities

thanks in advance

replace November 7 with November 2nd and I have the exact same questions.

[ejeffo]

Formal night was the second night... kind of weird being a port day as well. I will try to get the compasses scanned and post them soon. Just have been so busy since we got back.

Texas Hold Em... yes, but I did not get involved although I wanted to. I think it was a $50 buy in. I am sure there is info in my compass.

[ejeffo]

Originally Posted by KandMGIn

Wow...4 days for me...yippee..thanks for making me happy with a great review!!!

I see you have sailed other RCCL ships so it will be par for the course for you, but the Radiance really is an awesome ship. Enjoy!

[Fredr]

Hello,

My DW and I were on the Radiance a total of 29 days in April and May of 2009. We embarked in Buenos Aires and sailed to San Diego. In April of 2009, we are on the Radiance for an 11 night Mexico sailing. For those of you who have not been to Mexico this is an excellent itinerary and super price because the ports include Zijuanejo/Ixtapa, Manzanillo and Acapulco.

Even after 30 cruises I can tell you that the Radiance is one of the best ships for the very reasonable price you will pay.

To answer questions...the Seaview Cafe is somewhat hidden as it is very high up and at the rear of the ship...Deck 12? It is also open late but plan on having your food there as it is no fun trying to balance a plate in the wind, at night. The Seaview Cafe is really a very nice place...great food especially the onion rings and very good service. It isn't very big but it is a nice compromise between the MDR and the Buffet if neither suits you during a particular meal time. But check the hours. I do not believe that they serve breakfast. The menu is limited but you will find something to your liking.

The solarium is nice and the pool is pleasant, with the water moving around as the ship rolls.

Hopefully though the Radiance will improve the library...not enough books for a ship the size of the Radiance. So,if you like to read definitely grab that extra book from your town's library or bookstore.

[ztacruisnmommy]

thanks for the answers..
port day is odd for formal. we are doing the wineries that day so it should be interesting.

cant wat to sail sounds like you had fun

[aunursa]

Do you remember which nights the Adventure Ocean staff hosted dinner for the kids?