All right... here I go with my first review.....PART I

Honeymoon Cruise--3/6/05--Radiance of the Seas

Embarkation Port--Miami, FL

Embarkation Process:

We flew out of ATL at 8:45 in the morning on AA (which they gave us 1st class tix b/c of honeymoon:D ) and arrived in Miami at 10:30. The only hitch on the flight was when we checked in they said my DW had to take 3.5 lbs of "luggage" out of her bag to put in mine. Here is where it gets DUMB!!! My bag weighed 42 lbs and her's weighed 53.5lbs. I asked the airline employee if we could split the difference b/c we were travelling together and the avg of the bags would be under 50lbs. NO GO!!! So on our honeymoon flight, she had to lug out clothing (luckliy no lingerie;) ) and transfer 3.5 lbs over to my bag. SHEESH!!!!

When we arrived in Miami we got our luggage and waited for about 45 minutes outside for the Greyhound bus to pick us up to take us to the ship. We arrived at the ship, which the bus driver called the "Raundi," at about 11:45 and went through the boarding procedures. If everything is filled out and you have all necessary documents and you get there when we did, the whole process from bus to walking on ship is about 30 minutes. We ate in the Windjammer and were in our Junior Suite on Deck 10 at 1:00.

We took a nap and went to the Muster Drill (our location was at Chops) and then I smoked a cigar on our balcony as we sailed out of Miami into the Atlantic.

SHIP:

We sailed on the BEAUTIFUL "Radiance of the Seas." The ship is in great shape. Very spacious and the view of everything is magnificant. The ship's captain Kent Ringborn is a superb individual and an excellent singer. We truly loved his Swedish accent. He is a very friendly and seemingly down to earth individual.

The motion of the ocean was really never horrible. You can feel a slight sway on occasion, especially in the bathroom and walking down the hall to your room. The only time it really got bad was when we could not go to the Caymans(talk about later) and the Skip told us that we were going to "double time" it to Cozumel. Ohh boy.... that day and a half was something not to be desired. The seas were not bad it was just that he was going full speed ahead and you could tell it. That was the only day that my DW and I lost our balance. Nothing bad but you could DEFINATELY tell the ship was moving.

ACCOMODATIONS:

I booked a Junior Suite for our honeymoon. Room # 1086 to be exact. It was VERY SPACIOUS. Not what I was expecting in a cruise line room. I had pre-ordered some wine and cheese and flowers for the room and it was very sweet. Back to the room: the bathroom was plenty big and my DW loved the tub. The storage was plenty big for both of us and we never felt like we were in each other's way. But when are you ever on your honeymoon??? The room had extra blankets and pillows and a couple of robes for us. The deck was very nice with two chairs, a table, and a third chair that didn't match the others but we didn't care. The hopes of getting a lounger on the deck was a no go. Evidently it is getting pretty difficult to even sneak one in at night b/c when our attendant, Michael, said he couldn't get us one and I asked what would happen if one appeared, he didn't give me an optimistic look.

Our stateroom attendant, Michael, was very nice and funny. I gave him some money to start the week and he kissed it and winked at me, so I knew that he would look out for us. He did the WHOLE week, minus the loungers:( .

Please, don't stop there!! We are sailing on this ship in January and love reading about it!!! And....congratulations on your marriage!!! The flowers and other prearranged goodies were an excellent touch! Way to go........;)

Keep going I am going Thanksgiving week.:D :D :D :D

Me Too!!

I'm sailing in February 2006.

What happened next?? :) Tell us everything!

Congratulations on your wedding!

Thanks for starting your review ;) WE will be sailing on the Radiance in a few weeks and will be enjoying an aft balcony on deck 9. I'm a bit disappointed to hear the loungers were a no-go :( , It is something I am really looking forward to!

Look forward to hearing more :)

A

rebchief - We had friends that were on your cruise. I'm going to send them the link to your review. They also enjoyed the cruise, but were sorry they didn't get to go to Grand Cayman since they had never been there before.

We are going on the same ship & itinerary this Sun. I hope I'll be able to find all your reviews when I get home.

Gail

We had the same problem when we boarded coming home with one suitcase too heavy. They were very nice about it though and explained why you can't have a total pounds but that ea. suitcase must not weigh over 50 lbs (I think that was the magic number).

It is because of the Unions that have people working at the airport loading your bags. They are protecting their members from back injury which is why nothing over 50 per bag is allowed. I can see why actually. Those bags can get heavy if there isn't some sort of limit.

It is because of the Unions that have people working at the airport loading your bags. They are protecting their members from back injury which is why nothing over 50 per bag is allowed. I can see why actually. Those bags can get heavy if there isn't some sort of limit.

Hmm. I'm not so sure about this reasoning. If that were really the case, then they wouldn't allow you to "pay" extra to get your 70lb suitcase onboard. Also, at least on Northwest, elite members have a higher pound allowance (which saved me $25 on a trip last year!).

Chris

Just4kixx, many of the aft balconies do have loungers. I will try to send you a picture I have that shows the aft balconies very clearly and you can see the loungers. The bigger balconies have two loungers and two chairs and some only have one lounger and two chairs. What cabin do you have? If it is an aft JS or a corner D1, you will have at least one lounger!! :)

Sorry, I'm having trouble making the picture small enough to post. If you go to www.webshots.com and type in: Jewel of the sea aft, you will get some great closeups that show the aft balconies. :)

the aft balconies are indeed bigger and if someone was on the Radiance recently maybe they can clarify this but we did not see any on any of the decks. There were none on the OS and RS decks either from where I could see. But that DOES NOT mean there were none on deck period. Maybe its something new with RC or something or maybe our stateroom attendant was paranoid.

I am trying to convince the NDW (newlywed darling wife) that we need to stay in an AFT suite;) . She actually told me on the cruise that the view from there was beautiful and she loved the water being churned up as we cruised at sea.

Hello neighbor!

Keep it up with the review, was this your first cruise?? Could it have been that due to rough sea conditions on the cruise prior to yours that they had to take in the loungers?? We had an aft on the Brilliance last year and we had two loungers, two straight chairs and a small table. It seems strange that they would take them off the balconies for any other reason.

What part of Macon do you live in?? Just wondering if we have crossed paths.

Stretch

the aft balconies are indeed bigger and if someone was on the Radiance recently maybe they can clarify this but we did not see any on any of the decks.

 

 

 

We stayed in aft cabin 1604 on the same cruise as Rebchief. There were no loungers on our Balcony or the ones next to us. However looking down from the windjammer we saw a lounger on 1102. So I think it is just blind luck if you get one.

I live about 10 minutes from Smarr down US 41. I love driving that route to ATL if I am not in a hurry. Love the trains too. Stretch, shoot me an email.

rebchief74@hotmail.com

Keep going, can't wait to read more.

kathy

I also remember about a month ago someone posted about not being able to get loungers on the aft balconies anymore:mad:

FOOD:

When we arrived on our first day, we thought that there may be a sandwich or something in the Windjammer. Were we wrong!! They had a full buffet going with all of the trimmings. It was hot and everything. Anyway...

Windjammer: Breakfast--pretty good, food was hot for the most part, wide selection, chef's omelets were good. If you don't like warm apple juice, better ask for some ice. We drank the tea/water/lemonade most of the week. We splurged a couple of times and drank a soft drink so for us, the Soda Card was not necessary. We did not see any alcohol deals except for the wine packages.

Cascades: Breakfast--did not like having to sit with a group of ten for breakfast since we didn't know anyone. I know that they do this to keep the amount of staff to a minimum but its like sitting at the dinner table at home at 8:00 in the morning with people that you don't feel like talking to that early (DW and I got to have our morning coffee.) Food was pretty good. Small portions for breakfast. Dinner (supper for us Southerners)-- The atmosphere was great. Our waiter Louis was kind of shy the first couple days but by the end of week, he was fabulous. He and Jade did a terrific job, which they were compensated well for at the end of the cruise. Michael the drink guy was funny and the last two nights at dinner, he "gave" me several cordials on the house. They were very nice!! The food was great some days and all right the others. Presentation was standard but for feeding so many people at one time, the chefs did pretty good. On C and A night, I told Michael that I really enjoyed lobster and wouldn't you know it...here came extra lobsters!! Just about all week, if there was something on the menu that my DW and I both wanted to try, he would bring the extra entree and set it between us for us to sample during dinner. This especially happened with desserts:D . The captain's table was next to ours so it was fun getting to see the pomp and circumstance that occurred with that group the nights he was there. A few nights there was some little shows put on by the wait staff which were fun to watch (Italian night!!). Louis even told us not to go to Portofino's one night b/c he said the menu was going to be superb that particular day and to go on another day b/c he thought that we would not like the dishes being prepared that day. HE WAS RIGHT!!! He had us figured out after the third day.

Chops--Atmosphere was very nice. Appetizers were great. We got shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. The pre dinner bread and spread were really good as well. My DW and I got the New York Strip(loin). We WERE NOT happy with this cut of meat. The menu said for a FLAVORFUL cut if meat, try the NY Striploin. Sheesh...Talk about a joke. Our tablemates, whom we did not know were having the same cut of meat, sent their's back and got the Filet(which I usually get at our steakhouses here.) I just wanted to try the NY Striploin b/c of the "flavorfulness". Won't make that mistake again. The sides with the meal were all fine and came in large portions. The desserts were fabulous, especially the Chocolate Dream, but hey...we did not go there for desserts.

Portofino's--Didn't get to go b/c DW wasn't feeling well. Portofino staff understood this and did not charge us for breaking the reservation at such short notice (called at 5:00 to cancel reservations for 9:00.) They were very gracious and I did hear from others on the cruise that did eat there, and they said it was very authentic Italian cuisine and great service. Just don't be in any hurry to rush through a meal.

WILL CONTINUE REVIEW...