Radiance-Hawaii Oct 2007

Worst cruise ever. caotic embarkation @ LA. Food not up to standards. Balcony chairs were very small wicker ice cream parlor chairs. Missed Hilo due to weather causing 2nd day in Honolulu. Now sitting off Maui, not allowed to go ashore-some problem with shore authority.

945am/Captain announced a Homeland Security official is on power trip & will not allow ashore until at least noon. RCCL main office is in volved with local authorities & Governors office.

our past trip to Hawaii was great on Celeb but I must note that of all ports we have left from, San Pedro was the most disorganized--coming & going--awful clearing customs on the return

Also--although we never left the USA while in the Islands (except for the stop at Ensenada at night) working with port authorities was not very smooth--esp in mauai--what a mess! Hope you get to enjoy Hawaii--

Hi Cliffday,

I live within a thirty minute drive of San Pedro, and have sailed out of there at least a dozen times, and with the exception of once when the gang plank got hung up we have never had a problem. Our last cruise was on RCI's Vision out of San Pedro on Oct 14, and returning on the 21st. After walking into the terminal for embarkation we spent two minutes exchanging our Set Sail pass for our boarding passes (no waiting line at 12:00 noon), a brief stop to get photographed at the gangway, and we were aboard. The whole process took about ten minutes, and no waiting. Upon return we had breakfast in the dining room, waited 15 min until our color was called at 8:30A, had a short wait until we left the ship, and about ten minutes in line for immigration check, which took only a minute, then picked up our bags. From the time we finished breakfast til we boarded the shuttle for the parking lot was about 45 minutes, and they were on schedule in calling the color groups.

Sometimes embarkation can get hectic when a number of busses arrive from the airport all at once and the baggage handlers and RCI staff get swamped. But this happens at any cruise terminal I have visited. Set Sail passes have helped to get folks checked in with a minimum of delay, and the more people that pre register the quicker this process gets. The only delays I noted at the immigration check point was related to persons using birth certificates for identication, as the immigration officers had to enter this data by hand. With a passport, they just swipe your passport match the photo, and you are on your way. While we didn't need them, there were a sufficient number of taxis, vans and busses to handle the departing cruisers in a quick and orderly manner. In my estimation San Pedro is one of the better cruise terminals.

The preparation, presentation, variety and quality of food on the Vision,s Windjammer and main dining room were consistant with RCI's standards of recent years. It would be helpful if you could give us some information about the food on the Radiance, and what the boarding problems were.

Petert

Somebody just posted this link above http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/29/br/br9482517360.html

We were on the radiance for the Sept Hawaii and it could not have been better except for the Embarkation and Debarkation.

Lexi

Mr Lloyd (in the linked article) is a bit of a drama queen don't ya think, saying he was "held hostage?" Stuck on a cruise ship, poor baby. :rolleyes:

Read the Contract of Carriage folks, it says the itinerary can change without a moment's notice. It's a chance we all take when booking a cruise. Would I have been upset? You bet. But claiming to be a hostage is a tad extreme.

It sounds like there's been an unfortunate set of circumstances concerning the ports - all of which, based on the newspaper article, were out of the hands of RCI. I do know that I would be unhappy that I missed a port, but I know that 50 mile an hour winds are out of the control of the cruise line. I have missed excursions in Grand Cayman because of rough water and that was disappointing.

I've never seen "wicker ice cream parlor chairs" on any RCI balcony. I am sailing on the Radiance in February and will find it interesting to see what is on my balcony.

I do hope the food improves and that the OP's departure will be as smooth as the embarkation was chaotic.

The OP still has a right to voice his dislike, regardless of who's fault it is, or what the situation is. Let's not try to jump down his back for trying to share his feelings during a time he'd rather be on shore than online!

We all know what it's like to have plans go wrong. A little compassion could go a long way. :o

The OP still has a right to voice his dislike, regardless of who's fault it is, or what the situation is. Let's not try to jump down his back for trying to share his feelings during a time he'd rather be on shore than online!

 

We all know what it's like to have plans go wrong. A little compassion could go a long way. :o

I don't see where anyone has jumped down the OP's back.:confused:

We can all mouth superlatives about this not being RCI's fault and we would all be right.

We can all wax philosophically about the weather, a fishing derby and bureaucratic b.s. and, of course, we would all be right.

What we can't do is get into the mind set of an individual who is being "quoted" for a newspaper article, who has missed, if I count correct, at least 2 scheduled ports. He was quoted as saying "marooned and held hostage". He has every right to feel that way.

But you will notice that he is not blaming RCI. In fact, he even praises the Captain for his efforts.

You can even feel the frustration of the OP voicing his displeasure at "his worst cruise ever".

I know that I would be at least a teensy weensy bit irritated if I were on board the Radiance on this cruise. I would still enjoy myself, but wouldn't help feel that it wasn't what it was supposed to be.

So no, PT737SWA, I don't think Mr Lloyd is a drama queen, just a frustrated cruiser.

We can all mouth superlatives about this not being RCI's fault and we would all be right.

 

We can all wax philosophically about the weather, a fishing derby and bureaucratic b.s. and, of course, we would all be right.

 

What we can't do is get into the mind set of an individual who is being "quoted" for a newspaper article, who has missed, if I count correct, at least 2 scheduled ports. He was quoted as saying "marooned and held hostage". He has every right to feel that way.

 

But you will notice that he is not blaming RCI. In fact, he even praises the Captain for his efforts.

 

You can even feel the frustration of the OP voicing his displeasure at "his worst cruise ever".

 

I know that I would be at least a teensy weensy bit irritated if I were on board the Radiance on this cruise. I would still enjoy myself, but wouldn't help feel that it wasn't what it was supposed to be.

 

So no, PT737SWA, I don't think Mr Lloyd is a drama queen, just a frustrated cruiser.

I agree wholeheartedly!

I was on this Hawaii cruise on Radiance myself, and found that there were many different feelings and opinions among my fellow cruisers. Although I was less affected by all of the disruptions and there were several disruptions, other people's plans were seriously affected. There was one couple who had wedding plans in Maui for the first of 2 days that we were supposed to spend there, and the crew was informed of the required schedule change only 2 days prior to the cruise, and the passengers found out only when we arrived at the port. Many other people also booked excursions on their own and also had plans to meet up with family members who were flying over to one of the islands on specific days that we were scheduled to be there. This caused a great deal of chaos and extra expense to many people. One couple at my table had booked rental cars at several locations and kept having to cancel them.

I felt that the captain and the entire Radiance crew did a magnificent job of pulling this cruise out of the doldrums after all of these problems. I do believe however that RCCL personnel in Miami dropped the ball when they didn't inform anyone about the Maui fishing tournament, so that the schedules could have been changed months or at least weeks prior to our departure.

Missing Hilo and the volcano was not anyone's fault as those were safety issues due to weather. I understood that although I was looking forward to a great excursion at Hilo and seeing the volcano. But RCCL doesn't control the weather and their people did their best in that case.

The only ship problem that I noticed was the fact that the air conditioning doesn't seem to work very well in warm weather areas. It can get very warm in staterooms even when the A/C is set to the max. Other people I spoke with mentioned the same problems. I don't know if RCCL is trying to cut corners or if this is normal on cruise ships in warm weather areas. I was on Radiance in Alaska and the weather was so cool that this wasn't a problem there. Besides that, I was on 2 Holland America cruises in cool weather areas (Alaska and New England) at cooler times of the year. I was also on Grandeur of the Seas last spring in the Caribbean, and we noticed that the stateroom A/C wasn't working well on that ship either. I'd be interested to hear if this is a normal problem in warm weather on these cruise ships and if it has existed all along or if this is more recent and a result of cutbacks. Does anyone have any feedback there?

Some people on our cruise ship complained about the orange juice being watered down but I don't drink OJ so I wasn't aware of that. I liked the food (too much!).

Our stateroom attendant made towel animals each night on this cruise. This is my 3rd RCCL cruise and the first one where we got a towel animal all of the time. I felt that the crew and especially the service personel on this ship hit a home run with all that they were up against with the scheduling problems and changes.

All in all, I had a great time on the cruise.

Worst cruise ever. caotic embarkation @ LA. Food not up to standards. Balcony chairs were very small wicker ice cream parlor chairs. Missed Hilo due to weather causing 2nd day in Honolulu. Now sitting off Maui, not allowed to go ashore-some problem with shore authority.

My wife and I had cruised to Alaska between 9/14 and 9/28. Between all of us who disembarked and all of you who were embarking, there were a lot of people there, and a number of buses taking us to the airport for our flights home and other bringing you to the ship. This is part of cruising -- unless you have your own yacht. I didn't remember "chaos" when we embarked in Vancouver; nor when we embarked on any of our other cruises, regardless of cruise line and location.

We had a balcony on our cruise, and we found the chairs very comfortable; in spite of weather that was often cold or nippy, sitting out on the balcony was very restful. By the way, there are no guarantees about the weather on whatever cruise you sail. I remember the Captain to be one who doesn't scare easily, so if he decided not to let you off at a given port, he had a good reason and has the authority to do so in the interest of the safety of his passengers.

As per the food, it was wonderful, and the Gala Buffet topped it off. WE have gone on another cruise since we returned home, and are already thinking of another next year -- perhaps the Trans (Panama) Canal on the Radiance.

We have taken a short cruise on a ship from another cvruise line, and both my wife and I agreethe ship cannot compare to the Radiance.:rolleyes:

The OP still has a right to voice his dislike, regardless of who's fault it is, or what the situation is. Let's not try to jump down his back for trying to share his feelings during a time he'd rather be on shore than online!

 

We all know what it's like to have plans go wrong. A little compassion could go a long way. :o

I am sorry, but if the OP talks about his "problems" as if they are directed to him alone, we must draw a line somewhere. In September, my wife and I cruised to Alaska aboard the Radiance; we never missed a port, but if some of the best excursions were canceled because of bad weather, don't blame the Captain or Royal Caribbean. After we returned home, we took a short cruise to Canada and New England, and we had our share of adventures, be it rough sailing North, or very choppy waters at our last port-of-call. Had the Captain decided not to allow us to visit the port, because of choppy waters affecting the passengers (we had to go in by tender) he would have been in his right; as it was, we just missed running into Noel and some very rough seas and high winds.

While we had been able to go on the excursions we chose in Alaska as well as in Canada and New England we had our share of rough weather and unexpected surprises. As to his comments about the balcony chairs and the food, we have a right to reply, because we too had a balcony and we too ate food prepared by the same staff.

I wish this person a safe trip, but my compassion does have its limits. :rolleyes:

Do I smell troll? First posts and all he does is complain about his cruise? "Worst ever"? Was this his first cruise? What is he comparing this to? We have done many cruises on RCCL (we are D+) and we have found the food on Radiance to be the best in the fleet. When it comes to food, we are "quality" people rather than "quantity" people. If it's not good, we don't eat it.

We have never seen wicker balcony chairs - not on any ship. I think this may be an exaggeration.

While I understand the frustration of missing ports due to weather and bureaucrats feeling their power, it wouldn't ruin a cruise for me. After all, it's vacation - no a prison sentence. Captains have no control over the weather or bureaucrats. Que sera, sera.

My husband and I were on the Ist Hawaii cruise in Sept and it was fantastic! So much that we booked one for next year again on Radiance. Embarkation and Debarkation was a mess being Diamond helped with Embarkation. Debarkation had to do with only 2 customs agents and no staff monitoring who was in line. The food was good it was nice to see a varied menu. One night there was a pasta dish with rice noodles and peanut sauce. It was so good I have the recipeand. The Windjammerhad ok . Lunch items were hit or miss. We did use the salad bar. The desserts were pretty good. You will only see Key Lime Pie on boarding day and the last night on the ship.We did dot use Chops or Portofino we may nextOct. The Seaview Cafe is so much better than Johnny Rockets. The Reuben was my favorite as well as the Clam chowder. Hubby like the Grouper Ceasar Salad. I would have been disapointed about not seeing the Volcano or lack of time in Maui but we are going back next year and we have longer port times in Oahu. Not sure if we will do a Luau again or not. As for the wicker chairs. We had a balcony ours did not have them but others near us did. I think they came from the Sea View Cafe. We loved the Radiance and that class of ship.

Lexi

Thanks for letting us know about the chairs. That one really had me puzzled.

I, too, sailed on the Radiance to Hawaii on October 21st. There was one nice blue chair on my balcony and one small white chair that was very uncomfortable. The food was not great, but the service was excellent. The dining room, Windjammer, stateroom and Cruise Director's staff members were very pleasant, professional and accommodating. The Captain and Hotel Director were most informative, straightforward and approachable. The entertainment was most enjoyable!

I think the change in itinerary due to the fishing tournament in Maui could have been provided to the passengers much sooner. Royal should have been aware of the tournament much earlier. It seems that someone dropped the ball, as Maui's Port Authority was unaware that the Radiance was arriving on Monday, October 29th, at 7:00 a.m. They had to scramble to get security ready while the passengers were held on the ship for some 4 hours learning their excursions were slipping away.

One of my biggest complaints is the coffee on Royal's ships. It should definitely be called "Seattle's Worst." It is way too strong and not good tasting at all. It's time for a change (for the better)!

Embarkation was pretty smooth, but disembarking was chaotic and lengthy. It took us about 1 1/2 hours on line to get off the ship. It was ridiculous and very difficult for older passengers or those with back or leg problems. The line went from the Aurora theater out and around the 5th floor Centrum, down the stairs to Deck 4 and wrapped around the Centrum area on that floor.

I also received incorrect information from the Guest Relations and Explorations Staff regarding refunds of cancelled excursions and on board credits due to me.

Overall, it was an enjoyable cruise, but it had much room for improvement.

We sailed on the Radiance Sept 7th-14th and had an excellent time. The food was great as well as the service. The chairs seemed the typical chairs found on balconies. They were comfortable enough for a deck chair. The weather when at sea was extremely foggy and sometimes we couldn't see a thing. I didn't care we were on a cruise ship. No rain when in port but the mornings were very foggy. I still had a fabulous time.....can't let things beyond you or RCL's control put a damper on your having fun. It's a vacation..I'm in a stress free zone! ;) Relax..Enjoy!

hopefully the issues you encountered were the exception and not the norm...Radiance was in LA when we got of Vision yesterday, it looks like a great ship and hopefully we can get aboard one day...

Missed Hilo due to weather causing 2nd day in Honolulu

Try not to let things like this damper your day...the cruise line can only control so much

I, too, sailed on the Radiance to Hawaii on October 21st.

...

Embarkation was pretty smooth, but disembarking was chaotic and lengthy. It took us about 1 1/2 hours on line to get off the ship. It was ridiculous and very difficult for older passengers or those with back or leg problems. The line went from the Aurora theater out and around the 5th floor Centrum, down the stairs to Deck 4 and wrapped around the Centrum area on that floor.

...

Overall, it was an enjoyable cruise, but it had much room for improvement.

I saw the awfully long lines to disembark on Sunday morning and couldn't believe that this line that was on deck 4 was the one going to the Aurora Theatre on deck 5. I felt bad for people who had heavier carry-on bags or had mobility problems as those winding glass stairs can be difficult to navigate at any time by some older people.

We were fortunate that I was local and my friend was taking a later flight out so that we got one of the last colors and numbers and by that time, the line was reasonable and only on deck 5. We were only in it for about 20 minutes. I was thinking that RCCL might not have any control over how many immigration officers come on board the ship, although I don't know whether the company or the government decides that. But definitely only having 2 immigration officers caused the extraordinary long disembarkation lines.

I think that a lesson learned for me is to take later flights out so as to avoid the early rush off the ship, when possible. However, that's not very practical for those who are flying home back east or to Europe (from Los Angeles).

I loved the captain's sense of humor too! He was great.

I, too, sailed on the Radiance to Hawaii on October 21st. There was one nice blue chair on my balcony and one small white chair that was very uncomfortable. The food was not great, but the service was excellent. The dining room, Windjammer, stateroom and Cruise Director's staff members were very pleasant, professional and accommodating. The Captain and Hotel Director were most informative, straightforward and approachable. The entertainment was most enjoyable!

 

I think the change in itinerary due to the fishing tournament in Maui could have been provided to the passengers much sooner. Royal should have been aware of the tournament much earlier. It seems that someone dropped the ball, as Maui's Port Authority was unaware that the Radiance was arriving on Monday, October 29th, at 7:00 a.m. They had to scramble to get security ready while the passengers were held on the ship for some 4 hours learning their excursions were slipping away.

 

One of my biggest complaints is the coffee on Royal's ships. It should definitely be called "Seattle's Worst." It is way too strong and not good tasting at all. It's time for a change (for the better)!

 

Embarkation was pretty smooth, but disembarking was chaotic and lengthy. It took us about 1 1/2 hours on line to get off the ship. It was ridiculous and very difficult for older passengers or those with back or leg problems. The line went from the Aurora theater out and around the 5th floor Centrum, down the stairs to Deck 4 and wrapped around the Centrum area on that floor.

 

I also received incorrect information from the Guest Relations and Explorations Staff regarding refunds of cancelled excursions and on board credits due to me.

 

Overall, it was an enjoyable cruise, but it had much room for improvement.

In September, my wife and I cruised to Alaska aboard the Radiance -- true, the coffee was bad. Now, we just returned from a cruise to Canada and New England aboard the Norwegian Spirit (NCL) and the coffee was no better.:(

hopefully the issues you encountered were the exception and not the norm...Radiance was in LA when we got of Vision yesterday, it looks like a great ship and hopefully we can get aboard one day...

Radiance certainly is a beautiful ship and it's very well cared for by the crews.

We also were on this cruise, it was the worst debarkation we have ever experienced in our 20+ cruises with RCL, people were so frustrated that some started pushing and shoving people to get ahead in the line, at one point security had to be called to regain order as one woman was yelling at passengers and insisting she be allowed in the Diamond/Platinum line and not the line formed to go to the stage with everyone else.

All in all it was a good cruise other than that, the other pet peeve I have is the internet service is very sloooow on this ship, it took us 15 minutes to even get to the email, let alone read them.

We also were on this cruise, it was the worst debarkation we have ever experienced in our 20+ cruises with RCL, people were so frustrated that some started pushing and shoving people to get ahead in the line, at one point security had to be called to regain order as one woman was yelling at passengers and insisting she be allowed in the Diamond/Platinum line and not the line formed to go to the stage with everyone else.

 

We were on the Radiance to Hawaii on Sept 28 and our debarkation line was the worst I've ever seen also. It appeared that everyone regardless of tag color got on line at once. We stood on line for over 2 hours before we were able to get off the ship and we had "white tags".

I guess I don't understand how this can happen. Was it because Immigration/customs only sent in 2 agents? Was it because RCI didn't enforce the tag color rules?