Live on board Radiance 2/13/05

[mj from katy]

Well, actually, it's Valentine's Day, but the cruise started yesterday.

We're traveling with friends from St. John's Newfoundland and it's their first cruise. This is my third (2 others on NCL) and my husband Don's second.

 

We got to the dock about noon and were in our cabin at 1 p.m. Luggage was delivered about 4 or so while we were at the lifeboat drill.

 

We're in Cabin 8552 with a balcony. Very nice room and I love the balcony.

Lunch in the Windjammer was the usual buffet food. Nothing to write home about, even though that's exactly what I'm doing <LOL>

 

The first thing I did was go and get my Cabin Connection. I've been pleasantly surprised with the connection speed so far about 50K. The boys went and signed us up for the Murder Mystery Wednesday night and for Chops on Saturday.

 

We met Chelle the Cruise Junkie from our Meet and Mingle thread, her sister and sister's boyfriend yesterday, but didn't get to make the "informal" get-together because of the life boat drill. We have our "official" Meet and Mingle this afternoon at 3.

 

Mango Tango was the drink of the day yesterday. Think orange creamsicle. It went down great!

 

Dinner was excellent. Didn't catch our waiter's name - Kamil from Turkey, I think (I'll get it right tonight) His assistant is Gabriel from Slovakia and he's very nice.

 

Beds are fairly comfortable. One note: the AC on board is drying me out like mad and we're from the Houston area, so we're conditioned to AC. If you get dehydrated easily, plan on bringing an insulated mug to have water handy at all times.

 

Right now, we're headed over to Coco Cay. Weather is partly cloudy, but the ocean is blue, blue, blue and the wind is somewhat brisk offshore.

 

More later when I return

 

MJ

[gfleischha]

Have a great time we are heading on the same ship and ports in 2 weeks.

[wyattm]

Going on the Radiance on March 13. What nights are the formal nights on.

[Nessa1dc]

I hope you have a wonderful vacation. I will be on the Radiance in December.

[jebl]

Keep us posted. Look forward to hearing about Coco Cay.

 

We will be on the same itinerary on Radiance in April. Counting down the days.

 

Have a great cruise. :)

[Nessa1dc]

Keep us posted. Look forward to hearing about Coco Cay.

 

We will be on the same itinerary on Radiance in April. Counting down the days.

 

Have a great cruise. :)

 

Hello Jebl,

 

I will be staying in 9094 on the Radiance in December and I remember you saying that you would be staying in that room in April. Please remember to let me know about the room and the balcony. All your information will be appreciated.

 

Thanks so much

[Cruisin Together]

I can't believe that your M&M is at 3:00. I love spending all day at Coco Cay and knowing that I will have to leave the island early for our M&M is sad:(

[Lruss71]

It is so nice that you are keeping us posted. I will be on the Radiance 4/3 sailing. Looking foward to reading your posts. Have a great time and any tips are very appreciated.

[ArbeyWolf]

I'll be on the 4/3 sailing too.

Reading all of these "live from the Radiance" posts are making me even more antsy to get my vacation started! :)

 

Have fun!

[gfleischha]

It is wonderful that someone wants to post updates about the cruise they are presently on, but I have to say that once we head for the airport hotel a week from thursday you will not see me back on the boards until we return home.

 

These boards provide great information but personally once your on your vacation enjoy it and forget about us folks still stuck here on land.

 

Tell us about the fun after you get home.

[Lruss71]

I'll be on the 4/3 sailing too.

Reading all of these "live from the Radiance" posts are making me even more antsy to get my v...acation started! :)

 

Have fun!

 

:) Don't forget to sign up for the M & M. Come on over the Roll Call board. We have some good chat going on.

[AngieBaby161]

It is wonderful that someone wants to post updates about the cruise they are presently on, but I have to say that once we head for the airport hotel a week from thursday you will not see me back on the boards until we return home.

 

These boards provide great information but personally once your on your vacation enjoy it and forget about us folks still stuck here on land.

 

Tell us about the fun after you get home.

 

I have to agree here, if you are posting because you feel obligated, just wait until you get home to update us with the great times you had. However, if the OP's enjoying doing the daily updates, by all means continue to do so.

 

I am on the Radiance on the Nov 6th sailing and will read anything about her and the eastern carribean ports she stops at.

 

Enjoy yourselves

[just4kixx]

Thanks for the post... getting goosebumps with anticipation. We will be sailing along with Judy (JEBL) on 4/10/05... first time on the Eastern Itinerary for us, so I look forward to reading more of your review ;)

 

HAVE A BLAST! :D

A

[wyattm]

Hey crusin together how did you find out our M&M was at 3:00. We like the beach and hate to come back for this. need to start back at 1 or so to get ready.

[Dean T.]

hello mj,

i just got of the mariner this past sunday and we are already planning our next trip on the radiance for the same route as you i take it (eastern?). anyway i will be reading your post thruout the week and seeing how things are going. just as a curiosity what type of crowd is onboard? are there a good mix of ages or is it leaning more toward the younger or older type of crowd? not that it matters much to me but im just curious. my wife and i are in our 30s and my in-laws are in their 60s and we are also traveling along with others in those ranges. please let me know. thanks and have a great time.

 

Dean

[shelby2002]

Thank mj from katy for posting we board the Radiance on Sunday 2-20-05 and are really excited and can't wait for the trip to start. I won't have a lap top with me but if I can get the the internet cafe place I will post a quick note to all of you on how it is going.

[Cruisin Together]

wyattm - I guess I just assumed it was because the OP said that thiers was scheduled for 3. Maybe they have different times every week. I sure hope so otherwise I will be leaving the beach and heading straight to the M&M. Yuck:eek:

[jebl]

Hello Jebl,

 

I will be staying in 9094 on the Radiance in December and I remember you saying that you would be staying in that room in April. Please remember to let me know about the room and the balcony. All your information will be appreciated.

 

Thanks so much

Will do. This is the first D1 for us. Last year on Radiance we had an E cabin on deck 8. Looking forward to the extra sq. footage and the larger balcony.

 

I will let you know how it is

[mj from katy]

Hello all:

I'm a freelance writer and, unfortunately, have some work to do on board, so posting these messages is one of the ways for me to relax. The Internet connection was down part of the day, though.

 

Yesterday we left for Coco Cay about 11 a.m. Tendering was no problem and there were plenty of seats aboard. For those of you who want to get there quickly, that might be a different case, but we waited and felt no rush to get there.

 

Coco Cay looks quite ugly from the ship - flat, brown and not much vegetation, but it's actually quite nice. Facilities are clean, bars are plentiful as are lounge chairs. We bypassed the main area and headed across the island to a more secluded area. This side had more wind, so depending on how your weather was, you may or may not want to be here.

 

Folks did remark about how cold the water was, so if you're planning on doing water sports, you might want to rethink that.

 

The BBQ was a normal one - again nothing special, but it was good and hot and plentiful.

 

Prices in the Straw Market also seemed to be higher than they should have been. I'm going to wait till we get to the Straw Market in St. Thomas before looking for these things.

 

We came back to the ship about 2, played in the casino awhile (slots were NOT my friend!) and I did some work, then got ready for Formal Night. Monday and Friday are the formal nights. Everyone looked very nice. We went to shake hands with the captain - and he introduced the senior staff to the crowd.

 

Dinner was excellent - be sure to try their cold soups! I've had watermelon and pear soups on each of the first two nights. My DH and friend Stephen had escargot which they loved. My friend Elaine had the vegetable torte as her entree and raved about it. DH had tenderloin and said it was very good and I had the duck l'orange. We also have the diamond Wine and Dine package - 7 bottles for $179. Interesting that some of the wines they have listed on their W&D menu aren't available, but we've been pretty pleased with the results.

 

After dinner we went to the Starquest for 70s night (yeah, all the music we remember) We had seats at the bar, but the bar stools are really spaced widely apart, so we alternated who was standing and who was sitting. We had an excellent view of the dancers and the RC tribute to ABBA. Bartenders were great (forgot their names) and the Citrus Cosmopolitans were deadly by the time we closed the bar at 3 a.m..

 

Note: if you're the least bit motion sick, do not overindulge. Being drunk really accentuates the motion of the ship. (I speak from personal experience here!!)

 

So I woke up at 12:30 p.m. (LOL!) and was a little tentative early in the day. That got all fixed by Benjamin in the Spa. I had the deep tissue massage and it was WONDERFUL!!! My shoulders aren't up at my ears any more. I'm very relaxed and even considering another massage later in the week. The prices are a bit higher than on land, but hey - indulge yourself.

 

After that was bingo. Lots of fun. Elaine won one of the jackpots and I was only 1 number away from the final one. Rats! Didn't win. So we went and spent some of Elaine's winnings in the casino.

 

Dinner coming up in a bit. So far the crowd is fairly well mixed. We've seen a bunch of kids aboard which surprises me since school is in session. They've been fairly well under control. We also have all other age ranges, so I don't think that anyone who's cruising with their parents, no matter what the age, will have a good group of people to associate with.

 

BTW, our waiter's name is Kamil from Turkey and he was trying to teach us to say Thank YOu in Turkish yesterday. It sounds like "tea, sugar, dream" but said very quickly. He's warming up to us. And we love Gabriel our assistant waiter. We've been teasing him, and he, us.

 

All of the staff has been quite friendly and helpful. But cruise staff usually is.

[nbean98]

We will also be on the Radiance 4/3 cruise. We will be in cabin 8556 and can't wait to hear more.

[mj from katy]

It's an early night for me tonight. I have work to do and I want to spend as much time in St. Thomas as possible.

 

Dinner was great again - Italian theme, even though today was Western Day. Huh?

 

Great minestrone soup. DH had the garlic soup and loved it. The soups have been wonderful on board as are the breads.

 

Entrees were shrimp scampi (fabulous!) lamb (cooked just like the DH like it) and a pasta dish. I had the warm chocolate cake for dessert. Hint: don't bother with the edges of the cake - dive into the middle where the good stuff is. I also liked the looks of another dessert - some sort of pudding stuff, and they boxed it up for me to take back for a late night snack. Yes, I definitely have a sweet tooth!

 

All the wait staff sang "O Solo Mio" even though none of them are from Italy. Tomorrow night we'll be in Portofino's for the Murder Mystery, so I'll let you know how that goes.

 

I forgot to mention our Meet and Mingle. We had a ton of people signed up - probably about 50, but only about 20 showed up. Still a very good number. It was so cool putting names and faces together. We've been able to see folks as we go about the ship, so it's nice to smile at a familiar face. That said, many folks are smiling quite a bit at each other as the days go on. That first day was pretty grim, but I guess we're getting to be a "community."

 

At the Meet and Mingle,they put out one tray of appetizers and a waitress brought tea, water and sodas. They're the only free soda we've had while on board.

 

We're off for St. Thomas tomorrow. Apparently all of the people have to go through Customs, even American citizens which is a change from our last cruise in June 2002. Or, at least I don't remember that part of it. I've seen a lot of threads asking if a passport is needed and all I can say is that if you're planning on doing any international travel, even to Canada or Mexico, it sure speeds things up. I never have a problem at the airport because a passport is easy for the staff to read, as opposed to a driver's license. Passport applications are relatively simple and easy to obtain.

 

We're all supposed to be through by 9 a.m., so authorities can release the ship. If it's anything like the lifeboat drill, we'll be there an extra half-hour 'cause there were lots of folks dragging in late for the lifeboat drill. I asked one of the crew what happened to people who don't show up for the drill and he said they get a call in their stateroom.

 

We also had some kids running around the ship and creating general havoc this afternoon. One large boy came around from the Windjammer and ran smack into a rather large man, sending the man staggering. If that would have been an old lady, she would have been knocked flat. I heard later that the crew corralled 7 kids and they were punished with kitchen duty. When I asked what that was, my friend told me they had to help push tables together, etc. I guess they really punish bad behavior on board which I'm very happy to see.

 

Things so far that I wish I would have brought: insulated water bottles. Like I said earlier, I've been feeling really dehydrated and I wish I had that little bottle that straps around my waist to hold water. I brought a collapsible cooler (or so I thought) but when I opened it up, it was more like an insulated lunch kit.

 

Haven't used the duck tape yet, although it could be used to keep the hair dryer on.

 

Our over the door hanger has a few things in it, but not like I imagined. There's more space than I was led to believe (remember I'm up in an E1 or 2 on the 8th deck) The shower curtain hasnt been THAT friendly yet, either.

 

We bought one of those roll-up tables, but didn't have space to bring it with us. As it is, we've gone downstairs for breakfast rather than had it up here.

 

Guess that's all for now.

MJ

[SF]

MJ,

 

It was great to see another thread with "Live on Radiance" this week. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill us in on what's happening. Glad to hear you're enjoying your cruise.

 

Could you please tell me if the Seaview Cafe is open this week? Last week it was closed due to the tiles being replaced. I'm wondering if they plan on doing any more work on it in the next few weeks. If possible could you check. We really enjoy having a late night snack there and would be disappointed if it was closed when we sailed the week of Feb 27th. Thanks. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[gailc]

I had also been reading the live comments from the 2/6 cruise. Great to read both. We are on the 3/20/05 W. Caribbean on the Radiance. We have been on the Brilliance 1 time & can't wait to go on the Radiance. I also hope the Seaview Cafe is open again. We had an E1 cabin the 1st time. This time we will have a D1, because we like the larger couch. Otherwise, both categories are just fine.

 

Have a great cruise. Will keep following your reports.

 

Gail

[CaptainD]

Hey, mj from katy --- your reviews are great --- keep 'em coming! I'm cruising on the Radiance 3/13. My DH and I (46/48) will be traveling with my friend (Cruisin Together) and her DH. She has kept me in-the-know with all the little tricks (like clothespins for that "friendly" shower curtain). Another friend (who cruised the Radiance last month) told us there was plenty of storage/shelving and that the over-the-door hanger is probably not really necessary.

[Cruisin Together]

Was your M&M the same day that you were at the private island? I think if that is the case people do not want to rush back for the M&M. RCCL should think about moving the time back so people can enjoy both.