Live on board Radiance 2/13/05

[wyattm]

You and me both. Hope they excuse being wet and sandy.Were from Fl and like to hang on the beach.

[wyattm]

You and me both. We love to hang on the beach hope they don't mind us being wet and sandy.

[Nessa1dc]

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

 

This is our first time on the Radiance and our first time with a balcony. We are truly excited. I look forward to hearing back from you.

 

Take care

[Cruisin Together]

wyattm - we could always move our M&M to the bar on the beach. I can be there anytime.:D

[mj from katy]

We arrived at St. Thomas early this morning. Last night, there was a notice in our cabin that we had to be in the Aurora Theater for Customs between 7:30 and 9 a.m. I ordered room service breakfast for between 7:30 and 8 and they were right here at 8 (I don't think they called first) Breakfast was good.

 

We took our passports down and the check-in only took about 10 minutes. We were ready to head out to downtown Charlotte Amalie at 9.

 

We didn't do any excursions this trip so far because we did them on our last cruise aboard The Norway. Last time, DH did golf at Mahogany Run and loved it and I really thought he'd do it again this time, but he decided against it. He thought the price was much higher through RCCL than on your own.

 

Outside the ship are tons of taxis. Be prepared to hear the sound of car horns all day long. I think these drivers "talk" with their horns! We had to wait to fill up with passengers, but it was $3/person to take the trip to town. Our driver tried to convince us to do his all day tour ("Plenty of time to shop") but we passed.

 

My friend, Elaine, and I love to shop. Don and Stephen don't, so I don't really know why they followed us into downtown. After an hour, Stephen had had it, so he took a taxi back to the ship. Don followed a half-hour after that. (This is why I was hoping he'd play golf today!)

 

Elaine and I got down to some serious shopping. We're both bargain hunters and so we headed over to the flea market area. Lots of trashy goods here, but some OK stuff, too. Elaine bought several really nice wraps (2 for $18) so don't bother to pick up a bathing suit coverup at home. They also have the usual assortment of "Prada and Coach" bags (he he) and the price changes depending on who you're talking to. If you have experience with flea markets at home, then you'll love it here.

 

Following that, Elaine and I went to lunch at the Green House Restaurant on the waterfront near the Hard Rock Cafe. Typical lunch fare although my bbq chicken melt sandwich had no bbq on it, nor was it melted. Waitress had put in the wrong order for blackened chicken instead. She brought me the bacon, bbq sauce and cheese slices so I could put them on myself. Kinda hard to melt cheese without a grill. Hey, it was OK and we had more important things to do than spend time eating.

 

I found a nice sterling silver Celtic bracelet for my 21 year old daughter for $67. The price depends on the weight. I also got a cute little panda statue for a friend at the Crystal Shoppe for $27. It's so weird not paying tax.

 

I was looking for a pair of earrings for my other daughter. She's very petite, prefers silver or white gold and nothing too big. I really couldn't find something I liked, so I'll wait till St. Martin tomorrow at Venetian Jewelers. Our CC leader, Chelle, is taking us all there tomorrow so I hope we get some good buys.

 

We took a taxi back to the ship about 2 p.m. Now, these taxis try to fill up as much as possible, so the 2.5 mile journey took about 20 minutes. Traffic is really horrible here. When we got back to the cruise dock, we checked out some of the shops nearby and realized that all the shops we went in in downtown Charlotte Amalie were here at Havenstock Mall. We could have just gotten off, walked over here, went back to the ship for lunch and then come back out. If you don't like dealing with traffic and crowds, this would be the way to go for you.

 

Someone asked if the Seaview Cafe was open. I haven't been up there yet, but yes, I've heard it's open. We have late seating and I'm usually so stuffed from dinner that late-night food is not what I'm looking for.

 

Also, someone asked if the M&M was on the same day as Coco Cay and yes, it was. Last tender was at 3:30 and the M&M was at 3. Some folks came straight from the beach - no problem there. I don't know why RCCL didn't have it that first night - probably too many things for people to deal with at one time.

 

Right now, the Carnival Valor and the Costa Mediterannea (?) are here with us, although I think the Valor is pulling out now. There's lots of horns going off.

 

All in all, it's been a nice day. We'll be pulling into St. Croix for refueling later tonight, but I don't know what we'll be doing since we have the Murder Mystery Dinner at Portofino's.

Talk to you all later.

MJ

[just4kixx]

MJ thanks so much for your daily posts :) I appreciate your details. It sounds like you are having an enjoyable time.

 

I look forward to reading more!

A

[KathieKata]

Fantasic reviews!! Can't wait to read about the Murder Mystery!! :eek:

[CGAGE]

We were on the Radiance last week and although I LOVE reading your posts...it's killing me that we're not on board anymore! We had an absolute AWESOME time and will definitely sail her again! Fortunately...it sounds like you're having just as much fun and I'm so glad!!!

Thanks again for the updates!

Take care-

[wyattm]

you got my vote

[ForeGolf]

Thanks for the updates re ROS. Sounds like you are having a great time. We were on the same cruise the week of 1/30 and really enjoyed it. One question I have is if you or anyone else experienced problems with AOL? We tried using the internet cafe several times but could not send any messages. We received a message on 1/31 that was sent the same day. That was when we were in Co Co Cay. The next day,2/1,our daughter sent a message but we didn't receive it until 2/4! The customer folks told us the problem was on AOL's end and that we were "lucky" to get one message. I checked that same week with some other passengers, both AOL and non-AOL users, and they had similar problems. I'm just rying to get a straight story. Where is the problem-AOL?,RCCL?. Fortunately we didn't have any urgent messages either way but it was a little frustrating typing a message and finding that there was no indication it was sent. Thanks for any and all comments.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[mj from katy]

Before I post about the Murder Mystery and day on St. Martin's, let me answer ForeGolf's question about the Internet. I'm using the Cyber Cabin hookup ($100 charge for the week) and there have been times when it was down. Of course, these seemed like the times I wanted to use it, so I was a bit miffed. I think if I came on again, I probably wouldn't do the Cyber Cabin. Too expensive for what I've needed to do. I don't know if the problems have been AOL problems (they're not the browser I use) or communication problems aboard the Radiance.

 

So, on to the Murder Mystery Dinner. You absolutely MUST do this on board! It was hilarious. We've never done one of these before and I didn't know what to expect. True, the production is a little cheesy, but the cast gets into it and so can you! This dinner really thrives on audience participation - and it doesn't all have to be "G" rated. I even won a bottle of champagne for one of the sarcastic comments I made. Everything is done in good fun, but I'm not going to tell you who the murderer is!

 

The food was fantastic. Some of the best steak I've ever had - very similar to Ruth's Chris or Morton's of Chicago. Beautiful presentation and a spectacular tiramisu. The wine flowed and so did all the jokes. A very jolly time for all involved.

 

Needless to say, we didn't make if off the ship at St. Croix, but folks remarked that we didn't miss anything either.

 

St. Martin also was wonderful. Prices were much better than in St. Thomas, IMHO. Weather was just as warm and wonderful, although there were a few dark clouds that occasionally spit some raindrops.

 

From where we dock, you take a water taxi to downtown. In the town square are a number of taxis that can take you anywhere around the island. We elected to stay in Phillipsburg since we had done the island tour last time we visited.

 

The first place I went was to Venetian Jewelers with my friend, Michelle, aka Chelle the Cruise Junkie. Michelle has made 9 voyages on the Radiance and knows where to go. Now, I have not been paid anything to say this, but Venetian Jewelers is THE place to buy your jewelry. I looked at a few shops yesterday in St. Thomas and they all seemed to have the same merchandise. Nothing very original.

 

That's not the case at Venetian Jewelers. While they had the typical jewelry, they also had some very unique pieces. Their selection was fantastic and their salesperson, Ash, really helped me find what I wanted. I was looking for jewelry for my daughter who's 23 and very petite. She doesn't like huge gaudy things. Ash led me throughout the store, asking what I had in mind and we gradually narrowed down my choices. I ended up getting her a nice pair of pink topaz earrings. They were set in gold and she prefers white gold, so Ash said they could have them reset that same day.

 

Then he showed me a gorgeous tennis bracelet and suggested she might like it. No way! This one was for Mom! Oval cut pink topaz stones. The deal maker was that the bracelet was a little big for me, so he said they could remove one of the links and I could have it as a pendant. Hooray! I completed the set with a small pair of earrings.

 

Then I saw a necklace and earring set that was very unique. It is a geometric design with peridot, citrine, blue topaz and one or two other stones. Truly original!

 

Prices were very good. Ash really worked with me to find things in my price range. No one in the store was really snobby when I said I was looking for something under $100 for my daughter. Yesterday in St Thomas, there were places that gave me the cold shoulder when I told them this.

 

Ash also said that he can ship jewelry anywhere in the world. My friend saw a bracelet she liked, but her husband had left his credit cards back on the ship. Ash said he would special order it for her if she sent him an e-mail.

 

I would definitely recommend Venetian Jewelers to all of you. Tell them Chelle the Cruise Junkie and MJ from Katy sent you via Cruisecritic. com

 

Also, there were more shops with the swim wraps. I found three very long ones that I'm going to use as shawls for $7 each. These shops were behind the courthouse at the square.

 

Even though I haven't gone to any shows, another CC poster said to tell all of you they were great. One of the singers and one of the dancers sat at our MM dinner table last night and the gals were lots of fun. It was great hearing their stories and some of the "behind the scenes" stuff.

 

BTW, the Captain announced today that Radiance was name Royal Caribbean Best Performing Ship for 2004 and the crew was voted Friendliest Crew for 2004. Top execs from RCCL were on board yesterday congratulating the crew.

 

We've pulled out of St. Martin and are heading back to Miami. Weather is in the 80s with soft winds. Too bad we can't keep floating around the Caribbean!

[jim&mary]

Mary had to translate the shoping stuff for me............

but the rest of it I understood!

We board 2/27, in room 8052 and you have Taken the Mystery out of our newness....AGAIN I thank you!!!!

 

I hope you have enjoyed your cruise as much as we have enjoyed reading about what we are in for. Your Tips have been excellent.

 

If I could buy you a beach drink (or 4) I WOULD!!!:)

 

U DA WOMAN!!!!!

jim&mary

[World Traveler 81]

mj from katy - I am really enjoying your review! I board on 2/27 as well and am really looking forward to it. Out of curiousity, what were the start/end time for the MM dinner? What was the port time for the quick stop in St. Croix? Any way to do both the MM dinner and the St. Croix stop?

 

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to share your vacation with us. With every one of your posts, I get more excited!

[gfleischha]

mj from katy - I am really enjoying your review! I board on 2/27 as well and am really looking forward to it. Out of curiousity, what were the start/end time for the MM dinner? What was the port time for the quick stop in St. Croix? Any way to do both the MM dinner and the St. Croix stop?

 

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to share your vacation with us. With every one of your posts, I get more excited!

 

 

Hey U256601 looks like your joining us on 2/27. We don't have enough for the mix and mingle to we are going to create on own and try out every bar on the ship. Jim and Mary had that great idea.

 

Welcome aboard

[SF]

We board 2/27

 

 

 

Count us in too. We'll be joining. Reading all these posts has certainly made us more excited. Not to much longer until it's our turn! :)

 

mj from katy:

 

Thanks for keeping the updates current. I look forward to reading your posts each day (as well as the other posts). The MM Dinner sounds like fun so we may give it a try after reading your thread.

 

Maybe you can answer a question for me. For future cruise bookings do you know if you have to call and make an appt. to see a representative or is there a book outside of the future cruise consultants desk that you sign? Each ship does it different and I was wondering how Radiance works this so I don't have to run around and ask. If you could find out I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Enjoy your remaining days on board, sounds like you've been having a great time. :)

[gfleischha]

Go over to the meet and mingle and look for the radiance 2/27. Since we aren't big enough to have an official event, we are all going to meet in my our room before the ship leaves port in Miami then all head up to the sail away party.

When were on the radiance last time there was an area on deck 11 that you can book your next cruise. Our friends just went up there and booked their next cruise no appointment.

[SF]

gfleischha


Hi, I'll check out the meet and mingle site now. Can't wait to be on board already. We'd love to join the get together so I'll look for your cabin number. As for the future cruise booking I know you either have to make an appt. by phone or sign up in a book but I'm not sure which one. Your friends got lucky if they were taken without any appt. I can always ask the purser but I didn't want to have to make one more stop when boarding.

I'm off to check out the M & M board. Thanks. :)

[sailor moon]

Oh, I really am suffering from cruise envy.... I have been reading these posts and dealing with reality here at home. Thanks for letting mr share your vacation!!

[mj from katy]

I can't believe this cruise is almost over! The week seems to have flown by.
Someone asked what time the Murder Mystery ended and whether it was possible to head into St. Croix. It seems like the MM went from 7-9:30 and folks who'd been to St. Croix said it wasn't worth getting off the ship. It's dark then and the only thing open are the bars.

We went to Portofino's for lunch on Friday. What an amazing place and a fantastic lunch for $10. You'd pay way more than that anywhere else. Excellent lasagna and ciopinnio (sp?) Vaz was our waiter and he was as good if not better than waiters in many of the "white tablecloth" restaurants I've been to in Houston.

I also had a facial done at the spa. This was the first time I've had this done and it seems like my face looks better, healthier. I also managed to spend quite a lot of $$ on products. If I did it again, I would have thought about it more before blowing so much $$. Still, I know these products will last me at least a year and my face seems to like them. (I'm very sensitive to some products. ) So guys, be prepared if your lady heads to the spa. And ladies, there's no better way to treat yourself to a facial or a massage. Heck, even the guys can do it, too!

Last night (Friday, second formal night) was the lobster dinner. The lobsters are a little small, so if you love lobster, order two early. I've been told you could do that. Following dinner we were at the Schooner Bar being served by Ray and Ian. Unfortunately, for those of you cruising after us, this is Ray's last night and he'll be returning home to the Philippines tomorrow. But Ian is still at the Schooner Bar and he's lots of fun. Also, check out Zibi in the Champagne Bar. Very good service from both gents.

Someone suggested that you pick a bar you like and spend your time there. That's a great suggestion 'cause the bartenders get to know you well and take good care of you.

Following the formal dinner, our guys decided to go back to the staterooms. Neither of them were feeling well, so Elaine and I went to the casino where I managed to lose another $60. Still, there were folks winning all sorts of jackpots. One guy whom Elaine met won $5,000 at the quarter slot machines, so it can be done.

Then we went to the Starquest Lounge for the Ladies 80s Night. I never did find out what the drink special was, but the music was good. At the same time they had the Gala Buffet. It took some people more than an hour and a half to get their food. We decided to head to the Seaview Cafe (for the first time) Elaine and I got burgers/fries/onion rings to go. The onion rings are wonderful!! Nice and crunchy. We went back there for lunch this afternoon, too. Too bad I didn't go their earlier in the week.

I previously posted that the food in the Windjammer was typical cafeteria food, but it seems to have gotten better as the week went on. Lots of different choices for everyone and I'm sure we'll eat there tomorrow morning before disembarking.

This has been a wonderful trip. Very relaxing for both my DH and me. While we're not in a position to go cruising every year, we certainly will be doing it again in the future. We tend to budget about the same amount of money that you spend on the stateroom for the extras on board. I'm sure you can do it cheaper, but that's been our experience.

One thing to remember is that the crew works extremely hard from morning to night. They have 6-month contracts where they don't see their families. And they always have a smile on their faces. I've heard a lot of people asking about tipping and, IMHO, extra $$$ above the recommended tip to people who have given you excellent service all week is well deserved.

Have a great time aboard this ship everyone. I'll post some afterthoughts when I return home.

[just4kixx]

Yet another great review! Thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us! I anxiously await our 4/10 sailing... can;t seem to come soon enough :rolleyes:

A

[World Traveler 81]

What did you think of the cruise director? Was it Gordon Whatman?

[gfleischha]

[quote name='u256601']What did you think of the cruise director? Was it Gordon Whatman?[/QUOTE]

We had Gordon on our cruise to Alaska, we had a blast.

Check out the meet and greet for our ship. We don't have enough for a sponsered meet and mingle, so we are creating our own before the ship sails in our room.

Hope to see you there for our muster party meet

Glen and Kay

[just4kixx]

By any chance did I miss the part about who the Captain was? Did you have the one that sings? And did you get to hear him?

Just curious ;)
A

[mj from katy]

Yes, we're back to reality.
(sigh)

Disembarkation was very easily done. Last night we put our checked luggage outside the room and they were picked up and taken somewhere.

At 6 this morning we woke up and went to the Windjammer for breakfast. I had exchanged my gray tags (Independent guests on Deck 8) for white tags (first off). Told the Guest Relations people that I get very nervous flying and needed to be sure I got to the airport for my noon flight.

At 7:30 they called white and two other colors for disembarkation from Deck 5. It took us about 45 minutes to get through Customs, get the bags and get a taxi. We were at the airport by 9 a.m. and had to sit for 3 hours.

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have kept my original colored tags and had a more leisurely breakfast in the Windjammer.

I'm really tired tonight and have a hectic day of work tomorrow, so I'll post later (Tuesday or Wednesday) what I would/wouldn't do again for the cruise.

For those of you who are sailing in the future, enjoy yourself. That "magic card" only works on board.

[Shar27]

[color=blue][/color][color=blue]Hello All, Hi MJ,[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]I was on the cruise with MJ and just wanted to add a few additions to her post. My DH and I went to almost every show and most of them were fantastic. The comediens were hysterical, the singers were wonderful and the juggler was great. The welcome aboard and farewell shows were wonderful. The RC singing and dance troupe were very good, but last week was their last week, so you will all be seeing a new group as of yesterday.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]We had Captain Darrin who does not sing. He is from Vancouver and is very nice, but is definately not heard from very often. Mostly just for the noon reports and any important updates.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]We really enjoyed the murder mystery, but there is not much chance to do St. Croix as we did not get out of there until at least 10 p.m. and we were a little tipsy. Gotta take advantage of the free wine and champagne. Well, not free, but included in the price of the MM.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]We did leave Cococay a little earlier then we probably would have liked to get back for the M & M, but it was worth it. It was great to meet everyone and it was fun seeing familiar faces all week. We went to the M & M in our beach wear and it was fine.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Gordon, the cruise director is absolutely fabulous. He is very, very funny and is a really super guy. I just loved him.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]We had a junior suite which has tons and tons of storage space and a huge closet. Definately do not need over the door hangers for that one. Loved the balcony. Saw lots of flying fish in St. Croix, even though it was dark.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Our stateroom attendant Glyda was so sweet and works her butt off. The towel animals were very cute and she gave a private lesson to our friends who had their 8 year old daughter with them. a.k.a. ckrobyn. I'm sure you will hear from her later on today when she gets home. :D [/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Our wait staff Marif and Zsanette were very nice and friendly. The dining room was stunning. We went to the Grand Buffet just to take pictures. It was worth the wait.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]The pool was fine, cold at first but warmed up as the week went along. Chair hogs everywhere, but they are watching. The staff will remove stuff if left too long, beware.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Cococay - went snorkling. Water was freezing at first, but you get used to it. Saw part of a sunken ship and two sunken planes. Lots of fish.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]St. Thomas - mostly shopped and back on ship for afternoon sun.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]St. Maarten - Rented a jeep with friends. Went around whole Island. Orient beach was fun if you like seeing 60 year old nude men and the old women with their boobs around their waist.:p Mullet Bay beach is stunning. The most beautiful beach on the island. There was a whole golf resort around it and that is where we spent our honeymoon in '93, but it was destroyed in '99 hurricanes. That was a shame, but the beach is still fabulous. DH went parasailing and he was up for over 15 minutes for $50. Very good deal, I thought he was never coming down. Booked it on the beach. Most RCL excursions we checked out said 6 minutes.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]We had absolutely perfect weather. A little cool in Cococay in the morning, but warmed up in the afternoon. Not one drop of rain the whole week. We were very lucky.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Seaview was open all week. Great onion rings and chili. We had early dinner, so took advantage of a few late night snacks. Windjammer has some great teatime snacks. Lots of sweets and really good nachos, tacos and toppings every afternoon. The guacamole is very good too.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Overall we had a fabulous time. It was our first cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Casino was very pretty, but not friendly to us. Our friend won money. (ckrobyn) She will tell you all about it.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]One thing that was interesting is on the last night around midnight, we had a power failure. The whole ship shut down for about 10 minutes. They turned on the generators and they smoked a bit. Scared a few people. :eek: There were people running around with their life jackets. It was all over pretty quick. There were four ships around us at the time heading back to Miami, Two carnival, The RCL expolorer and another one, I'm not sure. If there would have been a real emergency, I'm sure they could have helped us out. The Captain came on the speaker and filled us in after it was all over. Everything seemed normal after that. I spoke to some of the crew and none of them had ever experienced anything like it before. Wierd. No explanation for why it happened.[/color]
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[color=#0000ff]Sharonna[/color]
[color=#0000ff]A no longer newbie cruiser.:D [/color]
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