Radiance of the Seas - 3/28/11 to 4/2/11 Long review

[Motleu]

Sunny hot and humid as the ladies took over the itinerary and shopped all day. Alot of junk in Coz. Second time there and just wanted to hang out and sip cool ones. So many jewelry shops and folks trying to get you in their shop. The best is the garbage overpriced likely fake cuban cigars they try to foist on unsuspecting tourists. Stay away from the cigars. In port with us: Liberty, Celeb. Century, and I believe Carnival Triumph? Cant exactly remember if that was carnival ship. We wanted to do the Swim with the Stingrays through RC excursions but that started at 730am and lasted only 2 hrs! Not gonna happen! It was probably the only reasonably priced excursion we saw. We felt overall that the RC excursions were almost all overpriced and accordingly ignored RC sponsored excursions. Folks from our hometown on the ship with us reported not only high fees but terrible experiences. One went on the ATV adventure but had such a hard time getting to the start spot (transport vehicle kept breaking down) they bailed and demanded a refund. Other family did the dolphin experience and enjoyed it but very expensive. We loved the ship so much that we cut short time in Coz and went back to hit the pool deck. Kids to AO of course. Kids wanted Seaview again (see a pattern here?!) and back to AO for their evening activities. Hit the MDR - steak was good, not best ever but again better than what I had expected and DW had pasta dish. Great flavor from the marinara sauce. Then it was off to Schooner and kill time before QUEST!! Per the unspoken code I wont comment on Quest other than to say how on earth could anyone get tired of watching that! (Some board comments recently hinted that people were bored w Quest. Huh?!) Kelly Goodrich was the evening entertainer in the Schooner and someone, not sure who, indicated that he was originally a cruiser and after 29 RC cruises somehow got the job in the Schooner. Not sure about the truth to that but it is what I heard. This night was the Billy Joel and Elton John tribute and it was pretty good. Another great day and eve on the Radiance. Tomorrow is Day 4 and the second At Sea day. Thanks for reading!

[Motleu]

Day 5 was the second at sea day. What a relaxing day! Lots of activity around the pool. Ice carving and the Make-a-Wish Foundation Horse Race were the 2 main activities. There were also some scavenger hunts throughout the day on the ship. Spent a little time in the Solarium (I'll cover the Solarium in the wrap up post) but it was so humid in there that I left after a short while. Some time on the balcony and some time on the helipad. What a neat area! Took me a little while to find it (past the shops on Deck 5 and toward Aurora Theater and make a right through the sliding glass doors out onto the Deck 5 walk and keep going forward. A sign will direct you to the helipad if open)but once up there I almost fell asleep on the bench looking out across the ocean even though there was a fairly steady strong wind. People started to vacate the pool deck in mid afternoon and by late afternoon if was quite empty. That is my favorite time of the day. The sun beginning its downward descent and an empty pool deck with cold drinks. Cant be beat! Tonights dinner in the MDR was Lobster and garlic shrimp. I was surprised because I thought RC discontinued lobster meals on the shorter cruises. The tails were small (so I had only 3!) but the star of the meal was the garlic shrimp. Absolutely delicious. Had a few helpings of that as well. The shows were good that eve. The RC Singers and Dancers did a tribute to artists making their living on the piano (Elton John, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow to name a few) and it was better than the bizarre first show. Put the gang to bed since it was early wake up and I went to the late night (1045pm) comedy show with Al Romas. As I mentioned earlier in the review this guy is hilarious. And this show had a little bite as compared to the PG rated show earlier in the cruise. Show was 45 min and took a last visit to my fav barkeep and bid him a very hearty and greatful thank you for his generosity. Hit the sack and of course couldnt sleep worrying that I might have forgotten to pack something. Tomorrow is disembarkation day and the end of this unbelievably great review (lol! Just kidding!) I will cover the disembark process and tie up loose ends and make general comments. Then i will get to putting pics up and all the info (ie compasses, etc.) over the next few days. Thanks for reading!

[Belle5129]

We were also on this sailing and had a wonderful time. This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, our previous 4 have been with Celebrity. I agree that the AO was terrific. DS, 6, and DS 8 also had to be bribed to eat dinner with us. We actually allowed them to eat with the children's group a few times. After the cruise, the were sad because they missed their new friends and counselors. Food was surprisingly good too - you are right, the garlic shrimp was probably the best I have ever had. Enjoyed reading your review, wish we were still on the ship!

[Motleu]

Orange form left in Luggage

[Motleu]

Radiance from the Port Bldg

 

 

Almost onboard.....

 

 

Ship Directory 1

 

 

Ship Directory 2

 

[Motleu]

Wow! First time posting pics and it works. One note - i am a lousy photographer (according to DW, at least) so some of these are not to hot. In addition, my camera battery died the evening before the last sea day foiling my plan to get most of the ship interior during the at sea day. Oh well. I learned my lesson. So I didn't get as many pics of the ship as I had planned but enjoy these as I post them over the next couple of days.

 

And some general thoughts and follow ups to the review not covered before:

 

1)There were complaints on the board relative to sewage smells in various locations. We did have minor odors in the bathroom from time to time and once or twice in other locations on the ship. the most noticible was up on Deck 13 by the mini golf course.

 

2)Rock wall was great and not busy the times were there. Operating times were a little inconvenient but were posted in the Compass in advance.

 

3)Service was outstanding through out the ship. The waiters in the MDR during MTD (a very well used dining option by many on this sailing causing the waiters to be very busy) did not stop them from remembering our names and greeting us even when were not at their table. Outstanding!

 

4)The waiters as mentioned above were busy but never haphazard or as mentioned on these boards previously, "running around like chickens with their heads cut off". It was very controlled considered quarters were tight in the MTD section.

 

5)Cabin attendant (sorry, cant remember her name) was outstanding. Available and willing to take care of any need. One night pull out couch bed was not set up correctly so houskeeping had an on call attendant there quickly to fix.

 

6)Kids were fond of messing with safe combo causing failure. Twice had to call Maintenance and the guy was at the door within a couple of minutes! That gets a wow!

 

7)Room service. No delays whatsoever and pizza was delivered piping hot! Very nice! Although a general upgrade to pizza quality needs to be made.

 

8)The solarium was neat but too hot and humid for me. It was very busy there especially on sea days.

 

9)Pool bar service waiters were present but not overbearing. in fact, I was never offered a drink of the day and that is ok with me!

 

10)Pool musical entertainment was by "Men of Culture". They were great and much better than bands on previous RC cruises. And to my delight they played quite often, taking care of a previous complaint I had on a past cruise of not enough music at pool.

 

11)The ship itself is an attraction. Gorgeous with sea views everywhere. And lots of neat little hiding spots. The observation deck forward wrapped around the shipshape center and had loungers but I never saw another individual there. A stairwell leads down to the next deck down (I am guessing that would be deck 10) with additional chairs (a much smaller area) but again no human presence!

 

12)Following Deck 12 aft past kids area and seaview leads you to an observation area with binoculars (those kind whewre you would put in a quarter to activate but here it was free) on both sides of the ship. (note - my memory is a little hazy on whether I am describing the location correctly of the binocs but I believe there were located where I descibed them but if someone has a clearer memory please chime in)

 

13)I briefly looked into the cinema and was surprised how large it was. Deck six just past casino royale. If there was a need on a rainy day it would be very handy.

 

More to come....

[Motleu]

Aurora Theater

 

 

Tampa from the Radiance

 

 

Welcome Aboard display in the WJ

 

 

Ice Sculpture in the WJ

 

 

Notice on the Door leading to Stateroom Corridor

 

[Motleu]

View of the Centrum from the C&A Lounge on Deck 12

 

 

Sculpture hanging in the Centrum from Deck 9 facing Library

 

 

Stateroom 9584

 

 

Sailaway from Tampa

 

 

Little Lighthouse as we Sailaway from Tampa

 

 

Aft View

 

[p_toasty]

Great Pics!! THank you so much for sharing. We are on the Radiance in January and we cant wait. I have just screen dumped your pics to my husband. :D

[McDonaldCruising]

My hubby and I are also on the radiance in January!! And are now rather excited after seeing ur photos!!! :) and reading ur review!!! :) can't wait ....

[Ttowntreasures]

Wow, that just brought memories from our Alaska sailing last August. She is a lovely ship and a grand time was had by all.

On her sister ship next week. Thanks for posting :)

[Motleu]

Sunshine Skyway Bridge #1

 

 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge #2

 

 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge #3

 

 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge #4

 

 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge #5

 

[Motleu]

Trying to leave the Tampa storm behind!

 

 

First towel animal - lizard (?)

 

 

Costa Maya

 

 

Liberty from the Glass Elevators on Radiance

 

 

Liberty is a big ship!

 

[Motleu]

Nohoch Key - Costa Maya

 

 

Nohoch Key - Costa Maya

 

 

Costa Maya

 

 

Costa Maya

[Motleu]

Paz Quadro Beach Club - Costa Maya (not a great pic - next door to Nohoch key)

 

 

Liberty OTS Reflected in the Radiance Viking Crown

 

 

Liberty sailaway - See you in Cozumel!

 

 

Liberty

[Motleu]

Pool Deck

 

 

Pool Deck

 

 

Pool Deck

 

 

Parking Spot for Carnival Dream?

 

 

Rock Wall

 

[Motleu]

The Setting Sun

 

 

Towel Animal - Elephant

 

 

Midnight Mexican Fiesta Buffet

 

 

 

[Motleu]

Midnight Mexican Fiesta Buffet

 

 

Chops Menu (not great photos - sorry)

 

 

 

 

[Motleu]

Mexican Drugstore (I love the "mass relax")

 

 

Liberty and Radiance in the background in Cozumel

 

 

Celebrity Century and Carnival Triumph (I think) in Cozumel

 

 

Mexican Police w/ machine guns!

 

 

Liberty and Radiance in Cozumel

 

[Motleu]

Senor Frogs in Cozumel

 

 

Carnival Triumph (whoops) - not sure about the other Carnival ship!

 

 

Radiance aft

 

 

Radiance and Liberty in Cozumel

 

 

[jmf123]

Motleu, I'm loving your review and beautiful photos, thank you! (And missing the Radiance :()... For those lucky Aussies that will be sailing next January, you may want to check out this long running thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=575048 (Radiance of the Seas...Past-Present-Future) for most everything you'd like to know (or ask!).

[dajulieness]

Love the pictures. Saturday is taking its sweet time.

[hayloburger]

thanks for the great pictures! Our first Radiance cruise will be this June in Alaska!

[Motleu]

Liberty and Radiance in Cozumel

 

 

Radiance in Cozumel

 

 

Cleaning the Windows

 

 

Liberty and Radiance in Cozumel

 

 

Radiance Glass Elevators

 

[Motleu]

Liberty Cantilevered Whirlpool

 

 

Radiance Solarium