Max'smom & Dad Cruise on the Radiance: My Diary w/ pictures

[maxs mom]

More 70's Party. You gotta go!

This is Cruise Director, Kirk Detwieler. He was a good CD.

The amazing Gloria and her entourage!

Time for bed after this party!!

[maxs mom]

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to meeting you in June! Would love to do a cabin crawl, DH is curious about other cabin configurations, but I have a feeling that we are going to be too spoiled after this cruise!

 

Hey There!

Yes....we can definitly organize a cabin crawl! Looking forward to meeting you, too!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

I'm back!

 

Thanks' date=' everyone for the nice comments. I love sharing our cruise with everyone![/size']

 

Suzy.....Yes....that corner aft is 9256.....great cabin and balcony. you'll love it.

 

 

 

One week from today and that cabin will be our home. I know we'll enjoy it.....especially going through the Panama Canal.

 

Do you know how long Capt Lis will be in command? She was Capt for the Jewel TA in 2008 and we'd love to see her again.

 

Thanks again, for your wonderful review and beautiful pictures. :)

[Mewissy]

Great review!

 

We also loved Costa Maya. We just pulled up somewhere in town in front of a little restaurant. The water was lovely and people couldn't have been nicer!

[Bell Ringer]

I can't imagine how you can't have a wonderful time with him as a CD. He's into most everything on the ship!

[Realtor at Sea]

So happy to see Captain Liz again. She was the captain on our transatlantic cruise on the Jewel several years ago and she was all over that ship. The crew just loved her as did the passengers. On a bridge tour, she appeared and talked with all the passengers. First time a captain had ever joined one of the bridge tours we had attended.

[jakenashleysmom]

i could easily post on the ports of call thread, but I know I'll get a straight and honest answer from you Jane!

 

If we were to go to see some ruins in Costa Maya in the morning, and the bus dropped us off back at the pier, could we just go to the beach/pool thats right there at the pier? I know you said it was a bit crowded and loud, but could we get a bite to eat, and could the kids swim in the ocean there for a bit before returning to the ship? I don't want to taxi anywhere after the ruins excursion if possible, but would if its not far. The ship doesn't leave port until 5:30 so we'd have a few hours if we wanted. I am looking forward to a new port, but hate that its so unfamiliar.....:)

[C Cruise Dude]

i could easily post on the ports of call thread, but I know I'll get a straight and honest answer from you Jane!

 

If we were to go to see some ruins in Costa Maya in the morning, and the bus dropped us off back at the pier, could we just go to the beach/pool thats right there at the pier? I know you said it was a bit crowded and loud, but could we get a bite to eat, and could the kids swim in the ocean there for a bit before returning to the ship? I don't want to taxi anywhere after the ruins excursion if possible, but would if its not far. The ship doesn't leave port until 5:30 so we'd have a few hours if we wanted. I am looking forward to a new port, but hate that its so unfamiliar.....:)

I don't know if you have done the Ruins excursion before. My buddy did the Ruins in Cozumel and Belize and in his case it was an all day encounter. He left very early in the morning and was not back until near departure time. It will be interesting to hear Jane's answer.

[mommabean]

John did not go to the Sky Bar with me.....he stayed in the cabin waiting on his suitcase. Well.......instead of the suitcase he got a knock on the door and..........you may have guessed it........got called to the naughty room!!!:eek: He was not a happy camper.....since this is the first time in 26 years of cruising that we did not pack something "illegal" in our suitcases' date=' and this is the first time that we were called to the naughty room! They said he had an iron in the suitcase, so he said....OK.....you show me where it is!! Well, they looked all through the suitcase and couldn't even find anything that came close to resembling an iron. As I said.....not a happy camper....but we soon forgot about it and went on with having fun. The Loyalty Ambassador called to find out what happened. He had to stand in line for quite a while as many folks were called to come and open their suitcases. He saw lots of alcohol, bottles of water (that may have had alcohol in them).....all kinds of stuff. I think they are very dilligent during Spring Break time.[/size']

After all that.....we were quite ready to get in the Concierge Lounge for cocktails. We went up there around 7:00 and met Juan Diego, the Concierge. What a sweetheart! He really took care of us, always remembered our names and is really a top notch Concierge!

 

He's always the highlight of the cruise. I'm glad you got to meet and enjoy him. :)

 

Gina

[LBumb]

great review

[imae39]

Love all your pictures. That 70's party looks like a 'riot'. We have cabins down the corridor from where that was held. How late did it go on and do you think noise would be heard in the cabins?

[jakenashleysmom]

I don't know if you have done the Ruins excursion before. My buddy did the Ruins in Cozumel and Belize and in his case it was an all day encounter. He left very early in the morning and was not back until near departure time. It will be interesting to hear Jane's answer.

 

From what I have read, there are several ruins excursions in Costa Maya. The one we have our eye on is listed as 3 1/2 hours total. Hopefully we can get a morning trip, and then hit the beach for a bit as my kids will be 14 and 11 at time of sailing! An all day excursion is definitely not what we have in mind, and the reason we chose to do ruins in Costa Maya. Hope what I have read is correct....and that Jane can enlighten us further! :)

[maxs mom]

Hello again!

Back after a few "excursions" here at home!

Suzy and Realtor.....Capt. Liz was great. I think the regular captain will be back sometime soon. She told us that she was hoping to get her own permanent ship this year. She is certainly capable. She reminds me of Capt. Karin on the Serenade. Capt. Karin personally does the bridge tours, too.

Gina......Juan Diego was great! He even found us out at Nohoch Kay and came over to say hello. he is so excited about the refit and the changes in the Radiance's itinerary. He can't wait to get to Alaska!

Bonnie.....If, indeed your ruins tour is 3 and a half hours, and you don't leave until 5:30.....then you should have time to enjoy the pool area there by the port. I always thought the ruins tours were an all day affair, though.

imae......The 70's party went on until .....oh ....I don't know....maybe midnight. It's amazing how the noise does not travel down the hallways. I guess it depends on how close your cabin is to the centrum. We've been a couple of cabins down from the Centrum before and never heard anything. You just need to go to the party and make some of the noise yourself!!!

Thanks for all the nice comments, everybody. I'm going to try and cook dinner and finish this up at the same time..:eek:....and enjoy some wine in the process! :D

[FreshOffTheBoat]

Another great review, thanks.

[maxs mom]

4-20-11.....Wednesday.....At Sea

Sooooo.....it's our last day....wah!!!! Slept in a bit, but got to the D/D+ dining room for brekafast. I needed a pancake fix! After breakfast we checked out the pictures and bought a few and used our coupons. Tried to pack a little this morning......always a saad thing to do.

I did some quiet reading in the CL for a while, then went to a raffle at noon.....didn't win anything. We had a nice lunch in the WJ, then more quiet reading time back in the cabin. At 3:30, the roll call group planned to meet back in Bella's GS to say goodbye. Everyone brought food and drink and it was a nice time.

[maxs mom]

Before going to the CL tonight we said good-bye to our very capable cabin steward, Raphael. He did a very good job keeping us straight!

It was on to the CL to say goodbye to Juan Diego and all our buddies that we met in there this week. Great bunch of folks!

Got Milk!!? They own a dairy!

Our new friends....Bernie and Sheila. Bernie kept us thoroughly entertained!!!

[maxs mom]

More pictures from the CL:

Juan Diego is the best!

[maxs mom]

Next up....our last dinner in the MDR. Excellent food and service again. There was lobster tonight, but I had to get one more beef hit.....so I had the prime rib. Excellent service from our waiter and assistant waiter.

All the waiters sang for us!

And the ever popular, Gloria, joins right in with them. They all love her!

And we did, too! She really made the cruise fun!

We went right back to the cabin after dinner to finish up our packing and get the luggage out by the door.

[maxs mom]

4-21-11......Tampa.....Debarkation

We were up very early this morning and in the WJ for breakfast around 6. Not many people in there at this time. We were just too spoiled with our special breakfasts all week, so the breakfast in the WJ was not our favorite.

This is a picture as we came into Tampa this morning:

We got all our stuff together and at around 7:30 went to the dining room on Deck 5 which is the departure lounge for D/D+. There we waited with our new friends Bernie and Sheila. Bernie was still entertaining us with funny stories!

We waited and waited and waited....then they called a whole bunch of names to please rerport to immigration. Oh brother!!! Well we were held up by these people until around 9:30!! But we finally got the OK to leave and a lot of people were leaving at once. It wasn't too bad, though. Our luggage was right there, both suitcases sitting side by side. We walked on out to the taxi line and got on over to the airport for our 1:30 flight home.

So that's the completion of yet another wonderful cruise on RCI. This one was really nice and much needed as a warm up to our B2B on the Serenade in late June. Yes......we are doing that again!! Can't wait. Unfortunately, I think Capt. Karin, Francois....the Concierge, and some of our other crew buddies will be on vacation when we are on.....but that means an opportunity to make new friends.

There are some wonderful plans for the Radiance. During the refit in May they plan to add a bunch of new restaurants including Giovanni's Table, A Sushi restaurant, The Chef's Table and others. They are moving the Concierge Lounge up to the Hollywood Odyssey. The Concierge Lounge is going to become a family Suite. The changes sound fabulous. Wish we could see them!

Well next up for us, as I said, is a B2B on the Serenade beginning June 19th. Really looking forward to that as the B2B's are so relaxing, even though it's port intinsive. I'll be back with another review the first of July, so be on the look out for that!

I'll try and add a few more pictures from around the ship a little later.

Thanks for reading

Cheers to all of you!

[subtchr]

Great review as usual, Jane!

 

We are booked with X on Solstice in December, and we are planning to visit Nachi Cocom for the first time. Your review and photos made me positive we have made the right decision there!

 

Just one question about the day there - how does tipping work? Do you tip your server at the end of the day? Anyone else?

 

thanks!

[Gator0178]

Thanks sooo much for the review! We live in Tampa and have never done a radiance class!! Great pics! It brought back some fond memories of Nachi Cocum!! We love that place!!

 

We sail on the Freedom in 1 week!!! I will return the favor when we get back with a review! :D

[maxs mom]

Sue.....Thanks! I seem to remember a pretty good review of yours not too long ago! Tipping at Nachi......we tipped our waiter at the end of the day as we were leaving.

Gator......Will definitely look for your review when you get back! Have a great cruise!

[C Cruise Dude]

Thanks again for a great review. It was like taking the cruise with you including the sadness of packing to leave the ship. Have a great cruise in June. I'll be looking for your review in July. :D:D

[maxs mom]

Here are just a few more shots from around the ship:

[CRUISEMAMI]

Sue.....Thanks! I seem to remember a pretty good review of yours not too long ago! Tipping at Nachi......we tipped our waiter at the end of the day as we were leaving.

 

Gator......Will definitely look for your review when you get back! Have a great cruise!

 

 

Jane, great review, as usual!!!!!! And thank you for your "Footsie" photo: I'll have mine taken in 3 weeks....... WooHoo;)

REV, PATTI, PAUL, KYLE, MEGHAN, OASIS and Ricardo..... here we come!!!!!!:D

Have a great weekend,

Franca