Review of Radiance OTS April 5-22

[SilentDad]

As I said, we started in Sydney and after having been on Rhapsody from that same port, Radiance looks mammoth in comparison. This is the third time I've been on this ship and the first time since it has been "upgraded".

 

We had the dining package and I thought it was a pretty good deal and a way to try all the restaurants.

 

First of all, the Samba restaurant takes the place of the Seaview cafe. They extended the room by adding a "sunroom" addition. Here's a pic.

 

IMGP1062 by silentdad, on Flickr

 

Nice chairs, nice view( we were at Sydney when this was taken) and the food was good. Let's just say you don't want to eat much the whole day before you go. There's a salad bar but I would suggest going easy on it because the meat could overwhelm you. I would also suggest you start the rotation of 8 meats from number 8 (filet mignon) to the first( something beef:) ). That way you don't have to fill up on the less tasty offerings. Nice room, good food-- I wouldn't do it too often. As in every fourth or fifth cruise. Nice but....

The night we went, the Captain was there with the Pinnacles. Long way to the restrooms. Nearest is near Adventure Ocean.

 

Two of the new specialty restaurants were carved out of the forward sections of the Windjammer. We ate at Izumi. I'm not a great sushi lover but my wife loves it, so we go. It was fine. I didn't like the hot rock because it was HOT and it was very near you. I probably didn't do it right but I couldn't figure out what to do with the cooked meat when I took it off the hot rock.:o Fine but not something I would do every cruise either.

 

We never went to Rita's Cantina to eat. We had some friends go to have magaritas and nachos and they enjoyed it.

 

Giovanni's Table-- We first experienced this place on Oasis. We loved it then and we still do. The food is good, the service was good and the atmosphere pleasant.

 

Chops was the first specialty restaurant we ate at on Radiance. We've always liked it and still do. Of all the specialty restaurants, I would eat at either Chops or Giovanni's Table. Overall, they have the best of everything. The others are good for that "every once in a while" occasion.

 

What I do dislike is the reduction in size of the Windjammer. It is starting to look like Oasis in there. People are having to save tables in advance of anyone getting food because there is limited seating. It's not as bad as Oasis but it's close. NOTE: you can take your food and sit in Izumi when they are not open. We sat in there one time for a lunch and once for breakfast on our departure day.

 

I keep wondering what they did with all the money for refitting they had. They still have plastic shower curtains, not doors. They didn't upgrade the decor, that I could see. They removed space from the Windjammer just to get in more restaurants that you have to pay for. They put in a pub where the sports bar used to be and blocked off one side of the casino. Now, when a show gets out it's like Los Angeles at rush hour through there.

 

The Diamond Lounge-We had Charmaine Fernandez as our concierge on this cruise. She was FABULOUS. She hustled around the lounge and Viking Crown spill over area making sure that everyone had everything they wanted. I enjoyed the coffee machine and morning breakfast as well as the pre-dinner appetizers. I enjoyed this part of the make-over the most.:)

I can't speak to the other since I couldn't go in there but I think our view was better since there were quite a few D+ in our lounge.

 

As I said, this is our third time and it will probably be our last on this ship. I privately call this ship the "poop" ship. Two out of the three times, we've been on her, we've had problems with the plumbing. We're not newbie cruisers-we're diamond - but this ship has had a history of plumbing problems and not only for us.

 

We had an enjoyable trip from Sydney to Honolulu. Complaints can always be made but overall we thought this cruise was great. We met a lot of new people, we saw places we always wanted to see and we found new ways to amuse ourselves on the sea days that a repositioning cruise provides.

Good times-- and I've got the pictures!:D

 

Jim

[silentbob007]

I agree that I had the showers with curtains instead of doors. It's too bad that there were still plumbing problems. It can be frustrating when something so basic, yet essential, has problems.

[mommabean]

The big deal was the crossing of the equator. If you had never crossed on a ship before, you were called a polliwog. King Neptune had to give permission for all the newbies to cross. You could tell that this ceremony would be messy since they started to lay down layers of plastic on the pool deck early in the morning. "King Neptune" and his court and proceeded to initiate all the polliwogs. The first part was the new people had to kiss a flounder. Here's that pic.

 

Equator ceremony by silentdad, on Flickr

 

 

 

When we did get off the ship, we took the free bus to Hilo Hatties- a legend in the Hawaiian islands- to look at the goods there but also to go across the street to Wal-Mart. They had the cheapest souvenirs around. Same stuff in other stores, better price. We didn't take a tour since we had been to Hilo and the volcanoes before.

 

 

Thanks for taking this pic. The reason we did this cruise was to go around the world to see our Aussie friends who we met on this ship in April 2008. They did the cruise with us. This is a picture of Peter kissing the fish. My husband is the bald headed guy to his right/our left next to the woman.

 

We bought our supply of 100% Kona coffee at wal-mart, too. It was way cheaper than the other places. They also had he 10% Kona option.

 

 

 

 

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[DonnaK]

wow - wonderful! Such a trip is only a dream for me! Thanks for sharing.