RADIANCE/HAWAII Sept 11-21,2015 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[DanceGrandma]

Following

[happytraveling2]

Is there an indoor movie theater on the Radiance?

[Ashland]

Is there an indoor movie theater on the Radiance?

Yes..on deck #6...The movie for that day/night and times will be listed in your daily Cruise Compass. It's a small venue so best to go early and get your seat especially the 10:00pm show.

[pspercy]

The DW and I are hoping to pull this cruise off in 2017.

 

Do it, then stay over for some time in Hawaii. We did it September 2014:):D

[Hoopster95]

Hi Claudio!! I was hoping you would post one of your awesome reviews to relive this amazing cruise!!! It was great seeing you again and meeting Lisa!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hey Debbie!! Wow... Where were you guys all hiding for 10 days ;) I really hope you had a great time and safe travels. Hopefully we'll cross paths again someday.

 

For those of you who may have followed Quantum's first few sailings and my review, I met Debbie/Phil/Frank/Maria on Quantum last December and spoke to them/saw them every day at least once and usually multiple times all over the ship. On Radiance I saw Debbie maybe.... what do you think Debbie?... 3 or 4 times max?! So the myth that you see the same people everyday on smaller ships compared to the lack of "intimacy" on the larger ships is just that... a myth. The people you see everyday are based primarily on your interests and timing of the events you attend, not the size of ship whatsoever. So if you're a trivia fiend, you will see the same people there every single day. If you enjoy the nightclub after 11pm, you will see the exact same people everyday, etc.... regardless of whether you're on Oasis or Vision Class. I know Debbie had late seating and Lisa & I changed up our entire cruising experience and scheduling by doing a lot of specialty dining with early seating so schedules were way out of wack. Phil also told me you guys hung out primarily in the CL, but I stuck to the DL with Sunil. I did come looking for you guys twice in the CL but never did find you. Definitely keep in touch and please do chime in with any thoughts you have on this cruise as I go along if you have something to add :)

[Hoopster95]

Agree...Sunil was amazing !!! We could have used the CL but since we were traveling with family that were D's this worked out great and so glad we used the DL...We had a 19 month old GS with us and being able to sit in the extended seating area with him worked out so well.

 

Yes, the overflow was really nice wasn't it? I'm not one to sit in the Viking Crown during sailaway as I truly enjoy being outside on top deck or on the helipad, but I did this time just to check things out and hang out with people.

 

I'll mention now, and I'll show with pictures later today, the views from the DL are far superior than the CL... in fact the CL has almost zero view, and to me that is another bigtime deal breaker for hanging out. Compared to the CL's in both Quantum and Legend (my last two sailings), Radiance Class it's my least favorite CL space so far strictly based on lack of outside view. If I want to sit in a lounge without a view of the sea anywhere, I'll stay at home and go to a local bar. The VC/DL overflow was perfect for my preference :)

 

As a side note, the numbers quoted from Sunil (if someone has exact numbers please do post) regarding numbers of D, D+ and PN were as follows: 170'ish D, 170'ish D+, 17 PNs... so the overflow was definitely needed and I noted that the CL the few times I did check in (prior to dinner) was overcrowded and seemingly standing room.

[Hoopster95]

Is there an indoor movie theater on the Radiance?

 

Yes..on deck #6...The movie for that day/night and times will be listed in your daily Cruise Compass. It's a small venue so best to go early and get your seat especially the 10:00pm show.

 

Thx Ashland :)

Yup, very small venue... pics coming later. Couple of points while we're at it with the Cinema:

• This was the first time I ever used the cinema, but with the poor weather the first few days and some lack of entertainment late night, I took in a 10pm show (Wonderland) with UNV-IT... got there maybe 15min early and it was almost full with no seats left (we ended down low very front 2nd row, the 1st row filled up within another few minutes)
  
• Poor sound (they keep volume low, so you can hear everything from the Quill & Compass next door when music is playing)
  
• The screen is not overly huge but does the job... would rather see a blockbuster in a regular theatre for sure.
  

[scopewest]

Enjoying your review as one day we'll sail to Hawaii. Thanks for taking the time to post!

[Hoopster95]

It was at this point I wanted to step outside of the gym doors to take a look at the forward top deck views looking down onto the Helipad. Those of you who followed my Serenade review to the Med/Adriatic last year know that I place a huge importance on site lines and being able to view the ports of call in all directions. I immediately noticed a real difference here compared to Serenade that somewhat shocked me.... the glass is much higher, and thus the lower 3 feet or so is blocked. The view is definitely worse on radiance than on Serenade. More on this later... it is here that I noticed the same stairs leading down to a "private" area on deck 11 (immediately above the bridge). On Serenade it's clearly marked "Gold card holders (suite guests) only", here on Radiance no such signage anywhere. I went down to have a look

 

 

 

Like deck 12 above in front of the gym, the glass is very high up with a very tacky wave design covering the wall for about 3 feet. There's no way at all if you are lounging to have a view forward. Also note the limited space. The times I walked forward during the cruise, I witnessed only very limited amount of cruisers down there.... it's very far away from everything. This is a great thing if you want total peace and quiet, and especially privacy. Also this is the very best deck for viewing the helipad forward as the view of the helipad from deck 12 above is hampered by this deck. Also note the windows in behind the loungers are into the spa on deck 11.

 

 

 

Smack dab center of this deck is this.... does anyone know what it is? I couldn't figure it out and forgot to ask Sunil or Capt Juan. It looks like some kind of sun dial but I really couldn't tell.

 

 

 

So after taking a quick look here we headed back up those "private" stairs back up to deck 12 so that we can continue our ship tour through the Gym & spa

 

[Hoopster95]

This post is for those of you who use the spa areas... I personally never have so I don't know much about the Vitality Spa other than the steam/changing rooms. The spaces here are quite nice and the salon seems big too.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

There was still so much more to see aft, so we headed out of the ShipShape Center deck 11.

 

 

 

You've already seen pics of the Solarium & Park Cafe area, so I'll skip over those as we walk through the Solarium and back out to the pool deck. The pool deck has 2 hot-tubs, as does the Solarium... they were constantly full at peak times throughout the day. I also noted the colour scheme and general feel felt a little "tired" and dated. Also I've never liked the totem pole art in front of the SkyBar. The totem pole seems to be a bit worn now as well. I suspect with drydock coming up next year Radiance will have a super nice refreshing feel to her not unlike what I experienced on Vision and Navigator right after their refurbs.

 

 

 

So walking along port side aft I had forgotten that this ship has a "Doghouse" on board, so we approached to take a quick look.

 

 

 

I never had a dog as my calories went elsewhere with the great dinners we had, but UNV-IT told me he had a dog pretty much every night as they ate late® most evenings and he tried every one. Maybe he can chime in when he finds this review on how these dogs were. They have toppings such as grilled peppers & onions, sauerkraut, and all sorts of condiments.

 

 

[dixielady]

Thanks for posting your review and pictures.

This will be my first Royal cruise and first Hawaiian trip. I am very interested in your thoughts on this. Looking forward to reading the rest of your review and viewing your pictures.

 

thanks again...

[Hoopster95]

Taking the stairs up from the Windjammer up to deck 12 we headed outside to check out the aft areas of the ship, but of course not before enjoying the awesome view of Stanley Park and Vancouver from this vantage point. Note the loungers here under the Viking Crown.... these are some of the same loungers I previously mentioned that were full/reserved every sea day because the pool loungers (upper and lower decks) were totally full.

 

 

 

 

Walking aft on the port side, we got to the sports court which is a half court. 3 on 3 basketball and soccer competitions were held here, there was minivolleyball and open play time. There are doors which lead directly into the Adventure Ocean so the kids programs were scheduled here as well.

 

 

 

Continuing aft you enter the "teen" deck with access directly into the arcade and teen areas. Also on this deck is the Shuffleboard area.

 

 

 

If you've never ventured into the arcade or teen areas, here's the lone shot I took. I had never really looked at the Adventure Ocean areas until I started reviews and I have many more better photos and descriptions on both my Serenade & Quantum review. The Serenade I suspect would be very close to the same for those of you with kids who are interested. Btw, there were a grand total of 25 children aboard on this sailing! :eek:

 

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Lol, Claudio, we did wonder at one point if you fell off the ship!! [emoji1] We actually hung out more with Phil in one of the several smoking areas. It made for great people watching. Maria and Frank had a wonderful aft balcony for suite 1600 and we had the extra-huge balcony of suite 1060 so we spent a lot of time hanging there. We would go to CL for a drink in the evening before dinner because the concierge, Mo, was so awesome and helpful.

 

I did have my nails done at the spa. It was so restful and the view was the best of the 3 I have used (Allure and Quantum being the other 2). Gorgeous view of the ocean!

 

Hot dogs were delicious!!

 

Loving your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hoopster95]

Thanks for posting your review and pictures.

This will be my first Royal cruise and first Hawaiian trip. I am very interested in your thoughts on this. Looking forward to reading the rest of your review and viewing your pictures.

 

thanks again...

 

Thx for the kind words dixielady... I hope I can help with your planning! Just remember there's so many ways to cruise, people's opinions differ so greatly, so hopefully even if you can take a couple of small things to add to your experience out of this review I'd be really happy that I could help :)

[Hoopster95]

Lol, Claudio, we did wonder at one point if you fell off the ship!! [emoji1] We actually hung out more with Phil in one of the several smoking areas. It made for great people watching. Maria and Frank had a wonderful aft balcony for suite 1600 and we had the extra-huge balcony of suite 1060 so we spent a lot of time hanging there. We would go to CL for a drink in the evening before dinner because the concierge, Mo, was so awesome and helpful.

 

I did have my nails done at the spa. It was so restful and the view was the best of the 3 I have used (Allure and Quantum being the other 2). Gorgeous view of the ocean!

 

Hot dogs were delicious!!

 

Loving your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Aha!!!!.... a philanddebbie has re-appeared lol :D

Yup, with those cabins I can see you spending waaaaay more time there as well. UNV-IT told me the CL Mo was excellent as well... looks like Radiance has scored two good concierge's.

 

Damnit!!!.... I guess I shoulda tried a couple of those dogs after all! I know UNV-IT went there almost daily so they had to be decent :p

[Hoopster95]

Heading out aft and around the corner from the shuffleboard/teen area is very much a dead space. There's a few loungers facing aft but it's a very unappealing (to me) area with the canopy of the aft Windjammer seating covering any view aft if you're in one of those loungers. I also noted that now there should be way more cruisers checked in with prime time lunch hour on the go.... note the empty aft Windjammer seating still!

 

 

 

Here's a great little tip I used on Serenade that applies on Radiance.... see these table/chairs ahead of you here on the starboard side? They're never used for Samba's Grill but are an awesome place to eat your Windjammer food if the entire back deck aft seating area is full... just walk on up those stairs and voila!

 

 

 

Here you'll also find the entry into Samba's Grill. More on this later on day 1 as we had our first meal here to start off this cruise

 

 

 

Continuing forward we reached the kiddie pool area, directly adjacent to the sports court on the other side. Considering there is zero room in the main pool, this area is definitely 110% needed for any children on board.

 

 

 

Cutting through the pool area, we headed up the stairs to deck 13 and the mini-golf area. I've always likes this upper area on radiance with great views all around and access to the Viking Crown across the "bridge" by the Rock Climbing Wall

 

 

 

 

Gotta run!!!..... stay tuned

[Hoopster95]

Next weekend we'll be boarding the Jewel and your review is giving me an idea of what the Jewel will be like. I'm really enjoying it so far and will look for new posts up until we leave on Saturday. Thanks for putting this review together. I really appreciate it. :)

 

Ooo... Jewel is different in many ways. It is the last ship in the RCL fleet to be rejuvenated with specialty restaurants, Diamond lounges, etc... also the rear area of Samba I just showed is still the old "Sea View Cafe". Yes, most areas will give you equivalent idea of the ship (ie. pool deck, theatre, centrum, etc). I think you should really try following PCWalton's (Bill's) current live review as he's on the Jewel as we speak posting live on one of the coastal sailings.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262886

 

Here are a couple of other reviews which were excellent:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2195031&highlight=jewel

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1951547&highlight=jewel

Edited September 27, 2015 by Hoopster95

[LuCruise]

What a neat itinerary. Looking forward to reading on.

[cjdixon4]

Hubby and I are considering either an Alaskan itinerary or Hawaiian itinerary. Yours is winning me over right now...thanks for the review, and especially the great photos.

[TADCruise]

This cruise is on by bucket list. Thank you for doing this review. I like this itin vs originating in Hawaii.

 

 

My wife and I have been thinking about a Hawaiian cruise and trying to decide between a similar itinerary vs originating in Hawaii. Just curious as to why you would prefer this itinerary?

[Coralc]

The only reason that I can think of is that they are usually cheaper. We always like to put the long flight at the beginning of our cruises. :)

[Hoopster95]

Hubby and I are considering either an Alaskan itinerary or Hawaiian itinerary. Yours is winning me over right now...thanks for the review, and especially the great photos.

 

Only in my lone humble opinion, now that my itch has been satisfied to cruise from my home port to Hawaii, I would choose Alaska for cruise vacation over this Hawaii itinerary. Alaska is utterly spectacular for cruising (Maybe I should go back a couple of years before I started posting reviews and show you pictures... you think these pictures are incredible? You should see my Alaska helicopter/glacier pics, Aleutian Ballad excursion pics, etc).

 

I will touch on this more when I complete this review and post ratings at the end.... I needed much more time on the Big island, half day just didn't cut it. Maui just cannot be appreciated for only a few hours with tenders to catch, and my most enjoyable days were those last 3 on land in Waikiki. And this opinion from an RCL loyalist who is obsessed with cruising!!!! Shocking conclusion even to me. :eek::)

[Hoopster95]

My wife and I have been thinking about a Hawaiian cruise and trying to decide between a similar itinerary vs originating in Hawaii. Just curious as to why you would prefer this itinerary?

 

The only reason that I can think of is that they are usually cheaper. We always like to put the long flight at the beginning of our cruises. :)

 

 

I believe the biggest reason is weather....

 

Early May weather on the Pacific and in Vancouver is a crap shoot... could be super warm or rainy and cold (ie. 50 degrees).

Sept weather for years, and especially the last few years, has been equivalent to summer with sunshine and 70-80 degree temps. Although it's nice to get the long flight out of the way at the beginning, I would not gamble on the May sailing personally. On this sailing, while we had crappy weather the first 2 days with little sun, the pool deck was still full and I walked around in t-shirt and shorts every day no problem... it was mostly on the warm side.

[Silver Sweethearts]

My wife and I have been thinking about a Hawaiian cruise and trying to decide between a similar itinerary vs originating in Hawaii. Just curious as to why you would prefer this itinerary?

 

Have you considered Norwegian's Pride of America 7-day cruise around the Hawaiian islands?