Alaska cruise RAdiance of the seas or celebrity millennium

[cruisingnewtoit]

2nd cruise to Alaska for my DH & I. 1st was on HAL. We were set on I Millie but now wondering on ROTS. We have only gone on 2 cruises. 1st was  New Amsterdam & 2nd Summit. 

 

If if you have sailed on both what are the pros & cons any specific to Alaska?

 

The  itinerary is the same starting in Vancouver and ending in Anchorage. Sailing inside passage. We are definitely booking a veranda.

 

Good service & helpfull staff is extremely important to us. We also enjoy food. I’m a vegan but my husband is an omnivore. Were usually in bed by 11 so nightlife is not that important to us. We enjoy going to shows. 

 

[dani negreanu]

I've done Alaska with Radiance and enjoyed it very much. Perfect ship for the itinerary.

I've done an Asian cruise with Millie, and was disappointed.

[island lady]

Have done HAL....eh...under impressed even with booking full suite.  

 

Have done Radiance twice (one way,  second was B2B)...and have third booked for next year.  🙂  Love the ship, love the itinerary.  ❤️

[twangster]

I've done both ships in Alaska.  I'd go with Millie assuming itineraries were equal.

 

Since Millie was just updated I'd give the nod to Millie.  Radiance is okay but tired.  Once she get's updated in late 2020 she may look better.  Similar ships in many respects (size, features).

 

This is my Millie Alaska trip report (2017 before refresh)

 

and

 

This is my Radiance Alaska trip report (2018)

[dani negreanu]

30 minutes ago, twangster said:

Since Millie was just updated I'd give the nod to Millie. 

 

Before voicing my opinion, I've spoken with a friend who was on updated Millie (and he was on it before the updating, like me).

The cabins were left the same, only the public areas were updated.

[vacationlover_mn]

We did Radiance for Alaska and loved it 🙂

[twangster]

4 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Before voicing my opinion, I've spoken with a friend who was on updated Millie (and he was on it before the updating, like me).

The cabins were left the same, only the public areas were updated.

 

Curios. Over on the Celebrity board people are showing off the renovated cabins on Millie.   They look quite nice.  

[Jimbo]

Twangster..........What camera you use to take those pictures in this review? Radiance Alaska trip report (2018)

 

[cruisingnewtoit]

6 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

I've done Alaska with Radiance and enjoyed it very much. Perfect ship for the itinerary.

I've done an Asian cruise with Millie, and was disappointed.

Why were you disappointed? Any info is helpful. Thanks.

[cruisingnewtoit]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 

Curios. Over on the Celebrity board people are showing off the renovated cabins on Millie.   They look quite nice.  

I sailed the Summit 2 weeks after the rebub. I also thought Millie was getting the same face lift. 

 

 

[cruisingnewtoit]

The food on X was ok it didn't blow me away. The food was lacking flavor at least the vegan dishes were. Some dishes were good. But the management staff was extremely accommodating towards my diet. I'm worried Royal will not be that way.

 

ROTS has windows

everywhere which would be amazing for Alaska.

[Jimbo]

Best food of those 3 , Royal, X and Holland was Holland by a longshot.

[dani negreanu]

21 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

Good service & helpfull staff is extremely important to us. We also enjoy food. I’m a vegan but my husband is an omnivore. Were usually in bed by 11 so nightlife is not that important to us. We enjoy going to shows. 

 

 

1 hour ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

Why were you disappointed? Any info is helpful. Thanks.

 

Before Millie I've sailed with X in Galapagos and the Med (Equinox). The food and the service were outstanding, which are also important to us. So, after a gap of 4 years, I was looking forward to Millie (and also convinced 2 other couples of friends to join us, promising them that the food will be better than with Norwegian).

The food (variety and taste) was very disappointing -- so much so that I even took a corn soup (I like soups and I like the fact that on Royal there are daily 2 kinds of soups) to the 2 guys who were looking as "in charge" of the buffet. That was after I went looking a lot for a soup... I told them that it's more cornflour than soup -- they took a spoon and put of drop on their hand, and it stayed there... From their looks I understood that I'm right, and they promised to forward it to the chef. Then my DH, which is not the complaining type, told them that he's not eating meat and has trouble finding fish or sea food, not like 4 years ago on the Equinox. They promised "tomorrow you'll have calamari". OK, didn't hold my breath. At lunch I was looking for the promised calamari... none. Just then the "duo" approached me and asked if everything is OK. I said "yes, but I don't see any calamari"... They asked where were we sitting. After 10 min they sent us a plate of fried calamari... Afterwards, they avoided me, and, during the 14 days cruise, that was the only "sea food" provided. We tried the MDR in the evening twice, and were also very disappointed in the offerings.

Service - the worst I've seen. From several depts. As I was sitting to eat, I felt a nail "bitting" my tight. I stood up and saw indeed a nail protruding from the chair. I called a lady who seemed "in charge" and she indeed agreed that it is a nail... She offered to give me another chair...

The embarkation was very poorly organized, we wasted half a day waiting in lines, and the Singaporean authorities were blamed.

Twice we had noise from the AC and couldn't sleep at night, it was not acknowledged. My friends down the hall had the same problem, and the technician admitted that they don't know how to solve the problem.

Every time we were given the impression that we are an annoyance to the various personnel -- no apologies, no follow-up, not even a bottle of wine.

[twangster]

5 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Twangster..........What camera you use to take those pictures in this review? Radiance Alaska trip report (2018)

 

 

Sony A7III

[DougMacP]

Very close call, as the ships are similar in size and style.  I tend to find RCI ships even the smaller ones like Radiance cater to families with children more than Celebrity.  So if that is an issue.... The food on RCI is beige....nothing really terrible, but nothing really great.  Celebrity's food is somewhat better.  I would choose Celebrity on the Alaska cruise because there are better interior lounges to view the scenery.  Alaska can be cold, windy, raining so you might not always be able to be on deck.  I particularly like Millenniums forward lounge on deck 11 (Cosmos).  Radiance's lounge on deck 13 are split up into 3 different lounges with solid dividers so most of the view is into the pool area and to starboard (since you are not a diamond, diamond plus or pinnacle).  

[2Long2NxtCrz]

We took the Radiance southbound after taking a 3 day land tour up to Denali from Anchorage back in August of 2018.  We were the last cruise since Radiance was moving from Vancouver to Hawaii.  It was incredible!  The weather was amazing, especially since the cruise started on the 31st of August and we'd been warned about possibly weather issues.

 

There was zero nightlife.  I can attest to trying to get some folks to dance in the club, but it ended up being just me, my brother, and one couple.  On no nights was there anything going on after 11pm.  But, really, Alaska's for the scenery and the ports. 

 

The food in the MDR was fine.  I did find that the food was better on Celebrity Equinox when we went in November.  But the service on Radiance was amazing.  She was my third Radiance class ship and I've always found that the crew are so helpful and make an effort to get to know you.  Maybe because they're a "smaller" class of ship?

 

Sadly, I can't speak to the Millennium, but the Radiance class ships are fabulous for seeing outside.  They are truly an ocean-facing ship.

 

Either way, I'm sure you'll have an amazing time!

[Jimbo]

On 5/6/2019 at 8:25 PM, twangster said:

 

Sony A7III

Amazing pictures, just not sure I could justify the price of it for the amount of usage it would get.

[bajathree]

14 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

We took the Radiance southbound after taking a 3 day land tour up to Denali from Anchorage back in August of 2018.  We were the last cruise since Radiance was moving from Vancouver to Hawaii.  It was incredible!  The weather was amazing, especially since the cruise started on the 31st of August and we'd been warned about possibly weather issues.

 

There was zero nightlife.  I can attest to trying to get some folks to dance in the club, but it ended up being just me, my brother, and one couple.  On no nights was there anything going on after 11pm.  But, really, Alaska's for the scenery and the ports. 

 

The food in the MDR was fine.  I did find that the food was better on Celebrity Equinox when we went in November.  But the service on Radiance was amazing.  She was my third Radiance class ship and I've always found that the crew are so helpful and make an effort to get to know you.  Maybe because they're a "smaller" class of ship?

 

Sadly, I can't speak to the Millennium, but the Radiance class ships are fabulous for seeing outside.  They are truly an ocean-facing ship.

 

Either way, I'm sure you'll have an amazing time!

The nightlife I am sure varies from sailing to sailing. I was on Radiance in May of 2012 and there was always a good amount of people in the club till closing....usually around 2 am every evening. Since in May darkness hours are very limited...I remember the sky getting light almost every evening while either leaving the club or just getting back in the cabin. I remember saying this is Alaska there will be no nightlife....I ended up out parting every night to my surprise.

Edited May 8, 2019 by bajathree

[2Long2NxtCrz]

9 hours ago, bajathree said:

The nightlife I am sure varies from sailing to sailing. I was on Radiance in May of 2012 and there was always a good amount of people in the club till closing....usually around 2 am every evening. Since in May darkness hours are very limited...I remember the sky getting light almost every evening while either leaving the club or just getting back in the cabin. I remember saying this is Alaska there will be no nightlife....I ended up out parting every night to my surprise.

You're right.  Every cruise is going to have a different dynamic.  Lucky you that yours was a little more wild than ours!