Kmom on Carnival Radiance Semi-Live May 30-June 3, 2022 - FOURTH time on Carnival since resumption of cruising

[ninjacat123]

Run to the spa check in desk when you embark and get your scrub kit!  I didn't when my mom and I cruised in a Spa Interior on Sunshine and the spa desk said they "ran out".  Huh?  Shouldn't they have one made up for each Spa room?  So Run!  😁

[KmomChicago]

10 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Run to the spa check in desk when you embark and get your scrub kit!  I didn't when my mom and I cruised in a Spa Interior on Sunshine and the spa desk said they "ran out".  Huh?  Shouldn't they have one made up for each Spa room?  So Run!  😁

Will do, Ninjacat and thanks for the tip! And yes,  you'd think they'd have enough for the guests who get one supposedly automatically.   I just looked at Carnival's depiction of the tiled loungers and description of the thermal suites. I'll have to go ahead and check them out, especially since we are not planning any shore excursions so we will only be off the ship briefly in the two ports.  I assume they are busy on sea days.

[KmomChicago]

14 hours ago, JGB said:

I have been on the Radiance twice now and have 2 more paid for😀 One the 3 day just before your cruise. Needless to say I love this ship. 

 

Briefly considered a B2B for the 3 day after, as we have the following weekend in LA and it's an expensive city to visit. However, prices are creeping up in June and that weekend cruise is not real cheap for 2 rooms and 4 people either.

 

I think I have planned a good little itinerary for us in LA for that weekend with minimal stress and minimal traffic nightmares in the notorious city of angels.

[JGB]

I am a gambler so I pay for ships cabins indirectly...meaning as a result of my gambling I get cabins at no cost. But again I do pay just in a different way, still at times I come away with cash in hand.

Enjoy your time in LA, I was born and raised in NYC and lived in FLA for a bit, LA is the place for me and I am willing to pay the premium (taxes) to live here.

[ninjacat123]

7 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Will do, Ninjacat and thanks for the tip! And yes,  you'd think they'd have enough for the guests who get one supposedly automatically.   I just looked at Carnival's depiction of the tiled loungers and description of the thermal suites. I'll have to go ahead and check them out, especially since we are not planning any shore excursions so we will only be off the ship briefly in the two ports.  I assume they are busy on sea days.

The tiled loungers are warm and surprisingly relaxing.  I never thought stretching out on a hard tiled surface would be comfy but it lulls you with it's heat.  Plus the view of the ocean is hypnotic.  Sea days will be busy and if the weather gets inclement, go grab a tile chair ASAP.  There should be a room with "spa" water (chopped lemons and limes, etc in water) but I usually brought my own tumbler with a beverage.  There are plenty of towels there.  You can truly cook yourself in the dry sauna room, which I spread out a towel and lie down until I almost fall asleep.  We would have our swimsuits on then wrap up in our Spa robes and Spa slippers and make our way from our stateroom to the Spa.  Very cozy and special!  Enjoy!

[ninjacat123]

6 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Briefly considered a B2B for the 3 day after, as we have the following weekend in LA and it's an expensive city to visit. However, prices are creeping up in June and that weekend cruise is not real cheap for 2 rooms and 4 people either.

 

I think I have planned a good little itinerary for us in LA for that weekend with minimal stress and minimal traffic nightmares in the notorious city of angels.

I'm looking forward to your LA itinerary.  We lived in LA for almost 20 years and there are so many places I would love to visit!😎

[KmomChicago]

3 hours ago, JGB said:

I am a gambler so I pay for ships cabins indirectly...meaning as a result of my gambling I get cabins at no cost. But again I do pay just in a different way, still at times I come away with cash in hand.

Enjoy your time in LA, I was born and raised in NYC and lived in FLA for a bit, LA is the place for me and I am willing to pay the premium (taxes) to live here.

 

I've tried gambling and after I lose about $50 per day I just can't play anymore. Better to pay published rates for us.

 

I have been to LA once before, late 1990's I think, to see Disneyland, Universal, Knott's and the Queen Mary, none of which we plan to see this time. We plan to visit Griffith Observatory, California Science Center / space shuttle, and Manhattan Beach. We will be trying to kill a couple of hours on the last Monday afternoon near Union Station so we can return to our hotel near the airport after rush hour clears out. Even though we will have a rental car I am planning to use the FlyAway bus, either have DH drop us off at the airport and pick us up later that night, or if he wants to come along, park at the airport and we all take the bus in for the afternoon and evening.  

Edited May 9, 2022 by KmomChicago

[ninjacat123]

15 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I've tried gambling and after I lose about $50 per day I just can't play anymore. Better to pay published rates for us.

 

I have been to LA once before, late 1990's I think, to see Disneyland, Universal, Knott's and the Queen Mary, none of which we plan to see this time. We plan to visit Griffith Observatory, California Science Center / space shuttle, and Manhattan Beach. We will be trying to kill a couple of hours on the last Monday afternoon near Union Station so we can return to our hotel near the airport after rush hour clears out. Even though we will have a rental car I am planning to use the FlyAway bus, either have DH drop us off at the airport and pick us up later that night, or if he wants to come along, park at the airport and we all take the bus in for the afternoon and evening.  

Gladstone's on PCH where Sunset Blvd meets the ocean is a fun touristy restaurant right on the beach.  If you are driving as far south as Laguna Beach (awesome art/beach/funky community) go to The Cliff Restaurant in the Arts and Crafts Center (bunch of hut like buildings on the ocean side of PCH) and look out over the Pacific as you have a glass of vino and lunch.  Tommys Burgers (a couple around LA) are a traditional late night belly bomber snack.  Order it with the works (chili, pickles, onions and cheese) then go to bed. In Downtown LA, Phillipes is supposedly the place where french dip sandwiches originated.  So good with the roll double dipped in the au jus.  Walk down Rodeo Drive to see how the 1% live.  Yamashiro's Hollywood has a tremendous view of LA from it's perch up in the Hollywood Hills.  I would probably go there just for a drink and the view.  The building is pretty nifty as well.

I am hungry now.😁

[KmomChicago]

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Gladstone's on PCH where Sunset Blvd meets the ocean is a fun touristy restaurant right on the beach.  If you are driving as far south as Laguna Beach (awesome art/beach/funky community) go to The Cliff Restaurant in the Arts and Crafts Center (bunch of hut like buildings on the ocean side of PCH) and look out over the Pacific as you have a glass of vino and lunch.  Tommys Burgers (a couple around LA) are a traditional late night belly bomber snack.  Order it with the works (chili, pickles, onions and cheese) then go to bed. In Downtown LA, Phillipes is supposedly the place where french dip sandwiches originated.  So good with the roll double dipped in the au jus.  Walk down Rodeo Drive to see how the 1% live.  Yamashiro's Hollywood has a tremendous view of LA from it's perch up in the Hollywood Hills.  I would probably go there just for a drink and the view.  The building is pretty nifty as well.

I am hungry now.😁

 

Sounds great. We will be right next to Phillipes that last night so I will plan to have dinner there - looks like a couple blocks walk from the train station. Teen loves French Dip sandwiches with au jus so that will go over well, then maybe walk around Chinatown a bit. 

 

We are hoping to do the whole view thing while up near the Griffith Park Observatory and see the Hollywood sign from there as well but I see Yamashiro is beautiful and right near there so I will shortlist it.  Thanks so much for the tips! 

[KmomChicago]

I am nervous about LA traffic!

 

We are renting cars for the couple of days we will be in the area before the cruise - because we need to get from LAX to the neighborhood of Union Station, where we pick up our guest the next day, then plan to spend that day visiting Griffith Park, the Observatory, and maybe a little bit of Hollywood. . . and then on the back end, to get from the cruise to our post hotel near the beach (actually about a 10 minute drive or hour walk from the beach), and to the science center for the shuttle.  We have driven in some of the worst areas - I was just in Houston but it wasn't too bad on a Saturday afternoon on one of the loop roads heading to San Antonio. We've driven around Atlanta many times, Orlando, Chicago, etc. 

 

BUT LA. I can only hope a lot of people are still working from home. 

 

We will probably take LA mass transit for the last commute in to return our guest to the train station because that will be a Monday, not a holiday, and around afternoon rush hour, and then we will take it back out to our hotel after 7pm that evening so we will be back to our hotel before sunset. 

[KmomChicago]

I just got my 4th Covid shot a couple of days ago, a couple of hours before the recommendation to wait if you are eligible but don't feel you are at high risk of getting real sick. Teen just got first booster, 3rd shot, Friday, almost a year after their first 2 shots. 

 

Something told me it was time. 

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I just got my 4th Covid shot a couple of days ago, a couple of hours before the recommendation to wait if you are eligible but don't feel you are at high risk of getting real sick. Teen just got first booster, 3rd shot, Friday, almost a year after their first 2 shots. 

 

Something told me it was time. 

Did you have reservations for specialty restaurants for your upcoming cruise?  I don't because Ecstasy has nada, nothing, zilch in the way of specialty restaurants😁my DDs and I will be all MDR all the time😜

[KmomChicago]

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Did you have reservations for specialty restaurants for your upcoming cruise?  I don't because Ecstasy has nada, nothing, zilch in the way of specialty restaurants😁my DDs and I will be all MDR all the time😜

 

Sorry my culinarily-oriented friend, but I do not and I don't plan to.  Do you have Chef's Table on Ecstasy? Not a lot of options on old Fantasy class, for sure. Enjoy the last of the class while you can. . . . who knows how much longer after Magica comes over and the other two Excel class ships join the fleet?

 

I tried not to be critical about it in the last review and sorta downplayed it, but we were completely underwhelmed by Cucina on Vista - I thought it would be better than MG because it's charging the $15 and the menu is slightly different but it wasn't as good. Service, food, ambiance, all less oomph than MG.  Then we went to lunch one day in the Jiji's space when they do the bowls and we were even more underwhelmed.  So we cancelled our evening Jiji's reservation and I don't feel I missed out on much. I realize we are squarely in the minority on this.  All the Cucinas have just closed through June, by the way, due to staffing issues.

 

Meanwhile, we had excellent experiences consistently in the MDR (even with the loss of brunch filet!), good service and food we liked, and in the Marketplace buffet, where I found the cakes to be better at lunch daily than on any other cruise, plus we always like Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana and the Deli aaaaaaaaannnnnnddddd, we will have the triumphant return of Big Chicken which we enjoyed quite a lot on Mardi Gras, the only other ship that has it and I plan to make good use of it. 

 

 

The kids like sushi but seems dumb to buy it onboard when I am going to have to buy them food in LA a couple days later anyway. There are plenty of options near our hotel. Again, I have not found Bonsai to be a particularly elevated experience. It's always a nice pretty bright room, and then they bring us some miso soup which we slurp up and then some run of the mill sushi we gobble and 30 minutes after we're seated, were gone and probably hungry again an hour later and off to the Marketplace.  I am meh on the paid specialty dining to say the least.

 

And we do not have the patience or interest in sitting around for 3 hours doing Chef's Table, even though we fully comprehend that it's a culinary journey and a life altering experience and a steal for the price. All true, but not for us, thankyouverymuch. MDR on elegant night with a collared shirt is as fine as fine dining gets for us, apparently.

 

 

And it's only a 4 night cruise.  

[ninjacat123]

11 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Sorry my culinarily-oriented friend, but I do not and I don't plan to.  Do you have Chef's Table on Ecstasy? Not a lot of options on old Fantasy class, for sure. Enjoy the last of the class while you can. . . . who knows how much longer after Magica comes over and the other two Excel class ships join the fleet?

 

I tried not to be critical about it in the last review and sorta downplayed it, but we were completely underwhelmed by Cucina on Vista - I thought it would be better than MG because it's charging the $15 and the menu is slightly different but it wasn't as good. Service, food, ambiance, all less oomph than MG.  Then we went to lunch one day in the Jiji's space when they do the bowls and we were even more underwhelmed.  So we cancelled our evening Jiji's reservation and I don't feel I missed out on much. I realize we are squarely in the minority on this.  All the Cucinas have just closed through June, by the way, due to staffing issues.

 

Meanwhile, we had excellent experiences consistently in the MDR (even with the loss of brunch filet!), good service and food we liked, and in the Marketplace buffet, where I found the cakes to be better at lunch daily than on any other cruise, plus we always like Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana and the Deli aaaaaaaaannnnnnddddd, we will have the triumphant return of Big Chicken which we enjoyed quite a lot on Mardi Gras, the only other ship that has it and I plan to make good use of it. 

 

 

The kids like sushi but seems dumb to buy it onboard when I am going to have to buy them food in LA a couple days later anyway. There are plenty of options near our hotel. Again, I have not found Bonsai to be a particularly elevated experience. It's always a nice pretty bright room, and then they bring us some miso soup which we slurp up and then some run of the mill sushi we gobble and 30 minutes after we're seated, were gone and probably hungry again an hour later and off to the Marketplace.  I am meh on the paid specialty dining to say the least.

 

And we do not have the patience or interest in sitting around for 3 hours doing Chef's Table, even though we fully comprehend that it's a culinary journey and a life altering experience and a steal for the price. All true, but not for us, thankyouverymuch. MDR on elegant night with a collared shirt is as fine as fine dining gets for us, apparently.

 

 

And it's only a 4 night cruise.  

My DDs and I are fine with MDR (last cruise on Sunshine my mom and I really enjoyed the MDR cuisine) and like you mentioned, why spend extra moolah when there are plenty of other places to chow down?  That means more bucks for Alchemy😉

Re Los Angeles, if you are in Chinatown, Ocean Seafood was fun and tasty for dim sum, but I'm not sure if it's still open.  Our favorite place for great Mexican food was Las Fuentas in North Hollywood.  That means a drive to the VALLEY but their chicken tortilla soup is soooo good!

[KmomChicago]

46 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

My DDs and I are fine with MDR (last cruise on Sunshine my mom and I really enjoyed the MDR cuisine) and like you mentioned, why spend extra moolah when there are plenty of other places to chow down?  That means more bucks for Alchemy😉

Re Los Angeles, if you are in Chinatown, Ocean Seafood was fun and tasty for dim sum, but I'm not sure if it's still open.  Our favorite place for great Mexican food was Las Fuentas in North Hollywood.  That means a drive to the VALLEY but their chicken tortilla soup is soooo good!

Sad trombone. 

[ninjacat123]

3 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Sad trombone. 

Dang!  

[KmomChicago]

I'm planning to use VeriFly for everyone this time around. I have mine all set up and DH does as well. The teen's guest's mom set it up for them and just my teen to set up still. I am not in a huge hurry as it's a quick process and you can't finish it until you have your Covid test results. I plan to use Walgreens again - it was free, easy, and pretty fast. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

 I plan to use Walgreens again - it was free, easy, and pretty fast. 

Our local Walgreens has a sign No Covid tests at this site. 😢

[KmomChicago]

6 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Our local Walgreens has a sign No Covid tests at this site. 😢

Oh, that's terrible. We have no trouble right now. My town has no outbreaks right now, risk seems low for us so demand would be down as well. 

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

We're scheduled to be on the Radiance in October.  Judging by the current occupancy of someone who's recently sailed on the Radiance, does anyone have an educated (or WAG) what we should expect in October? I just watched a review that showed it at about 30-35%.  Curious if Carnival is capacity controlling the ships or if people are still too wary to chance a cruise.  

[KmomChicago]

3 hours ago, Oklahoma Cruiser 2012 said:

We're scheduled to be on the Radiance in October.  Judging by the current occupancy of someone who's recently sailed on the Radiance, does anyone have an educated (or WAG) what we should expect in October? I just watched a review that showed it at about 30-35%.  Curious if Carnival is capacity controlling the ships or if people are still too wary to chance a cruise.  

I expect our cruise will be right around 100% because it aligns with the first week after public school ends for much of the country. I would expect autumn 2022 to be the last hurrah with ships back in the 60% range. 

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I expect our cruise will be right around 100% because it aligns with the first week after public school ends for much of the country. I would expect autumn 2022 to be the last hurrah with ships back in the 60% range. 

Public schools do not end their school year here in NY state until almost the end of June! They do start later than other places, after Labor Day.

[KmomChicago]

14 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Public schools do not end their school year here in NY state until almost the end of June! They do start later than other places, after Labor Day.

Yea it’s not consistent across the country or planet but generally a fairly large number are done by Memorial Day with increasing numbers weekly. I think a lot of the early ones travel asap to get slightly ahead of prices.

[KmomChicago]

I’m thinking now we may try to do more with those thermal suites than expected. Thanks to those who’ve commented and I’ve found more info suggesting they’re worth checking out at a minimum. I’ll definitely report whatever I find out. You might get a nekkid Kmom selfie.

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I’m thinking now we may try to do more with those thermal suites than expected. Thanks to those who’ve commented and I’ve found more info suggesting they’re worth checking out at a minimum. I’ll definitely report whatever I find out. You might get a nekkid Kmom selfie.

Just one more thing to look forward to. 😊