Long time CCL traveler cruises RCCL for first time

[MississippiMom]

On 6/21/2022 at 6:18 PM, jetsfan58 said:

There's a reason why we have only sailed on one RCCL ship. It's all about economics, nickel and dime and we just didn't care for the overall experience. Two plus decades of Carnival and growing! 

We "felt" that nickel & dime approach on RCCL, too.  It was the design of the ship we were on that "forced" the passengers all together in areas where they would spend extra money.  I didn't realize it at first, but my husband mentioned it, and he was correct.  We, purposefully, selected private island destinations to not have to deal with additional covid testing issues, but then we felt like those were also set up with that nickel & dime approach.

 

We would still go back on a RCCL ship if the price and destinations were right, but they just would not be our first choice.  We don't need the water slides or the trampolines or the rock climbing or the ice skating or the surfing onboard, but we would like a nice piano bar, a good karaoke venue, and a Blue Iguana Cantin.  Plus, we love the dining room entertainment on CCL.

 

As a matter of fact, we are currently considering possible CCL options for 2023.

[happy cruzer]

All the details and comments are appreciated.

 

Why did you and your group pick this ship?  You all seemed to have preferred CCL in past yet you picked this ship and cruise?

 

We have picked a lesser favorite ship/line when the schedule and itinerary dictated that choice and then don't nickpick because we got to cruise when and where we wanted.  Our favorite line does not go everywhere at all times of the year.  Also does not service our home port.  We allow and tolerate the differences to get other benefits.  Maybe the compliant might be that my favorite line did not go where we wanted?

 

Just trying to understand the point of view.  Thanks.

[backbiter]

We've been regular cruisers with Carnival for 20 years, and have only once cruised with RCCL - a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona on one of their smaller, older ships, The Vision.

We got a great deal in an Ocean View cabin with free wifi thrown in, and had a lovely cruise, with a fantastic itinerary, including a wonderful overnight stay in Venice, and several ports we'd never visited, like Split, Kotor and Villefranche, all of which we loved. In terms of value, we felt it was as good as we are used to with Carnival, which was surprising, as generally we find RCCL's prices far higher.

I agree with a lot of the points already made. The food and entertainment are better on Carnival. We were amazed at how quiet the ship was after about 10pm, and we really missed the atmosphere we've always enjoyed on our Carnival cruises. The service on board was fine, but overall I find the Carnival crew more attentive and friendly.

[Bgcruising]

On 6/21/2022 at 3:41 PM, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

I see this blanket statement every now and then and I think it does a disservice to CCL. Every single time I have been able to identify which balcony smoke is coming from I have called Guest Services and every single time they have sent security to that cabin. So maybe that didn't happen in some people's experience or maybe it couldn't be identified as to which cabin it was coming from, but by the same token, do we know that RCL or NCL handles these situations any better? 

I've seen carnival security and employees walking by smokers on the lido and not say a thing to them. They don't enforce their rules enough period. I'm not security, dont leave it up to me to go find someone to tell. They need to do a better job.

[Tongiejayhawk]

We chose RCCL because the price was competitive, the itinerary interesting and I have been wanting to try RCCL for years. I have two sons and thought they would love all of the fun activities RCCL but Carnival always beat them out on price. 

 

And don't get me wrong - any complaints I had are first world problems. It was very sobering any time we ran into Ukraine employees. My heart breaks for them. If I could have done the survey, one of my comments would have been to have a fund raiser for Ukraine (similar to how CCL does St. Judes). I would have 100% donated. I will say they did have a neat parade of flags with employees representing their countries. I tried to watch from a few floors above but it was crowded.

[AllAboardatSea]

It’s nice to have variety and competition in this industry, because different people will see different things completely opposite (I’m diamond on CCL and D+ on RCCL). I find Royal ships definitely a step up from Carnival physically. The extra food venue options on Carnival are excellent, but the main buffet and MDR are worst in class; they put out food that is way too salty in my opinion. The lack of ‘class’ is more apparent with Carnival, as they don’t even use tablecloths on formal night any longer (just as a minor example). The main reason I don’t care for Carnival anymore is they put too many people in the limited square footage of the ship to the point where it’s clearly noticeable. The only exception is Spirit class, that was a well-thought out ship design.

Edited June 27, 2022 by AllAboardatSea

[Gregoryfo]

We sail and enjoy both lines.  I agree with several of the things OP mentioned about Royal.  My two main complaints with Royal is how uninformative the app/communication is.  There is either no communication or they spam you to death.  There is nowhere on the app or website to say what you purchased outside of excursions.  We cruised to Bermuda and I would get multiple texts and emails a day to say I needed the Bermuda travel authorization.  It never gave me the option to reply and say it was already taken care of. 

 

The other things is, how hard is it to make a burger?  Good Lord their burgers and hot dogs suck.  Partner with five guys or smashburger or someone and have some decent lunch food options.

 

We do like the main dining room in royal.  We do not cruise to watch TV but it is also nice to have ESPN in the room.  Overall competition is great for everyone.  Lets hope the cruise environment continues to improve and all the lines pay down the debt and keep sailing.    

 

      

[topaz123]

Have done Jewel, Radiance and Oasis/ RCL.   I really dont think the food was better than CCL. We are longtime CCL, and the selections were better on CCL.

[Itried4498]

 

We just completed our first ever RCCL trip as well.  We live in Southern California, so Carnival is the primary option.  We’re also frugal, and Carnival’s usually the least expensive option 😊.  Last week, we traveled on RCCL’s Navigator of the Seas B2B as it was significantly cheaper the Carnival Radiance (which operates an identical itinerary) – at least at the time of booking, which was literally days before departure. 

I’ve give my thoughts, but here’s a few things to keep in mind: we are frugal, and rarely purchase spa treatments, upcharged food or beverages onboard.  Since the re-start, we have traveled several times, but only on the Panorama.  We have not yet traveled on the Radiance, but we are scheduled to do so come fall.

THE SHIP & ITS AMENITIES – An easy win for RCCL.  The ship was far more upscale than any CCL I’ve been on (I haven’t been on the Mardi Gras).  Although it was nearly 20 years older than the Panorama – Carnival’s self-declared flagship before the Marid Gras was delivered, I would far rather be on this ship for a week.  Much larger pools and especially hot tubs, several of which were covered which is a bonus considering it’s often cold on the itineraries performed out of Los Angeles, and plenty of space to lounge in the sun.  The water slides (one with a raft, the other coaster-like) and wave rider were a huge bonus. 

 

THE STATE ROOM – An easy win for Carnival.  The towels, mattress, and linens on RCCL were about what I’d expect at a cheap hostel.  The mattress pad was also very discolored and worn out – it should’ve been replaced a long time ago.  And while I realize room size will vary by ship, I’ve never experienced a room as small as the Navigator’s on Carnival – but to RCCL’s credit, they made good use of the space and created more storage than Carnival.  Their live TV was superior to Carnival’s (news, sports & children’s programming) but Carnival has complimentary on demand movies whereas the Navigator did not.  The Navigator did have a couple corny made-for RCCL movies, and RCCL still records and shows marque events on the cruise, whereas CCL stopped.

 

SERVICE – Very similar, but slight edge to RCCL.  They were far more prompt with our request for maintenance and state rooms are still cleaned twice daily by default.

 

ENTERTAINMENT – Both have very similar entertainment programs, but I have to give the edge to RCCL – theirs are more thought out and far more elaborate.  And that’s considering there are no true production shows (besides the ice skating) on the 3/4-day Ensenada itineraries.

 

(INCLUDED) FOOD – Carnival has an awesome brunch menu at the MDR and plenty more included options for lunch.  Royal still has a 24-hour hour snack counter, where you can get pizza, sandwiches, fruit, and dessert.  After 9PM on Carnival, you can enjoy the deli for another hour or pizza until 1-3AM.  Royal has superior (and themed) buffets but MDR breakfast and dinner options were similar, as was food quality and overall choices.  I did miss the 24/7 ice cream and cake station on Carnival, as well as Guy’s burgers.  Royal has Johnny Rockets Express, with a similar charge as you’d pay at any Johnny Rockets.  Royal did have a full selection of fruit juice all day long, whereas Carnival is limited to lemonade.  And while they both use the same juice vending machine, I noticed Royal was using local, quality orange juice.

 

APP – Edge to Carnival.  I like checking in for my MDR table, and proceeding when it’s ready.  Even with a reservation, I had to wait 15-30 minutes for my table with RCCL.

 

OVERALL – To be honest, 90%+ of the experience is the same on either line.  I’d go with whatever line was cheaper…

[BoozinCroozin]

We went on NCL and had a similar experience. There were things better and enough things that were worse that made them off putting. We agreed we would not go on NCL again. The things that were better were the drink package (no limits), 24-hour dining options. Casino always empty, certain people ruining entertainment for 95% of the people, and just not a fun group.

 

[topnole]

On 6/20/2022 at 6:37 PM, Tongiejayhawk said:

Myself, DH, DS and eight others sailed on the Brilliance of the Seas on June 5^th for a Mediterranean cruise from Ravenna, Italy. This was my 20^th cruise but first time on RCCL. I have sailed with Carnival, Holland America, NCL and Disney. I’m writing the review from a perspective of how RCCL compared to the others. I’ll post to the RCCL and CCL forums since I’ve sailed with CCL the most. I’ll break it down by category and then share my and others’ overall thoughts.

 

Communication: Horrible in general and compared to the other lines. I was inclined to give RCCL some slack since things have changed since 2020 but I have cruised since then as have several others in our group. The communication before the cruise was so frustrating – being given false information, being on hold for hours at a time, or not receiving any information. One example is that there was a train strike the day of embarkation. Luckily for us, we stayed in Ravenna the night before. Our plan was to take a taxi to the port from the train station. While waiting in the taxi line, a nice gentleman came over and asked if we were coming back from a cruise or leaving for one. We said we were leaving for one. He said most of the people in line were trying to leave Ravenna because there was a train strike and weren’t having luck getting a taxi. He said we were fortunate that we could take a bus to the port. He pointed to a gal with a clipboard and said “she’s from RCCL”. He said we could probably get on the bus for $10 pp and that it was frustrating because no one told him that on his embarkation day, one week ago. My husband went and talked to the gal and it was true. Then, instead of her coming over to address the large line of people, my husband told everyone that the bus over there was a RCCL transfer to the port. Several people thanked him and we thanked the gentleman that told us.

 

Next, was my frustration with the coffee beverage package. In the last two years, I have planned a lot of trips. I thought I had purchased the coffee package but wasn’t sure. I looked at the app, the website and my boarding documents and couldn’t find anything so I thought I passed on it. Then on the 5^th day, the nice barista said I had bought the package and showed me my name on a list. What?! He said I should just ask for a refund at that point. It was such little money but off of principle, I did get a refund. I am at a loss why you have to go to the coffee bar to pick up your card. Why isn’t it delivered in the room with your excursion tickets? Or on the app? Guest services said they are working to add it to the app. The same thing with the internet package. I knew 100% that I bought it because I needed it for work. But there was nothing in the cabin or the app stating I purchased it or how to access it. We had to visit the technology center for this.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation: This was really smooth, probably better than most with the exception of HA. Although they encourage leaving luggage out the night before, we did self-assist.

 

Spa: The spa was nice and I had a great masseuse. They use the same products as CCL – Elemis. I didn’t use the gym but others in my group said they were impressed with the amount of equipment.

 

Casino: We preferred RCCL’s casino compared to other lines. It was large, had a decent sized non-smoking section and there were fans running to make it less smoky. We played slots and they seemed looser than others we’ve played. My DH enjoys watching (and sometimes playing) craps but they never had a table open. The main negative is that they didn’t have staff circulating to provide drinks.

 

Laundry: We definitely needed to do laundry since we stayed in Italy several days before the cruise. We asked Guest Services on embarkation day if there would be any specials during the cruise (similar to other cruise lines) and were told “no.” The prices seemed high compared to other lines but we sucked it up and paid over $100 to wash some items. Then what do you know, midway through the cruise, there was a special – fill the bag for $30. Grrr….

 

Excursions: We enjoyed our excursions. The only real negative is the website. There were no reviews. And they really need to put their transfers as excursions like other lines to avoid the problem mentioned above.

 

Food: This was very disappointing. Definitely the worst of all five lines. First, when the Windjammer is closed, very little options exist. And it closes at weird times. One example is when I needed to leave for an excursion at noon. I went up at 11:00 a.m. thinking I’ll get something to eat. Nope, it was closed from 11:00 a.m. to noon. The only option I had was the little sandwich place by the pool or the coffee bar. I had my choice of a small focaccia sandwich or a smoked salmon on croissant. I tried the former but it was inedible. Luckily, I had protein bars in my cabin. Similarity, the Windjammer closed at night. The same place by the pool had pizza. But we all agreed we’ve had better frozen pizza. We missed Guy’s, the Blue Iguana and Neapolitan style pizza. And no 24-hour soft serve. Lastly, there is a charge for room service. Big, big bummer.

 

The food in the dining room was hit or miss. Some days I would say it was the best of all five, some days it was awful. I ordered the filet for $16.95 one night and it was fabulous. My friend ordered a medium rare steak and it was burnt.

 

Entertainment: Disappointing compared to the others. While I’m not a big “show” person, several in our party are. They only had one big show. They talked to the dancers one day and the crew said they normally do three shows in a week but with the pandemic they’re down to one. I asked my friends that have been on several cruises since the pandemic and the other lines are back to three shows a week.

 

It felt like there weren’t many activities planned. We had a very port-intensive itinerary so maybe that’s why. We didn’t see much of the Cruise Director – some even wondered if we had one.

 

Pool: Both pools were at a good temperature and were not overly crowded the times I was there. I enjoyed the covered pool to escape some of the sun. I don’t understand why the main pool has no shallow end for kids. It’s over 5 ft deep. The hot tubs were better than most other lines – they were actually hot.

 

The screen for the outdoors movies needs replaced badly. It’s pixilated and looks like the original from the time the ship was built. One member from our group tried to watch a movie at night but gave up. They were just in dry dock – not sure why they didn’t replace it then. They should just turn it off – it seems more embarrassing to show it the way it is.

 

Crew: The staff all seemed to try really hard and put on smiles. But you could tell something was off. Some of our friends heard others discussing how short-staffed they were and RCCL just can’t get enough employees. Our wait staff was not good at all (again, very nice). All the table around us consistently ordered later than us but we were the last served – sometimes a whole ½ hour behind. Our room steward was wonderful.

 

Cabins: Our cabin was an aft balcony and I thought it was really nice. The storage space in the bathroom was lacking but it felt like our couch was larger than other lines. I’m not a fan of the slider’s lock. Others have mentioned getting locked outside and we almost did that to our son when my DH and I left the cabin.

 

We had friends with 4 in their cabin, a spacious balcony. Instead of a trundle or beds coming from the ceiling, the sofa folded out in a futon style. They said it was hard and made sleep nearly impossible.

 

I did like the television program options. They had some really quirky shows – it seemed many one season series that I never heard of but got sucked into watching.

 

Conclusion: All 11 of us agree that RCCL is our least favorite cruise line that we’ve sailed. There were even some in our group that had sailed RCCL previously and said something was very off from their past experiences. We won’t be sailing with her again, even if we get free offers (we get plenty of free offers from CCL and HA). The icing on the cake is that I just had time today to complete the survey and what do you know, it says it’s expired – after only disembarking 8 days ago from an international cruise. Heavy sigh.

Interesting feedback.  I’ll just say one thing.  I don’t think you can judge an entire cruise line by one ship.  If I did only one Carnival cruise and it was on the Pride, I’m guessing my view would be vastly different than if I was on the Mardi Gras.  
 

My guess is if you were on an Oasis Class ship most of your review would be vastly different.  I hear loyal Royal folks talk poorly about Carnival only to realize they had one experience on one of the older ships.  So their views aren’t really reflective of all the Carnival ships.  You simply can’t judge a cruise line when you go one of their older and smaller class ships.  I think this is probably a very reasonable view and judgement of this ship.  But not Royal overall.   Like carnival, the older Royal ships lack a bunch of things the new ships have.  

[DrSea]

I strongly prefer RCCL for the flow rider. It's a blast and I always have fun. I thought about buying my own flow rider but decided to just sail with RCCL more often. It would be easier than to maintain the flow rider

[RoperDK]

Well, I am late to this thread.  We were on Mardi Gras last October, our 25th Carnival cruise.  We had an Ocean Suite and twenty years of Carnival sailings on all Carnival ship classes except Vista Class.  We have our 25th milestone cruise on Mardi Gras next January.  If there is no improvement from our last several Carnival cruises, it will be our last.  We had previously cruised on NCL, Princess, and RCL.  Didn't care for NCL.  Princess was too boring for us, but much better in the service department.  RCL is our go to now.  Food in the MDR and Windjammer is so much better to us.  Carnival does have more free fast food options, which are great.  However, RCL has free pizza and Cafe Promenade or Park Cafe with great free options.  Lately, service is much better on Royal.  Royal's loyalty program and casino program are great.  I didn't have this opinion of Carnival 5 years ago.  It has slowly degraded in quality and that was before Covid.  Royal is overall more expensive, but that is worth it for the cruise experience we are looking for.  YMMV.         

[TheSeagoer]

I think Rccl has classier feeling ships. I was on the panorama and it was nice. I would do either

Edited July 16, 2022 by TheSeagoer
Error

[rrraydon]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:03 AM, Stick93 said:

The one difference that puts Royal ahead of Carnival are the passengers. Had a few situations on carnival where I was afraid for my life (no joke) and security was a joke. The diversity on the ship sometimes can attracts a rough crowd. Never had that on Royal. 

Exactly why I switched to only booking on Royal. I'm Platinum on CCL and Diamond Plus on Royal, so I've cruised both lines a lot over the years. I'm just fed up with the class of passengers on Carnival. I've booked three cruises over the next 8 months, all three are on Royal.

[Stick93]

 

21 hours ago, rrraydon said:

Exactly why I switched to only booking on Royal. I'm Platinum on CCL and Diamond Plus on Royal, so I've cruised both lines a lot over the years. I'm just fed up with the class of passengers on Carnival. I've booked three cruises over the next 8 months, all three are on Royal.

Just got off Royal again and I am amazed at their product - Oasis is a real game changer!  But I have to say these stupid speakers everyone brings to blast what they believe is amzaing music are the worst - they have made their way to royal and nobody stopped them even in the adult only areas

 

My next cruise is on carnival... We shall see!

 

[FloatingFour]

Like the OP, our first RCL cruise was on the BOTS out of Ravenna but on July 3.  We are new to cruising having only been on CCL 4 times, 2 before and 2 after the shutdown.  We spent the week wondering if the differences we saw were CCL v RCCL, Mediterranean v Caribbean or Dream Class v Radiance Class. Here are some of our thoughts to piggy back on this thread. 

 

Appearance:  We really liked the look of the Brilliance.  She is much prettier than the Dream class ships we have sailed.  She did not look like she was ten years older while walking around the ship.

Communication:  I wish RCCL advertised the shuttle from Ravenna to the port.  I had seen several mentions of one online but nothing from RCCL.  Opted not to show up at the train station “hoping” it would be running.  Instead, my hotel had a driver’s contact and set up transportation for us.  (I have his business card if anyone is interested.)
Early in the week, RCCL asked passengers for their departure transportation plans.  This included a shuttle FROM the port to the train station.  I paid for this transfer as soon as I saw it.  Mid-week, RCCL notified the passengers of a newly scheduled rail strike on our debarkation day for the Ravenna area. Our train trip to Venice would not be available to us due to the strike.  RCCL offered several new transportation options to both Bologna and Venice.  We ended up on a bus to the Venice transportation hub (Tronchetto).

 

Embarkation/Debarkation:  I agree this was very smooth.  We arrived early due to our ride to the port and having purchased the KEY program.  We were one of the first people on board.  Even with all the various departure transportation options, debarkation seems to move smoothly.  We did leave our luggage the night before (11PM v Midnight on CCL).  We did not see the crowds of people with suitcases filling all the common areas like we have seen on CCL, either.

 

Casino:  CCL casinos are always busy and smokey.  We hardly saw anyone in it on the Brilliance.  This may be the location.  We didn’t need to go through it to get anywhere we wanted to be.  On the Dream class ships, it is hard to avoid being between the Atrium and Ocean Plaza.

 

Food:  Overall, we did not like the food\food options\service on the BOTS.  The MDR waitstaff was not very good.  The assistants were better than the head waiters.  The abilities of the baristas working the coffee bar varied from day to day.  We had no consistency in the Frappuccino’s we ordered.  Need an expresso or americano?   No problem.  Anything else?  Good luck getting a drinkable drink.  We aren’t drinkers so we don’t challenge bartenders with off menu drinks.  But when a non-alcoholic drink is listed on the bar menu, I expect the bartender to know what it is and how to make it.  The one alcoholic drink I ordered, Bahama Mama from the pool bar, had to go through two bartenders to know what should be in the drink.
We did like the selection of MDR menu items available everyday if the rotating menu did not have anything we wanted to eat.  We missed the variety of food options available on the Dream ships.  The limited selections in the Café Latte-Tudes or Park Café were not worth eating.  We like being able to grab a Guy’s and fries after returning from an excursion or some pizza or a grilled sandwich after the late show.  Nothing like this on the BOTS. 
One good thing…mounds of crispy bacon in the breakfast buffet every morning!!! (And for my DW, Nutella and Croissants.)

 

Entertainment:  We saw the same Playlist Productions from July 2018 to March of 2022.  We were ready for something new.  We enjoyed the shows we could see, especially the live band accompanying the singers.  We were not able to see all that we wanted to because of RCCL’s timing.  CCL is good to have 2 shows at night for people at either dining time.  Only one showtime on the Brilliance made it difficult to get through dinner at a normal dinner time AND catch the show.  
We also felt there were not as many activities throughout the day.  Or at least not as many that we were interested in.
We also did not know the cruise director when we first saw him.  We are used to having the CD visible all over the ship and announcing activities and events.  All we saw him do was start the ‘parties’ and introduce the evening show.  Anyone could do these jobs so what is special about the RCCL CD’s?

 

Crew:  We did notice a lower level of competency in this ships crew as mentioned before under food.  We did not see this in the two CCL trips post-covid.  Another thing we noticed was missing was the post-covid cleaning we saw everywhere on the CCL ships.  You could not go 5 minutes without someone coming by wiping down the high touch areas.  We saw drink glasses left all over the BOTS that we never saw on our 2 post-covid CCL trips.  Our cabin steward was excellent and we had missed having both morning and evening room refreshs. 

 

Passengers:  Our fellow passengers were a calmer, quieter bunch than we have joined sailing out of Galveston on CCL.  We also didn’t spend very much time on the pool deck this trip so we may have self-quarantined ourselves from the crazies.  Maybe it is a smaller ship.  Maybe it is the European clientele.  Maybe it is the port heavy itinerary.  The overall vibe was calmer that any of our CCL trips.

 

This may seem like a lot of negativity but we are not given up on RCCL.  We are looking at catching the Adventure of the Seas out of Galveston sometime next year.  That way we can have a similar itinerary, clientele, ship size we are familiar with to better compare the two cruise lines. 

[Trueblueky]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:03 AM, Stick93 said:

The one difference that puts Royal ahead of Carnival are the passengers. Had a few situations on carnival where I was afraid for my life (no joke) and security was a joke. The diversity on the ship sometimes can attracts a rough crowd. Never had that on Royal. 

 

[Trueblueky]

We kinda like diversity.

[TheSeagoer]

4 hours ago, Trueblueky said:

 

 I received a cruise credit from carnival because of an event on board

[DrSea]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:04 PM, rrraydon said:

Exactly why I switched to only booking on Royal. I'm Platinum on CCL and Diamond Plus on Royal, so I've cruised both lines a lot over the years. I'm just fed up with the class of passengers on Carnival. I've booked three cruises over the next 8 months, all three are on Royal.

I don't get why anyone could only be loyal to one brand.

 

Can you elaborate?

 

I always shop lowest price/highest convenience/best fitting itinerary. I have done ~25 cruises and just don't really see the value in remaining loyal to one brand. I like variety and the perks aren't enough to sway me to remain loyal to one brand only.

 

Have you tried other brands like HAL, PCL, X, VV, Viking, etc? If not, what's keeping you from trying them and just being loyal to royal?

[KmomChicago]

On 6/21/2022 at 10:15 AM, pc_load_letter said:

Interesting thread. We've cruised all lines but with being in socal, we generally take Carnival since they are closest and often cheapest.

 

We looked at RCL out of San Pedro and the cost was almost triple of what Carnival was priced at for the same length cruise (Mexican riviera).

 

I do want to try the Oasis class at some point and we do enjoy NCL but I am nervous for our cruise next month. We upgraded to a balcony and now everyone has me paranoid. Our March cruise on Miracle was nice but the ship was almost empty. I am thinking Radiance will be full.

We sailed Radiance in June and it was full, no problems. I hope your July cruise was (or is) all good. The ship looks sparkly new and there were many food options which we enjoyed. 

[pc_load_letter]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

We sailed Radiance in June and it was full, no problems. I hope your July cruise was (or is) all good. The ship looks sparkly new and there were many food options which we enjoyed. 

 

We had a great time thanks! Can't wait to go again.

[TheSeagoer]

I have cruised RCCL twice, jewel and serenade.  very classy ships

[UPNYGuy]

Agree completely with the food comments. Aside from Holland America, we find Royal Caribbean to have the worst food at sea.