Radiance-Hawaii Oct 2007

[CTCcruiserr]

You can expect the disembarkation to get worse - why? because just like not enforcing a dress code in the dining room no one cares about the luggage tag color of those trying to leave the ship - RCCL personnel look the other way - never even attempting to control the disembarkation. Everyone feels they are entitled to be first which causes individuals to push and shove to disembark. This is going to become even more serious as the ships keep getting bigger and nobody wants to wait

[rednancy1]

You can expect the disembarkation to get worse - why? because just like not enforcing a dress code in the dining room no one cares about the luggage tag color of those trying to leave the ship - RCCL personnel look the other way - never even attempting to control the disembarkation. Everyone feels they are entitled to be first which causes individuals to push and shove to disembark. This is going to become even more serious as the ships keep getting bigger and nobody wants to wait

 

 

This kind of makes me dread sailing on the bigger ships.:(

[pinoy1]

I too was on the Radiance to Hawaii on Oct. 21. There were problems on board but my wife and I took them in stride and wouldn't want them to ruin our vacation. Lots of folks were really discouraged and blamed RCI for the inconveniences although the cruise line wasn't really totally at fault. The following are my observations:

1. Embarkation in San Pedro was 30 minutes. Not bad.

2. We were advised of the change in itinerary upon embarkation, thus, we had to call various tour providers and rental car companies for cancellations and rebooking. Our cruisemate from London was not able to rebook a Luau due to the change. The couple was really discouraged since they were looking forward to a Luau.

3. Although we felt bad of missing Hilo, the captain made the right decision of looking after the welfare of the passengers.

4. The 4 hour delay disembarking in Lahaina appears to be the local authorities fault. We missed going to Hana and the crater tour. We were able to go the Old Lahaina Luau though and some shopping at the dock.

5. The Lahaina embarkation at 9:30pm was very long due to the same TSA personnel problem. It took 1.5 hours to get to the tender.

6. Deck 8 portside had water on the hallway for 3 days. The staff had to use blowers to dry the carpeting.

7. The bathrooms were clogged up two days in both the port and starboard side. The toilet vacuum suction wasn't working.

8. We had brown water coming out of the faucet one day.

9. Can't complain about the food, presentation and quality. They were excellent and we were very satisfied.

10. Entertainment was excellent. Anselmo, the Filipino piano player at the schonner bar and the Filipino band, Musik Express were professionals and provided us with excellent pop and 60's music. Johnny Thunder, formerly from the Drifters and Freddie Roman, comedian from the Catskills of New York were very good.

11. The Captain informed us religiously at 12 noon daily of the status.

12. Kirk, the Cruise Director, was one of the best. He is all around the ship and very active in participating in all activities.

13. I commend all the staff for their good work ethics and customer service.

14. Yes, we also received our towel animals everyday.

 

We are Platinum members of RCI and have tried other cruiselines on our 24 cruises. All our cruises were great. Minor inconveniences do not disturb us that much since we always keep an open mind.

 

The problems encountered will not stop us from cruising RCI again.

[Don Pedro]

We were on the same cruise as Majesty Fan and would classify our experience somewhere in between Lexi's experience and that of the original poster. We are also diamond + and honestly didn't think this cruise was up to RCCL standards. Nevertheless, we had a good time and will continue to sail with RCCL.

[SA Traveler]

We were also on this cruise and I agree more with pinoy1 than the OP but I do agree that debarkation was a mess. I actually thought the food was quite good on this cruise and I personally like the strong Seattle's Best coffee.

 

The captain and CD were GREAT! In 17 cruises I have never seen a captain so visible and involved in activities and Kirk, the CD was like the Energizer Bunny.

 

I don't believe the confusion in Maui was because the ship wasn't expected. The captain told us the first day that they were able to change after being told we wouldn't be able to tender in on the original date.

[Crosboro]

We were on the Radiance to Hawaii on Sept 28 and our debarkation line was the worst I've ever seen also. It appeared that everyone regardless of tag color got on line at once. We stood on line for over 2 hours before we were able to get off the ship and we had "white tags".

 

I guess I don't understand how this can happen. Was it because Immigration/customs only sent in 2 agents? Was it because RCI didn't enforce the tag color rules?

 

How would you suggest RCI enforce the tag color "rule"? The tags are on the luggage, so how would they know who had what color? Other than asking everyone what color their tag was and getting honest responses. Perhaps they should include an extra tag and make everyone have one with their documents. That's about the only way I can think of. But even then, RCI wouldn't enforce it--they don't want to "offend" anyone. Friends of ours complained about their dining mates who showed up on formal night in shorts and t-shirts. The staff wouldn't do anything as the didn't want to "offend" the couple. Our friends said they and those around them were offended by their appearance. No luck.

Just like the deck chair "rules". No enforcement there, either. Had to laugh at one idiot who approached me and said "y'all move ma towels". To which I said, "We've been sitting here for 45 minutes now. What don't you understand about not reserving chairs?" Yes, perhaps a bit mean, but enough is enough.

[cruisenfever]

We sailed on Radiance to Alaska on the Member's cruise and disembarked on September 28 in San Pedro. Once we were allowed off the ship, the process for us anyways was flawless. We found our luggage immediately and a porter was there to help us to the bus. All buses were lined up according to airline. We had the first seats and were pulling away from the pier within 15 minutes.

 

Now, disembarking the ship was a completely different story. Self debarkation was supposed to start at 7:30. However, because there were several names being called over and over again to report to Guest Relations, debarkation did not start until 9:00. Once it started, it went rather quickly, as we were off the ship by 9:30.

 

We've heard horror stories about disembarking in San Pedro, but I have to say, it was better than we disembarked the Radiance in San Diego last April.

 

I'm sorry to hear that the Hawaii cruise had so many problems during the cruise and at debarkation.

[ligil]

How would you suggest RCI enforce the tag color "rule"? The tags are on the luggage, so how would they know who had what color? Other than asking everyone what color their tag was and getting honest responses. Perhaps they should include an extra tag and make everyone have one with their documents. That's about the only way I can think of. But even then, RCI wouldn't enforce it--they don't want to "offend" anyone. Friends of ours complained about their dining mates who showed up on formal night in shorts and t-shirts. The staff wouldn't do anything as the didn't want to "offend" the couple. Our friends said they and those around them were offended by their appearance. No luck.

Just like the deck chair "rules". No enforcement there, either. Had to laugh at one idiot who approached me and said "y'all move ma towels". To which I said, "We've been sitting here for 45 minutes now. What don't you understand about not reserving chairs?" Yes, perhaps a bit mean, but enough is enough.

That reminds me of what I found to be a problem on this cruise and that was the strong cigarette odor in some hallways due to people smoking in their staterooms. They might have had doors open or otherwise they may have been chain smoking for so much to drift out into the hallways. My eyes were often burning when I walked from the stairs to my stateroom. I requested that they use air fresheners in this hallway and our room steward did his best but it still smelled.

 

RCCL will implement a rule in Jan. 2008 that no smoking is allowed in staterooms. However our room steward told me that he doesn't believe that this rule will be enforced.

 

So much for all of the rules...

[cruiserbryce]

Once we were allowed off the ship, the process for us anyways was flawless. We found our luggage immediately and a porter was there to help us to the bus.

 

our experiences in LA have been the same...Miami and FLL took a lot longer than we've ever had to wait in LA

[SPARKLE10]

Hi:

 

We were also on this cruise. We have cruised 42 times, 15 on RCCL, and this was our 5th time on the Radiance. Dispite everything that happened, we had a really good time. There was only one thing that really bothered us and it was an issue of us not being able to use our balcony because of the smoke that came our way every time we tried to sit outside. There was so much smoke I thought perhaps it was more than two people smoking, but there were only two and they were out on their balcony all the time.....I'm not saying that they don't have that right; I'm just saying that there was not one time we were able to use our balcony. I think it will just get worse after January, as that will be the only place for smokers, as they will not be able to smoke in their cabins. We walked past their door and the smoke was so bad, we could smell it coming out from underneath their door and I'm not exaggerating.

 

We also had to stop for 3 hours to get more fuel in Hawaii. They told everyone not to smoke on the side where they were getting the fuel and not to use your balcony for smoking. The very next day when I looked out our balcony, there was a book of matches on our balcony............

 

We noticed yellowish/brown water coming out of our bathroom faucets, so we always drank bottled water. They had fans set up in our hallway as the carpets seemed to be always wet. The Captain had to make an announcement about the toilets as people were again, flushing things they shouldn't have been. We took the itinerary change in stride as I know that sometimes these things happen; but one of the main reasons I booked this cruise was the two days and overnight in Maui, which ended up being about half the time. When we did get to go ashore, everyone told us that they hold his fishing tournament at the same time every year, so they didn't know how our Captain couldn't have known this.

 

I thought the food was very good (my husband and I both gained quite a bit of weight dispite all the walking that we did); we didn't go to Portofinos or Chops, as our waiters were great and the food was also. I thought the entertainment just average, and our room steward was very efficient.

 

It's funny how people on the same cruise will have different perspectives concerning horrible cruise versus good cruise. We had a good cruise, but it was because we didn't let things bother us that much...execpt for the balcony issue. I have to say that in all of the cruises we've taken, the debarkation process was the very worst I have ever seen. No one seemed to know what they were doing. It wasn't as bad for us as everyone else as we had valet service and we are Diamond members. I felt sorry for everyone else.

 

No one mentioned the free drinks they gave everyone in the Schooner Bar for the delay in getting off the ship in Lahaina. They were doing this for a couple of hours that day.

 

There were chair hogs everywhere, but I see that on all cruises. We would go to the Solarium Pool and I just put my towel by the pool and enjoyed my swim; but I noticed on a lot of the lounges, towels were there all day with no one using them. There was a sign saying no reserving of lounge chairs, but no one ever enforced this rule; the same with the outdoor pool. We didn't see any kids in there, so it was pretty quiet just the way people like it.

 

We didn't think much of the menu in the dining room at lunch time, so we went to the Seaview Cafe most days. That was a great place to eat. There was only one night in the dining room that I couldn't find anything I liked to order and out of 14 nights with no repeats, I didn't think that was too bad.

 

Someone mentioned earlier that they dreaded the bigger ships, if the debarkation process was so bad on the Radiance. Well, we were on the Freedom of the Seas last New Years Eve, and the debarkation process was very smooth, quick and efficient.

 

Happy Cruising....Sparkle 10

[senior lady]

That's whats nice about Princess. They have a special lounge for Platinum/elite passengers. They have complimentary coffee, juice and assorted pastries. Depending on what ship, they also have CNN on the big screen. You can also bring your guests into this room, if they aren't entitled to be there.

 

It sure makes time fly when your waiting to disembark:D

[Don Pedro]

We had really looked forward to sailing on the Radiance. We had read so many positive comments about this being a wonderful ship and how it was the favorite of so many cruisers.

 

Everyone's experience is a little different. While we enjoyed the cruise we really didn't think the ship was up to RCCL standards. Some of our cabin furniture had definately seen better days. We had two separate water leaks, the later one required an extremely noisy carpet dryer for a full day.

Our water leaks were not unique they were routinely happening on several decks as were the complaints of brown water from the faucets.

 

We had booked two shore excursions thru RCCL - both were cancelled. These things happen but we were slightly disappointed.

 

We thought the food and service in the Windjammer and at the Seaview Cafe were excellent. The couple nights we ate in the dining room the food was luke warm and the service very slow. That was just our particular wait staff. We know most passengers probably received excellent service.

 

We thought that the Captian was amusing and informative and Kirk Detwilder is certainly one of the very best cruise directors. We though that the staff at the purser's desk did a great job as did our concierge. We were very disappointed with the loyality ambassador. She was the worst we have ever had on an RCCL ship.

 

As many have said debarking from the ship was horrible. The ship has no control over how immigration agents are sent to process the passengers. But, they are responsible to route the passengers thru immigration in an organized manner. They totally failed.

 

Will we sail on the Radiance again? Yes, we are doing a B2B in January. We booked this cruise quite a while ago. We are looking forward to the itinerary and this is our favorite class of ship. We must, however, admit we have many concerns. .

 

Will we sail from San Pedro again? We don't think so!

[cruisenfever]

That's whats nice about Princess. They have a special lounge for Platinum/elite passengers. They have complimentary coffee, juice and assorted pastries. Depending on what ship, they also have CNN on the big screen. You can also bring your guests into this room, if they aren't entitled to be there.

 

It sure makes time fly when your waiting to disembark:D

RCI has the same for their Platinum/Diamond/Diamond+ guests. On Radiance class it is usually on Deck 5 upper level of the Dining Room. There is coffee, juices and assorted pastries.

 

 

We noticed yellowish/brown water coming out of our bathroom faucets, so we always drank bottled water. They had fans set up in our hallway as the carpets seemed to be always wet. The Captain had to make an announcement about the toilets as people were again, flushing things they shouldn't have been.

The "brown water" happens all the time and is mainly due to the changing of tanks. If you let the water run for a few minutes, it disappears.

 

Toilets being clogged happens on just about every cruise.

[cliffday]

Just to clarify a couple of things. We are diamond members, have sailed many RCCL ships including Radiance on 4 other sailings. We have always enjoyed EVERY cruise we have been on.

 

There were many problems on this cruise, some totally unavoidable (weather in Hilo). But others such as the fishing tournament that caused so many problems were known about a year in advance by RCCL. They failed to do anything about it or notify anyone until we were already aboard.

 

When I say wicker ice cream parlor type chair on the balcony. That is what was there. We were told the normal blue chairs rip and they have no replacements.

 

Incidently, I did write a letter to RCCL (professional, not a ranting tirade). I explained all that happened and mentioned several good things as well as the bad. I have received no reply from RCCL. I wonder if they even care.

 

We'll probably cruise again, but it won't be the 2-3 cruises per year we have taken the last few years.

 

Iny any case, we are "over" this trip to Hawaii. Next time we go to Hawaii, we'll fly. We'll leave the cruising to the Caribbean or Mexico where it really dosen't matter if you miss a port.

[MoreCruisesNow]

I guess I have to wonder...

 

If CliffDay is such an experienced sailor, then surely he is aware that ships miss ports - delays are part of the game.

 

Actually, I went on the Rhapsody Hawaii sailing this fall and, though we had a couple of port issues also, it was a great cruise. Yes, we'll go back to Hawaii by air so we can spend more time in particular places, but short stays and missed/delayed ports are part of the cruise experience.

 

Whether it's the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska...wherever, missing a port is no fun...but neither is it the end of the world.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Wow! Just finished reading about the Hawaii cruise - my cruise - and I recognize some of the writers by their names and e-mails - believe me - every word is true!

 

We also sailed on the Radiance to Hawaii and we are also Diamond members. Everything mentioned - the mixup in dates, the clogged toilets, the bad water, missing a port, the chair hogs (worst I have ever seen), plus I could add to the list. We could not use our balcony for two afternoons (aft corner) because repairs were being made to the plexiglass (that really was annoying - actually could not even use the cabin). Major repairs such as that should not be done when guests are aboard.

 

When you have all these things go wrong in one cruise it gets to be very frustrating. Many things could have been improved upon.

 

RC had to know about the fishing tournament - enough said.

 

Missing a port due to weather was not an issue - passengers understood and we heard very few complaints.

 

The Lahaina mess probably was due in part to the TSA and security not being available. However, the tender lines on shore - waiting 1-1/2 hours - could have been better controlled by RC. Yes - the free bar on board was a nice gesture - but I sure could have used a bottle of water standing in line for 1-1/2 hours on both days to wait for the security and tender. Someone policing the line for people butting in would have also been appreciated.

 

Little things get people pretty mad after a while.

 

The food and drinks on board were fine - no problems there.

 

Diamond lounge was moved because of the number of people on board. The concierge or loyalty ambassador never showed up any time that we were there - and we were there every night before dinner. Again, the bar staff were great - but they should have had some support from "higher ups."

 

This was our first trip on the Radiance. We were on the Explorer in April this year, and Freedom November 2006. Everyone says she is a beautiful ship - she is - but honestly I like them all! I do think the Radiance is starting to show some wear. Furniture in our cabin was pretty "banged up" for example. Many of the lounge chairs needed to be re-upholstered.

 

Embarkation was not that bad - could have been better.

 

Disembarkation was a nightmare - and we were among the first ones off with valet luggage service. Never seen so much pushing and shoving. Time for RC to issue arm band tags to match luggage color tags and make you wear one on your wrist. There could not possibly have been the number of people who were claiming to be "valet" "white" or whatever. Again, no organization from RC. The lines got longer and people got madder!

 

So, was it a good cruise, of course - met some wonderful people and we always try to stay positive and take things in stride. However, this was not one of RC finer moments - it was not up to standard.

[Leafpeeper]

We sailed out of San Pedro on Vision of the Seas the winter after 9/11. Debarkation was horrific. They finger printed every foreigner and never separated US citizens from foreigners. I couldn't believe they didn't have a separate line for US citizens.

 

We sailed from San Pedro this past February and had a great debarkation on NCL Star. We were amazed how quickly we were off the ship--especially since there were 3 ships in port that day.

I have noticed embarkation is longer at San Pedro than other ports.