AZchieffan

We are on Radiance of the Seas this December and we had an excursion booked through Royal that went to Mount Sunday ( where Edoras was built). But last week we got an email from Royal that the excursion was cancelled. They said the vendor that does this excursion cancelled. We are bummed that we wont be able to see it now.

Been using WhatsApp for years now to communicate with my best friend in Italy and my cousin in Japan.

So many options you all have given. Gonna spend the day in and around downtown our first day, so the oyster bar sounds good for lunch, check out a couple pubs around the Rocks and dinner some where nice close to the hotel (probably not the Quay unlesss we some how get lucky at the casino on our cruise). Next day we're going to head over to Manly for the day, so we will check out a a few places there. It's our first time to Australia so we would like try as many local cuisines as we can. Thank you everyone for all of the great reponses

We are spending a couple nights in Sydney post cruise and was looking for recommendations for a nice restaurant in the CBD. We don't mind spending a few $$ for something nice.

We too always sailed Carnival, but 2 years ago we did our first Royal cruise on the Adventure of the Seas out of Puerto Rico and absolutely loved it. We really enjoyed the Adventure of the Seas and I am sure you will too.

Yes, they are the same thing.

 

If your cruise goes from Auckland down to Fiordland, you will enter Dusky Sound in the morning, Doubtful Sound at lunchtime or early afternoon, and Milford Sound mid-afternoon.

 

If you're coming across from Australia direct to Fiordland the order will be reversed, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound.

 

I recommend being up on deck before the ship enters Milford Sound. You'll see why when you get there. I also recommend being on the port side going in. Look out for the seals on Seal Rock a short way into the harbour, especially if it's afternoon when the sun is on the rock. You'll also have a high probability of seeing the resident pod of dolphins, they seem to like cruise ships.

 

I've been to Milford Sound four times - twice on a cruise (and we'll hopefully see it again in April), once by small plane, and once by road. The initial impact of entering the sound from the sea is the most spectacular way to experience it IMHO.

Question for you Oz,

I have seen you mention about entering Milford is not to be missed. We have an AFT balcony on the Radiance, should we go up top to see what you are mentioning or can we see it from our balcony?

Restaurante Casita Miramar in San Juan is really good, but only open for dinner

I did Snuba on the Big Island of Hawaii. I am an advid snorkler and my wife has been trying to get me to get certified in Scuba. So while we were on an excursion, they offered Snuba for an extra charge. I am so glad I did. was able to go down about 20ft deep and after I did it, I definitely want to get my Scuba certififaction.

Hope you enjoy. It was worth the extra charge in my opinion

Radiance of the Seas is currently sailing Australia/New Zealand

We were in 7447 on the Glory on the Nov. 3rd sailing. My GF had her jewlery in the safe, but she had them in jewlery boxes. I use the safe all cruise long and I emptied it out the last day. So it had to have been the people who sailed after us.

I will double check with my GF and make sure she didn't lose a ring. Pretty sure she didn't as she never mentioned losing anything.

I had it on my Splendor cruise back in May, and it was a blast. I think there was a total of 20 teams and it got pretty insane. It was called the Adult Quest Game so no kiddies and they did it at midnight. The best part was my 60 year old friend dressed in heels, lip stick and a bra doing a congo line with other males dressed the same.:D

Thanks Azchieffan! I'm reading your comments too! I can hardly wait to get on the Splendor. September isn't getting here soon enough.

Your welcome. I love Cruise Critic for just that. All the information I have received from here really does help. All my friends that cruised with me would always ask " where did you find that information?"

We've had your time dining twice now on Paradise and we also loved it! So I'm very pleased that you were happy with it on the Splendor. Now I know I made the right choice.

 

Do you remember what other movies were shown on the Movies Under the Stars? Were you cold while watching the movie?

 

What were your favorite food places?

 

Thanks so much! :)

I dont remember all the movies, but I know one night it was GI Joe, and on another night it was the second Twighlight movie. In the cabin, they were playing Hurt Locker, Terminator Salvation, and some others. The only problem with the ones in the cabin is they never listed what time they were playing. We were under the stars except on the last night which was the night I went. They provide blankets for you if you need one. The only thing that was odd was pop corn was $1.50. You can grab a whole pizza pie for free, but a little thing of pop corn $1.50! Kinda funny.

My favorite food places was the MDR of course, and I loved the deli, and mongolian grill. I was looking forward to the burrito bar, and on the last day I went to get one and they were closed:(. So next year when I go back, I will grab one first thing. My buddy got a steak and shrimp burrito, and it looked really really good. I did also enjoyed the steak house and will reserve that again just so I can try something new off the menu.

A PERFECT 'copy&paste' post! Thanks so much for the info! And re: zip lining....that 'long walk' before is good to know...and would most likely eliminate that from my 'to do' list! Although, healthier than ever, have some restrictions due to leg....I've just learned to 'live WITH it'....and know that 'what & what not' to do! There's plenty I can do....thanks again for the info...esp. about evening shows...those sound good too! And...hadn't even thought about Steakhouse....which night did you go? (since our itinerary is the same)

Also...(I keep thinking of other ?'s =) Did you ever watch the 'outdoor movies'? And....did they have the 'reggae-style' music in Lido deck for sail away? I always enjoy having a DOD and listening to the music....I get 'so in the mood' before the ship even sails!!! Some of our funniest stories are from the first few hours on the ship!

I found a web site that showed the menus for each night. I choose Tue. night to do the steak house as it was in my opinion a not so good night in the MDR. We did watch a movie on the last night, it was Avatar which we love. Only thing I didnt like about the movie on deck was the little noises going on around, like teens being teens, but still enjoyed the movie. And oh yes the still have Ragge/carribean music playing before and during sail away. They actually have a sail away party on lido. We didnt go as we had are own little party at one of the forward decks. And I agree about getting so in the mood as soon as I get on board. Like the first waiter I saw selling a DOD said to me" It's time to get drunk"! A couple of DOD's and a couple of my own from the bottle of bacardi I bought from the Bon Voyage dept. and I was well on my way. Oh....and the bottle of champaign I popped at sail away...:p

THRILLED to find this post! I 'searched' STONE ISLAND....read about that on another Splendor post...we're sailing Aug 1st...would love to hear about your cruise experience...here's a couple questions:

 

1) Is Stone Island where u rented the ATVs...and where 'Lety's' is? Is that all the same destination on Stone Island? (as u can see...I don't know a thing abt Stone Island yet!) ...and the shrimp comment has me 'sold'! We're an 'ATV family' (love Pismo Beach!)...so that sounds interesting too!

2) Zip lining....would someone who has had a total knee replacement (me) be 'approved' to do zip lining? As long as I don't have a 'hard landing'...I would be ok doing it!!! That's why I don't want to do parasailing...a little afraid of 'landing' on that 'new' knee! (8months post-op)

3) Did you go to any 'resort' for the day? Or hear of any good options for that?

4) ANY Splendor info will be wonderful!

 

I would love a list of 'don't miss this on the Splendor' from you!!! I'm keeping a 'copy&paste' folder of info that I will print and save...to help with making choices for our cruise activities. It's always helpful to review others' experiences/opinions....then I feel like I'm making a more informed decision. Nothing better than 'been there, done that' kind of info shared by others!

 

And...I like your positive attitude!:) I believe that when we treat people nicely...you get that in return. Have always had 'good experiences' on our Carnival cruises....and the 'not so good things'...have become 'faded memories!'...far outweighed by the GOOD! :p

 

Thanks in advance for sharing:)

Karen,

Would love to share anything I can with you. To your first question, I found most my information thru searching CC like yourself. When you get out of the cruise terminal, take a left down the street for about a half a mile, at the end of the road you will see a sign for the water taxi, its $2 pp for a round trip. Once they drop you off just walk over the hill and you will see the beach ahead of you. Keep walking down the beach until you see Lety's, it's right before Victor's. Once there grab a table and a couple deck chairs and enjoy. Just ask your server if you want to use there bogey boards. The ATV's will be all over the beach. Just ask one of the guys that owns them to bring how ever many you need. We needed 5. They were $35 for the hour. Once you cruise down the beach you will see some trails that head off into the coconut plantation. The beach goes for miles. Great riding for sure.

Zip lining in PV. There is quite a bit of walking on the first 7 zip lines. We all had to catch are breath before zipping along. If you do what the guides tell you, you wont be doing any landing and wont have to worry about your knee. Your in a cradle postion and they dont want you to put out your feet or legs at the end to prevent injury, so no hard landing.

Didnt go to any resorts. I did see some info on the Mexican riviera board on some.

As for the Splendor, we just made the most of what we could. The first sea day was a little chilli, but warmed up later in the day and on tuesday. On those days we loved laying out at the rear lido pool area which is 18 and older only. At night we loved the R rated comedian, the adult quest game show, Vroom, and the hypnosis who had two shows, one on thursday night for everyone, and a R rated midnight show on Friday. We also did the steak house which was very good. If you have any more questions, I would be more then happy to answer for you.:) Mike.

I hope you had a great cruise!!!

Yes we did, thank you.

This was my 7th cruise ( 4th on Carnival) and this cruise was probably the best one yet! Everything we planned went smooth. The ship is beautiful, clean and the staff was very nice. I couldnt find one complaint. Loved the ports, zip lining in PV was a great experience, Stone Island in Mazatlan was probably are favorite day. Hung out at Lety's were they let us use there bogey boards, rented ATV's for an hour and ate the best coconut shrimp I have ever had in my life! It was so good that I am thinking of booking the Splendor again just to go back for that shrimp, and thats no lie.

I think Your Time Dining has started on the Splendor. Has anyone here tried it yet?

Just got off the May 30th-Jun 6th sailing, and it was the first sailing that the Splendor had your time dining. We loved it! We were able to request the same waiter ( Lindo, who was just amazing, really went out of his way) every night.

I enjoy the your time dining because it gives you the chance to be flexible.

We will be on in 18 days, and I will make sure to come back and post for others.

I had a filet and a lobster tail in the main dining room on the Spirit for NO extra fee! We had a res at the steakhouse but we ended up canceling it cause I saw no reason to pay for what I could get for free.

True, but you can't get a 24 ouce porterhouse in the dining room.