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Showing results for 'radiance' in content posted in Royal Caribbean International.
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We are sailing on the Radiance in Oct 2024. I am wondering if it has even updated recently or is it scheduled? Thank you.
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Any reviews of the sushi making class on Radiance? My granddaughter and her mom are considering it but they prefer vegetarian sushi - wondering if there are options? I was thinking of signing up the other grandkids for cupcake decorating at a similar time but it has consistently poor reviews. Thanks for input.
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At the suggestion of a CC administrator, this is posted in both the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean forums. It's long. And I apologize for that. ************************************ We wanted to make a trip to Alaska to visit family near Anchorage. Airfare from Texas was over $1300. However. We have a Companion Pass on Southwest, and lots of points. So, we decided to fly to Seattle on SWA, then Amtrak to Vancouver. We took Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) north, spent 9 days exploring Alaska, then took Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) south. The itinerary was almost the same, with the exception of a stop in Sitka northbound, and Ketchikan southbound. The short answer to who won in this review between Norwegian and Royal Caribbean? We thought upfront that Royal would be the winner, as they were our favorite budget cruise line. Nope. Norwegian kicked Royal Caribbean’s butt. Not even close. Read on for the details. Bias coming in: We’ve done this trip before, 16 years ago on Princess. We had a good time, but it turned us off Princess, and me in particular, off of cruising. It took over 10 years for us to go again. We’ve done 2 on RCCL and 2 on NCL. Our trip last summer had me betting on RCCL to win this one, because of how atrocious the food was last summer on NCL’s Star. And our RCCL trips out of Galveston had been fantastic. One pre Covid, one post. Cruise ships go against our core beliefs. We don’t like crowds, we don’t like touristy venues, we like to be off the beaten path. But somehow, they seem to work. Like jet skis. As sailors (we sailed our own boat to Panama), we despise them. But when you actually get a chance to ride one, they are a heck of a lot of fun. Cost: We went slightly over our budget of $1350 for each cruise (total for 2) when we booked, each was just over $1400 for an inside cabin. The ships. Spirit is NCL’s oldest ship, built in 1998. It was completely refurbished in 2020 (43 days). It might be the oldest, but it was readily apparent why many NCL regulars consider this their favorite. The ship belied its age. It looked and felt almost new. Everything worked, and it had modern upgrades. Radiance of the Seas, on the other hand, felt and looked like it’s age of about 20. Newer than Spirit by a few years. It had received a recent refurbishment, but it was just lipstick on a pig. Royal Caribbean either needs to refurbish it completely, or scrap it. It’s going in for a 2 week refurb later this year, but that’s not enough. The cabins: We had a crappy “ocean view” we’d managed to upgrade to on Norwegian. Deck 4, in the bilge, porthole view. But it was a better cabin than on Royal. Even better than our second cabin on Royal, both of which were balconies. Everything looked and felt nearly new. Like a 1 or 2 year old ship. Immaculately clean. A shower you can move around in. A comfortable bed. On Royal, our first cabin was a disaster. We’d upgraded with a weak bid on Royal Up, for $1000. Immediately upon entering, we noticed a sewage smell when opening the balcony door. There was liquid on the balcony. We pointed this out to our room steward, and he said he would report it. By evening it still wasn’t fixed, so we reported it to maintenance, along with a shower that went back and forth between hot and cold. Day 2, the same thing. Multiple reports, maintenance coming, no solution. For either problem. The balcony was unusable, and unsanitary. On an ALASKA cruise. I could see where the sewage was coming from, there was a leak in the overhead pipe. Pointing it out did nothing. Day 3, same old excrement. Several times. Even went down to reception to report it. Promises and promises. Day 4. I made a scene at reception. Finally got some attention, and by evening we were in a new cabin. But changing cabins is a pain in the butt, and takes time away from our vacation. In the new cabin, just down from the old one, the shower also went from cool to scalding, back and forth. Ship problems. Old ship, old plumbing. The bathroom had the typically despised circular shower, big enough for a 12 year old. And a shower curtain that didn’t do a great job at keeping water in the shower, but was fabulous at sticking to your butt. Both bath floors were soft from rotting subfloors, from the showers leaking. Because of this, the floor drains are uphill, and the bath floor is constantly a pool of water. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Speaking of baths, whatever both of the cruise lines put into those shower dispensers should be avoided. Neither of us have particularly sensitive skin, but both of us found the contents left us itching. We switched to bar soap. Bring your own shampoo. Conclusion: We would take an inside cabin on Norwegian vs a balcony on Royal. Sewage or not, Royal Caribbean. Hands down. Food: If you think that the cabins are where Norwegian won this head to head, you are mistaken. As previously noted, we expected Royal Caribbean to win the food war. After 12 days on Norwegian Star last summer in Iceland and Norway, where the food was just tragic, it’s what we expected. Footnote: Cruisers are still reporting atrocious food on Norwegian Star. The food on Norwegian Spirit was surprisingly good. Main Dining Room access is superb. Christian was our waiter for every meal, and he was the best waiter we’ve had on a cruise ship. Every meal was good or better. Many nights we’d eat dinner, go to a show, and then come back for dessert. And the desserts were very good. New for us was the ability to order a Cagney’s steak in the MDR for $15. It was a home run. Fabulous. Norwegian also has a 24 hour restaurant, “Local” on this ship, serving good quick bites. We had a great specialty dinner at Le Bistro. Always a hit. We rarely eat in the cafeterias. The food on RC Radiance in the MDR was good. Not as good as Spirit, but good. However. There are no extended hours restaurants on board Radiance. And no lunch service in the MDR except on sea days. As it was the only choice, we found ourselves in the Windjammer too much of the time. It bordered on inedible. Cheese and cold cuts were regularly found dried out and curling up. Eggs always overdone. Disgusting Pizza, and no Sorenntos. Really, really bad. We had FIVE specialty meals, for various reasons. Of the 5, only 1 was at all good, and that was Giovanni’s, which was very good. How the same filets can be great at one restaurant, and bland at Cagney’s is difficult to believe. We ate at Izumi the first night. They served a spider roll with a truly rotten soft shell crab in it. It ruined my evening. The rest was just OK. Our dinner at Samba Grill was terrible. They kept bringing us what we didn’t want, and always overcooked. They tried to serve us well done beef, and when we said no, rare or medium rare please, they came back out with medium-well. We gave up and walked out mid meal, and went to the MDR. We received no refund for our bad “specialty” meals. None. And they charged us $49 for that “complimentary” meal at Giovanni’s. Just now noticed that. Wow. We also noted that in spite of a full ship, RC Radiance specialty restaurants were 90-95% empty, with most of the dining guests crew members. A final point: Who decided to not serve real butter, as butter on RCCL? Another cost cut? We noticed. Entertainment: Again, we expected RCCL to win this one. And again, it wasn’t close. The shows on Radiance were poorly scripted, and not professionally executed. On Spirit, the sets were elaborate, cast truly professional. RCCL obviously isn’t spending money on talent. WiFi: This one is hard to judge. RCCL has Starlink, which as sailors who have recently crossed the ocean on our own boat, should have been a game changer. But their packages are expensive, and just didn’t suit our needs. As well, many reported spotty service. Starlink isn’t fully deployed, and northern latitudes are still not densely covered yet. We just used our Verizon cell plans in port. On NCL, you get 120 minutes free. It was slow, and often not available. But it worked. NCL is rolling out Starlink on their ships. Excursions: We found no real differences. NCL offers a credit towards excursions booked directly with them, as part of the “Free at Sea” package. But their excursions are more expensive than on Royal Caribbean, so it evens out. One huge note: Hubbard Glacier. Norwegian is known as “Chicken of the Sea”. We watched Princess and MCS ships pass us 12 miles out (I have a navigation app), and go right up to the glacier. Royal Caribbean got about 6 miles away, but still not as close as other cruise lines got. Frankly, after doing Glacier Bay a few years ago on Princess, they were both a disappointment compared to Glacier Bay. Drinks: We had the drink package on Norwegian, as part of the “Free at Sea”. The drink gratuities were included in our original booking. On Royal Caribbean, we chose the soda package ($20 a day each, plus gratuity), brought 2 bottles of wine onboard, and paid for drinks when we wanted them. The drink package on RCCL was over $1000 for the 2 of us. Less the soda package, it would have been $700 out of pocket. We drank about half of that. But doing it again, we’d probably buy the package. Just for the hassle. Norwegian wins this one handily. Crushed it. Embarkation/Debarkation: Almost not worth mentioning, except that both did this well. Both ends, both cruise lines. No long lines. Total cost: Final bill on Norwegian Spirit was $347, all of which was gratuities, either the $20 a day, or restaurant tips we didn’t give in cash. Final bill on Radiance was $739, including $112 in gratuities. We also paid for a soft drink package, another $335. We spent several hundred dollars on each cruise on cash gratuities above the daily charge, which is our preferred tipping method. Conclusion: We won’t sign up for another cruise on Royal Caribbean again, unless it’s with a large group of friends. They knew/know about the cabin issues we had at corporate during our cruise, and they haven’t even bothered to reach out. They did offer us a Future Cruise Credit, but we told them 1) why would/should we cruise again with RCCL to use that credit since this one has gone so poorly, and 2) we would rather they fix our experience on the cruise we are on. They did give us the meal at Giovanni’s, and the Food Service Director was aware of our problems (he is married to the Front Office Manager). He made sure we had a good experience that night. But RCCL dropped the ball at 2 subsequent specialty meals at Cagney’s and Samba. With no apologies. Norwegian is now our budget cruise line of choice. They did almost everything well, in spite of having a very old ship. They were also substantially less expensive in the long run. Again, a butt kicking. Not even close. Congratulations, Norwegian. Well done. Royal Caribbean? Time to refocus on your guests experiences, and quit cutting corners. Moral of this story? Don’t let the bean counter run the ship. -
We have the UDP - Jan 6 2024 - and only see Chops open for lunch on days 1 and 2 and Izumi for lunch on day 2. Can anyone tell me what will be open for lunch on the other day at sea and what about Giovanni’s? thanks, Linda
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I am currently booked in 9518 cat 4D on Brilliance. I was in the same room last year on Radiance so I know I liked the room and location. I did find the balcony to be tight. But 8510/8010 are same category and looks like they have a larger balcony in the pictures I have seen from the outside-can’t find any actual room pictures/videos. 8508/8008 definitely do but I’m not too sure about how I feel about the hull obstruction. All these rooms are available. 7604 on the hump also appears to have a decent sized balcony and could give me a straight line of sight down to the water (and yes this is something I consider of value) plus could save me money being a lower category, but not sure if it is a smaller balcony (I know 7606 is pea sized!) I have found reviews without pictures on both 8510 and 7604 that specifically state they are the smallest balconies the reviewer has ever had. I’m assuming they sailed in ships with larger regular balconies: Freedom class or higher like I previously had. Can anyone help me clarify? Any input at all is appreciated. I have a hold under my Moms name on 7604 as I already lost out the premium hump rooms of 7600/7602. -
We will be cruising with our pre-teen granddaughter on Radiance this upcoming March. She actually prefers a quieter pool (I call her Granny because she acts like an old lady). What is the minimum age for the Solarium? Are there ever any days/hours when they lift the restrictions? What about age restrictions at the Park Cafe in the Solarium?
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Does anyone know if these ships have the old or new blocks? Are there any issues in receiving one on these ships. I'm due for one on next cruise. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks -
I know we can't bring extension cords or chargers with cords. Can someone recommend a multi-plug outlet that is approved to charge multiple US devices? I've read that Radiance is a bit short on outlets being an older ship. Thanks.
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A cruise through the original Panama Canal is not just a cruise between two oceans, it is a journey through history. Join us live for 15 nights as we sail from Galveston to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal aboard the Radiance of the Seas. Fri 21Apr2023 Galveston, Texas - 4:00 PM Boarding Sat 22Apr2023 Cruising Sun 23Apr2023 Cruising Mon 24Apr2023 George Town, Grand Cayman 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Tendered Tue 25Apr2023 Cruising Wed 26Apr2023 Cartagena, Colombia 7:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked Thu 27Apr2023 Colon, Panama 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Fri 28Apr2023 Panama Canal, Panama 6:00 AM 6:00 PM Cruising Sat 29Apr2023 Cruising Sun 30Apr2023 Cruising Mon 01May2023 Huatulco, Mexico 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Tue 02May2023 Cruising Wed 03May2023 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 12:30 PM 8:00 PM Docked Thu 04May2023 Cruising Fri 05May2023 Cruising Sat 06May2023 Los Angeles, California 7:00 AM - Departure Canal au niveau de la mer - Sea-level channel. The decision to pursue a sea level canal across the Isthmus of Darien may have been the single largest factor in it's failure. In the 1800's French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps was an amazing character who conceived and completed the Suez Canal. It was an outstanding success. He was well known and respected as the "Great Engineer" despite having no formal technical training. In the wake of the success of the Suez Canal when he announced he was taking on the task of completing a waterway across Columbia his declaration of a sea level canal was challenged by few. The only problem was he had not yet stepped foot in the region. Despite surveys that suggested otherwise, despite no real maps of the area, de Lesseps insisted on building a sea level canal. It had worked quite well for the Suez Canal so why not? It turns out the jungles of Columbia are nothing like the deserts of Egypt. The idea of a canal au niveau de la mer turned out to be a tremendous mistake that led to one of the greatest scandals of the time and French investors, many being everyday citizens, lost their life savings. The failure of the French effort opened the door for the Americans to become involved and ultimately for a new country to be created. Today the Panama Canal is an amazing engineering marvel and equally great study of geopolitics. The impact of America assuming the project and its successful completion is hard to calculate. How the Panama Canal became what it is today is a fascinating story the likes of which are unlikely to ever be repeated in modern times. Seeing it operate live should be on every cruisers bucket list. -
We are frequent Holland America cruisers and used to their smoking area Lido deck aft where it's a covered area by Sea view bar with tables & chairs and a cushioned chair area (and ashtrays of course). We are hoping to find something similar on our family cruise on the Radiance. What will we find for smoking area options on the Radiance? TIA
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Hello, everyone! Good to see you again! It’s been a while since I posted on these boards and a lot has changed since my slightly cursed cruise on the Anthem last year. Let’s get you all caught up on the highlights of the year before I get to the nitty gritty: last spring, I sailed on the Celebrity Beyond with my mother, which was an amazing experience because for the first time I felt that I was the target customer for a cruise ship. It was amazing! Also, I bought a robot vacuum which I love almost as much as my cat. Maybe even more when it’s shedding season, but don’t tell the cat. And that’s it! Those are the highlights of my year. For those who don’t know me, my name is Laurie and I am from beautiful Quebec City in Canada. I am somewhat flirting with 40 and I’ve been paralyzed from the waist down since I was 20 years old. Because of that, I tend to focus on the accessibility aspects of my trips in the hope that people with disabilities will stumble upon my review while researching Vancouver, Alaska, or the Radiance of the Seas and that it might be useful to them. It happens to me sometimes, actually. I’ll be researching a ship’s accessible staterooms and Google will show me pictures of other ships from my own reviews. Thanks, Google. But if you’re not into shower benches, wheelchair lifts and elevator etiquette, fear not! I will also share loads of pictures as well as my thoughts about the food, the entertainment, the ship, and hopefully some things that will help you plan your upcoming vacation, relive a past cruise or just entertain you. You are always welcome to jump in anytime to ask questions, share your experience or post pictures of your pets.
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Hi has anyone stayed in Cabin 9002 on Radiance , i have no problem being that far forward or issues with motion sickness , was wondering about balcony and any obstruction from Bridge or noise issues etc. Thanks
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Trying to decide which nights for specialty dining and it would help to know the type of food being featured each night in the MDR. Is there a list somewhere and does the order typically remain the same throughout the season? Sailing July 2024 Northbound from Vancouver. -
We were on Ovation two weeks ago and saw a small boat excursion sidle upside the ship and take people closer to Dawes glacier. We are now booked on Radiance for next year and want to do that same thing with the Hubbard glacier. I looked through the online excursions on RC's website but it's not listed there. Am I missing it? Is there another way to book that? Do they even offer it (I know they used to but it seems the posts I saw about this were from years ago)? Appreciate your insights. -
We have 2 sets of connecting cabins - 1582>1580 and 1082>1080. Can the balcony dividers be removed between the two connecting cabins?
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Since the Radiance had to cut short it' s Alaskan Cruise last week, and had to cancel this weeks cruise due to Propulsion Problems, we are awaiting word on how many more cruises will be canceled, if any. If an Azipod or Engine has to be replaced or repaired, does anyone have any idea how long this work will take? Currently the ship is docked in Seward Alaska. Does the ship have to go into Dry Dock to have these repairs made? Waiting on word from Royal, as we have B2B cruises on her starting on 9/29. Thanks -
Royal got our ship all fixed and we're SERIOUSLY super excited for tomorrow! There is SO MUCH to do here in Anchorage I need more time to see all of it! More nights next time Right? I have to pace myself! And yes here's our room at the Marriott and I see that the ship is ready for tomorrow!
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While riding the trash n from Anchorage to Seward, I received an email from RCI saying the the Radiance of Seas had a propulsion issue overnight, and her top speed is reduced . Boarding is proceeding as normal, but the email implied we might be leaving late.. I will update when I hear new news. Aloha, John
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Hello all: It's been a while since we were on RCI and I was looking forward to booking a week pass for the thermal suite but when I went to book online the system required I book a specific time. We always enjoyed wandering in and out as the day fell out. Do you now have to book? Same time every day? How much in advance? I understand that this might have applied at the height of COVID but is this now required still? I tried phoning in and the contact also wanted a time for purchase of a pass. Additional question just looking at the updated D+ benefits page someone else posted, does the 20% off spa treatment benefit apply for purchase of a week pass?
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My DH was wondering what there will be available to eat late at night...after 10pm until about 3am? I tried looking at the website, but it really did not give me that information. Thanks
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Our family has 4 cabins booked for 11 of us on Radiance. Does that mean I have to purchase 4 photo plans? I only want a limited number of group pictures (less than 10) and we would all be in the picture.
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Trying to decide on a balcony cabin on Radiance. What's the blank area on decks 8 & 9 in the middle of the ship between the aft cabins and the crew stairwell?
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I'd like to book Chops for one dinner (family of 11) on our AK sailing. I'm thinking of doing it on the sea day which is our first full day since we won't be out for excursions. Any down side to this plan? Would that likely be the same night as the captain's dinner or is that even offered anymore?
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Hi, taking our 1st Royal Cruise in the fall & I’m wondering how easy it will be for me to eat Gluten Free. Our previous cruises on other lines have been pretty good when I pre order the day before, but that really takes the spontaneity away & I may not want to eat in the MDR every meal. Any input on GF in the Windjammer?…hotdog place? I’ve read some comments, that some ships have a dedicated Windjammer area for Gluten Free…what about on the Radiance?
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There don’t seem to be any shore excursions available for Santa Barbara or our final day in San Diego before going to the airport.
