Frequent cruisers thoughts about Radiance renovation

We took a b2b cruise on Radiance beginning September 2nd; this post is not a review of the cruise, but observations from frequent cruisers about the recent renovation of the ship.

We are D+ so we had access to both the new Diamond lounge and the relocated Concierge lounge.

We boarded the ship in Vancouver, effortless boarding process, arrived at the pier at 11:30 and were on the ship at 12 p.m.

First the positives:

We were in JS 1542, furniture and carpeting have not been replaced, but was in good condition, a flat screen TV has replaced the old tube set; the on screen menu software has been upgraded. Room location was quiet, no noise from deck 11, Windjammer carts, etc.

The Diamond lounge now has a complimentary full service bar, hot hors d’oeuvres, cheese plates, chocolate strawberries, etc., no more pesky trail mix; also a dedicated cappuccino machine. The Diamond lounge is a walled off section of the Starquest, The Concierge there is Steven Newall.

The regular Concierge lounge has exactly the same fare as before, both are now located on deck 13, the Concierge lounge is located where the Hollywood Odyssey was before, both lounges have magnificent views. There is an outside seating area adjacent to the lounge with several tables that can be used during good weather. The Concierge is Juan Diego.

In the Solarium area is the new Park Café, they have a killer roast beef sandwich among other sandwiches and fresh salads made to order. And a first for any RCCL ship we have been on, potato chips in bags.

In the outer area of the Windjammer, where the W/J overflow seating used to be, is now the Boardwalk Dog House area, still seating, but coffee/hot water station is gone now gone.

The Windjammer is now open until 2 a.m. for snacks, etc.

Chops is the same, excellent food, in our opinion.

Samba, the new Brazilian restaurant, is where the former Seaview was located; if you are heavy meat eaters, the price is well worth the price, waiters dressed as Gauchos present an endless supply of various meats tableside on skewers and slice it for you, this will continue until you tell them to stop by pushing a small plastic lamp button turning it from green to red.

We were shown a “secret” passage way that passengers are allowed to use during inclement weather; a series of stairs used by the crew to stay dry, formerly the only access was outside.

Izumi, in our opinion was excellent, the sushi and sashimi was expertly prepared, with a number of choices. The tableside “Hot Rock” was a flat stone heated to 500 degrees and placed on the table where you can cook your own selected meats and seafood.

The Dog House was a welcome change from pre heated dogs in the Windjammer; the buns were fresh, not hard as before. There is a variety of dogs to choose from, several different toppings, no chili however.

We did not try Rita’s Cantina or Giovanni’s or the Chef’s Table so cannot comment about them.

We did not eat in the dining room on this trip, so cannot comment about that.

The ship appears to be well maintained; crew is friendly and tries to assist you in everyway possible.

Previous posters have commented about a sewage smell in various parts of the ship; however we did not detect any odors. We did experience several times the toilet would not flush for varying amounts of time.

Now the negatives:

The Diamond breakfast area is gone, replaced by staterooms; there is no dedicated area in the dining room for Diamond/D+ members as before.

The area of the Windjammer is smaller, less seating areas due to the addition of the two new for pay dining venues, Rita’s Cantina and Izumi’s.

The food selection has shrunk considerably, no more sushi, at times there were grilled to order steak, chicken, fish, etc. available, as was Fresh pasta station. The stir fry and theme night area is now the “pick up area” for waiters serving Rita’s Cantina.

No more 3 to 5 p.m. tea time in WJ.

In our opinion, there are too many specialty dining venues for this size ship.

I LOVED the old Radiance.. Sounds like some good things have been accomplished but the end of your review says it all...Too many new for pay offerings! I like the WJ being open till 2am but shrinking its size will really hurt it. I for one will truly miss the Seaview..I really liked that little cafe.I cant wait till it comes back to USA to see for my self what they did to my favorite ship and will keep an open mind but I dont ever see me going to Sambas. I will miss Seaview too much.:cool:

Thanks for the review

We are sailing Radiance in Hawaii next April and have been wondering how the new renovations went.

I love the Park Cafe :D and am really excited that RCCL has incorporated it on several more ships! Yes the Roast Beef is to die for and we also were surprised with the big size bags of chips!!

I did not care for the Samba Grill on the Allure so we probably will not try it on the Radiance. But we loved Giovanni's and Rita's Cantina & will probably eat there. Hubby like the Dog House...No mention of the Cup Cake Factory.

What about the Character's were you overwhelmed with them...:eek:

Thanks for the review

 

We are sailing Radiance in Hawaii next April and have been wondering how the new renovations went.

 

I love the Park Cafe :D and am really excited that RCCL has incorporated it on several more ships! Yes the Roast Beef is to die for and we also were surprised with the big size bags of chips!!

 

I did not care for the Samba Grill on the Allure so we probably will not try it on the Radiance. But we loved Giovanni's and Rita's Cantina & will probably eat there. Hubby like the Dog House...No mention of the Cup Cake Factory.

 

What about the Character's were you overwhelmed with them...:eek:

I don't think there are Characters on the Radiance - I think they're on the Oasis and Allure.

Yes, and also on Freedom and Liberty. Not on Radiance class or Voyager class. Hope they never are!

We took a b2b cruise on Radiance beginning September 2nd; this post is not a review of the cruise, but observations from frequent cruisers about the recent renovation of the ship.

 

We are D+ so we had access to both the new Diamond lounge and the relocated Concierge lounge.

 

We boarded the ship in Vancouver, effortless boarding process, arrived at the pier at 11:30 and were on the ship at 12 p.m.

 

First the positives:

 

We were in JS 1542, furniture and carpeting have not been replaced, but was in good condition, a flat screen TV has replaced the old tube set; the on screen menu software has been upgraded. Room location was quiet, no noise from deck 11, Windjammer carts, etc.

 

The Diamond lounge now has a complimentary full service bar, hot hors d’oeuvres, cheese plates, chocolate strawberries, etc., no more pesky trail mix; also a dedicated cappuccino machine. The Diamond lounge is a walled off section of the Starquest, The Concierge there is Steven Newall.

 

The regular Concierge lounge has exactly the same fare as before, both are now located on deck 13, the Concierge lounge is located where the Hollywood Odyssey was before, both lounges have magnificent views. There is an outside seating area adjacent to the lounge with several tables that can be used during good weather. The Concierge is Juan Diego.

 

In the Solarium area is the new Park Café, they have a killer roast beef sandwich among other sandwiches and fresh salads made to order. And a first for any RCCL ship we have been on, potato chips in bags.

 

In the outer area of the Windjammer, where the W/J overflow seating used to be, is now the Boardwalk Dog House area, still seating, but coffee/hot water station is gone now gone.

 

The Windjammer is now open until 2 a.m. for snacks, etc.

 

Chops is the same, excellent food, in our opinion.

 

Samba, the new Brazilian restaurant, is where the former Seaview was located; if you are heavy meat eaters, the price is well worth the price, waiters dressed as Gauchos present an endless supply of various meats tableside on skewers and slice it for you, this will continue until you tell them to stop by pushing a small plastic lamp button turning it from green to red.

 

We were shown a “secret” passage way that passengers are allowed to use during inclement weather; a series of stairs used by the crew to stay dry, formerly the only access was outside.

 

Izumi, in our opinion was excellent, the sushi and sashimi was expertly prepared, with a number of choices. The tableside “Hot Rock” was a flat stone heated to 500 degrees and placed on the table where you can cook your own selected meats and seafood.

 

The Dog House was a welcome change from pre heated dogs in the Windjammer; the buns were fresh, not hard as before. There is a variety of dogs to choose from, several different toppings, no chili however.

 

We did not try Rita’s Cantina or Giovanni’s or the Chef’s Table so cannot comment about them.

 

We did not eat in the dining room on this trip, so cannot comment about that.

 

The ship appears to be well maintained; crew is friendly and tries to assist you in everyway possible.

 

Previous posters have commented about a sewage smell in various parts of the ship; however we did not detect any odors. We did experience several times the toilet would not flush for varying amounts of time.

 

Now the negatives:

 

The Diamond breakfast area is gone, replaced by staterooms; there is no dedicated area in the dining room for Diamond/D+ members as before.

 

The area of the Windjammer is smaller, less seating areas due to the addition of the two new for pay dining venues, Rita’s Cantina and Izumi’s.

 

The food selection has shrunk considerably, no more sushi, at times there were grilled to order steak, chicken, fish, etc. available, as was Fresh pasta station. The stir fry and theme night area is now the “pick up area” for waiters serving Rita’s Cantina.

 

No more 3 to 5 p.m. tea time in WJ.

 

In our opinion, there are too many specialty dining venues for this size ship.

The WJ is same size. The actual seating area is less. But this really only effects you during dinner time. During breakfast and lunch you may still use the areas that are now occupied by Izumi and rita's cantina for seating. Staff will still come around and ask if you need drinks as well.

The food selection has shrunk considerably, no more sushi, at times there were grilled to order steak, chicken, fish, etc. available, as was Fresh pasta station. The stir fry and theme night area is now the “pick up area” for waiters serving Rita’s Cantina.

No more stir fry...:(:(:(

Thank you for your observations. I don't think that any ships with Diamond Lounges have the dedicated breakfast, but I will miss that civilized corner of the dining room for my fully cooked repast.

I was on board Radiance a few weeks ago photographing her for my site (www.shipcafe.net) and found the upgrades to be very well done.

Yes, and also on Freedom and Liberty. Not on Radiance class or Voyager class. Hope they never are!

No more stir fry...:(:(:(

 

Thank you for your observations. I don't think that any ships with Diamond Lounges have the dedicated breakfast, but I will miss that civilized corner of the dining room for my fully cooked repast.

Good information thanks for posting it.

The concierge lounge on Radiance certainly does NOT have the same food as before. They are now serving what every other ship is serving.

Gone are the lovely and unique cold salads and appetizers from the deck 10 CL. The crab salad, asparagus, salad, pastas etc, are a thing of the past unfortunately.

But sandwiches and cookies are still being served at lunch time. I prefer the Park Cafe for breakfast and lunch now over the CL. The only problem they will have is seating at some times in the solarium.

The best coffee on board is still in the CL along with the DL. There is now a milk foam button.

Art Actually is now on board.....unfortunately.

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I agree that there are too many specialty restaurants. They need to eliminate the Chef's table for sure on future revitalizations. Keep the card room where it was and keep the yacht club intact since it wad a nice area on the suite level for quiet reading.

One thing we totally forgot about last week. Since we had 3G phone access, we never thought to set up a wifi account to see how it worked. Has anyone tried it?

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I LOVED the old Radiance.. Sounds like some good things have been accomplished but the end of your review says it all...Too many new for pay offerings! I like the WJ being open till 2am but shrinking its size will really hurt it. I for one will truly miss the Seaview..I really liked that little cafe.I cant wait till it comes back to USA to see for my self what they did to my favorite ship and will keep an open mind but I dont ever see me going to Sambas. I will miss Seaview too much.:cool:

I also miss seaview. But be consoled by the fact there are many great sandwiches in Park Cafe including hot pressed ones - Cuban included. I think I like the Cuban better than ever. The pressed tuna and avocado was good, too.

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