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Radiance...South Pacific review, Sydney Australia lots of photos

aussie cruzer

By aussie cruzer,
in Royal Caribbean International

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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The Ship

 

This Radiance cruise turned out to be great way to see our South Pacific Islands....the itinerary was perfect....six ports of call in a row,we missed Mystery Island,but that's the risk you take cruising this time of the year.

 

The Radiance turned out too be one of our favourite ships.....very open and bright,with plenty of space.

 

We planned on visiting the speciality resturants,but we had great service in the Cascade restaurant from Robert & Florencio and decided to stay the full 11 days with them.

 

 

On return to Sydney ,I needed to return to work asap and had express walk off....starting at 7.00......we pre booked a town car http://www.towncars.com/....for $49 to the domestic airport at 7.40 am.

 

Customs was a breeze....we were thru in 10 mins.

 

Towncars arrived early at 7.30 and we were off to the airport in 30 mins.....we picked up our 9.10 am flight (domestic) to the Gold Coast and straight back to work.

 

Town cars

 

Towncars007_zps945a2088.jpg

 

 

 

Thanks for following along.

 

 

Duncan

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avalon007

avalon007

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Hi,

 

I have some specific questions about the Jinek Bay snorkelling on Lifou.

 

Last time we were there they hadn't built the new access pier so no charge etc, however we didn't enter the water to snorkel where most people did & I'm wanting to know if it's part of the area that is pay only or the whole area?

 

I recall you walked off the road onto a grassy area then turned right if you wanted to access the water were most people were. We however turned slightly left & entered off the rocks located nearest the church on the hill end where the coral was undamaged.

 

I don't mind paying I just would prefer not to snorkel the part where lots of clumsy people have damaged the coral & also were it is less crowded.

 

Also I have heard they now restrict the number of people that can swim there, did you see that happening?

 

Thanks for any info. :)

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avalon007

avalon007

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I was aware the only port I could gain some insight on from this review was few Caledonia, but we will also be finishing our cruise in Sydney, as such the review would be helpful in that regards as well.

 

 

If you do want info on Tahiti I can help you there, I just didn't want to send this thread off track & I wasn't sure if you knew much about the Islands of the South Pacific so thought I would clarify. :)

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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Hi,

 

I have some specific questions about the Jinek Bay snorkelling on Lifou.

 

Last time we were there they hadn't built the new access pier so no charge etc, however we didn't enter the water to snorkel where most people did & I'm wanting to know if it's part of the area that is pay only or the whole area?

 

I recall you walked off the road onto a grassy area then turned right if you wanted to access the water were most people were. We however turned slightly left & entered off the rocks located nearest the church on the hill end where the coral was undamaged.

 

I don't mind paying I just would prefer not to snorkel the part where lots of clumsy people have damaged the coral & also were it is less crowded.

 

Also I have heard they now restrict the number of people that can swim there, did you see that happening?

 

Thanks for any info. :)

 

We were there early....around 9.30 am and there was only two people in the water........my partner can't swim very well and I heard it was eight metres deep,so we gave it a miss.

 

As you walk up the road to the church,there is a folk in the road,turn right and the new stairs are straight ahead.

 

A passenger did say it was $15 for a hour....but I didn't see any signs that said that.

 

I didn't like the fact it was open water and you could get swept out to the ocean.......with one adult who can't swim well and one 15 yr old.....I preferred the beach.

 

To answer your question I think the whole area is pay.

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avalon007

avalon007

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We were there early....around 9.30 am and there was only two people in the water........my partner can't swim very well and I heard it was eight metres deep,so we gave it a miss.

 

As you walk up the road to the church,there is a folk in the road,turn right and the new stairs are straight ahead.

 

A passenger did say it was $15 for a hour....but I didn't see any signs that said that.

 

I didn't like the fact it was open water and you could get swept out to the ocean.......with one adult who can't swim well and one 15 yr old.....I preferred the beach.

 

To answer your question I think the whole area is pay.

 

Thanks for your reply, sounds like they have built the new access near the spot we used to enter the water & that would be more or less as you entered the area.

 

It's a shame you missed snorkelling there (although I understand your concerns) as I think the best of Lifou is what is beneath the water. I am a scuba diver & have dived or snorkelled Tahiti, Hawai, Bali etc & think Jinek Bay has some of the nicest reef I've seen so close to shore.

 

The water was only about 1-2 metres above the corals when we visited & it was in the mid morning (we always take the early bird tenders to avoid the crowds), but it would also depend on the tides of course.

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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Ships Officers and Staff onboard,

 

 

Captain...........Goran Peterson

 

Hotel Director...Alistair Burnett

 

Executive chef..Costin Giuroiu

 

Cruise Director..Amy Fickert

 

Activities.....Gordon

 

 

The Captain seemed friendly from what I could see,Some staff told me they prefered the other Captain.

 

Captain Peterson has gone on holidays and will return when the Radiance is in Hawaii on it's Trans-Pacific cruise April/May.

 

Amy seemed nice,but we like Gordon the activities manager,I think he would make a good cruise director.....he was popping up everywhere,helping the tender boats each day and always seemed happy.

 

A lot of the crew are from India....they liked the Radiance from what I was told.

 

The only other officer named on the compass was Pavo Brzica-Chief Engineer.

 

Amy seemed nice from what I could see.....but thought Gordon the activities manager had bit more spark about him.

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Yillup

Yillup

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One other question. Did they have white chocolate donuts and escargot? Thanks.

 

I can answer this one. They had escargot every night and white chocolate donuts every morning. :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Forums mobile app

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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auzzie Cruzer, we have reseerved Sydney Town cars for both our Airport pickup to the Meriton Apartments and Cruise Terminal next month. Because there will be 4 of us, we have reserved the Sedan and Luggage trailer.

 

Nice work,

 

They send you a text at cruise terminal on arrival.....just go downstairs to street level.

 

It's well supervised by security.

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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You sure made my day. For some reason the Grandeur and Enchantment no longer have them. Am truly disappointed. My taste buds are ready.

 

They even had Kangaroo on the menu one night in the Mdr.

 

Skippy was delicous.:)

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

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Yillup

Yillup

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They even had Kangaroo on the menu one night in the Mdr.

 

Skippy was delicous.:)

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

 

Skippy certainly was delicious. Very tender and cooked perfectly...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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Australian family

Australian family

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The other bed pops out of the ceiling above the double bed.....the sofa has wooden base,so very sturdy to climb over.

 

We tried the pop out bed but the guard rail is small and you could easy fall out,our 15 yr said the sofa was comphy and we stuck with that.

 

In the morning we folded it up easy and used the sofa.

 

Thank you for your response.

 

I still think the cabin has a very weird configuration, on the Oosterdam it was a similar setup, but opposite, with the sofa beside the door. So went it folded it out, you were blocked from going outside, but at least you could walk to the bathroom during the night. I am surprised that they can get away with it, especially if you have to get out of the cabin in a big hurry during the night. I sometimes wonder how much thought the ship designers put into the layout of cabins.

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aussie cruzer

aussie cruzer

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Thank you for your response.

 

I still think the cabin has a very weird configuration, on the Oosterdam it was a similar setup, but opposite, with the sofa beside the door. So went it folded it out, you were blocked from going outside, but at least you could walk to the bathroom during the night. I am surprised that they can get away with it, especially if you have to get out of the cabin in a big hurry during the night. I sometimes wonder how much thought the ship designers put into the layout of cabins.

 

We would of preferred the sofa on the balcony side too.....but it wasn't a big deal...I tried the pull out one in ceiling and didn't like it one bit.

 

Room steward pulled out the sofa bed at night and I put it back first thing in the morning to give some more room.

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