Magical Hawaiian Radiance of the Seas Detailed Trip Report with Many Pictures

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

The tender back was crowded and hot. I couldn’t get a good shot of the ship. The German boy who won the sexiest man contest was on this tender and I was quite dismayed when I saw him rudely cut off an elderly woman trying to get off. I thought: sexy man not a nice man…

We had a rainbow waiting for us when we got back on the ship! My sister (who had lived in Hawaii) told me later that they say that if you see a rainbow in Hawaii, it means that you are coming back one day. We saw so many rainbows on this trip, I think it means that we will definitely be coming back!!!! (However, you could not go to Hawaii and not see a dozen rainbows – there are always showers somewhere at some point…)

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

The L in the hill (we were told) was for a high school football team. Each year, the team goes up there and fixes up the L.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We went to get a drink and relaxed for a while at the smoking section.

Still a little rainbow left…

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

They were bringing the tender guide up. I never saw this before.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

Beautiful sailaway!

Back in our room, we got a knock on the door. It was M&F with a little dessert. It was one of the best desserts I had had on the ship. It was a kind of apple dessert with ice cream. Yummy! Remember this!

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We had had an all-around GREAT day!!!! Phil met us in the concierge lounge. We got a chuckle because we noticed that Phil had forgotten to take off the tags on his shirt… I made sure that I got a picture before I told him.

Main Dining Room tonight. I had lamb chops again and they were delicious. I started feeling sick at dinner so I did not get many pictures and I almost had to leave.

Our terrific bartender. He saw Phil up on deck at the midnight buffet the other night and said Mr. Phil! Why don’t you have a glass?? He knows Phil likes his beer in a glass. Phil said they aren’t as good as you up here! The bartender ran and got Phil one of those plastic glasses that light up. So sweet!!

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

Those were all the pictures that I got at dinner. By the end, I was feeling sick and started to leave, but I didn’t really want to say anything, so I stayed. Luckily, our waiter got us out of there more quickly than usual. We stopped at the photo area and bought our pictures so we would not have to worry about it tomorrow, our last full day. M&F cashed out their remaining OBC in the casino. It turned into a bit of a hassle for them. As you may recall, the C&A loyalty ambassador had said it was 3% fee but it was actually 5%. That’s okay – it’s still free money! But she didn’t mention that you have to also know exactly how much you have to cash out – they aren’t able to tell the amount from their computers, so that was a little confusing. M&F didn’t want to go all the way to their room to check their tv folio to find out so they stopped at Guest Services, who gave them the run around for a bit. There was a party in the Centrum during this time – really good music! – so it was so hard to hear at Guest Services. Lesson #11 – don’t believe everything you are told… :) It all worked out great, though. Except both Maria and I were deathly ill when we got back to our respective rooms unbeknownst to each other. The only thing we had both eaten that no one else ate was:

Yes, she poisoned me. But it was so worth it because it was delicious! :) We were both up most of the night feeling awful. I had a loss of equilibrium and could not walk straight most of the next day and a few days after I could still feel it a little. I think I got dehydrated – even though I had all that water in the cabin. :rolleyes: Maria said she was so sick that she was wondering how to get in touch with Claudio (Hoopster) to see if he wanted their tickets because she did not know how she would be able to go on our helicopter excursion the next day. Luckily, she felt well enough in time to go. Sorry Hoopster, if you are ever reading this. :)

Up next, Kauai!!!!!!

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

DAY 11 – KAUAI

OMG, this was an amazing day!! I did get a few sail into port pictures, but I didn’t go up on the deck to get sunrise because I could barely walk straight…

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We were taking a private helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. They have helicopter rides in several islands. I had researched and found that most people felt Kauai was the best island for the helicopter. It was simply amazing!! Magical!!! Perfect!!!! I had reserved and prepaid online directly with Blue Hawaiian. With the online discount, it was only a few dollars more expensive to buy all 6 seats than it would be to buy Royal’s excursion for 4 people with the same company. A private helicopter ride!!

We met M&F at a little before 9 am. Again, we had a bit of a hiccup. Blue Hawaiian rep had told me that we would be picked up by their van at the security gate when I called to find out what to do. We didn’t realize that they meant the bus that they send to Royal to pick up the tours from the ship sponsored tours. We found the security gate and the bus finally found us. :) It was a nice bus and the driver was so nice! There was one couple on the bus from Royal’s excursion.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We got to the airport and the office was beautiful! The people there were so professional. They had mentioned in the email receipt that you should wear dark clothing. I reminded Phil when I saw him wearing an orange shirt and he said he knew. Apparently, he also knew orange is the new black… Except he was wrong. After the girl at the front desk discreetly weighted us (very discreet and not embarrassing at all – except for knowing they know your weight…), she said that P&M had to put a dark shirt over their shirts. Phil’s shirt was orange, but Maria’s shirt was dark but had a print with a little white in it. The girl said we could either buy one of their shirts in the gift shop or they would provide us with one of the shirts that they keep for this purpose for people who can’t follow instructions. LOL, I added that last part. Phil bought a really nice dark shirt that he could wear golfing. Very nice material. At first, he mistakenly got a woman’s shirt. Luckily, the girl told him and he went back and got a men’s shirt. Maria bought a dark t-shirt for Frank that she wore over her shirt for now.

The employees were very professional and safety conscious. We have had to watch videos before when doing a helicopter tour, but never had such a professional venue. The man giving the talk was funny and nice.

This is where we sat to watch the video and hear the demonstration and instructions.

Just FYI:

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

The helicopter was gorgeous!!!

I was in spot 2 – which was front seat by the window.

This is Phil getting belted in.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

Frank was in spot 7 – back seat, right window

The helicopter was so roomy! Huge windows so everyone got great views. Even if we had a full helicopter with 6 people instead of 4, it would have been comfortable with great views. With 4 people, it was amazing! Our pilot was Miguel. He was very informative and nice. We could talk on microphones. There was music playing in the head phones when no one was talking. Our trip was video recorded both in and out of the helicopter. Just amazing! You could purchase the thumb drive with the video for $41. Who could resist! It rained a few times during our flight. I had heard the girl at the desk tell someone that they fly whether it rains or not since it is always raining somewhere on the island!

Here we go!!!!! So exciting!!!!

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

There’s our ship!

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

She’s a beauty – even if a little plainer from the top compared to Allure and Quantum.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We had company!

We flew in and out of rain storms.

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

We came out of the storm and SURPRISE!!!!! Right there in front of us was a gorgeous rainbow!!! I screamed!!! Apparently, you could hear me even without the microphone on because Phil said to Miguel, “You just made her day” and Miguel said, “I could tell by the scream!” We actually saw 6 rainbows that flight!!! Magical!!

PCWalton1 · December 29, 2015

Great pictures, once again I need to say thank you. I don't like flying but back in 2003 my wife Marie convinced me to take a helicopter ride over Kauai and I have never regretted it.

I forgot to ask, back in Kona did they catch anything while fishing?

Susan-M · December 29, 2015

Looks like a fabulous trip - and you've really made the most of the sightseeing opportunities in Hawaii! Your photos of Hawaii are a nice reminder of the places that we've spent time at during our land trips there over the past several years. We loved the Kauai Blue Hawaiian EcoStar tour as well ... and everything/everywhere else in Hawaii!

We were on Radiance in 2003 - nice reminders of it as well, but a very different looking ship now than then.

Thanks for sharing.:)

PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

Great pictures, once again I need to say thank you. I don't like flying but back in 2003 my wife Marie convinced me to take a helicopter ride over Kauai and I have never regretted it.

I forgot to ask, back in Kona did they catch anything while fishing?

Thank you! It means a lot coming from someone whose reviews I follow faithfully! What an amazing experience it was!! I truly think it will have spoiled any future helicopter tours!!! [emoji4]

No fish caught... But we did see a lot of flying little fishes! [emoji1]

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PhilNDebbieAtSea · December 29, 2015

Looks like a fabulous trip - and you've really made the most of the sightseeing opportunities in Hawaii! Your photos of Hawaii are a nice reminder of the places that we've spent time at during our land trips there over the past several years. We loved the Kauai Blue Hawaiian EcoStar tour as well ... and everything/everywhere else in Hawaii!

We were on Radiance in 2003 - nice reminders of it as well, but a very different looking ship now than then.

Thanks for sharing.:)

And thank you!!! Your review and advice throughout the board were so helpful to me in the planning! At first it was so overwhelming trying to figure out what to do, but your posts really help to make sense of it all! Thank you!!

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