Just Off The Radiance Yesterday - My Thoughts

[pppiglet]

We had a great cruise!  Because of this being the 4th holiday cruise it had a lot of people, but only felt like it once and that was trying to get back on the ship from Catalina.  The tender line wrapped all the way down passed the boardwalk/pier.  We had hiked up to the Botanical Garden since we didn't book an excursion.  More of a desert garden. We had some beers at Catalina Brewhouse and then went to Coyote Joe's for a quick bite before going back to the ship. (Mexican food, eh...a little greasy and wouldn't recommend it) 

 

Red Frog Pub was our bar of choice this trip and they were excellent! Music was really good also. 

 

The only two negatives on this trip were that we had booked the Italian restaurant for embarkation night and they came around 2pm and gave a slip of paper confirming our reservation at 7, but at 6:30 no one was at the restaurant and I call them and they said they had to cancel as no one booked it for that night.  (you're telling me 4,000 people on the ship and no one booked it?)  The waitress in Bonsai sushi told us it's never open on embarkation night.  Not sure why they let us book it online then) 

 

We had the same thing happen with our excursion for Ensenada.  The tickets were in our room, but the night before there was a big pink notice on our door saying it had been cancelled because not enough people booked it.  (it was the breweries tour and it had really good reviews so I would think someone would have booked it)

Any how, seems like most people on this ship avoided the specialty restaurants and ate at the Lido buffet most of the time as it was packed and the restaurants empty.  

Ate at the main dining room once and it wasn't really good so most of the time we ate at the buffet too.  Bonsai Sushi was probably the best meal we had.  Shaq's chicken was excellent also. 

 

We had a balcony room 7419 Aft (the weird shaped room with the long balcony) and we loved it.  Used the balcony a lot.  Never saw our room steward until the 3rd day. He did his job though.  

 

Our experience on this ship was way better than when we cruised on the Panorama back in April.  It was our first time doing taking our bags off the ship ourselves instead of checking bags the night before, but buy the time they called our deck, they were already starting to call the tag.  We were still off the ship by 9.

 

I'd definitely do this cruise again. 

 

 

[princess76021]

Thank you for taking the time to give us a review!

Hugs from Texas!

[Rudyard]

22 hours ago, pppiglet said:

Any how, seems like most people on this ship avoided the specialty restaurants and ate at the Lido buffet

Any time we're on a ship with a Cucina we eat there two to three times depending on the length of the cruise. I've never even seen it half full and have never had a problem getting a reservation for the time we want. The price is reasonable and the food is good, so not sure why people shy away from it (in my experience at least). 

[notscb]

23 hours ago, pppiglet said:

We had a great cruise! 

 

I cannot tell you how it felt to hold my breath until the page loaded from the forum homepage, just to feel the relief and joy to see you say this right off the bat!

 

I had a great time on the Radiance in May and am really eager to get back onboard, even for the same itinerary. It sounds like you made the best of your cruise (even with some cancellations). Was Carnival helpful at all with rebooking you for a different excursion in Ensenada?

 

FWIW, I don't remember ever really seeing  the Italian place open when I was onboard- it was always really empty and when walking by on deck I think I saw people in there eating one night.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Thanks for posting! We sailed the Radiance to Ensenada right after the covid restart and I was unimpressed, but understood things were just getting back to normal.  

 

We just booked the Radiance again on a casino offer.  We'll be doing the same cruise in October.  Sorry to hear your excursion and Cucina got cancelled.  😞  We plan to do Cucina and the Steakhouse on this trip, though we always book the Steakhouse night one for the wine deals.  

 

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Thank you for your review.  We really enjoy the Radiance and much prefer it over the Panorama.  Our daughter just got off of her this AM and we'll be on her again in 2 weeks.  YAY!!!

 

I don't know what it is but it just feels more comfortable. 🙂

[LRDR01]

We have a love/hate relationship with the Radiance.  Sailed on her several times since she has been sailing from LA.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and once it was great.   However, on our last cruise on her, we sailed in an Ocean Suite (loved the suite- but it was showing signs of being well used)..  We also had the breweries tour booked and they cancelled our tour the day before.  Said we were the only ones that booked it.  We have done that excursion several times and absolutely loved it.  Very disappointed.   We booked Cucina for the last night of our cruise and it was packed.  Main dining room was hit and miss.  Several cruises, it's been terrible, and for some of them, it's been great.  One of the worst meals we have had has been on the Radiance - Seaday brunch.  Can't even begin to explain all that went wrong with that.  But, despite all of the inconveniences and disappointments on this ship, we keep sailing her and find that we do have fun and there are always good and great memories that we bring back with us. 

[princess76021]

thank you for giving us your assessment!!

Hugs from Texas!

[Theosprey247]

My son loved our June 26 cruise on her. The Steakhouse was pretty full both times we went. Pro-Tip: hit up Shaq’s Chicken early in the cruise as most people don’t know it’s there and the lines are short or nonexistent (especially for breakfast). 
 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. 

[Are.we.there.yet?]

LOL! to LRDR01. 

 

I do understand some of your thoughts.  We 100% agree about the Ocean Suites.  Ours was missing a shower door and the trap under the tub wouldn't stay locked and there was rust at the door frame in the bathroom.  We also had a water leak over our bed.  The crew did their absolute best to help us with that and comped some stuff.  Since then, we have opted for the aft view balcony and love it there.  I will admit... one of our cabins had a smell of burnt pizza most of the trip but DH liked that!  LOL!!!!  

 

I will also agree about the Seaday Brunch.  IT TOOK FOREVER!!!!!!!!!  Never again!

 

But... we always have a great time and the crew has been amazing and if you get a room towards the back or at least in the middle, you're close to everything.  (We aren't production show people)

 

We prefer the 4 day trips compared to the weekend booze cruise but it's fun either way. 🙂

 

Tina

 

 

[pppiglet]

On 7/9/2023 at 5:09 PM, notscb said:

 

I cannot tell you how it felt to hold my breath until the page loaded from the forum homepage, just to feel the relief and joy to see you say this right off the bat!

 

I had a great time on the Radiance in May and am really eager to get back onboard, even for the same itinerary. It sounds like you made the best of your cruise (even with some cancellations). Was Carnival helpful at all with rebooking you for a different excursion in Ensenada?

 

FWIW, I don't remember ever really seeing  the Italian place open when I was onboard- it was always really empty and when walking by on deck I think I saw people in there eating one night.

 

 

Carnival did suggest another excursion, but we just decided to do our own.  We had a good time. 

If my work schedule wasn't so hectic right now I'd book another cruise on this ship. 

[pppiglet]

On 7/9/2023 at 5:32 PM, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Thanks for posting! We sailed the Radiance to Ensenada right after the covid restart and I was unimpressed, but understood things were just getting back to normal.  

 

We just booked the Radiance again on a casino offer.  We'll be doing the same cruise in October.  Sorry to hear your excursion and Cucina got cancelled.  😞  We plan to do Cucina and the Steakhouse on this trip, though we always book the Steakhouse night one for the wine deals.  

 

 

 

Next trip we will be booking both of these for sure! 

[pppiglet]

On 7/10/2023 at 11:51 AM, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Thank you for your review.  We really enjoy the Radiance and much prefer it over the Panorama.  Our daughter just got off of her this AM and we'll be on her again in 2 weeks.  YAY!!!

 

I don't know what it is but it just feels more comfortable. 🙂

 

I agree.  Way more comfortable to us also. 

[pppiglet]

10 hours ago, LRDR01 said:

We have a love/hate relationship with the Radiance.  Sailed on her several times since she has been sailing from LA.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and once it was great.   However, on our last cruise on her, we sailed in an Ocean Suite (loved the suite- but it was showing signs of being well used)..  We also had the breweries tour booked and they cancelled our tour the day before.  Said we were the only ones that booked it.  We have done that excursion several times and absolutely loved it.  Very disappointed.   We booked Cucina for the last night of our cruise and it was packed.  Main dining room was hit and miss.  Several cruises, it's been terrible, and for some of them, it's been great.  One of the worst meals we have had has been on the Radiance - Seaday brunch.  Can't even begin to explain all that went wrong with that.  But, despite all of the inconveniences and disappointments on this ship, we keep sailing her and find that we do have fun and there are always good and great memories that we bring back with us. 

 

We actually ended up Googling breweries in the area and went to one ourselves.  I'd do that

next time if they cancel on us again.  🙂

We didn't even try to do the seaday brunch. Didn't look appetizing at all.  

[pppiglet]

8 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

My son loved our June 26 cruise on her. The Steakhouse was pretty full both times we went. Pro-Tip: hit up Shaq’s Chicken early in the cruise as most people don’t know it’s there and the lines are short or nonexistent (especially for breakfast). 
 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. 

 

I wanted to try the 3 cheese omelet at Shaq's but never made it back.  The only issue we had with Shaq's was they kept making batches of the strips and everyone that wanted a sandwich had to wait in another line. They asked if anyone wanted strips on their sandwich instead of waiting so that is what I had.  It was really good though. 

[pppiglet]

8 hours ago, Are.we.there.yet? said:

 

 

   I will admit... one of our cabins had a smell of burnt pizza most of the trip but DH liked that!  LOL!!!!  

 

Tina

 

 

 

This is so funny because our room smelled like that too (faintly)  Wasn't an issue for us though.  We did order room service pizza late one night!  LOL...

 

Speaking of room service, we ordered coffee and muffins for 2 every morning and they told us 20-30 minutes, but they were always there within 10 mins.  Loved it.  

 

[MizMoon]

I'm not on Radiance until late next year but love to hear these good things about it.  Haven't been to Catalina or Ensenada in a hundred years - it's time.  😎

[john91498]

When we sailed on her, Carnival informed us that they were above capacity for the ship. It sure showed, there were always long lines at Guy's, the Cantina and Shaq's. Dining room wait times were ridiculous and you had to get to shows 15-20 minutes early or you wouldn't get a seat. Wait times to get on a water tender to go to Catalina were 2-3 hours long, so, we didn't go.

 

Other than that, it was a great cruise.

[pppiglet]

7 hours ago, john91498 said:

When we sailed on her, Carnival informed us that they were above capacity for the ship. It sure showed, there were always long lines at Guy's, the Cantina and Shaq's. Dining room wait times were ridiculous and you had to get to shows 15-20 minutes early or you wouldn't get a seat. Wait times to get on a water tender to go to Catalina were 2-3 hours long, so, we didn't go.

 

Other than that, it was a great cruise.

Ours was over the 4th Holiday week, so it was above capacity, but we only had the long line to get back on the tender to get back on the ship in Catalina. I think it was an hour or so.  We had the same thing happen to us on the Panorama Spring Break cruise, but that was over 2 hour wait!  

The tender off we didn't have to wait long.  We just got up early and got the ticket to get off the ship as soon as they started handing them out. 

 

We had anytime dining on Radiance and did not have to wait for the main dining and any ship we've been on usually has a line waiting for the shows to open the doors 30 mins before the show so we just got in line. The comedians on Carnival cruises are really good so I can see why the lines. 

[john91498]

They had a horrible process for tickets for the tenders to Catalina. They set up the night before Catalina to give out tickets, so it didn't matter if you wake up early.

I heard from many people that they waited for hours for nothing as carnival finally announced that tenders to Catalina stopped and are only taking people back.

On a positive note, staying on the ship gave us a chance to try out Shaq's as there were no lines.

[PattiPB]

Thanks for posting your review of the Radiance! Love that ship, and it's fantastic for long weekend trips. Happy you had fun~

[lasvegascruising]

john91498,

How did Carnival inform you the ship was above capacity?  Was it an announcement over the loud speaker, a notice in the cabin?  I'm taking a trip on her this September and just wondering how I will know the guest count.  I do not want to wait in line for one or two hours to get off the ship or get back on.

[staceyglow]

1 minute ago, lasvegascruising said:

john91498,

How did Carnival inform you the ship was above capacity?  Was it an announcement over the loud speaker, a notice in the cabin?  I'm taking a trip on her this September and just wondering how I will know the guest count.  I do not want to wait in line for one or two hours to get off the ship or get back on.

The crew knows how many passengers are sailing.  When we were sailing immediately post-pandemic, we would ask our waiters and they were always able to tell us.

[pc_load_letter]

Was on Radiance the week before you. We prefer Radiance over Panorama. We had great food at Shaqs and pizza was good and quick to come out.

 

The only negatives we had was the group with the wireless speaker in the aft pool area playing hardcore rap. I informed the pool attendant. He called someone who instructed them to turn it off. They did, but later when someone in their group asked what happened to the music....she said "that white b**** complained" lol. We got a chuckle out of that.

 

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though. The fight in the dining room was a new one for me.

 

All in all, we love Radiance and will be on it again soon. Can't wait for Firenze to arrive next year.

 

*Question...a waiter told us that Panorama was going to leave to asia when Firenze arrives. Anyone hear that?

[weezal]

17 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

*Question...a waiter told us that Panorama was going to leave to asia when Firenze arrives. Anyone hear that?

panorama is accepting bookings through apr 2025, out of long beach