LIVE from Radiance 3/15 - St Patrick’s Cruise

[bethfelk]

Hello everyone! Figured now is a good time to start this live as I am currently sitting on a train. I also live blogged our 11-Night Regal Princess back in December, but I suspect this 3-day spring break/St Patrick’s Day cruise will be a bit of a different vibe lol. For introductions, I am Beth, I am 22 which is younger than most Cruise Critics users I realize but I’ve been cruising all my life and I really love it. I believe this is number 15? I am an Economics and Data Science Masters student (about to graduate!) and I will be cruising with my sister @kruisin_kt who is 25 and a Machine Learning PhD student. So needless to say, we are both ready for a fun weekend getaway. Plans mainly include reading by the pool, relaxing, rum, and blackjack (I got this cruise through a casino offer so I hope to get another between this one and my upcoming Jubilee in May).

[bethfelk]

I was originally supposed to fly to LAX via Houston on a flight this evening but it was cancelled last night and they rebooked on a flight through Denver. Which seemed like a bad idea. So I called and rebooked direct to LAX from DAL. I am taking the train down from OK where I live, however in the 20 minutes I was on the phone with Southwest it went from seats available to sold out. Thankfully I just showed up at the station this morning and asked the conductor very nicely and he let me on so here I am. And here is a picture of my cafe car spoils. Hoping the rest of my travel goes smoother than last night did 🤞🏻

[bethfelk]

Waiting for train number 2 out of the 4 this journey will require lol. Convoluted but everything is going smoothly so hoping that continues 

[kruisin_kt]

Hey everyone! I’m Beth‘s sister and I’m super excited to be going on this cruise! We’re cruising out of Long Beach and I live in LA, so luckily no travel chaos for me. Beth’s staying with me tonight and then we’re heading to the port first thing tomorrow! 

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, bethfelk said:

I was originally supposed to fly to LAX via Houston on a flight this evening but it was cancelled last night and they rebooked on a flight through Denver. Which seemed like a bad idea. So I called and rebooked direct to LAX from DAL. I am taking the train down from OK where I live, however in the 20 minutes I was on the phone with Southwest it went from seats available to sold out. Thankfully I just showed up at the station this morning and asked the conductor very nicely and he let me on so here I am. And here is a picture of my cafe car spoils. Hoping the rest of my travel goes smoother than last night did 🤞🏻

Nice start, and I totally agree about going thru Denver right now….following along

[bethfelk]

Had some surprisingly good airport food for dinner and on the plane now. Finishing up boarding and seems like we will be on time 

[bethfelk]

Update I have made it to my sisters! We are catching up and enjoying some whiskey. Excited to try some new whiskies tomorrow! 

[jimbo5544]

How long was the train ride

 

[bethfelk]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

How long was the train ride

 

About 4 hours on the main train (Heartland flyer) but then it took another 2 hours of a TRE, a DART train, and DART bus to get to the airport 

[bethfelk]

Happy cruise day everyone!! I am so excited bc after what an ordeal my travel was it felt like this might not happen but now it is here. Starting the morning with French press coffee and my usual breakfast of a gluten free bagel with cream cheese. I have celiac also so gluten free food will be a major focus in this review. I’m sure 3 days won’t be enough to get a great feel but I am excited to see Carnival’s new GF MDR menus

[Roscoe13]

4 minutes ago, bethfelk said:

Happy cruise day everyone!! I am so excited bc after what an ordeal my travel was it felt like this might not happen but now it is here. Starting the morning with French press coffee and my usual breakfast of a gluten free bagel with cream cheese. I have celiac also so gluten free food will be a major focus in this review. I’m sure 3 days won’t be enough to get a great feel but I am excited to see Carnival’s new GF MDR menus

You had me at GF!  My wife has Celiac and we've cruised Carnival 12 times but never on the Radiance out of Long Beach, rather the Panorama.

 

DW gets treated very well GF wise by Carnival but there have been occasional OOPSIES!!

Usually cross contamination, so she avoids buffets and salad bars.

 

Anyway, have a great cruise with your sis and I look forward to reading about your GF experience on the Radiance!

[mamiamjo]

I hope you and your sister have a great cruise!🙂

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, bethfelk said:

About 4 hours on the main train (Heartland flyer) but then it took another 2 hours of a TRE, a DART train, and DART bus to get to the airport 

quite creative, I am impressed.

[bethfelk]

On our way to the port now. ETA of around 10:15 I think, our arrival time is 11:00 bc we expected traffic to be worse but hopefully we can get in earlier. No stress tho, today is only good vibes. We have the cruise playlist playing of Jimmy Buffet and Beach Boys 👍🏻

[bethfelk]

Update we arrived to the port at 10:07

[bethfelk]

Through security and waiting for boarding to start at 10:23. This is our first cruise out of Long Beach and so far it is kicking Galveston’s ass in terms of port efficiency 

[ASR1996]

I hope you both have a great time! 

[kruisin_kt]

As Beth said, we are in the terminal and waiting to board! Left home (close to Sepulveda and Venice, if you’re local and wondering) at 9:30. I was expecting about an hour to the port based on Google maps, but we got insanely lucky on traffic. Even with a quick ATM stop, it was 35 min door to door. My lovely girlfriend was kind enough to drive us so we didn’t have to mess with parking. 
 

Check in and security was <20 min including a quick bathroom stop. We also got great views of the Queen Mary on the short, pleasant walk from the car to the terminal. 
 

So far, we are both insanely impressed with embarkation in Long Beach! 

[bethfelk]

On board at 11:00 exactly. Super efficient. And unlike Galveston don’t have to wait for the package to start. So let’s get this party started my friends!

[kruisin_kt]

Our group (C3) was called at 10:52. All groups were called at 10:54. We stepped on board at exactly 11:00, finished muster check in at 11:04, and sat down at Guy’s at 11:08. 53 minutes curb to ship, 61 min curb to fun. 

 

Long Beach continues to impress. 

Edited March 15 by kruisin_kt

[bethfelk]

Drink #1! Had to start with a fun ship. I think this is basically the same thing as paradise punch on princess which is one of my faves.

[bethfelk]

And a gluten free Guys Burger! The bun looks questionable so I may be switching to bunless for the future which is fine, but I wanna give a huge shoutout to Prajit from India for taking it super seriously and hand delivering it to me. Awesome first gf interaction 

[kruisin_kt]

And I have a Blue’s Patron Margarita (featuring my BYO reusable straw, lol)

[Roscoe13]

58 minutes ago, bethfelk said:

And a gluten free Guys Burger! The bun looks questionable so I may be switching to bunless for the future which is fine, but I wanna give a huge shoutout to Prajit from India for taking it super seriously and hand delivering it to me. Awesome first gf interaction 

My wife has given up on Carnival's GF buns and dinner bread.  She explains to the Guys peeps what she needs and by the second or third day they see her coming.

[bethfelk]

We have migrated to the pub. Thirsty Frog red and a beachcomber. And we found our first duck!