Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Live from Radiance Pacific Coastal 9/16/06

IMNiles

By IMNiles,
in Royal Caribbean International

Recommended Posts

IMNiles

IMNiles

Posted
Posted

Hi all! Posting live from the lovely Radiance of the Seas, as she sails her Pacific Coastal repositioning itinerary from Vancouver to Los Angeles.

 

For those wondering about the recent Norovirus outbreak on this ship, it is still very much a topic of conversation on board. The ship is on "code red" status, and the captain has made several announcements on the topic of hand washing and sanitation. There are those sanitizing stations everywhere, the crew has been instructed not to shake hands with passengers (and we have been advised not to shake hands with each other). In the windjammer, there are staff positioned all over the place to serve you, because you are not allowed to touch the buffet yourself. So far as I know, the number of illnesses has been on a steady decline since the original outbreak, and I have not heard of an outbreak on this sailing (touch wood). Passengers and staff seem to be taking it all in stride, and I've not heard any overt grumbling. I'm a little annoyed that I can't get my own coffee, but I totally understand.

 

As I have come to expect from Royal Caribbean ships, Radiance is very clean, and everything seems to be in good condition, with no obvious wear. The current cruise director is Pierce, and the Captain is Rune Lokling (not sure of the spelling there).

 

It's time for me to head back to the ship (in Victoria BC presently), but I will try to post a more comprehensive review of our first couple of days tomorrow.

 

Cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
madge62

madge62

Posted
Posted

Hey Niles, I was touring that ship yesterday. It's awesome! I would love to cruise on the Radiance someday. I've been on Vision and Voyager classes but the Radiance was just my cup of tea.

 

So sorry the weather in Nanaimo yesterday sucked, we had beautiful weather the day before. We had a lovely meal in the dining room, great food, great service, I really wanted to stowaway somewhere.

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

Marjorie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MarciaL

MarciaL

Posted
Posted

Marjorie, We have sailed on Brilliance, Serenade and Jewel and the Radiance Class is by far our favorite. And we have been on every class except Freedom. It is just the right size for us.

 

Niles, Thanks for the report on the cruise..... I'm another one of San's friends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wrp96

wrp96

Posted
Posted
Thanks for checking in from your trip................have a friend onboard(Sanjoseca=Tony)..........not sure if you have met or not...........if so,he really isnt a troublemaker...........haha!

 

He is too a troublemaker.;) Who told you he wasn't?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
IMNiles

IMNiles

Posted
  • Author
Posted

OK, so now I'm annoyed. I posted a fairly long update earlier today, but now it seems not to be here. Unfortunately, we're setting sail soon and I don't have time to compose it again. The short version is that all is going well except for some drama with corkage fees (will discuss that later). So far (again, touch wood) no major illness on board that I've heard about. Weather in Victoria and Astoria just lovely. Celia, passed on your hello to Lorna as she's at my dinner table. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tinkerme1

tinkerme1

Posted
Posted

IMNiles: Thanks for passing on the "hello"! I hope you are all having a great time! Sounds like the weather is perfect for the Pacific Northwest. In San Diego, the temps are in the 90's today.:D

 

Sorry about your post, but not too uncommon for CC these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wrp96

wrp96

Posted
Posted
WRP96: Just tell Tony (SAN) that K2 said to have a Scotch on the Rocks for her!! And tell him he's buying!! :D

 

Nope I'm not on the cruise with San. If I'm ever lucky enough to cruise with him, I promise to buy him a drink when we're in the Concierge Lounge at night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KathieKata

KathieKata

Posted
Posted

WRP96........sorry thought you were on this cruise!!

 

ImNILES: I like your sign on name! Just figured it out!! Cute.

Sorry that you're having problems with your CORKs!! :D Nice to know that the weather is so nice on the cruise. Enjoy. And if you see our friend TONY.......tell him we miss him........(like ants at a ........Oh don't tell him that);)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
IMNiles

IMNiles

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello again all - I don't know that I've met Tony or not, but I'll be sure to tell him that everyone thinks he's a troublemaker.. :)

 

Celia, Lorna and I see rather a lot of each other since we're at the same dinner table, so I'll be sure to tell her hi for you.

 

It's a cool and drizzly day here in Astoria, Oregon. The ship has cleared customs and people are going ashore. I keep hoping (possibly in vain) that the sun will come back out for a little while so I don't have to take my umbrella out with me.. Yesterday in Victoria was sunny and beautiful until just as I was heading back to the ship, when it rained a bit. Coming off of a brutal Arizona summer, I'm perfectly happy that it's gray and drizzly. For obvious reasons, the pool deck is fairly deserted.

 

I have yet to hear word of any serious illness outbreaks, so hopefully people will continue to be vigilant and we can avoid a major incident. I'm not sure how long all the "code red" extra procedures will last, but I'd imagine at least another week or two.

 

Things have gone quite well so far, and I am, as usual, having a very nice time. I particularly enjoy the quiet sail out of Victoria as we putter down the channel out towards the sea. Last year I saw some dolphins, but I was too busy talking to pay as much attention this time. Somebody said they saw a couple of whales. It was fairly misty, so the shoreline took on a kind of otherworldly look - very pretty.

 

Last night was the first night we really spent on the open ocean, having spent the last few days puttering around Vancouver, and the seas were fairly typical of this region. We rocked around a bit and stumbled a bit here and there, but it was not unpleasant. Personally, I like a little motion to remind me I'm on a ship! I've seen a few more seasickness patches today, but things didn't get so rough that the staff was placing sickness bags around like I've seen them do in the past. I suspect we're in for a bit more motion as we head down to SFO, and that's just fine with me. :)

 

Service on board has been generally very good. I have found my favorite bartender (Marwin in the centrum bar), and was pleased to find out that I already knew the cruise director, Pierce, as he had been the Activities Director on my Vision Pacific Coast cruise last year. Oddly, my cabin steward never introduced him or herself to me, so I have no idea who is cleaning my cabin. I'm sure it's one of the smiling folks in the hallway, but this is the first time that my steward hasn't stopped in to introduce themselves, so I just feel a bit disconnected from that, which is a shame.

 

The only "bad" experience I've had so far has been as spot of drama involving corkage fees. There is clearly a great deal of confusion surrounding the new alchohol rules, and this is especially evident with wine. I had a number of bottles sent to my room by my travel agent (purchased from gifts&gear), and in fact carried one of them (already open) with me to dinner the first night without incident. The next night I was informed that even though the wine had been purchased from RCCL, it had not been purchased "on board" and therefore was subject to a $12 corkage fee. A fair bit of complaining got them to waive the fee once, but they do seem to be enforcing this rule fairly strictly now. As I tried (in vain, I think) to explain to the purser, it wasn't the rule that bothered me, per se, as it's their ship and they can set whatever rules they want. What bothered me is that I wasn't told this was the case when we ordered the wine. We asked if we could bring it to dining and were told yes. If you're going to have that rule, you need to inform people when they buy the wine, and probably again when you deliver it. It would not have been hard to include a note saying to enjoy the wine in my stateroom, or bring it to dinner and have them serve it for a fee.

 

Thankfully, I'm not one of those people who lets a little thing like this bother me, and I've moved on. Just mentioning it so other people don't get caught in the same trap. I think now I'm just going to have to keep excusing myself to my cabin to refill my glass. :) It's not that I begrudge them the fee necessarily, but I don't really want to pay a $12 fee on a $20 bottle of wine (that sells at retail for $10).

 

After going back and reading this message, it all seems a bit negative, so I'll end on a positive note by saying that really, honestly, everything so far has been very nice and I'm having a great time. The ship is, as usual, lovely and very clean. The staff are, with few exceptions, smiling and doing their best to ensure we enjoy ourselves. I've met some great people and am already getting that "oh no, the trip is half over" feeling! :)

 

It doesn't look like there is much of a line to get off the ship now, and it ALSO looks like maybe the sun is trying to come out, so I think I'll pop outside for a bit. I'll check in again before we sail to see if anyone has any questions.

 

[message reposted today, wednesday, because it was rejected for having too many smileys in it, good grief.]

Link to comment
Share on other sites
IMNiles

IMNiles

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello again all. I opened up my laptop this morning to find my original post still sitting there, having been rejected for having too many smileys in it! I was in such a hurry to close up before that I didn't actually read the page that came back, oops! So I've reposted it above.

 

Anyway, we are at sea today en route to San Francisco, and although it's a bit nippy out, it's still a beautiful day, blue skies with just a few clouds.

 

To answer the question of how there can be corkage fee issues, see my now-reposted message above. Basically the confusion surrounded wine that I did not bring on board, but was purchased from RCCL and waiting in my room when I boarded. Apparently there is a distinction between wine for in-cabin consumption and wine for dining room consumption. If you want to bring a room-delivered bottle to the dining room, I am told, you will need to pay the $12 corkage fee. I was merely peeved because this was not pointed out to me in advance. I'm over it now. :) (ok, that's one smiley. I'm allowed four more).

 

So back to the cruise. Still having a great time, and no serious issues to report. Regarding the Norovirus, it appears that our "code red" has been lifted. We were allowed to touch the buffet today and there were no longer sentinels posted at all the coffee machines. I take this to mean that if there was illness on this sailing, it was below whatever threshold they consider to be out of the ordinary. This is all good news for anyone sailing soon, of course. I still encourage frequent handwashing though. :) Oh darn, there's my second smiley.

 

Last night was the Quest, and although I personally helped not a whit, our team won. It was very entertaining as usual, but I swear it was the most "rapid fire" Quest I have ever seen. I think the whole thing was over in less than 30 minutes. We had dinner in Chops that night, and had to make a mad dash, desserts in hand, in order to make it (we were still late, as they started promptly on time).

 

More later!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ladylawyer

ladylawyer

Posted
Posted

Hi Everyone ... a special "hi" to Celia! There's nothing for me to say, as "Niles" has said it all! This has been such a fun cruise - despite some incidences with some rude crew members (there's a funny story about a request for cookies at Latte-tudes, that I'll relate when it's not costing me $.33/minute). I noticed that we are able to actually serve ourselves at the 'Jammer today, so we must have passed the inspection.

 

I was on Dan's Quest team ... it was my first win at Quest. Kudos to Jim Morrison and Ally for their participation. Especially Ally, who did the worm freshly out of Chops. Personally, I would have left most of my dinner on the floor, had I been assigned to that task. I did contribute a piece of clothing but I am happy to report that it was not a "foundation garment."

 

Celia, I met Elle at the M&M. For the others, who asked, I still haven't met Tony (San). Ally and I hosted a Sailaway Party on our aft balcony, which was well attended, but Tony wasn't there. I forgot to look for him at the M&M, which was fairly well attended, too.

 

I hope all is well. Wrona, I wish you and Carol were here. This has been so much fun. ~ Lorna

Link to comment
Share on other sites
negc

negc

Posted
Posted
Hi Everyone ... a special "hi" to Celia! There's nothing for me to say, as "Niles" has said it all! This has been such a fun cruise - despite some incidences with some rude crew members (there's a funny story about a request for cookies at Latte-tudes, that I'll relate when it's not costing me $.33/minute). I noticed that we are able to actually serve ourselves at the 'Jammer today, so we must have passed the inspection.

 

I was on Dan's Quest team ... it was my first win at Quest. Kudos to Jim Morrison and Ally for their participation. Especially Ally, who did the worm freshly out of Chops. Personally, I would have left most of my dinner on the floor, had I been assigned to that task. I did contribute a piece of clothing but I am happy to report that it was not a "foundation garment."

 

Celia, I met Elle at the M&M. For the others, who asked, I still haven't met Tony (San). Ally and I hosted a Sailaway Party on our aft balcony, which was well attended, but Tony wasn't there. I forgot to look for him at the M&M, which was fairly well attended, too.

 

I hope all is well. Wrona, I wish you and Carol were here. This has been so much fun. ~ Lorna

 

Check out the concierge lounge, I'm sure that they know him quite well in there.:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...