Radiance of the Seas.....Past - Present - Future

[cruisenfever]

I just love that they put these wonderful tall windows in. It completely changes the appearance from what the SeaView was. Looks like they even have tables for 2.:D

 

 

[jmf123]

I just love that they put these wonderful tall windows in. It completely changes the appearance from what the SeaView was. Looks like they even have tables for 2.:D

 

I agree Patti, I didn't even recognize this venue as the former Seaview Cafe from the photo of Jen and her DH! :)

[CVU]

I couldn't agree more--extra pay restaurants but less seating in the Windjammer and the same old yukky shower curtains. We've cruised on the Radiance many times also and I am very disappointed to read what hasn't been fixed and then read about the millions spent on the new restaurants. The addition of flat screen TVs is extremely minor for us--we rarely ever have the TV on. Although we cruise for the ports, from now on we will be looking closely at other RCL ships and well as other ship lines for our cruises. At least on the Jewel and the Brillance they have the plexiglas shower doors.

 

Linda (and C. D.)

 

I bet they had to take the showers out and put in new shower units to have those sliding shower doors. They must have a track built in to the bottom?

 

But not happy to see more paying restaurants we won't use.........

[CVU]

Duplicate post

[cruisenfever]

I think they they would have to take the showers out and then put in new shower units to have those sliding shower doors. They must have a track built in to the bottom? We hate the curtains also!

 

Sure not happy to see more paying restaurants we won't use.........only watch the TV for any news etc. So not a needed improvement for us either. We are sad there are no more burgers in Seaview........

The cabins are like pre-fabs when they are added to the ship and they are done in sections. If it's anything like adding a shower door to your home they would have to put a track as well as a frame in.

[Clarea]

...At least on the Jewel and the Brillance they have the plexiglas shower doors.

 

Linda (and C. D.)

I think it's Serenade and Jewel with the shower doors.

 

Bob

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I think it's Serenade and Jewel with the shower doors.

 

Bob

 

 

Correct.

 

I think they could of eliminated at least one of the 7 new restaurants and did some cabin upgrades!

 

***

[island lady]

Correct.

 

I think they could of eliminated at least one of the 7 new restaurants and did some cabin upgrades!

 

***

 

Yes...please!!!

Eliminate one new fancy "extra charge" restaurant of which may go wasted for actual return income, and actually do something that everyone would actually appreciate.....new solid shower doors. Does no one from RCI actually read these threads?????? ;)

 

Does RCI really think we are fond of those "TSA inspection" shower curtains on those tiny showers by this time or what??? :eek: :eek:

[AussieChick78]

I think that you have hit on one of the biggest differences between ships, the shower doors. I really hate the curtains.

 

So I think that answers the first of my questions....;)! They obviously didn't change the shower curtains over in the refit!

 

My second question is, do they have laundry lines in the bathroom of the balcony cabins? This became invaluable on our previous NCL cruise to handwash, at least, our 'undergarments':eek:

 

In regards to the outdoor moviescreen, hopefully we will get more use for it down here in Australia in our more tropical climate, I can only guess that it will be tolerable on only the nicest of days in Alaska:(

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Yes...please!!!

Eliminate one new fancy "extra charge" restaurant of which may go wasted for actual return income, and actually do something that everyone would actually appreciate.....new solid shower doors. Does no one from RCI actually read these threads?????? ;)

 

Does RCI really think we are fond of those "TSA inspection" shower curtains on those tiny showers by this time or what??? :eek: :eek:

 

 

I am glad some one else agrees with me on this.

The cabins are in such need of upgrading!!!

 

***

[bigeagle12]

I am glad some one else agrees with me on this.

The cabins are in such need of upgrading!!!

 

***

 

I agree with both of you too!

[Coralc]

My second question is, do they have laundry lines in the bathroom of the balcony cabins? This became invaluable on our previous NCL cruise to handwash, at least, our 'undergarments':eek:

 

(

 

Yes, pull out laundry line is inside the shower. :)

[jmf123]

I am glad some one else agrees with me on this.

The cabins are in such need of upgrading!!!

 

***

 

Another vote for less pay restaurants and more stateroom sprucing up! I mistakenly thought that by now these tattered couches would be replaced/reupholstered. (pic and commentary borrowed from jennat's great Radiance review :p):

 

We were booked in room 9588, a balcony on the hump, 9th floor.

 

The bath is a typical cruise bath but it is the smallest shower ever in the history of the entire world.....this is not over stated. It has one of those clingy shower curtains that wraps around you like cling wrap cutting off all oxygen and bringing up all your childhood terrors of suffocation and being buried alive. What? That was just me?

[jonbgd]

I am glad some one else agrees with me on this.

The cabins are in such need of upgrading!!!

 

***

I agree with you on the upgrading the cabins but my GF said she says the curtains arnt that big of a deal. Now she is a little vertically challenged thou;)

It would have been nice if they had changed the curtains out instead of putting Samba Grill to replace Seaview cafe

They could have put Samba where Rita's went and saved money to put towards replacing the shower curtains.

I understand charging extra on a cruise for a churrascaria but for Mexican food??????

[mommabean]

Another vote for less pay restaurants and more stateroom sprucing up! I mistakenly thought that by now these tattered couches would be replaced/reupholstered. (pic and commentary borrowed from jennat's great Radiance review :p):

 

I really think these sofas look worse in pictures than they do in real life. The fabric looks funny from certain angles the way the light hits them. Although I agree it's time to switch them all out just to update the rooms.

 

I did one cruise on Celebrity - half way through the cruise they asked how they were doing. They left a form left in the room for me to fill out. I told them the concierge class furniture and carpet was shabby and stained. The next day they re-carpeted the room and put in new furniture. :eek: Unbelievable. I didn't mean for them to take it that far. I just thought a little upholstery/carpet cleaning was in order.

 

I can't imagine RCI would go to such extremes. Although I've always been happy with my rooms on Radiance. (Except for the last one but that was a size issue - I learned my lesson)

 

Gina

[mommabean]

I agree with you on the upgrading the cabins but my GF said she says the curtains arnt that big of a deal. Now she is a little vertically challenged thou;)

It would have been nice if they had changed the curtains out instead of putting Samba Grill to replace Seaview cafe

They could have put Samba where Rita's went and saved money to put towards replacing the shower curtains.

I understand charging extra on a cruise for a churrascaria but for Mexican food??????

 

All of this would have been to my liking. I think Japanese food could be free, too. I hope Izumi is a whole lot more than sushi and miso soup and your standard Japanese food.

 

Samba Grill appears to be a beautiful space but I'd rather have Seaview and a shower door.

 

Gina

[jmf123]

Samba Grill appears to be a beautiful space but I'd rather have Seaview and a shower door.

 

Gina

 

It would have been nice if they had changed the curtains out instead of putting Samba Grill to replace Seaview cafe

They could have put Samba where Rita's went and saved money to put towards replacing the shower curtains.

 

I agree with all of the above! :)

[sbalax]

I did one cruise on Celebrity - half way through the cruise they asked how they were doing. They left a form left in the room for me to fill out. I told them the concierge class furniture and carpet was shabby and stained. The next day they re-carpeted the room and put in new furniture. :eek: Unbelievable. I didn't mean for them to take it that far. I just thought a little upholstery/carpet cleaning was in order.

Gina

 

Gina--

 

We had a very similar experience on Celebrity Millennium. We filled out the mid-cruise form and within about twenty minutes of turning it in the Assistant Head Housekeeper was knocking on our door wanting to see and discuss the issues we had mentioned. This was also in Concierge Class. We had commented on the grout on the tile floor in the bathroom being discolored and a couple of tiles being cracked. She offered to have it retiled that day! It would mean putting plywood over it for an additional day so we said no thanks. They were in the midst of changing towels from the pink and green to white and we often got some pretty thread bare ones. It never happened again. The bedside tables were tarnished from using the wrong cleaning product. This had been a problem on an earlier cruise. We had a call later in the day from Nina, the Hotel Director, who we knew from Celebrity Constellation. She said that they were to be replaced within a month and I've heard they have been. Before she left, the Assistant Head Housekeeper asked if we liked sparkling, red or white wine. We had a very nice bottle of white at dinner that night.

 

We obviously enjoy RCL but Celebrity really is a notch above when it comes to dealing with guests and their concerns whether they be small or large.

 

Frank in cooling and clear SBA:cool:

[Linda41]

Gina--

 

We had a very similar experience on Celebrity Millennium. We filled out the mid-cruise form and within about twenty minutes of turning it in the Assistant Head Housekeeper was knocking on our door wanting to see and discuss the issues we had mentioned. This was also in Concierge Class. Before she left, the Assistant Head Housekeeper asked if we liked sparkling, red or white wine. We had a very nice bottle of white at dinner that night.

 

We obviously enjoy RCL but Celebrity really is a notch above when it comes to dealing with guests and their concerns whether they be small or large.

 

Frank in cooling and clear SBA:cool:

 

We just took a Celebrity cruise in May and I totally agree with you about Celebrity being a notch above. Their service was really "above and beyond" what would be very acceptable! We are now booked on a B2B with Celebrity for next summer. Oh yes, they have a decent sized shower also. :D

 

Linda (and C. D.)

[mommabean]

Gina--

 

We had a very similar experience on Celebrity Millennium. We filled out the mid-cruise form and within about twenty minutes of turning it in the Assistant Head Housekeeper was knocking on our door wanting to see and discuss the issues we had mentioned. This was also in Concierge Class. We had commented on the grout on the tile floor in the bathroom being discolored and a couple of tiles being cracked. She offered to have it retiled that day! It would mean putting plywood over it for an additional day so we said no thanks. They were in the midst of changing towels from the pink and green to white and we often got some pretty thread bare ones. It never happened again. The bedside tables were tarnished from using the wrong cleaning product. This had been a problem on an earlier cruise. We had a call later in the day from Nina, the Hotel Director, who we knew from Celebrity Constellation. She said that they were to be replaced within a month and I've heard they have been. Before she left, the Assistant Head Housekeeper asked if we liked sparkling, red or white wine. We had a very nice bottle of white at dinner that night.

 

We obviously enjoy RCL but Celebrity really is a notch above when it comes to dealing with guests and their concerns whether they be small or large.

 

Frank in cooling and clear SBA:cool:

 

Which reminds me of the bouquet of flowers they sent us for the inconvenience of having dingy furnishings. LOL

 

And about the suitcase of mine they broke - a first for me by any cruise line or airline - The gave me $125 OBC :eek: and a free meal for 2 at the specialty restaurant to cover it. They tried to fix it first but couldn't. I didn't even make a big stink over it.

 

I didn't find the crew on Infinity to be very cheerful overall. But guest relations was unbelievable in their response.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I am so happy to see so many others who agree that the cabins really need upgrading!!!!

 

Our cabin drapes were pretty bad, They reeked of old stale smoke, dust and so many sun rot holes in them, the sheers were about half shredded in places.

Carpets are pretty well worn in places and stained.

 

Since the Radiance just went through an extensive dry dock, it will be quite a while before she has another dry dock.....I can't see the cabins on hold for a long length of time for a re-do! :eek:

 

***

[CP3o]

I am so happy to see so many others who agree that the cabins really need upgrading!!!!

 

Our cabin drapes were pretty bad, They reeked of old stale smoke, dust and so many sun rot holes in them, the sheers were about half shredded in places.

Carpets are pretty well worn in places and stained.

 

Since the Radiance just went through an extensive dry dock, it will be quite a while before she has another dry dock.....I can't see the cabins on hold for a long length of time for a re-do! :eek:

 

***

 

I agree too. We can all agree with each other but until we stop sailing RCCL b/c of stuff like this, it won't change. Every decesion that has a $ cost comes with an estimated potential $ benefit when they are deciding what to do.

 

New TVs, yeah, sort of have to update those not to be seen as really behind the times, besides, can't buy those old ones anymore when go out. They may even have "benefits" in their analysis if the interactive system has people buy more excursions b/c they don't have to wait in Explorations line or order more room service b/c easier than calling, etc.

 

New restaurants come with fees to offset their cost. What revenue does replacing shower curtain with door generate? Steam and sauna seem to be non-functioning much of the time. If it doesn't directly generate revenue and can be proven by the bean counters, it will get pushed aside.

 

It must be less expensive to offer pax with serious plumbing complaints a discount of future cruise (steer them toward different ship but keep the business) than to fix the plumbing problems. I think this is just the way things are now and it's up to them to decide how to run the biz to make most money.

[negc]

:)

I agree too. We can all agree with each other but until we stop sailing RCCL b/c of stuff like this, it won't change. Every decesion that has a $ cost comes with an estimated potential $ benefit when they are deciding what to do.

 

New TVs, yeah, sort of have to update those not to be seen as really behind the times, besides, can't buy those old ones anymore when go out. They may even have "benefits" in their analysis if the interactive system has people buy more excursions b/c they don't have to wait in Explorations line or order more room service b/c easier than calling, etc.

 

New restaurants come with fees to offset their cost. What revenue does replacing shower curtain with door generate? Steam and sauna seem to be non-functioning much of the time. If it doesn't directly generate revenue and can be proven by the bean counters, it will get pushed aside.

 

It must be less expensive to offer pax with serious plumbing complaints a discount of future cruise (steer them toward different ship but keep the business) than to fix the plumbing problems. I think this is just the way things are now and it's up to them to decide how to run the biz to make most money.

 

Replacing carpet, drapes etc. are the types of things that can be done without the necessity of bringing the ship into a dry dock, so I think that drapes that reek of smoke or are disintegrating should be part of an ongoing preventive maintenance program. Smokey drapes should be become less of a problem since smoking is no longer permitted in the staterooms.

As far as plumbing problems, Radiance has been undergoing plumbing repairs since well before we sailed on her last year and the number of complaints seems to have dropped considerably. Even then, none of our group of a dozen or so cruisers experienced any problems with the plumbing in their cabins. However,any ship can have such problems as long as passengers continue to disregard the requests that they refrain from putting prohibited objects into the toilets. Not sure what or how much attention was given to the plumbing on Radiance during the extensive revitalization but any system that works perfectly can have a problem if good common sense isn't exercised by the passengers currently onboard.

Some of the problems which allegedly are happening with increasing frequency, have not, as far as we have seen, been apparent when we have cruised on RCI or other cruiselines.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

:)

 

Replacing carpet, drapes etc. are the types of things that can be done without the necessity of bringing the ship into a dry dock, so I think that drapes that reek of smoke or are disintegrating should be part of an ongoing preventive maintenance program. Smokey drapes should be become less of a problem since smoking is no longer permitted in the staterooms.

As far as plumbing problems, Radiance has been undergoing plumbing repairs since well before we sailed on her last year and the number of complaints seems to have dropped considerably. Even then, none of our group of a dozen or so cruisers experienced any problems with the plumbing in their cabins. However,any ship can have such problems as long as passengers continue to disregard the requests that they refrain from putting prohibited objects into the toilets. Not sure what or how much attention was given to the plumbing on Radiance during the extensive revitalization but any system that works perfectly can have a problem if good common sense isn't exercised by the passengers currently onboard.

Some of the problems which allegedly are happening with increasing frequency, have not, as far as we have seen, been apparent when we have cruised on RCI or other cruiselines.

 

I agree that they can do the drapes/cabins during a cruise....but they spent all the money on the restaurants!!!!!! :eek:

 

***

[CptSticky]

I agree too. We can all agree with each other but until we stop sailing RCCL b/c of stuff like this, it won't change. Every decesion that has a $ cost comes with an estimated potential $ benefit when they are deciding what to do.

 

New TVs, yeah, sort of have to update those not to be seen as really behind the times, besides, can't buy those old ones anymore when go out. They may even have "benefits" in their analysis if the interactive system has people buy more excursions b/c they don't have to wait in Explorations line or order more room service b/c easier than calling, etc.

 

New restaurants come with fees to offset their cost. What revenue does replacing shower curtain with door generate? Steam and sauna seem to be non-functioning much of the time. If it doesn't directly generate revenue and can be proven by the bean counters, it will get pushed aside.

 

It must be less expensive to offer pax with serious plumbing complaints a discount of future cruise (steer them toward different ship but keep the business) than to fix the plumbing problems. I think this is just the way things are now and it's up to them to decide how to run the biz to make most money.

Actually, some of their decisions are costing them money. When they pulled their ships from the west coast everyone complained and said that they would stop sailing with them. I'm sure that they have heard it before and figured that things would calm down after awhile. I was one who complained and probably really had no intention of switching, however, as I've looked for future cruises and they are not here, I have actually booked several future cruises with other lines. One of them cost about 5 times what I would normally spend on a regular Royal cruise. So, yes, their decision has cost them money.