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

[mommabean]

Nah!!!!!! BTW I did install the update and the PP worked just fine.:D

 

I figured a lot of us would have that problem As long as our pre-2007 PCs work, there is no reason to upgrade the system. I didn't know I needed an office update since in the past, all PP files worked for me. I'm glad the update worked for you, too.

 

Georgina will really be missed especially in Juan Diego's absence. I'm not sure if I know Steven, his temporary replacement, but maybe I'll recognize him when I see him. I thought I knew the guest services people. Maybe I'll know him when I see him although he'll be back in the DL by the time I'm on board RD. I'll have to peek in. I'm pretty excited about Beresford being in the CL full time though so it could be hard to break away from that duo - him and JD. :)

 

Gina

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

I figured a lot of us would have that problem As long as our pre-2007 PCs work, there is no reason to upgrade the system. I didn't know I needed an office update since in the past, all PP files worked for me. I'm glad the update worked for you, too.

 

Georgina will really be missed especially in Juan Diego's absence. I'm not sure if I know Steven, his temporary replacement, but maybe I'll recognize him when I see him. I thought I knew the guest services people. Maybe I'll know him when I see him although he'll be back in the DL by the time I'm on board RD. I'll have to peek in. I'm pretty excited about Beresford being in the CL full time though so it could be hard to break away from that duo - him and JD. :)

 

Gina

 

She was a great replacement in the CL. We love Beresford. Hopefully he'll be on board for our OZ cruises next March.

[mommabean]

She was a great replacement in the CL. We love Beresford. Hopefully he'll be on board for our OZ cruises next March.

 

I think by the timing of his vacation earlier this year, he'll be gone again during the winter and back in time for us. :D Have you seen his new and improved smile? He is looking fabulous.

 

Gina

[McDonaldCruising]

Hi everyone if I make a shore excursion and submit my cc during booking will it charge my card now or go on my on board acct and I pay at the end of the cruise?

 

Also do I need to take a towel onboard or r u able to take a towel off the ship?

 

Thanks in advance!! Booked our cruise thru oz cruzin n we off to Fiji in Jan! Very excited :)

[cruisenfever]

Hi everyone if I make a shore excursion and submit my cc during booking will it charge my card now or go on my on board acct and I pay at the end of the cruise?

 

Also do I need to take a towel onboard or r u able to take a towel off the ship?

 

Thanks in advance!! Booked our cruise thru oz cruzin n we off to Fiji in Jan! Very excited :)

If you book anything prior to boarding you must pay by cc in advance. If you decide to cancel once on board, then you have 24 hours in which to do so and it will be credited back to your SeaPass Card.

 

Towels for pool/beach use both on and off the ship can be obtained on the pool deck and you must sign out for them using your SeaPass Card where you will see a charge of $20 on your account. Once you return the towels the charge will be removed.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[MJN]

Hi, We were recently on Radiance in Alaska and have to tell you, it was a fantastic experience! As for the excursions pre-booked online, they are pre-paid with a credit or debit card at the time you book them. Please be aware though, that when you get your final invoice for payment, unless you are already paid up...they will show up. It's pretty confusing, especially if you are using a Travel Agent. Because of the way they appear on the final bill, it appears you still owe the amount, but it shows itself again at the very bottom as having already been paid. We didn't mention we had already booked our excursions to our TA and she tried to pay it off with our credit card we gave her for final payment. When she said our credit card was already maxed out I was confused. She forwarded on the bill to me in an e-mail and we figured out what they had done. I never expected the excursions to show up in the final payment invoice as I had already paid them. It all worked out fine, just be aware! Well worth booking them in advance however as some excursions will book up early. Every one we did, either with the ship or on our own were wonderful! One advantage of booking with the ship is that, should something happen to delay return to the ship, the ship will wait for you! If you book on your own and you are delayed, they will NOT wait for you if you arrive after sailing time! We have seen this happen, though never to us, we have been standing on the top deck at sail off time and seen people running for the ship as the ship sails away.

As for the towels, they do have towels at a specified spot on the pool deck. On Radiance it is normally between the regular pool and the Solarium pool to the right hand side (facing forward) of the pool bar near the rail. Initially when you get one they charge your card, then you can turn it in for a clean dry towel every day, or as often as needed and then you bring it back on the last day and they credit your card back. If you don't return it you just bought it, for $20. I believe. They tell you this at the first swipe and there is also a notice in your room on the first or second day.

Radiance is a gorgeous ship, friendly staff and you will have a fantastic cruise.

[mommabean]

We've never had a $20 charge show up on our account for a towel and then later removed. We return towels the day we check them out. If they charged us each day it would show up as 2 towels multiple times. I wouldn't like that.

 

 

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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[McDonaldCruising]

Thank you all very helpful! :) looking very forward to our cruise!! :)

[cruisenfever]

For those that haven't seen Radiance, up close and personal, here ya go Photos of Radiance

[cruisenfever]

Here are some photos of Radiance taken last Friday, 8/19 by Dayle (CVU's) husband Brian when the ship was docked at Canada Place.

 

Photo #1 is the old CL which was turned into a 2 Bedroom Suite on Deck 10

 

Photo #2 is aft balconies on the port side

 

Photo #3 is Deck 7 forward

 

Photo #4 is Decks 8, 9 and 10 port side

 

 

[cruisenfever]

Just an FYI for those that might be interested in dining at any of the Specialty Restaurants. We have some very good friends that just returned from 2 weeks on Radiance. I received an email from them yesterday and thought I would pass this along.............

 

".......they have a deal onboard that is not well advertised: a ‘dining package’. It gives you 4 specialty restaurants for $70 (Samba, Chop, Gio, Izumi). Normal $95. Any nights of your choice. Izumi is “up to $20”, you pay the overage".

 

"You can sign up for the Dining Package at the MTD desk, or in any of the 4 restaurants. On our second week, they got a little more organized and had a greeter outside the Windjammer with a sign-up tablet. Word of caution: when you inquire at any of the 4 restaurants, you get a lot of head scratching and deer-in-the-headlight gazes. But, eventually, they will find someone trained to do it. Once you are in the system, there were zero problems with billing after dinner. The restaurants are under-utilized, so they are trying to fill them. Food was excellent in the specialty places. But, the Windjammer is slipping. Dog house and Park Café are as good as the Allure".

[Oscar_the_Grouch's_Sis]

That sounds like a great deal!!

 

I was planning on eating at all the specialty restaurants anyway! - I will definitely check that out :)

 

My cruise is a week from Friday :D (I leave Monday for Vancouver)

[cruisenfever]

Here are some photos of the new 2-Bedroom Suite that was formerly the Concierge Lounge. It is now Cabin 1054

[Seatravelers]

Thanks so much, Patti, for sharing.

[Coralc]

Just an FYI for those that might be interested in dining at any of the Specialty Restaurants. We have some very good friends that just returned from 2 weeks on Radiance. I received an email from them yesterday and thought I would pass this along.............

 

".......they have a deal onboard that is not well advertised: a ‘dining package’. It gives you 4 specialty restaurants for $70 (Samba, Chop, Gio, Izumi). Normal $95. Any nights of your choice. Izumi is “up to $20”, you pay the overage".

 

"You can sign up for the Dining Package at the MTD desk, or in any of the 4 restaurants. On our second week, they got a little more organized and had a greeter outside the Windjammer with a sign-up tablet. Word of caution: when you inquire at any of the 4 restaurants, you get a lot of head scratching and deer-in-the-headlight gazes. But, eventually, they will find someone trained to do it. Once you are in the system, there were zero problems with billing after dinner. The restaurants are under-utilized, so they are trying to fill them. Food was excellent in the specialty places. But, the Windjammer is slipping. Dog house and Park Café are as good as the Allure".

 

That sounds interesting...we might have to look into that for our 18/17 night cruise in April. Thanks to you and your friends. :D

 

Oh yeah, someone on our roll call had a question about the new Diamond Lounge on Radiance. "He" wondered if it was a full service/full bar Diamond Lounge like they have on Freedom & Oasis class ships. I speculated that it is, but thought I should double check on here......since this member doesn't seem to venture out or respond much. :D:):D

[LuckiePuris]

Hi everyone if I make a shore excursion and submit my cc during booking will it charge my card now or go on my on board acct and I pay at the end of the cruise?

 

Also do I need to take a towel onboard or r u able to take a towel off the ship?

 

Thanks in advance!! Booked our cruise thru oz cruzin n we off to Fiji in Jan! Very excited :)

 

McDonald Cruising, just thought incase you didn't know, our itinery doesn't go to Fiji. We visit islands in New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Loyalty Islands. It's still a fantastic itinery! :)

[cruisenfever]

That sounds interesting...we might have to look into that for our 18/17 night cruise in April. Thanks to you and your friends. :D

 

Oh yeah, someone on our roll call had a question about the new Diamond Lounge on Radiance. "He" wondered if it was a full service/full bar Diamond Lounge like they have on Freedom & Oasis class ships. I speculated that it is, but thought I should double check on here......since this member doesn't seem to venture out or respond much. :D:):D

Patti, on Radiance they call it the Diamond Club and it has the same amenities as the Concierge Lounge with continental breakfast in the mornings and happy hour from 5-8:30 with full bar service with the same selections as in the Concierge Lounge. Each has it's own Concierge and is opened 24/7.

[Coralc]

Patti, on Radiance they call it the Diamond Club and it has the same amenities as the Concierge Lounge with continental breakfast in the mornings and happy hour from 5-8:30 with full bar service with the same selections as in the Concierge Lounge. Each has it's own Concierge and is opened 24/7.

 

Thank you Patti. From the description I thought it probably was a "full service" Diamond Lounge. :)

[wismergirl]

Thank you Patti. From the description I thought it probably was a "full service" Diamond Lounge. :)

 

Not really, just the coffee machine for specialty coffee was on 24 hours a day. They turned it off only on the last night after 8:30 pm. So, no specialty coffee in the morning of departure.

[Coralc]

Not really, just the coffee machine for specialty coffee was on 24 hours a day. They turned it off only on the last night after 8:30 pm. So, no specialty coffee in the morning of departure.

 

I meant that it had full bar offerings, coffee machine and a concierge as opposed to a "Diamond Event" discount. :)

[cruisenfever]

Not really, just the coffee machine for specialty coffee was on 24 hours a day. They turned it off only on the last night after 8:30 pm. So, no specialty coffee in the morning of departure.

You expected more in the Diamond Lounge? :eek: It is run exactly the same as the Concierge Lounge and has the same service and amenities during the same hours. Much more to offer than a nightly Diamond Event held on ships without a designated Diamond Lounge.

 

Edit: I see that Patti and I were typing at the same time.........with the exact same thoughts.

[LuckiePuris]

Hi everyone. We just returned from a fabulous cruise tour on Radiance. I can't say enough good things about it. :D Check out the pictures and videos at the link below.

 

Here's the review I posted ...

 

Tour: Jun 28 2011 – Jul 1, 2011

Sail: Jul 1, 2011 – Jul 8, 2011

 

We arrived at Anchorage at about 6pm (from N. Carolina) so it was a long travel day. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Tour folks were there at the baggage claim and all we did was point to our bags and they took it from there. Being exhausted, that service was more than welcomed. :o) (Throughout the cruise tour, we did not have to drag our luggage around at any time. RCI picked them up at the room and they were delivered to the rooms at the next stop-over.)

 

Denali - We arrived at about 2:30 pm and explored the town before attending Cabin Nite Dinner Theater. The show was great but the food was mediocre at best. It was cloudy so we couldn't see the summit of Mount McKinley. We missed the Natural History Tour the next day because DW was feeling queasy (suspect something she ate at Cabin Nite Theater because she was fine by noon.) The lodging at the McKinley Village Lodge was pretty rustic. Don’t expect a fine hotel here.

 

Talkeetna – We arrived at about 4:30pm and our Tour Director (Andy) told us that the town shuts down at around 7pm. We asked him if we could just take the next available shuttle to town and check-in at the hotel later (we had the Flyer Tour booked for 6pm). He said no problem … he would get our room keys to us later. Andy was such a fabulous Tour Director. He handled everything and accommodated everyone all the time. The town was small and quaint but very beautiful. We did a quick walk around and walked over to the K2 airline to take an airplane ride around the McKinley summit. (Good thing we did this because it was another cloudy day.) This excursion was awesome. I never realized that McKinley is surrounded by glaciers. (Photos at the link below). When we returned to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the accommodations. The Talkeetna Alaska Lodge is outstanding! We left Talkeetna early the next morning for Anchorage to do pre-cruise check-in. This pre-cruise check-in was a total waste of time in my opinion. We all assumed that this “check-in” would be the same as pier check-in and our Seapass Cards would be given to us then … didn’t happen. We still had to do everything at the pier in Seward. Andy told us we could upgrade our transfer from Anchorage to Seward by going on a train vice a bus for $25pp. We took the upgrade and we weren’t disappointed. It was a beautiful trip.

 

Seward (Embarkation) – It was raining steadily. Embarkation was a breeze! From the time we got off the train to the time we were aboard Radiance was about 15 minutes. (Despite the Anchorage check-in, we still had to show SetSail Pass, Passports, and Credit Card.)

 

Radiance of the Seas – Simple beautiful! The dry dock enhancements were all up and running with no noticeable glitches. We had a center hump cabin (8594) and it was great! We had fabulous views for the entire trip! The Main Dining Room was great. Our waiters were among the best we’ve had and the food was nothing short of outstanding! We were assigned table # 437 (just forward and next to the Captains table). It was a table for 8 and our dinner mates were the best. It felt like we were saying goodbye to family at the end of the cruise. We also met other great folks during the cruise. Note: We did notice a very slight sewage smell in the starboard hallway forward of the centrum area. Out cabin attendant told us there were plumbing issues in a few of the cabins up there. I never noticed the dreaded fans or cabin doors open so it couldn’t have been too bad. All of the public places onboard were immaculate and beautiful!

 

Hubbard Glacier was awe inspiring! We got a good video of calving. We ran into a huge ice field while approaching it so the captain had to proceed slowly and cautiously. (See link to pictures below) God's creation is so wonderful!

 

Juneau – We did the Dogsledding by Helicopter excursion and went to Mendenhall Glacier. I never dreamed we’d be playing in the snow in early July! The dogsledding was fantastic! Mendenhall was worth seeing but a guide told us that it is receding at a rate of 200 feet per year.

 

Skagway – We got here on the 4th of July and they had a very nice parade. We did the White Pass Railroad excursion to the White Pass Junction and back. It was well worth every penny!

 

Icy Strait Point – This is a very small port made up of lots of shops. We did our Whale Watching here and the Hump Backs were out in force. They took us to Adolphus Point. (Good pictures and videos in the link below)

 

Ketchikan – This is a very beautiful town with lots of old historic buildings. We went to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. This is something not to be missed. They put on a very good comedy routine in addition to the competition.

 

Canadian Inside Passage - I was a bit concerned about our balcony being on the starboard side after reading what some folks on CC said about the "port side is a must for southbound cruises". Those statements are rubbish. I went up on deck to see both sides and I say the port side is best. The port side saw some awesome Orca Whale displays too. (see pics).

 

Debarkation - Started about 30 minutes late ... never found out why. But once it started, it was flawless.

 

Overall this was a wonderful vacation. Royal Caribbean truly lives up to it's reputation! Thank you RCI

 

Vids and pics ...

http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/cc49/GaryMelillo/Cruise%202011%20-%20Alaska/?start=all

 

Thank you for the fantastic review and amazing photos! Sounds like you had a great cruise :)

[Oscar_the_Grouch's_Sis]

Bye everyone! I fly out to Vancouver tomorrow :D:D:D

[cruisenfever]

Bye everyone! I fly out to Vancouver tomorrow :D:D:D

I wish you a super - terrific - wonderful - awesome - can't get enough of it - cruise. After all the research you have done about your upcoming cruise and all the questions that we answered for you (sometimes more than once ;) ), I hope that everything throughout this journey is perfect from start to finish.

 

Wishing you a wonderful flight and great pre-cruise......then calm seas, blue skies and warm weather.

[Coralc]

Bye everyone! I fly out to Vancouver tomorrow :D:D:D

 

Bob Voyage! Have a great cruise! :D:):D