Radiance Ultimate Alaska cruise - review!

[crazy 4 cruising]

Jean, great review as always. We were on the same cruise with Jean and Don and she has every detail correct.

 

Rachel Hancock and the C&A staff that was onboard did a awesome job, the gifts received were wonderful and greatly appreciated. The Free Excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and then the Salmon Bake was great.........unfortunately Mother Nature had to add some water, in fact, quite a bit of water............but we all made the best of it and had a wonderful time and the food was very good. It was unfortunate that Rachel and her staff had to put up with some very rude, inappropriate and unkind remarks during the entire cruise from a certain individual who was just not happy because of not being treated with the respect that she deserves. In fact, the entire staff and crew had to endure this behavior for the entire cruise, which they did not deserve. I guess you get respect when you give respect.

 

We enjoyed the SeaView for lunch on sea days.....and as always, the food was wonderful.

 

Radiance is going into dry dock in March of 2008......so hopefully some of her frayed ends will be fixed. But, no matter how frayed and aged she is, the crew and staff make up for it in all the ways that matter.

 

Hi Patti, long time no see your posts! glad y'all had a great time, sorry I couldn't be there:(

[Michelle1234]

Seemed they were heavy on spices and every meal included a curried dish choice.

 

This post made my day. I love curried dishes! I can eat curry five times a week (and often do with Indian food lunches with like minded folks at work).

 

Thanks to NZYU, Critterchick and everyone who posts reviews after their cruise. There seems to be a low number of them on the RCL board vs other boards I've been on so I'm hoping my (and other's appreciation) will get that to pick up.

 

I also like heavily spiced food (not necessarily hot but tasty) so I am looking forward to my cruise even more now.

 

Best,

Michelle

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

Jean, great review as always. We were on the same cruise with Jean and Don and she has every detail correct.

 

Rachel Hancock and the C&A staff that was onboard did a awesome job, the gifts received were wonderful and greatly appreciated. The Free Excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and then the Salmon Bake was great.........unfortunately Mother Nature had to add some water, in fact, quite a bit of water............but we all made the best of it and had a wonderful time and the food was very good. It was unfortunate that Rachel and her staff had to put up with some very rude, inappropriate and unkind remarks during the entire cruise from a certain individual who was just not happy because of not being treated with the respect that she deserves. In fact, the entire staff and crew had to endure this behavior for the entire cruise, which they did not deserve. I guess you get respect when you give respect.

 

We enjoyed the SeaView for lunch on sea days.....and as always, the food was wonderful.

 

Radiance is going into dry dock in March of 2008......so hopefully some of her frayed ends will be fixed. But, no matter how frayed and aged she is, the crew and staff make up for it in all the ways that matter.

 

Just taking a minute from my laundry to say that I agree with Patti on the above and Jean, I loved your review. You said it all. We had a wonderful time. I'll post more later.

[PH8]

Jean, great review as always. We were on the same cruise with Jean and Don and she has every detail correct.

 

Rachel Hancock and the C&A staff that was onboard did a awesome job, the gifts received were wonderful and greatly appreciated. The Free Excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and then the Salmon Bake was great.........unfortunately Mother Nature had to add some water, in fact, quite a bit of water............but we all made the best of it and had a wonderful time and the food was very good. It was unfortunate that Rachel and her staff had to put up with some very rude, inappropriate and unkind remarks during the entire cruise from a certain individual who was just not happy because of not being treated with the respect that she deserves. In fact, the entire staff and crew had to endure this behavior for the entire cruise, which they did not deserve. I guess you get respect when you give respect.

 

We enjoyed the SeaView for lunch on sea days.....and as always, the food was wonderful.

 

Radiance is going into dry dock in March of 2008......so hopefully some of her frayed ends will be fixed. But, no matter how frayed and aged she is, the crew and staff make up for it in all the ways that matter.

 

Amazing how some people feel a sense of entitlement.............between that one you are talking about,and the coffee one Critterchick told us about...................simply amazing........

 

But sure sounds like you all had a wonderful time..........:)

[JJ2sail]

Great review Jean! We were also on this cruise, with all the other Polar Bears, and this being only our third RC cruise and first in a suite and first members cruise, we were very happy! Loved all the member gifts and all the member activities! The CL was great, and I agree with Jean, on the Dining room, the food was hit and miss but our waiters were great. We enjoyed Portofino's, but was very dissappointed in Chops. We had one good meal at the Seaview, and then had one bad meal there?? I guess I will try to do a my own review from a newbee's perspective, once I get rested up!

[Cruising89143]

Jean, great review as always. We were on the same cruise with Jean and Don and she has every detail correct.

 

Rachel Hancock and the C&A staff that was onboard did a awesome job, the gifts received were wonderful and greatly appreciated. The Free Excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and then the Salmon Bake was great.........unfortunately Mother Nature had to add some water, in fact, quite a bit of water............but we all made the best of it and had a wonderful time and the food was very good. It was unfortunate that Rachel and her staff had to put up with some very rude, inappropriate and unkind remarks during the entire cruise from a certain individual who was just not happy because of not being treated with the respect that she deserves. In fact, the entire staff and crew had to endure this behavior for the entire cruise, which they did not deserve. I guess you get respect when you give respect.

 

We enjoyed the SeaView for lunch on sea days.....and as always, the food was wonderful.

 

Radiance is going into dry dock in March of 2008......so hopefully some of her frayed ends will be fixed. But, no matter how frayed and aged she is, the crew and staff make up for it in all the ways that matter.

 

Patti welcome back. Glad that you did let a little water stop you on the cruise.:) I won't comment about the rude individual but it does not surprise me at all. I guess some folks just don't understand that the only person they are making an a$$ of are themselves. Very sad that the RCI folks were treated this way. Very sad.

[dfishner]

Jean, I have some friends who are interested in taking the cruise you were on.. So sorry to hear the food is going downhill in the dining room. would you recommend this cruise. There was many positives in your review but could also see some needs improvements as well. Since they do not read Cruise Critic and I know how much you have cruised how would you rate this cruise?

 

Thanks

[Murphy]

Thanks for the review Jean! We had a great time too! Just to add my 2 cents:

 

 

Our Cabin:

We treated ourselves to Owner’s Suite 1062, the Leif Erickson Suite. This was our second OS experience; the first time was on the Enchantment for our Canada/NE cruise. We liked the fact that there is a huge picture window in the bedroom area where I could watch the world go by on my chaise lounger without having to be on the balcony since some days were quite cold. We loved the extra space it gave us and the awesome TV. We also chose it because of its central location. We ate breakfast on the dining table one morning (room service breakfast left a lot to be desired), but it was convenient to eat ensuite when we had an early excursion. The bed was comfy and the bathroom is the size of a typical inside cabin! It is marble, with 2 sinks, a whirlpool tub, a separate glass shower, a toilet and bidet and loads of storage. We had small bottles of shampoo and CONDITIONER (I don’t remember there ever being conditioner before!), shower gel with a loofah sponge; and a vanity kit which included Q-Tips, cottonballs, an emery board and shower cap. Because of the picture window in the bedroom area, the balcony is smaller than some other cabin categories, but it was plenty big for us for this trip. It might be too small for a warm weather itinerary, however, as there weren’t any loungers.

 

Concierge Lounge:

As already stated by Jean, Reyno the concierge was fabulous and Belinda did a great job helping him out especially in the auxiliary Diamond/D+ lounge. Reyno went above and beyond the call of duty, especially during our Polar Bear Breakfast! Thanks Reyno!

 

Our Splurges:

We did purchase the Thermal Suite package from the Spa which gave us unlimited access to the Thermal suite. The Thermal Suite is a separate spa area which has heated benches/lounge chairs that face full length windows creating a great place to keep warm, relax and watch the inside passage float by. Also included in the package is use of the steam room and sauna area, including a cold water rain shower. I didn’t really use this, but DH loved it.

 

We also ate in Portofino’s twice (when DH didn’t order the seafood skewer and then saw it… had to go back a second time to try it!) and Chops once, which we considered well worth the money.

 

Boarding:

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for boarding. We are Diamond members and were in a Suite, but with this being a C & A Member’s cruise, I expected most of the cruisers to also be Diamond/Diamond Plus Members. I didn’t think our priority status would really mean anything, but I was pleasantly surprised. Check in was a breeze! We checked our bags with the porters, walk right up to the RCCL check in desk and were given our seapasses and then were directed upstairs to wait for immigration. We were given #1 immigration tickets and we pleasantly surprised to see lots of “Polar Bears” in the waiting area. This is the first time we got to meet so many folks first hand after chatting online for months and months. It was really very nice to be welcomed so early in the trip! About 15 minutes later they started the immigration checks and we were onboard!

 

Meals:

We had late seating for dinner. We had cross-referenced our dining with a great group of “polar Bears” but when I went to check the table, I realized it was too small for our group. When I found our “group” later in the Windjammer, I found out that Barb had already fixed our seating and we were good to go. Overall, I enjoyed the dining room meals once they were served, but thought the selection was lacking on a number of nights, unless you wanted beef! I was pleasantly surprised by some of the vegetarian entrees however, especially the brie and asparagus tart! It was great! Our Waiter Viktor and assistant waiter Deephak were absolutely wonderful!

 

Day 2 inside passage highlights:

Pod of porpoise off the port side in the am:

[Murphy]

Ketchikan

We booked the Duck tour on our own. It took us quickly around town, stopping at Dolly’s House, the Totem park, the salmon ladder before hitting the water. The highlight here was reaching an island were 3 eagles were roosting. It was a rather cheesy tour, but allowed us to see the city quickly, and we were protected from the small amount of rain we did experience. We thought it was a cutsey little town, a little touristy, but cute.

 

Juneau

We booked the Taku Lodge Float plane and salmon bake excursion thru RCCL as did Jean. The flight was beautiful and the lodge was a treat. The 3 bears were a bonus and quite extraordinary to see eating out of the cooking pit! The sights from the air were fabulous:

[Murphy]

Taku lodge sights from the ground:

[critterchick]

Jean, I have some friends who are interested in taking the cruise you were on.. So sorry to hear the food is going downhill in the dining room. would you recommend this cruise. There was many positives in your review but could also see some needs improvements as well. Since they do not read Cruise Critic and I know how much you have cruised how would you rate this cruise?

 

Thanks

 

Dale, I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat. The ports in Alaska are simply breathtaking, and there's always something to do that you might not have done before. The coastal cities are less compelling because we live here, but for somebody who has travelled a ways, it makes sense to get off in each one and see what's going on. I enjoyed having a couple of faux sea days, and have discovered that I can keep myself happily occupied with a book and deck chair (amd maybe a drink or two).

 

We got a great deal on our cabin, so the additional dining fees for Chops and Portofino, although annoying, were money well spent to get a top-drawer (mostly) dining experience. The WJ, although less elegant, offered a very good substitute as well. One other thing to note is that we had an interim executive chef onboard. He left in San Francisco in favor of the regular guy. For all I know he came back and despaired over what had been done to his kitchen.

 

I think the key to enjoying any cruise is to roll with the punches. The dining room sucks? Find another place to get a good meal. The floor drain backs up? Ruin a few towels and ask your cabin steward to fix it. Can't get free latte? Pay for it or cut down on your caffeine - it's not good for you anyway. It's essential to be a bit flexible, IMHO.

 

The staff and crew were (mostly) amazing, and that's what makes or breaks the cruise experience for me. If I can get a good drink from a friendly bartender and have a staff member come over & talk to me, I'm happy. I wonder why they were calling me "Mrs. Robinson" by the end of this one, though?:rolleyes:

 

By the way, may I request that you all cease and desist saying you know what about you know who? I did work on this review and would hate to see the thread yanked. Thanks.

[jillybabes]

Jean: Wonderful review...it was so nice to meet all the Polar Bears on the cruise...We had a great time making new friends...Would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat!!! Later, Jill:cool:

 

Jean: must have been posting at the same time cause we are thinking alike!!!!

[cruisenfever]

As Murphy said, check in was a breeze. We were at the port at 10:00 and on the ship at 11:15. That has to be the quickest checkin process we have ever had.

 

Leaving the ship was also easy. After hearing some horror stories about San Pedro.............after everyone had been cleared and the Express Check Out folks had left we headed towards the theater, where a staff member asked us what color we were. We told him, and he said to leave..........we walked out with the people doing an excursion before their flight..........let them disembark first..........got at the end of the line.........found our luggage.....porter was right there..........took us and luggage to the bus........we had the first two seats............bus left after only about a 15 minute wait..........had a great bus driver who got us to the airport in 20 minutes and dropped us off right in front of the UA doors. It's always nice to be able to print your boarding passes on the ship. We were able to check our luggage curb side and avoided the long lines inside. Even though UA charges $2.00 per checked bag, it is money well spent not to have to wait in a long line.

 

From being dropped off curbside to getting through security........total time was another 20 minutes.

[Michelle1234]

We also chose it because of its central location. We ate breakfast on the dining table one morning (room service breakfast left a lot to be desired), ...

 

Could you elaborate on the issue you had with room service? I was planning on using it for my upcoming cruise and would like to be forewarned.

 

Best,

Michelle

[critterchick]

Michelle, a couple of people tried writing in what they wanted (see JJtosail's post), which we've always been able to do, and were unable to get what they ordered, or at least had to fight for it. In addition, room service just messed up some orders, leaving off items and generally being unsatisfactory. We only used them once, and made a mistake on our order. The waiter said he would be right back with the rest of it, but never returned. I'm sure he got back & the boss sent him to his next delivery, but we never made it back into the queue at all.

[dfishner]

Dale, I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat. The ports in Alaska are simply breathtaking, and there's always something to do that you might not have done before. The coastal cities are less compelling because we live here, but for somebody who has travelled a ways, it makes sense to get off in each one and see what's going on. I enjoyed having a couple of faux sea days, and have discovered that I can keep myself happily occupied with a book and deck chair (amd maybe a drink or two).

 

We got a great deal on our cabin, so the additional dining fees for Chops and Portofino, although annoying, were money well spent to get a top-drawer (mostly) dining experience. The WJ, although less elegant, offered a very good substitute as well. One other thing to note is that we had an interim executive chef onboard. He left in San Francisco in favor of the regular guy. For all I know he came back and despaired over what had been done to his kitchen.

 

I think the key to enjoying any cruise is to roll with the punches. The dining room sucks? Find another place to get a good meal. The floor drain backs up? Ruin a few towels and ask your cabin steward to fix it. Can't get free latte? Pay for it or cut down on your caffeine - it's not good for you anyway. It's essential to be a bit flexible, IMHO.

 

The staff and crew were (mostly) amazing, and that's what makes or breaks the cruise experience for me. If I can get a good drink from a friendly bartender and have a staff member come over & talk to me, I'm happy. I wonder why they were calling me "Mrs. Robinson" by the end of this one, though?:rolleyes:

 

By the way, may I request that you all cease and desist saying you know what about you know who? I did work on this review and would hate to see the thread yanked. Thanks.

 

 

As always thanks Jean, I will pass this on to them about the cruise. By the way we took your advice about Italy and will be going next year. Jean this was a great review thanks for the time you took to write it..

 

Thanks,

Dale

[Murphy]

Could you elaborate on the issue you had with room service? I was planning on using it for my upcoming cruise and would like to be forewarned.

 

Best,

Michelle

 

We really only tried it once, but heard from others that they had similar experiences. I ordered one order of scrambled eggs and one order of scrambled egg beaters, a fruit plate and wrote in "english muffin" as the only bread type option is to order a basket of breakfast rolls. The eggs came as an unappealing looking ice cream scoop of eggs on a plate and you could not tell the regular from the egg beaters and the delivery person did not let us know which was which. No english muffin or any optional bread items were delivered. I didn't bother to call to reorder or find out why we didn't get this minor write in option, but we didn't bother to try room service again. Didn't ruin our day and filled us up, but not worth the minor tip we paid to have it delivered to the cabin when there were many, many appetizing items available in the Windjammer.

[Michelle1234]

Jean and Murphy, Thanks for the replies! I make extensive use of room service so it is good to know what I am up against.

 

On my NCL cruise I had good luck (I think I got what I ordered every time) but on a Celebrity cruise it was like playing roulette. My husband and I would faithfully order both our breakfasts and dinners through room service. We did this for 9 dinners and almost as many breakfast. They never brought what we ordered so we just ate what came and had a good laugh joking about what was delivered vs. what we ordered. It was always good and plenty of food (so even if there was only one entree we both liked we would spit it) but it rarely matched the order. I guess once I changed my expectation that some sort of food would show up I was pretty happy to take my chances. :) For Princess I think they mostly got it right but when they don't we eat it if we like or go get something from the buffet.

 

Best,

Michelle

[NauticalDan]

What kind of wear and tear did you notice? I am on Radiance in 13 more days for an 8 day Mexico cruise (charter with Atlantis Events).

 

I was on the Zuiderdam in August and that was my first HAL experience. The wear and tear on that ship was quite a bit:

- elevator walls scratched

- holes in carpet

- broken wicker furniture on patios

- pealing paint and decals in pool area

 

Obviously, nothing that would ruin a cruise, but just took away from the wow factor of the ship.

[Murphy]

What kind of wear and tear did you notice? I am on Radiance in 13 more days for an 8 day Mexico cruise (charter with Atlantis Events).

 

I was on the Zuiderdam in August and that was my first HAL experience. The wear and tear on that ship was quite a bit:

- elevator walls scratched

- holes in carpet

- broken wicker furniture on patios

- pealing paint and decals in pool area

 

Obviously, nothing that would ruin a cruise, but just took away from the wow factor of the ship.

 

Someone else will have to elaborate for you as I didn't really see anything in need of repair... I don't look for such things so unless they are REALLY bad, I don't notice I guess.

[cruisenfever]

What kind of wear and tear did you notice? I am on Radiance in 13 more days for an 8 day Mexico cruise (charter with Atlantis Events).

 

I was on the Zuiderdam in August and that was my first HAL experience. The wear and tear on that ship was quite a bit:

- elevator walls scratched

- holes in carpet

- broken wicker furniture on patios

- pealing paint and decals in pool area

 

Obviously, nothing that would ruin a cruise, but just took away from the wow factor of the ship.

I will try to answer your question since this was our 8th cruise on Radiance.

 

Since Radiance was the first ship built in the Radiance class, she is the oldest and does not have the newer additions like on Serenade and Jewel, as in shower doors in the D1 cabins opposed to the dreaded shower curtains.....and wicker furniture outside of the Windjammer.

 

As far as wear and tear, I like to call it "character". But nothing that visible that it would make it unappealing or unattractive. They were always constantly shampooing rugs, painting, varnishing and cleaning. I saw nothing like you described on HAL.

 

Radiance is scheduled to go into Dry Dock in March of 2008, as our cabin attendant told us. So anything of a major undertaking will probably be done at that time.

 

Enjoy your cruise on Radiance. The staff and crew are wonderful and make each and every quest feel special.

[BobbyK]

Hi Jean, Thanks for a great review. Radiance is one of my favorite ships. Later. Robin :cool:

[JJ2sail]

Hi again! Just wanted to elaborate on the room service issue, besides not being able to write anything in on the breakfast order, they also messed up two other orders, before we gave up. Example: Ordered coffee for four people they sent 2 cups, asked for cream or half and half and they send non dairy creamer, stuff like that.

 

Also, on upkeep, they replaced the carpet in the Aurora Theatre during our cruise.

[critterchick]

What kind of wear and tear did you notice? I am on Radiance in 13 more days for an 8 day Mexico cruise (charter with Atlantis Events).

 

I was on the Zuiderdam in August and that was my first HAL experience. The wear and tear on that ship was quite a bit:

- elevator walls scratched

- holes in carpet

- broken wicker furniture on patios

- pealing paint and decals in pool area

 

Obviously, nothing that would ruin a cruise, but just took away from the wow factor of the ship.

 

The only thing I saw that was really raggedly was some paint on the Promenade deck that was peeling off the walls. It needs to be scraped, sanded & repainted, which I suppose they will get to at some point. My TA was on the Radiance in June and commented that none of the railings was varnished - they were just finishing that project while we were onboard, so all of the railings now sparkle.

 

I noticed a few banged up chairs and scuff marks here there plus some separating carpet. As Patti said, it's largely a matter of "character," nothing huge. As I also think I mentioned, the ship is still a beauty, she just has a few laugh lines!

[skandls]

Thanks for the great review. If DH and I ever take a C&A cruise we will remember that there will be many 'self-entitled' cruisers on board. I thought taking one would be fun - you get little surprises and from what I have read many parties and gifts.

 

We took the Radiance last year on its repo from Vancouver to Los Angeles. I thought the ship had some of the best art work of any of the RCCL ships. I am glad to hear it will be in dry dock next year for some spiffing up.