Just got back yesterday from Radiance of the Seas!

[luckyprincess]

First of all, thank you sooo much to CC users - you really helped us so much on this cruise. The top suggestions I got were:

1. Bring clothespins

2. Book specialty restaruant when you get onboard

3. Check with maitre' d about table assignment

4. Waterproof wallet for excursions and beach

5. HUMP CABIN

 

What can I say? Wow. We had an amazing time! This was my boyfriends first cruise, my second (first being an interior on Sov. of Seas in 2000) and the first vacation we've had as a couple, and thats been 4 1/2 years! We really needed it. I am going to do a full, long cruise review later, but wanted to highlight some things, now.

First, we were checked in and onboard within 25 minutes from when we got out at the cruise terminal. Amazing and very organized. We couldn't believe the size and beauty of our ship. Just gorgeous. We were on around 11:30, so were able to take tons of pics and just walk around and peek at the ship. We were giddy like two schoolkids! There is so much glass and so many views to the outside it was breathtaking, especially the elevators!

My boyfriend is a classicaly trained french chef, and pleasing him is near impossible. But, he thought the food in the dining room was very good. I just about fell over when he said so! He thought Chops, as well, was very, very good. That was so great - perfect service as well.

We were the male and female captains of our team for the Quest, and all I'll say, for the benefit of those that haven't done it, is Oh....My....God.....you have to go to this. I haven't laughed that hard (or blushed that red!) in so long! Wow!.

We had a balcony room and sadly - we are now snobs!:D I can't imagine sailing without it. We said if we had the choice of cruising without a balcony or not cruiseing - we would stay home! A lot of friends told me before hand 'well, you don't spend that much time in your room so you don't need a balcony, just go up a deck'. We spent LOTS of time in our room!:o The balcony was so magnificent, having it open, lounging our there with a cocktail, laying on the bed watching the upcoming port shows or replays of the events on board with the curtains blowing around or taking a little catnap on the balcony before a long night - it was just priceless! We couldn't go back if we wanted to!

We participated in all the sporting events we could, dodgeball competition, vollyeball tournaments, rockwall, mini golf - whatever we could. It was just great!

Now, the only complaints we had, and its not a lot, are as follows:

1. Amenities need to be opened more, like the rockwall, the champagne bar (opened up at 4 and was always closed early), golf simulator - we saw a dart room at the country club, and it was always locked up and closed!

2. If you close one hot tub for cleaning, open up the others and try to do it when it won't be that busy. We, and plenty of others tried to use the solarium hot tub around midnight and were never able. On Friday night, we and others, tried to use ANY hot tub and none were opened. They did apologize to us, but they said one would always be open and seemed embarrased that that wasn't the case. I mentioned it in my survey.

3. The choices of places to eat weren't open enough. Windjammer always seemed to be closed when we wanted it. I've heard of other lines that have some sort of 24 hour buffet, that would be great. The seaview cafe has only about 10 choices of things to have at any given time. And the room service menu is pretty limited, as well. The cheese pizza I got there was okay, though.

4. One night we went up to the wing that has the Schnooner bar, Colony club and piano bar at 1:30 am and it was ALL CLOSED. We couldn't believe it! The champagne bar, of course, was closed as well! We hate club music, pop, top forty, hip hop and the likes, so didn't like any dance clubs. We just went to the casino to grab a drink, but I think they should have a better variety of things open.

5. We would have liked to have more audience participation type shows. We dislike broadway style shows, of which they had two or three (the comedian was great!), but LOVED the Love and Marriage Show, Quest, Majority Rules and those types of things. We would have loved more of those, especially in the evenings, which were a little boring. There was a few times we had nothing to really do, save drinking or gambling, which we didn't feel like.

6. Disembarking was insanley disorganized.

Aside from the few criticisms, we had an amazing, wonderful, relaxing time! The cruise was a great, economical vacations and it was way more than we had even hoped for!! The ports and excursions were awesome, our tablemates were wonderful and the staff really does bend over backward to make you feel good. Even from the moment we got to the terminal, the staff was awesome. We had only one rude person in SEVEN days and it was the person at the gangway leaving Key West - easily forgettable!!:D

If you have any questions about this ship or sailing or dining or whatever ask away. I will do a very thoughough in depth review with pictures tonight or tomorrow. Right now I'm going to go look up another cruise - this time to Europe! I'm hooked!!

[cck0000]

I look forward to your review.:)

I am glad you had a great time.

[crusinmama22]

Did they have Murder Mystery Dinner ? Do you know which night ?

 

We sail Presidents Week 2/16/08

 

Thanks

[cck0000]

Any favorite menu items in the Dining Room?

Are you a bingo player?

Did you notice if there was a family karaoke time?:)

[luckyprincess]

Did they have Murder Mystery Dinner ? Do you know which night ?

 

We sail Presidents Week 2/16/08

 

Thanks

Hi! They did have the Murder Mystery Dinner on the third day, Cozumel day. I didn't go but it looked really cool. It was at Portofino's and afterwards was a 5 course dinner with wine. The show had champagne and hors doeuvres. It was $49.50, gratuity included. Have a great time!

[luckyprincess]

Any favorite menu items in the Dining Room?

Are you a bingo player?

Did you notice if there was a family karaoke time?:)

Well, they had a watermelon gazpacho that was out of this world as an appetizer. There was also a chilled cranberry and mango soup that was wonderful. I really enjoyed the prime rib and the duck. I'm not too much of a dessert person, but the pistachio ice cream was awesome.

I only played bingo once. It was the last day in the morning. The bingo packs are $29 each. They have five games, six boards on each card. They have a family pack as well that you buy two and get a third pack free. Also, you can buy a bingo t-shirt and that allows you a free card for every time you play, I think. I was two numbers away from winning $2800!!

All of the karaoke was open mic, but they don't say anything about family night. For some reason I remember that, but don't see it on my compasses.

I wish I was back onboard!!!

[cck0000]

:) the only cure for post cruise blues is booking another cruise:)

[dawne577]

luckyprincess - Can't wait for your review. We'll be sailing in 25 days with 10 relatives who have never cruised before. We suggested this ship/itinerary and want to pass on as much info as possible.

You said that there weren't a lot of options in the sea view cafe but did they have fried fish and onion rings. I know it's not healthy but... Also, where is the sea view located. I just started reading about this recently. It's not in the Solarium is it?

We have never done Quest before but will get our group together this time. What night and time was it?

Any other "must do's" please pass on.

Thanks!!!

[CruisinNole]

Can't wait for your review, luckyprincess. We're on the March 23rd sailing of Radiance and can't wait. We're also on the hump. What was your cabin #?

[BillOh]

Great post.

 

Embrace the dark side and welcome to the Balcony snobs.

Agree about the hot tubs. We are also hot tub snobs and had trouble with midnight soaks on Voyager and Majesty. (Will see about Freedom)

[luckyprincess]

Can't wait for your review, luckyprincess. We're on the March 23rd sailing of Radiance and can't wait. We're also on the hump. What was your cabin #?

Cabin 8588. It was the easiest to get to, steps from the elevator but no noise! We also had the second biggest balcony on the hump - oh, it was great, you'll love it!

[luckyprincess]

sorry, double post!

[luckyprincess]

luckyprincess - Can't wait for your review. We'll be sailing in 25 days with 10 relatives who have never cruised before. We suggested this ship/itinerary and want to pass on as much info as possible.

You said that there weren't a lot of options in the sea view cafe but did they have fried fish and onion rings. I know it's not healthy but... Also, where is the sea view located. I just started reading about this recently. It's not in the Solarium is it?

We have never done Quest before but will get our group together this time. What night and time was it?

Any other "must do's" please pass on.

Thanks!!!

HI! They did have fish and chips and also onion rings. They have those two things, hamburgers and hot dogs, fries and a couple of sandwiches I think. I just didn't really care for much of it. The chicken fingers and fries were two chicken fingers and then a couple of drumsticks that were overly sweet - not sure what seasoning was on it but it was like it was sugared - not my thing. The nathan's hot dog was pretty good though. It's on the 11th or 12th deck - sit outside for a great view of the sunsets! The Solarium eatery is different than this one.

Quest was insane! So fun. I believe it was on Thursday, but I'd have to check my compass. It started around 10:30. Get there really early, because it was near impossible to get a seat near the stage. We had to stand.

Chops was a definite must do. It was $25 a person including gratuity and it was great. Also, the sports tournaments were so fun. It was low pressure non competitive, just a fun way to exercise and meet new people. Also, tell them to get to the helipad at the front of the ship at night. I saw stars I've never seen before - it was gorgeous and peaceful. Above all tell them to relax and enjoy - the ship is made for that!

[cruisenfever]

luckyprincess - Can't wait for your review. We'll be sailing in 25 days with 10 relatives who have never cruised before. We suggested this ship/itinerary and want to pass on as much info as possible.

You said that there weren't a lot of options in the sea view cafe but did they have fried fish and onion rings. I know it's not healthy but... Also, where is the sea view located. I just started reading about this recently. It's not in the Solarium is it?

We have never done Quest before but will get our group together this time. What night and time was it?

Any other "must do's" please pass on.

Thanks!!!

The SeaView Cafe is located on Deck 12 aft right above the WJ. You can access from the stairway located in the outdoor eating section or just take the elevator to Deck 12.

 

The Solarium Cafe has wonderful made to order crepes, so don't forget to try those. They also have salads, wraps and pizza.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[xamsx]

Did they have Murder Mystery Dinner ? Do you know which night ?

 

We sail Presidents Week 2/16/08

 

Thanks

 

We were on the same cruise as luckyprincess. We did attend the Murder Mystery... cheesy good fun. :)

[luckyprincess]

We were on the same cruise as luckyprincess. We did attend the Murder Mystery... cheesy good fun. :)

Oh no, they kicked you off at FLL too??:D

[luckyprincess]

We were on the same cruise as luckyprincess. We did attend the Murder Mystery... cheesy good fun. :)

Oh no, they kicked you off at FLL too??:D They had to practically pry me off my balcony to leave..

[xamsx]

Oh no, they kicked you off at FLL too??:D

 

 

Yeah :(

 

I have to say I really enjoyed this cruise ship.

 

Like you I thought disembarkation was a mad house! While finding our luggage was super easy due to the arrangement and the fact this is a smaller ship, nothing else about the process was smooth. Embarkation was a breeze and took less than five minutes. You'd think they'd want us off faster than they'd want us onboard. :p

 

The only other negative was breakfast is very disappointing. Each day I kept hoping it would improve. We tried room service, Windjammer, the dining room.... nada. If there is a magic breakfast spot on this ship that serves well made, good tasting breakfasts with variety, PLMK.

[luckyprincess]

Yeah :(

 

I have to say I really enjoyed this cruise ship.

 

Like you I thought disembarkation was a mad house! While finding our luggage was super easy due to the arrangement and the fact this is a smaller ship, nothing else about the process was smooth. Embarkation was a breeze and took less than five minutes. You'd think they'd want us off faster than they'd want us onboard. :p

 

The only other negative was breakfast is very disappointing. Each day I kept hoping it would improve. We tried room service, Windjammer, the dining room.... nada. If there is a magic breakfast spot on this ship that serves well made, good tasting breakfasts with variety, PLMK.

Yeah, we always did coffee and a fruit plate from room service, then took turns making a plate at Windjammer to bring back to the balcony. Everything was just always kind of so so. The pancakes and french toast were a little soggy, I think. But my bf tells me its really difficult to do that much food in a buffet style and keep it tasting the best. We didn't try breakfast anywhere else - wish I had tried the crepes - we just really enjoyed having it up there on our balcony.....sigh....today I had a dunkin donuts coffee and a bagel in the car on the way to work....not quite the same!:p