My Radiance trip Report Eastern Carribbean 8 day March 2008

[cck0000]

This was our second time on the lovely Radiance of the Seas! Its not to big, not too small. Like everyone says, its a beautiful ship. We had a wonderful time. All the staff and crew are very friendly.

 

 

We booked a GS. Loved it. Great for our family. Only issue was that our kids prefer not to share the pull-out couch. The cabin steward brought us a roll-out cot(very uncomfortable) and folded it up each day.

 

 

Our cabin steward was fine, but not our favorite . Little things seemed amiss. It may sound silly but we all look forward to the towel animals. This 8 night cruise, we had only a total of 3 towel animals the whole time. We also had to keep asking the cabin steward for breakfast room service menus, and large towels. Our GS also had a french-press electric coffee maker. They did clean it after I used it the first day, but coffee or supplies were never re-filled. The mattress on our bed was very nice, as was all the bedding.

 

 

Suite perks-we got a bottle of Evian water and a nice bowl of fruit upon arrival. A few other nights we did get a small plate of choc strawberries and or canapes in the afternoon. They were good, but they were the same thing you could get from the concierge lounge. There were bottles of the basic toiletries in the bathroom too. They weren't of great quality though. I am happy to bring my own brands.

 

 

Concierge-Willy is a doll. Very polite and eager to assist. I had already made my own excursion plans, and it was easy enough for me to phone Chops and Portofinos for my reservations so I didn't utilize Willy too much. We did enjoy the open bar time period every evening though. My husband would get a beer or 2, and I would have some wine. The house wine that Willy has inst great...but drinkable. Many folks were having mixed drinks too.

The last evening, Willy invited everyone to hear him play and sing along with the Rosario Strings. It was lovely and heartwarming.

 

 

 

My kids weren't crazy about the children's programming this week. It seems that the daily activities are less structured, and there is more "hang out" time. My kids would have preferred the counselors follow through on the scheduled activities. There were a few things that they had fun with that week. They did a ping-pong tournament, and a scavenger hunt, and "battle of the sexes" group game.

 

 

Entertainment-We enjoyed all the production shows and entertainers!

We love going to the show as a family every eve after dinner. On this cruise I think they were all good. We especially loved the comedians. Also memorable was the Olympic gymnast's variety show. He is great!

We were also very impressed with a couple of the singers. The lead singer Brad=Wow! We are fans!

 

 

Food--DR- We had a small table for the 4 of us. (our preference). Our waiter and assistant waiter were very pleasant and always working hard. We had purchased the GOLD wine package the first night. Overall, the food was fine. Honestly, we were a bit disappointed in the selections and the quality. Some of the appetizers and some of the entrees were very good. The tiger shrimp was excellent. A few of the salads were very good too. Some nights however, there was only one choice on the whole menu that appealed to us. The desserts were probably the most disappointing. Sorry. Only one or 2 items all week were excellent. We did eat at Chops and Portofinos a total of 3 nights, so maybe those were the best menus in DR that we missed? Lobster night was the second formal night. Our lobster tails were pretty good, small, and no drawn butter in little cups. They just dump it on your plate. Also, our waiter never asked all week if we wanted seconds. In fact, on lobster night, he looked shocked when my husband asked for another tail for each of us! (he did happily bring us them though).

 

 

Chops and Portofinos are a wonderful dining experience. Service is impeccable as well as the food. We were happy to pay the extra charge.

Delicious.

 

 

Windjammer- Crowded and noisy, a bit chaotic at lunch and breakfast. Sometimes hard to find a table. There always seemed to be a long line at the omelet stations. The lines for the rest of the buffet were always moving. And the coffee, we felt, was pretty bad.. I am happy to report that we always found something surprisingly good to eat. Especially lunchtime. Quite a variety of offerings! Desserts were so-so. Gosh, I really wanted to like those sugar-free cookies. Sadly, I found them inedible. The coconut cookies sure are tasty! My kids always had a soft serve cone. We never ate there for dinner.

 

 

Solarium Cafe- We did have a crepes for a snack here once. Yummy! Watch for open hours though...seemed limited.

SeaView-- didn't eat here either. We kept trying to hit it during times it wasn't open.

 

 

Lattetudes- Loved the lattes here. We often got after dinner coffee drinks here too. We also got cookies/pastries (better than whats in WJ) with our purchase. Please note that the Staff member DID indeed turn people away that were asking for cookies without purchasing a coffee. "They are free if you purchase a drink".

 

 

Fitness Center- I did take one pilates class for $10. I enjoyed it. There were lots of people using the facility and equipment. I am no expert here, but it looks nice! The issue I had here was being over-charged (30$) on my bill for my 10$ class. It took 2 calls to guest services, and one trip down there in person to fix the error. Apparently, you are supposed to sign up and pay for all 3 classes (although no one told me that)!! It was aggravating, but I did get the charge corrected.

 

 

We did have one problem with a large smelly leak into our room from our ceiling one afternoon. Maintenance came fairly quickly, and the cabin steward did his best to clean it up, and he sent some of our things down to the ship's laundry. Some of our things were ruined,(thankfully not many). It certainly put a damper on our evening.

 

 

Almost every afternoon, we participated in the "Walk-a Mile"! Fun! We all got a kick out of earning the "shipshape dollars" The activities staff were always smiling and friendly. We also did some various games during the week like shuffle-golf, mini golf and blongo ball! Fun! We also played (and lost) bingo a few times. Husband and son went on the rock wall several times. We were also regulars on the mini-golf course.

 

 

Embarkation and Debarkation were uneventful. We were in a suite so we had priority boarding, but there weren't any lines early afternoon for the non-priority boarders either. Debarkation is never fun. First people allowed off the ship(us included) began at 9:10am.

 

 

LOVED the luggage valet program! It was 20$per person. This service checked us into our flights, gave us boarding passes, and took our luggage from the corridor all the way to our final destination (with one quick stop to gather it and go through customs).

 

 

Really enjoyed the Cruise Director Kirk. He was funny and a good singer too! Not too cheesy as far as CD's go! :)

 

 

I reviewed all the ports and excursions separately on the ports of call boards in case anyone is interested!

Happy cruising!

:)

[pauline664]

Thank you for posting your review. I can't get enough of these cruise review's ....as i wait to go on my 2nd cruise this Sept.:D

[pmfan]

Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks.

[caribbeanboy]

You are right, nothing beats the Radiance Class ships...my favourite class of ships.

[cck0000]

I like reading reviews too!:)