Radiance of the Seas Review - Vancouver to Hawaii

Radiance of the Seas Cruise
Vancouver to Hawaii
Sept. 27/03 – Oct. 08/03


This was my 11th cruise to date, and my 4th cruise on Royal Caribbean.
I've also previously cruised on Celebrity, Holland America,
Norwegian, and Princess.

This was the Radiance's last sailing of the season from Vancouver,
after operating the Alaska cruises since May. We were to leave from
Ballantyne Pier at 5:00 p.m. We arrived via taxi down at the pier
around 12:30 pm. There seemed to be quite large lineups and it took
us about 45 minutes to get up to the front. We immediately found out
why the lines were long. Each of the ticket agents was explaining to
all the guests and handing out a letter from the Captain which stated
that work was being done on the starboard propulsion system, which
would delay the departure from Vancouver. The expected time of
departure would now be about sunrise the next morning --- guests who
so wished could go ashore and return to ship by 3:00 a.m. Sunday
morning. We preferred staying onboard. This work had to be done to
change around the pod maneuverability from the settings they'd had it
on from Alaska cruises before setting off for Hawaii. Gift shops and
casino would remain closed due the fact we were still in port, other
than that there was no impact on the itinerary and we did catch up the
time during our 5 day at sea travels to the islands. Normally we
would have pre-cleared U.S. Customs in Vancouver, however they were
going to have us wait and clear customs in Hilo, Hawaii when we got
there instead. All Non-Americans had to give up their passports for
safe-keeping (and to speed up paperwork) with the purser's desk on
this trip, as we do on the Caribbean ones.

We had a category E1 balcony cabin (#1524) on Deck 10 in the fore
starboard portion of the ship. We were right underneath the
entranceway to the spa hair salon in one direction, and the solarium
in the other. Very quiet and nice location. Cabins in the category
are nice, however a little on the smaller side than most balcony
cabins in the older series of ships. The beds are rounded off in an
odd way and not as long as regular bed I'd bet --- was long enough for
me however my partner who's 6'4" had feet sticking out. Little fridge
provided with pop supplied as well as water – charged to the room when
used. Our excellent cabin steward Ida (pronounced Eeda) from the
Philippines was very good at servicing the room promptly and
accurately and always provided us a smile and some interesting
conversation. He spoke impeccable English and was always beaming.

The Radiance of the Seas is a remarkably beautiful ship. The artwork
alone is stunning and causes one to take a second look at everything
up and down hallways and staircases. The layout of the ship is such
that you never feel crowded, even though we'd heard ours was a full
cruise with no available rooms left. The children have their own
areas and do not bother any adults in solarium at all. The solarium
is a relaxing place to lie down and rest, swim, soak in the hot tub,
or grab a little snack. The Windjammer Buffet is set out in such a
way that nobody is "bumping" into each other and holding things up.
They have several different stations with various types of foods being
at different stations from others. Beverages are received at another
area or one of the wonderful servers on the floor will be happy to get
whatever it is you need. That's one thing I feel the Royal Caribbean
staff seem to do much better than so many others --- they can always
seem to talk to you, clear things away, and help you find a seat and
get your beverage all at the same time. Their true friendliness makes
one feel special. We ate at the Windjammer each breakfast and lunch
and always had dinner at the Dining Room. We were seated at a table
for 10, which made me a little wary at first (we had asked for a small
table seating – I have trouble hearing) but it turned out that our
dining companions were really nice and a joy to sit with. Lynn &
David from Detroit, as weell as Cindy and Byron from Chicago were both
celebrating their anniversaries on this cruise, and Sverre and Torille
from Norway were traveling with their sons Christopher and Patrick,
both who'd been adopted from Korea when they were very young. Lots of
love could be felt around the table, and many laughs were shared by us
all. Our Waiter was Michael from the Philippines, Asst. Waiter was
Ashton from Guyana, and the head waiter was Alan from Britain (now
Miami). Lovely Rowena from Philippines made sure we had our ginger
ales and sodas on the table each night.

We missed out on some of the entertainers this time onboard, however a
couple of the more notable shows were Kenny James (Motown Hits) – we
bought his CD – Spirit of Polynesia, Dave Somerville (original lead
voice of the Diamonds)
The Radiance Singers and Dancers had apparently just come on in
Vancouver and it did seem as if they hadn't yet had enough time to
practice and get themselves in perfect "sync". That said, the did put
on a couple of good shows. The first one they were to have "Rockin in
Paradise" on day 5 Sea Day was canceled, as the Cruise Director Angie
felt there was there was too much rocking of the ship that particular
night the waves were about 15 foot or so.

For those interested in the attire worn on an 11 night Hawaiian
cruise, it was as follows:

Day 1 Casual
Day 2 Formal
Day 3 Casual
Day 4 Smart Casual
Day 5 Casual / Western
Day 6 Smart Casual
Day 7 Casual / Hawaiian
Day 8 Casual / 50's
Day 9 Formal
Day 10 Casual
Day 11 Casual

We enjoyed our tablemates and our servers in the Cascades Dining Room
so much that we didn't get to Chops Grille or Portofino Restaurant at
all on this cruise.

We've been on this particular cruise a few times before and weren't
sure which excursions we wanted to do until we were onboard. On the
Radiance one can easily book excursions from the comfort of your
stateroom on the RCTV menu.

We decided to return to the Tropical Botanical Gardens tour in Hilo,
which we'd taken last year on the Statendam. The gardens were still
beautiful as expected.

In Nawiliwili, Kauai we also returned to a favourite excursion --- the
Kauai Helicopter Flightseeing ---- unbelievable sights to behold and
just as spectacular to see it again as it had been the first time.

Photos from there (and from this cruise) can be viewed at

http://community.webshots.com/user/davemaclean

In Lahaina, Maui we took an excursion we hadn't tried before called
Rainforest and Water Fall Hiking Adventure. This was spectacular.
Emily our naturalist drove the 7 of us who went over to the other side
of the island, stopping by at various sites for windsurfing watching,
etc… before heading up the Hana Highway to the Garden of Eden
Botanical Garden. We took a quite strenous hike and then had a swim
in a tropical pool under a waterfall. Lunch, more swimming and back
up the big hill for the drive back to the ship. An excellent tour I'd
do again in a minute.

Speaking of doing it again --- we also had a visit with the amicable
Loyalty Ambassador Cindy Dangel , (who also hails from our Province of
British Columbia) and decided to book next spring's cruise from Hawaii
to Vancouver onboard the new ‘Serenade of the Seas'.

This time we did not go to the Cruise Critic Party. It was held in
the Starquest Disco on day 3 (sea day) from 9:30 – 10 AM --- I didn't
even wake up until after it was over ! Passed on the Captain's
gathering and the Crown and Anchor repeater's parties this time as
well.

After the cruise spent some time in Waikiki in the Marriot Waikiki
Beach Resort before returning home to Vancouver.

Thanks to RCI, and to the Radiance of the Seas for providing such a
wonderful vacation experience. I was hoping for a repeat of our first
fantastic voyage on the Radiance, and I was not let down at all.
Anyone who decides to cruise this ship is in for a treat !

Dave in Vancouver

http://www.geocities.com/dam1050/

I was hoping for a repeat of our first
fantastic voyage on the Radiance, and I was not let down at all.
Anyone who decides to cruise this ship is in for a treat !

Dave in Vancouver

Thanks for the review, Dave. This is the GGC2004 ship and we are booked. Nice
to know that you loved the ship. We sailed the Brilliance (transatlantic) last
year and really enjoyed that one.

Ermalee

Answered inline:

"Dave" wrote in message
om...
Radiance of the Seas Cruise
Vancouver to Hawaii

Thanks for your very informative review. Sounds like the service staff is a
delight and the ship a beauty~can't wait to take her on the upcoming GGC2004
in January!

We decided to return to the Tropical Botanical Gardens tour in Hilo,
which we'd taken last year on the Statendam.

Now that you have taken a cruise to Hawaii on both the Statendam and
Radiance, which would you say that you prefer on that itinerary? We have
been considering taking the Statendam and I was just curious.

Thanks again for your review.

--Jean