4 day Mexico cruise 2/13/22

Carnival Radiance Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 155

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
Carnival Radiance

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 13, 2023

Ship: Carnival Radiance

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8291

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

It was nice to be on a cruise after 3 months. This ship is a small one and easy for walking from one end to the other. Very clean and updated. The staff were great snd pleasant.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We had checkin for 11-11:30 am. We arrived at Long Beach port at 10:50 am. We drove to port from Fresno Ca. We are a platinum cruisers so we went right into the terminal and on board at 11:15 am. Very quick and organized.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
The food at Lido Market was good and had lots of lunch options. Breakfast was basically the same every morning but fresh and tasty. Dinner buffet was different every night and had lots of options. The salad bar is my favorite. The Blue Iguana has the best shrimp. I opted for a bowl with beans, lettuce, corn, cheese, pico de gallo and the shrimp and it was fabulous. Guys burger was always crowded but I did not have it, although my husband and friends did and said it was very good. The Deli makes great sandwiches and lots of options. We ate in the Italian restaurant for Valentines day dinner and had great food and enough per serving. The Eggplant Parmesan is the best. The service was perfect.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
We (party if 4)hung out mostly in the Red Frog Pub for trivia karaoke. The weather was chilly so the activities indoors we very active with people. In the evening it was Piano bar time. Our Piano man Donald was excellent!!! We played some slots in the casino and even won!! We did not go to any shows or other activities. Pool was closed for repairs until Ensenada and I was told it was cold. The spas were very busy with kids in one and adults in the other. We did not use them.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The band in the Red Frog Pub was excellent. Karaoke was great with 95% of the singers were wonderful to listen to. Piano bar was fun with lots of audience participation. Was not impress with the DJ and we hardly ever saw the entertainment staff. Our Cruise Director was Alex but never saw him only heard his announcements. We did not participate in the deck parties due to the weather was cold.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone we interacted with who were staff were great! We had the cheers program and never waited for service. The staff called us by name and knew our drink orders😂. The outdoor staff kept the ship very clean.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The ship was always very clean and well maintained

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our room was very comfortable. We were below lido under the stadium seats by the water slide. We had no issues with noise when we were in the cabin in the early morning or late evening. We had the beds put together. We had 2 end cabinets and a cushioned hassock under the desk. No couch or table so lots of room for walking around. Our luggage could not go under the bed due to the roll aways stored underneath so we were able to put them in the closet. The safe worked with our credit card to lock and unlock. The refrigerator is not a working one it was a mini bar refrigerator. Plenty of closest space and drawer and storage space . We were close to the stairs and elevators mid ship

Ship tip

It’s a great cruise to do if you are not into the weekend ones or longer cruises.

Ports of call

Ensenada, Mexico

3 out of 5
We have been there numerous times. We visited the pharmacy just across the street from our bus drop off and walked through some shops and walked the Main Street to have some drinks and guacamole and chips at Papas and beer.

Catalina Island, California

5 out of 5
Due to weather and rough seas on day 2 we were at sea and went to Catalina on day 3. The weather was perfect. We just got off and wondered around the shops. We have been there before so we decided to just take a walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

5 out of 5
We drove in to the port, and got right on the ship.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We took our luggage off after we had breakfast. No wait in the passport line and off the ship in 15 minutes.
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6 Comments

BCKampf    1 year ago

Elegant night was the 2nd night which was Valentines Day. The steakhouse did not have openings until 8:30 pm so we opted for the Italian instead. No issues getting an early reservation. The food was excellent

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed feedback. Glad you enjoyed your short cruise.

wckrickl    1 year ago

Nice! Which night was formal night?

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

Joesacruisin    1 year ago

Nice, sounds fun! Thanks for sharing.

javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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