For the amount of money that we spent on our room (and then the dinners, and in the casino), I am very upset with how we were treated.
We have taken many other cruises and have never had an experience like this... which has made us decide that we will not be taking any more carnival cruises in the future. We were looking for a nice little getaway with some good food and experiences, and that is just the opposite of what we got.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Food: The food was absolutely terrible. (Especially from the buffet areas). The eggs were cold and almost made of water it seemed like, and the potatoes were 100% raw. Every breakfast that we got was not fully cooked. After eating the undercooked breakfast on the second day I ended up with food poisoning which basically ruined the rest of the trip for me. Thankfully my husband did not partake in the buffet breakfast that day.
The Cheers Package: We pre-ordered the cheers package. The first night we were unhappy with the package (as we were unable to get the drinks that we wanted to order from the bar) and went directly to guest services to see about cancelling the package. We asked the lady at the desk to please cancel our drink package and that we would like to just pay per drink. She said that they could not do that, and the went on to say that it was the bartender's decision on whether to approve it or not, and that we would have to come back "sometime the next day" to find out what they were able to do. We were never contacted again regarding this. Halfway through the next day, I saw that our receipts from the bar were charging for the full amount of the drinks, and the bar staff said that we no longer had the cheers package. I did not see any refund for the cheers package on our statement - we paid for our drinks for the rest of the cruise out of pocket, so the original cheers package amount was supposed to be refunded. I reached out through the app for our statement and it says that is now going to take 3-5 days to get a statement from you guys.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Activities: There was almost nothing for us to do on the boat except for sit in the casino. We spend both of the second days in the casino gambling. We used the very small miniature golf course for a bit, and sat on the small pool deck for a little while. Other than that, there was almost nothing for us to do.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
The entertainment: We did not visit the comedy club, but we did attend the "shows" that were going on. Not what we were expecting at all. Very broadway and the same actors/singers every show.... the men actors were scantily clad in "belly shirts", which was very odd, especially since it was supposed to be a family geared rock variety show. The shows were cheesy for lack of a better term, and we were not even able to sit through an entire show because of how bad they were.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Our room attendant was great. Many of the other staff members were rude.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The layout of the ship: Our room was what we expected... pretty cramped, but we did opt for the balcony. The rest of the ship was so congested and closed off... there were way too many people crammed into the tiny areas on the boat that were open for "hanging out in". The shopping was underwhelming as well. The lines to get into the shop to be able to purchase goods/cigarettes were long - and there were almost no options for buying any souveniers as an entire floor was taken up by an unnecessary amount of photo booths.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Small. It was ok on cleanliness. The balcony was what we expected.
When we went to disembark yesterday morning, we were told (very rudely) by a staff member that we had to go wait for another hour on deck 5 or 9. We waited and were eventually ushered through all of the stairwells with all of our luggage (since none of the elevators seemed to be running).
Appreciate your review but I have questions. What was the reason that the bartender wouldn't serve you?🤔 Were you at the 15 drink maximum for the package? Is that why you wanted to switch to pay as you go?
It's normal for refunds to take 3 to 5 days and this forum is not Carnivals to complain to.
We have cruised on the Radiance three times. The ship was nothing like this poster described. We have two more booked on her for this year. Love the ship and crew.
This review really confused me. I've sailed recently on Carnival Radiance, at full capacity, and I'm genuinely wondering if you even sailed on the same ship I did. Nothing at all to do except sit in the casino? Bartenders refused to serve you drinks even though you had the Cheers package? Only a few tiny "hangout spaces" overcrowded with people for the whole sailing? It being up to a bartender whether you can get a refund on the Cheers package? Honestly, none of this makes any sense. I suspect there is additional information you aren't sharing with us.
That said, I'm sorry you had such a bad time on your cruise. If I were you, I would consider a higher end cruise line for your next trip.
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