Busy Fun Adventurous

Carnival Radiance Cruise Review to Mexico

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 26

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Radiance

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 22, 2023

Ship: Carnival Radiance

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5301

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

If it seems like a lot was off, way more was on and it was a three-generations vacay full of fun & laughter!

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Chaotic dropping bags off & System Errors checking-in

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
Buffet pretty good, except undercook desserts & dessert lady ugly rude. Beer self-served charged us & did Not dispense beer and was told to get a refund at the bar and they pretended to refund, but it did Not go through. Main dining had a bad dinner meal that got me puking-sick and their desserts were also undercooked. Tried two specialty restaurants and were so-so. Now the best part was the main dining service…Excellent staff!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Did All activities…enjoyed them, had a blast! Went to the pool, hot tub, sky rope walk, mini golf, bean-bag toss, karaoke, trivia, shows and much more.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Musicians were exceptional. DJs were fantastic, except in the wee hours in the club as it seemed that they played one song on repeat. Stage singing/dancing shows were okay, seemed under produced. Missed the main comedy shows as they performed during our dinner time, but caught their introductory preview and they were funny AF!

Children's Programs

Like the comedians said…F’ them children! I mean, we didn’t travel with kids.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Besides the buffet dessert lady on the first day, the server guy at the specialty dining & the bartender that didn’t refund us…everybody else was superb! Room Stewart Nelson did beyond excellence. Main dining-room server Shawn excellence to infinity & beyond. Air rope walk guys (from Africa & England) were friendly & helpful. Burrito guys were a hoot. Club security were cool.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Layout works, straight forward. Common areas were cleaned, except the restrooms, but that’s probably cause they’re tiny.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Thought maybe Not enough room or storage space, but to my surprise, it was big enough & Not claustrophobic with plenty of storage space. Nelson kept our room super clean!

Ship tip

Follow the DJ to the next gathering party!

Ports of call

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

4 out of 5
No excursion available, went to the beach and it was the dirtiest beach I’ve ever seen filled with littered trash.

Catalina Island, California

3 out of 5
No excursion. Went to the island thinking it would be charming, but I found it a bit over-rated. The bartender was rude (from NY, say no more) the beach was stinky and not much going on other than shopping.

Ensenada, Mexico

4 out of 5
We did the 10 best of Ensenada, but Not sure what the 10 were…everyone Only counted eight! Did enjoyed the excursion…the drinks & food were amazing as well as our guide JB that took us to the breathtaking Bufadora! The Only reason this is Not excellent, because again, Ensenada is a bit over-rated, great on paper, but visually unappealing!

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Super fast! Chose to be on one of the last ones to disembark and it went smoothly!
Was this review helpful? 26

7 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     4 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing 👍

Itspeace4me    1 year ago

Thank you for sharing.

Carnivalfoodie    1 year ago

Sounds fun. Thanks 🙏

javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed review. Glad you enjoyed your ports of call. Sorry the food didn’t meet your expectations.

cruising2004    1 year ago

Thank you for sharing your cruising experience.

Other reviews of this sailing