Radiance of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had fabulous weather, except in Ketchikan. It was gloriously sunny at the Hubbard glacier. We had 3 hours at the glacier. The captain slowly rotated the ship so everyone got to see the glacier and watch huge chunks of ice break off into the sea. 

The Radiance of the Seas cruise to Alaska - Hubbard Glacier Northbound was excellent! The service was simply outstanding! We could not have asked for a better experience. One observation- the boarding process needs to be expedited and also have a medical professional available to determine the health status of passengers before they board the ship. Too many passengers had horrible coughs and colds for this not to be noticed before boarding!!!

The Inside passage cruise was a wonderful trip. The RCL staff was the best on any cruise that I have been on.  The Radiance needs updating.

The staff were quick to learn our names and very fun to interact with.  I think they were the best staff ever! 

The rooms were smaller than my two previous cruises in the same class. The furniture showed wear.  There was no weather-protected swim area for kids, only for adults and the kids splash area was on the windiest part of the ship!  The food was mixed. There were some exceptional dishes, but there seemed to be a lot of repetition and french fries were everywhere. I would have preferred more vegetables and more variety in fruit.  The same fruit was every day. The desserts were very bland - pudding, jello, bland.  

going thru the Glaciers was a hold your breath can't take your eyes away experience. Huge mountains of ice which will break away right before your eyes. Seeing the sled and racing dogs and puppies was pure joy. Every port has something to see and do. The food is ok in the main dinning room but the Chops Grill is great. The staff make everyone feel special and take great care to make you feel welcome. I would recomend this to all my friends and family. 

The ports on the cruise portion of our tour were my favorite part of the cruisetour.  The land portion was great but there was a lot of wasted time and uninteresting excursions on the land part of the tour.

The ports and glaciers are always worth seeing. The weather was good. RCCL seems to be cutting down on some perks. This is disappointing but not enough to stop cruising. Alaska is one of the most amazing places in the world.

Seeing the Hubbard Glacier! All the staff were wonderful. Really liked the gym and its location.It was spellbinding! Dont kniw what elxse to say

 Although aa shouldnot advertise ladt stop as Anchorage as transportation isnot provided! 

We had an memorable time. Highly recommend to anyone. Professional staff and crew. We felt like royalty. Food and accommodation perfect. We are planning another trip.

Kudos to the dinning staff and house keeping staff of the cruise ship other than that the itinerary is not really good. Next time I will just make sure to research more in terms of cruises itinerary.

The cruise was everything you could expect visiting 4 of the Hawaiian Islands; however this cruise illustrated the continued downward slide of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.  It seems that RC is concentrating all of its time and effort to the big ships and ignoring the smaller ships.  This ship is in need of TLC as the plumbing, electrical and surface areas need to be upgraded.  The shows were less than spectacular as well as the food menu selections. The staff was excellent as usual to help offset the shortcomings; however, it was very apparent that they have cut staff as wait times for serving were extended.  We went on a shore excursion at Hilo to visit the volcano...it was posted as a 3 hour trip; instead it was 7 hours without a break for food!

Overall, our experience was awesome with Radiance of the Seas. It wa pretty much as I expected in that we had traveled the mirror image ship on Serenade of the Seas. The service was great all the way from the room cabins to the dining room. The only negatives I would give is that I was expecting the Windjammer to be open twenty four hours instead of closing in the middle of the afternoon after I would return from a shore excursions. Also, as a sweet tooth, I wanted more selection of great chocolate deserts in the Windjammer like there used to be. I also miss the chocolate buffet that used to be at midnight. Other than that, it was another great experience 

Cruise ports were ideal and very interesting, two ports had to tender to shore due to no dock and some people were un-happy with that but its the only way in some ports. The food in the main dining room was a little below normal for RCI, the beef was so bad I had to return two meals for being tough and full of fatty gristle. The ship was very tired and badly needed a face lift. Also, had some mechanical issues such as stabilizers not working completely. As a consequence, the ship was heading to dry dock after our cruise for a two week re-fresh. But it probably should have gone to dry dock months ago. 

I also heard a lot of complaining from a lot of different people for a variety of reasons, even in the Diamond lounge and Concierge Lounge. Unusual for this level of cruising. 

Two first days were special. Guest with childrens reserving pools chairs, childrens jumping in hot tub. The staff have to police chidrens with a wistle. Parents were on vacancy.

Remaining days were a little bit better

The ship is small, old and needs some update. 

The entertainment is boring, not creative at all. 

The food generally over cooked, especially the fishes.

The photo/portrait staff only give flimsy insert to hold pictures, end up the portraits became curly after long trip home!

The shower curtain was smelly.  Bathroom clogged two times.

I may not cruise with Royal Caribbean anymore.  The literary was fine tough.

The staff was amazingly helpful, courteous and made one feel as if one is their most important cruise client. Amazing how they recall your likes and dislikes @ dinner!. Rooms were impeccable.  Would have liked to see a little more room in the anytime dining area.  Where we sat was difficult for getting in and out of chairs as it was for waiters to maneuver serving our table.  Maybe scale down your table widths a little.  Needed water and shade for very elderly when boarding ports that were standing for long time in the heat while waiting for the tenders to return. Could have sent more tenders for quicker service.

Overall a good experience.  Too many days at sea and bad internet connections.  Good food in specialty restraunts but poor food in main dining room.  Food better in Windjammer than in main dining room.  Pool deck screen needs to show movies during the day not just looped music especially on at sea days.  Port choices were very good but tendering in every port was a nuisance.  

This was truly a wonderful cruise, with great ports of call. A dive at the Great Barrier Reef, a trip up into a rain forest and the best zoo experience ever were just some of the highlights of this trip for us! The ship is beautiful, and the staff, food and evening entertainment were excellent. Definitely a trip to remember!!!

Radiance is a very comfortable ship. Wife and I enjoyed a Jr. suite. The pros were the suite (very large and comfortable), the speciality restaurants particularly Chops and Giovanni's. Steaks and service was excellent in Chops and lamb, pastas and service was likewise excellent in Giovanni's. Grand Buffet was a bit better than average with standard fare. Lunch in dining room very good with an exceptional salad bar. Boot camp in ShipShape center was very good. Trainer Patrick was excellent! Overall ship was in good shape and crew exceptionally friendly. The cons---entertainement was a bust, below average except for mentalist. Too many sea days (5 in all on a 10 nighter) without any enrichment offerings. Adult beverages were very expensive for very small pours. Our original excursion to Great Barrier Reef was canceled and no options offered. Only by the "grapevine" did we find out that another excursion was added at next port. Very poorly handled by staff.

Overall, we enjoyed this Cruise.  However, there were some issues.  I really think Royal Caribbean needs to put some more time and planning in the shore excursions, especially in Cairns, Port Hedland and Darwin 

Our cabin needed some updating, but was okay. 

We did enjoy meeting and talking to the Australians we met at meals and other sites on the ship.

The wait staff and room steward were great.

First of all, the ship's atmosphere was tense due to the sanitation issues from the previous cruise....being served at the buffet and always being reminded of the health concerns was stressful.  The staff was polite and efficient but overall there was a cloud of heaviness.  The captain was personable and available which is a positive.   The cruise director was fake - really did not have an engaging personality as he introduced the performers....sounded rote rather than real.  Other cruises I have been on had cruise directors who were cheerleaders and fun......

Room Steward was pleasant, efficient, personable.....Food was OK.....took the galley tour and got ill the next day so don't know for sure what that was about but lost a day at the reef?????