Radiance of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,235 reviews

Great ship; lackluster dining room

Review for Alaska Cruise on Radiance of the Seas
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storie
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: May 2013
Cabin: Interior Stateroom

Our friends got married in Anchorage and wanted to cruise in Alaska after. We were excited; my fiance and I are getting married soon, so we counted this as our honeymoon too! We departed Anchorage and drove our rented cars down to Seward. We stopped at Chugach and Beluga Point to take pictures. If you do drive, Google Maps is right: it WILL take 2.5-3 hours even though it's not that long mileage-wise. It's an easy drive, but you will get stuck behind motorcoaches. Embarkation was super-easy. We were still in our clothes from the wedding ceremony, so we got some odd stares. Security was no more or less invasive than what you'd expect at any American airport. The Radiance is looking good after its renovation. I've only cruised once, on the Sovereign a few years back, and the cabins look much nicer and cleaner. Our interior suite was bright, clean, and more spacious than I thought it would be (don't be slobs like us, though; take the time to put away your clothes each day or else you'll get claustrophobic). We hung out in the Colony Club and Schooner Bar, but spent almost all of the cruise at Champagne Bar or in the Solarium. We LOVED the Champagne Bar with its menu of nightcaps, and I'm not sure why but the Solarium was abandoned every night. We had the whole joint to ourselves! We checked out the ShipShape spa and there didn't seem to be a lot for us - we both just prefer barbells and rack cages, which weren't present (for obvious reasons).The entertainment seemed geared towards an older set. We were all upper-20's, and we all brought books and our own card games so it wasn't a huge deal. As I said before, most of the public spaces were empty post-dinner, so public spaces were easy to find and comfortable. We did do the pub trivia and had a blast.The only area where there's real room for improvement on Radiance is the dining room. We chose MyTime and linked our reservations to guarantee we'd be able to set together. Unfortunately, we were a party of seven. Instead of seating us at a table for eight, most nights we were seated at this awful table for six that was up against a column. And we were four big, broad guys, and one of the women was five months pregnant. It was a really tight squeeze, and we complained, but didn't get a good table till the second to last night of our cruise. Ordering drinks at dinner was ridiculous; if you wanted something, the waiter would call over a barman, but then if you wanted wine, the barman would call over an assistant waiter, but if you had the alcohol package and wanted the house wine, the assistant waiter would call the barman back over.Two of the people in my party have pretty severe food allergies, which we noted on our reservations. The dining staff didn't seem to take notice. My friend who is allergic to almonds ordered a dessert that didn't mention the thing contained almonds, and thankfully his wife saw them before he took a bite. I was surprised that our waiters didn't catch that.By the last night, we were so sick of the dining room that we had dinner in Windjammer instead. The selection was good, and the joint was empty. I recommend it.Other than that, the service and staff were excellent. Our stateroom attendant seemed a little surprised/bothered at first about serving a gay couple, but he was fine after day one. Rebecca at Champagne Bar and the man who worked the closing shift at the Solarium Bar were both a godsend.As for the ports, most of them are the same chintzy jewelry stores and you really have to look. I found Skagway horrible and stayed in my room after walking around for an hour, but my fiance took the ferry to Haines and had a wonderful time. I strongly recommend the Bike and Brew and Glacier View tour in Juneau, and the Hoonah Bike Trek in Icy Strait. Neither is particularly strenuous, but they are very fun and educational.All in all, we had a great time. This is actually a good cruise for 20somethings: Don't insist on going to the dining room every night, stay up late and enjoy having the ship to yourself, and book some fun, physical excursions, and you'll have a wonderful vacation.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

Cabin N

The cabin was spacious and comfortable, much more than I was expecting. Keep it clean and you won't get claustrophobic like we did. ;)

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