Let me begin by saying that I read over 800 various ship reviews (including Trip-advisor) and all of the posted 281 Radiance of the Seas reviews before I left, so I had a pretty good idea of what this was all about and what to expect even before I began. I am not a big time cruiser-person although I've been on a few cruises. I am a 63 y/o single, male, in good physical shape, without a bunch of hidden agenda...meaning I'm coming at this pretty unbiased. I own and live on my own sailboat. I went on this cruise to look at ports in Mexico before departing on my own circumnavigation. I was not looking for a mate, love boat cruise, or even companionship...I was looking for a good time and getting a value for my $$$ and for me personally...a chance to explore harbors in Mexico...(Oh! and to get warm and de-humidified from Seattle)!

Pre-departure...Getting set-up to go was easy and smooth...went to an online booking agent (Crown Cruises) and very happy with their service. (They even arranged for a room change for me a couple of weeks before departure). Booked my own airlines and ground transport...left Seattle on the day of the cruise...no problems except the whole "not enough room for carry-on's" deal and of course "flying "Sardine Airlines". [SIDE NOTE: Flying is not like it used to be....and I fear it will never be the same again..."Sorry" next generation...but you truely missed the "good old days" of no airport security, hot meals, and movies (for most flights over two hours), leg room, and single female airline stewardesses (Oops...flight attendants...my bad)...and you know...when flying used to be fun.

Embarkation - Smooth and perfect...so much better than my previous Carnival Cruise Line experience! It was obvious that RCCL had done this before...where Carnival had people screaming at us and having us change three different waiting lines in L.A....San Diego RC embarkation went perfectly (for me - although I heard stories about other's having problems). San Diego was awesome! Easily got out of the cab, into the terminal, through security, and onto the boat in minutes even with Carnival Elation sitting on the same dock and boarding at the same time. I was greeted immediately by the very friendly ground crew and welcomed aboard the boat by the "water crew." My luggage wandered off somewhere as I arrived but showed up at my room a bit later with no worries. Read more