Chosen for destination and end docking in Melbourne. Loved the itinerary and shore excursions except Napier was very busy with their once a year Art Deco festival and it meant there were traffic restrictions, no reduction in price of excursion. But boring just seeing the countryside.q when we got back to town couldnt find anywhere to sit or toilets open, civic centre closed, pub for patrons only (understandable, but no help if you have been in a bus for three hours and on fluid tablets). Dunedin was the same situation with toilet stops on the bus trip, needs more thought with mature age passengers. Food in dining room needs more variety, but served hot which was good. They need to be stricter with dress code or don’t bother. Theme nights were only in Windjammer. Breakfast and lunch in Windjammer were fine, salmon with poached egg for breakfast suites me, also the salads are great for lunch. Not available in dining room for dinner. Didn’t try any specialty restaurants. As usual drinks weren’t cheap, we bought a drinks package as you can get better coffee and bottled water, wine by the glass in the dining room was included, only get discount on bottles so better to drink by the glass. Felt sorry for couples where only one drank as you had to buy for both. Boarding, disembarking and tenders were well organised. They have a ramp they can use for wheelchairs to board tenders, would be better for all passengers more stable than the steps on platform. Read Less

My friend and I both near 70 have just cruised from Sydney to Auckland for 10 nights and what a wonderful time we had. embarkation was very quick and we were onboard in about 35 minutes - the only queuing we did, disembarking took us even less time. All staff from the Captain to cleaners were very polite and would chat happily, were always attentive and nothing was too much trouble. The ship was great, comfortable, lovely big windows. The cabin was an inside one and while small, especially the shower, we had everything we needed. I am not sure I would have liked a room that size with more than two people though. We had all our meals in the Windjammer and certainly had nothing to complain about, plenty of choice. Our waiters got to know us and brought us drinks as soon as we sat down. Plenty of activities for everyone though we had gone to rest and relax so didn't take part in lots of things. I have to confess that I wasn't so impressed with the shows. A couple of comedians were quite crude and not appropriate for family shows. The dances and singers were good, as was the ventriloquist and hypnotist. My only real complaint was that everything that happened in the centrum was so loud you couldn't hold a conversation. We got off a tour bus one day that stopped a few hundred metres from the ship and you could hear the noise as soon as the bus doors opened. The ports were good and we did go ashore in Akaroa, Wellington and the Bay of Islands. Great sailing through the Fiordland sounds. We are both keen to go on another cruise and would certainly look at this ship first. Read Less

Chose this cruise because of the opportunity to see New Zealand and Australia. For us, this was the chance of a lifetime and we were looking forward to checking this off our bucket list! We flew in the night before to Auckland and spent the next day touring the city for a bit before boarding our cruise! Embarkation was a breeze. Everyone there was very friendly. We headed to our cabin and were shocked to find stains on our sheets and bedskirt and a balcony that you wouldn't want to step foot on unless you had your shoes on (pictures posted). So we turned around and headed straight to Guest Services with our pictures to ask to be switched to a different room. Mind you, I have never ever made such a request. But this was NOT Royal Caribbean quality - this was Motel 6 in a bad part of town quality going on here! Of course, they said they didn't have any other rooms, but they would send housekeeping and maintenance to come take a look. When they arrived, they changed the sheets and bedskirt and told us that they knew the balcony was bad and not up to their standards. They told us they could fix it, but it would take three days and we wouldn't be able to use it. In the meantime, they powerwashed it, (but that didn't change anything) and provided beach towels to put on the balcony floor!!! So needless to say that part was a real disappointment because I've been on several RC cruises and Royal Caribbean is better than this. The second day of the cruise I realize that our in-room refrigerator isn't cooling anything. When I ask our room steward about this, he tells me it isn't a refrigerator, it's a cooler. I explain that I have a prescription that needs to be refrigerated and he says he will talk to his supervisor about it. We go out that day on our excursions and when I return I find a 3 1/5 foot refrigerator in the middle of the floor of our room!!!!!! WTH!! I moved it out to the hallway and called maintenance to come pick it up! From then on they provided me with ice buckets each night and plastic bags for me to put my prescription in it to keep it cold. SMH As far as other public facilities, the wear and tear on this boat is showing. One night I went to the ladies room and (I kid you not) the faucet was being held together by duct tape!!! There were three sinks with three soap dispensers and only one dispenser worked. The attendant acknowledged that the other two were broken, and says "here you can use this one." (I was stunned and disappointed - I've never seen anything like that on a Royal Caribbean cruise.) The dining was great as usual. We ate at the Windjammer for breakfast and the MDR for dinner each evening. I don't know why people complain about the food. Honestly, there's so much selection that if you don't like something, try something else! Entertainment and activities were limited because it's a smaller ship. The Cruise Director was entertaining & made an effort to mingle with the guests and say hi. The ports were great! There's so much to see and do in NZ! Honestly I want to go back to NZ to see more. Though I would advise not doing the Akaroa - Christchurch and Countryside tour. We went to a sheep ranch and watched the farmer shear sheep and then watched his dogs herd sheep from the mountain. Afterwards his wife had sausage rolls, tea, and biscuits for everyone. THAT part was awesome! They were a lovely couple who were just so kind and welcoming to allow our tour group to come to their home. The rest of the tour was a loooong drive to Christchurch which was a pretty countryside drive. However, the drive was over an hour and a half just to get to Christchurch! Then we were only there about 50 minutes before we had to get back on the bus to head back to the ship for an almost two hour drive. And honestly, there isn't much of anything to see in Christchurch. You see the cathedral which is still in terrible disrepair from the earthquake in 2011 and still has fencing all around it. That's it! That's all there is to see! You get off the bus, walk up to where the cathedral is, & look at it. Then you try and find a bite to eat and get back on the bus. So the majority of this excursion was spent on a bus!!! Not my idea of a good time. Total waste of time spent there in my opinion. Save your money on this excursion and find something else to do. Fitness center was good. My husband went there most everyday and I ran on the outdoor track each morning, before the crowds head up there. Overall this was a wonderful cruise and I would love to go again! But we will never cruise on this ship again or this size ship again. We definitely prefer the larger, newer ships. Read Less

First and foremost for Americans - a Visa is needed for Australia (but not New Zealand). This cruise was for my husband and myself, who are both in our 60s and have cruised probably 15 times on all different lines. Regarding Radiance of the Seas, the ship has definitely seen better days. We felt the maintenance could have been better. The railing on our balcony was definitely in need of stain. The ship in MANY places has rust showing. It just appears old. However, every other aspect of this ship was awesome. There is an indoor pool (with hot tubs) along with an outdoor pool. We went 1/24/19 for a 10 day cruise. The food in the dining room was good. The Windjammer I felt could have been better, but my husband was OK with it (we went there for breakfast and lunch). Staff is excellent and always around ready to help. Our bed was very good and I loved the pillows. Nightly shows/entertainment: Was not very impressed with the staff dancers/singers until their final night, where they were good. The entertainment they had other nights was very good. LOVED the Freddie Mercury (Queen) entertainer!!!! The piano player another night was also good! One of the staff singers Abby was also excellent! Overall we were very pleased with the entertainment. Ship Excursions we took (through Royal Caribbean): Napier panorama on a guided bus was nice with us hearing about an interesting town with lovely views. In Napier NZ we went on a sheep tour which included a sheepdog showing off his skills bring the sheep down from the hills. EXCELLENT and well worth the money. The owners provided us also with lamb rolls and tea in their garden which was just an added plus. The farmer also sheared one of his lambs, a 4 month old first time shearing) and that was cool to see. Interesting that the value of this one's wool was only worth $4NZ. We also went on an Akaroa Panorama bus tour which was great. This was our favorite port as it was beautiful and interesting. We also went on a Welling and Dunedin city tour, but were both disappointed with these towns. The bus driver one day pulled to the side of the road to explain about a house set back 3 houses (that we couldn't even see) and gave us boring information on this home for about 7 minutes. Neither town really impressed us much. The final day in NZ was totally on the ship touring Doubtful, Dusky and Milford Sounds. If you have a balcony, try to book the side of the ship that faces the hills/fiords. This was totally beautiful and plenty of waterfalls. SO pretty! The final day we cruised from NZ to Australia through the Tasman Sea. Never before have I been seasick - enough to stay in bed. So if you have the slightest possibility of seasickness, bring pills. However, the doctors office located on the lower deck (I think 2) gave out free seasickness pills. And the office had a lot of people in it!! Driving into the port of Sydney the next day was beautiful!!! Be sure to be up early to capture this sight! We truly did enjoy this cruise. And though I bashed the condition of the ship, we are happy we experienced it! One additional side note: we could definitely see the rivalry between the Aussies and the Kiwis. They made fun of each other but said they did like each other. Hmmmm - I'm not sure I saw this! the majority of the ship is Australian and New Zealand cruisers. But there were certainly other nationalities as well! Read Less

I loved New Zealand, scenery was beautiful, that was the only good part of my trip. This ship is old, smelly & tired looking. The water slides & climbing wall advertised were only open for an hour once a day on port days and an hour twice a day on sea days so it was near impossible to use these amenities unless you wanted to line up for a couple of hours for one go - not my idea of fun. My two teenage girls were bored out of their mind for the entire trip. There’s little for kids to do on this ship. The food was not good at all. The restaurants that you pay for were very good but the buffet was absolutely shocking, same food every day & not great at all. If I knew how cramped our balcony suite would be we would have paid extra for two suites. I was stuck sleeping in an extremely uncomfortable pull out lounge for 10 days which left me with neck that I was unable to turn to the right & a sore back. The actual beds were not much better. After having traveled on cruise ships in the past I was really looking forward to watching some shows however they were boring & clearly aimed at older people, not families. I was distraught when I walked into a poorly identifiable glass wall right next to some revolving doors on deck 12. It was a clear hazard yet the ships health & safety officer ridiculed me despite having to spend the whole morning with the doctor with suspicions of a concussion, a black eye and serious swelling - management Just didn’t care. I love cruises & New Zealand was great but I will never travel on this ship again. Read Less

This was the only way we were going to experience New Zealand and the itinerary was excellent! We are now Diamond Class mostly from cruising with sister company Celebrity and it did make a difference with speedy boarding, our own lounge and free drinks added each day! If we had known that we would not have paid for the drinks package! However, there is continual pressure to up-sell to speciality dining and thankfully we had two occasions to do so because the main dining food was very average and lacked imagination and flavour. I resorted to 4 starters on several evenings rather than face another main meal. Wine service was non-existent due to the absence of sommeliers so our waiter and assistant struggled to keep up with service. Food arrived lukewarm... very disappointing! Radiance probably has the best Centrum experience around with all decks being able to look down and participate in whatever was going on below! However, try finding a seat!... RCI has now taken over a huge chunk of the coffee bar lounge with a Future Cruise office plus, don't expect china cups these days... paper carry-outs! contrast that with Celebrity's La Bachio, the most popular relaxing area for most people! The two re-fits didn't seem to include soft furnishings such as the chairs and carpets in the Champagne Bar which really have seen better days! However, as I said, it was a very happy cruise with friendly officers and staff and a new Captain who actually sang to us at the welcome meeting! Read Less

We are a family of 6 and wanted to do a January cruise around New Zealand. Statistically, January should give us some smooth sailing across the Tasman and fortunately it did. Radiance Of The Seas were offering some good prices on a one-way cruise from Sydney to Auckland. This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, first cruise to NZ and the biggest ship we have been on. We flew into Sydney, the day before the cruise departed, just in case of airline delays or cancellations. We boarded at 11.30 am and in our cabins by 3.00 pm. There are 2 vegans and 1 vegetarian in our family, so as soon as we were onboard, we went to see one of the head waiters in the Colony Club, to explain our dietary requirements. All our breakfasts and lunches were in the Windjammers Buffet and all our dinners were in Cascades. Cascades wins hands down in the “fine dining” department and their vegan meals were delicious and plenty of it. The vegans were usually given 2 or 3 entrees, 2 mains and 2 desserts each, just to ensure there was enough choice. The omnivores were also taken care of. Prawn cocktails, crumbed prawns, lobster tails, escargot, Rib eye steak, sirloin steak, fillet mignon, rack of lamb, venison, pork loin chops. Sometimes I had 2 entrees and 2 mains. Sometimes the steak was too chewy, so I ordered more prawn cocktails. The Cascade waiting staff were great and Cascades is the only place where soft drinks are free. The alcoholic drinks are expensive (about 50% more than P&O Aust and Carnival Aust) because all prices onboard are in $US. The drink price also includes an 18% gratuity, but you won’t see this itemised on your receipt. A few prices; beers $7.75-$8.50, base spirit and mixer $9.50-$11.50, cocktails $11-$16, the “cocktail of the day” is always $10, glasses of wine $9-$16 USD. I bought the Deluxe Beverage and Surf and Stream (1 device) Package about 2 months before the cruise date when a special offer was emailed to me. It cost me $82.80 AUD per day. Once onboard, the Deluxe Beverage was $70 USD per day and the Surf and Stream (1 device) was $29 USD per day. The internet speed was good, but there were times when we were out of satellite range and no service. The beverage package supplied me with bottled water, cans of soft drink, real coffee, not to mention the alcohol. The entertainment ranged from OK to very good. The juggler, ventriloquist, the boy band, the impressionist and comedians were very good. The big production shows were about average. Windjammers closes at 9.00 pm, so if you want some supper after the show, the food is limited to The Boardwalk Doghouse or the Park Café located in the Solarium. Both close at 2.00 am. The Park Café has sandwiches, wraps, rolls, pies, sausage rolls, salads and desserts and it was all good. Now for the one negative part of this review, photographers. They are everywhere. At the top of every stairway in every entrance, on every boarding ramp, in every dining room, I even found one in my soup. An 8x10 inch photo is $20 USD. I suppose they are a necessary evil and help subsidise my fare. This was a good family cruise and I will cruise with Royal Caribbean again. Read Less

This was our 6th cruise with RCI (just made Diamond status) and 2nd on Radiance of the Seas. Were keen to sail on her again after our first trip to NZ. IMHO Radiance is just the right size for a cruise ship and all parts of the ship are easily accessible and navigate due it's simple layout. When she was launched she was the most advanced cruise ship on the waves but now, as lovely as she is, she is starting to look a little tired. Despite this, the service is 100% and in keeping with RCI's usual standard. My wife and I would not hesitate to sail on her again if the opportunity presents itself. NZ, as usual, was a pleasure to visit with every port offering a warm welcome and a myriad of shore activities to undertake. Would recommend shore excursions to Hobbiton, Rotorua, Rangitoto Island. Also, as Auckland is very much an America's Cup town, sailing on one of the two Americas Cup Class yachts berthed a Viaduct Harbour (near the Maritime Museum) is certainly a highlight! Read Less

We like the Radiance and got a suitable deal. We have been to the islands many times so the ship was the attraction rather than the destinations. The weather was mixed and this was given as the reason for the slow tendering processes, although it seemed that too few tenders were being operated. The ship is still in good shape and lifts operated well. The decorations for the festive season were fantastic and the cruise director, John, and his team did a great job. He is one of the best that we have seen and he even did an afternoon tribute to Neil Diamond which was very good. The general shows were a mixture of very good to moderate but the movies were very limited and repetitive. The overall presentations for Xmas, New Year were wonderful. Few complaints about the food in any of the restaurants although a little repetitive. However, have to congratulate the wait staff who are all great, cheerful and willing to serve. These Filipino and Indonesian waiters are a great advertisement for cruise lines, including RCCI.We always had pre-dinner drinks in the diamond or concierge lounges and the waiters soon got to know us. These lounges are great draws for RCCI. Disembarkation was fast, ahead of time, and plenty of taxis at port. Read Less

We enjoy being away at this time of year. This is our favourite ship as it is not too big. The crew are very friendly and helpful. This ship is showing signs of ageing but this does not take away from the experience. We met some lovely people and really there was nothing to complain about. We did not have a meal in the mdr we did not like. As neither of us walk very well we were taken on board by wheelchair and it only took 20 minutes to be on the ship and likewise on our return a very efficient service. We had a cabin at the rear of the ship which was a mistake really. The balcony was great as it was sheltered and large enough for a table and two chairs plus two loungers, but it was a long walk to the lifts. We booked a grand suite for the beginning of December 2019 to New Zealand and got a great offer on board with the Next Cruise people Read Less