This was our first time cruising so we do not have anything to compare it to, but we are now hooked on cruising and can't wait for our next cruise in December. We travelled by train to Circular Quay and found embarkation easy and quick. Once on board we took in the sight of Sydney Harbour whilst sipping on cocktails. We took advantage of the drinks package and found it to be convenient and good value.
We had an Oceanview room on Deck 3 and were happy with it and our room attendant. The ship served our needs for relaxing or planned activities/entertainment. The on board entertainers were excellent, as were the productions in the theatre. The guest entertainers were also a highlight, in particular Jane Cho, although we found the Killer Queen Experience to be ordinary.
Dining was excellent. We had breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer, and enjoyed the banter from the young fella on the door. We dined in the main dining room most nights and found the food to be very good. The service we received from Manuel and Jao was so good we now find service in local restaurants to be quite poor compared to our experience on Radiance.
Cabin was quiet, clean and served our needs.
Champagne Bay is striking for its natural beauty. It is a great relaxing beach paradise day.
We loved Vila and hired a driver for the day (Lolo). He took us out to the south eastern coast and we found a nice beach for swimming, then visited the blue hole. On our way back we visited a small fruit market and Lolo's village and met his family. This was great to experience a different culture.
Louganville was surprisingly excellent. We hired a driver and went to a Blue Hole, had lunch (Australia Day special) at a nice little resort, canoed the rhi rhi river, and snorkelled at a small beach near million dollar point and saw all the dumped WWII equipment.
Snorkelled in Jineck Bay which was nice but pretty choppy the day we were there.
Stunning island. We went to the natural aquarium and snorkelled. This is spectacular with plenty of colourful fish. Spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach or browsing the markets.