Radiance of the Seas Review
Radiance of the Seas Alaska SB Cruisetour #11 Trip Review
Rating by category
Additional details
First of all, I'd like to thank Cindy (Crown and Anchor Loyal Ambassador on board the Oasis of the Seas in August 2010) who recommended the following to us: 1) Alaska one-way cruise (reason: round-trip cruises do not go to Hubbard Glacier which sgould be the highlight (most spectacular) of an Alaskan cruise); 2) South bound (reason: to avoid docking at the ports with more than 2 other ships); 3) Cruisetour #11 that has the BEST itinerary; & 4) balcony cabin on Starboard (right) side (cruising Southbound) to have the best view of Hubbard Glacier. Let's start with an Alaskan Cruise A-Z to express my feelings towards this amazing, brilliant, cool, divine, enjoyable, fabulous, gorgeous, hilarious, incredible, joyful, knowledgeable, luxurious, magnificent, notable, outstanding, phenomenal, quaint, remarkable, superb, terrific, unique, venturous, wonderful, x-traordinary, yummy and zealous cruise. This was truly a trip of a lifetime!
The following is just a very concise summary of the cruise. I tried to include as much as I could of the cruisetour part in this review. To read my complete trip review with 200 pictures and lots more details, please read individual port reviews and follow my Cruise Critic thread:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1467693
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
I got 2 types of staterooms (1 FO and 2 D2) that are quite hard to book for most sailings. Either you don't have at least 5 people to stay in an FO, i.e., the Family Oceanview; or someone grabbed the Aft D2 Oceanview stateroom with a huge balcony (3 times the size of a regular one) faster than you.
First, let's look at the Family Oceanview #8002 (390 sq.ft) with a sitting area (double sofabed), a bedroom area that had 2 twin beds (convert to a Queen), and a tiny separate bedroom for a twin bed and a pull-down bunk bed. Please visit my Cruise Critic thread to view the photos of the room. The whole room can accommodate 6 people and you usually need to have at least 5 pp to book that type of room. However, just 1 month before sail date, that room became available as an ordinary Oceanview room that allowed double occupancy. My parents (in their 70's), happily gave away their E2 mid-ship balcony room (on the Starboard side which should have been great while watching Hubbard Glacier) for a more spacious room. They LOVED their huge room and really enjoyed the separate sleeping areas. You want to know the price difference between an E2 and an FO? Over $500 per person at the time of switching! However, we booked their E2 1 year ago on board the Oasis so the price difference was less than $100 per person and we were refunded. Thanks to our incredible travel agent who kept checking for lower room prices and upgrade availabilities!
Next there were my room and my daughters' D2 Oceanview rooms with balconies that were side by side (with no connecting doors), Rooms #1104 & #1604. Those rooms were just regular D2 rooms with just around 200 sq. ft. However, our balcony measured to over 100 sq.ft. (more than double of a regular one), it was wonderful for watching Hubbard Glacier with our camera on tripod all set up. These balcony rooms were located at the aft of the ship...a long walk but they were very quiet as no one walked past them. We had very good sleeps as no one talked outside our room while walking by, excellent for light sleepers! We stayed on our balconies to watch Hubbard Glacier together while maintaining our own little privacy...reading, writing trip journals, balcony dining, etc.!