Radiance of the Seas moored at Bora Bora.
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The Radiance being powered across the Pacific Ocean by its two 34,000 hp General Electric LM2500 gas turbines.
The Centrum from above (with the floor space on Deck 4 at the bottom)
The Centrum from Deck 4 (with one of the two glass lifts visible)
People watch proceedings in the Centrum from various levels
Your Sea Pass
Our Stateroom - 16.6 sq. m. (179 sq. ft.).
Watching TV from the bed was always an option...
Our stateroom with the balcony and beyond.
The balcony - 3.8 sq. m (41 sq. ft.).
The curtain cut the room in two so someone could watch TV from the small sofa while someone read in bed or slept.
The bathroom...one angle...
The bathroom...another angle...
The wardrobe - plenty of space.
'Closet' space.
Solomon, our stateroom attendant, with one of the towel creations he regularly left in our room - this time, a bat
Another of Solomon's towel creations - an elephant
And yet another of Solomon's towel creations - a monkey
An alligator (we told Solomon we'd have to call it a crocodile, because that's what we have in Australia)
The Windjammer buffet...aah the buffet...
More of the buffet.
At the back of the Windjammer was where we had breakfast most mornings.
Cascades Dining Room (it's the same looking to the left).
(Oops, I was having too good a time and forgot to get photos of the Park Cafe - but here is where it is located)
The Boardwalk Dog House
Chops Grille - fantastic steak! ($30 per person 'dining fee')
Chocolate mud pie at Chops Grille (this is why I - Giulio - put on 7kg!)
Samba Grill ($25 per person 'dining fee')
Green light - bring it on, we're hungry!
Red light...hold off, we need a break from the steak!
Sunset at Rita's Cantina.
I (Giulio) make the most of the 'buy 2, get one free' margarita happy hour at Rita's (photo by Nat)
Izumi's Japanese restaurant.
Sous Chef, Richard Henry, Sommelier, Ioan Clipici (right) and maitre d' (sorry, can't remember name) chat to us all at the 'counter' at the end of the table.
Richard joins us at the table.
The 'light shade' in the Chef's Table dining room - made of cutlery.
The Royal Caribbean International Cookbook given to each booking at the Chef's Table
Each cookbook signed by Sous Chef Richard Henry
Nat enjoys cheese and biscuits, and bubbles, on the balcony of our stateroom as we leave Bora Bora
I (Giulio) am distracted despite the breakfast before me on the balcony of our Stateroom (photo by Nat)
Nat enjoys a cheese plate and wine on the balcony on yet another afternoon
The Quill and Compass (English pub)
The Schooner Bar
Entrance to the Schooner Bar
Table and chairs in Singapore Slings (Colony Club)
Tables and chairs in Jakarta Lounge (Colony Club)
The Pool Bar and the Sky Bar (packed out to watch the start of the Bathurst 1000 motor race on the big screen - photo later in blog)
The Lobby Bar
The Champagne Bar
Starquest nightclub/disco (with revolving bar)
Latte-tudes
The jogging track on Deck 12
Deck 5 - once around the ship was around 540 metres (600 yards)
People walk around Deck 5
Deck 5
People work out in the gym as someone walks around the jogging track
The gym
The rock climbing wall - a great view!
The sports court
The main pool and pool deck (with hot tubs)
The pool in the Solarium (where there is also a hot tub)
Aurora Theatre
Aurora Theatre
Johnny Thunder performs in the Aurora Theatre
Big screen on the pool deck (showing the Bathurst 1000 motor race)
Big screen on the pool deck - twilight movie
Starquest nightclub/disco, sitting at the revolving bar (this was early one night - it did get pumping!)
9 hole mini-golf (located at the back of the ship on Deck 12 )
Cinema (the last day of the cruise when the crowd had really dropped off)
Casino Royale
Casino Royale
The Library
The Library (overlooking the Centrum)
Seven Hearts - cards and board games area (all of which can be taken anywhere on the ship)
Crossing the equator ceremony on the pool deck - King Neptune presides over the event
A 'pollywog' (first time crossing the equator) after the induction ceremony
The Centrum - cooking display
Pool deck entertainment - hula lessons (we'd just left Hawaii)
Some of the works on display in the onboard art gallery
While it isn't advertised as entertainment, all of the stairwells are packed full of art
Or, if non of the above grab you, there is always the option to catch some rays and top up the tan
Adventure Ocean 'water park'.
One of the massage rooms in the Day Spa
Entrance to the Hair Salon (with fake tree in foreground...on the left)
Shopping mall
General store
Jewellery shop entrance
The internet cafe
The Business Centre, with internet available and printing facilities
Photo lab and gallery
A selection of Cruise Compasses (we will be adding some examples of the Cruise Compass very shortly)
One of the electronic 'Wayward Finders' scattered around the ship to help you find your way around and let you know what is on and when
A non-electronic 'Wayward Finder' - also scattered around the ship
One of the tenders moored at Moorea, French Polynesia (photo by Nat)
So famous it needs no introduction...Waikiki Beach (with Diamond Head in the background - more on that later)
The Moana Surfrider hotel (stunning!)
The Foyer at Moana Surfrider
The terraced courtyard leading onto Waikiki Beach
A huge tree overhangs the courtyard terrace - looking towards the pool and through to Waikiki Beach
The Veranda breakfast buffet overlooking Waikiki Beach (also doubles as The Beachhouse restaurant for dinner)
No photos of our room...but here was the view
Another famous landmark - the statue of Duke Kahanamoku at Waikiki Beach. Duke is, among many things, credited with spreading the sport of surfing (here the statue is getting a clean)
Surfboard for hire on Waikiki Beach
The tunnel leading into the crater at Diamond Head, an extinct volcano crater located next to Waikiki Beach/Honolulu. The walk from the hotel to the top of Diamond Head and back took us 3 hours
The last part of the climb (99 very steep steps) to Diamond Head
The view from the top of Diamond Head
Cocktails at Moana's bar by the beach after the three hour walk to Diamond Head and back
Papeete from the Radiance
Tourist buses and 4WD's waiting dockside at Papeete (photo by Nat)
Markets at Papeete (photo by Nat)
Radiance docked at Papeete
Clouds cover hilltops, Moorea
The Radiance of the Seas moored at Moorea, French Polynesia
Markets dockside at Moorea
Swimming with stingrays at Moorea
Shark feeding on Moorea
Poeple in the water at the 'tropical' beach, Moorea
Crowded 'tropical' beach, Moorea
A woman watches the view as the Radiance leaves Moorea, French Polynesia
Bora Bora
Vaitape, the main town on Bora Bora
Chilled out dog (one of many) in front of tour 'desks' dockside on Bora Bora
One of the many tour buses that, en masse, does the circuit of Bora Bora (there's one main road around the island)
Bloody Mary's...with sand floor
Radiance moored at Bora Bora
The local kids chase the helicopter (in which we rode) as it takes another load of tourists up and away (photo by Nat)
Leaving Bora Bora...
Auckland cityscape
Auckland Museum, one of the stops on the Auckland Explorer
Inside Auckland Museum
View from Mt Eden (extinct volcano crater covered with grass in foreground)
Foggy Auckland Harbour the morning we arrived
My bangers (sausages) and mash (mashed potato) lunch in Parnell - bangers cut open to look like a porcupine/hedgehog
A seagull and two passengers soak up the view of Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House the morning we arrived in Sydney at the end of an amazing 17 nights (photo by Nat)
The Radiance of the Seas moored at Circular Quay, Sydney, next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge (in shot), at the end of our journey - a sad day, indeed...
38 comments:
Sailed on Rhapsody of the Seas in April 2011. Now looking forward to our 7 night cruise on Radiance in February 2012. Enjoyed reading about your experiance.
Thanks Anonymous, The intention was to make people experience the Radiance as best they could without being there, so it's good to see the blog did this for you!
Enjoy your time on Radiance - we're sure you'll love it!
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Absolutely loved this, we are on the Radiance in February and I think you must have included every bit of info that there is.Photos were brilliant.We are in a "hump cabin" which looks very like yours so those photos were great.
Thanks again
Fantastic blog, we, like you guys had trouble finding information. We are off to New Zealand in Jan. We found a lot of info through this. Well done.
Thank you thank you thank you
Mike and Belinda, Adelaide
Anon - Nov 21 - Enjoy your Feb cruise! The cabins are great for the time you spend in them. We enjoyed hanging out on the balcony and even invited friends over for a pre dinner get together.
Anon - Mike and Belinda - We really want to go back to NZ and spend some time there, on a cruise or otherwise. So glad you found this blog helpful. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Excellent reporting and great photos! Your detailed information will be much appreciated by other first-time as well as seasoned cruisers.
Thank you for taking the time to post!
Helga
Vancouver, BC Canada
Thanks for your kind words Helga.
There were so many questions we wanted answered, as well as wanting to use BIG photos to convey the experience, so being able to put it all together as we have has been great. We get a buzz out of the fact other people such as yourself love reading the blog!
This blog is getting fantastic reviews on the RCI discussion page where it can be viewed!
That's great - thanks for letting us know! We had a look but couldn't find the page you mentioned. Can you send us a link? Thank you...
I cannot tell you how much we have enjoyed reading your blog.. We just loved each and every word and the photos's are fantastic..
Our cruise on Radiance is in March to the Pacific Islands and after reading your blog, my husband decided he wanted to do something special for the two of us and has booked us in for the Chef's table, so we are very excited about that, but we notice a couple of your photo's regarding the Chef's table have disappeared.. Just one little question, do you get an apron and a copy of the recipe book each or just one per couple..
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this blog.. We keep going back and looking at it over and over and over again..
Regards,
Bev..
Hi Bev,
We're so glad you like the blog and we appreciate your kind words. We loved doing the blog and the response we've received has been so positive.
As for the Chef's Table, you get an apron each and one cookbook per couple. We're sure you will love both the Chef's Table and the whole Radiance experience!
As for the photos of the Chef's Table, We checked the blog and all 3 photos were there. Please let us know if you have any continuing problems with the photos.
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Hi Giulio & Nat
Another thumbs up and many thanks for your amazing informative blog and the wonderful photographs. I saw a link on Facebook about a week ago and shared it with a Facebook page for our Radiance sailing in January as well as our Cruise Critic roll call. I have seen it linked in almost every Radiance roll call coming up in the next few months so it sure is getting lots of attention and so much positive feedback. Yes cruising is so addictive isn't it! We are going on Radiance in January and can't wait - thanks again for going to so much trouble.
Lesley :-)
P.S. If you would like to come on Jan 15th I would love you to be our official photographer - lol!
Hi Lesley,
Thank you for your lovely comment. We're pleased that the review has been shared around and hope it has been useful. We really enjoyed creating it and look forward to future cruises where we can do the same.
How exciting that you are sailing on the Radiance in January! Enjoy the cruise!
Nat & Giulio
Hi Nat and Guilio.
Many thanks for your very informative page, I too have shared it on facebook and look at it daily as I am counting down to my cruise leaving on the 3rd January (23 days for the record)!
I have cruised many times over the years but never with RC but have been in and seen the Ship in Sydney a few times and she is enormous and impressive, and your photos are brilliant.
The only little question I have is the necklace for your seapass, you buy them as you check in? Cruise Guru were giving them out the other week at the pier but said you need to then get a hole put in the pass for theirs to work, plus one was broken, and I have been shopping around looking for one, but believe its probably just as easy to buy what they supply? Its a keepsake too if they have the cruise ship name on them. Let me know other than that every conceivable question I may have had you have already answered!
Kind regards
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth,
(Giulio here) Thanks for your message and your question re the necklace/lanyard is one we will amend on the blog.
When we checked-in we were only given the seapass. Initially we kept it in our pocket or wallet but this wasn't always 'satisfactory' (things have a habit of falling out of pockets and wallets).
We kept seeing people with the seapass on the lanyard and thought 'that's a good idea'. I think Nat asked someone and they said they'd bought the lanyard in the onboard shop and the guest services desk punched a hole in it so they could clip it onto the lanyard.
Sure enough, we bought a lanyard ($4.95), got a hole punched it it etc and spent the cruise with it around our neck.
The other good thing was the bottom part of the lanyard can unclip, so you could take the seapass off if you needed to hand it over to pay for drinks etc and then clip it back on.
It seemed everyone cottoned on to the fact this was 'the way to go' and the seapass 'necklace' was a very common sight. It would be good if Royal Caribbean included the lanyard with the seapass and they may do this but, unless things have changed, you can either bring your own lanyard or pay the $4.95.
Enjoy your cruise! We are booked to go on one (not RCI) on Feb 4 and are excited about that. Yours is a month earlier, so you must be doubly excited!
Once again, thanks for your query - we'll add that bit of into to the blog.
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Hi Thanks for great info, i read it when it first appeared and found it really informative. Now that we are less than two month away from cruise date I am rereading to help prepare for trip on radiance on 5/4. THANKS so helpful. Also enjoying your present trip.gail
Hi Gail,
Glad the post was of help to you!
Radiance is a magnificent ship and we're sure you'll love your time on board. As always, we are envious!
Have a great time and please drop us a line at any time (especially afterwards, so you can tell us all about it).
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Hi Giulio and Nat,
Have been meaning to comment for a while on your wonderful blog. We were on this cruise at the same time as you and we loved every moment of it. We too did not want to disembark. We had an aft balcony cabin which we thoroughly enjoyed. Bora Bora was a little paradise on earth and Moorea also was beautiful. Your photos are wonderful and bring back all those great memories. The Schooner Bar was a favourit hangout for us along with the wonderful people we met face to face after chatting on a roll call on cruisecritic for many months. Once again, thank you both.
Thank you so much for your fantastic blog. So much information that I was having difficulty finding elsewhere. I am just in the process of booking Sydney to Honolulu for April 2013. Would actually prefer to do reverse trip like yourself, but don't see the itinerary out yet. One quick question, I will be travelling with three kids - 17, 11 & 5 immediately after school holidays. I was hoping there will be sufficient other children for them to spend their time with. Did you travel out of school holidays and if so, were there plenty of kids on board?
Hi Anonymous (Feb 28),
Thanks for your kind words about the blog. We still look at the blog and relive the memories of the cruise and love it!
We recently booked ourselves on the Voyager of the Seas, cruising from Singapore to Fremantle, in October 2012 - and we're counting down the days already...189 to go!
Happy cruising and hope to see you in a Schooner Bar on another RCI cruise in the future!
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Hi Anonymous (April 11),
Like you, we had trouble finding all the info we wanted in the one place before we cruised, so that's why we did the blog. It's good to know it's done its job of answering all those questions you had!
As for your question re kids, we're pretty certain we sailed out of school holiday time. There did seem to be enough kids 'floating around' but, to be honest, they had their own areas and tended to stick to them. We did have a bout of norovirus on the ship and they closed down the kids areas and we noticed quite a few around. They should be okay.
April 2013? Has the countdown broken through the 365 day barrier yet?
In case you haven't read any of the other posts here, we're booked on Voyager of the Seas, cruising from Singapore to Fremantle, in October 2012 - and we have 189 to go!
Ciao,
Giulio & Nat
Hi Giulio & Nat
Having not been too impressed at the information put out by RCI and many questions unanswered by the corporate side of their business I searched for unbiased info.
Your blog was brilliantly informative and very well presented for cruise travellers.I am on this ship next year December 2013 whilst on an extended stay (6 weeks) with family in Mebourne We will be going round the south pacific for two weeks to give my family a break from us.Also we are going to spend some days up at cairns seeing the great barrier reef etc. I will email you seperately if you have any tips about this area.
One small question about spending money on the islands where they use the french pacific franc. Was the US dollar readily acceptable there?
Thanks for a great blog and I am looking forward to your trip on the Voyager of the Seas.
Happy Cruising
Jeff & Polly
We are doing our first ever cruise on Radiance in January 2015 out of Sydney (our home city). Even though it is some time away yet, and we have friends who have sailed her, we still have some unanswered questions about cruising. I really appreciate ypur work in putting this together...it was very helpful. Also as an enthusiastic photographer myself, I really appreciated the the quality of the photos. Can't wait to have my wife read this blog too...big Thankyou!
this is great, you might talk to royal Caribbean and do all their ships because they don't do as good of a job as you. alan
We are leaving on Radiance in the opposite direction in 4 days. Your blog was just what we needed and had not found on the RCCL website. The presentation is absolutely fantastic and I know just how much time and effort is put into something like this.
You have confirmed a lot of what we suspected with shore bought excursions. Also we have a better feel for the tender windows if you do not have a booked tour. Thought tips for packing was helpful. Thanks. Couple of questions;
What time are movies at night and are they OK for kids?
What is best way for money in various stops. Assume NZ OK but concerned about pacific islands electronic banking?
With such a long cruise, did you do a drink package and with hidsight, what would you recommend?
Matt, Bronny and Kids
Hi Giulio and Nat,
You are great and amazing! Everything is so informative and detail. I am really enjoy reading your blog. Thanks. We love cruising. And i did write sth about my trip. However, my blog is in Chinese. Sorry! We will cruising on Radiance of the seas 2015 March and will write sth after the trip.
Thanks again.
chuoilgo
Hi chuoilgo,
Thank you for your lovely comment and we're glad you like our post. We hope you have a wonderful cruise on Radiance o the Seas!
Giulio & Nat
Hi Guilio & Nat, so glad we stumbled upon your blog! Very imformative, & your excellent first-hand photos, make the Royal Carribean pics, that are smattered across so many websites, pale into insignificance.
The RC publicity crew could learn a lot from you!...Thank you for sharing your experience.
We are looking forward to setting off in Jan '15
Your blog confirmed we made a good choice booking on Radiance.
Thanks again
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