Isujim and others........ Here is our review from Ocotber 2004 Radiance of the Seas 14 days from San Diego to Miami......Warning it is long, My Fiance wrote it......It was our best cruise ever, very relaxing, loved it.
Here is the review:
PreCruise
The night prior to our flight we stayed at Four Points by Sheraton at the Philadelphia International airport, using their Park and Fly program. For $89 ($96.07 w/tax) we got a nice room for the night, and were able to leave our car there while cruising for no additional cost. The hotel supplies a shuttle to the airport…and then back from the airport to the hotel after the cruise. I like doing this because we tend to book early flights. By staying close to the airport there is no need to deal with rush hour traffic or unexpected delays, on what is usually already such a hectic day. We booked Four Points using
www.stay123.com. This was our second time using them. Their service is good and their prices are very good. Four Points Sheraton has a restaurant (Café Rusto), lounge, and outdoor pool on site. Neighboring Sheraton Suites (Atrium Café for continental cuisine, indoor pool and fitness center) is a short walk.
We had three flights in the morning, all on SouthWest: Phili to Chicago, Chicago to Kansas City, and Kansas City to San Diego. Our first flight began at 7:10 - the day ran smoothly and without incident - and we were in San Diego by 1:30 or so PST. The roughest part of the day was managing all our bags at the San Diego airport. In order to pick up the hotel shuttle we had to maneuver to the second floor, go across an overpass, and back down to the street. A long haul with lots of baggage in tow, and in very warm weather.
As we approached our hotel it didn't look like much in comparison to the others in the area - I believe it was the only set of pink and blue buildings around. But it was actually a very nice place and very clean. We booked The Holiday Inn San Diego On the Bay ($189) through Travelocity, our first time using this service. I had a concern because the e-confirmation from Travelocity did not specify that we had booked a Bayview King (for all intends and purposes the hotel was sold out, we just got lucky and saw an availability on Travelocity), but all went smoothly at check-in. The hotel is very nice. A little spread out, perhaps, as we had to drag our bags from the lobby, down the hall, through a courtyard and over to an adjacent building…but from that point on we were in the perfect location. We had an amazing view of the pier where our ship would be right on our balcony. And we could see the walkway we would use to cross over PCH to get to the pier in the morning, which would be easily accessible from this particular building. The view of the bay was great, with the San Diego Maritime Museum and The Star of India to the right, and The Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum and Seaport Village to the left.
This location offers several dining options. There is a Ruth’s Chris Steak House on property, as well as The Elephant and Castle, which looked pretty cool. We had breakfast Sunday morning at the Hazelwood Deli, also on property. Off property but nearby is Anthony’s Seafood Grotto, and The FishMarket.
We toured the Midway for about an hour, then had an early dinner at The FishMarket. Since it was a long day we turned in early, awoke to the sound of a ship's horn, and watched both the Carnival Spirit and the Radiance arrive at the port at about 5 am.
Embarkation: Radiance of the Seas holds 2,501 passengers when full, and the Carnival Spirit holds another 2,124 passengers. These ships are large, and the port is not. With only one building to process passengers, we'd been shaking our heads for weeks wondering how this was going to play out. We initially thought this might be a good time to be the laid back couple that mosey on the ship late in the afternoon, after the rush. We had this fabulous balcony view of the harbor in a great hotel. So we would remain in our room until our 12 pm checkout, then ask the porter to hold our bags while we explore the San Diego shoreline a bit, pick up our bags and board the ship after the dock clears. But once the hustle and bustle of embarkation begins, every cruiser understands, you want to be where the action is. You want to get on the ship. So at 11:30 we packed everything and walked over to the pier (with the help of one of the trolleys to carry our bags). An hour or so of waiting in the hot sun…then things started to move right along and within 30 minutes we were onboard.
Now rumor has it that all morning activities (disembarkation as well as the loading of food and goods) was held up due to the fact that two men who were to disembark Radiance that morning were being detained for previous offenses (robbery and child molestation) and two more were being held for illegal alien status. This has not been substantiated, but the RCCL agent that processed us gave us the scoop.
We couldn’t go to our cabin right away, but after lunch in Windjammers we went to check it out. Jim had the cabin decorated with Bon Voyage streamers, a Bon Voyage chocolate cake, and a beautiful flower arrangement with pink roses and purple orchids. Just gorgeous! Our cabin was an E1, 7110, a handicapped cabin. Neither of us is physically challenged, but RCCL puts any unbooked handicap accessible cabins up for grabs about three weeks prior to the cruise. We had booked an E1, so it didn't cost us anything to switch to cabin 7110, which is much larger than a standard E1, with a very large bathroom. And due to it's placement in the back of the port side bump-out, the balcony was also very large. The only downside to this cabin was that the lifeboats were below it, and when you look directly down from the balcony you see lifeboat cover instead of water. Other than that this was a great cabin in an ideal location.
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