Radiance Hawaii Trip Report 5-03-08 - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

hanna · 05-18-2008, 03:49 PM

My intent here is to let you know what a great cruise we had to Hawaii despite many setbacks.
First of all, our original sailing was to take place at approx 9pm from Ensenada, Mexico. But we had to be in San Diego to catch the $90pp transfers from RC. We were told that they would pick us up at the airport and from there we would be bussed to Ensenada. That was to have taken place before 2pm or so. About 10 days before our sailing, all 2100 pax were advised of a major change to the above plans. Since there was an air show and a maritime show in the harbor of San Diego, the Radiance couldn't leave San Diego for Ensenada until the shows were over. (Everybody wondered why we weren't told beforehand?) Anyway so now we were told that we would be picked up at the airport and transferred to the SD convention center where our buses would pick us up sometime after the show. Our flight to SD landed at 8am(which of course meant we had been up since 3

. ) We waited until 11:30 am until our luggage was loaded on a truck that would eventually, hopefully, get to Ensenada.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 03:58 PM

I forgot to mention that a lot of pax who had taken RC air and hotels and transfers had a bit of a setback too. They were all informed about 2 weeks prior to sailing that they would not be staying at the Embassy Suites but at the Hyatt. None of these people were too happy about it. They were all told it was an upgrade, but upon checking it out, it wasn't! There luggage would be picked up at the Hyatt and then they were to be transferred to the convention center also.
At any rate, we got to the convention center at about noon. We did our check in there and it was fairly fast(being Diamond helps

). We were assigned bus #3 and #4 for our friends. They had sandwiches, chips, water, soft drinks and cookies set out on tables. We grabbed a sandwich and soft drink and sat down. About that time, our sailing partners arrived and we saw them come in. Went up to greet them and led them to table we had. We ate and then we went for a supposed 3 block walk to harbor(those blocks were really long). We watched a bit of the air show and relaxed. We were told to be back at about 3pm which we were. We found a table and proceeded to wait.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 04:04 PM

At about 4pm they started with bus number 1. We were on our bus at 4:30 and off we went to Mexico. We had been told it would be the bus ride from hell, but it turned out to be quite pleasant. The border crossing was easy but there was a bit of traffic. Couldn't get any pictures as the windows on the bus weren't conducive to photo taking. Oh well. We arrived in Ensenada at approx 6:30 and got right on the ship to have our seapass picture taken. Up to our cabin to check it out and loved it.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 04:15 PM

Of course at that point we were hungry again. Can you imagine? Anyway, Windjammer here we come. It was the usual fare that we would see most of the week. Great salad selections, hamburgers, pizza, etc etc. Nothing to brag about but it was good and of course plentiful. The dining rooms were open for open seating that night. We did go in and have desert.

About 9ish we returned to the cabin and the buses were still rolling in. Our luggage was in our room so we unpacked everything and got that over with. We also had a bag in our room that didn't belong to us

I think the last bus got there about 10 or so. Not even sure what time we sailed as we retired at about 11 and slept like babies.
The next 5 days were sea days. Only the 5th day did it warm up enough for people to enjoy the pools. Didn't bother us any..we just loved being on the ship..hot or cold made no difference to us.
The Radiance was our very first ship in 2003 and I didn't see any real wear and tear anywear except maybe on the couch in our cabin. A little threadbare here and there. The new bedding was nice.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 04:31 PM

Sorry about the clarity on that picture. Anyway, our sea days were very relaxing. We did the usual eating, relaxing, reading, gambling eating, etc.
We did find out that the people who stayed at the Hyatt(all of them- 72pax) did not get their luggage. Rumors flew about how the luggage truck got hijacked, never got picked up, etc. Nobody knew really what happened until the 4th sea day. It seems that someone thought the luggage had left, but it hadn't been loaded. And it didn't leave at all. Those pax were given a $200 voucher to use on the stores ship. Or course, when toothpaste costs $4 and a comb is about $3, it didn't go far. None of those people were able to do either formal night. Some people didn't know enough to pack their meds on their carry ons so that was a problem, for a few of them. They were all given free laundry everyday as if that were any consolation. Most of them seemed to take it in stride and made the best of it.
For whatever reason, we opted not to go to any shows as they seemed like the normal song and dance that we had seen before, so can't comment on that.
Our first stop was in Lahaina. We had a tour through RC for the first day to go to Iao Valley.
The day before on our bed was a form from RC saying that the tour had been cancelled due to lack of participation and that we could probably get on another tour if we so chose. We chose not to. We wandered around Lahaina, went to Hilo Hatties( a place one should go to at least once!). We didn't buy anything but did see some stuff we would have liked to have bought at an art Gallery. But my wallet said no to a $15,000 bust of a Hawaiian ladie..it was beautiful but not affordable. I did buy a $4.40 single scoop ice cream cone. Kona coffee flavor! It was really delicious. The weather was not hot, mostly overcast from the VOG as they call it.
The Kilalua volcano has covered most of the islands in a haze for the past month or so.

gkm · 05-18-2008, 04:43 PM

Keep them coming Hanna. I'm enjoying reading them!

Garry

Char · 05-18-2008, 05:16 PM

I think hanna needs a nap! She is still on Hawaii time (and sick, too

)

Will be watching for "the rest of the story".

hanna · 05-18-2008, 07:16 PM

Regressing slightly..Our cabin attendant, Marku from India was hardly ever to be found. But we never needed him. Our cabin was always clean but then we are very neat and organized so he really didn't have much to do. Our first night, I did find him and ask him for 2 lounge chairs for the balcony. Of course he told me it was against the rules to have them but a $20 bill got them there in an hour

. Our cabin was #1100 , a JS aft on the end. It was perfectly quiet and private and we loved it.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 07:28 PM

We have always eaten our dinners in the dining room, but not this time. Day 1 I already told you, Day 2 we ate at Chops with jiddy and mrsogni, otherwise know as Joe and Sharon. We all enjoyed it as I knew we would. Tomato and onion salad with bleu cheese, filets that were cooked to perfection and so tender we didn't need a steak knife to cut them. Makes my mouth water now. DH ordered a baked potato, the size of a watermelon or so it seemed. We shared sides of mushrooms, corn, creamed spinach and of course there was great bread on the table too. For desert I ordered a caramel brulee that tasted like marvelous cheesecake and the rest all ordered the mud pie. We waddled out very happy. The service was excellent. This was the first formal night so it was fairly empty. On days 2 and 3 we opted for the Windjammer as the dinner menus didn't sound that good. The Jammer was fairly empty so we got tables by the windows both nights. Day 4 we again ate at Chops. This time I ordered a T-bone. OMG, it was fantastic. Joe ordered a veal chop and he said it was great. We had the same deserts again.

Day 5 was our other formal night so we decided to go. We finally met our table mates. Very nice people. One couple was celebrating their 50th anniversary, another their 45th. Needless to say they were a bit older than us

. The lobster was not the best but I did have two anyway. Our waiter was very good as was his assistant. The rest of the cruise, due to excursions and time constraints, we again chose to eat at the Windjammer.

hanna · 05-18-2008, 07:33 PM

Ok, back to Lahaina. Joe had organized a group of about 20 people to go to the Old Lahaina Luau. We took a cab there and when got there it was just about time to start. The Luau itself had wonderful food and I believe we ate everything except the poi. Just couldn't do it. The entertainment was fabulous, the drinks were included and we had a great time.