Royal Caribbean, Radiance of the Seas

Faulty Towers on the high seas the conclusion was that we were wanting a family vacation for Christmas but got a poor and mediocre one as well very expensive. If we had gone to Hayman island Leading Hotels Resort in the Whitsundays for a week for the monies spent we would have had great holiday.Royal Caribbean Radiance of the seas to our personal experience is not worth the monies that we spent plus ancillary, on board drinks, pay extra to have freshly squeezed juices US$12.00, no washing facilities available,no ironing but costing US $13.95 for three shirts. Windjammer café buffet food for breakfast & lunch was extremely of poor quality, burnt toast sitting under heat lamp hard as a rock, scrambled eggs pre-mixed from large tetra pack, buffet breakfast soft boiled eggs overcooked and cold, the hot buffet most food items were not hot.Drink station in the Windjammer served orange juice concentrate terrible,percolated coffee is barely drinkable,tea bags are of poor quality,Jane had to use several to get any flavour to make her tea. Breakfast when open in Cascades main dinning room renamed Brasserie 30 was good at times; if you order cooked breakfast,it was served hot but otherwise of the same poor quality of food. Specialty restaurants which we paid for extra fees for three persons were somewhat better Izumi was the outstanding one with Japanese fusion inspired, Giovanni's the Italian restaurant was also second best, the food was good for Italian food on a ship, Chops Grille which they call the finest steak on the high sea in the brochure was mediocre unable to cook our steaks the fillet Mignon medium came well done, and the rare fillet Mignon came medium but the least inspiring experience was the Samba Grill the food was mediocre and our son love the light seating on our table for table service with different multi-colour lights. We had problems with our superior deluxe ocean views stateroom as we first came on board, the cleanliness and maintenance was poor, soiled pillows, black hairs in mattress & bed linen,the toilets were not working for three days in a row but the problem was attended promptly when we told our room attendant, fecal smells were permeating throughout most of decks and non-smoking stateroom is smoking on balconies.The ship Radiance of the seas is need of a good refurbishment, the only thing new in our stateroom was the flat screen TV as per Royal Caribbean Australian holidays brochure.The experience that we had was very disappointing due the fact our concerns were not met straight away and the guest relations Manager just paid lip service to us and ignored us, the Hotel Director would not see us either and front office Manager. We couldn't wait to get off the ship on Sunday get our flight back home spoke to several other passengers on bus for the transfer to Sydney Airport who had similar concerns and some stated that we would not cruise again with Royal Caribbean.For my view point has an hospitality professional and having worked on cruise ship, they were poor or no standards, no discipline on board especially for safety at sea during our drill in Sydney port, none of the Hotel senior officers could be seen during the busy periods, service was not provided, items on menus and wine list were missing or out of stock such champagnes and wines also many food items in the main dinning room daily menus, security was lacks & extremely poor, rowdy under-age drunk teenagers and adults on board. 

Royal Caribbean ROTS definitely presents amazing cruise experience, combining added speed, comfort, really impressive ocean sights, and huge open spaces, in addition to great cruise services, that serves all your needs. There are whirlpools and onboard Jacuzzis, solarium, large health center, fitness and many more attractions. Have to mention there is also an internet connection available! Theater with the Brodway acts is also very interesting. You also have golf simulators, rock climbing wall, swimming pools and basketball courts

My trip to Alaska was amazing. Thanks to the Captain for the extra wee trips. Many thanks to the Americans and young English man who made my cruise special. Thanks for the excellent service in the Windjammer and state room, making the ship feel like home.

We were looking for an experience a step up from Carnival but were disappointed. May go with Royal Caribbean again but not on the Radiance of the Seas.

We had an awful week weather wise, but the ship and it's facilities made up for most of it. Some of the trips had to be cancelled, in fact some got cancelled twice and they were not able to offer some of the choices because of the weather but the ship has plenty to do, cinema, auctions, shopping, casino etc and we enjoyed the experience. The ship is beautiful and the cabins are well fitted, everything was gleaming and polished. The food was excellent, ice cream at breakfast!, too many doughnuts for your figure but good healthy choices including many good sugar free choices. The only negative thing to say was the overnight flight home, by the time it's over you feel like you need a holiday!

I had just one day to see Vancouver and was delayed for well over 2 hours trying to get out of the pier called Ballentyne. I was told I could not walk to my hotel as it is a closed dock. I was also told to get a cab, which was a 2 hour wait. My hotel reservations were at Pan-Pacific, which is right near where most ships dock. I found this an inconvenience of my time. I had also reserved a rental car, I had to call them because of the delay. There was only 1 ship at the dock, I thought I would be getting off and arriving straight at my hotel, so that we would have plenty of time to visit Vancouver.