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We are sailing aboard the Radiance from Vancouver to Hawaii. Who else is going? Cheryl

We were on the 4/29 Honolulu-Vancouver sailing; I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Ann, please give a little review of your trip-I'm hoping to do a similar itinerary and would like to read your pros and cons-thanks

Kris, glad to! There were definitely more pros than cons, so I'll list the cons first to get them out of the way. This is my first trip report, so please forgive me if I ramble! CONS: 1. Check-in at the pier in Honolulu - we were in line for an hour and a half. 2. Five days at sea. The weather in Hawaii was excellent, and for our first day at sea it was 65 and sunny. But the next four days were all cloudy, very windy and in the low 50s, which made going outside not a fun prospect. 3. The prepurchased drink packages. When we first boarded, there was a table set up where you could purchase a package of all-you-can-drink soft drinks (fountain only - no cans) for around $50 per person. My husband and I are Diet Coke addicts so we immediately purchased two packages, figuring at three soft drinks per day we'd break even. They put a little Coke sticker on your cruise card, and every time you want a soft drink, you show your cruise card at the bar. No signing a bar receipt needed, since all they're looking for is the sticker. What we didn't know is that one person can go to any bar and order any number of soft drinks and only show one cruise card, so purchasing two soft drink packages was completely unnecessary, since we were always together. That's definitely something to keep in mind to save yourself some bucks. PROS: See part 2.

PROS: Definitely the ports. Kauai: We were on our honeymoon and we spent 5 nights on Kauai and 2 nights on Oahu before the cruise, so when the ship docked on Kauai we stayed aboard and explored the ship and got some sun. I can't recommend any of RCCL's shore excursions on Kauai since we didn't purchase any, but while we were on Kauai we did the Jack Harter helicopter tour (worth every penny - don't miss it), the Captain Zodiac boat trip up the Na Pali coast (a blast), and went horseback riding with Princeville Ranch Stables (also great - ride horses for an hour and a half through cattle ranches, then hike to a waterfall for lunch, then hike back to the horses for the ride back). We also did the luau at Kauai Coconut Beach Resort and it was just ok - didn't really compare to Old Lahaina on Maui (see below). Maui: we spent two full days anchored in Lahaina and tendered in. We did the whale watching tour one morning, where we saw a few whales and a ton of dolphins. The next day we did the Maui downhill bicycle ride down Mt. Haleakana. It was a lot of fun, the landscape at the crater is amazing and is a must see, and the bike ride was really cool. It was very cold at the top of the volcano (and this was at 11am) so believe them when they tell you to wear layers and you'll definitely want the ski gloves they hand out. We also did the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui. It's about a mile walk from where the tender docks in Lahaina. Big Island: We docked one day at Kona and one day at Hilo. We went snorkeling at Kona and it was a lot of fun, beautiful catamaran, saw lots of dolphins too. We didn't get off the ship in Hilo. Continued in part 3.

Part 3: The ship: It's beautiful. Five deck Centrum, great bars and little places to sit and read everywhere. The spa was excellent - I had a facial, massage and manicure, and my husband had a massage and the hydrotherapy treatment, and the staff was professional and just great. Cabin: We got upgraded one category which was a nice surprise. We had paid for a category C but were upgraded to a B. We were on Deck 10 a couple doors down from the centrum so our cabin was convenient to everything. Our cabin was awesome - we had a huge bar with a fridge, an incredible amount of closet space, a sofa, coffee table and two side chairs, a queen size bed, a vanity table with cabinets and drawers, a magnifying mirror, blow dryer, two nightstands, and the bathroom - OMG. I've been on cruises before but never have I seen a bathroom like this. It was all marble, huge bathtub, double sinks, two medicine cabinets, more drawers than we could ever fill, cabinets, and another huge counter. We also had an enormous balcony with two sliding glass doors, and the balcony held a chaise lounge, a round table and two chairs, with plenty of room to spare. We couldn't have been happier with our cabin or its location. Food: As far as the food on board, it gets mixed reviews. My husband had never been on a cruise and was expecting five-star cuisine on every meal, so he was more disappointed than I was (I've been on RCCL before). The dining room was mediocre at its worst, and good at best. We had better food most times in the Windjammer Cafe than in the dining room (we had breakfast and lunch every day in the Windjammer) - excellent selection, it was very clean, and they were always replenishing. The Radiance has two alternate dining restaurants - Portofino (Italian food) and Chops (steakhouse). We ate at Portofino once, for the murder mystery dinner, and the food was very good, much better than in the dining room. We ate at Chops once halfway through the cruise and it was so good we also had dinner there the last night, and that meal was even better than the first. RCCL charges $20 (plus tip) per person at each of the alternate restaurants, but that includes all your courses from appetizer through dessert. Definitely worth it. Both times we ate in Chops, we basically had the place to ourselves which was surprising given the quality of the food and level of service. We had only fair service in the dining room - special requests went unanswered, and it was our honeymoon, which the dining room staff knew, yet we never received a cake or anything special. This was reflected in their tips. We had an outstanding cabin steward, so her tip more than made up for what we didn't give to the waiter or bus boy. Sorry this is so long! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks Ann, lots of good information!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE REPLY. We will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. It seems that the dinning room food is nothing special, but Portofino's is worth the money. We will be at sea on our actually anniversary, 10/23. I will make reservation as soon as we board. Did you rent a car while on Lahaina? When and where did you buy your tickets for the Old Lahaina Luau? OMG, can't wait for your reply! Cheryl :-)

Ann thanks for this review. We were also on the same cruise so too bad we didn't meet you. Spoke with another young couple several times who were also on their honeymoon. Didn't do some of the things like the Luau or helicopter ride you guys did but basically agree with most of your comments about the ship itself. To Cheryl, we rented a car at all the islands except at Hilo on Big Island. Also for our two days pre cruise in Waikiki. Renting a car was the best decision we ever made. It gave us so much flexability to come and go where and when we wished. Roads are perfect and people are all so polite. Make sure if you rent a car to go to their web sites for prices and size of car. Do this well ahead of time, don't wait until you get there. Also all rental locations are a few miles from the docks. Hope this helps. E-mail if you wish

Gerry, Who did you rent your car from?

Cheryl, we booked the luau directly through Old Lahaina's website (www.oldlahainaluau.com) in January, so it was about 3-4 months before the cruise. We didn't rent a car in Lahaina. If you're not planning to go anywhere other than Lahaina, it's really not necessary. Old Lahaina Luau is only a mile or so walk from where the tender drops you off, and 3/4 of the walk to the luau is down Front Street which is all shops and restaurants, and the rest of the walk is through a residential neighborhood. I'm sure you could easily take a cab to the luau if you didn't want to walk. Portofino was great - I had the filet and the tiramisu and both were outstanding. If you like steak, you should really give Chops a try too. I had the most awesome lamb chops there our last night, and my husband had a veal chop that he said was the best he ever had. For dessert that night I had a bread pudding made from brioche with apples and raisins that was to die for. I would have eaten it again for breakfast if I could. We rented a car on Oahu, through Budget at the airport. We got a really good rate for a convertible through Priceline that was much better than the rate our travel agent got. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Cheryl rented a Budget car for our two days in Oahu (Waikiki) then with Alamo for all the other stops. 2nd day in Lahaina went on a catamaran and snorkelling trip up the coast.

Thanks Ann and Gerry for your replies!