Carnival Radiance — Attraction in Long Beach

I used to love Carnival 🛳 🚢... but I just got back from a Baja cruise on the Radiance and sadly have I terrible news.

SHIPS CREW: For one thing, some of the higher ranking cruise managers look angry, disgruntled and have attitudes. While the service worker do their best to put on fake smile and try their best to please the guest. I think these workers may not be treated their best and are overworked. Please be nice to them.

CAPTAIN MESSAGES: Also, funny thing is hardly anyone could understand what the Captain was saying over the loud speaks because of his heavy accent. All you heard from people is "what did he say?" The good thing was, whatever he was saying could be found on the HUB app.

SHIP LAYOUT: Most people complained that the ship's design was Choppy. It seemed everyone was lost on the ship at least twice a day ...lol... And that was with a beautiful map of the layout on every floor next to the elevators. OH! The room walls and doors were paper thin, you could basically hear every detail in the room next to you and the hallway.

FUN TIME: The same Ole same... Downside was the Adult Serenity Area. Now how is it the that family and kids HOT TUBS had 4x more jets and power than the Adult hot tub? Also the Adult hot tub size and layout was a ripoff. You mean to tell me there only 6 people can sit in the hot tub and then there is only enough room let for 4 other people to stand. ???? hardly NO JETS and NO ROOM. To top it off, the connected area had a kids camp or something. Just couldn't relax. The hot tub was so small this lady splashed water in my $20 drink 😠 😡

DRINKS: Weak alcohol...Seemed watered down. I had 2 frozen vacation drinks before I just gave up. I even told the bartender there was no alcohol in one of my drinks; he ignored me. Also, one drink is $15

FOOD: If it's FREE with your cruise package don't expect much. This ship has the WORST FOOD on any cruise I've EVER been on. I think they purposely tell the cooks to make the FREE food bad and tasteless so that you can spend MONEY eating in their resterants. Shaq's Chicken resterant was the BEST thing to EAT and it was FREE. ALSO, the PIZZA spot and BURGER place was good too.

The SANDWICH shop was a disappointment. The Cheese Steaks are served with about a tablespoon of beef spread out on cheese. The Ruben meat seemed flavorless and boiled like lunchmeat. These were the WORST SANDWICHES I EVER had on a Carnival Cruiseship. Also, beware of cold burgers ...lol...

FOOD: Powered Eggs are the worse. There was also Guy's BBQ which only opened 1 or 2 days for about 3 hours a day. OVERRATED.... They consistently served dried out hard brisket... Potato Salad and Mac is a NO for me. But those beans were good. Also the Collard Greens were good. You was get a cold piece of buttered roll too. Portion size was just a taste ...a place made for a 6 year old. DISAPPOINTED in this place 😕

CHILDREN: This ship is more for families with children. All the kids looked like they were having fun. The Slide and Ropes looked great.

PHOTOS: Poor lighting in some spots. They raised the prices. It is what it is... 🤷 but you'll probably leave the ship with 5 portraits you really like. Buy them!!!

FINAL ANALYSIS: OCEANVIEW ROOM was nice!!! Service workers nice, kind and helpful and some looks overworked and sad. Management a little uptight. Food was awful for the most part (FREE isn't always good). Ship was smooth sailing. Lots of activities to make the day go by faster. This is a desperate MONEY HUNGER ship. ADULT HOT TUB a disappointment...CLEAN ship though 🚢

ADVICE: Bring your own 12 pack Soda and a bottle of Champagne. Prepare to pay for a decent meal. Get the CHOCOLATE MOLTEN CAKE in the Sunset and Sunrise Dining Hall. Stay away from the Powered Eggs 🥚...lol..

RECOMMEND: Carnival Splendor, Carnival Panorama

You're Welcome...

Exceptional is how I would describe our experience with Carnival Radiance; many of you who have been on more cruises may have a different opinion! We went on a 6 day Mexican-Riviera cruise starting from Long Beach, CA with Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. Since it was our first cruise, we had done meticulous planning with online check-in done on-time and luggage tags already on the bags, we arrived on time at around 11am at the port. We had to drop our bags and park about few miles away, paying about $140 for 6 days and used shuttle to return back. We were checked in within 1 hour and the departure was at 4pm same day. Once at the ship we explored all the decks and we familiarized with the deck plans and also had lunch at the Lido deck; our bags arrived around 4pm later in the day. We had already made reservations for the port excursions at Cabo(Discover the Wonders of Cabo by Land & Sea) and Ensenada(Top 10 Best of Ensenada with Lunch) and they both turned out to be very good. We primarily dined at buffet at Lido deck and sit in dining at Sunset restaurant. Being vegetarians, we had only couple of more options besides the buffet, like Guy's Burgers, Pizza place and Mexican Cantina. I would say the food options were plenty and tasty too and we were happy with it. Kids enjoyed their unlimited ice-creams and frozen yogurts. Plenty of things to do for kids and adults including age appropriate kid-play areas on deck 12, water slides, lounges, spa, pools and hot tubs on the Panorama decks, daily sports and movies on big screens kept everyone busy. Formal dinners were nice and we even got our Indian delicacies(Rice, curries, Medu Vada, Pav Bhaji etc.), but I heard other ships have more Indian vegetarian options like Idli/Dosa etc. which we could not find. The photo-op was good and ended up purchasing bunch of photos. The cruise director was energetic, stateroom staff was great and every staff on the ship were professional and courteous except for 2 staff at the sunset restaurant. The bed and pillows were comfortable but the rooms felt bit too tiny; ours was interior room, I would suggest to go for Ocean view room at least. The shows at liquid lounge were great too. We did not got to the Casino but I saw people enjoying it. We did use laundry once but wearing the washed clothes caused us severe itch so chose not to wear them. For 5 of us, we only paid for one line of premium WiFi and was sufficient. For the check out, we chose to use assisted option and we got our bags on time when we disembarked; they gave sufficient instructions the prior day and we had to leave the bags at around 10pm for the bags to be picked up. The lines were bit long even when we chose a later disembark slot. The Hub app was useful for cruise directions, reservations, information but the chat feature did not work many times and I can see that the software is not built properly; I would ask carnival to fix this issue as this is a very critical feature. A very surprising limitation for carnival is 10 character limitation on the first name; so don't be alarmed if your name gets cut off for first 10 characters; I had to call them to confirm if this would cause any issues and luckily I did not have any issues later; later i found out on reddit that this has been long standing issue! One more feature missing on the hub app is to allow step by step direction from one location to other within the ship, either as a text or as a VR feature; this would greatly help customers as not all elevators go to all decks. On the last day, one person had a medical emergency so ship arrived early at 3am instead of 8am. Overall it was a great experience and I would highly...

I am writing to express my heartfelt appreciation for the outstanding service my family and I received during our recent 14-day Hawaiian cruise aboard the Carnival Radiance, departing from Long Beach, CA, on March 9, 2025. From start to finish, our experience was nothing short of extraordinary, thanks to the dedication and professionalism of your incredible crew.

First, I would like to commend our amazing room attendant, Edy. He went above and beyond to ensure that both our room and our son’s room were always impeccably maintained, anticipating our needs and exceeding our expectations. His attention to detail and warm, friendly demeanor made us feel truly cared for throughout our voyage.

Our dining experience was equally remarkable, thanks to the exceptional wait staff in the dining room. Team Lead Server Robert, Assistant Team Server Nicole, and Team Server Jude provided impeccable service every evening. They not only acknowledged our family of five by name but also remembered our preferred drinks and dining preferences. Their attentiveness, professionalism, and warm hospitality made each meal a delightful experience, and we genuinely looked forward to seeing them at dinner every night.

Adding to our memorable dining experience was the phenomenal table entertainer and magician, Rakin. His nightly performances mesmerized us with incredible tricks that left us in awe. His talent, charm, and ability to engage guests were truly exceptional. Rakin was so captivating that we believe he deserves his own on-stage performance. His presence at our table each night was a highlight of our cruise.

We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and hard work of these outstanding crew members, who went above and beyond to make our cruise an unforgettable experience. Please extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to Edy, Robert, Nicole, Jude, and Rakin for their exceptional service. They are a true testament to the high standards of Carnival Cruise Line and played a significant role in making our journey so special.

Thank you for fostering such an amazing team. We look forward to sailing with Carnival again...