Balcony

Suite

Outside

Inside

Carnival Cruise Line

Los Angeles

Galveston

Mexico - All

U.S.A.

Mexican Riviera

Caribbean - All

Caribbean - Western

Belize

Excellent

Average

Poor

Very Good

Terrible

Carnival Dream

Carnival Glory

Carnival Pride

Carnival Liberty

Carnival Conquest

Carnival Valor

Carnival Magic

Carnival Splendor

Carnival Legend

Carnival Sunshine

Carnival Freedom

Carnival Miracle

Carnival Breeze

Carnival Elation

Carnival Spirit

Carnival Ecstasy

Carnival Vista

Carnival Paradise

Carnival Sensation

Carnival Horizon

Carnival Sunrise

Carnival Mardi Gras

Carnival Panorama

Carnival Venezia

Carnival Celebration

Carnival Radiance

Carnival Luminosa

Carnival Jubilee

Catalina

Hong Kong

Not apples to apples!

Great time with our daughter and her 3 boys ages 6, 3, 1!  boys were too young to participate in some of the fun, plus the weather was on the coolish side, but that is on us.  we made the best of what was lovely about the experience.  my daughter chose an interior cabin for this "cruising experiment."  she was amazed how well they fit...she and baby in queen bed and boys in their own bunks...it worked...however, she will definitely spring for a balcony next time around.  we chose a large aft-facing extra large balcony which was so nice for the boys to get their wiggles out!   here was the most disappointing (shocking) discovery...one of our grandsons hid under the bed during a game of "hide-n-seek"...i found him and a previous guests perscription medication!!!!!  a loose pill and an inhaler along with dried rose petals...an obvious indication that the attention to cleanliness was unacceptable!  carnival...give them more time to clean or at least up your quality control process!!!

The main dining experience was terrific...quality and service.  the buffet and other options were underwhelming.

Overall, we always felt crowded (except at 5:30 am coffee run) and it was difficult to find a quiet retreat...competing music everywhere you went.

We've sailed with celebrity & norwegian in the past.  this cruise was more of a long weekend drinking party...not a luxury experience...as long as you are ok with that, you'll probably have a good time.  we will take a pass on carnival for future cruises...

Adjust your expectations!

First off, this ship has a very weird layout. You can’t walk from one end to the other on most decks. The layout is so odd, the Comedian headlining the weekend made a joke about it!

The crew, for the most part, were outstanding. Very friendly and helpful. The bars, while always busy, got to everyone fairly quickly and the drinks were tasty. Most of the included restaurants around the ship were great! Guy’s burger bar… fantastic. Shaq’s chicken joint.. fantastic…  

The pizza place, while making some really good pizza, was run very poorly. They would make 5 or 6 pizza’s at a time, hand them out, then stop serving while going in the back and making more pizza and then repeating the process. If you were waiting on pizza, it could be a 5-10 minute wait each time and that would only serve 7-8 people. 

The buffet was tiny.. compared to other ships I’ve been on, this buffet was the size of other ship’s yogurt bar. Two sections with the same food, and eh at best.

Main dining was NOT good at all. The food was served on white plates with no attempt at a nice appearance. You want a piece of bread?? Here’s 1 piece for you… Every other ship provides a bread basket for the table. Not here. The food was hit or miss in the quality department, with some items coming out cold and others lacking seasoning. Dessert was horrible. The Creme Brûlée was like rock candy. Hard to break into and very crunchy. The servers were not “cold”, but they clearly were there for a paycheck. 

The pool areas were nice and clean. Ample bars around the ship as well. 

This was my first experience with Carnival and will be my last.

Could have been better!!

I've cruised on Carnival Radiance 3 times so far and each time it meets basic standards. The drink package is always a must and i love having a cabin on deck 6 bringing you close to the entertainment. I made the mistake of picking a cabin in the rear of the ship and on the last day at sea it was super rocky and i got a little seasick but that was my fault. The ship is a little outdated, but it is relatively inexpensive which is a plus! I enjoyed the food in the main dining rooms but never really tried the buffet as to it was usually crowded with limited seating. Customer service lines are no joke on that ship though... expect to take at least 30 mins just to speak to someone. All in all it was a fun trip! My only wish is that the stop in Ensenada would change to somewhere more attractive and less dirty.

Carnival Radiance to Catalina and Ensenada 

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this cruise! From the customers service, the friendless, the food, the music, Polly the Cruze director, the pools and hot tub, shopping, rooms. Everyone is so personal. We exorcisms want to give a shout out to Budiarta our State room attendant. He was amazing!!! He made us feel like family. Always happy, always smiling and always friendly. The rooms are perfect. It was my husband, myself and my 12 year old son. Budiarta " Budi" pulled down the bunk bed for us and it was perfect.

I also want to give an extra shout out to our team server. Ray from Philippines. He was also amazing!!! I can't say enough good things about these 2 guys. Because of the wonderful service especially by these 2 guys, the best atmosphere. Wonderful food. Friendly fun service we will forever be cruisin' with Carnival! It was our first cruise and they're will be many more to follow!

Carnival radiance 1/22-1/26/2024

To be honest, we had a great time.  

There were so many unsupervised kids running around.  I can’t imagine why parents are not watching these kids.   They sit on stairs on decks eating and leave excess food where they sit.  This was a weekend and kids were not back to school after winter break. 

Also, several big birthdays, anniversaries and bachelorette parties.  Party, party party. What better place for this tho.  

The food in buffet was limited and crowded.  Went for specialty dining one night.  Good food and not so many people if you want to get away. 

On a side note,

In buffet area, a woman dropped her plate of food.  Staff put a chair over food and didn’t come to clean up for over 30 minutes.  They just kind of walked around it.  

We  had a balcony room for 3.  Kind of tight but no complaints.   Lacking electrical outlets is a pain. Only one was by vanity, nothing in bathroom.  Cannot figure out why. The room was close to elevators so there was much noise.   Prefer now to check area where room is located.  

The entertainment was good.

Lots of fun, lots of noise

This was a little pre-holiday getaway on the Carnival Radiance.  I wasn't expecting much, but it was better than I expected.  That said, there were some good and some bad.  I'll try to leave a comprehensive review.

The itinerary: Just meh.  Catalina was the highlight of the two ports.  It looks very Mediterranean from the ship.  Ensenada was less than picturesque.  Neither offers much in the way of activities.  That said, 4 days was just the right amount of time for a quick vacation.

The ship: I was interested in sailing on the Radiance (formerly Victory) is the sister of the Sunrise (formerly Triumph) and the Triumph was the first ship I ever sailed on way back in 2003 when it was still relatively new.  At the time the Triumph interior was the picture of gaudy excess with lots of shiny metal and bright lights which very much reminded me of trashy Atlantic City casino hotels.  Think Trump Taj Mahal.  Fortunately, both the Sunrise and the Radiance has been updated and Carnival did a good job toning down the metallic finishes and the brightly colored lights.  The interior is now subtler shades of light blue and the copper colored metals have been sponged to look oxidized.  There is heavy use of modern bleached wood tones that make the interior feel lighter and airier.  The addition of new dining options and water slides makes the ship feel more up-to-date than it is.  That said, the ship still shows its age in some places.  There were stains on the carpet in my cabin and I counted several locker room doors in the spa that were off their hinges.  The addition of several new eating venues made the Lido Deck in particular feel cramped.  The pools and hot tubs were always packed with kids, except on port days which are good times to enjoy the ship.  The adults only serenity area had several cabana style beds but many were broken with sagging mattresses.  The adults only hot tub was shallow and always packed with people.  I purchased a spa pass and found the aroma steam room to be a very good with lots of hot steam and never busy.  The thermal lounge chairs weren't warm enough for my taste, but offered a nice view out the side of the ship.  I got a haircut and while the stylist was very good, the price was way too high ($70 for a men's cut and wash).

The cabin: We booked an ocean view stateroom on Deck 2.  Read the cabin section for more details.

The food: The food was much better that I remember from my last Carnival Cruise in general.  The buffet was just okay and relatively small with few options.  Breakfast was mostly the same choices every day and included a bread and pastry section, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, and a choice of potatoes.  There was always fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, and a variety of cereals for the kids.  Lunch and dinner was usually 2 meat options, a vegetable, and 2 starches.  A carving station option was also available.  Altogether, the food choices were pretty boring.  Better options are the Deli (serving a variety of made to order sandwiches), Guy's Burger Joint (serving burgers and fries---the fries were always crispy), and the Seafood Shack (serving fried or fresh seafood at additional cost).  I did order raw oysters and steamed jumbo shrimp which were quite good, but pricy.  I did not try the pizza bar, Shaq's Big Chicken, or the Pig and Anchor Bar.  The Lido buffet is quite cramped since much of the original dining area has been re-allocated to specialty dining venues and you will wait a long time to find a table, especially during sea days.  The food in the main dining room was often better that what is served in the buffet.  For example the crawfish strudel was quite good with a good flake to the crust.  The calamari appetizer and mushroom soup were also very good.  The Corish hen was overcooked and dry and the entrees lacked a green vegetable option.  There was a steak option daily which was thin and contained a lot of gristle.  The best meal that I had was in Cucina del Capitano (the additional cost Italian venue).  We had calamari and arancini for appetizers and my spouse had spaghetti carbonara (which was just okay) while I had a grilled pork chop with roasted broccoli and cauliflower with bagna cauda which was very good.  Dessert was citrus polenta cake with orange cream and lemon sorbet which was also very good.  Definitely worth the additional $24 per person.  One evening we missed dinner altogether because of activities and opted for room service which carried an additional cost, but it was affordable and can be ordered through the Carnival Hub app on your phone.

The activities: Very basic.  A few comedy shows and some live acoustic music in the lobby bar.  Lots of trivia.  The piano bar only had music the first couple of nights.

The crew: To be honest they were the highlight of the cruise.  Always friendly and willing to help.

4 Day Baja Mexico from Long Beach

love it is very good and radiance.I like it a lot and it had clean floors good service a lot of servers and nice people on it to help lovely good sick lack water slides were good I played with people and met new friends also had a great time on it while .The dining is awesome and has a lot of foods to choose from and some of the food was free so I loved the free soft serve ice cream.The things were great and fun and I played a lot and I think I will choose carnival radiance again because of its nice and friendly staff that work there and I also recommended the deli eats for breakfast and late night snack cause of its opening time.love it recommended it so choose carnival radiance cruise line for your next cruise thank you for reading this review.enjoy your next cruise.

lovely cruise

This is my second cruise. My first experience cruising was not the best, however this time was amazing! The staff was very nice and attentive. They even new our names and addressed us as such. There can be a little wait to get a drinks, however it goes by really fast. Every food place that we tried was good. I especially enjoyed the Seafood Shack and Big Chicken as well as the Italian restaurant the most. They have added more food options which made it well worth it. The entertainment was nice as well. You are able to dress up in your best attire and take pictures around the boat. We did not travel with children, therefore we were able to take advantage of the Serenity area which is for 21 and over. The Serenity area had its on bar, hot tub, lots of lounge chairs and lounge beds for those who wanted to relax and enjoy the view. Overall we really enjoyed our experience on this cruise and will definitely cruise again.

We enjoyed this cruise a lot! 

We recently moved to Arizona and are taking advantage of cruises out of Long Beach CA since we can drive. We did a week long cruise Super Bowl week this year (Mexican Riviera) that was awesome so tried a shorter cruise to Catalina island and Ensenada.  Carnival was running a good deal with a $500 credit so we chose an oceanview room on level 2 that was $499 before taxes and fees. It’s our first oceanview room. We’ve been doing balconies only since since 2009 and did inside before that. 

I’m a platinum VIFP and have a lot of experience with Carnival. 

The ship itself was fine and nice to have the predictability of the layout for all carnival ships when navigating. Our room steward was nice, but we usually choose on short cruises to just keep our snooze sign on and take care of our own stuff. We still tip, but don't feel the need for daily bed making etc. I did like the oceanview (picture) room more than I thought, but did miss having a balcony when we noticed a very large # of dolphins playing near the ship and couldn’t get a good photo. It’s also nice to have an actual chair. The couches are sooooo uncomfortable for sitting. 

We ate in the dining room two out of four nights. Service wasn’t that great and it was very slow. No one asked us how our food was either which was a first. I have always loved the melting cake and did not like it at all this trip. Ate a few bites of one and left it. It was cold and very runny. 

Buffet food was like it always is, hit and miss. Highly recommend folks walk by the buffet for the majority of their meals and frequent the deli, Guy’s or big chicken. Breakfast in the dining room is much better than the buffet IMO. 

We were booked on a great excursion in Ensenada with a brilliant host who shared a lot about the city and Mexico. Unfortunately, about 20 min into our cooking lesson, high winds came and blew off every glass object on their tables as well as all the tents just flew. They immediately placed us back on the bus and we received a refund. I’d definitely try it again though and recommend it. It’s a cooking lesson and all you can drink margarita. It’s called Mexican Madness and Margarita's.

The negative items was primarily the lack of shows and entertainment (they had the comedians in the large theater) and elevators being out of commission in every single section of the ship. The far aft set only had 2/4 working the entire cruise. 

Our cabin wasn’t that clean (another reason we opted to not have the steward come in) and we found someone else’s shirt between the table and couch. It should have easily been found if the floor was vacuumed. I tipped the normal amount though since I feel it’s a huge part of their paycheck and didn’t want to penalize someone for one issue.

Pros and Cons 

this was my 19th cruise and we really enjoyed it....the buffet, shaqs, guys burgers, pizza , deli, tacos all was good....the dining room food was meh....cold and tasteless...upcharge for a decent steak or lobster etc.. did not go to any shows though it heard they were good. servers were polite. did not purchase drinks. deserts were good though not large slices.. ports of call were boring.pricey ensanada was ran down ..catalina was expensive but beautiful...i do believe this is because caribbean ports have spoiled me ...did not use the pool or hot tubs..enjoyed the casino..all we did was eat and relax the ship itself is clean..the balcony room was nice...comedians were good...fellow cruisers were good...platinum status doesnt mean much anymore...all we got was a free bottle of water!!! .bring your own house coat..guest services was fast...no long lines at buffet or other eating spots ....midnight snacks were good..good baby back ribs one night!!! would i go again on this ship...yes!!!

enjoyable 4 days

Filters

1-10 of 66