I’ve been planning on writing our cruise blogs all summer.  It’s been nonstop 100-degree days.  It’s really getting old.  It’s a furnace outside.  Ironically, as I look at the last blog, it was over 2 1/2 years ago when we just had a very cold week.  It was down in the 20’s for a week.  We were all freezing.  Can we ever be happy?  lol

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We finally did our cruise last April 2023 that we had been planning since early 2020.    This cruise was taken from our Bucket List.  Our 50th Anniversary was January 14th, 2022.  We started planning a Cruise through the Panama Canal.  But as we all know, life was interrupted with the arrival of Covid.  Life as we know it shut down all over the world.   We were going to do it sometime between 2021and 2022.  It seemed 2022 still was not a good time to Cruise.  The ships were just starting to sail again and to many regulations were still in force.  We wanted this to be a nice relaxing time and not worry about testing and any Covid scares that might rear its angry head again.  We finally scheduled a 15-day Cruise, April 20-May 6 2023.  We chose Royal Caribbean as Ron; our good friend and Park Manager is a Travel Agent.  The ship was the Radiance of the Seas leaving from Galveston Island, arriving in LA California.   We would have to then fly home. 

The Radiance of the Seas is an older smaller ship than the new ones they build today. This series of ships built at this time were known for all the glass. The elevators were all glass capsules, and the outside walls from the elevators were walls of glass. Its maiden voyage was in April of 2001, built at a cost 350 million. It is 960 feet long and cruises at 25 knots. It has 13 decks with a capacity of 2501 passengers and 859 crew. It was refurbished in 2016 and went through routine Maintenace in 2021. This ship did not have all the fun things for kids like the bigger ships of today. They did have mini golf, basketball court, and a small pool and water slide for the little kids. On our cruise there were only around 20 kids and babies on board. Also, it was during school time. So, it was nice not having many kids on board.

Our itinerary was designed to stop at 5 Ports, not including Galveston or LA.  1. George Town, Grand Cayman in the British West Indies 2. Cartagena, Columbia 3. Colon, Panama, travel through the Panama Canal 4. San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, and 5. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  What an exciting itinerary.  At each Port, we booked excursions through Royal Carribean.  Before we left, they gave us a change.  San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, was removed.  We were excited about that one.  We had booked a trip to a Hacienda by Lake Nicaragua.  We would have been served lunch by the owners.  It looked like a beautiful setting with mountains in the background.  It was replaced by Huatulco Mexico.   We asked later and was told it was a political issue. 

As time went by, we picked our excursions online.  Royal Carribean creates an online site for your individual account.  You can see and book all the excursions with descriptions and costs.  You check the times you arrive and depart, the costs that you incur by your ability to purchase souvenirs, special meals, and drinks and anything else.  The ship takes no cash or credit cards.  Everything runs through your account.  On board they also have their own special ship internet.  It is the daily itinerary of activities on board.  Believe me, there is no dull moment.  Plenty to do.  We decided to pack as light as possible.  We didn’t want to pay to check bags.  It is also so much easier to check in on board and also easier to get off and through Customs when the trip is over.  So we each had 1 carry on size roller bag.  Also 1 beach type bag, qualifying as a purse. 

Finally the day came to leave.  We had friends take us to Galveston.  We left around 6am and arrived around 1pm.  We missed most of the crowd boarding the ship that late. It was a breeze getting through.  We checked in, showed our passports, received our Sea Pass cards (Ships Credit and ID Cards).  You need these anytime you buy on board, and always when you exit the boat.  We purchased lanyards to wear onboard.  Now the pictures begin. 

They had a photo op set up in the boarding terminal.  They took lots of pictures through out the cruise. They post them daily, and you picked them out later during the trip at the photo lab.  All 8x10s….so hard to choose.  The rooms weren’t ready for another hour or two, so we went to the Windjammer Buffet. 

This will be our most favorite place on board for the next 15 days.  Islands and Islands of food.  Main dishes, Side dishes, all kinds of breads, a whole island of fruit and desserts.  Just amazing.  …….ALL FREE….  There is also the Main Dining Room for the Sit-down dinners.  But we don’t like to dress up, we prefer buffet style.  We filled our plates and found a table near the windows so we could watch the people still boarding and watch the skyline.

Finally, the rooms were ready for us. We found ours and unloaded our clothes. This would be home for the next 15 days. We chose a Balcony Room. It was a fabulous balcony as it was double wide due to the location on the ship . Unfortunately, when Ron booked it, there was only 1 left. It was the very last room on the Starboard side. It was the farthest away from all activities. It seemed to get farther and farther as the days went on. The Windjammer Buffet was above us, but we had to walk to the middle to get to the elevators. But on the other hand, as much food as we ate it was probably a good thing…. lol… So now we are aboard, we have eaten, the boat is preparing to leave. Time to explore this ship. We have 2 days at sea before we arrive at Georgetown, Grand Caymen, British West Indies. So I will leave you with a vision that never got old. This picture was taken in the very back of the boat. We could fill our plates in the Windjammer, and head outside to the tables and chairs. We sat their for hours, during the days, when we went through the Panama Canal and watched so many sunsets……Next Stop Georgetown Grand Caymen.