Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Sea waiting for us at Port Seward

 

Passing through the Library, on our way to our state room (doorway on right)

Friday, August 30, 2013, cruise...After finding our way to our state room it was time to explore the ship while we awaited the arrival of our luggage.  We found the ever-important dining facilities, the rooftop outdoor and indoor pools, workout area, and walking path.  Since our state room was located right off the center of the ship (Centrum), we found that we luckily had easy access to everything aboard the ship.  We headed back to our room to find that all of our luggage had been placed there, except for my large "cruise" suitcase.  Patu, our room steward, welcomed us, then gave me a note from security explaining that there was a problem with my luggage and would need to report to security as soon as possible.  I wondered what was wrong with my luggage...too much liquid (mouthwash)??, ripped luggage??  Patu told me not to worry, go on to dinner and then after the muster drill head down to security.  Of course I worried, but followed his suggestion and we headed to dinner.

Our comfy state room, next to the balcony

 

Great information available 24/7 from the TV

The comfy couch in our state room

Plenty of storage in our state room closets & drawers

Cozy balcony with great views during our cruise

 

Our original designated dining time was 8:30 PM...which we didn't care for at all...so we changed to Royal Caribbean's "My Time" dining at 5:30 PM each day.  We were warmly greeted by the hostess and staff, and taken to table 263, overlooking the Deck 4 dining area.  Marian, our assistant waiter from the Philippines, came to welcome us and take our drink order.  Marian explained that if we would like to order a bottle of wine, it would be saved for us to share at each meal.  Pat decided to order a bottle of an Australian red wine.  (This would be less expensive than buying wine by the glass.)  Our waiter, Agnelo from India, greeted us next and presented the menu for the evening...making his recommendations.  Marian then appeared with a tray with four kinds of fresh bread.  She explained that each night there would be two special breads prepared by the bakery chef that we WOULD try (no choice per Marian), and two that were always the same.  Of course we enjoyed the various breads that Marian professionally described to us.  Agnelo took my order for a fruit salad, sirloin steak with vegetables, and blueberry crumb cake for dessert.  We enjoyed the wine and bread, and spoke with our table neighbors who were traveling from Australia.  They were both doctors traveling to the U.S. and Canada for the first time and were really enjoying their adventure.

 

 

 

The Captain's Table, just below our My Time Dining table

After our delicious first dining experience on board, it was time for us to participate in the mandatory muster drill.  Our designated area happened to be in the Schooner Bar on the 4th deck.  After announcements from the captain and a successful drill, I nervously headed down to the security area to find out about the problem with my luggage.  There were a number of guests in the "same boat!"  As the officer ran my suitcase through the x-ray device, the problem appeared....the ULU KNIFE!  The officer asked me to remove the knife from my luggage.  He then wrapped it in tape, added my room number, kept it, and handed me a receipt for the EVIL ULU KNIFE.  As It turned out, these knives...or anything considered to be a possible weapon, could not be kept in your state room!  I took my luggage back to my room, knife-less and proceeded to check out the rest of the ship, and some Starbucks Coffee.

 

The outdoor pool on board...note the Totem Pole

 

Amazing sculpture bathed in light in the Centrum

Projections on the Centrum wall

 

Live music performed in the Centrum Lounge

 

 

The Radiance of the Sea had set sail around 8:00 PM, so we enjoyed the amazing views from our balcony as we left Seward, headed for our overnight cruise toward Juneau.  We settled into our state room, unpacked and checked out the ship's TV programming.  We found that we could check out our personal shipboard accounts, find out what was available to do on board each day, and channel 14 which had GPS maps of our cruise and a constant video feed from the captain's deck.  As we ended the day it was a relief to be settled into ONE wonderful room for the next week.