Seeing Australia and New Zealand has always been on our bucket list and this cruise seemed perfect. We have been on Radiance two other times so we knew the ship quite well so it was like coming back to an old friend. Needless to say, getting to Perth takes some effort. 14 plus hours to Sydney from Los Angeles and then 5 more hours from Sydney to Perth. I was surprised how inexpensive the flight was on Virgin Australia to fly over 5 hours to Perth. Definitely less expensive than flying across the United States.
We stayed at the Parmelia Hilton, which was well located to see Elizabeth Quay and the shopping district. We had two nights and a full day to see Perth and the surrounding area (Freemantle). We did the Hop on Hop off around Perth then took the train down to Freemantle, had lunch and then toured the prison, well worth the effort.
Embarkation was quite easy and we were on the ship within 20 minutes of arriving at the port. It was hot, so nice to get on board and have a nice lunch in air conditioning!
We love this category on a longer cruise and it didn't disappoint. The storage in this type of cabin is fantastic and it includes a walk in closet! Our room was well located (we booked early for this cruise because of the demand for the itinerary so we got our choice of cabins), and easy one floor walk to the Windjammer and a short walk to the elevators. It had obviously been refurbished when Radiance went into dry dock for its overhaul. Nothing bad to say about it!