This was our first cross ocean repositioning cruise. The opportunity to visit Sydney/New Zealand again, see French Polynesia for the 1st time and wind up in Honolulu was the attraction overcoming the twelve sea days. Had prepared for stormy weather in New Zealand, but were surprised by the rainy, windy weather most of the way to Tahiti. Sea days from Bora Bora to Hawaii were sunny and warm allowing for sunbathing and deck walking. My sister and brother-in-law joined us on this cruise.
Embarkation started out with a short walk from our hotel to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. The door alarms were having difficulties. Many loud sirens and announcements ensued to immediately vacate the building. These were ignored and check-in continued through the din. My four-plug power strip was taken away at the security check along with many others. Was surprised, as it had not been a problem for past cruises. Heard later that power fluctuations on board had caused a power strip to catch fire, resulting in the ban. No notice in advance from Royal Caribbean.
The Radiance is older, but we felt that all the areas we visited were well maintained and quite clean. Our cabin was 1556 on Deck 10.
Very nice Grand Suite on the Centrum. Had stayed in the same cabin back in 2014 on a 16-day Top-End Australia Cruise. It seems like home after 34 days here. Location is great. Cabin steward Mohan was fantastic. Kept the cabin very clean and anticipated our needs. One downside was the noise coming upstairs from the Centrum. Quite a bit of loud music and yelling going on until 11:30pm a few nights. Have not noticed this as much in the past.
Only had one and a half days in Sydney due to flight problems in the US. Still was able to visit the Sydney WildLife Zoo to see all the unusual animals and wildlife of Australia. Although it is small, a visit to the Zoo was very enjoyable. We also were able to eat a wonderful dinner on the harbor at Aria and then attend the Handa Opera performance of West Side Story musical. Recommend taking the water taxi to/from the show. Tremendous production! Finally walked the Botanical Gardens prior to boarding the ship.