Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas has been in Australia for a little over a month now and already is garnering positive reviews from Australians.  Among its amenities, passengers cite the ship's crew as being very friendly and capable.

"One thing that surprised us was the attitude of the people," the ship's captain Claus Andersen said. "We've never experienced anywhere where the people are so friendly."

Anderson cited a story from a trip to West Australia when they docked at Port Hedland and its very warm welcome after it was decided that one pier couldn't accomodate Radiance of the Seas so they opted to dock at Pibara port instead.  Anderson described the workers there as, "This was the very first time they'd had a cruise ship through but they looked like they do it every single day."

Radiance's Captain was also impressed by the efficiency and flexibility of the Australian Immigration Department in handling the chaos caused by the sudden shut-down of Qantas Airlines when Radiance was in Fremantle. The schedules of hundreds of passengers flying into Perth to board the cruiser were thrown into disarray and the ship had to stay another day. To help clear the passenger backlog, the department brought on two officials until midnight.

The manufacturers of the Azipod podded propulsion system that is found aboard many cruise ships has made modifications to the design that have improved hydrodynamic efficiency by more than 2 percent.

The modifications include a newly optimized Azipod fin shape and a new pod cap structure, called the X-tail. The revised fin structure receives water flow from the propeller at a new, less acute angle, and its new curved design redirects the flow more efficiently. The unit's new X-tail, installed for the pod cap structure, straightens water flow on ejection from the Azipod propulsor, minimizing water swirling.

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas was the first ship to benefit from the new fin shape and X-tail. The Azipod modifications were completed during her drydocking in May 2011. Radiance saw the benefits immediately in her sailings from May to September when more than 2 percent in hydrodynamic efficiency improvement was achieved.

Anders Aasen, Associate Vice President of Technical Services for Royal Caribbean, discussed the importance of being more efficient, "The fuel efficiency improvements measured on Radiance of the Seas are welcomed reprieve in today's higher fuel prices. Any improvements we can make on fuel efficiency will serve us well for future operational costs."

Royal Caribbean has seen sales of cruises in Australia for its Radiance of the Seas "rocket", according to Royal Caribbean's Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand, Gavin Smith.

Radiance arrived in Sydney in October and since then has been all around Australia, which has sparked a sharp increase in sales in the Australian Market.  Smith attributes the rise in sales from locals to the arrival of Radiance, "We've been surprised by the interest from the local market, particularly since the ship got here."

While Australians are jumping at the chance to sail on Radiance, the makeup of a Royal Caribbean cruise down under is still a mixed variety of international passengers, with an average of 60 nationalities on each cruise with about 40% from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

In addition to Radiance, Voyager of the Seas sales are "very strong", as anticipation grows for her arrival next year in Australia.

Cruise ship stops have always been a target for port cities because of the economic impact they provide, and Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas proved that theory once again as it's estimated between passengers and crew $500,000 has been infused to the economy of Adelaide, Australia after a recent stop.

Radiance of the Seas, which recently completed an upgrade, was delayed from leaving Fremantle by a day to help passengers that were the victim of Qantas airline grounding.  Forty-nine passengers could not make it to Perth for the beginning of their 18-night cruise to New Zealand and so Radiance spent several days in Adelaide to wait.

Tourism Minister Gail Gago said the direct economic impact from a ship the size of the Radiance over a day was estimated at $500,000, plus an additional amount to account for "a ripple effect".

Royal Caribbean is targeting the Australian cruise market more than ever, which is an up-hill battle since P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises are far more established in the area. Radiance of the Seas is joined by Rhapsody of the Seas this year, with Voyager of the Seas due in next year.

Photo by Jayson Oblea

Australia's cruise season kicks off in the month of September as ships like Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas call the land down under home for the summer season.

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas will debut in Australia this season on October 15 and it will be the first time she's come to Australia since her major revitalization that took place earlier this year.  Radiance will sail in Australia until April 5, 2012.

Joining Radiance will be Rhapsody of the Seas on November 13, marking her fifth season in Australia. Radiance will remain in Australia until April 13, 2012 and offer 17 different itineraries, such as seven to 18-night South Pacific trips, Queensland voyages and weekend "sampler" trips.

For those cruising on Radiance of the Seas, her maiden Australia itineraries offer cruises as short as two nights or as long as 18, and depart from Sydney and Fremantle.  There's also five 14 and 16-night cruises to New Zealand or a 12-night sailing to the South Pacific.

A new two-night "weekend getaway" itinerary, sailing on November 18, will offer Australians a chance to sample a Radiance-class cruise, while a seven-night Tasmania itinerary, sailing on February 12 next year, will overnight at Melbourne and Hobart.

Radiance will also make a 34-night circumnavigation of Australia.