loug1601

Keith,

Thank you so much for the totally spectacular photos and commentary.

We will be there for 4 nights and so loooking forward to it!

Beautiful!!!

Thanks for the tips!

I would love the train, but it does not leave until about 5:00pm, and it is too late to change our travel plans to stay in Vancouver for the night and take the early train the next morning. We have so many reservation already booked.

We are traveling with my sister and her hubby, so we are 4 people in our 60’s. None of us have any physical limitations. Renting a car would be difficult to cram all of our luggage in, unless we get a large vehicle. We are staying at the brand new Embassy Suites in Seattle, right next to the King Street station. We are then taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight train to San Francisco, a 23 hour overnight trip. We booked a bedroom sleeper.

So...looks to be a bus to the King Street Train Station. Is this possible? Yes...really wish we had booked a night in Vancouver. We originally did have a night there, but dropped it further back in the planning process. Boo-hoo! Oh well...live and learn.

This is a difficult trip to book. We usually just fly to Florida...and hop on a cruise the next day. Easy. Or...drive 45 minutes north to Bayonne NJ and hop on the Anthem of the Seas...even easier!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures! We are booked on our first (and probably only) Alaskan cruise this June. Sailing from Seward to Vancouver on Radiance of the Seas on 6/22/18. We are flying into Anchorage on 6/20, spending 2 nights to acclimate to the time change, and spend a day in the Anchorage area.

While we are very much looking forward to this trip, we are warm weather vacation people. We have enough cold weather here in New Jersey! It is also very expensive to go to Alaska. Airfare, etc. Treating my hubby to 1st class flights. He is a very happy camper.

After cruise we are spending 2 nights in Seattle, then 4 nights in San Francisco. Encore flying home.

Yes...a BIG trip. I love reading everyone’s tips, and appreciate all the tips.

Any tips on grabbing a bus from Vancouver to Seattle?

I would love to take the train, but the timing is off for us. Our cruise ends on 6/29/18, and we are leaving for Seattle the same day. I don’t think we want to get into Seattle 10:00 pm, so it looks like the bus for us 😟

Does the train drop you off at King Street Station in Seattle?

Thank you all for for your input and kindly sharing your thoughts.

You have really helped guide us, and we are staying with Embassy Suites.

I’m a little nervous now on our choice of hotels. We figured we could Uber to Pike and the Space Needle, and do a lot of walking around while we are in that area, and have the convenience of having the train station right next door. Our train to San Francisco leaves at 8:30 am...I think we need to be there 45 minutes before, so a quick breakfast at the hotel and we will be ready for the train.

The hotel is not inexpensive, I guess being new comes at a premium. We picked a corner water view room. View on both sides I guess.

Think I should change the hotel? We are not foodies, or drinkers, and will only be in Seattle 1 1/2 days. We plan on doing ALOT of walking!

Decisions...decisions!

Harryfat,

You write, bar none, the absolute BEST trip reports on Cruise Critic. I have read all of your reports, and now I have none left to read. Bwaaaaa 😭.

Looking forward to your posts for the remaining part of your trip.

Thank you, and your family, for taking us on this fabulous journey.

Pat

Thank you so much. We decided to book. Hopefully summer will arrive early this year too!

Hi!

We will be arriving in Seattle on Friday 6/29/18 and departing for San Francisco by Amtrak train on Sunday 7/1/18.

We are thinking of staying at the brand new Embassy Suites at 255 S King St. It opens in early May.

I think this hotel is very near King Street Station. While kind of pricey, it will serve us well when we leave for our early train.

Any comments on the location? Safe? Walkable? Interesting?

We have never been to Seattle before, and may never visit again. We are from NJ, so far away. This is a side trip after our Alaska cruise. We sail from Seward Alaska, and our cruise ends in Vancouver.

Interested in seeing as much as we can in our day and one half visit...Space Needle, Pikes Market, etc. We will not have a car. We are 4 able bodied seniors, in our early sixties.

Thanks!

What a great review! Thank you Seadog for a wonderful week of reading...safe travels home!

“Cheapo Man”...hahaha! Cute!

I also really enjoyed your review! Thank you!

Hi Harry,

This is such an interesting review of you family vacation. You are really quite entertaining with your style of humor.

You also have a lovely family 🙂

Another itinerary update today from the Captain...

We will be arriving to Bayonne later than anticipated due to the heavy seas we experienced all night. They seas continue to be heavy and should remain this way for the rest of today.

He said we should arrive at the entry to the port about 7:00 and it will be about 9:00 when we finish docking.

We will now remain port for the evening, and not go back out to sea.

The shops and casino will close about 7:00 pm and not reopen for the remainder of the cruise.

Pat and hubby Tom

Thanks everyone...

We are staying at the Hilton, which is very close to the train station from what we understand. Maybe a block. We want to be close since we have to be at the train station so early in the morning.

We also paid the gold dome price of $424.00 for the two of us, booked directly thru Alaska Railroad

This is going to be one EXPENSIVE trip! But...this is a once and done bucket list trip. I'm much more of a warm weather girl ☀️!

We are flying into Anchorage in June 2018, and staying two nights prior to taking the train to Seaward to board the Radiance. We are not doing a precruise tour.

I booked the train online through Alaska Railroad. We selected the Gold Dome service, which is supposed to offer a better view, more comfy seats, etc.

This is not through Royal...did I make a mistake? Do I need to book through Royal?

Thank you!

Hi!

Any idea where I can see the menus for Anthem Coastal Kitchen? We just booked a last minute cruise, sailing in a GS on 1/07/17.

Thank you,

Pat

What a great review! You have a lovely family!

Thanks for the time you put into this. I hope the kids look back on this review to relive what surely are wonderful memories!

New Year's Eve on the Anthem 12/31/16...

There was the usual countdown and HUGE balloon drops in the Esplanade. Free champagne was served, and it flowed freely. Music playing, people dancing, and yes, you were like a sardine in the crowd. But, it was really fun! We retired back to our stateroom before 12:30am, but many were still in full party mode. There was no charge for this event.

Royal did have private parties in less crowded venues such as in 270. Attending these parties would cost you an arm and a leg. The prices went into the thousands! Not necessary in my opinion :eek:

We sailed on Anthem last year during Christmas and New Year.

For Christmas and New Year there was a special menu in the dining room. On Christmas Eve, there was Christmas caroling in the Esplande. They handed out song books so you could sing along. Then...they made it "snow" in the Esplanade. It was a lot of fun and very festive. At dinner, and in the Windjammer, all servers wore red Santa hats. Santa was set up in 270, along with a Christmas tree and many elves giving out gifts to the kids. Many little kids came down to see Santa in their footie pajamas. So cute!

We had a great time on the cruise, and Royal did a nice job of celebrating the holiday.

Yes, there is a magnifying mirror in the Grand Suites on Liberty of the Seas. It is mounted on the vanity/desk across from the bed.

We purchased the 15 ticket transportation booklet in May 2016. As stated, we purchased it at the post office in St George. The tickets never expire, and we paid $37.50 US dollars...this works out to be $2.50 per ticket.

As we live in NJ and can hop on the Anthem with little advance planning, it works out for us. The tickets are one way and good on any bus or ferry in all 14 zones.