royalcruz

These are at the beach, near shops and restaurants, and close to the port:

Courtyard beach

Marriott BeachPlace

Ritz Carlton

Embassy Suites would be a great hotel for your family. You might get a better rate with a free hhonors account.

Boatyard is walking distance and has excellent food, lots of fresh seafood.

Thank you. I will make sure that we choose a tour that spends the most time in the Denali park.

There's a CVS a few blocks north on S Federal Hwy in case you need something.

You could walk to SE 17th St for dinner while it's light out, and take a taxi or Uber home.

I'm looking to book a trip to Alaska on a 2018 cruise tour with Radiance.

I notice that there is a huge price difference between 10 night Alaska wildlife express, which ends in Anchorage (Seward-Talkeetna-Denali-Anchorage), and the less expensive 10 night Alaska interior express, which ends in Fairbanks and also includes a wilderness tour (Seward-Denali-Fairbanks-Fairbanks). These are 2 post cruise tours for the same cruise. I looked at several different dates and there is always a big difference.

Does anyone know if it is worth spending $1000 more on the wildlife express, and are there any "must sees" that I would miss if I took the interior express? The descriptions are all so similar on the 3 day tours, despite the differences in locations.

I also posted this on the Royal Caribbean board but Alaska questions there get few responses.

Thank you so much for your help.

I'm looking to book a trip to Alaska on a 2018 cruise tour with Radiance.

I notice that there is a huge price difference between 10 night Alaska wildlife express, which ends in Anchorage (Seward-Talkeetna-Denali-Anchorage), and the less expensive 10 night Alaska interior express, which ends in Fairbanks and also includes a wilderness tour (Seward-Denali-Fairbanks-Fairbanks). These are 2 post cruise tours for the same cruise. I looked at several different dates and there is always a big difference.

Does anyone know if it is worth spending $1000 more on the wildlife express, and are there any "must sees" that I would miss if I took the interior express? The descriptions are all so similar on the 3 day tours, despite the differences in locations.

Thank you so much for your help.

We always have our Ubers meet us at the private car pickup location at Port Everglades terminals.

Same goes for the airport.

Boatyard is pricey, as is Market 17. I heard that Market 17 is going to have to move out because the building there is closing for a future conference center hotel build.

Bravo is very close by and not expensive. There is a Carabba's too.

My friend booked 2 rooms there a few months ago, but didn't stay after seeing roaches in both rooms. The neighborhood is cool though.

Gallery One meets all of your criteria, and there is a water taxi stop right there.

I'm 155 cm tall and love wearing floor-length dresses. Sometimes I wear flats with them too. No matter what you wear, you are not going to look like a 175 cm tall runway model, so just wear what you like, and have fun. If you don't feel like dressing up at all, just don't eat dinner in the dining room on formal night...there are other places to eat. :cool:

We aim to arrive between 11:30 and noon. Unless there is a delayed boarding they will have started boarding by then. We eat lunch and enjoy the rest of the day by the pool. By boarding at this time we eliminate any stress of what can happen on the way to the port.

Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood is very nice.

$15/day is the total at the port. Port parking is more convenient IMO, so if we go on a short cruise we do this. For cruises longer than 4-5 days, I would use Park N Go.

I've done this 3 times. Waited up to 10 minutes in the private car pickup area.

There aren't a lot of significant changes.

They are no longer giving Diamond members gifts in the cabins. They used to give caps, totebags, etc. They stopped giving those and then they were giving you a gift basket with cookies and dried fruit. They recently stopped that too. The loyalty ambassador on Independence a couple of weeks ago said that the gift basket has been replaced with a plate of cookies. We received a plate of cookies but didn't get anything else from the kitchen (used to get a "chef's choice" delivered, like chocolate covered strawberries.)

Cool free stuff you'll get as Diamond:

You will get a free soft drink of your choice in your cabin, so be sure to select your preferences in your online account. You will get a free photo and free drinks each night for a few hours (3 on your card to enjoy at bars, or unlimited in the Diamond lounge).

Hilton Beach Resort is the best. If not available, then Gallery One Doubletree.

We will be staying at Best Western Oceanside, on Seabreeze Blvd.

You can easily walk to Coconuts from there. Bahia Cabana is closer but the food is very mediocre...you could stop there for a drink.

I was on her on February 16th and there was an attitude of great helpfulness and friendliness among all the staff. And no bedbugs.

I agree that this is unacceptable. Resolutions should be able to fix this if you have proof of what you had. Even if they can't figure out a way to add these things without fully charging them again, you should get the difference in a credit card refund.

We're Diamond and never received any pins or commemorative gifts for any levels, but we wouldn't wear the pins, so I never bothered to make a point of it. On our cruise last week, we also learned that there is no longer a welcome basket for the welcome gift amenity. You still get your selected soft drink in your cabin, but there was a plate of cookies from the kitchen instead of the welcome basket, and the LA confirmed that this is what they are now giving. Nothing else ever arrived from the kitchen during the cruise (usually get chocolate covered strawberries, or the chef's selection), so I don't know if the cookie plate replaces that too.

We ate at Chops last week on Independence it was BOGO at $35 pp, purchased a few months ago.

It was very busy. Tables for 2 were seated very close to other tables for 2. I sent back the truffle fries because they had no truffle flavor and they were replaced with another bowl of flavorless truffle fries. The rest of the food was good. Service was polite but cold.

Chops on Enchantment of the Seas last summer had wonderful service and was much more memorable.

Did you use the luggage valet service or do you know if it was offered?

A luggage to airport service is offered.

No one knows what promotions will come. Definitely book the cabin you want and check regularly for price drops. :)