Radiance of the Sea's or Serenade of the Sea's

[IBCAR18]

I am debating on which ship to choose for our Alaskan cruise. Which would you choose.........

 

8/27/05 sailing on the Radiance of the Sea's (Sat to Sat)

 

or

 

8/28/05 sailing on the Serenade of the Sea's (Sun to Sun)

 

The pricing is almost equal for both. Anybody got any suggestions?

 

Michelle

[Budget Queen]

I would choose the one that sails out of Vancouver. What are the differences in these two?? If a one way- I would add time interior. Look at route, ports, (I'd choose Icy Strait), glacier, time in ports.

[IBCAR18]

The only difference in these two are ones sails on a Sat and one on a Sun. The Sun departure does Misty Fjords and is in the ports longer than the Sat departure only by 4 hrs total (for entire 7 day cruise). Both sail out of Vancouver...........your thoughts?

 

Michelle

[Host Caroline]

Without looking at the itineraries on the RCI site, I'd take the one that goes into Misty Fjords.. if port times are basically the same that would be the deal breaker IMHO only.

[jstducky]

i was deciding between these two as well.. radiance july 2nd, or serenade july 3rd. i've been to alaska twice previously, but i've never seen misty fjords. i've heard that the place is one of hte most tranquil and beautiful places in alaska. so for my third trip, i wanted to make the most of it. so i chose serenade

 

serenade and radiance are both radiance class ships, which means they are pretty much exactly alike, built alike, etc. just the decorations inside are of a different theme. anyhow, they run almost the same exact itinerary as well. same ports, same departure city, etc. the one good thing about radiance is that you only have one sea day and then you're in juneau and hubbard glacier is in the middle of the trip. on serenade you essentially start with 2 sea days (because you don't get off the ship at hubbard glacier, its a sea day) before you finally arrive in skagway. so radiance is a bit more balanced schedule.

 

i guess in the end its personal preference. good luck!

[natesfirewife]

They are the same class ship, the Radiance came out first. It basically comes down to time in port and that the Serenade goes to the Misty Fjords. I have sailed on the Radiance to Alaska and loved it. In August we are taking the Serenade with the CC Group Cruise. Right now there is a $150 coupon through the TA per cabin for our sailing. Check the C&A magazine, there was a coupon in there for Alaska on both ships. :)

 

Misty

[IBCAR18]

Thanks for the advise! I am leaning more towards the Serenade since it is a newer ship and includes Misty Fjiords. Time in ports are about the same give or take a couple of hours total for the entire cruise. I am going to look in my C&A magazine for the coupon mentioned. I would love to get a better deal than I am being quoted..............we'll see. Whatever the cost, I know this will be a cruise we will never forget!