Radiance of the Seas NB Alaska cruise 5-11/5-18

[jonbgd]

 

 

Our Madame

 

Go Giants... Old photos from WWII time

[jonbgd]

Red onion

 

View from bus droppoff

[jonbgd]

So we pick up our walking tour map

http://skagway.com/skagwaywalkingtour.pdf

I will do a seperate review over in the Alaska section later

 

Alot of old buildings, a cute little town stuck in time. We had a nice relaxing walk of about 2 hours and did up to #15 as the GF was getting a little tired and we were near the Skagway Brewery. Perfect time for lunch.

 

The place was very busy and had to wait about 15min for a table.

 

Order a flight of beers(sampler) and you get a free hat. It was a coupon in one of the books. So finally got to taste the Spruce tip ale Ive been reading about. It was good and went well with our lunch. We shared a pulled pork sandwich and Salmon sandwich and lots of fries. YUMMMMM.

 

We enjoyed our lunch and headed out so my GF could do a little shopping before getting back on the ship by 330pm.

[jonbgd]

Skagway brewing building next to fudge

 

veiw from end of town

 

GREAT AFT

[jonbgd]

We walked back to the ship and boarded with a few minutes to spare. But there was a busload of people that pulled up behind us. So we wernt late.

We boarded the ship and went directly to the MDR to talk to the head waiter to see if i could get a couple fisherman platters to enjoy on the fantail of the Windjammer while enjoying some great views.

This was the second formal night and an evening meal in the MDR I dont usually miss. While some dont think much of the lobster onboard a ship. Tastes good to me I was prepared with a tie just in case I couldnt get any to go.

As we walked into the waiting area of the MDR I glanced over and looked at the menu ......... IT WAS TURKEY:eek: no fishermans platter What the heck. So I found a waiter and asked him what was up with the menu was I looking at the wrong one. Nope Turkey for formal night. Sounds like IZUMI night for us as they moved the fishermans platter to the last night. Winner winner chicken dinner:D We get to try Izumi while enjoying the great views, I can walk out back and take photos if I see something and the GF can stay warm. And our last night we can enjoy the MDR and my favorite entree

[jonbgd]

House middle of nowhere

 

our wake

 

A Glacier ????

 

[jonbgd]

 

 

Eldred rock lighthouse

 

Another View of Eldred Rock

[jonbgd]

formal night hot tub

 

 

another glacier

 

[jonbgd]

Izumi is a nice place for dinner except the prices are close to what I pay for sushi at our local place. The quality of the raw fish is the best I have had at sea.

But the maguro( Ahi Tuna) is still not the deep red I have become use to @ home. Its good bbut just a step below what im use to.

 

Saying that...... we had a great meal. The views were incredible. Staff was very attentive even thou they were over half full. The Hostess(Cecilia??) was making her sweeps of the room and by the end of the evening we had a few of the staff at our table conversing since we were the last people in there. Good times

 

I would recommend for dinner especially for those that arnt sure if they like sushi. They have so many different items on the menu. For us west coast seafood aficinados I would do it again.

I think it was a nice addition to the Radiance along with Samba grill.

 

Its still light out when we head to bed. 1030ish?? This is so weird to have this light late in the evening but it did help with enjoying our views. The further north we got the later the sun set.

 

Next up the INCREDIBLE Hubbard Glacier

[jonbgd]

[jonbgd]

Our last day on the wonderful Radiance of the seas:(

 

We woke to the sound of our Alarm for the first time all week. We had decided to get up early and get a good spot up on deck for panoramic views.

 

Pulling into the bay early morning

we are only suppose to go up to the point on the right hand side of the photo.

That is what the ships camera guy(DVD) told me they have done in the past

 

I guess we are a little late for getting prime location:o

[jonbgd]

Suns coming out:D Looking AFT

 

avoiding the blue ICE bergs

 

This Glacier is HUGE

 

Past the point WOO HOO we are going closer than before

[jonbgd]

This galcier is incredible and the Captain just gets closer and closer less than a hundred yards maybe 200ft

 

 

Oops a little late

 

I think I hear something from the same spot a few minutes later

Sounds like thunder when it is calving

 

 

[jonbgd]

[jonbgd]

[jonbgd]

[jonbgd]

Closest we got from bow

 

views from balcony

closest we got from balcony

[jonbgd]

 

[jonbgd]

Mendenhall Glacier was incredible. But with that, we knew this was also our last day of the cruise. How to cure last day cruise blues??????......

Crown n Anchor and book another cruise:D Thats what we did.

Park cafe and Boardwalk dog house for lunch than back to the cabin to start with preliminary packing:(

 

 

Dinner in the MDR was great. A couple fishermans platter. I was happy

Our waiter told us the whole week we were the only ones that showed up @ our table. The Mdr didnt seem as full as it was the first night.

Waiters signing signaled the end to a fabulous Alaskan cruise

Back to our cabin to put our luggage out and say our goodbyes to all the great staff we met during the week.

 

Not much to see as it looked like a storm was moving in but I do see snow capped mountains.

Guess we will have to come back

 

Next up Seward and debarkation day

[AF-1]

Wow, your pics are wonderful; makes me want to book Alaska cruise tomorrow.

[jonbgd]

Wow, your pics are wonderful; makes me want to book Alaska cruise tomorrow.

Thank You

 

It is an incredible experience. I was in no rush to do it. Now Im ready to do it again.

There is so much to do. I cant think of a way, of doing it, only one time.

 

BTW you are doing the same NB cruise... That year will go by so fast....Enjoy and congrats:D

[jonbgd]

So we had informed our room steward, the last night, we were in no rush to get off the ship in the morning.

With our alarem ringing we both woke up and new our cruise was over. We were already in port. I guess we got there @4am and it was now 730am.

 

right view

center view

left view

[jonbgd]

:confused::eek:While the GF took her shower, I headed up to WJ for a cup of coffee. it was crazy up there, not a seat to be found and alot of unhappy cruisers.

If they had only decided to take their time and informed their room steward;)

 

So after I enjoyed my coffee on our balcony we went up to the WJ around 830am.

We enjoyed our last bfast on the Radiance and headed back to our cabin a little sad.

We grabbed our bags and said our goodbyes. I gave our cabin Steward a WOW card. We walked to the Promenade Starboard side and collected our ULU knives. I guess they had a past problem with cruisers knifing each other:confused:

 

Tihere was not too many people collecting ther luggage when we go to the terminal. Now it is a steep grade from the ship to the ground. For those that have a difficult time walking it may not be easy.

We walked straight thru without any boarder agents. WOW the best debarkation I have ever experienced in 35+ cruises.

Now we waited for the free Seward shuttle with all the others:eek:

There is a free downtown/train shuttle that we took advantage of. They were not sure it would be running this early when I had checked on it.

So i was happy it was there

[jonbgd]

Holiday Inn Express Seward for bus pickup

 

View from Holiday Inn

 

Seward Marina/ Rays waterfront for lunch

Building with lighthouse

 

 

Major Marine 2nd building from right The yellow one

and other tour company buildings

 

[jonbgd]

Our flght out of Anchorage wasnt till the next night So we wernt in a rush to get out of Seward but we did want to get to Anchorage same day

The choices to get there are a rental car one way EXPENSIVE and you cant use any free days from Hertz to get a car(I tried)

There is a cruiseline train 6-7am??? not sure on time and an evening train 630pm??? we will do the train next time

The 3rd choice is a bus. Not sure if the cruiseline has an early bus but most companies have an early 8am?? and an evening 6pm???. We didnt wnt to get up early and didnt want to spend all day in Seward

I found a bus company Sewardalskabus.com that had a mid day time of 2pm. It included Alaska wildlife center stop. Also has restroom onboard. Perfect

 

We were told to meet at the holiday inn express which is about a half mile walk from the cruise terminal. There were alot of people waiting for the free shuttle,. So we waited for the next one(20 mins?)

It was us and 2 other couples. I asked the driver if we could be dropped off last and got a litle tour of the town. It went by the train station, supermarket/Starbucks, downtown, Sea life center and back thru the town to the cruise terminal. He dropped us off next to the Holiday inn and we went in to check our luggage so we could walk around town and grab lunch @ Rays.

 

I guess this company didnt let the hotel know this was a pick up place.

As there was probably 20 people sitting in there lobby and the lady at the desk was upset when we asked about holding our luggage. I dont know what has been worked out since but it was very convienent for us

$1 per bag and we were on our way.

That didnt last to long as there was a heck of a wind chill and the GF was cold:rolleyes:. It was cold (40ish) but I wouldnt admit it. I wanted to explore but oh wel next time

So back inside the lobby and find a seat in the breakfast area to wait till Rays opened for lunch.