5/22-6/1 Alaska Cruise (Radiance) & Land Tour, LOTS of Photos (L.J. & Bev Part II/I)

[WalleyeLJ]

Once past Lions Gate, the major landmarks were gone, but we still spent a good while on deck watching the changing landscape pass by as the sun began to set. West Vancouver was cool to see when you looked at shore and saw seemingly nothing but homes stacked one on top of the other. It was absolutely fascinating to see exactly how many homes and buildings there were. I'm used to see at least a little more green space between home located in an area like this.

 

 

West Vancouver

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we continued north, development began to lessen and the landscape slowly became more remote. We passed islands large and small, and as always I marvel at the will power for people to build and live in such locations - but given how beautiful the landscape, I can see why people invest the time and money...

 

 

 

Island Mountain Vista

 

 

 

 

 

Living on the edge...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moved down to Deck 5 to check out the view closer to the water. Being May, sunset was still a bit early and came on fast, but it was well worth the wait as we enjoyed some hot chocolate that I ran inside and got from Cafe Lattetude before the show started. It was a spectacular end to Day 3 of our adventure...

 

 

 

On Deck 5 starboard (right side) just outside the dining room

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was around 7pm now, so we headed back to the room to get changed for dinner. We had scheduled 2nd seating dinner, which was normally at 8:30pm, was backed up until 9pm for the welcome aboard show. After that, we headed to dinner. Remember we'd only been on the West Coast a couple of days - long ones at that, and it was midnight back home, so we were a little sleepy to say the least. We had linked our table reservation with two other couples from CC, and had a great time meeting them for the first time and getting to know each other. Bellies full, we headed back to the room to rest up - tomorrow should be pretty easy going as we spend the day at sea travelling the Inside Passage.

 

 

 

L.J.

[Downpayment]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review.

[Hogladyrider]

Stanley Park is AMAZING! We did the Hop on Hop Off Trolley in May 2009 when we did Alaska...my mom and I jut loved it. The flowers were amazing and we could not get over the size of Stanley Park. One of the stops we made was Lions Gate Bridge.

 

I am loving your review especially as I am researching a land trip for mom & I for 2014 up into Denali via Alaskan Wildland Adventures. I am leaning towards mid to end of June for this trip.

 

Besides your trip photos I am enjoying learning about sailing on RC!

Susan

[sue402001]

At least now I know what Lions Gate Bridge looks like, thanks LJ. I'm thinking I'll miss is as I might not be quite awake when we sail under it. :rolleyes:

[WalleyeLJ]

So - Day 4, the Inside Passage. This is supposed to be the respite before we head into the adventures ahead. While it was overall, there was one tiny problem with the plan - I couldn't sleep! I tossed and turned and ultimately got up a few minutes before 4am. This is NOT normal for me. I don't usually sleep great away from home, but this was ridiculous. To cap it all off - I was actually pretty awake. So, eager to see what was above, I grabbed my camera and a coupe lenses and headed out to see if I could find some coffee and a good vantage point up top. So while the Windjammer wasn't open yet, there was a 24 hour coffee station. I had brought my own cup so I could have a bigger cup of coffee then the ones on the ship (highly recommend if you like your coffee).

 

Fortified with some tasty caffeinated goodness, I headed to the back of Deck 11 outside the Windjammer to the covered outside seating area. I can't recommend this spot enough if you're looking for a quiet spot to relax, take in the scenery, plus have plenty of chairs and table space for things like cameras and lenses! It was a cool, misty morning, so the overhead cover was welcome to start. The really cool thing was even though the sun wasn't going to be up for a bit, it was still light enough to see quite well, even in the pre dawn light. The other thing was that over the course of the whole trip, I had the place pretty much to myself. Sometimes one or two people would join me, but they'd never stay too long. It became my morning ritual to at least start every morning at this spot on the back of the ship (later each morning of the trip I'd rotate forward to see the ports as we approached them).

 

 

 

Pre-dawn misty morning along the Inside Passage

 

 

 

 

 

One of the neat things about the Inside Passage (and really all of SE Alaska as well) is that out of the wild landscape comes these glimpses of lives live in solitude in that wild. Fish camps, logging operations, and the like. Here's a shot of one of those remote logging camps, off to an early start, and a couple of fish camps.

 

 

 

Smoke rising from the logging camp - is that a good thing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the solar panels on the house on the left - modernization in some of the last great wilderness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In between the occasional signs of human habitation or impact (clear-cut logging tracts dotted the mount sides throughout the day), there were vast tracks of untouched lands as far as you could see. The neat thing about running the Inside Passage is that in many areas, you run very close to the beautiful scenery. It offered many glimpses into unknown adventure and maybe even danger around the points and bays and channels we passed along the way.

 

 

 

What lies beyond...?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent several hours out here just decompressing, feeling a million miles away from everyday life. Then, it happened...

 

 

in the distance...

 

 

...a tiny misty white plume hung in the air

 

 

...and then I saw it - my first Humpback whale!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whale had surfaced off the right rear quarter of the ship, way off in the distance - those shots were taken with a 400mm lenses handheld in poor light. With the naked eye it was nothing more than a tiny speck several hundred yards away. Not very good photos to be sure, but the moment captured was what most important!

 

 

 

L.J.

[Dizzneefan]

I'm really enjoying your posts and especially the pictures. Incredible! We are planning our first Alaskan cruise and these photobraphs make me want to go NOW instead of waiting.

 

And BTW being from Tuscaloosa, I enjoyed the Roll Tide Roll caption for one of the pics!

[Marylandteachergirl]

This is an incredible contribution to the Alaska board - thank you so very much. I am almost convinced I can handle the cold of Alaska, even in summer.

 

If I may ask a question, which applies to a very early part of your review: Did you do the half day tour with K-Bay Air, or the shorter one? I also have to decide between late May and late August b/c of work. I see pros/cons for both. It all comes down to the bears for me...would I see them out as early as the third week of May?

 

That was actually two questions. Sorry! And thank you, too!

[WalleyeLJ]

Stanley Park is AMAZING!

 

I am loving your review especially as I am researching a land trip for mom & I for 2014 up into Denali via Alaskan Wildland Adventures. I am leaning towards mid to end of June for this trip.

 

Besides your trip photos I am enjoying learning about sailing on RC!

Susan

 

Thanks Susan! I really hope that the next time we're in Vancouver we get the chance to check out the park - it's #1 on our to do list.

As for learning about cruising RCI, and Radiance in particular, check out my first review (of our trip last year), just because it addresses the newer version of the ship and will give you a better picture of it (literally:D) than this review - plus it's done! Like the last, this one will take me a while...;)...

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

At least now I know what Lions Gate Bridge looks like, thanks LJ. I'm thinking I'll miss is as I might not be quite awake when we sail under it. :rolleyes:

 

I know what you mean - when I looked out last summer, we were almost into Canada Place and we missed it entirely! It wasn't so bad though since the weather was a mess that morning - nothing like our first time under in this review!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I'm really enjoying your posts and especially the pictures. Incredible! We are planning our first Alaskan cruise and these photobraphs make me want to go NOW instead of waiting.

 

And BTW being from Tuscaloosa, I enjoyed the Roll Tide Roll caption for one of the pics!

 

I know what you mean! The reason I take so long on my reviews and include so many photos is that's what helped get me excited and helped me plan when we were working on this first trip. Certainly there are hundreds of other things to do than we've chosen so far - I just hope that whatever people choose to do that they have as much luck and fun as we've had so far! Also, I'm glad you like the 'Bama reference. I cannot say I'm a true/diehard fan - but whenever the Crimson Tide are playing for a national championship - I do root for them - ever since they crushed Miami back in 1991/1992!

L.J.

Edited June 6, 2013 by WalleyeLJ

[Tweedy]

 

I spent several hours out here just decompressing, feeling a million miles away from everyday life. Then, it happened...

 

 

in the distance...

 

 

...a tiny misty white plume hung in the air

 

 

...and then I saw it - my first Humpback whale!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whale had surfaced off the right rear quarter of the ship, way off in the distance - those shots were taken with a 400mm lenses handheld in poor light. With the naked eye it was nothing more than a tiny speck several hundred yards away. Not very good photos to be sure, but the moment captured was what most important!

 

 

 

L.J.

 

 

Fantastic catch!

[WalleyeLJ]

This is an incredible contribution to the Alaska board - thank you so very much. I am almost convinced I can handle the cold of Alaska, even in summer.

 

If I may ask a question, which applies to a very early part of your review: Did you do the half day tour with K-Bay Air, or the shorter one? I also have to decide between late May and late August b/c of work. I see pros/cons for both. It all comes down to the bears for me...would I see them out as early as the third week of May?

 

That was actually two questions. Sorry! And thank you, too!

 

MDTG - please, feel free to ask all the questions you'd like! Just to clarify for some folks, your question stems from my prior review of last year's trip. We didn't have a length option on the day we went - it was around 6 or 7 hours or so. When we walked to our pilot, he said that when the tides are right, they do on occasion do two trips, but usually just the one. They didn't have any rate options, jus tthe same one, so

Others with more bear trips to Katmai may have other advice, but...I think in May you'll have a shot a seeing some cubs (maybe a lot of cubs) and some mating behavior - but most feeding as I understand it is on the sedge grasses from that time until the salmon start in, which was the end of July and into August, at least in Hallo Bay. Our plan for 2015 is to go the last week of August to catch them in the midst of the Silver salmon run. I can't WAIT to have a chance seeing more bears feeding on salmon - it was SO much fun! Hope that helps a bit. Any other questions, fire away and I'll do my best.

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Fantastic catch!

 

Thanks - they get MUCH better when we get to Juneau...;). But that one will always be my first...:)

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Having enjoyed my time in solitude at the back of the ship, I decided to work my way forward and check out some more of the ship. One of the popular questions people have asked is where are the best viewing spots on the ship. Deck 12 is one level above the pool deck and offers the most space for elevated views, aided by the fact that this deck also hosts the jogging track on board. It starts forward of the Vitality at Sea gym and spa and circles around both sides of the main pool area, wrapping around in front of the main atrium & the Viking Crown Lounge. There is more space heading aft that allows you to get to some spots over the Windjammer outside seating, but the center forward area is really the sweet spot. The other great location that a lot of folks miss is all the way out front on the Helipad and bow area of Deck 5, the Promenade Deck. Often this is the deck you will initially board the ship on at embarkation, and it has broad, wide open walking areas that run both sides of the ship. But a lot of folks think once they get to the last set of interior doors along the sides of the deck that they shouldn't continue forward, but you're missing out on a treasure. If you just continue forward, you go through a narrower enclosed area, then you reach a set of stairs. A short climb up and you'll arrive out on the Helicopter pad, sort of a Deck 5.5. From there you can look up at the forward staterooms and the bridge, but the truly killer view is right at the front of the helo pad area - the spot where you too can reenact Kate & Leo's famous scene from Titanic - if you dare! This will be a key spot later in the trip when we head into Hubbard Glacier, but this morning I have the place - and a very brisk 25 knot head wind - all to myself and my rapidly cooling cup of coffee. Check out the rest of my shots from my AM tour - you'll see that the weather changed pretty rapidly in just a short amount of time.

 

 

 

Crepuscular rays shining down on a little island as the cloud cover begins to break...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shot of the Pool Bar on Deck 11 with some seasonal themed decorations (I assume the totem pole doe not stay out for the winters in New Zealand/Australia but I may be wrong!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view of the Helo Pad looking forward, and some nice benches to soak in the scenery (or stand above the crowd when viewing Hubbard Glacier - I didn't do it but others gave it a shot)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rapidly improving weather conditions = MUCH better views of the rugged surroundings the rest of the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half frozen and wind burned but happy as can be, I headed back to the cabin to see if Bev was awake so we could grab some breakfast and head to the Spa!

 

 

 

L.J.

[purplehorsedog]

i just found your previous review a couple of weeks ago and loved it. So happy to see you started this one. It's getting me excited for my departure in 15 days!!

[WalleyeLJ]

i just found your previous review a couple of weeks ago and loved it. So happy to see you started this one. It's getting me excited for my departure in 15 days!!

 

I'm jealous - but happy for you! Even though we're RCI people, I just saw a promo deal on the Norwegian Sun last night for late June for $299pp Whitter to Vancouver this summer - best deal I've ever seen for Alaska, but alas no time available this year to take advanntage! Have a great time!

L.J.

[purplehorsedog]

I'm jealous - but happy for you! Even though we're RCI people, I just saw a promo deal on the Norwegian Sun last night for late June for $299pp Whitter to Vancouver this summer - best deal I've ever seen for Alaska, but alas no time available this year to take advanntage! Have a great time!

 

L.J.

Thanks! I have only sailed RCI before this trip but found a deal too good to pass up on Princess. But $299pp WHOA!! That's a GREAT deal!

[WalleyeLJ]

After a filling breakfast, we headed to the Vitality Spa for facials. It was my first, and only one, so far, but it was a fun experience. Bev said I "glowed" afterwards...I think it was mostly a chemical reaction (insert 7th graphic/smilily/winkie face). We then had our first visit to the Thermal Suite! It was an extra charge (I think you can bill it individually but we bought the pass for the week), but worth it in the end - assuming you go at least three times! It had a sauna, dry sauna, aroma therapy room and five tiled, heated ceramic-tiled lounge chairs that looked out a huge window on the ocean and surrounding landscape - so you could relax in heated privacy while not missing out on the beautiful scenery passing by! We weren't sure how crowded it would be, but we were the only two in there this time. Well pampered, we headed back to the room where I promptly took a nap, while my much more rested wife just relaxed with her Nintendo DS!

 

Batteries recharged, we head to the Windjammer for lunch and then we headed off to the Casino Royale to meet up with our CC group for a slot pull. Everyone who showed up put $15 in the pot, then we found a $1 slot, put in all the money, and then everyone took turns taking 5 $3 max bet pulls. The idea was that whatever we came up with as winnings after everyone had made their pulls we'd split among everyone. Well, we each put in $15, and in the end we each walked away with...$10.Bev did win the side pot for winning the most money with her 5 pulls, so we reinvested that and the extra $8 back into the machine and won...$0! So, a profit we did not make, but it was a fun ice breaker to meet some of the folks we'd only met on the CC Roll Call board so far. We went to the photo gallery to check out the photos from the first day on board, checked out a bit of the ship and then went back to the room.

 

 

Here are a few shots of the main atrium decor for those folks who'd like to check out the ship...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I changed and head to the gym, while Bev got out the netbook (so four years ago!) and worked on her "live" travel blog. Well, I was upstairs churning away on an elliptical machine when someone yelled "Whales!!!". I have NEVER seen a bunch of 20-70 year old adults look like such a bunch of little kids as we all ran to the port side of the gym/ship to look for the whales. Then, off in the distance, the little plumes of mist would appear and their humpbacks would roll. Bev hadn't seen the whale in the morning, so I quickly found a house phone in the cardio area and called her in the room and told her to get up to the gym ASAP. She made it up a few minutes later just in time to see several whales off in the distance. Even though they were far away it was very cool to see. Whale watching done, Bev headed back to the room and I finished my workout. I finished up and then we got ready to head back to the spa for a hot stone couples massage. We are NOT normally big spa people on the ship - but this trip we spent more time and money there than all our other cruises combined. It was very interesting as the stones were a BIT hotter than I imagined they would be to start, but it did wonders for my back, which I needed to cooperate with me on this trip, and it had so far.

 

Fully worked out and relaxed, we headed back to the room one more time and then headed to dinner, our first formal night of the trip. We chose the Filet of Beef which was very good, and even the cheesecake for dessert was pretty good (I'm not a big fan of ship desserts except in the specialty restaurants, but this was above average). Our day finally done, we headed back to the room to get ready for our early morning float plane adventure in Ketchikan. Tired but relaxed, we looked forward to gaining and extra hour as we transitioned overnight from Pacific time to Alaska time! Oh, by the way, we found this little guy waiting for us when we got to the room, not exactly Alaskan, but a moose IS hard to pull off with a towel...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[sue402001]

Yeah, Ketchikan is next. I can't wait to hear about Island Wings LJ. :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Day 5 - Ketchikan - our first time we'll set foot in Alaska! Up at dawn's early light again, I was topside checking out the views for a couple hours before we made it to Ketchikan. One of the cool things about being up that early is being able to see the changing conditions. From the first glimmer of sunrise to the end of the day, it's amazing how variable conditions can be - even in just a few hours. These photos below show the changing light and color palette over about two and a half hours. While I was completely exhausted by the end of the trip, I'm glad I had a chance to see as much as I was able to with these early mornings.

 

 

 

My first Alaskan sunrise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The warmth or the early morning sun hidden behind the clouds...

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the opposite side of the ship, the light was much cooler/bluer as the cloud bank diffused the rising sun showed the snowy mountains in the distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun back out, you can see that as the sun rose the clouds began to burn off, leaving us with a sunny, calm start to our day in Ketchikan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not too long later, we turned left to port around the south tip of Pennock Island, entered the right side of the Tongass Narrows, with Revillagigedo Island (and soon to be Ketchikan) on the right. FYI Revillagigedo Island is the twelfth largest island in the U.S., measuring 50 miles N-S, and averaging 35 miles E-W.

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Yeah, Ketchikan is next. I can't wait to hear about Island Wings LJ. :)

 

Coming up this week!:D

 

L.J.

[narsibvl]

Day 5 - Ketchikan - our first time we'll set foot in Alaska! Up at dawn's early light again, I was topside checking out the views for a couple hours before we made it to Ketchikan. One of the cool things about being up that early is being able to see the changing conditions. From the first glimmer of sunrise to the end of the day, it's amazing how variable conditions can be - even in just a few hours. These photos below show the changing light and color palette over about two and a half hours. While I was completely exhausted by the end of the trip, I'm glad I had a chance to see as much as I was able to with these early mornings.

 

 

 

My first Alaskan sunrise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The warmth or the early morning sun hidden behind the clouds...

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the opposite side of the ship, the light was much cooler/bluer as the cloud bank diffused the rising sun showed the snowy mountains in the distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun back out, you can see that as the sun rose the clouds began to burn off, leaving us with a sunny, calm start to our day in Ketchikan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not too long later, we turned left to port around the south tip of Pennock Island, entered the right side of the Tongass Narrows, with Revillagigedo Island (and soon to be Ketchikan) on the right. FYI Revillagigedo Island is the twelfth largest island in the U.S., measuring 50 miles N-S, and averaging 35 miles E-W.

 

 

 

L.J.

 

 

I hear you...I am the type who usually needs a vacation after my vacation !!!!

[WalleyeLJ]

I hear you...I am the type who usually needs a vacation after my vacation !!!!

 

Amen - we're the exact same way! We've started trying to return home on Saturdays if possible just to give us two nights sleep at home before retuning to the real world:).

L.J.

[narsibvl]

Amen - we're the exact same way! We've started trying to return home on Saturdays if possible just to give us two nights sleep at home before retuning to the real world:).

 

L.J.

 

My vacation next week ends on a Sunday...late. The following monday is going to be pretty interesting !!!! :)

[Hogladyrider]

I had to chuckle out loud to myself at your comment about Bev getting out her netbook (so 4 years ago) because I too have a netbook, using it to type this, and I love it!

 

Gary has been trying to get me to give it up and I keep saying "but I love my netbook"......it was a birthday gift 4 years ago.

 

Tell Bev she as a netbook cyber friend!

Susan

 

PS - Have you seen any of the shows that are on TV now about Alaska, they are great!