OCD Planner's Live ALASKA Photo Trip Report 16 day Cruise Tour aboard Radiance

[ace1zoe2]

Okay, so my husband is now glued to your travels as well and has a couple of ???

1. What is it like regarding the length of daylight? Have either of you had any problems adjusting?

2 Mosquitoes - are all over the place, just in the rural area, around water, require the constant bug spray??????? That's my question.:confused:

 

Pat,

 

#1 sunrise I believe is around 4am-ish and sunset around midnight although its not really dark then. Everyone has darkening shades on the windows to block the light.

 

#2 the only place we've seen Mosquitos was in Fairbanks so far. We didn't have to use any spray though.

[ace1zoe2]

Thank you for your effort as well - we booked this over a year ago and I am like yourself - obsessed with reading everything I can and having everything in place before we go and yes I have the little binder with all the dividers, with everything we want to see and do each stop - but like the same found it very hard to find information on the land portion - did the cruise in 2002 but this is the first time doing the land and really appreciate the information. We depart July 12 on a Friday just like you in order to spend an extra day in Fairbanks and also have booked #13 so am drooling just thinking about reading this thread.

 

Thanks again

 

You will have a great time on tour 13. The train is awesome!

[avalon007]

Hi,

 

Just a reminder about my previous Aleyska glacier hike question with tour group ascending path, does RCCL offer the tour?

 

Also, in Anchorage, is there a supermarket near the downtown Marriott that you saw?

 

Also, I know you arrived early before your tour, but do you know if RCCL collect you from the airport if you arrive the night before or do you have to arrange your own transfers?

 

We get into Anchorage 2pm the day before our tour starts after 24 hours travelling from Sydney via Vancouver, would be nice to be collected.

The Marriott is included in the tour for that night & we leave for Talkeetna the next morning ( Cruise tour #12 - 25 Aug ).

 

As you have said they don't provide much information on the tour part of the holiday.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.:)

[ace1zoe2]

We had to meet back at the hotel at 11:30am and we were set to leave Anchorage by motorcoach heading to Alyeska.

 

Along the way we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (http://alaskawildlife.org/) for a tour which was included in our package. Normal admission price is $12.50 for adults & $9.00 for kids 4-12, seniors over 65 & active military personnel with ID. The AWCC takes in injured and orphaned animals year round nursing them back to health. When appropriate they are released back into the wild. If that is not possible then the animals are given a permanent home at the facility. Muskoxen, moose calves, black-tail deer fawns, wood bison, 5 permanent resident bears including 2 black bear, 2 brown bear & a grizzly bear, coyote, bald eagle, elk, porcupine, caribou & lynx. This was a great learning experience and what a wonderful job these folks do to preserve the lives of these beautiful animals. They encourage you to wear your hiking shoes and grab your camera and enjoy yourselves!

 

We ended up having lunch at the conservation center as all profits go right back to support the animals. We shared a reindeer hotdog & chips and a giant pretzel for $10.

 

So if you weren't able to get the great pictures that you had hoped for at Denali, then take time to stop by here!

 

 

 

 

After our tour at the AWCC we traveled a short distance to Alyeska where we

were dropped off at the Hotel Alyeska or Alyeska Resort. WOW!!! What a

georgous place. It was so scenic and beautiful, lush valleys, hanging glaciers,

ocean views. This is a year-round resort and boosts resort amenities and

activities. With 752 inches of snow this past year this is a skiers dream. The aerial lift is used in the spring and summer to transport resort guests to the top of Mt. Alyeska where you can eat at the 7 Glaciers Restaurant ($$$), visit the Roundhouse Museum (free) and see breathtaking views of Turnigan Arm and the hanging glaciers.

 

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

As soon as we arrived we dropped our bags in our rooms, then joined Susan & Ed and Sal & Marlene (new friends we met on the tour) for a 2 mile hike up the Winter Creek trail on the side of the Alyeska mountain. There was still a lot of snow and ice on the trail and we slid several times. Susan & Ed decided to turn back after about 1.5 miles because of all of the ice. We had planned to hike all the way to the hand crank tram over the waterfall but found out from others on their way back down that it hadn't opened for the season yet. After Hubby stepped and the snow was up to his knee, we decided it was time to turn back also.

 

 

 

 

We all thought this was really funny... we called it the "butt tree"

 

 

So Sal, Marlene, Hubby & I headed back down to the aerial tram station. We received a free pass as part of our tour package to take the tram to the top of the mountain for the 360 degree views.

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

About 1/2 of the tour group had reservations for the 7 Glaciers restaurant for dinner. Some folks ate at the hotel and others took the free shuttle into the town of Girdwood to eat at the Double Musky which is one of Food Network's Top Ten in America to eat. That is where we chose to go. We were seated immediately, service was the best we've had on the entire trip, the food was awesome (but expensive - think $30-$45 per plate). I didn't get any pictures of the menus this time. Hubby had Copper River salmon and the filet was twice the size of the one he had earlier. We shared an appetizer and I had an appetizer portion of pepper steak for dinner. With 2 glasses of wine & tip our dinner was $95 (ouch!) but it was really good. I heard from the tour director that prices at 7 Glaciers are even more, so I'm glad that we didn't choose to go there.

 

 

 

After dinner we rode the shuttle back to the resort and went to the room around 9pm and just relaxed for a while.

 

Some of the outside area:

 

[ace1zoe2]

Today is day 7 and we start our day in ALYESKA and will continue on to SEWARD today. We had Nutragrain bars for breakfast in our room and I made hot tea in room. Bags had to be out by 8am of this morning and we were to meet in the lobby for departure at 9:45am. We hung out in the hotel room until about 9:15, me journaling & hubby taking care of some emails from work.

 

 

The resort provided anything you good ask for. 2 Free bottles of water each day, chocolates on your pillow, safe, robes, slippers, higher end toiletries, thicker towels, etc. There was a saltwater heated pool & hottub, spa services, shopping, 3 dining venues, sitting areas with fireplaces, out-door deck with firepits and more. There was plenty to see and do at this fabulous resort to keep up happy.

 

There was a black bear seen coming down the mountain by the tram operator on the ride before ours... sadly we didn't get to see it. This morning right after leaving Girdwood we saw a moose on the side of the road. We've had great luck with wildlife sightings during our trip. Again the scenic views continued along the Turnigan Arm and the Kenai Peninsula.

 

We arrived in Seward right at noon and everyone had 1.5 hours to have lunch on our own in the port area. We decided to have dinner at the bakery which served sandwiches and giant bakery items such as cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.

 

 

 

The food and service were excellent. I forgot to take pictures of our food but we halved a turkey club sandwich & fries and hubby had a cup of navy bean & ham soup. Susan & Ed invited us to join them for dinner & we enjoyed some great conversation. Afterward we walked around taking pictures & purchasing my ornament in the port area. Then we met back up and took a 3 hour tour of the Kenai Fjords as an included excursion for our tour.

 

 

 

This was the boat that we took our tour on:

 

[ace1zoe2]

This is a conveyor belt they use to load coal that is harvested in Alaska to send overseas by container ships:

 

 

Some of the things that we saw on our Resurrection Bay cruise:

 

A glacier:

 

 

Sea lions (I caught this one diving back into the water);

 

 

We saw waterfalls:

 

 

We saw both horned puffin (shown here) and tufted puffin:

 

 

We saw several mountain goats (not Dahl sheep) including this moma & her baby:

 

[jojoanddash]

Ok my Alaska cruise will be my first with Royal Caribbean and I have heard it mentioned several times but no one has explained it so I have to ask.. what is the Royal Dining Package? Also is this included in the cruise or is this an extra? I am guessing an extra so I will go ahead and ask the price if it is an extra lol

[ace1zoe2]

We also saw a juvenile whale blowing thru his spout, saw the tail and back a few times:

 

 

We saw dahl porpoise:

 

 

We enjoyed the small wake from the boat (getting us prepared for the ships wake from our aft balcony!)

 

 

Hubby snapped this picture of me out on the bow taking pictures. I stayed out the entire 3 hours trying to get some wildlife shots... I was the only one out there the entire time. Luckily I had on an undershirt, a long sleeved shirt, my 3-in-1 coat and gloves. I was comfortable the entire time.

 

Edited June 7, 2013 by ace1zoe2

[ace1zoe2]

Our tour finished up at 5pm and we were loaded on the coach and dropped at our hotel the SEWARD WINDSONG LODGE by 5:30pm.

 

We were handed our keys as we got off the coach and a comment card and gratuity envelopes for the driver and tour director. And when I say keys, I mean actual, metal keys... when is the last time that you stayed anywhere with metal keys?

 

 

I would definitely describe this as a lodge. The rooms are spread out amongst 15 cabins. The lodge room features a fireplace and a comfortable area to gather and talk. The rooms were basic but provided everything that we needed. They were comfortable and served their purpose. The staff was friendly and seemed happy to be there.

 

 

 

 

 

Several of us had planned ot take the shuttle to town to the laundromat to was clothes (at least the whites) before boarding the ship tomorrow. However, upon arriving at the hotel the told us the laundromat hadn't changed to summer hours yet and they close at 5:30pm. They do open in the morning at 7am and the first shuttle leaves at 7am so most everyone decided to go then. We had brought a travel clothesline and woollite so I just did out laundry in the tub (only socks, underwear and undershirts) and we hung them in the room to dry.

 

Our tour director set up in the hotel lobby to take payment for any excursions we had done earlier in the week and to for us to pick up luggage tags for the ship. After doing a small batch of laundry we headed over and took care of the bill for our whitewater rafting trip, it ended up being $87pp, best I could find online was $89pp so I thought we got a pretty good deal. We picked up our luggage tags, turned in our comment card and handed out our gratuities thanking our tour director Cam and our driver Jim. Both did an excellent job this week and really added to our overall enjoyment. Suggested grats were $2.50pp for the driver and $3.50pp for the director. We gave more that the suggested amount since we felt both went out of their way to make sure we had a great time.

 

Bags need to be out by 10am and meet in the lobby at 11am for a 11:15am transfer to the ship. We are doing a private excursion thru the hotel leaving at 8:15am in the morning and returning to the hotel at 11:00am

 

We took the 7pm shuttle to town to go to the Safeway to purchase our 2 bottles of wine for the cruise. It was around $10 & $12 per bottle. We caught the 7:45 return shuttle back to the lodge and then went to dinner at the lodge. Service was excellent, the food was good and the restaurant was very nice for a lodge feel. Hubby had huge hamburger with bacon & fries and I had a vegetable & chicken soup and 1/2 ranch house salad that had lettuce, pecans, grapes, green apple and a lime vinagrette dressing.

 

After dinner we went back to our room for a little tv for hubby & journaling for me. It's now 1am so guess I better get some sleep. Alarm is set for 7am to get up for our hike and then we'll be boarding the ship! I can hardly wait to actually unpack everything from our suitcases, hang up our clothes and live like normal people for the next week!

 

We have one more excursion pre-booked for in the morning. We are doing a 2 hour guided walking tour of Exit Glacier with a naturalist which we booked directly thru the hotel before we left home.

 

http://www.sewardwindsong.com/activities-exit.html

[ace1zoe2]

Hi,

 

Just a reminder about my previous Aleyska glacier hike question with tour group ascending path, does RCCL offer the tour?

 

Also, in Anchorage, is there a supermarket near the downtown Marriott that you saw?

 

Also, I know you arrived early before your tour, but do you know if RCCL collect you from the airport if you arrive the night before or do you have to arrange your own transfers?

 

We get into Anchorage 2pm the day before our tour starts after 24 hours travelling from Sydney via Vancouver, would be nice to be collected.

The Marriott is included in the tour for that night & we leave for Talkeetna the next morning ( Cruise tour #12 - 25 Aug ).

 

As you have said they don't provide much information on the tour part of the holiday.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.:)

 

The only tours offered by RCCL are the ones I posted earlier. The hotel does offer several guided tours, I noticed a sign posted for them. It seems like I remember seeing one that was $139 per person. You can probably look on their website to find descriptions and prices. You are not required to take your tours only thru RCCL. The ones we did in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage & the hike in Seward in the morning were all booked independently.

 

For others starting in Fairbanks, staying at the Pike's Riverfront Lodge, you can call them and they will send a free shuttle to pick you up in about 10 minutes. We had a rental car the first day but when we returned it the second night (the night everyone else got there) we just called for the shuttle. i don't think the Marriott has a shuttle but you might call them direct to find out or you may have to take a taxi.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ace1zoe2]

Ok my Alaska cruise will be my first with Royal Caribbean and I have heard it mentioned several times but no one has explained it so I have to ask.. what is the Royal Dining Package? Also is this included in the cruise or is this an extra? I am guessing an extra so I will go ahead and ask the price if it is an extra lol

 

These are the included free venues and it depends on which ship you are going on as to which ones are available on your particular ship:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_dining_options

 

These are the additional charge venues, again not all are available on every ship:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_dining_options

 

Tea, coffee, water, regular juice and milk are available at no charge. There are soda, fresh juice and alcohol packages available also:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_dining_options

 

For your particular ship you can go here then choose your ship by name:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/home.do?cS=NAVBAR&pnav=2&snav=4

 

After picking your ship then you can scroll down to see what is available on your ship. As for your original question, the Royal Dining Package is a paid package where you receive Chops Grille ($30pp) Giovanni's Table ($20pp) Samba Grill ($30pp) & Izumi's ($10pp) (at least this was the package on our Radiance OTS Alaska cruise) which normally totals $90/pp for 4 meals, you receive a discount when you buy the package you receive all 4 for $75pp. They also offer other specials besides the 4 option deal such as once specialty restaurant on the first night with a discounted fee if you go in a group of 4 or more, etc. All of this options will show up on your pre-cruise planner about 3 months or so before your cruise date. You can look at them all on line and book ahead, or you can book them once you are on the ship.

 

There are also lots of great free food venues. I just prefer being served rather than serving myself in the Windjammer and we chose not to do formal nights this time. So instead of buffet we chose to pay the upcharge to eat in the specialty dining venues.

 

Hope this answers your question or at least gives you an idea where to look on line.

Edited June 7, 2013 by ace1zoe2

[BecciBoo]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now this is suitable for framing! What a great pic of the two of you!!

[BecciBoo]

Again, I just want to thank you for such an enjoyable review, such helpful info and advice, and such marvelous pics. This is really what I joined Cruise Critic for so long ago! It really makes me want to book the tour, alas, we did not have the extra week to take off, but some day:( Don't know what I'll do after your cruise is over...there will be 3 more months to wait:rolleyes:

Now.....on to the ship! :D

 

One bit you may appreciate....You are on my favorites list on my browser as: "Alaska Ace" LOL!

Edited June 7, 2013 by BecciBoo

[avalon007]

The only tours offered by RCCL are the ones I posted earlier. The hotel does offer several guided tours, I noticed a sign posted for them. It seems like I remember seeing one that was $139 per person. You can probably look on their website to find descriptions and prices. You are not required to take your tours only thru RCCL. The ones we did in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage & the hike in Seward in the morning were all booked independently.

 

For others starting in Fairbanks, staying at the Pike's Riverfront Lodge, you can call them and they will send a free shuttle to pick you up in about 10 minutes. We had a rental car the first day but when we returned it the second night (the night everyone else got there) we just called for the shuttle. i don't think the Marriott has a shuttle but you might call them direct to find out or you may have to take a taxi.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

 

Ok, Thanks.

 

It's hard to know when we will have enough time to do the hike & still fit in with the tour departure from Aleyska.

 

At least I know RCCL don't offer it now, so I will try to find out what time we arrive in & depart Aleyska on our tour #12 to book it privately.

[Nana57]

Enjoying your review! Amazing pictures! We will be in Alaska in August for our RCI Cruisetour!

 

Have you been using bottled water to drink and/or using the water from the hotel also to drink?

 

What hotel did you stay in at Alyeska?

[am-mc]

I just have to say that I am addicted - I cant wait for your next post - I feel like we are with you on your vacation - but I really thank you for it - it is amazing how much information I am getting out of this review. I wish that there was more info from RCCL - I feel left in the dark by them about the cruisetour.

 

Thank you for sharing.

[Seagalpat]

A friend of ours who took the cruise portion picked up this guide on board ship. She highly recommends it.

"The Alaska Cruise Handbook" by Joe Upton. It is "a complete book and illustrated map set, with wonderful Alaska stories and information on ports, wildlife, native cultures, shore excursions, shopping." He wrote it as a "Mile by mile guide" for the cruise. I am really enjoying it especially because of all the back ground information it gives. Pictures are incredible. This is the 2005 version I have right now......will check if Amazon has it....but thought maybe other OCD readers might want to know about the guide and you might want to check it out once your aboard ship.

By the way we were on Radiance out of Tampa for Christmas cruise. It was a beautiful ship, great staff...this was just before it went down under for cruises.

 

Love your photos!

[cassamanda]

I am so enjoying your live review. You are going to love Radiance and won't want to get off in Vancouver.

As I mentioned before, we are on 29 Aug next year. I plan to have 7 days pre & post cruise for land tours. Currently I am looking into the Cruisetour option -v- doing our own.

A matching cruise tour is the 19 Night Ultimate Cruisetour Canadian Rockies & Alaska. Total cost based on a D2 is around $12,800. Starts in Fairbanks 23 Aug 2014. Does Denali (inc TWT), Talkeetna, Anchorage but not Aleyeska or overnight Seward. Not sure what the equivalent pre-cruise tour # is. Finishes with the equivalent of the #2CA tour (13 night Rockies) that has an overnight in Victoria and Vancouver prior to rail to Jasper (overnight), coach to Banff (overnight), Calgary (overnight). Then fly back to Vancouver (overnight own cost) before reboarding Radiance.

 

An alternative I am considering is the 5 day Windsong package of Best of Kenai Fjords NP as a pre cruise rather than going to Denali. This allows us to fly direct to Anchorage rather than Fairbanks via SEA from Australia.

 

Any thoughts? I know you will be busy exploring Radiance so I don't expect an immediate response.

 

We have never been to Alaska or the Rockies and it would be a very long time before returning.

Thanks in advance,

Hugh

[olemissreb]

When does the Northern Lights book come out for 2014 and what is the price of that one? Also wheredo you get it from?

 

I believe the Norther Lights book comes out late November for 2014. The website is alaskadiscountcoupons.com. At least that is what is in the book, but I don't remember it being that long. You can also just google "Northern Lights Coupon Book" and that should get you there.

 

Sorry it took so long for me to answer. I was at a swim camp with my youngest, who will probably be sporting a "boot" when we are in Alaska in 2 weeks since he fractured his metatarsal on his right foot! So much for swimming at swim camp! :)

Edited June 7, 2013 by olemissreb

[olemissreb]

Couple quick questions (while I still have them in mind):

 

Did you notice whether you could drive to the WAC to pick up your pre-paid tickets? We'll have a car and would love to be able to pick up our tix in between our rafting tour and our ATV tour.

 

Speaking of rafting - the booties that they gave you, do you think that they would cover an orthopedic "boot"? My youngest threw a monkey wrench into all my planning by fracturing the metatarsal on his right foot, so I'm having to make contingency plans to accommodate the boot he's currently wearing. Hope is he'll be in a regular shoe by then, but I'd rather have contingencies in place just in case!

 

Also - do they give you waterproof gloves? I've read that you should have them or your hands will get cold, but wasn't sure if we should buy them or whether they will give us some.

 

Great review so far! We leave in 13 days!

[BecciBoo]

Neoprene diving gloves are great for this and you can get those at a dive shop, but I'm taking my fleece gloves as well, if I have to, I can pull the neoprene over. But for on the ship, the fleece will work.

[olemissreb]

Neoprene diving gloves are great for this and you can get those at a dive shop, but I'm taking my fleece gloves as well, if I have to, I can pull the neoprene over. But for on the ship, the fleece will work.

 

Thanks for the info! Can I probably get them at REI also?

[BecciBoo]

That's a good bet. I bet you could pick them up downtown Vancouver as well.

 

Here you go:http://www.campmor.com/glacier-glove-perfect-curve-fleece-lined-neoprene-glove.shtml?source=CI&ci_sku=63483L&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw= SIZE]

Edited June 7, 2013 by BecciBoo