REVIEW: independent land tour and July 1st Vision of the Seas Southbound cruise

[OrangeCallaLily]

Warning, this is long! We spent one week pre-cruise doing an independent land tour, the second week we were on the July 1st Southbound Vision of the Seas cruise. Here is a link to my original itinerary . Link to photos (I still need to add comments). Let me know if you have any questions.

Saturday 6/25 – Anchorage to Talkeetna

 

We arrived in Anchorage on Saturday afternoon. We drove into the downtown area and stopped at the Downtown Saturday Market. The market had various arts & crafts vendors, food stands and live music. We strolled around admiring the local craftsmanship, had a bite to eat and enjoyed the music.

 

Onward to Talkeetna, about a 2.5 hour drive. We stayed the night at the Talkeetna Chalet B&B http://www.talkeetnachalet.com/ This is a great B&B: beautiful home, very nice owners (Rachel & Greg). We stayed in the Denali room, nice room with private bath. Rooms had great amenities: flat screen lcd tv, dvd player, vcr, sharper image alarm clock. Bath was beautiful with a nice sized Jacuzzi tub.

 

 

That evening we were pretty tired, but it was early so we went to town and ordered slices of pizza from Mountain High Pizza. The slices were OK, good enough to satisfy our hunger.

 

Sunday 6/26 – Talkeetna to Denali

 

Breakfast was wonderful! Salmon quiche, fruit salad, apple pancake, fresh juice, and coffee. We met some nice people who just returned from a Celebrity Cruise, they gave us some nice pointers on the ports.

 

 

After breakfast we hit to road and began our journey to Denali, the drive was around 3 – 4 hours with various stops along the way to stretch the legs and take in the beauty around you!

 

 

At 1:00, our bus into the park departed from the Train Depot. We had booked 2 nights at the end of the road in Kantishna at the Kantishna Roadhouse http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com. They have their own buses that take you into the park; Kantishna is the farthest point on the road approximately 90 miles in. There were only 11 of us on the bus to Kantishna. This was great; we had the freedom to look out both sides of the bus to see the wildlife. We saw: caribou, a grizzly, fox den + male fox, marmot, ground squirrel, some birds, and falcon.

 

 

Arrived at the roadhouse around 7:30pm, we headed straight for dinner. Flank steak, veggies, and baked potatoes. A yummy chocolate mousse and cheesecake dessert.

 

 

The roadhouse is wonderful. Tucked out in the middle of the National Park, in the new park. Kantishna is 1000 acres of private land. This used to be an old mining town. Our log cabin is simple, but all you need: bed, bath, somewhat like a motel room. The rest of the roadhouse is very top notch. Beautiful dining room overlooking some of the property and Moose Creek (folks can fly fish in the creek). There is a saloon called Smokey Joe’s Saloon, the bartender, John, is wonderful. He has a binder full of newspaper clippings with interesting articles about animals and the area.

 

 

Monday 6/27 – Kantishna in Denali

 

We awoke to a beautiful sunshiny day. We had breakfast in the lodge – buffet style. After breakfast we prepared for our moderate hike to Quigley Ridge. We left at 9:00am and headed to the trail head. Our guide was Karen from AWA (Alaskan Wildland Adventures), she was amazing. She is a botanist and was able to point out the various wildflowers and other plants along the trail. The first part of the hike was very steep, good thing Karen stopped often to talk about the plants – gave us a chance to catch our breath. J We had a very good view of Denali (Mt McKinley), a few clouds but still a nice view. When we reached the top of the Ridge we had lunch (packed lunch from the roadhouse: sandwich, chips, piece of fruit, granola bar, and juice). After lunch we headed back down to the roadhouse. We returned around 2:00. We showered and walked about taking some photos of the roadhouse, then headed to the saloon for an Alaskan beer. After a quick nap it was off to dinner: ham, basil carrots, yams, peach cobbler. After dinner we walked around the property: we saw the original roadhouse, the sled dogs, and then attempted to walk a trail near the creek, but the mosquitoes were too much. We headed to the lodge’s library for a presentation on the Horned Owl given by the Bird TLC (Treatment and Learning Center). It was a very educational presentation about owls, and specifically the horned owl. We met Gus, a 16 year old owl. He came to the center when he was 2; he was hit by a car. Small animals typically sleep along side the road at night (the road absorbs heat in the daytime), the owls hunt near the roads and are often victim to cars. He broke his elbow. He is able to fly, but not well enough to be released into the wild, so he is used as an educational bird. 40% of the birds are returned to wildlife, 40% die, and 20% are used as educational birds.

 

Tuesday 6/28 – Kantishna to Talkeetna

 

In place of taking the bus out of the park, we chose to fly out with a fly by Mt McKinley. Our flight was scheduled for 10:30am, but Kantishna Air http://www.katair.com/ asked if we could go at 8:30 due to weather conditions. There is a forest fire in the North and the smoke was really causing a haze over most of the park. We went early and I am SO glad we did. Our flight was amazing… most of the scenery was hazy due to the smoke, but in the higher altitude as we flew by Denali we had a GREAT view. We took some amazing pictures. The pilot commented how lucky we were b/c the smoke was rising to the higher altitudes; we could be some of the last people to get a good view of Denali this summer. Wow, we are lucky.

 

 

When we landed at the train depot, we headed to the visitor’s center. We watched a movie called Heartbeats of Denali, very nice. Afterwards we had lunch then took a hike and saw a moose and her babies in the lake. After that we went to the dog sled demo, which was very educational.

 

 

We then drove back to Talkeetna. We had dinner at Café Michele. Dinner was nice. The restaurant was way too warm, the power had gone out and they were running on a backup generator, they could not run the air. I ordered the soy ginger king salmon, it was tasty – the rice and broccoli that accompanied the dish were bland but ok. Michael ordered the Cajun halibut – it was good, but not great… same rice and broccoli. I think we are spoiled coming from a big city. I can easily see why this is a top notch restaurant in the town, but I was not all that impressed – especially for the price, $29 per entrée. We had dessert, a yummy cheesecake. The coffee was SUPER, best cup I have had thus far in Alaska. I would have had more, but it was so hot in the restaurant.

 

 

After dinner, we headed back to our B&B (same place as our previous night in Talkeetna, the Talkeetna Chalet). We decided to take a hot tub outside… it was humorous… we were submerged in the water up to our necks, and then we donned our mosquito head nets. LOL. It was funny.

 

 

Wednesday 6/29 - Talkeetna to Girdwood

 

Another wonderful breakfast from Rachel. We enjoyed banana and walnut stuffed French toast, bacon, and fruit salad. We met a nice couple who were heading to Denali, we were able to give them a few pointer.

 

 

After breakfast, we headed to Girdwood. Girdwood is about an hours drive south of Anchorage, traveling along the breathtaking Turnagain Arm; famous for its unusual bore tide. This drive has been voted one of the Top Ten Most Scenic Drives in America by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

 

 

We had lunch in Girdwood at Chair 5 http://www.chairfive.com/food.html This was a decent lunch. The atmosphere was great, a pub-like setting. The food was average. I had a halibut burger and the fish was overcooked and chewy.

 

After lunch we headed to Mt. Alyeska, a popular ski resort in the winter. We were scheduled to Paraglide down the mountain! Paragliding http://www.alyeskaresort.com/page.asp?intNodeID=11114 It was amazing. The weather was perfect, clam with a slight breeze. We took the tram up to the top of the mountain. We met the instructors who instructed us on the flight. We then headed to the side of the hill, geared up, and then started running down the hill. The wind immediately caught our chute and we were gliding through the air. WOW. It was such a smooth ride. I was able to steer, it was so easy. After a 15 minute flight time we landed in a nearby field. It was awesome.

 

 

Headed to our B&B (The Carriage House http://www.thecarriagehousebandb.com/) and checked in. Cute place, nice bright room. After check-in we went to the local laundromat to do a couple of loads. After laundry, we took the tram back up to MT Alyeska to take pictures and to walk around.

 

 

Our B&B is right across the street from the Double Musky http://www.doublemuskyinn.com/ After our tram up the Mt. we came back to our room to freshen up, and then we walked to dinner. YUM. We started with crab cakes (so tasty), I had the shrimp and sausage jambalaya, Michael had their famous peppered steak (voted as best steak in America by the Food Network). The food was delicious, the portions we super huge – we had tons of leftovers.

 

Thursday 6/30 – Girdwood to Anchorage

 

We started the morning off with a nice breakfast: spinach frittata, sausage, English muffins, coffee. We met a great family from Ohio, nice to talk with at breakfast. The hostess recommended a hiking trail that lead to a hand tram to cross a gorge. We decided to take that hike after breakfast. On our drive, I had to abruptly stop the car – there was a mother black bear with her two cubs crossing the gravel/dirt road. They were about 25 feet from our car! What an amazing opportunity to see a bear that close, but to be safe in the car. The Winner Creek Gorge Trail (http://www.alaska.com/activities/hiking/v-page3/story/4831728p-4776548c.html) started from The Crow Creek Mine and ended at Mt Alyeska Resort. The hike was very nice, with the exception of many mosquitoes. The hand tram was very cool; you pull yourself over a creek in a metal cart with the rushing water of Glacier creek over 100 feet below you. I had heard you can see salmon swimming up stream, but we were there too early in the season.

 

After the hike, we drove back to Anchorage, dropped our luggage off at the Hilton (http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=F2WR5EOTZZWLACSGBIV2VCQKIYFC5UUC?ctyhocn=ANCAHHH ) and returned our car to Avis. Note: You can pick your rental up at the airport and then return it at the downtown Anchorage Avis location for no additional charge. This was perfect, as the downtown Avis location was within walking distance of the Hilton, our hotel for the night.

 

 

We lunched on our Double Musky leftovers, took a walk to the local liquor store for mixers, we planned to buy vodka on board the ship. The liquor store is located on the corner near Captain Cook hotel.

 

 

We walked to The Ulu Factory Store http://www.theulufactory.com/shop_location/default.asp to purchase gifts for our family. We opted to have the Ulu knives shipped to our home; this allowed us to not have to worry about making room in our luggage and the ordeal of having knives in our luggage.

 

We went to the sky deck at the Hilton; they have a restaurant/bar on a patio at the top of the hotel. We enjoyed a few cocktails and a great view of the city. We were not very hungry for dinner, so all my research on great places to eat went unused – next time :p We opted to go to a local bar/pub called Rumrunners because they had outdoor seating. It was around 10:00pm and it was still light out! We enjoyed appetizers and Alaskan beer, the Alaskan Brewing Company Amber beer is wonderful!

 

 

Royal Caribbean was able to handle our luggage for us. We gave them our room number, they picked it up from our room at 8:00am loaded it on their charter busses and brought it to the ship.

 

Friday 7/1 – Anchorage to Seward

 

We returned our rental car in Anchorage because it would have cost us double to go with Hertz and drop off in Seward. I am so glad we did. We took the Alaskan Railroad (http://www.akrr.com/passenger/tt_may-sept.htm) from Anchorage to Seward.The train station was within walking distance from our hotel. The smartest thing we did was talk with the Royal Caribbean representative at the Hilton the previous night. RCCL has tour buses that transport cruise passengers from Anchorage to Seward. The RCCL representative told us that we could have the buses take our luggage to the ship for us. All we had to do was fill out the RCCL luggage tags, tag our luggage, and give her our room number. At 8:00 am, the bellmen from the Hilton would come and pick up all the tagged luggage from the rooms and place it on the bus, in Seward it would be taken to the ship. This was perfect, as we did not have to lug our luggage to the train station.

 

 

The train to Seward departed at 6:45am; they recommend you arrive an hour prior. You can arrive about 30 minutes prior and still have plenty of time to check in and board. The train ride was great, the scenery was amazing. We were a bit tired, but stayed awake most of the time. The train has a dining car and it is open to serve breakfast. We did not have breakfast on the train; we had grabbed some muffins and Starbucks coffee from the Hilton before we walked to the train.

 

 

We arrived in Seward at 11:05am. We had booked the Kenai Fjords National Park Tour through Alaska Heritage Tours; they had a bus waiting for us immediately after we exited the train. They drove us to the harbor where we paid for our tickets and boarded our boat. We took the 11:30 am to 5:30 pm – Kenai Fjords National Park Tour http://www.alaskaheritagetours.com/543.cfm It was AWESOME. Such a good recommendation from BudgetQueen! We saw Humpback whales, sea lions, porpoises, sea otters, and many varieties of birds). We cruised to Holgate Glacier, where we were able to experience the glacier calving. The gun shot and thunderous sounds you hear when watching a glacier calve are amazing. They served lunch on the boat; they offered fish or chicken strips and chips. Lunch was average, but it hit the spot.

 

 

The boat tour ended around 5:30pm. We walked from the small boat harbor to the beautiful Vision of the Seas. We went to our stateroom and found our luggage had already been delivered. We were unpacking when our stateroom attendant, Karen, stopped by to say hello. I requested 2 robes; she said then would be in our room when she did the turn down service that evening.

 

 

We freshened up, went to Schooner bar for a drink, and then off to the Muster Drill. Dinner that evening was at 8:45pm. I had the smoked fish tapenade, spinach salad, and Alaskan baked cod. The meal was wonderful. I was impressed; I found the food to be much better than the Western Caribbean cruise we took this past fall on Mariner of the Seas. Our tablemates were wonderful: Kevin and Rhonda from Texas, Jonathan from NY, and Rinat and Israeli diplomat working in NY. We were all around the same age, so it was very nice to have people to hang out with. After dinner, we all went to the Welcome Aboard Show (10:15pm) starring the comedy of Milt Abel. The show was good, the comedy was pretty funny. Off to bed, we were all pretty tired.

 

 

Saturday 7/2 - Cruising: Hubbard Glacier

 

Our plan was to go to the dining room for breakfast this morning, but we decided to sleep in so we missed the dining room service. We went to the Windjammer for the breakfast buffet. The buffet was decent. I like eggs for breakfast; the eggs in the Windjammer are not that great – typical buffet quality scrambled eggs. They had omelets, but they were precooked and sitting in a warmer – not good at all. I would have liked a make your own omelet station like the Mariner. I was impressed; they did have some healthier options, like turkey sausage.

 

 

After breakfast we explored the ship and then headed back to the room for a nap, we needed to recharge for the rest of the trip.

 

 

Around 2:00pm, we arrived at Hubbard Glacier. We headed to deck 5 and enjoyed the views of the beautiful glacier. Be sure to bundle up, it was windy and quite chilly. Great views, we were able to see huge chunks of the glacier fall into the water – amazing! The ship brings in native Tlingts to pilot the ship through the waters and to talk about the glacier and the bay, it was very informative. We were able to meet the natives in the Viking Crown Lounge. NOTE: We were told we would be viewing the glacier from 2 until approx 5:30, be aware that at 2:00 you are cruising toward the glacier – the ship stops in front of the glacier around 3:00 – for about an hour and a half, then we start the trip out of the bay. If you want to see the glacier up close, we sure to go before 4:00 – or you will miss out.

 

 

Tonight was the first formal night. We got ready and headed to the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception at 7:45pm in Some Enchanted Evening Lounge. We had our picture taken with Captain Kjetil Gjerstad. He is from Norway and has been with RCCL for 27 years. The reception was very nice; they kept the free champagne flowing! We headed from the reception to dinner. We had another person join our table this evening, Rebekka from Atlanta – she was here by herself trying out independent travel and celebrating her 31st birthday. I cannot remember what we had for dinner (too much champagne and wine), but whatever it was it was good. The entertainment for the evening (10:45pm) were the rock and roll hall of famers, The Coasters. They were GREAT, best show on the cruise. After the show we headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge for the 70’s Disco Inferno, we had a BLAST that night! We were definitely the youngest people on the ship. We hung out with our tablemates every night and closed down the bars almost every night.

 

 

Sunday 7/3 - Juneau

 

It was raining when we arrived in Juneau, so we decided to walk around town and have lunch first, then hike. We walked around town which was mostly shops. We went further into town to the Juneau Museum, small but good information on the town’s history.

 

 

We really enjoyed our lunch at the Twisted Fish Company http://juneaualaska.com/dining/twistedfish.shtml, located next to Mount Roberts Tramway in the Taku Smokeries Building at 550 South Franklin Street. We had halibut and salmon tacos and jalapeno halibut burgers – the burgers were amazing.

 

 

After lunch, we went back to the pier and purchased a bus ticket to Mendenhall Glacier. You can buy a ticket from the booth on the pier, $10 per person round trip. We were dropped off in the parking lot and it's a short walk to get to the visitor's center. We hiked the East Loop Trail http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/index.html (took about 2 hours). We really enjoyed the hike. It does not get you close to the Glacier, but it was beautiful and had some great views of the glacier. After the hike we stopped at Taku smokeries for a tasting… yum. Expensive to purchase, but free to taste.

 

 

We boarded the ship, showered and headed to the show, Boogie Wonderland. It was pretty good. Afterwards, we headed to dinner – We had 2 table mates join us (their flight was delayed and they missed the boat in Seward – terrible since they arranged all of their travel, including transfers through RCCL). Have I mentioned I love our table, not only do our tablemates rock, our server Aynur was AMAZING! Aynur is from Turkey, and she really was one of the best. That night she made us Turkish coffee for us to have with our dessert. Had the halibut for dinner, it was good – not great. Great news is we received invitations to dine with the Captain (the second in command) the next night. We all accepted, of course.

 

 

After dinner our table went to the country line dancing lessons in Some Enchanted Evening Lounge. We had so much fun! Once line dancing was over around midnight, we wanted to head up to the Viking Crown Lounge for DJ and dancing, but it was closed for a private party – BOO. We headed to a bar for a few appletinis and then to the casino.

 

 

Monday 7/4 - Skagway

 

 

The ship arrived in Skagway at 7am, we were not up that early. We were off the ship around 9am, we headed into town to watch the 4th of July parade – complete with old fashioned fire trucks and a bag pipers. We walked around town and later met up with some of our table mates for lunch at Skagway Fish Co. Enjoyed a pitcher of Alaskan Amber (YUM). Had fish and chips – ok, shared a halibut burger with my hubbie (not so good).

 

After lunch went to hike Lower Dewy Lake. (In Skagway, you can hike independently (pick up a trail map at the NPS Center downtown). Warning: The lower dewy lake trail is poorly marked. We were talking and walking and realized we had gone WAY out of our way. We were on a trail that did not loop back and we only had 1 hour and 15 min to get back to the ship (we had been hiking over 2 hours already). We raced back to the boat and boarded at 6:00 on the dot, the all aboard time!

 

 

Tonight was Dinner with Captain Ingar Neerland. Ingar is the second in command on the ship, he is much younger than the captain - more around the age of our table, likely why we were chosen to dine with him. At 8:00pm there was a special 4th of July celebration held in the Centrun. At 8:15pm we had champagne with the Captain at The Champagne Bar. After pre-dinner cocktails, we made our grand entrance in the dining room. Had our picture taken on the spiral staircase. The wine was flowing the entire dinner, we had great conversation. He brought along one of his First Officers. The food was very good; I had the seafood in pastry crust and the salmon. The dessert that evening rocked – some berry thing in an almond shell. Overall we had a great time with the Captain and his First Officer.

 

 

After way too much wine at dinner we all headed up to our favorite, the Viking Crown, for Latin Dancing. After hours of dancing, we headed to the casino.

 

 

Tuesday 7/5 – Icy Straight Point

 

 

We arrived in Icy Straight Point at 9am. We were on the second tender to shore. We met our tour guides in the parking lot at the dock; we booked an independent whale watching tour with G-Wind Charters: http://www.g-wind.com/whales.html. I am SO glad we booked with an independent boat. As we were walking to meet our tour guides, we passed the massive multi-level catamaran (holds 200 people). The boat had minimal outdoor deck space and all the windows were tinted. We drove with our tour guide down to the small boat dock. Our trip could accommodate up to 6 people, we were the only ones who signed up! G-Wind is a ma and pa operation, owned by Sean and his wife. They offer whale watching and fishing trips. Sean’s wife handed us a cooler with drinks and our lunch – we left the harbor with Sean as our captain and guide. Sean was wonderful to talk with, he shared so much information about the area, and the history of the area, the effect cruise ships has had on the area. He is a science teacher, so he knew his wildlife. We cruised out to Point Adolphous, about 1.5 hours from the small boat harbor. The scenery was amazing. When we arrived at the point, we were amongst around 20 humpback whales. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. We have to cut the motor because the whales were swimming all around the boat. You are supposed to remain 100 ft (or yards – I cannot remember) from the whales; however, if you are stopped and they swim past you – you are to keep the motor off and let them pass. We had one whale that was about 20 feet from the boat. We spend HOURS watching the whales. We finally had to call it a day, because we had to head back to the boat. That was the best thing about being with an independent tour, our captain Sean was not on a schedule – we were able to spend as much time was we wanted out there – our only constraint was getting back on time to board the ship.

 

 

We had a bit of time to spend at the dock before we had to board the ship, so we toured the salmon cannery. As we were on the dock about to board the tender to head back to the ship, we say the native Huna Tlingit Dancers singing and dancing on the shore – wishing us well on our journey. That was so cool.

 

 

I was pretty tired, so I took a long nap. Michael went to the show with singer Jacqui Michaels and comedian Tom Parks, he said it was ok. After my nap, we headed to dinner – I cannot remember what we had this night. That evening we went to the Quest game show. OH MY… it was a blast, I would highly recommend it. I will leave it at that, since I do not want to spoil the fun. Afterwards, guess… yes, Viking Crown and the casino.

 

 

Wednesday 7/6 - Ketchikan

 

This was probably the worst day of the cruise. We were only in port from 8am to 3pm, so we were up bright and early so we could explore before our Misty Fjords floatplane tour. Michael was not feeling well at all, he was running a slight fever. It was raining when we arrived in Ketchikan, the call it liquid sunshine – sorry, I do not buy it. It rains SO much there… they have a rain gauge showing their record rainfall, something crazy like over 13 ft per year!

 

We wanted to go to the Totem Bight State Historical Park http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/totembgh.htm, but we decided against it because of the rain. Instead we walked about town and along Creek Street. Creek Street once housed the red-light district; during prohibition it was the only place to buy booze. Jokesters call it “the only place where both salmon and men came up from the sea to spawn.” By 1946 more than 30 female boarding houses operated here. Prostitution was stopped in 1954, and the house of Dolly Arthur was eventually turned into the Dolly’s House Museum. Even with rain gear we our pants and shoes were soaked. We headed back to the ship to change clothes. Michael was feeling worse now. We wanted to cancel our Misty Fjords float plane, but we would lose our $400. We ended up doing the floatplane. It was beautiful, but I think out crappy morning took away from some of the trip (which I realize is our problem, just making note of it).

 

 

We boarded the ship, grabbed a bowl of soup and then napped until it was time to get ready for formal night. Michael definitely was under the weather, but he really wanted to go to the formal dinner – it was lobster night! We went to the “Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme” show before dinner, it was good. We did enjoy our dinner, the food was good. We did not do much afterwards, just headed to bed.

 

 

Thursday 7/7 – Cruising the Inside Passage

 

A nice relaxing day, Michael was feeling better; however, he was very stuffy. I was stuffy as well. We had breakfast in the dining room that morning. We were supposed to meet our dinner tablemates, but that night was the time change and they forgot to set their clocks. I had the highly recommended eggs benedict, it was very good.

 

 

We had spent the day lounging about. We played the jackpot bingo (jackpot was $7000), we did not win L We packed and placed our luggage outside our cabin.

 

 

The farewell show that night starring juggler Reid Belstock was GREAT! That night at dinner we celebrated Rebekka’s birthday. It was sad to have to say goodbye to our wonderful sever, Anyur – she definitely received extra tip from us.

 

 

We went to the late night adult comedy show starring Milt Abel, it was pretty bad. Afterwards we danced and then went to the casino. We partied late into the evening, enjoying our last evening together!

 

 

Friday 7/8 – Depart Ship, Vancouver

 

Disembarkation started at 8:00am. We met our tablemates for a farewell breakfast in the dining room. We were the last color tag; however, by 8:30am we were off the ship with luggage in hand! We took a shuttle to the Hyatt http://vancouver.hyatt.com/property/index.jhtml (booked on Priceline for $70). They had a room ready for us when we arrived; we were in our room by 9:15am. We decided to take a nap and then head to Stanley Park that afternoon.

 

 

After our nap we had lunch at The Keg, it was not very good. We then took the free bus to Stanley Park. We went to the aquarium, and then took the free trolley around the park. It is an amazing place, I wish we would have had more time to spend there; however, after 2 weeks of vacation and both of us having colds; it was good that we were about done with the trip – we were ready to head home. I will definitely go back to Vancouver!

 

 

That night we met two of our tablemates from the cruise for a sushi dinner, it was yummy. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called it a night, we had an early flight in the morning.

 

Saturday 7/9 – Fly Home

 

We flew back to Chicago first thing in the morning. It was good to be home. We had an amazing trip. We saw and experienced so many amazing things, and we met some wonderful people. Another great vacation!

[kaguilbeau]

Thanks for taking the time to post that! It's a "keeper" for sure!

 

I'm debating which itinerary and ship I'd like to do next summer - so I'll refer back to this one often!

 

Glad you had a nice trip.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your great review!!! I am in the early planning stages for a 2007 Alaskan cruise, and your review is very very helpful.

 

Just curious...how did you decide on Vision of the Seas?

[Cruisechick82]

Great review!

 

NancyIL, I am also doing early planning for (hopefully) 2007 cruise, probably on RCCL.

[RanDe]

Wonderful review!

 

Cruisechick and Nancy, I'm also in the first stages of planning an Alaskan cruise for the summer (August) of 2007. There are so many different things to consider and this is a hard one because I'm trying to surprise my DH with it for his 50th birthday in June 2007. I like the idea of doing a round trip to Seattle because I have a brother in Seattle that I'd like to visit, plus it seems less complicated to plan the trip.

 

De:)

 

P.S. Nancy, what part of Illinois are you from?

[NancyIL]

Wonderful review!

 

Cruisechick and Nancy, I'm also in the first stages of planning an Alaskan cruise for the summer (August) of 2007. There are so many different things to consider and this is a hard one because I'm trying to surprise my DH with it for his 50th birthday in June 2007. I like the idea of doing a round trip to Seattle because I have a brother in Seattle that I'd like to visit, plus it seems less complicated to plan the trip.

 

De:)

 

P.S. Nancy, what part of Illinois are you from?

 

Central IL! More specifically, Champaign. :)

[Wishfullracer]

We`re doing the north trip (Vancouver to Seward) on the Vision on Sept. 2nd. I know it would be opposite your trip, but I was wondering when you went through customs, and how many times. Flying to Vancouver from sunny, hot Flordia. Thanks for any info.

[RanDe]

Central IL! More specifically, Champaign. :)

 

We're practically neighbors! I live in East Peoria and work in Peoria.

 

I think that I've settled on a Alaskan cruise, just have to wait now until the 2007 schedule is available to book it. I'm going by the 2006 schedule, but am looking at an August 2007 cruise on the Serenade, round trip from Vancouver. From what I've read about in the reviews of this itinerary, it's a lot of what I'm looking for and not a bad price. I'm getting sooooo excited.....already!:eek:

 

De

[OrangeCallaLily]

Hello all! I disappeared for awhile... busy with work.

 

We settled on Vision of the Seas based on itinerary (we wanted a southbound cruise) and schedule (my dh had a certain period of time off). I really liked Vision, she was a beautiful mid-sized ship. We previously sailed on Mariner of the Seas, which was amazing. Too bad the Mariner does not sail in Alaska, but she is too big. :(

 

Since we were Southbound we only went through customs once, when we arrived in Vancouver. I am not sure what customs would be like for a northbound cruise. I would think you would just go through customs in the Vancouver airport, but I am not sure.

 

I am from Elgin, IL! I went to school in Champaign, so I am familiar with the town.

 

Let me know if you have more questions.