Just got back from 1st Northbound Radiance OTS with Cruise tour

[4cats,1dog]

I was just on the First Northbound Radiance of the Seas with 4 Day cruise tour..May 16 - May 27

I am sorting 3000 pictures and I am starting a report, but if anyone has any questions... I would be happy to answer if I could.

Lynn

Edited May 29, 2014 by 4cats,1dog

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I was just on the First Northbound Radiance of the Seas with 4 Day cruise tour..May 16 - May 27

I am sorting 3000 pictures and I am starting a report, but if anyone has any questions... I would be happy to answer if I could.

Lynn

 

How was access to Hubbard Glacier? Did you get close?

Thanks, we are leaving on the northbound this friday! :)

Edited May 29, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[4cats,1dog]

How was access to Hubbard Glacier? Did you get close?

Thanks, we are leaving on the northbound this friday! :)

 

Looked really close.... Beautiful morning. Only one harbor seal. A handful of Calfing. Captain turned ship around 2 times. We arrived earlier then scheduled, around 8:00am. Good thing because on the way out, we ran right into thick fog.

 

Great weather the whole trip. Beware of long days...we were up at 4:00am with sun rise and it was still light at 11:30pm when we went to bed.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Looked really close.... Beautiful morning. Only one harbor seal. A handful of Calfing. Captain turned ship around 2 times. We arrived earlier then scheduled, around 8:00am. Good thing because on the way out, we ran right into thick fog.

 

Great weather the whole trip. Beware of long days...we were up at 4:00am with sun rise and it was still light at 11:30pm when we went to bed.

 

Thank you so much!! That's great info.

Edited May 29, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[mellapl]

I was just on the First Northbound Radiance of the Seas with 4 Day cruise tour..May 16 - May 27

I am sorting 3000 pictures and I am starting a report, but if anyone has any questions... I would be happy to answer if I could.

Lynn

 

Where did you stay on the cruise tour? How did you like it? Thanks

[brank813]

I was just on the First Northbound Radiance of the Seas with 4 Day cruise tour..May 16 - May 27

I am sorting 3000 pictures and I am starting a report, but if anyone has any questions... I would be happy to answer if I could.

Lynn

 

We're doing a northbound with the 4 day cruise tour at the end of June also. I'd love any info about the cruisetour, where you stayed, ate, what time you got places etc.

 

Thanks!!

[4cats,1dog]

We're doing a northbound with the 4 day cruise tour at the end of June also. I'd love any info about the cruisetour, where you stayed, ate, what time you got places etc.

 

Thanks!!

 

We went on the 3A tour- first we went to the Sealife Center and got to walk downtown/ back on bus to docks for lunch. ate at Rays- Seafood chowder was excellent.

 

Then about 2 hours on bus to Alyeska resort. Gorgeous 5 star hotel. Tram ride was amazing views. Snow on top of mountain.

THen took hotel free shuttle into town and had Pizza at Chair 5. Good Pizza.

We left Alyeska at 11:00am and drove 1 hour to Anchorage and we had two hours at the 4th street market (flea market). There was a halibut food stand that was in the back row- had the best food. A little pricey for a flea market.

 

We left at 2:00 with 2-1/2 hour ride to Talkeetna. Quirky little town.

We did the Flightseeing to Mt McKinley with Glacier landing. Very pricey- K2 Aviation. Awesome sites- we were the only ones to see Mt McKinley from air.

Worth the money. Especially if this is your only time in Alaska.

We got dropped off in town. We missed the last shuttle to hotel, but if you eat at Denali Brewing company they get you a free taxi,

Some people did the Jetboat tour an didn't like it.

We stayed at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. A little rustic, but still top notch hotel.

No safe in room.

 

Then we got on bus at 8:00am to Denali around 2-1/2 hours. We had lunch at the visitors center. Then did the upgrade Tundra Wilderness tour at 1:00 pm

We were done around 8:00 then that bus takes you to hotel. We saw lots of animals. All were on the left side of bus. Grizzly bears with baby, caribou, ptarmigan, moose, article squirrels, Dall sheep with babies.

 

We stayed at McKinley Alaskan Lodge.

Awesome views. No safe and no fridge in room. Shower with no tub.

Great restaurant. Take a walk - river and mt. View behind the hotel.

Nice decking -

Some people did puppy homestead- loved it- nice place-good stories.

Others did Atv tour- fun but dirty.

 

Got on dome train wilderness Express at noon to Anchorage. Loved the train.

We shared a lunch and had a nice dinner. (Request to eat dinner on first round so you can relax an maybe have an after dinner drink before arriving.

Arrived at 8:00 pm- went to Downtown Marriott. Typical Marriott. No safe.

Pricey breakfast buffet- but the best service we ever had.

 

Originally we were going to rent a car and go back toward Girdwood, but it was a yucky rainy day. We took the City Trolly tour $20 pp. Awesome tour. Saw moose and baby. Then we saw FREE movies about the Railroad, Earthquake, & Gold rush in the federal Building across the street from visitors center.

Our flight was at 9:30pm.

We had Patricia as a guide and Lou the Bus driver.

Hope this helped. I am finishing a review with pictures and will post soon.

 

Have a great time.

[4cats,1dog]

BTW. Friends we met on the ship went on 4a tour- 2 days in Denali and 2 Fairbanks.

The bus ride from Seward was 12 hours on a bus!

The 3a tour did 2-1/2 hour each day except the train day.

[brank813]

We went on the 3A tour- first we went to the Sealife Center and got to walk downtown/ back on bus to docks for lunch. ate at Rays- Seafood chowder was excellent.

 

Then about 2 hours on bus to Alyeska resort. Gorgeous 5 star hotel. Tram ride was amazing views. Snow on top of mountain.

THen took hotel free shuttle into town and had Pizza at Chair 5. Good Pizza.

We left Alyeska at 11:00am and drove 1 hour to Anchorage and we had two hours at the 4th street market (flea market). There was a halibut food stand that was in the back row- had the best food. A little pricey for a flea market.

 

We left at 2:00 with 2-1/2 hour ride to Talkeetna. Quirky little town.

We did the Flightseeing to Mt McKinley with Glacier landing. Very pricey- K2 Aviation. Awesome sites- we were the only ones to see Mt McKinley from air.

Worth the money. Especially if this is your only time in Alaska.

We got dropped off in town. We missed the last shuttle to hotel, but if you eat at Denali Brewing company they get you a free taxi,

Some people did the Jetboat tour an didn't like it.

We stayed at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. A little rustic, but still top notch hotel.

No safe in room.

 

Then we got on bus at 8:00am to Denali around 2-1/2 hours. We had lunch at the visitors center. Then did the upgrade Tundra Wilderness tour at 1:00 pm

We were done around 8:00 then that bus takes you to hotel. We saw lots of animals. All were on the left side of bus. Grizzly bears with baby, caribou, ptarmigan, moose, article squirrels, Dall sheep with babies.

 

We stayed at McKinley Alaskan Lodge.

Awesome views. No safe and no fridge in room. Shower with no tub.

Great restaurant. Take a walk - river and mt. View behind the hotel.

Nice decking -

Some people did puppy homestead- loved it- nice place-good stories.

Others did Atv tour- fun but dirty.

 

Got on dome train wilderness Express at noon to Anchorage. Loved the train.

We shared a lunch and had a nice dinner. (Request to eat dinner on first round so you can relax an maybe have an after dinner drink before arriving.

Arrived at 8:00 pm- went to Downtown Marriott. Typical Marriott. No safe.

Pricey breakfast buffet- but the best service we ever had.

 

Originally we were going to rent a car and go back toward Girdwood, but it was a yucky rainy day. We took the City Trolly tour $20 pp. Awesome tour. Saw moose and baby. Then we saw FREE movies about the Railroad, Earthquake, & Gold rush in the federal Building across the street from visitors center.

Our flight was at 9:30pm.

We had Patricia as a guide and Lou the Bus driver.

Hope this helped. I am finishing a review with pictures and will post soon.

 

Have a great time.

 

Thank you so much for all that information!!!! It will be so helpful to just have an idea of the way things will work. I'm getting more and more excited for our cruise

and the cruisetour. 3 1/2 weeks to go!

 

I can't wait to read your full review and pictures, it sounds like you had a wonderful time!

[mapleleaves]

A link to the blog ..... lots of great information and wonderful photos.

 

http://lclavette1.blogspot.com/2014/05/vancouver.html

[mapleleaves]

I meant to ask ..... what was the highlight of the trip for you? or top few if you prefer? :)

 

Also, what did you think of the train ride from Denali to Anchorage ?

Edited June 4, 2014 by mapleleaves

[4cats,1dog]

I meant to ask ..... what was the highlight of the trip for you? or top few if you prefer? :)

 

Also, what did you think of the train ride from Denali to Anchorage ?

 

I enjoyed every day! High lights were: having Suiite Perks on the Ship, Misty Bay Lodge whale watch, Taku Lodge with bears and flight seeing on float plane and glacier landing on Mt. McKinley.

Mendenhall Glacier was real cool. Emerald Lake in the Yukon should be a must see for everyone!

My DH didn't want to go to Alaska, but he is telling everyone what a great time he had and how CC helped me with great plans for excursions.

One check on my bucket List!

 

Train ride didn't seem like 8 hours. Loved the train. Beautiful sites. ( they messed up DH birthday dinner)

Note: be on the first for dinner list- otherwise you are rushed and there was nothing left on the menu.

Edited June 4, 2014 by 4cats,1dog

[brank813]

Thank you so much for posting your review!! I love reading them.

 

We are also doing the Misty Bay lodge whale watch in ISP, now I'm even more excited about it!

[reeb4]

High lights were: having Suiite Perks on the Ship, Misty Bay Lodge whale watch,

 

We are doing Misty Bay on 6/16... Can you give some insights into what we can expect... we are really looking froward to that particular adventure.

 

Thanks!

[4cats,1dog]

We are doing Misty Bay on 6/16... Can you give some insights into what we can expect... we are really looking froward to that particular adventure.

 

Thanks!

 

Hope picks you up in Misty Bay Van and takes you to the Marina. You board the boat with Captain Dan.

There were only 4 of us on this trip. They only take up to 6.

The cabin was warm. He had fresh made cookies. He has a cooler with water &soda. You can also make coffee or hot chocolate.

 

The back of the boat has a cover, if it rains. There is also an upper deck, but we didn't need to go up.

 

Captain Dan points out everything. He communicates with the other small boat captains to find the whales. We saw otters with babies. Lots of seals.

When we heard the first whale blow thru his hole- WOW.

Then we saw the cruise ship boat tour. They looked real cold.

 

We saw many humpback whales. A great Tail picture.

 

We went back to Misty Bay lodge for fresh homemade chowder and Alaskan beer.

We were able to walk around a little before They drove us back to the ship.

 

My DH has not stopped talking about this excursion. It was his favorite.

He didn't even want to go..

 

Check out my pictures on my blog.

 

http://lclavette1.blogspot.com/2014/05/vancouver.html

 

Have fun!

Edited June 8, 2014 by 4cats,1dog

[KirkNC]

Welcome home, hope you had a great time.

[4cats,1dog]

Welcome home, hope you had a great time.

 

Thanks- it was AWESOME! Thanks to people on Cruise Critic, I was able to make great decisions on excursions and we met some really good friends that we are planning another cruise with.

[starfish216]

OP thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the photos.

 

Getting so excited, we will be doing Cruisetour 1A next month.

 

We will be taking the Wilderness Express from Talkeetna to Anchorage, when facing forward is there one side of the train that has more scenic viewing vs seeing the side of a cliff?

 

Thanks

Edited June 11, 2014 by starfish216

[aquajon]

Excellent review and thanks for posting the blog

 

 

Sent from outerspace

[4cats,1dog]

OP thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the photos.

 

Getting so excited, we will be doing Cruisetour 1A next month.

 

We will be taking the Wilderness Express from Talkeetna to Anchorage, when facing forward is there one side of the train that has more scenic viewing vs seeing the side of a cliff?

 

Thanks

 

I would say both sides had great scenery. I think the right side was a little better. We didn't have a full car so, you can move around if you want. There is also an outside platform between cars.

 

If you are eating dinner on the train- request to be in the first group to go down.

They ran out of halibut and had only medium-well Prime rib left for the second group.

 

Have a great trip!!

[starfish216]

Thank you for responding.

[Lorey2007]

Hope picks you up in Misty Bay Van and takes you to the Marina. You board the boat with Captain Dan.

There were only 4 of us on this trip. They only take up to 6.

The cabin was warm. He had fresh made cookies. He has a cooler with water &soda. You can also make coffee or hot chocolate.

 

The back of the boat has a cover, if it rains. There is also an upper deck, but we didn't need to go up.

 

Captain Dan points out everything. He communicates with the other small boat captains to find the whales. We saw otters with babies. Lots of seals.

When we heard the first whale blow thru his hole- WOW.

Then we saw the cruise ship boat tour. They looked real cold.

 

We saw many humpback whales. A great Tail picture.

 

We went back to Misty Bay lodge for fresh homemade chowder and Alaskan beer.

We were able to walk around a little before They drove us back to the ship.

 

My DH has not stopped talking about this excursion. It was his favorite.

He didn't even want to go..

 

Check out my pictures on my blog.

 

http://lclavette1.blogspot.com/2014/05/vancouver.html

 

Have fun!

 

We'll be doing this same whale watching excursion with Misty Bay Lodge Sept 2. Thanks for the great photo's in your blog. I'm glad we decided against the ships whale watching excursion. Can you tell me if they have a restroom on the boat?

[4cats,1dog]

We'll be doing this same whale watching excursion with Misty Bay Lodge Sept 2. Thanks for the great photo's in your blog. I'm glad we decided against the ships whale watching excursion. Can you tell me if they have a restroom on the boat?

 

Yes there is a restroom on the boat. Lots of room to move around. The back of the boat outside has a roof over you for shield from rain or sun. They have an upper deck- but it got really cold out on the water with a little drizzle.

 

Captain Dan drove us back to the ship and hugged us all. We had a great time.

DH- still talking about it.

 

Have a great time.

[mapleleaves]

Giving this trip report a bump ( RCI cruisetour from Vanc). Lots of info of the ship, Lodges, bus, train. Plus photos from excursions :

Juneau - Mendenhall and 5 Glacier/Salmon Bake

Ketchikan - Wilderness Expl/Crab Feast

ISP - whale watching with Misty Bay

Skagway - 7 hr Chilkoot bus trip

 

Land .... Alyeska Resort/tram, Talkeetna flight seeing, Denali TWT

 

A link to the blog is on reply #10.

 

p.s. there are about 60 more trip reports in the STICKY at the top of the page

Edited May 17, 2015 by mapleleaves
ps

[merlib]

We are doing Misty Bay on 6/16... Can you give some insights into what we can expect... we are really looking froward to that particular adventure.

 

Thanks!

 

It looks like we are on the same trip :-). My DH booked this independent of the cruise line -- how about you? Can't wait for June 12th to get here so we can start our Alaskan adventure!!

 

MerLib