Planes, Train, Cars, Boats/Cruise ship, and a RV – June 26th - July 12th 2014

[JosieRhodes]

Wrapping up Ketchikan

 

 

When I re-read this review, realize I am extremely upbeat about AK, but hey it is genuine :D

 

One negative thing right now is that husband did go salmon fishing via a Royal Caribbean excursion in Ketchikan. He said at first he was apprehensive regarding this excursion, as he booked it last minute on this ship. He ended up having a great time. However, he decided to have some of the fish he caught processed and sent home. Credit card was billed at time, and still no fish have arrived here yet. If it doesn't get resolved, I am going to ask him for name of company to post here. He was REALLY looking forward to this fish arriving.

 

So, as I sat down to post my review for the last sea day and our one day in Vancouver, I had been reviewing my pics (thousands of them…) of trip and realized I didn’t even post some of my favorites so far, so here are a couple more as think I am trying to extend this review as once over... guess the vacation is really over :eek: For the first time, I took most of my pics as RAW & jpeg, so I will have quite the project in the fall to go through all of the RAW ones. I’ve never tried to edit RAW files before.

 

I don't think these pictures capture the true beauty and scale of AK, but hope gives people a general feel for what you see in some of these areas. Will probably take forever before I get around to making my typical Shutterfly book for this vacation - so many pic choice to make!

 

Driving along Glenn Highway - pretty much wanted to pull over every 5 seconds to soak in the view...

 

 

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

Glenn Highway and first view of Matanuska Glacier (will always be special as was first glacier ever saw and then actually walked on - super cool)

 

 

 

 

 

more from glacier hike with Nova - some of my favorites

 

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

Matanuska Glacier

 

 

 

This is what the boots/crampons that you borrow look like - highly recommend using theirs unless you have your own crampons, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train ride from Anchorage to Seward was also wonderful and so many amazing views - one right after the other...

 

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

from the train from Anchorage to Seward

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I highly recommend gold star service if considering it, as yep, it was expensive and certainly not a bargain, but I loved the open air deck for viewing. In this clip, we actually had it all to ourselves (though at times it could get VERY crowded but that didn't tend to last long - people moved around a lot) ps. yep I need to learn how to pan the camera more SLOWLY

 

[YOUTUBE]Ud-6EHM68ic[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

and one from one of our many stops on the Seward Highway near Anchorage, which we went up and down (via rental car) between Anchorage, Girdwood, and Whittier over two days:

 

[JosieRhodes]

Posting this to show how variable the weather was, it was really warm when we were in Seward...

 

 

Also in Seward - where I just sat for an hour or two, as tired from getting up so early for train, nice place to people watch

 

 

just like this one, not even sure what glacier..

 

 

 

Hubbard Glacier - the captain must of done at least two or three "donuts :D

[JosieRhodes]

So, on the last day at sea, I vowed to get in doing those things usually do on cruises with my kids… playing ping pong, miniature golf, and shuffleboard. We had not managed to do any of these yet. Radiance seemed to have only one shuffleboard near the arcade vs. having shuffleboards on the outside promenade deck. We played golf early, and the weather was so pleasant that I was in shorts most of the day. We finally got a chance to play ping pong and shuffleboard around midnight.

 

 

 

Wrapping up my thoughts about the Radiance and trip planning in general

 

 

This is according to my personal bias so just some opinions as "food for thought" as you plan your trips. I was always interested in hearing other opinions on these boards to give me different perspectives and things to think about while planning.

 

 

Booking this cruise

 

I usually just book things myself, and I did book this cruise as soon as Royal Caribbean opened it up. However, I did try something new (which made me a bit nervous at first) and used a web site to get “bids” from various travel agents. I reviewed them to see which ones didn’t have extra cancellation fees, called a few agents, and eventually switched my reservation to a travel agent to get a nice chunk of OBC and some other perks. I believe had thirty days to do this, per Royal’s rules on their site at the time booked this cruise - March 2013.

 

 

Organizing reservations/documenting schedule

 

This time around I used an iPad app for the first time called Triprider to organize the schedule and put reservation confirmations all in one place. This really made my life easier, especially with sharing the schedule with other family members, etc. I continue to use this app for future vacations of all sorts - land ones in near future.

 

 

Cabin & Balcony

 

We were in a port side D1 cabin on the side of the hump with a little bit bigger balcony than normal - Cabin 9076.

 

So, I never had a balcony before. I think I read every post on the Alaska forum on this subject, and went back and forth a lot, but finally, just fell back on the fact that always said that if we ever went to AK, would get a balcony. Because in the end, you just need to make a personal decision and go with it - easier said than done for me.

 

So post cruise, I can say that, for me, it was REALLY worth it. I would get a balcony again for AK, but probably could live without it for other cruises. The balcony was well protected, and wind never seemed to be an issue. I was running all over the ship a lot, but when in the cabin, I was usually on the balcony. Every morning we ordered coffee via room service, and the first cup of the day was drank while sitting on the balcony. And again, it was a very novel experience for me in general, as first time on any cruise that able to do this.

 

I also saw several threads about noise related to these cabins near the Centrum. This cabin is right by Centrum elevators and very close to the ship's library. For me, the pros outweighed the cons related to this cabin. The pros for me were the little bit bigger balcony which was private enough, the very convenient location (as I was always running back to exchange cameras, pick up something forgot, see if kids there), and loved being able to step outside and see what was going on in the Centrum, etc. Also, we loved being right by the library which had little tables/chairs outside of it. As, if we were all going somewhere together, whoever was ready first would say, hey, I'll wait for you at the library - which cut down on cabin congestion at times.

 

For the cons related to noise, shutting the door was good enough for me. Generally, this muffled sounds enough that it was low to no background noise for me personally. It was louder during the Centrum parties (i.e. 70s disco). I would definitely stay in this room again. I will mention that other members of my family said they were aware of the Centrum sounds all of the time, but it didn't seem to overly bother them. I mention this because if you want complete to nearly complete quiet, I would say this is NOT the cabin for you.

 

 

the Centrum from above:

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

We did spend a brief amount of time in Talkeeetna - wish could spend more time everywhere.

 

 

Wonder how many people have had their pic taken with this sign or taken a pic of this sign. - just can't resist:)

 

 

 

 

 

From the river bank at end of town:

 

 

 

 

 

Flying Squirrel resteraunt on outskirts of Talkeetna - think menu changes daily

 

Grilled cheese was interesting and tasty...

 

 

 

 

Talkeetna Camper Park:

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

Thanks so much for your review and pictures - they are great!

We don't leave until September and we are doing a private whale watching in the morning in Juneau and then if the weather is "decent", we have the 2 for 1 coupons from Northern Lights and will take the Mt Roberts Tram up and do some hiking. We hike LOTs in Colorado and think it would make for a nice afternoon, weather pending. How much time would you say we could spend up there on the trails? Patti

 

Ps. Thanks for the thank you too:). I really hope you can find the info looking for. I really could kick myself now for not getting an earlier start as Roberts Peak sounds interesting on a clear day.

[mapleleaves]

I don't have a photo of the Talkeetna sign, but I do have a photo of our RV at the Talkeetna Camper park !!

 

I think the other mandatory photo is of the day's catch hanging up at the docks in Seward, Homer, or Valdez.

[Ontario cruise duo]

We did the float plane with Island Wings in June and had Michelle as our pilot. You mentioned about sitting in the last seat of her plane and in order to be able to have that seat you must weigh no more than 180 lbs. My husband had the pleasure of the last seat on both legs of our flight. Only him, myself and one other passenger would have qualified for it due to its weight restriction. Obviously, that restriction was no problem for you either. I let him have it both times since he is the main photographer and he also mentioned the fact that at times the camera did pick up a glare. By the way, you have many beautiful pictures!

[JosieRhodes]

We did the float plane with Island Wings in June and had Michelle as our pilot. You mentioned about sitting in the last seat of her plane and in order to be able to have that seat you must weigh no more than 180 lbs. My husband had the pleasure of the last seat on both legs of our flight. Only him, myself and one other passenger would have qualified for it due to its weight restriction. Obviously, that restriction was no problem for you either. I let him have it both times since he is the main photographer and he also mentioned the fact that at times the camera did pick up a glare. By the way, you have many beautiful pictures!

 

Thanks. That's good to know. I remember giving our weights when made reservation with Island Wings.

[JosieRhodes]

Cabin & Balcony (continued)

 

One other thing to note about this cabin is that it was on the port (left) side of the ship for the southbound route. I picked this side based on reading this forum, plus seemed logical to put the cabin on the side between the ship and land. However, now that the cruise is over, I think I now agree with everyone who says it really doesn’t matter. Sure we saw great stuff from the balcony, but my unscientific observation was that could also see great stuff on the right side too. For example, on the last sea day, at times there were really beautiful views from the right side of the ship. (admit I never once really looked at the map to see our exact route). So, given some of the best views are found while walking around the ship, I think balcony cabins on either side of the ship would have been fine (for me) for those times when in the cabin.

 

One slightly annoying thing that just never figured out, and I never bothered to ask anyone as wasn't that big a deal was that I could not hear the Captain's announcements from inside the room. There was a dial for this near bathroom in cabin.

 

Finally, I am “direction challenged” at times and this sign helped me numerous times as we were in 9076:p

 

 

Radiance: general condition and lay-out

 

I thought the Radiance looked great, but I am somewhat oblivious to stuff not actively looking for. Both my daughter and I were happy to have the general impression that people were always cleaning something on the ship.

 

None of us got sick with anything on this vacation, and some of this I attribute to: that, for the first time, we actually wiped down (with anti bacterial wipes) the arm rests and trays on all of the airplanes bringing us to AK. My daughter and I had recently read an article on how “surface germs” cause the most illness related problems on planes. I also wiped down some of the stuff in cabin.

 

So, while the Radiance did not strike me as either “brand new” or “decrepit - on its last leg,” my husband did mention noticing some rust here or there, but again it did not impact the quality of our vacation.

 

The family still likes the freedom class lay-out the best. They did like the Radiance too - just a matter of degree and future preference. They prefer the internal promenade, the flow rider, and a higher rock wall (some of these things not applicable for AK cruise anyhow).

 

I surprisingly kinda fell in love with the radiance class. I had always wanted to do a radiance class ship, and even though I was on outside decks a lot, I REALLY enjoyed the ability to also see land/ocean when inside the ship - loved the glass elevators looking out. I liked the smaller venue for The Quest game, and I liked the size and "coziness" of the Aurora theater, compared to FOS's bigger auditorium.

 

Some of the relatively few pics I took on the ship:

 

by the spa - just liked them:

 

 

 

 

by Star quest (I think) - just thought cool and we took many pics of this:p:

 

[JosieRhodes]

So, surprisingly. even though I had spent a lot of time trying to find pics of cabin 9076's balcony, I forgot to take a really good pic of the actual balcony size/lay-out (oh well)

 

I could often be found like this:

 

 

view from balcony - think leaving Hubbard Glacier:

 

 

 

best pic of entire balcony from room:

 

 

 

 

Two favorite Radiance "wake" pics

 

 

leaving Icy Strait Point port:

 

 

 

on last day at sea:

 

 

 

was on bow of ship on numerous occasions - always interesting:

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

Dining/Food

 

Food is so subjective that going to pass on making a lot of comments about it. Maybe a cost-cutting trending across the fleet, but seemed to be less variety offered in Windjammer compared to our FOS cruise last year. That said, there were some things I liked so much that had over and over again. I probably had over a dozen ham and brie baguette sandwiches from the Park Cafe over during of the cruise. The sunflower seed granola bars offered for free in the Cafe Latitudes were also excellent, along with the Cafe Mochas ( which were not free)

 

Impatience is a personal character flaw of mine, but I did find service in the main dining room to be slow. Also, on our two previous Royal cruises, EOS, New England/Nova Scotia, 2008 and FOS, Western Caribbean, 2013, we somehow surprisingly ended up with the same waiter, Erwin Bogle (think he was also in training for promotion during 2013). He was so very excellent at his job that we were completely spoiled, and I am not sure anyone could live up to the service he provided on both those cruises.

 

 

Shows

 

Did not watch the productions shows, but felt the guest entertainment was great. We went to and really enjoyed all these shows. We saw Dean Austin (comedian), Al Ducharme (comedian), Greg London (comedian/singer impersonations) and Ron Lucas (comedian/ventriloquist).

 

 

Cruise Director/Captain

 

I usually don't pay attention to the CD on board and never remember their names. This really doesn't impact my vacation experience in general. However, for the first time, I will say I will always remember that our Alaska CD's name was Amy :). Husband will remember her outfit during 70s party when she dressed up as part of the Village People :) I did think she did a good job during The Quest game.

 

I thought Captain Goran was charming.

 

 

Spa

 

Think spa is outrageously expensive compared to rates at home, but I did have a hot stone massage due to having OBC to spend. I enjoyed it a lot.

 

 

Gym

 

I am limited in what I can do due to having past hip surgery and lingering issues with my left hip, but I enjoyed hanging out here with my daughter, while she did a much more strenuous work-out. Gym had great views out the front of the ship, and we often had it mostly to ourselves when squeezing in a visit at end of day. As always, it could be very crowded mid mornings.

 

 

Picture taking on the ship

 

Probably someone identified this as away to generate more income, but now they station people to take spontaneous pics as you enter the Windjammer for breakfast, etc. Not really a morning person, and sometimes I just wanted to go get more coffee, gulp down my breakfast as trying to make it off the ship for a tour, etc., and felt some photographers just would not take a polite no as an answer. And, I really cringed at how some of those pics came out - yuck.

 

The best family pics (everyone looking happy enough) that we got were actually when we boarded the ship, and we all happened to be in shorts.

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

Disembarkation was a breeze for us. One benefit of having older kids is that they help with all the luggage, etc.

 

Keeping the trend alive, we rented our last vehicle from Avis - a mini van this time. Surveyed the group as to whether they wanted to get out and walk around somewhere like Stanley Park or Capilano Suspension Bridge park first, and the answer was no. So, we did Plan B which involved some initial "scenic driving." The family often uses finger quotations when mentioning scenic driving as I find a way to fit it in to almost every vacation.

 

We took the Sea to Sky Highway toward Whistler with Shannon Falls being our initial destination. Great "scenic driving" if I do say so. Again, there is a lot of great hiking up this way, but we pretty much took it easy on our last vacation day.

 

Back in Vancouver, we stayed at the Holiday Inn (Richmond) which is near the airport as had a 6:15am flight out next day.

 

 

And, so this is the end of my review (husband is like are you still writing that...). Hope you enjoyed and happy to try to answer any questions on anything - though with only one trip to AK under my belt, there is a lot I don't know compared to many on this valuable cruise critic forum.

 

Happy travels to all!!!

 

 

Last morning - on way in to Vancouver port:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea to Sky Highway pics:

 

 

 

[JosieRhodes]

again Happy Travels to all

 

Shannon Falls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mollanjake]

Great boarding picture, I wasn't very good! So funny about the breakfast pictures, I only noticed that once and they had a cheesy character. I'd definitely say that royal needs to invest in better animal costumes or do away with them!

 

Wish we'd spent time in Vancouver, I guess we will just have to go there.

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[rajacks]

Thanks for all the great info! I am planning a trip for July 2015 with my son. We have been before, but did a ship-sponsored cruise tour. This time, we are doing pre-cruise land portion on our own, so I'm looking for ideas and this has helped a lot! :)

[JosieRhodes]

Thanks for all the great info! I am planning a trip for July 2015 with my son. We have been before, but did a ship-sponsored cruise tour. This time, we are doing pre-cruise land portion on our own, so I'm looking for ideas and this has helped a lot! :)

 

Thanks. I know my son really enjoyed the ziplining, kayaking, and going to dog kennel/ride - think would have liked sledding on a glacier too.

 

Ps. Hope u have a great time :-)

Edited July 28, 2014 by JosieRhodes

[JosieRhodes]

Think we did OK packing wise for this trip, but could have brought even a little less. This is my revised packing list for AK (based on what did wear/use) that I am filing for future use, in case we ever do another 1-2 week trip :) I would plan on doing some laundry during trip. I don't really consider myself a light packer either :o but this is just what I personal would probably end up taking for another trip.

 

Clothes

 

Marmot Precip Rain jacket (packable) -black (1)

 

Kohls Tek Gear "Warm" layer jacket-black (1)

 

LL Bean Gortex Rain pants (packable) -black (1)

(did not use but take up hardly any space/weight)

 

Eddie Bauer Travex Fleece lined technical pants-black (1)

 

Prana/EMS water resistant hiking pants (hiking)-black, grey (3)

(these type of pants are so much lighter than jeans, dry quick)

 

Dress black pants & two nice tops for formal nights

(brought a dress for this trip which never wore)

 

Shorts (2)

 

Base Layer long sleeved t-shirts- (4)

 

Fleece quarter zips-(2)

 

Short sleeved tops (3) (buy additional as souvenirs if required)

 

Work-out clothes for gym

 

Swimsuit/cover-up

 

Sleepwear, underwear, etc.

Nice sweats for plane rides

Socks including smartwool mountaineering socks

 

 

 

Key Accessories/Shoes

 

Travel power strip

 

Travel clothe lines/some inflatable hangers to help with hang drying

 

Sunglasses & Sunblock

 

Gloves & ear warmers

(brought an extra rain hat for this trip, didn't use as Marmot hood enough)

 

Ahnu black waterproof hiking boots

 

Waterproof/resistant (sprayed) black sneakers (can also use for work outs)

 

Black shoes can wear for formal nights (if went on a cruise vs. just land trip)

 

Packable day pack (used as “personal” item carry on for plane for items want to keep under seat)

 

Rain sleeves for cameras

 

Rain cover for day pack

 

 

Other plane carry-on is Northface backpack with laptop sleeve to put iPad in, pack all camera/camcorder related stuff, etc

[cgrist]

Great review Karen, and amazing pictures! It already seems like a long time ago since we were there. Would love to go back again soon, but there are so many other places we want to explore. Great meeting you and your family, if only in passing. Thanks again for the review. You included some great details that will help anyone planning an Alaska adventure.

 

Best wishes!

 

Candy

[JosieRhodes]

Great review Karen, and amazing pictures! It already seems like a long time ago since we were there. Would love to go back again soon, but there are so many other places we want to explore. Great meeting you and your family, if only in passing. Thanks again for the review. You included some great details that will help anyone planning an Alaska adventure.

 

Best wishes!

 

Candy

 

Thanks Candy. Nice meeting you too. Too bad about the meet and mingle mix up. Happy future vacation wherever you guys go :) Can't believe it is time to start shopping for kids school supplies already!

Edited July 31, 2014 by JosieRhodes

[AZnessa]

Fantastic review & info. I love that you included pics of Independence Mine/Hatcher Pass as we are considering a side trip to it on our drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna and possibly a hike to Gold Cord Lake.

 

Makes me even more excited. :-)

[JosieRhodes]

Fantastic review & info. I love that you included pics of Independence Mine/Hatcher Pass as we are considering a side trip to it on our drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna and possibly a hike to Gold Cord Lake.

 

Makes me even more excited. :-)

 

Thanks, and welcome to cruise critic. You will find a wealth of info on AK board. My Independence Mine pics couldn't fully capture it, but I kinda felt like at the bottom of a bowl... with mountains all around- very cool vibe there.

 

I watched this too when planning for that area....

 

http://castroller.com/podcasts/AlaskaHdtv/3277014

 

 

Karen

[TonyLon]

We'll be in Ketchikan in a couple of weeks and are also doing a Bear Watching flight seeing trip with IslandWings. (Although because we'll be well into late August by then it's to Traitors Cove rather than Anan)

My question is how much can you carry with you on the plane. I know backpacks aren't allowed but is a camera bag ok?

Loved your review and has made me even more excited about forthcoming trip. We have some days in Iceland and Vamcouver before we start NB cruise on 23rd, so very interested in your packing tips as will be doing that on Saturday. (We too are 4 in a cabin so need to be efficient with what we take!)

 

Tony