** Alaska - Radiance of the Seas - dept 29th May 2015 - with two children **

[reallyhooked]

Awesome pictures & review. Thanks for the memories

[flames]

I love the review and pictures but I am only on post 4:cool:

 

I will say something when I finish and Thank you;)

 

Carol:)

[EMED2010]

Wonderful review and beautiful pictures!! Thank you!!!

[~*Lou*~]

Sunday 7th June – Portage Glacier and Byron Glacier

 

We drove south along Seward Hwy to the Portage Glacier Access Rd (mile 79) and turned towards Whittier. We had a photo stop along the road when I spotted a glacier (Explorer Glacier I later found out) and got a fabulous photo with scenery mirrored in the still glacial lake in front of us.

 

We arrived at the Portage Glacier Day lodge to buy tickets for the Portage Glacier cruise (one hour) - we had a voucher printed from their website giving $5 per adult and $2.50 off per child. At the day lodge we also had a quick morning tea in their café – the cafe / gift shop has very limited food options, bagels, muffins, cookies, couple of soup & salad options, and hot & cold drinks fridge. Our daughter spotted a hummingbird outside the café window while we ate, tiny and with wings moving very very fast.

 

The cruise on Portage Lake to see Portage Glacier takes one hour. We were lucky with sun the whole time. There was a national parks guide on board doing the commentary and my older child was able to ask her questions. One of the crew used a fishing net to scoop a piece of ice out of the water (about the size of a football), this was then put in a fish tank on deck to show how only 10% of an iceberg is above the water-line and the rest is submerged.

 

As the food options were so limited at Portage Glacier Day Lodge café, after the cruise we drove back to Girdwood for lunch (The Bake Shop). If I had thought this through properly earlier we could have brought some lunch provisions from Safeway out of Seward and had a picnic, but I didn’t think of it in advance, hindsight is a wonderful thing. We then retuned to the Portage Glacier Access Rd and drove to the Bryon Glacier Trail. This 0.8 mile trail is very family friendly, and at the end of the trail, the children could climb on the head of the glacier and for the second day in row play in some snow (this snow was fairly dirty being the head of the glacier and I wouldn’t let them climb too far up to cleaner snow).

 

Aurora Grill at Alyeska Hotel for dinner (child-friendly, kids menu, colouring in provided) – they had an excellent crème brullee!

[~*Lou*~]

Scenic Seward Hwy

 

More scenery from Seward Hwy

 

Explorer Glacier – I only have a basic point & shoot camera, the glacier appears white in this photo but looked blue to us on the day

 

Explorer Glacier again

Edited June 17, 2015 by ~*Lou*~

[~*Lou*~]

Portage Glacier

 

Portage Glacier

 

Glacial ice in a fish tank (just 10% above the waterline)

 

Teaching my son to use binoculars

 

Trail to Byron Glacier

 

Arriving at Byron Glacier

[~*Lou*~]

Monday 8th June - Girdwood to Denali

 

Really long day in the car! We had mixed weather, some sun, some rain, mostly cloudy, not warm, ranging from about 6 – 12 deg C (low 40's to low 50's) across the day.

 

We left Girdwood at 8.45am (in hindsight we should have left earlier) and drove to the Reindeer Farm at Palmer. The children hand fed elk and reindeer, cuddled bunnies and saw dogs, horses, chickens, one wood bison and the farm cat. I think we were there bit over an hour, in the end the children would have happily stayed longer, we rushed them back to the car because we knew how far we had left to travel.

 

Lunch at Krazy Moose Subs in Wasilla (again, in hindsight we should have been further north by lunchtime) then down one block to Carrs for some more fruit and snacks for the car (and thinking ahead to Denali shuttle tomorrow). Again in hindsight I should have also grabbed a box of cereal, packet of long life milk and some plastic bowls for a quick breakfast before the shuttle, but I didn't think of that at the time!

 

Leavings Wasilla behind we kept going, stopping at Cubby's at the Talkeetna junction for petrol for the car, toilet stop and quick roadside snack. There is an IGA food market and a Subway there too. Back in the car, at mile 117 we spotted a moose on the roadside, our first large animal in the wild sighting. We then hit some of the summer construction work and it slowed us down quite a bit, took us an hour to get from mile 124 to 137 and more delays between 194-201 and again between 211-216.

 

Finally pulled into the Wilderness Access Centre in Denali NP at 6.45pm, just 15 mins before it closed, to buy our shuttle tickets for the next day day (I picked the 8am bus so we didn’t have too early a start). Then over to our hotel (Grande Denali Lodge) to check in.

 

We thought we'd head to Prospectors Pizzeria for a pizza dinner, but we arrived at Prospectors at 7.30pm to be told it was a 45-60 min wait. With 2 tired children this did not appeal, so we headed back to the hotel to their Alpenglow restaurant which was fine (and they had a children's menu).

 

Because Denali accommodation is quite pricey, I had the 4 of us sharing one room with just 2 double beds, no foldaway available, so we had one child and one adult per bed – it worked better than I expected. The reason we didn’t sleep well was not the bedding arrangements but the curtains were not that fabulous and when it is daylight 20 hrs a day, and not really actually dark the other 4 hours, that is why we didn’t sleep super well.

 

Tomorrow - Denali Shuttle

[~*Lou*~]

Feeding elk at the Reindeer Farm

 

Reindeer we are about to feed at the Reindeer Farm

 

Feeding reindeer

 

Construction on Parks Hwy

[~*Lou*~]

Tuesday 9th June - Denali NP

 

I admit before the start of the day I had a lot of doubts this was a great idea for us - the idea of 8 hrs on a bus with 2 young children sounded far fetched, especially after such long drive up the day before & having to drive straight back to Anchorage the next day, was I insane to put the family through it?

 

We woke to cold temps, lot of cold winds, but some sun & partly cloudy & at least the day was forecast to be dry.

 

I had our day packs loaded with lots of snacks, water bottles & we bought couple of sandwiches from the WAC as we boarded the 8am shuttle, & hidden at bottom of my bag was the iPad & tablet. I tried to keep open mind about how far we would get into the park.

 

Anna, our fabulous driver, was so cheery & had lots of interesting commentary. She encouraged us to yell “stop” whenever we saw animals. She encouraged us to eat on the bus, to use rubbish & recycling bins on the bus (minimise rubbish accidentally left behind from eating outside & avoid wildlife smelling or getting used to human food). She explained there would be regular rest stops but asked us to tell her if we needed the toilet in between, said there were lots of bushes along the way!

 

And we were off ... Mile 17 at end of paved section we saw 4 moose on the hillside. Denali was "out" - we got a full clear view (Anna gave us a photo stop).

At the Teklanika rest stop we had 10 mins (there were lots of unisex toilets to cater for multiple buses at one time, they were clean, well maintained, no running water, but plenty of hand sanitiser).

Back on the road, we saw 5 Dall Sheep on Cathedral Mountain. At Sable pass we saw 4 grizzly bears - 1 was solo, walking round then playing on patch of snow, digging the snow & then rolling over & over & a half-hearted attempt to chase a bird. Then a mother bear with 2 year old cubs appeared, walking down the ridge & then closer to road, we saw the cubs play fighting.

Further down the road we saw moose lying down on sunny hillside.

There was a photo stop at Polychrome Overlook.

We saw 3 caribou on creek bed.

Another caribou lying on sunny hillside.

Toklat river rest stop was 8 mins - more toilets, Alaskan geography tent, book & gift shop, I collected junior ranger books that we didn't have time to collect before boarding bus at WAC.

6 more caribou walking round & lying on sunny hillside.

Partly clouded sight Denali (another photo stop).

12 noon arrive Eielson visitors centre, we had a half-hour stop (toilets, running water, drinking fountains to refill water bottles). It did not feel like we'd been travelling 4 hrs.

Start of return trip children started to mention the word "bored."

Stopped counting caribou sightings on return trip.

Moose lying down.

More bears (probably same 3 we saw earlier, this time hiding in brush and not walking in the open).

WOLF! (only 48 wolves in the park not including puppies, only the 2nd wolf driver had seen this season) That gives us a "Grand Slam" - the big 5 animals (bear, wolf, moose, caribou & dall sheep) plus Denali was out!

More dall sheep.

Moose.

 

Driver talked a lot less on return trip & people were napping on the bus. Eielson to Toklat river rest stop was about 40 mins. 10 min rest stop. Toklat to Teklanika rest stop was one hour and a quarter. 10 min rest stop. Teklanika to WAC was one hour and a quarter.

 

Back at WAC at 4.15pm. We got straight in the car and drove back along the Park Road to the sled dogs, the kennels are open to 5pm, there is limited parking. We could walk round and see and talk to and pat a lot of adult dogs, and see into the pen with 8 two weeks old puppies sound asleep.

 

Not wanting to risk the same dinner debacle as the previous night, we went straight from the sled dogs to Prospectors Pizzeria, for an early dinner. Back to the hotel, put children to bed, did load of laundry (guest coin laundry, 8 x 25c for each load in the washing machine and same for the dryer).

 

I had read the Denali NP website thoroughly about the park shuttles, and the "Denali for kids" booklet you can download, it was very helpful. We took the children's booster seats from our rental car on the shuttle bus, I suspect we would have been able to board without them, but they were actually handy for getting the children to be a good height to see out the windows on the bus.

 

The return half of the trip was bit harder, with slightly bored children, but with the iPad and tablet to distract them toward the end, we made it. It didn't really feel like 8 hrs, the shuttle is a very different experience compared to 8 hrs in the family car for example, and I don't regret the effort we made.

 

Tomorrow - drive back to Anchorage.

[~*Lou*~]

Unfortunately our brand new, one month old, point & shoot camera stopped working after the Byron Glacier walk, I have no idea why (and the retailer has refunded us since we got home), but all photos from here on are taken with my iphone 4, which was a shame in Denali where the animals are much further away.

 

Park shuttle – note the booster seats we took from our rental car

 

Denali is out!

 

Grizzly bear playing on snow

 

Grizzly bear and 2 year old cubs

 

View from Polychrome Overlook

 

View from Polychrome Overlook

[~*Lou*~]

Caribou in Denali NP

 

Weather report at Eielson visitors centre

 

Partly cloud obscured Denali

 

View from Eielson visitors centre

 

View from Eielson visitors centre

 

The least appropriately attired person I saw all day – do not wear a dress and heels to a national park!

[~*Lou*~]

Wednesday 10th June - Denali to Anchorage

 

Started the day with breakfast at Black Bear Coffee House as we hadn't loved the hotel breakfast. Wish we'd know about Black Bear a day and half ago. It had the best coffee my husband had tasted since leaving Melbourne. We enjoyed the breakfast (cooked breakfast for my husband, house made bagel for my daughter, house made granola for my son and myself, hot chocolates for myself and the children, and coffee for my husband). They also had a variety of food to go, same prices as WAC but I'm sure would have being tastier, better value. Open 6am to 8pm daily.

 

Turned onto Parks Hwy, headed south, right on 8am. First stop mile 147 Veterans Memorial (stretch legs, quick snack, use toilets) then lunch at Roadhouse at Talkeetna, a quick stop at Fish Lake for a scenic photo, then continue south. At mile 57 we saw a moose & baby moose cross the road just ahead of us.

 

At 3.30pm we arrived at Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, we enjoyed (among others) river otters, harbour seals, polar bears, black bears (one sat right in front of us as if to say hello), 3 grizzly bear cubs at play (rescued just a month ago), an arctic fox (my daughter’s highlight of the trip), 6 wolves, lynx, and moose. We left after couple of hours, headed to dinner then hotel and bed.

 

Tomorrow - Anchorage then fly home.

[~*Lou*~]

Back Bear Coffee House sandwich board

 

More construction on Parks Hwy

 

Fish Lake near Talkeetna

 

Polar bear at Alaska Zoo

 

Black bear saying hello at Alaska Zoo

 

Black bear saying hello at Alaska Zoo

[~*Lou*~]

Black bear saying hello at Alaska Zoo

 

2 of the 3 grizzly bear cubs at Alaska Zoo

 

2 of the 3 grizzly bear cubs at Alaska Zoo

 

River otters at Alaska Zoo

[~*Lou*~]

Thursday 11th June - Anchorage to home.

 

Woke to drizzly rain but not actually cold. Think the day reached top of 16 deg C (60 deg F). We walked from our hotel to Snow City for breakfast, and we should have booked or gone earlier (they open at 7am). The wait was worth it, one of the best coffees my husband had had in Alaska and great food at good value, and child friendly (kids menu & colouring in).

 

Then we spent some time shopping at Anchorage's 5th Ave shopping centre (didn’t buy a lot, I got a shirt from A&F, hand cream from Body Shop, new runners, and a scarf from Gap) then we returned the rental car at the airport.

 

Anchorage is a busy airport, including lots of 747 cargo flights, I counted more than 10 in and out while we waited for our flight (our flight to YVR departed at 4.45pm). They have an observation deck, it's inside out of the weather but great view of planes in and out and taxiing round, and they have power points if you have devices to charge. Lots for the children to watch.

 

Beware Anchorage Airport has a few large animals in glass display cases around the terminal - polar bears, brown bears, deer, moose - be ready to explain taxidermy if you have young children with you!

 

The flight home was ANC to YVR, YVR to SYD and then SYD to MEL. 19 hours flying time plus transit time. But fortunately travelling east to west is easier than west to east, so overall we found the trip home easier than the trip over at the start of the holiday. Also the trip home departed in the evening, giving us a better shot of getting the children to sleep on the longest flight (one slept well, one sleep just a couple of hours). We arrived home in the middle of the day, which was easier to tolerate the jet lag and tiredness, we all had an early diner and into bed early and good night sleep in our own beds and felt fine the next day.

[~*Lou*~]

Taxidermy in Anchorage Airport just in case you haven’t seen enough wildlife

 

Observation Deck at Anchorage Airport

 

Final look at snow covered mountains and glacier from plane out of Anchorage Airport

 

Final look at snow covered mountains and glacier from plane out of Anchorage Airport

 

Aquarium at Vancouver Airport

Edited June 17, 2015 by ~*Lou*~

[~*Lou*~]

I had read lots of other trip reports and planed how to pack as light as possible, mindful that RCCL does not have self-serve coin laundries on board. We had 2 suitcases (not the largest size, I think they are about 96 litres) and each of us had a day pack (which was our hand luggage on the plane), I was pretty happy with how light we packed, in fact we still had a few things we didn’t need, and there wasn’t anything I regretted not packing from home.

 

Here is my packing list:

 

Each adult

Sleepwear

Waterproof jacket

2 x fleece jackets +++

Vest (fleece or light weight down)

Hats – sun hat & warm beanie

2 pairs shoes (waterproof spray one pair)

Gloves (and pashmina scarf)

Sunglasses

Long pants or jeans or track pants – 2 pairs

long-sleeve & short-sleeve tee-shirts/shirts (x3 ***)

underwear & socks – 7 pairs

swimwear (indoor pool on ship)

toiletries & makeup & sunscreen (share products with family as much as possible)

medications including prescription medication and seasickness remedies & seabands

iphone, ipad, tablet & chargers & powerpoint adaptors

International Driver's Permit & 4 Passports (including US visa)

travel documents/cruise/hotel reservations

USD and CAN cash (including USD $1's and $5's)

RACV card (AAA membership)

Post-it note pad & biro

Digital camera, including charger & extra memory cards

 

Each child:

One comfort toy & blankey

Sleepwear

Long sleeved tee x 5

Track pants x 4

Underwear & socks – 7 pairs

Waterproof jacket

2 fleece jackets & fleece vest +++

Sunhat & warm beanie & gloves

Swimwear (indoor pool on ship)

2 pairs shoes (waterproof spray one pair)

Bedtime story book

 

Activities & snacks for plane

Children's own headphones, lots of non-perishable snacks, empty water bottles (fill up after clearing security), colouring in & crayons, travel snakes & ladders set, storybook each, change of clothes in plastic bags (all 4), tissues, small packet anti bacterial disposable wipes(wipe down arm rest, tray table, and screen buttons on plane), hand sanitiser.

 

iPad & tablet - load up some episodes of current favourite children's tv & several favourite children's movies, also download two audio books suitable for children to ipod and iphone (very handy for the long drives)

 

Other:

Drink bottle x 4

Laundry pack (soap leaves for handwashing & universal basin plug)

Battery operated nightlight x 2

Binoculars

 

*** 3 tops per adult but at least 2 must be hand-washable and quick-drying (ie, technical fabric from outdoor retailer), anything not quick-drying must be able to be put in a clothes tumble dryer

+++ Could have travelled with just 1 fleece jacket per person, but spare was handy when one child was seasick, also any activities or tours involving animals, outer clothes can get smelly

 

 

 

Our cabin wardrobe had 21 wooden coat-hangers (yes I counted), plus narrow floor to roof shelves, and 6 drawers round the desk.

 

The bathroom - Hand held shower, shower curtain, retractable clothes line across shower stall. The only toiletries provided are “shampoo” in dispenser in the shower, and bars of soap and box of tissues. No other toiletries, no tiny bottles of anything.

 

Due to the excellent ventilation, clothes hand washed dried overnight in bathroom (retractable clothes line) or on coat-hangers hung in the cabin.

 

Laundry - see photo of the current price list, plus there was a $30 special bag on day 4. I decided to skip the special bag and only get couple of pairs of pants & track pants washed for the children from the normal price list, given what I had packed and what I could hand wash, and that I could do a proper load when we reach our first land accommodation after the cruise. I did have the children wear the same clothes 2 days running on the ship, no one noticed except me.

 

 

I still have all the Cruise Compasses and some menus to upload, might be a few days before I get to that.

[~*Lou*~]

MisterMom - I'm so pleased you're enjoying this review, your review from 2012 of your trip with Aunt Linda was one of the reviews I read in planning MY trip, all your details and photos were fabulous - thank you!

 

And big thank you to everyone else who has posted and is enjoying my review, hope it helps someone else in their planning too.

[js4rq]

What a wonderful cruise review! Glad you had a great time!

[deddans]

Great review. We are heading off tomorrow for our DIY land and then cruise on Radiance with our 12yo son, so great to hear the tips for families.

[lorenroxy]

Love love love the review. You mentioned the kids club...any advice on that? I will have a 9 and 4 year old.

[~*Lou*~]

Love love love the review. You mentioned the kids club...any advice on that? I will have a 9 and 4 year old.

 

What would you like to know - my children really enjoyed it. Being an Alaskan cruise with mostly an older demographic, there were not a lot of children on board so the kid's club was not crowded.

 

When I get the Cruise Compasses uploaded (in a few days) it lists all the kids club session times. Basically is available the whole time you are in port, and 9am-12pm, 2pm-5pm and 7pm-10pm on sea days. They serve no food, and have a water fountain available.

 

Ask me anything!

 

Lou :)

[~*Lou*~]

Swimming in Solarium (family hours were 10-12 and 2-4 each day)

 

Golf

 

Our cabin (internal quad share)

 

Cabin with curtains drawn – they do go all the way across, I just left a gap for the photo. The couch you can see part of was big enough for me to sit with my feet up and legs stretched out straight, or both my husband and I to sit there – the cabin was larger than my parents’ balcony cabin, because the internal cabin does not loose space to the balcony – my parents’ couch was definitely smaller.

 

Volume dial in cabin (under light switch to bathroom) – turn it down so early morning PA’s don’t wake everyone

 

This sign was on our cabin toilet about 3 days into the cruise- we never had any toilet issues but must have been problems else where on the ship – never noticed any public restrooms closed either

Edited June 18, 2015 by ~*Lou*~

[~*Lou*~]

The occasional bit of maintenance – I saw this while walking round on deck 12

 

Wardrobe in our cabin

 

Shelves in our wardrobe

 

Shower in our cabin

 

Basin in our cabin

 

Playing soccer

[~*Lou*~]

Departure Details

 

Depature Details

 

Drinks list

 

Drinks list

 

Drinks list

 

Drinks list