June Northbound Radiance with Denali (self done)

[Azfunseeker]

Can I just say WOW! We had such amazing weather for our cruise that I am really hesitant to ever do it again...afraid of disappointment.

 

We flew from Phoenix to Vancouver the day before the cruise so we could do some sight seeing. Low clouds in San Francisco gave us over an hour delay getting in and the shuttle to the hotel also took too long, so we didn't really get to start doing anything until after 5pm.

 

We stayed at the Quality Hotel South because of the free shuttle and free hot breakfast. No problems getting through customs or getting luggage, but it did take the shuttle twice as long as we were told to come and get us. The hotel is about 3 blocks from the train, which we made use of to go to the Waterfront stop and then walk a couple more blocks to get a bus to take us to Stanley Park. Living in the desert, but loving the green this was right up my alley! It is so beautiful. It was the beginning of the season though, so by the time we got there the horse drawn carriages and trolley were already closed. We didn't get to explore quite as much as I hoped, but it was really beautiful and peaceful. Ate at a great little brewhouse by the train stop and had Putine (yummy!).

 

The hotel was a good choice for us...totally budget minded as you will see if you continue reading. We booked all our own shore excursions and made use of a coupon book. If you are going this summer and are interested...we only used a few coupons and I would give you a good deal on coupon book. Message me your e-mail.

 

The next morning, we dropped off our luggage at the pier and then went up top to look around some. We did the Fly over Canada. It was great....beautiful. We were waiting for our travelling friends (first time cruisers) to arrive and get through the check in line. Getting on-board was quick and easy.

 

Our friends were really trying to save some funds so we booked inside cabins. 8527 and 8525. Close to the elevator and very adequate. On the positive side...being in an inside cabin on this cruise whenever we wanted to sleep it was actually really dark! For other cruises we love the window, but while I missed the view of the outside, having it be dark in the room when the sun never really sets was a perk.

 

I'll go into detail on ports and excursions we did but on the cruise as a whole, I would have these negatives (pretty petty actually). On our 7 night cruise we only had 3 towel animals. There were also only 2 musical production shows and the other options seemed really lacking. No piano bar, very little in the way of karaoke and it always started too late. Also...first time I saw "extra charge items" in the main dining room. I'm used to all the "specialty" dining options you have to pay for, but now they will sell you extra dinner options in the main dining and it seemed that the menu options suffered because of them even trying to "upsell" you there. We were on the My Time Dining and it isn't really a problem. I got an e-mail about a month before the cruise to make reservations. I did that, and then we never had to stand in line, just go to the head of the line. We got the same table every night, except 1 which was a huge error on their part and they bent backward to make up to us.

[Azfunseeker]

Leaving Vancouver is truly beautiful! It was the only night we had anything resembling a sunset. The following day was peaceful and relaxing as a sailing day. We attended the lecture from the Naturalist on board. He gave great info; we went to 3 of his 4 talks. My only comment was that he had such a relaxing voice I nodded off every time. I thought it was just me but all 4 of us had the same reaction.

 

We started seeing whales even that first afternoon/evening; mainly just blows and a few back humps, but exciting still! We also took some time that day to explore the ship and possible places to view the glacier from. The helipad is on deck 6, but you have to get to it from deck 5. It was so windy up there that day! Ultimately we chose to watch the glacier from deck 5, by the doors near the front elevators. It worked out really well...the ship does many "spins" around so we just kept going from one side of the ship to the other as it rotated. My husband also does a lot of walking after meals and he found deck 5 to be better than 12 because if offers some weather protection.

 

Day 3 we landed in Ketchikan and the place known for having over 202" of rain per year was dry, clear and very sunshiny! Most of the day was short sleeve weather with light jacket or long sleeve no jacket. We used our coupon book to do an excursion with Ketchikan Independent Tours...the 2 hour Nature Tour. There was no pre-cruise communication from them as to how to meet up, but we called when we got on land and they told us where to meet. We were the only 4 on the tour which was great and Jason (filling in for Justin) had great info to share on the area. Problem however...less than 1/2 hour into the tour the bus broke and we had to be taxi-driven back into town. Still waiting to hear about getting a refund. Would I recommend them....probably not. We went back on the ship for lunch then took a taxi to the Totem Poles. You don't need a tour to do totem poles...you can catch the regular bus (we just missed it and it only picked up once per hour). We did ride it back to town.

[cruiseguy1016]

Looking forward to your review. We'll be doing a southbound on Radiance next June. You mentioned no piano bar. Was there no piano in the Schooner Bar or was it just that no one was playing at the times you were in there? We love to hang out in the Schooner bar after the show and listen to the piano player. It would be disappointing if we couldn't do this on our Alaska cruise.

Edited June 24, 2016 by cruiseguy1016

[Azfunseeker]

We all really liked Icy Straight Point. It is just a small spot; they only let 1 ship in at a time. The walk off dock is really long, and quite steep (I'm guessing that depends on the tide) as we got in during low tide. We didn't do any excursions here, just walked around. The day started out really cold and windy, but ended up really nice and sunny. We walked from the port over to the Cannery museum area. There are a few little houses on the path and I just kept thinking about the view they had from their front window! The museum was pretty interesting and the shops were nice. I liked that they featured local artists. Being a crafter myself, I always appreciate the opportunity to meet local artists and support them. We saw whale blows from the shore. They do sell crab there, freshly caught, but pretty pricey. Not being a seafood lover has its perks here! We did the nature walk back and it was so pretty. It was the first place we could get a shot of the whole ship at once. Definitely worth doing.

 

The next day we were in Juneau and lucky enough to get 12 hours there. Based on recommends here we decided to do a Whale watch, glacier tour and also the Mt. Roberts Tramway. Our coupon book came in handy here. We did a combo Whale watch and glacier tour with Juneau Tours. It worked well...we did the whale watch first and then they had many shuttles from the glacier so we could spend as much time as we wanted. The day was perfect, the water so calm. I've been to Hawaii to whale watch but this was a bit more subdued. We did get to watch a mom/calf nursing for awhile. Pretty awesome, but not too much happening above water. A few tail spots and lots of blows, but no bubble feeding (which I was hoping for) also no Orcas (also on my list). The boat captain and naturalists were very knowledgeable. The glacier was great. I don't know why I thought we would be able to walk on Mendenhall from where we were. But, it was beautiful. We didn't see or hear any calving but the visitor center is very nice and the park rangers very helpful. We did about half the walk to nugget falls. I would highly recommend Juneau Tours.

 

We went back to the ship for lunch and one of the guys took a nap, the other some pool time. Us ladies went back into town and because the weather was so great we took the tram up the mountain. Very spectacular. It is really much more a ride up and down than anything else. You can go as many times as you like, you need to be lucky enough to be by a window. The view from the top is really quite spectacular. We did a little shopping, met up with the guys at Red Dog Saloon. The piano player was quite entertaining. It was a breath-taking day. I think I could live in Juneau (at least during the summers).

[Azfunseeker]

After reading many reviews and seeing some photos, Skagway was a port I was very excited to get to. We had rented a car with Avis (right around $150) and planned to drive to Emerald Lake. Because of our long day in Juneau we had a shorter day in Skagway and the full day Yukon tour wasn't an option (they didn't leave until 10:30am). But...plenty of time driving. We saw a bear walking down the road and such beautiful scenery, topped off by Emerald Lake. It was just magnificent. As the sunlight changed, so did the color. It has to be one of the prettiest lakes I've ever seen. We stopped at Caribou Crossing and did the museum. Of note, they have a huge piece of Jade there. The puppies were really cute, although I didn't get to hold them because it was nap time. Because of all the tours stopping there we decided to eat lunch in Carcross instead at the Sourdough Bakery. Yummy....right decision!

 

It was an early morning the next day as we headed into Glacier Bay. What a day! It was cloudless, sunny and very calm. It was just magnificent. We saw and heard lots of calving. I'm excited to see some of the photos of another cruiser who had a telephoto lens and am so thankful she is going to share them with me. We stayed on Deck 5, right by a set of doors so we could keep going back and forth from side to side to see more. It was just so amazing.

[Azfunseeker]

Here is a photo...it didn't upload last post.

[Azfunseeker]

Seward was really pretty...I'm bummed we didn't get to spend more time there. One of the coupons I was most looking forward to doing was the all day Fjords tour there. It didn't start until the next day. (Bummer!)

 

One of the main reasons for the coupon book was the buy 1/get 1 for the train to Anchorage, although from Seward you can't use it Fri.-Sun., but there was a bus coupon that worked fine. We grabbed an early bus and had time in Anchorage. We took the bus to the airport and picked up our rental car. Stayed at a delightful B&B called Alaska Frontier Gardens. The host, Rita, was a fantastic chef and such a gardener! She must have all green fingers and toes, not just thumbs. Spoken by one who lives in Arizona and has only the ability to kill things.

 

We did the trolley tour, which was very interesting and right across the street is a free museum that has several movies about the earthquake and area. It was really nice.

 

Ate dinner the first night, based on Rita's recommend, at Humpy's which was very good. The fish people were looking for halibut...I had one of the best ribeye's anywhere. We also did the Aurora Theater show and a second dinner 9different night) at Moose's Tooth (pizza and brewery).

 

We parted ways with our friends as we wanted to spend a few days in Denali.

[Azfunseeker]

Our days in Denali were the worst of our weather, but still very pleasant. The drive to Denali is quite scenic. Make sure to stop at all the lookout spots, you never know when Mt. Denali (formerly McKinley) will show itself to you. We had some rain and lots of clouds both of our driving days and the day we took our bus trip, but our first night there about 10pm the clouds lifted over the park and we drove in and got to see the whole top of Denali (and a moose!)

 

We stayed at Faith Hill Lodge. The owner, Mitchell, is a great cook and let us pack a lunch (for a charge) to take with us into the park. He is full of knowledge of the area. The location is beautiful, but know that the accommodations are very rustic. Everything in the area is really pricey. This was right about $150 a night, but was "iffy". I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you are good with very basic...meaning bed, door that didn't lock, no tv, bathtub didn't work, no storage, very "motel 6ish".

 

Ate one night at Black Diamond, excellent meatloaf and views. Next night we ate at 49th State Brewhouse. Excellent food, but a little noisier atmosphere.

 

We did the 8 hour shuttle bus trip into Denali. Our driver was Philip, who narrated the whole trip. (If you take the "narrated tour" you pay over $100 more). One of the best tips we got from the cc boards! We saw a moose with her calf, lots of caribou, a grizzly bear and some sheep as well as magpie and ravens. I'm not sure I would have made another 4 hours on the bus to get to the end of the road but glad we made the trip. You can get off and on this bus, but you are limited to getting back on one if it has space.

[Azfunseeker]

Looking forward to your review. We'll be doing a southbound on Radiance next June. You mentioned no piano bar. Was there no piano in the Schooner Bar or was it just that no one was playing at the times you were in there? We love to hang out in the Schooner bar after the show and listen to the piano player. It would be disappointing if we couldn't do this on our Alaska cruise.

There was a piano in Schooner, but not utilized very often. Nothing like the piano/bar you can typically find on other ships. We did hang out there frequently to watch scenery either before or after dinner. What happened the most there was the little trivia contest stuff.

[NancyIL]

After reading many reviews and seeing some photos, Skagway was a port I was very excited to get to. We had rented a car with Avis (right around $150) and planned to drive to Emerald Lake. Because of our long day in Juneau we had a shorter day in Skagway and the full day Yukon tour wasn't an option (they didn't leave until 10:30am). But...plenty of time driving. We saw a bear walking down the road and such beautiful scenery, topped off by Emerald Lake. It was just magnificent. As the sunlight changed, so did the color. It has to be one of the prettiest lakes I've ever seen. We stopped at Caribou Crossing and did the museum. Of note, they have a huge piece of Jade there. The puppies were really cute, although I didn't get to hold them because it was nap time. Because of all the tours stopping there we decided to eat lunch in Carcross instead at the Sourdough Bakery. Yummy....right decision!

 

It was an early morning the next day as we headed into Glacier Bay. What a day! It was cloudless, sunny and very calm. It was just magnificent. We saw and heard lots of calving. I'm excited to see some of the photos of another cruiser who had a telephoto lens and am so thankful she is going to share them with me. We stayed on Deck 5, right by a set of doors so we could keep going back and forth from side to side to see more. It was just so amazing.

 

Thank you for your review. I'm looking forward to my Radiance b2b cruises next May.

 

Unless things changed recently - Royal Caribbean doesn't go to Glacier Bay. I assume this is Hubbard Glacier.

Edited June 25, 2016 by NancyIL

[Coral]

Thank you for your review. I'm looking forward to my Radiance b2b cruises next May.

 

Unless things changed recently - Royal Caribbean doesn't go to Glacier Bay. I assume this is Hubbard Glacier.

 

Things haven't changed. They go to Hubbard Glacier.

[Azfunseeker]

Yes...absolutely right! Hubbard Glacier. Sorry. :)

[kpd21880]

 

One of the main reasons for the coupon book was the buy 1/get 1 for the train to Anchorage, although from Seward you can't use it Fri.-Sun., but there was a bus coupon that worked fine.

 

QUOTE]

 

 

Hi!! We are in the beginning stages of planning our Alaska 2017 cruise - our first time to AK. I'd love to know more about the coupon book - I know I can't use/buy the one you have, but can you tell me where you purchased it and what kinds of things it includes? Thanks for any info you can provide! We will be traveling as a family and any discounts would be very beneficial!!

 

 

 

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[Budget Queen]

QUOTE]

 

 

Hi!! We are in the beginning stages of planning our Alaska 2017 cruise - our first time to AK. I'd love to know more about the coupon book - I know I can't use/buy the one you have, but can you tell me where you purchased it and what kinds of things it includes? Thanks for any info you can provide! We will be traveling as a family and any discounts would be very beneficial!! "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just check out the offers of each online. There are 2 books, Toursaver and Northern Lights.

 

In my experience, the offers are no where what they were, and I find very little of value. I caution against, making plans based on coupon usage, planning your itinerary around them, and compromising. Especially, if it wastes valuable time with restrictions.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Budget Queen