Alaska 2017

[Epinz300]

Does anyone have suggestions on Radiance of the Seas Alaska cruise? Northbound vs Southbound?

 

Looking into it for honeymoon this summer and just trying to decide what is best choice. Other cruise we are looking at is NCL Sun.

 

More so comparing ships, but also seems as if Royal visits one more port and stays at ports a little longer.

 

Any help would be awesome

[Clarea]

Just a personal preference, but I'd like to do the southbound, with the land portion at the beginning. That way I get the longer flight out of the way first and the relaxing cruise portion last.

[packercruising]

What Bob said. :) If you are doing a Land/Cruise, absolutely do the land portion first. We have only ever done southbound, however, in 2018 we are doing a 14 day round trip.

 

As for ships, we like both RCI and NCL, but Radiance is so much better than the Sun as to make it a no-brainer.

[island lady]

Another vote for southbound here. We did a week long land tour on our

own once we arrived in Anchorage (rented a car/did B&B in Talkeetna).

Was fantastic!

 

Then an overnight in Anchorage before taking the early train to Seward.

A few days in Seward for Salmon fishing, then boarded Radiance for a

relaxing trip back to Vancouver to catch our return leg of our round trip

home. Wonderful.

 

This last time....we skipped the land tour, and stayed on the ship in

Vancouver for a B2B and another train trip in Seward back to Anchorage.

Also heavenly! :)

[A&L_Ont]

A vote for south bound as well. Its nice to sail from the "wild" to the "wild of civilization". It also shortens the flight for your trip home. I always want to get home faster than get to the ship, if that makes sense.

 

Congrats for your upcoming wedding and honeymoon in 2017. Our first cruise was Alaska and it was our honeymoon too. I already had my one love - my wonder wife. I discovered my second love on our honeymoon - cruising. :D

[awestover89]

Another vote for Southbound, but that's just because we live in Anchorage :)

 

Definitely recommend taking the train for a large number of reasons. Can't speak about NCL vs Royal as we did the Radiance for both our Alaska cruises. The ports are great, there's a lot to see and do, and in my completely biased opinion Alaska and Anchorage is absolutely stunning.

[Psycho and Barb]

We are doing the north bound in June with the land tour afterwards...Guess we are just the opposite...Want to relax first on the cruise then enjoy Alaska

 

 

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[Freehike]

They're both great, but I prefer Southbound. For me it's more fun to fly in, explore and see the interior of Alaska then head south to finish things up and hop on the ship for a week of relaxation.

 

The Radiance is spectacular by the way. Still my favorite ship.

 

 

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[Psycho and Barb]

 

The Radiance is spectacular by the way. Still my favorite ship.

 

 

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The Radiance was the first ship we sailed on with RCCL out of Florida

 

 

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[packercruising]

They're both great, but I prefer Southbound. For me it's more fun to fly in, explore and see the interior of Alaska then head south to finish things up and hop on the ship for a week of relaxation.

 

The Radiance is spectacular by the way. Still my favorite ship.

 

 

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Radiance is our favorite also, but that could change once we sail Allure in Feb. :cool:

[mollyeilis]

I miss Radiance doing a r/t. That was our honeymoon cruise in '03. Sigh.

[NancyIL]

My first two Alaska cruises were northbound, followed by 9-day independent land trips. When you sail north, the amount of daylight increases - as does the "wow" factor.

 

I'll be on b2b Radiance Alaska cruises in May. The May 17 cruise is a 9-night northbound with a great itinerary: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/9NightAlaskaNorthernGlacierCruise-RD09A005?currencyCode=USD&sCruiseType=CO&sDateMin=2017-05-01&sDateMax=2017-05-31&crownAndAnchorSociety_memberId=314806565&loyaltyTier=D&sailDate=05%2F17%2F2017

[island lady]

Radiance is our favorite also, but that could change once we sail Allure in Feb. :cool:

 

One more vote for the Radiance class of ships. We love all four

sisters. :D

[packercruising]

We were on Serenade a couple years ago. What are the other two?

[awestover89]

We were on Serenade a couple years ago. What are the other two?

 

Radiance, Serenade, Jewel, and Brilliance. We've done two on Radiance, one on Jewel, and have Serenade booked for 2018

[island lady]

We have done all four, and have Serenade, Brilliance, and Jewel already

booked again. ;)

[packercruising]

So we still need to do Brilliance and Jewel. :)

[atanac]

If you live in the U.S. consider this. Flying into Vancouver will only require you to deal with Canadian Customs. If you

book the Northbound cruise you'll fly home from Anchorage where no customs clearance will be required.

On the Southbound voyage you'll need to clear both Canadian and U.S. Customs and unless you

have Nexus for Canada and TSA for the U.S. it can be a hassle. We almost missed a flight several years

ago due to the huge lines for Canadian customs. We decided to go through the procedure for Nexus and it

can still be long lines.

 

I'd book the Northbound cruise, then the scenic train from Seward to Anchorage. Have a quick lunch

in Anchorage and then taxi to the airport. The city itself is a big snore so I wouldn't waste to much time there.

[DisneyDatknee]

Southbound all the way. We spent the end of the trip in Vancouver for a couple of days, which was beautiful and relaxing. Really want to fly back there and spend a week in BC. The pier is right in downtown. I took a redeye home to ATL. I would skip on the Explorer of the Seas from Seattle. Hubbard Glacier was beautiful!! And IMO, the Radiance of the Seas is better for scenery based on the pictures of the NCL Sun. Those glass elevators facing the water are hard to beat!! Truly beautiful.

Edited December 24, 2016 by DisneyDatknee

[emeraldcity]

NORTH to Alaska, going north, the rush is on.

 

For our trip last year, I decided to buck the trend. For me, I'm all about the ship and I didn't want to be mentally rushing my way through the land portion to get to the ship. As a result, we traced the gold rush miners. We started in Vancouver and stayed at the vintage Victorian Hotel, built during the gold rush. Took a walking tour of Vancouver and visited Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and the Aquarium. Then we did the 7-day northbound cruise on the Radiance, followed by the 4-day cruisetour. Although we visited plenty of glaciers during our entire trip, there was only one with a visitor's center that focused on explaining the forces that create the glaciers ... and that was the first glacier in Juneau (northbound bonus!). Consequently, we had a deeper appreciation for the glaciers we visited throughout the rest of the trip.

 

Besides, when you sail north, you sail into Alaska. I've never sailed into a state. How cool is that?

 

As for the cruise part being more relaxing ... I guess that depends on how you schedule your day and we mixed up every day (both land and sea) with some down time and some mild-to-extreme activities (including zodiac boats in Ketchikan and white water rafting in Denali). Maybe if I was doing the driving, the land portion would be more tiring, but I found the bus ride very relaxing ... and the train even more so.

 

Read some reviews and get a sense of what others have done and try the experiences on for size to see if they fit you. I did a huge amount of research and I ended up being very satisfied with the plans we laid out. I've got a review out there, but I tend to be pretty detailed, so you may want to check out ones that are a bit more concise. :)

[aronde]

Also check out the times spent in each port as on our Radiance B2B last year they were different. Southbound for instance had a few more hours in Skagway so we had a more leisurely rental car drive to Emerald lake.

 

 

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[Epinz300]

NORTH to Alaska, going north, the rush is on.

 

 

 

For our trip last year, I decided to buck the trend. For me, I'm all about the ship and I didn't want to be mentally rushing my way through the land portion to get to the ship. As a result, we traced the gold rush miners. We started in Vancouver and stayed at the vintage Victorian Hotel, built during the gold rush. Took a walking tour of Vancouver and visited Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and the Aquarium. Then we did the 7-day northbound cruise on the Radiance, followed by the 4-day cruisetour. Although we visited plenty of glaciers during our entire trip, there was only one with a visitor's center that focused on explaining the forces that create the glaciers ... and that was the first glacier in Juneau (northbound bonus!). Consequently, we had a deeper appreciation for the glaciers we visited throughout the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

Besides, when you sail north, you sail into Alaska. I've never sailed into a state. How cool is that?

 

 

 

As for the cruise part being more relaxing ... I guess that depends on how you schedule your day and we mixed up every day (both land and sea) with some down time and some mild-to-extreme activities (including zodiac boats in Ketchikan and white water rafting in Denali). Maybe if I was doing the driving, the land portion would be more tiring, but I found the bus ride very relaxing ... and the train even more so.

 

 

 

Read some reviews and get a sense of what others have done and try the experiences on for size to see if they fit you. I did a huge amount of research and I ended up being very satisfied with the plans we laid out. I've got a review out there, but I tend to be pretty detailed, so you may want to check out ones that are a bit more concise. :)

 

 

See this is my main dilemma...

 

North vs south... either way im seeing alaska.

 

Cruisetour (before or after) vs. doing it all on our own

 

I think ive seen enough to know radiance is the way to go. Only reason considered ncl was the perks i could get with travel agent

 

 

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[chandom]

One thing to keep in mind.

 

On the land portion you are essentially living out of a suitcase. Each stop they will deliver your suitcase and pick it up. You can "tag" a bag to be held until the cruise, so it isn't delivered at each stop.

 

When I did Alaska in 2014 it was southbound with land tour starting off in Fairbanks (13 nights including cruise).

 

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Edited December 25, 2016 by chandom

[marci22]

Also check out the Alaska forums, there is a ton of information there.

[Epinz300]

So many choices, important decisions... ahhh!

 

Definitely want to see denali. We are nature enthusiasts

 

 

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