Radiance Southbound Pre-Cruise Tour Review - June 2017

[birdylady]

Please birdylady continue with your review even if getting pictures into it is too difficult. Many of us just want to know what your cruise was like! We are doing the same in 2018.

Kay

Sorry about that. I actually had posted yesterday, but the system wouldn't ever take it. And darn work (longest, worst 'shore excursion' ever) kept interfering. Sorry.

 

Here goes.

 

Anchorage - Thursday June 8 - The next morning we opted for the hotel breakfast buffet. It was $19 per person and included coffee, juice and all the rest of a good buffet including an omelette station. When we headed towards the bus we saw a white box truck they were loading all the luggage in. That was going to head straight to Seward while we went to the Alaskan Heritage Native Center. The employees were natives and they shared their culture, dancing and singing with us. We walked around and they had different homes, shelters and lodges with people inside sharing info about that particular lodge. They also had furs and different tools and other living items we could see and touch. There were also a number of local artists there selling their work and most were amazingly affordable. After the Heritage Center, we got on the road for a beautiful drive along the coast to Seward. We saw eagles and even a moose along the drive. There was one rest stop at a beautiful overlook.

 

 

Seward -

 

When we got to Seward, Carole again hopped off to get our room keys. A hotel rep got on to welcome us and tell us a little bit about the lodge. The bus then drove us to our building. All the buildings are 2-story. We were lucky as they upgraded us to a deluxe room, which included a balcony looking into the forest. All our luggage was waiting for us at our door. It made a short walk back to the lodge using the path in the woods.

 

At 6:30 that night, we went to the lodge to get on the 'Ididaride' bus. A couple minutes later we were there. We then went on a dog sled ride on wheels. Danny, our Ididride tour guide (grandson and son of previous winners), told us his group of pups are all young and dumb. But that's how they learn, lol. We saw some beautiful scenery and learned about the dogs and mushing. After we got back we could pet the dogs (only those that had just run). Then we got to meet and cuddle some puppies. The one I cuddled just 'purred' and kissed me. It was only 3 weeks old. Momma (Roxy) was such a good and trusting dog. One person’s pup ended up pooping on her. But heck, they're puppies, that's one of the main things they do. Afterwards they drove us back to the hotel. They had mentioned a gift shop, but we never saw it.

 

Hopefully this posts. Then I can try to post some pictures separately (in case they are what caused my problems yesterday).

Erika

[plus1cruiser]

I was getting a bit confused about where you were each day compared to our future itinerary. I realized we are scheduled for an overnight stop in Talkeetna at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (with washers!). We do not have an over night in Anchorage and it appears we stop there for a couple of afternoon hours for lunch. Did you stop at or stay in Talkeetna? Btw-Plus1 cruiser is me Martha!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[birdylady]

I was getting a bit confused about where you were each day compared to our future itinerary. I realized we are scheduled for an overnight stop in Talkeetna at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (with washers!). We do not have an over night in Anchorage and it appears we stop there for a couple of afternoon hours for lunch. Did you stop at or stay in Talkeetna? Btw-Plus1 cruiser is me Martha!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope. No Talkeetna. We sorta wanted it but based on our schedule, cost etc, we didn't chose that itinerary.

 

 

Also, in regards to washers, I can't speak for your hotel, but I can tell you the 2 hotels we did laundry at (only cause we didn't know the second hotel had it is why we did the first), they both had 2 washers and 2 dryers in their laundry rooms. The second hotel (Sophie's station) actually had 2 laundry rooms. So depending on who is there when, you may have to wait. And in both cases the washer ran for approx 25 minutes for the cost ($2) and the dryer ran for 45 minutes for the same cost. I was very happy about that as I was thinking the $2 for the dryer would have been 15 minute increments so that worked well.

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Let's see if these photos will post.

Entrance to the Heritage Center

 

Dancers

 

Totem Pole (I know, kinda obvious, LOL)

 

Whale skeleton

 

View across the lake with a fishing 'machine'

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Seward -

Friday, June 9 - morning we had a 10:30 luggage pull. This time we had to have our ship tags on all our luggage as the next time we would see it would be on the ship. We had to make sure we had our passports and set sail boarding passes with us and not in our luggage. We would not see our luggage until we were in our cabin later that day.

 

 

We then headed out at 10:30 for the Kenai Fjord Cruise. We had no idea what to expect but, like the river cruise, we very much enjoyed it. Our bus got loaded to one boat, along with a bus of folks that just got off Radiance. The other bus got loaded onto another boat also with Radiance disembarked passengers. This was a 6-hour sailing. They provided a box lunch which included a wrap sandwich, chips and a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie (which they gave us later in the trip). You could buy beverages either by the cup or a refillable souvenir cup.

 

 

How's this for something beautiful to pull up to?

 

 

We got to see some beautiful sites as well as sea lions, puffins, orca and humpback along with glaciers. We were all so excited to see bubble feeding a number of times right near the boat. On the way back, Carole had one of the crew take a group picture of everyone that had been on her bus for the week and emailed it to whoever gave her their email address.

 

This was used for processing coal.

 

 

 

 

Once we returned to port we had to wait about 20 minutes before our bus could pull up to pick us up. Then he got blocked in. But our driver (Mark, did I say that already?) was smart. He called in that he was on his way so when the other buses pulled out, he had priority to get us to the ship. The other 3 buses had to circle. This was an amazingly fast on boarding process. The only thing that took more than a minute per process was getting our pictures taken (which was done on the ship as you boarded). Then onto the ship. They had us funneled through the Centrum before we could

'break free'. We then went to our cabin to find our luggage and we quickly dropped our stuff.

 

 

We then went straight to MDR to check out our table. It was a little past 6 by now and we couldn't be seated due to the 7:30 muster time and venues shut down at 7. So... up to the Windjammer we went. Let me start by saying we had THE BEST hamburger we've ever had on any ship. They classified it as gourmet burgers and I am fine with that. It was a real burger and it was grilled, not fried. Absolutely delicious. The rest of the meal was good too. Radiance does not have the freestyle machines, but it was nice they had soda fountains in WJ. After dinner we walked through the casino to check it out. Not a bad size for the ship, but sadly the machines were all older ones, and many the duplicates that were the same, but different name/game types. The craps table was not a full size either.

 

We then went to muster. There were muster stations out on deck, but many were inside and we were happy that ours was in the theater. After muster, we went up to the diamond lounge but as the servers weren't back from muster yet we had to go to VCL (aka Starquest) to get our first drink of the trip. And that was ok. The rest of the week the servers, Peter, Francisco and Midnon, took excellent care of us (and all the other guests from what I saw). We eventually went to the welcome aboard show which was with RCI singers and dancers. Our CD was Steve Davis. He was very nice and as we got to find out during the week very friendly and personable.

 

More to come.

Erika

[slotmomma3]

Can you tell me which night was lobster night???

[birdylady]

Can you tell me which night was lobster night???

Lobster night was on Wednesday (Ketchikan). And it was 'lobster' not a seafood platter.

 

 

Erika

[slotmomma3]

Lobster night was on Wednesday (Ketchikan). And it was 'lobster' not a seafood platter.

 

 

Erika

 

Thanks so much!!!

[birdylady]

Thanks so much!!!

You are more than welcome. And in re-reading I realized that may not have been clear. When I said lobster, I did mean cold water lobster tail, not the whole thing. but our servers did bring extras when we asked. :D

 

 

Erika

[gottogocruisin]

Thanks Erica for continuing. It definitely helps all of us who are booked in the future with the land and the cruise southbound.

Kay

[reallyitsmema]

We have a cruisetour booked for May 2018 and when booking, they give you very little information. Did you receive hotel information and daily schedule information a few months prior to departing? When did you find out your hotel for Fairbanks? I had read that they use three different hotels in Fairbanks, so just trying to get an idea as to when you received some information as we are going to arrive at least one day early and would possibly book the same hotel we are assigned for the cruisetour. We are doing 4B, not 6B like you did, but appreciate any information you have as there isn't much out there.:)

[birdylady]

We have a cruisetour booked for May 2018 and when booking, they give you very little information. Did you receive hotel information and daily schedule information a few months prior to departing? When did you find out your hotel for Fairbanks? I had read that they use three different hotels in Fairbanks, so just trying to get an idea as to when you received some information as we are going to arrive at least one day early and would possibly book the same hotel we are assigned for the cruisetour. We are doing 4B, not 6B like you did, but appreciate any information you have as there isn't much out there.:)

I emailed my TA in March to ask about the hotels. That's when I found out which hotels. By then the cost to switch the first night (we came in early due to flight times), the cost was higher than what I had booked. I would say, if you know the 3 hotels (we stayed at Sophie Station in Fairbanks), you can always make a reservation that you could cancel without fee for all 3. Then when you find out which hotel, you can cancel the other 2. I will say, Sophie Station was very conveniently located to some stores should you need anything.

 

As far as daily schedules, we didn't get them (short of knowing which day was which town) until the day we checked in with our tour guide Carole.

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Erika

[birdylady]

Saturday June 10 - The next morning we had our sea day which included the Hubbard glacier. But first we had our meet and mingle at 10:30 at the Starquest Lounge. Margot, the activities director, hosted it and she had a few gifts to raffle off such as hats, backpacks and bottles of champagne. It was nice to get to meet some of the folks we've been chatting with for the past year. Unfortunately, Margot didn’t make a point of letting everyone introduce themselves. Only those that won things introduced themselves. We then went to the slot pull jeffkoz coordinated. We had fun and even walked away with more than twice what we entered with. That was a first. Thanx Jeff. From there we went to MDR to have lunch with some folks from our M&M. We had a nice lunch and great conversation and just about closed the MDR.

 

After lunch, we went back to our cabin so we could enjoy sailing into the fjord. The captain got us nice and close, which probably wasn't an easy task with all the ice flows. We were lucky as it was a beautiful out and we got to see, and hear, numerous calvings. The captain turned the ship so folks on the starboard side could see as well.

 

This evening we went to dinner (the first formal night) to find we were on a 4-top. Normally we prefer a large table but since the last Alaskan sailing we switched and it didn't work out so well, we stuck with this. As it turned out the other couple were folks from our bus tour. We enjoyed dining with them, sadly none of us were very impressed with our servers. So much so that our dining companions only came back for the second formal night (aka, lobster night). This evening we went to the casino to make our donation. We also went to the evening show which was ‘The Piano Man’ with the RCI singers and dancers.

 

 

Erika

[reallyitsmema]

Thank you, just reading what you have posted so far has been very helpful. I have seen northbound Radiance reviews for this year but yours and cruiseguy's DIY land tour are the first southbound for the season.

[Guest Nellsmom58]

Nice review, Erika! [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[birdylady]

Some pics from the solarium

 

 

the MDR

And one of the glacier.

 

 

Tomorrow - Juneau.

Erika

[birdylady]

Juneau -

Sunday June 11 - We had reservations for the float plan to Taku glacier lodge We booked way back in July 2016 directly with Wings Airways. We had an 11am departure (with a 10:30 check in) so our meal was lunch. OMG! The whole excursion was amazing. We got to fly over 5 glaciers and land at the lodge. Then we got to walk around before they served a grilled salmon (chicken for me, lol) lunch. The food and service was excellent.

 

We were also lucky as we got to see some of the local bears. There was a mom laying in a tree with one cub in another. Then the grandmother came sauntering up to help herself to the salmon drippings in the grill. Then after lunch we got a tour through the woods with one of the employees (bears had left by then). The forest and all the plants and flowers were beautiful. We had a little more free time before the planes came back with the next group of visitors so we could head back. The rain held out until then and the rest of the day was drizzly. We just wandered the town and headed back to the ship. We did the MDR again and dined alone. MDR was more than half empty, but it was a late departure (9pm) so no surprise there.

 

 

We took another picture, but I'll spare you. Just suffice to say, no, bears, don't always ' in the woods'. LOL

 

The entertainment was Wilde & James. They are juggling comedians. They were actually very entertaining. They also performed during the afternoon on the last day of the cruise.

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Monday June 12 – Today we were in Skagway. We had booked a tour with Dyea Dave for the Emerald Lake tour. This was a bus (small tour bus) ride up to the Yukon. There were 18 others on the bus with us (some we knew from our M&M). The driver, Craig, was excellent. We got to see some beautiful scenery (including the WYP train) along with bears. We also got to learn about the area and see things we never knew existed (like the desert in the Yukon!). We also got to stop at a dog sled camp. That was a nice surprise as we got to handle puppies (who doesn't love that?). There were also a number of beautiful waterfalls (I'm starting to feel like I'm saying beautiful every sentence, but even that is an understatement, LOL). We stopped at a local place in Caracross for lunch on the way back and then stopped to let some folks take the train back from Canada. We got off in town and shopped as we walked back to the ship. It was pretty windy so it made it for an extra chilly walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight they didn’t have any entertainers in the main theater. Instead they played the movie Beauty & the Beast. Then afterwards they had Love and Marriage. It was good, but not the best we’ve seen.

 

 

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Tuesday June 13 - Next stop, Icy Straight Point, aka Hoonah. This is a very small, man-made port. When you first pull up to the dock, all you see is one building. Once you go through that there are a few more. We booked a whale watch with Glacier Winds. Teresa picked us up and drove us to the boat. Six of us went with her husband, Captain Shawn, and the other 6 folks went with her son. It was a drizzly day and the whales weren't all to active, but if there was one to be seen, the captain spotted it for us. We did see one humpback that kept slapping his tail but as we got closer (not too close) the whale got shy. We did see eagles, otters and sea lions along with some other birds. When we came back, Teresa offered to drive us back or we could wander around and call her when we wanted a ride back. As there really wasn't much to see, we opted to go back. There are some shops (and no TI, DI, Del-Sol or any of those, yeah) and we shopped a bit and headed back to the ship.

 

 

We did see some eagles as soon as we got off the ship.

 

Today we went to the casino and they were just opening, later than posted. I was losing on one game, went to cash out and the machine had a fit. It just kept ringing (as if it were paying out, but it wasn't.). They had to hand pay me (only $12.50) and, as it turned out, there was a systems problem and they had to pay everyone else. It got so bad they finally walked around with the cashier, drawer in hand to take care of everyone. They actually shut down all the slots. Tables were still open. They opened up again later, but I suspect they lost a huge amount with that IT problem. I know some people were really pissed off. Just a note, but this is the first cruise I never even hit the minimum of 250 points in slots (not that I’m a huge player). And now for those that don’t know, you can’t even cash your points in for key rings and t-shirts. Supposedly only for some free play (250 points= $5) and money off cruises (many more points than that).

 

 

Tonight was the 2nd formal night. Our dining companions joined us and we had a 3 lobster tails. It was nice as it didn't come with the shrimp this time. But as in other nights the service was intermittent at best. One tail didn't come with butter. The assistant waiter offered butter for the second but it was an odd orange like sauce. The AW offered butter for the third and it was drawn butter this time. And we noticed the table next to us (different waiter team, who were excellent), got ramekins with drawn butter for their tails. One other item, we noticed on some nights that table had the small poppy seed rolls. We were never offered them. We did finally ask and the server was able to find us some. Another issue we had was wrong drinks served and then no refills. When the head waiter came by to see how we were doing, we brought it to his attention. He himself went to get the pitcher to refill the water and tea. He also got the server to finally bring the drink we had asked for (soda, nothing difficult). We commented how it appeared the waiter was doing most of the work and that we didn't see the AW much after the beginning. He told us that they have just changed how the service do their jobs. Where the AW used to do drinks, bread, providing sauces and clearing the tables, they now just 'run for the food' and the waiter does everything else. Hmmmm. We thought odd as that's not what we saw either. Sooo, either they are trying to work out the kinks, the servers don't know what they are supposed to be doing or the head waiter wasn't speaking the truth. Any way you look at it, we still were extremely unimpressed with our MDR servers.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was comedian and singing impersonator Jonathan Clark. He was actually very good. Then the 70’s dance party. The CD, sang and he was excellent.

 

 

 

Erika

[ldmroe]

This has been so helpful! We leave this Friday and cannot wait! Would it be possible for you to list the optional excursions on the cruisetour portion? I am just curious as to what our options might be! Thank you!!!

[birdylady]

This has been so helpful! We leave this Friday and cannot wait! Would it be possible for you to list the optional excursions on the cruisetour portion? I am just curious as to what our options might be! Thank you!!!

Happy to help. Fyi, I haven't figured out how to make these pictures bigger. Let me know if I can be of any further help.

 

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Wednesday June 14 - Last stop was Ketchikan. We booked the duck boat tour. It's an amphibious vehicle so we got to see a bit of the town from land and see. The driver and narrator were excellent (even if there were some corny jokes) and we learned a lot. Afterwards we went to the Dirty Dungee restaurant (next to the Artic Bar near berth 3) which the guide recommended. Hubby had 1/2lb of Dungeness crab and I had a burger. It was pretty good and not nearly as pricey as some of the other places we saw. We then shopped until we got back to the ship.

 

 

 

One thing to share. I found a very nice unique whale tail made of dichroic glass by a local artist at the Rain Barrel. This store is locally owned and almost T the end of the shops. The family sells lots of local artist’s work. I point this out as when I travel I like to support local artists and I'm glad we kept walking or we would have missed it. They are in front of where the Lumberjack Show is. If you like to support local artists and want unique items, make a point of going there.

 

Tonight our dining companions didn't show up again. The head waiter asked if something was wrong. We told them we weren't traveling with them so he would have to ask them. We knew the issue was service was far below what RCI usually provided so they chose to dine elsewhere. We 'almost' made it out before the waiter and assistant waiter came by to remind us about the upcoming survey. Then they went on to tell us their salary is dependent on it. (Loose summary-). If you give us a 1, that's is if they send one bowl of rice to their families back home. If we give a 10, that's as if they send 10 bowls of rice home. Seriously?!? If they wanted to get a good review, then they should have provided good service. Due to that, we dined in Windjammer the last night.

 

Tonight we went to the welcome back party. There were about a dozen chairs reserved for Pinnacle members. Only about half attended. One couple had over 2400 nights. Color us jealous. Captain Trym did a little Q&A session. He is so personable and has a fantastic sense of humor. Since the night before the casino was having system problems, we figured we would see if things were working tonight. I'm glad I did as I had some good play and came out ahead tonight (I had another good night earlier in the week).

 

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Thursday June 15 - The last day was a sea day. The seas had been smooth the whole week until sometime during the night. The doors to outside decks and stairs by the pool that were closed due to the wind. The captain did announce the waves could be up to 11 feet but should settle down later in the day. And thankfully it did. Today we went to an event we never saw (or heard) of on a cruise. They did an egg drop contest. Passengers created a contraption to safely drop an egg from deck 10 of the centrum. Some very creative folks out there. Some, not necessarily, lol. Then after that we went to The Captain’s Spotlight where the captain spoke and did an open Q&A in the theater. Sadly, after that we packed.

 

After dinner, we did a little bit more casino and, of course, Quest. It was at 9:15 which is better than were used to seeing after 11. But my question is, why can't they make it the second to last night, especially when the last day is a sea day???? This was fun, but not as crazy as usual. Margot did a great job running it. They held it in the Colony Club. That is a beautiful venue.

 

 

 

Erika

[Lvscruzn]

Erike,

Thank you for this awesome review! We are taking this cruise in August. I think we have a different land pkg but do go to most of the same stops. We are looking so forward to this. Now I will check out some of the excursions and see what we can do. 48 more days and we leave to Alaska!!! Thank you again!

[skiiergirl]

Thursday June 15 - The last day was a sea day. The seas had been smooth the whole week until sometime during the night. The doors to outside decks and stairs by the pool that were closed due to the wind. The captain did announce the waves could be up to 11 feet but should settle down later in the day. And thankfully it did. Today we went to an event we never saw (or heard) of on a cruise. They did an egg drop contest. Passengers created a contraption to safely drop an egg from deck 10 of the centrum. Some very creative folks out there. Some, not necessarily, lol. Then after that we went to The Captain’s Spotlight where the captain spoke and did an open Q&A in the theater. Sadly, after that we packed.

 

After dinner, we did a little bit more casino and, of course, Quest. It was at 9:15 which is better than were used to seeing after 11. But my question is, why can't they make it the second to last night, especially when the last day is a sea day???? This was fun, but not as crazy as usual. Margot did a great job running it. They held it in the Colony Club. That is a beautiful venue.

 

 

 

Erika

 

Thank yo for all he awesome review.

 

Mr Ski wants to know Where were the eggs were dropping to from deck 10?

 

Is it possible for you to scan the cruisetour info sheets/options and then post them as a PDF rather than a "photo"? Thanks