Radiance Southbound Pre-Cruise Tour Review - June 2017

[theorbo]

In regards to the pre-tour, never having been there, I have to say, I think the pre-tour was actually good.

 

<snip>

 

Hope that helps.

 

VERY HELPFUL! Thanks for this summary of your PROs/CONs.

[Leslie K]

OCSC Mike- I did a cruise tour last summer with RCI. Before we got to Alaska we had very little information on where we were going, what we were doing, where we were staying and even what exactly was included. That was frustrating for someone like me that organizes and plans in advance. We enjoyed our tour. The tour guide was a major wealth of information and had games organized for the longer bus segments which helped pass the time. As noted, the transfers, transportation, luggage handling, hotel check in, admissions and such were incredibly organized. Our hotels were fabulous. Denali was rustic but then again we were going to a national park that is rustic. The night was so cool we didn't need ac. The other hotels were also used by tauck tours as their buses pulled in with us and they only stay in the best hotels. I wish the timing however was sometimes better. We had 1day at Denali and got off the tour too late to see the movie at the visitor center and left too early for the next one. Similar to our time in Anchorage. We had enough time to grab lunch and do a bit of shopping. Our arrival in Talkeetna was late afternoon and most shops closed shortly thereafter so we stayed at the resort rather than take a cab to town to find it closed. We did a 4 day tour. Maybe a longer tour would have had more time. Our tour did totally different stops with the exception of Denali from what was described here. We were onboard Radiance in Seward for lunch. Tours are never perfect and even diy travel doesn't work out perfect. Alaska is a huge beautiful part of the country. The cruise tour gave us a great taste and covered a lot of territory in a very short time. I would still do it again. I might select different length of tour or one that started elsewhere (we began in Anchorage and the train tour to Denali was 6-8 hrs. It sounds as if the trip from Fairbanks was less train time but more Denali time). Have a great time on your trip.

 

 

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[OCSC Mike]

Thanks for the input Leslie, the more feedback/opinions the better. I think I place a bit more value on the ease of letting RC handle the transportation/luggage/hotels than my wife. That said, this is her trip and after the amount of research she's done I totally understand why she wants to maximize the experience in terms of doing/seeing exactly what she wants to.

[birdylady]

Land Excursion Options offered to us in PDF formats.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Erika

IMG_6801.pdf

IMG_6802.pdf

[OCSC Mike]

Land Excursion Options offered to us in PDF formats.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Erika

 

Perfect. Thanks!

[skiiergirl]

Land Excursion Options offered to us in PDF formats.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Erika

 

Thanks so much! Truly appreciate all of the info!

[birdylady]

Perfect. Thanks!

Thanks so much! Truly appreciate all of the info!

More than happy to help. I feel like I've probably forgotten some things, but feel free to ask anything. If I know, have photos or can be of anymore help, I'm happy to.

 

Erika

[Keksie]

We are going on a land tour next year so I am reading everything I can to help me organize. Thank you so much for everything you have posted. It helps so much. I know when we go we will have a bag for the ship and a bag for the tour. How do they handle your carry on? I usually have our documents, a coat or wrap, my ereader and knitting, etc. in an under the seat carry on. Can you leave it on the bus at your seat when it stops or do you have to take everything with you? I am trying to figure out the packing logistics for this trip. Thank you

[plus1cruiser]

Thank you Erika. Your review was awesome and I'm thrilled with your information as both Bob and I are planners! I found out (long story short) that we have the same 6B tour without a stay in Talkeetna. One question - how did you pay for things in Canada? USD or Canadian?

 

 

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[birdylady]

We are going on a land tour next year so I am reading everything I can to help me organize. Thank you so much for everything you have posted. It helps so much. I know when we go we will have a bag for the ship and a bag for the tour. How do they handle your carry on? I usually have our documents, a coat or wrap, my ereader and knitting, etc. in an under the seat carry on. Can you leave it on the bus at your seat when it stops or do you have to take everything with you? I am trying to figure out the packing logistics for this trip. Thank you

 

When we first checked in with our Tour Director, she gave us luggage tags. One color was for those being 'stored' on the bus until the last night, the other for the luggage we wanted in our rooms each night. This is what we were expecting to have happen so we packed our luggage that way. And it actually worked pretty well for us. If it is absolutely necessary to get something from a stored bag, the driver can get it, but otherwise it was nice not to have to worry about the luggage. And I will say they did a great job collecting and redelivering all luggage. They numbered everything and it was the tour director and bus driver counting and checking off at every stop.

 

 

Any carry on items we wanted with us, we just carried them. As far as 'on the bus' during the day, if the driver wasn't going to be on the bus at any time, the bus would be locked. Otherwise he was there and would keep an eye on everything. So, anytime we got off the bus (potty stop, tour, etc..) we could leave things in our seats or the overhead and it was safe. I know hubby had his backpack (electronics and such) and I had a carry bag as well. We would also leave our extra coats (we packed in layers). We felt our belongings were secure at all times.

 

 

Erika

[birdylady]

Thank you Erika. Your review was awesome and I'm thrilled with your information as both Bob and I are planners! I found out (long story short) that we have the same 6B tour without a stay in Talkeetna. One question - how did you pay for things in Canada? USD or Canadian?

 

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Excellent question. As we tend to be overly security conscious, I had brought a credit card I don't use often and used it just for Canadian purchases. I did check and that particular one didn't need to be notified if I was traveling (my main card does offer that option and I did do that). From research and such, I found it made most sense to charge anything I could in Canada as the credit card company will do the conversion with no fees (both cards said that). Also, by charging, I didn't have to worry about getting change in Canadian. Most places we dealt with (sodas/meals, etc..) would take USD, but you would get the CAD back. Some places we charged asked if we wanted the charge converted, and we usually said whatever. In my head I was was mentally converting it at about 75% the cost so that helped me when I was pricing/deciding on purchases.

 

Erika

[Keksie]

Thank you. I was hoping that was how it would work with the bus. Your review is very helpful and a lot of fun to read.

 

 

 

When we first checked in with our Tour Director, she gave us luggage tags. One color was for those being 'stored' on the bus until the last night, the other for the luggage we wanted in our rooms each night. This is what we were expecting to have happen so we packed our luggage that way. And it actually worked pretty well for us. If it is absolutely necessary to get something from a stored bag, the driver can get it, but otherwise it was nice not to have to worry about the luggage. And I will say they did a great job collecting and redelivering all luggage. They numbered everything and it was the tour director and bus driver counting and checking off at every stop.

 

 

Any carry on items we wanted with us, we just carried them. As far as 'on the bus' during the day, if the driver wasn't going to be on the bus at any time, the bus would be locked. Otherwise he was there and would keep an eye on everything. So, anytime we got off the bus (potty stop, tour, etc..) we could leave things in our seats or the overhead and it was safe. I know hubby had his backpack (electronics and such) and I had a carry bag as well. We would also leave our extra coats (we packed in layers). We felt our belongings were secure at all times.

 

 

Erika