Radiance of the Seas Question for Yukon (or anyone else).

[bluedevil72]

I am looking at SB cruises to Vancouver for next summer. Some of the cruiselines show sea days on the last day and some show Inside Passage sailing. I have done both going NB and there is no comparison. Radiance shows to go Inside Passage all the way and also goes a couple of places we haven't seen so I'm looking in that direction. I did a search on the subject and came up with a review by Yukon which shows the last day of sailing to be exactly what I'm looking for. My question is , is it Inside Passage all the way, including east of Vancouver Island. I do understand that Inside Passage means different things to different cruise lines. We found out the hard way on our RT out of Seattle on the NCL Star. The itinerary showed to go east of Vancouver, but it actually went west. (On every cruise that summer, not just ours.) I would really like to find a cruise that doesn't go out to sea that last day. Does the Radiance fit the bill? Thanks for your help.

[Yukon]

The Radiance does indeed go east of Vancouver Island on the last day - spectacular sailing, as you saw in the photos.

 

Murray

[bluedevil72]

Thank you Yukon for your prompt reply. I was hoping that was the case. We went NB out of Vancouver on the Carnival Spirit in '01 and that first day out of Vancouver was by far the most beautiful sea day we have ever experienced. I didn't want to miss it again if at all possible. By the way, we used your guide two years ago on our drive to Emerald Lake. It is great.

[Budget Queen]

I don't know of ANY one way cruises that do not sail inside Vancouver Island??

 

A possible negative with RCI and Celebrity, is they do not sail College Fjords. With the Seward port, definately consider taking advantage of being there with enjoying some of their fantastic activities.

[bluedevil72]

Thanks BQ for your reply too. When I looked up cruises on both HAL and Princess they showed sea days on the last day SB. RCCL showed the last day to be inside passage sailing. They may all actually do the same thing, but after our bad experience with the NCL itinerary map I didn't want to miss it again.

I'll agree about College Fjords. It was the scenic highlight of our trip on the Spirit in 2001. We disembarked at Seward and took an eight-hour tour of Kenai Fjords. It was a beautiful trip. And we will probably do it again.

[NancyIL]

It's pretty much a given that ships that go to Hubbard Glacier on one-way cruises (RCI, Celebrity, one HAL ship) don't also go to College Fjord. Instead of a 2nd glacier, those ships go to another port town. The only exception I'm aware of is the Pacific Princess in 2007, which goes to Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier, and College Fjord on its July 18th and August 29th NB cruises.

[Chenega]

Nice thing to know is that if you arrive in Seward and are spending some time in Anchorage, you can still arrange a day cruise out of Whittier into Prince William Sound and College Fjords.

 

Companies are offering excellent deals right now that include day cruise and transportation via the Alaska Railroad for about $150.00.

 

If you are really into these day cruises, you can do both Kenai Fjords from Seward and then the College Fjord trip from Anchorage.

 

Both are highlights of any visit to Alaska.

[bluedevil72]

Thanks for the heads up on the College Fjords day trip. I'm sure I had read that somewhere on a previous thread but I had forgotten it. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the cruising of College Fjords on our Spirit cruise in 2001 was as beautiful as anything we have ever seen. If possible, we would like to do it again. The Radiance SB that I'm looking at embarks at Seward and among the stops or the cruisings are Hubbard Glacier and Icy Strait Point; neither of which we have seen.