Alaska Cruisetour - Radiance of the Sea - July 27/07 pixs

[Webfut]

Sharon and I flew to Vancouver where we spent two wonderful days enjoying the sights and sounds of this amazing city. We boarded the Radiance of the Seas on July 25th. The cruise north was just incredible with many wonderful ports of call. Our ship was the best :) with sterling service, scrumptious food and excellent entertainment. We landed at Seward, Alaska where we joined the Royal Caribbean land tour of Alaska. From Seward we went by motor coach to Anchorage, flew to Fairbanks and then back to Anchorage by coach and train. Just an amazing trip and we would both highly recommend Royal Caribbean!!

Check out my pictures:

 

http://swany.myphotoalbum.com

 

I would be happy to answer any questions related to our trip.

[photodoodle]

I enjoyed your photos very much. I especially loved the shots of Hubbard Glacier with the small boats in front. Taku Lodge looks like great fun. I love that there are bears wandering around so close! Thanks for sharing your photos.

[england1]

Thanks for sharing your photos. Six of us are taking a cruise tour next July. Would you please let me know which hotels you stayed in and what you thought of them?

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a great trip.

[Webfut]

Thanks for sharing your photos. Six of us are taking a cruise tour next July. Would you please let me know which hotels you stayed in and what you thought of them?

 

Royal Caribbean looked after all of the hotel bookings and they were very good to excellent.

 

Fairbanks: we stayed in the Sophie Station Hotel which was built to house pipeline workers years ago. It is basically a suite hotel with tons of room. With the kitchen facilities we made our own breakfast.

 

Denali : The Grand Denali Lodge was our second hotel in Alaska. Perched on the side of a mountain with a very twisty and hazardous drive up to the hotel we enjoyed the scenery and our room. Great bar overlooking the river valley far below!

 

Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge: Beautiful hotel with an amazing foyer..large stone fireplace with a huge deck overlooking Mount McKinley. Just a short distance by shuttle bus into the village of Talkeetna where we ate dinner.

Another good night!

 

Anchorage: Our last night was at the Anchorage Marriott. Lovely hotel right downtown. Excellent night!!

[JJ2sail]

Great Pictures! Can't wait to go!

[Italy52]

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful pictures. DH and I will be on the Radiance next May and would like to ask a few questions:

 

1. In Vancouver, it looks like you took the Aqua Bus (AB) over to Granville Island. Can you tell me where you got the AB and how much did it cost?

 

2. How did you like Chops? Any food recommendations? When did you make your reservation?

 

3. Your pictures of Hubbard calving are spectacular - especially the side shot. Did you just point your camera at the glacier and wait for it to do its magic? Or, did you catch the shot as you heard the thunder. Looking for tips on getting great camera shots. :)

 

Thanks for offering to answer questions, I appreciate it.

[loverofcruises]

Royal Caribbean looked after all of the hotel bookings and they were very good to excellent.

 

Fairbanks: we stayed in the Sophie Station Hotel which was built to house pipeline workers years ago. It is basically a suite hotel with tons of room. With the kitchen facilities we made our own breakfast.

 

Denali : The Grand Denali Lodge was our second hotel in Alaska. Perched on the side of a mountain with a very twisty and hazardous drive up to the hotel we enjoyed the scenery and our room. Great bar overlooking the river valley far below!

 

Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge: Beautiful hotel with an amazing foyer..large stone fireplace with a huge deck overlooking Mount McKinley. Just a short distance by shuttle bus into the village of Talkeetna where we ate dinner.

Another good night!

 

Anchorage: Our last night was at the Anchorage Marriott. Lovely hotel right downtown. Excellent night!!

 

Is there any food included in the land tour?

[ttfn08]

Thanks so much for sharing your pictures. Booking an Inside Passage cruise for next July. Am already driving my DH crazy with my research but your pictures really helped me realize just how great this trip is going to be. We are celebrating 25th anniversary and going with my parents who will be celebrating 50th anniversary. Don't know how I will wait for another 10 months. Which salmon bake did you visit? How did you enjoy it?

[cruisingsaw]

Which cruisetour did you take. It seems that you had alot of land touring. We are hoping to go next July.

[Webfut]

Is there any food included in the land tour?

 

All the meals on the land part of the cruisetour was our responsibility. The tour director, a super 22-year old from Anchorage, always had recommendations that we usually took. We tried to stay away from the hotel restaurants..too expensive!!

[Webfut]

We took the 11-night escorted Alaska cruisetour. Seven nights northbound on the Radiance of the Sea with a four night post-cruise escorted motorcoach/traincar land tour.

[Webfut]

We took the Taku Lodge excursion out of Juneau. It was just amazing!! The best salmon I have ever had. That is one excursion you do not want to miss. Flew to the lodge in a float plane and had about 2 hours at the lodge. Check my pixs for a look at the lodge and the salmon.

[Budget Queen]

We took the 11-night escorted Alaska cruisetour. Seven nights northbound on the Radiance of the Sea with a four night post-cruise escorted motorcoach/traincar land tour.

 

What tour did you have in Denali Park- looks like the Natural History tour, since few photos??? Would you have liked to have gone in farther?? This information would be helpful to future RCI cruisetour purchasers.

[Webfut]

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful pictures. DH and I will be on the Radiance next May and would like to ask a few questions:

 

1. In Vancouver, it looks like you took the Aqua Bus (AB) over to Granville Island. Can you tell me where you got the AB and how much did it cost?

 

2. How did you like Chops? Any food recommendations? When did you make your reservation?

 

3. Your pictures of Hubbard calving are spectacular - especially the side shot. Did you just point your camera at the glacier and wait for it to do its magic? Or, did you catch the shot as you heard the thunder. Looking for tips on getting great camera shots. :)

 

Thanks for offering to answer questions, I appreciate it.

 

1. No, we didn't take the AB but it was shuttling back and forth between downtown Vancouver and Granville Island every 10-15 minutes. Just a very short trip. Can't imagine it would cost very much.

 

2. Loved Chops! The cost was $20/person and well worth it. I had a t-bone and Sharon had a small filet. Reservations were made right on the ship. No problem getting a seat. Book early to get a window seat!

 

3. Lots of calving going on. As the ship turned a couple of times 360 degrees it was quite easy to get good shots. I have a Canon 20D that shoots off about 5fps so I just hit the shutter release and let it roll. We were lucky to have a sunny morning!

[Webfut]

What tour did you have in Denali Park- looks like the Natural History tour, since few photos??? Would you have liked to have gone in farther?? This information would be helpful to future RCI cruisetour purchasers.

 

We took the Natural History tour starting @6:30 a.m. The weather was cool, cloudy with sprinkles. Saw very few animals except for the moose. Landscape was amazing but would have been better if the sun had shone! We only went into the park about 17 miles. That was OK with me considering the day.