just back from Radiance of the seas to alaska- any questions?

[bananarama]

It was the most magnificent cruise and I would be more than happy to help out anyone either regarding alaska itself or the ship. It was my second time on the radiance.

[rshillman]

departing for the same trip this weekend...just a few questions: Does the cabin have an iron? How about hangers in the closet?

The last time I cruised (on Carnival Spirit), there was a lovely basket full of sample sized supplies in the bathroom (toothpaste, hand creme, etc.) Does Radiance have that too?

 

Aht was your favoite aspect of the ship? Favorite port? What did you do in port? Any great shopping tips?

 

Thanks for whatever tidbits you can offer!

In 48 hours, I'll be there!!!

~R.

[rshillman]

And what were the temperatures?

Did you see sunshine?

~R.

[sfjldj]

Thanks for your kind offer. we sail on the radiance departing on june 26th with 12 family members in one owner suite and 4 E1 balcony cabins. anything at all you can tell me would be great.

 

were there any kids on the ship, we will have 4 ages 8, 12, 13 and 17?

 

we have all of our excursions booked but did you do any of these, we are doing whale watching and then glacier helicopter with dog sledding then in skagway we are doing horses at emerald lake and white pass railroad and in ketchikan we are doing misty fiords flight seeing, the duck tour and the lumberjack show. how was the weather in the ports and how close did you get to hubbard glacier. cant wait to go! thanks

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bananarama:

It was the most magnificent cruise and I would be more than happy to help out anyone either regarding alaska itself or the ship. It was my second time on the radiance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[karenbf]

I can help you out with most of these questions. I was on the same cruise with bananarama.

 

No irons in the rooms. If you want something pressed, you have to send it out.

 

Plenty of hangars.

 

No samples in the bathroom. They did have a dispenser for a shampoo/conditioner combo product, and of course soap.

 

Favorite part of the ship was all the windows. You can see beautiful scenery all but one or two days.

 

Favorite port - Juneau where we went Whale watching and to Mendenhall Glacier.

 

Best shopping - House of Russia in Juneau.

 

Weather - Beautiful the whole trip, only rained once that I can remember and it was a sea day. Sunshine about 75% of the time. Typically, overcast in the morning and it burns off about noon. The captain couldn't believe how great the weather was for us. I wish I had brought more short sleeved tops. Never used my umbrella and only wore my windbreaker/rain jacket twice.

 

The kids will have a great time. They have to get involved with the Adventure Ocean activities. Before you know it they will only be hanging out with their new friends. I had 3 girls with me aged 14, 15 and 16. They had great activities and enjoyed just hanging out in Optix (the teen only area). My girls are still missing their cruise buddies. They traded email and screen names on the last day.

 

The excursions that we did were: whale watching, Mendenhall glacier, rental car to Emerald Lake, rental car in Ketchikan to a nature trail. Whale watching is a must in my opinion. You won't see any from the ship. We couldn't get too close to Hubbard because there was LOTS of ice in the water. But is was beautiful even from a distance.

 

Hope this helped!

 

Bananarama - are you out there? We missed you at the meet and mingle!

 

Fascination 11/01

Inspiration 6/02

Conquest 1/03

Holiday 7/03

Radiance 5/04

 

[rshillman]

Thanks for all of the helpful info!

Especially about Optix..I have a 14 year old daughter and a 20 year old son.

We can't wait to get out of here!

~R.

[danville dan]

hi,karenbf,

regarding rental car trip to emerald lake......

did yiu do train journey before?if you did which is better?.did you go on horse riding also.how long it took for you?.i want drive up(thru a bus)go on horse ride come back in train.do you think this would be feasible?.we are in skagway morning 5 am to 8.30 pm 0n july20 th.any info or your thoughts would be appreciated

[Host Caroline]

I have a question: when we have sailed RCI they had no onboard naturalist and no narration near glaciers etc. has that changed????? hopefully???

 

Host Caroline

<font SIZE="1">Join me on the beautiful Diamond Princess in July 2005 for Cruise Critic's Awesome Alaskan Adventure --You'll have a whale of a good time!

 

Sept 04-Royal Hounds Mariner of the Seas

Feb 05-Partae Pirates Carnival Miracle

One can never have too many days at sea..</font>

[Cruiser62]

I have a question. What time was your return flight home and did you encounter any problems at the airport.

 

Also, is the onboard check in system in effect on this ship yet?

 

Thank you

[karenbf]

Danville- I have not taken the train from Skagway before. I heard great things about it though. Didn't go horseback riding either. We picked up the rental car about 10:00 and returned it around 4:00 or 5:00. I think that if you get started early you can take the bus, horse ride and take the train back. You'll need to plan ahead though.

 

Caroline- There was a speaker on board to give us a class on glaciers. Then at Hubbard Glacier there was an Inuit (sp?) Indian they brought onboard for another talk over the P.A. system. I understand that Princess has a naturalist onboard that narrates all along the Inside Passage and you just listen when you want to. RCI does not have that at all.

 

Cruiser62- We had a Sunday flight home. So, we didn't have a rush to make it to the airport on time. We were some of the last ones off the ship Saturday morning about 10:30. Then you claim your bags and stand in line for customs about 1 - 1.5 hours. At the airport (on Sunday morning early) we had almost no wait to get through customs. I'm not sure what everyone else encountered on Saturday afternoon. I do know lots of folks were worried that they weren't going to make their flights.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Fascination 11/01

Inspiration 6/02

Conquest 1/03

Holiday 7/03

Radiance 5/04

 

[newbiecruiser54]

I'm just back from the same cruise!

 

We went whale watching with Captain Larry and that was the highlight of our shore experiences. We saw a humpback mom and calf - the calf was very active, breaching and splashing and tail-slapping. We watched them for at least 30 minutes. Also visited the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.

 

In Skagway we rented a minivan and drove to Emerald Lake and back. Beautiful scenery but beware renting a van from Sourdough - we had a Chvy Astro and I'm amazed it didn't break down. The whole vehicle vibrated like crazy if I drove over 40 mph, and the rear sliding door wouldn't close, so everyone had to climb out the front whenever we stopped!!! . Loved the day, though.

 

In Ketchikan we saw the Lumberjack Show at my son's insistence - cute, but not worth the $$$ IMHO.

 

The Radiance was a beautiful ship, large variety of international guests, very nice staff. Shows were OK. Don't miss "The Quest" show in the Colony Club - hilarious! My team got 2nd place and I won a RCCL hat .

 

Food was OK - I thought the food on the Carnival Spirit was much better, though.

 

Solarium was lovely. Also agree with the others that all the glass was wonderful for just gazing out at the scenery.

 

Just to clarify another poster - the 3 people who came onboard on Hubbard Glacier day were Tlingit Indians from Yakutat - we watched their lecture in the Colony Club, which included dancing and singing by the 2 young people.

The guest lecturer gave talks about glaciers and the polar ice cap receding, as well as about whales and other Alaskan animals.

 

Well, back to my laundry !!!

 

Radiance of the Seas - Alaska!

[samismom]

Thanks for the report on the Radiance. This is my first cruise on Royal Caribbean. Just a few questions. Can you walk to the Avis location for the ship? I also have a car rented. Does it stay light very late? Do people wear jeans in the dining room at night, as I read somewhere that people were doing that, and I thought that was not allowed. Don't have any plans to book on board tours, looking to book when we get off the ship. My husband wants to do a good Kayaking tour somewhere, any suggestions. What week did you go. Everyday I look at the cams and the weather is awful.

[cujosmom]

Jan,

 

Try this link for Murray's guidepost

 

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/sklondike-photos1.html

 

Marty

 

Until we set sail to Alaska on the Serenade of The Seas

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[samismom]

Martha, is this the same one you emailed me, that is what I am trying to find out. If so, I have that one.

 

Thanks,

[cujosmom]

Yes, it is the same one. Actually, I thought I was responding to your Emerald Lake thread question.

 

Until we set sail to Alaska on the Serenade of The Seas

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[newbiecruiser54]

samismom -

 

I can answer a couple of your questions.

 

We did see people wearing jeans (and even a few men wearing shorts) in the dining room on casual nights - I thought that was a no-no. I didn't let my kids wear jeans (13 y.o. DS wanted to!), although I did relent and let him wear a nice new Alaska souvenier T-shirt on the last night (others were wearing nice t-shirts and even sweatshirts).

On Carnival I never saw anyone in jeans in the dining room (Southern Caribbean in January).

 

Yes, it did stay light quite late. If you pull the curtains, you will be able to sleep, if this is a concern. Cabin was pitch-black with the curtain drawn.

 

Radiance of the Seas - Alaska!

[bettyvon]

Newbiecruiser54,

 

I'm glad I read your post - I am renting an Astro van from Sourdough in August - I think I'll give them a call about the problems you had. Did you speak with them about it after returning? Did they seem to care?

 

Blythe

 

Radiance of the Seas 7/04

Adventure of the Seas 4/02

Elation 4/01

Sun Princess 10/00

[newbiecruiser54]

bettyvon -

 

We originally had requested the Voyager specifically, and when we arrived, we were told it was having a hose fixed and was "in the shop" and that we would need to take the Astro.

 

When we returned to Skagway, the office door was locked, so we left the keys in the key drop. I had wanted to speak to the owners and tell them about the problems we had (they really shouldn't have rented a vehicle in that condition). I may still email them to relate our dissatisfaction.

We would have rented from Avis, but we wanted a van for the 5 of us.

 

Not sure what advice to give you - do you really need a van??

 

Radiance of the Seas - Alaska!

[bettyvon]

Newbie,

 

We are a group of 7, so we really do need the van. I had checked with Avis prior, but was told they didn't have any. So I found Sourdough. I e-mailed them this morning after reading you post and related to them your complaints about the condition of their van, but haven't heard back yet. Hope they will attend to the problems before we all pile in!

 

Thanks for your concern

 

Blythe

 

Radiance of the Seas 7/04

Adventure of the Seas 4/02

Elation 4/01

Sun Princess 10/00

[sherrylynn]

hi there,we are leaving on the serenade on july 4th,i tried avis,they had nothing for that day we arrive,i called sourdough,they also had nothing,then i called p.b cruisers.the person(i think a child) just said "hello" i did not think i had reached a car rental place,i asked if they had anything for the 7th of july,he said um i dont know...............it was a long distance call for me but i thought he was checking the schedule.so i said what do you mean you dont know,i need to know yes or no.another pause.........uum maybe we do he said but i dont know. another pause,i might have small car but im not sure....................by this time i was ready to crawl through the phone,i said well i need to know for sure,so he said well you can come in and see if we have one but i cant hold one...............needless to say i think i would stay away from that company.