RCL Cruisetours -- Alaska -- Trustworthy?

[bilbo109]

Any of you been on an RCL cruisetour?

 

I use a power wheelchair, no walking nor standing, no transfers out of the w/c unless very close and level (with great difficulty). Cruising on the RCL Radiance with AB wife, leaving Seward on 8/21.

 

At RCL, it seems their access people don't get involved with tour part until 60 days before sailing, which is too late to cancel if there are problems. I was told by the tour desk that the Alaska tours were fully accessible, but they didn't know the answers to some of my questions so I'm a bit apprehensive.

 

Can we trust RCL to make appropriate arrangements, if I fill out their questionnaire correctly describing my needs?

 

I don't mind making the arrangements myself, in fact, I've already done a lot of planning. It will cost a bit more, though, since I'll need to take the train everywhere. Should I go ahead and just make my own tour?

 

-- Bob

[uppitycats]

Any of you been on an RCL cruisetour?

 

I use a power wheelchair, no walking nor standing, no transfers out of the w/c unless very close and level (with great difficulty). Cruising on the RCL Radiance with AB wife, leaving Seward on 8/21.

 

At RCL, it seems their access people don't get involved with tour part until 60 days before sailing, which is too late to cancel if there are problems. I was told by the tour desk that the Alaska tours were fully accessible, but they didn't know the answers to some of my questions so I'm a bit apprehensive.

 

Can we trust RCL to make appropriate arrangements, if I fill out their questionnaire correctly describing my needs?

 

I don't mind making the arrangements myself, in fact, I've already done a lot of planning. It will cost a bit more, though, since I'll need to take the train everywhere. Should I go ahead and just make my own tour?

 

-- Bob

 

I really think you should make your own tour. Cruise tour staff are notoriously bad at telling folks "sure, it's accessible" when in fact it isn't. And as you said, without being able to easily cancel, you'd find yourself out quite a bit of $$ if you book something and then find it isn't.

 

You can tell us what tours in Alaska you might be interested in -- I use a wheelchair and have been to Alaska a couple of times, so can speak to a couple of them --

 

but for your own comfort, book tours yourself, for the most part!

[bilbo109]

We're booked on RCCL cruisetour #15, with flights, but have two weeks to cancel. It's a pre-cruise 6-night package -- 2 nights Fairbanks, 1 Denali, 1 Talkeetna, 1 Anchorage, 1 Girdwood (Hotel Alyeska).

 

I first became worried about the flights -- RCCL said they could involve many segments and could involve a red-eye home (I'm in Connecticut). So I'm planning to book the flights myself.

 

If I book myself, I'm not sure if I want to start in Anchorage or Fairbanks.

 

Here's my plan if I start in Anchorage:

Arrive in evening

2 nights Anchorage (look around city)

2 nights Denali (long park tour)

1 night Anchorage (the train doesn't continue south the same day)

1 night Girdwood (Hotel Alyeska, tram ride)

go on Kenai Fjords National Park boat tour before boarding the Radiance

All travel between areas by Alaska Railroad. They have a lift to the domed view area, but it's extra $$. I may do that for part of the trip.

If I start in Fairbanks and spend 2 nights in order to look around the area (Riverboat, Gold Mine?), I'd have to skip something from the above.

Is seeing Fairbanks worth skipping Anchorage sightseeing? or worth skipping Hotel Alyeska and it's Tram ride?

 

Thanks for your help!

-- Bob

[uppitycats]

I've done the Alaska tour both ways -- arriving in Fairbanks at 3:30 a.m. and it still being light -- think "dusk" in the lower 48 -- was worth it, and still brings back memories. The Riverboat in Fairbanks was a fun..and accessible ... excursion, for sure.

 

I've not been to Girdwood, so can't offer any thoughts there.

 

If the Alaska train has a lift to the upper level, it's worth the price, for sure.

 

Have a great trip! Alaska is worth every inconvenience you might encounter in a wheelchair. It'll take your breathe away.

 

If you have time in Anchorage, a cab ride out to the Alaska Native Heritage Center would be worth the effort. We love that place!

[Shebbieal]

I went on an Alaska 2 yrs ago (#15) and I am in a powerchair. The land part was amazing, everything I wanted to do was accessible, I can transfer, but the only thing I had to climb on was a small plane in Talkeetna to go to Mt Denali. We booked it thru the lodge we stayed at. All the hotels were superb and everything accessible. I would do it again in a heartbeat !!!!!!! It was the easiest trip we ever did since using the chair. I used an excellent accessible travel agent.

 

Ask if you have other questions,

Sherry

[bilbo109]

Hi Sherry --

Are you saying that you took the same tour that I have booked and all of their arrangements went smoothly?

 

This tour uses the train for travelling between some areas and a bus for others. Could you describe the pros and cons of each? I'm interested in how much you could see, how the wheelchair is positioned, ease of getting on and off, etc.

 

Thanks!

-- Bob

[bilbo109]

Hi again Sherry (and others) --

 

What did you think of the Alyeska Hotel and Tram ride? If I skipped this, would I be missing a lot, or was this a real highlight of the tour?

 

If I create my own tour, I could skip a day and save some $$ by just taking the train from Anchorage all the way to Seward.

[Shebbieal]

I took tour 15 with a southbound cruise.

 

 

I enjoyed the train more personally, both the bus and train had lifts, very very efficient. I turned my chair right into an empty spot on the bus. The train had a lift right to the glass domed area. The train even had an accessible h/c bathroom, big enough to roll in, but had to back out, no room to turn chair around.

 

Personally, if I had never been there before, I would do the cruisetour. It was so well thought out and absolutely no accessibility issues. It was seamless and fantastic, expensive tho.

 

As to the tram at Aleyska, the tram has a FANTASTIC restaurant at the top with amazing views. We made reservations to eat there before we left home, it was another high point of the trip. The tram is also very easy roll on/off with the view lines in the the tram good for sitting.

 

If you do it independently I would go nuts making sure all transfers were accessible. I know the cruise/tour cost $$$ but it was so worry free, for me and my husband and son it was perfect.

 

Sherry

[Shebbieal]

Bob,

 

Another thing to me.

 

Alaska may be a 1 shot deal, so I wanted to see all that I could, IJust in chase, I didn't want to chaeap out. I enjoyed Fairbanks. In fact I have a/b friends that booked the same cruise/tour a year after me.

 

I live in Florida so I understand difficult flight times. I solved it by staying 2 nights after the cruise in Vancouver. It is a very easy accessible city with about 40 % a taxis w/c accessible. I think there is a small fee to RCCL for making custom flight arrangements, talk to your TA. USE TRAVEL INSURANCE!!!

 

Sherry

[Connie78]

Hi Bob,

 

I agree with Sherry. Going with the CruiseTour, especially for your first time doing a land tour in Alaska is a much more thorough and relaxing way of seeing the state. The details will be taken care of for you to make the trip more seamless. Otherwise, you are looking at handling your rail transportation, hotel rooms as well as all of the transportation between rail stations, airport, hotels and attractions.

 

As well as a lot of extra work to book directly, you’re likely going to find that most of the accessible hotel rooms as well as what few accessible vehicles there are in the land-locked areas you’ll visit are already contracted to the cruise lines. Many of the cruise lines’ contracts with hotels promise an inventory that includes accessible rooms.

 

Bob, I can’t strongly enough tell you how much I feel you would benefit from transferring your booking (assuming you booked direct with Royal Caribbean) to a travel agency that specializes in accessible cruise vacations AND that has experience working with Royal’s Alaska CruiseTours. Here are a few reasons why:

 

• The agent will be working with about four departments at RCI to verify that all facets are correct.

• The agent will know what to push prior to the 60 day mark and what waits to be handled.

• The agent will be doing all possible to reconfirm that all accessible details are set up even if that means contacting suppliers directly.

• The agent will know to check how many guests using wheelchairs are booked on the tour to ensure that the tour has not exceeded capacity for accommodating wheelchair users.

• For a lot of the Alaska CruiseTours, it’s much less expensive to purchase airline tickets through the cruise line than to do so separately. If that’s the case, you deserve the same option as everyone else to save that money and have your transfers included. An agent specializing in accessible travel who has experience with Royal will know how to arrange your flights with them in advance and without the typical fee associated with working on flights in advance.

• If you are purchasing insurance, the agent would be able to compare the cost and features of Royal’s policy versus a third party insurance.

 

Mostly, using the right agent would hopefully give you the peace of mind that it appears is lacking right now. An advocate familiar with accessible RCI CruiseTours would be an asset. If you booked directly, you can advise RCI that you want to transfer the booking. This can be done prior to when your final payment is due and must be done by faxing a completed form to them.

 

Connie

[bilbo109]

Thanks to everyone for your input! I've decided to start in Fairbanks. NW Air has a sale on flights through Minneapolis, which happens to be only way to get from Hartford to Fairbanks with only one stop. Previously, the one stop flight to Fairbanks cost double (which was why I was planning to start in Anchorage).

 

Starting in Fairbanks has several advantages:

-- We see a new area

-- we arrive at Denali earlier, in time to tour the park on the same day

-- we avoid going to Anchorage twice.

 

I also think I'll use the cruisetour from RCCL. I had almost everything arranged with the Anchorage arrival and decided I didn't want to go through all of that again. Plus it will relieve us of dragging all of the luggage everywhere. And it actually costs less than booking myself.

-- Bob