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5/22-6/1 Alaska Cruise (Radiance) & Land Tour, LOTS of Photos (L.J. & Bev Part II/I)


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Welcome to Bev & L.J. - North to Alaska!!! Part 2 (or...Part 1 as it were)

 

For those who followed our 2012 July Alaska review (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1679447) and especially for those who asked me to go back and review our first trip to Alaska in 2009, here we go!!! For those joining us for the first time, for good or bad I will include A LOT of photos (just not Day one:D).

 

Alaska was on the dream list for us, like many folks. After a number of warm weather cruises and a growing affinity for photography, we decided to dive in and book our first Alaska cruise. After a ton of research right here on Cruise Critic, we decided to go the last week of the spring shoulder season the end of May. We wanted to be sure to see lots of snow (which we did!), and we also wanted to save some money, particularly on accommodations (which we also did).

 

So while we really wanted to spend more time on our first trip to Alaska, we only had three + days for our DYI land tour, which meant we were going to cram a lot of visit into a small amount of time. The aggressive schedule was built in part due to the fact that I have some fairly serious back issues for several months leading up to the trip, so while I was on the mend, we fully planned the trip as though it would be our one and only trip to Alaska, so we wanted to do it up as much as we could. Here's a peak at our itinerary:

 

Day 1 (5/20/09): US Air flight from Charlotte to Seattle

Day 2: Free day in Seattle

Day 3: Seattle to Vancouver (train!), board Radiance

Day 4: Inside Passage

Day 5: Ketchikan

Day 6: Juneau

Day 7: Skagway

Day 8: Icy Strait Point

Day 9: Hubbard Glacier

Day 10: Seward (Kenai Fjords & ARR to Anchorage)

Day 11: Anchorage-Talkeetna-Denali

Day 12: Denali

Day 13: Denali-Anchorage-Charlotte (via Phoenix)

 

L.J.

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Day One: Charlotte to Seattle

 

We're fortunate that US Air has several non-stop flights from Charlotte to Seattle, so we were able to take a late afternoon flight which got us in 10pm Seattle time. Once we booked, I watch the US Air site almost daily and was able to use points to upgrade our outbound flight to first class, which was a real treat for us and a fantastic way to start the trip. It took an extra two months or so, but we were then able to upgrade the return flight as well. A long, drawn out pain, but more than worth it in the end.

 

Once down at SEATAC, we gathered our bags and caught a taxi to downtown Seattle. It was a smooth, uneventful trip from the airport to the hotel, the Marriott Courtyard Seattle Downtown/Pioneer Square. It was a great hotel - but we didn't spend much time there. We went right to bed, ready and raring to go and check out Seattle the next morning!

 

L.J.

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Woo hoo, your back LJ! I'm soooooo looking forward to this review. (Just have it done before Aug. 15th, lol)

 

LOL - I'll try and be better this time!

Review & photos start tomorrow - Seattle's Best - Pike Place, Monorail, the Space Needle & Duck Tours!

L.J.

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So looking forward to reading this review after your fabulous review of your 2012 Alaska trip.

 

2009 was my first visit to Alaska in May via Carnival Spirit with my 80+ year old mom and we were hooked.

 

I am researching a land trip for us for 2014, as my mom wants to go to Denali. I am probably going to book outside my comfort zone with a tour group as I want to have quality time with my mom who turns 85 this August and not worry about driving and the other logistics.

 

I will relive our 1st Alaska trip thru your review.......thanks so much for taking the time to do this review, most enjoyable!

Susan

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So, Seattle has a reputation of often being gray, dreary & rainy. Never having been there before, we were fully prepared for it - after all, we had our Alaska raingear ready to go! So, we got up, grabbed breakfast in the hotel lobby, and headed out on our first full day of adventure. Our two goals for the day were to check out Pike's Place Public Market and the Space Needle. We were only a few blocks from Pike's Place, so we headed out eager to see what we'd find. The first thing we found was...

 

...fantastic weather!!! It was a glorious blue sky, white puffy cloud day with temperatures in the mid to upper 70s! Our hotel was right near Westlake Plaza, so we found ourselves there, stopping to take in the 360 degree views of downtown Seattle.

 

 

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Our first Seattle Starbucks - but not nearly our last by a long shot (more on that later!)

 

 

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We even spotted the Beatles - what a great city!!!

 

 

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We continued to make our way down Pine Street towards the waterfront & Pike's Place. Our next landmark was a GIANT Columbia Sportswear store.

 

 

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Pine Street brought us straight from the hotel to Pike Place in 7 short blocks. The hotel location seemed ideal for our needs since we could walk to so many things, and later in the day we were able to easily access the Monorail for the second half of our adventure. Here's our first look at Pike's Place and Puget Sound:

 

 

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Bev posing in front of the market - yes we're tourists and proud of it!!!

 

 

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I knew that Pike's Place was pretty big, but we were really surprised how big it really was. We ended up spending a couple three hours here, including a great lunch. Let's head inside for a look!

 

 

L.J.

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So looking forward to reading this review after your fabulous review of your 2012 Alaska trip.

 

2009 was my first visit to Alaska in May via Carnival Spirit with my 80+ year old mom and we were hooked.

 

I am researching a land trip for us for 2014, as my mom wants to go to Denali. I am probably going to book outside my comfort zone with a tour group as I want to have quality time with my mom who turns 85 this August and not worry about driving and the other logistics.

 

I will relive our 1st Alaska trip thru your review.......thanks so much for taking the time to do this review, most enjoyable!

Susan

 

Susan,

No matter how you do it, you should have a great time in Denali. Even though we only had about 48 hours to travel up, see the park, and ride back to Anchorage, we saw plenty of amazing things in just that short time. I'll touch on them in detail when I get to the end of the review, but we had such a great time, that's why we're going to go to both the Kenai & Denali inn 2015 (hopefully)!!!

L.J.

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Pike's Place is BIG! It's deceptive at first - its not deep/wide, but it is LONG - almost 800 feet - plus multiple floors. While a world famous tourist attraction and landmark, it's first and foremost a public market, even today. As we walked inside, we were greeted by all sorts of fish, produce and crafts. We knew about the Pike Place Fish Market, but there were numerous places selling all sorts of fish and shellfish before we got there:

 

 

Crowds come early to get the freshest seafood!

 

 

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Plenty of Choices

 

 

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Our first glimpse of Alaska!

 

 

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Full service seafood - better than the butcher back home!

 

 

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While I don't eat fish and seafood, I do love to fish when I can, and seeing all the fresh off the boat was getting me excited for the fishing trip we had planned on the cruise!

 

 

L.J.

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Welcome back LJ!

 

Thanks Di!

 

In addition to all the fresh seafood, there were also a number of places selling fresh produce as well. Not super useful as a one day visitor, but I could imagine shopping here frequently if we ever lived in Seattle and were at all close to Pike's. There were also meats, cheeses, preserves, candy and all sorts of other food stuff to get lost in. The colors, textures and smells were constantly changing - a blast to explore even if I didn't like to take photos!

 

 

All shapes, sizes and colors!

 

 

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Buy local food movement in full effect!

 

 

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So many choices!

 

 

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Exotic fruit, or just an exotic marketing plan? In any case, just like Alaska, don't feed the wild animals!

 

 

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A view inside the market looking south from roughly mid-market...

 

 

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L.J.

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Looking forward to more of your review.

 

How much was the taxi from the airport to your hotel?

 

phabric (I like the name!),

 

It ran us right around $40 (not including tip). Nice easy trip in (it was fairly late in the evening so I don't know what the ride would bee like in late afternoon). Checking online, that price still looks pretty close.

 

L.J.

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** Editorial correction! - looking back at the travel blog Bev did during the trip, we actually stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown.. Still a great hotel & a great location, but I did want to correct that for the record (this is why Bev blogs & I take photos!).

 

In addition to the wide range of foods available that you would naturally see at a public market, there were also many craft vendors selling their wares as well. Since it was only Day 2 of the trip, and as Bev reminded me we already had #192lbs of luggage, we had to be strong and resist to urge to by a ton of things, as cool and creative as many of the things were. Here's a better look at one of the vendors. Take note of the sign in the upper right - if you go to Pike's don't forget there are vendors and shops below the main market - and the always important location of the restrooms!

 

Local crafts

 

 

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We wandered outside a bit to enjoy the warm weather and get a better look at the south end entrance to Pike's. As you can see - it's a busy place! The cobble stone/brick street was a nice bit of history as well. This sign for Pike's was very cool and I took a bunch of shots of it. I really like the now "old school" analog clock. I hope they keep it intact and don't go digital someday...

 

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L.J.

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Pike's is a neat mixture of both past and present. As we were working our way through the market, there were little odes to history along the way. This plaque commemorates the formation of the market back in 1907 and shows that visionary leadership can have a long term, lasting impact.

 

 

 

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On the other hand, there were examples of other visionary ideas that had taken root as well. I'm not sure it's in the same class as the formation of the Market, but at the south end of Pike's, the market doglegs to the left for a fairly small segment where it turns to meet 1st Avenue. Walking through here checking out the shops, we came to a spot where you could look out a window down onto the alley below. Many years before, someone stuck a piece of gum on the brick wall. Then another...and another... Now, the gum and associated messages stuck on the wall have taken on a life of their own. It would also make for an interest CSI investigation if they ever had to run all that DNA...!

 

 

 

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Right near the end of the Market where Pike Street meets up with 1st Avenue, outside on Pike Street itself, there's an information/tourism kiosk. They've got all sorts of information on public transit, tours, attractions, where to eat, etc.

 

 

Getting the 411...

 

 

 

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Right behind the info booth, there's a sort of unofficially/official bike rack fence. As we passed by there, we met this festive gentleman. He seemed harmless enough, but I kept one eye on those balloon animals the whole time...

 

 

 

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Back inside, we started looking for a place to grab some lunch as we were getting hungry, and our adventure had just begun! Walking back through the main arcade level of the Market, we found a number of little eateries and snack locations, as well as a busy newsstand.

 

 

 

Swedish pastries anyone?!?

 

 

 

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Next up - the penultimate Pike's Place experience seen numerous times on TV - the Pike Place's Fish Market fish throwing - live and in person!!!

 

 

 

L.J.

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So, if you watch Nat Geo, the Travel Channel, etc. and you ever saw a show on Seattle, you've likely seen the famous fish throwers at Pike Fish Market.

 

 

 

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It's located in the south end elbow of the market, underneath the huge Pike Place sign with the cool clock. When we passed by it the first time, it was running just like any other seafood vendor in the Market. On our way back inside to find some lunch, we were treated to a moment of serendipity as someone ordered a fresh King salmon just as were we passing by the second time. It's quick, but very impressive show that was a blast to watch in person after seeing it several times over the years on television. The guy working the display out front will select a fish when the order gets shouted out from behind the counter, steps back, and slings the fish into the back prep area for wrapping before distribution to the customer. Check out the sequence below. Fortunately Bev was able to video it as well!

 

 

 

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The show over (only one fish was ordered), we headed to the delicious Sound View Cafe to fuel up!

 

 

 

L.J.

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** Editorial correction! - looking back at the travel blog Bev did during the trip, we actually stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown.. Still a great hotel & a great location, but I did want to correct that for the record (this is why Bev blogs & I take photos!).

 

We have never been to Seattle. I am trying to make a list of hotels.

 

Can you give me the address of this Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown as there are a few hotels and I don't know which one is the one you stayed at.

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We have never been to Seattle. I am trying to make a list of hotels.

 

Can you give me the address of this Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown as there are a few hotels and I don't know which one is the one you stayed at.

 

Not a problem! Just click on the name below andd it'll take you right to the web page for the hotel.

 

SpringHill Suites Seattle Downtown/South Lake Union

 

1800 Yale Avenue Seattle, WA 98101

 

L.J.

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Oh my gosh thrilled to see you got photos of the "flying fish" at the Market.

 

Have seen it many times on TV but this was even better.

 

The Market reminds me somewhat of Reading Market in Philly with some variations. Looks like I could spend an entire day at Pike's and how I wish I could have reached out and grabbed some Swedish Patries...YUMO!

 

Loving this review, looking forward to more.

Susan

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So excited to read your review. I read your very thorough and most enjoyable review from your trip last summer and enjoyed it very much. We're cruising to Alaska from Seattle to Vancouver in September. So I can't wait to check the rest of your review. Thanks so much for doing it! :)

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There was a sign at the Pike's Place Fish Market for the Sound View Cafe, so we followed the signs through the Market to the Cafe. It's positioned right on the water/downhill side of the Market, so if you get a seat near the windows you get a fantastic, unobstructed view of Puget Sound and the snow-capped Olympic Mountain range in the distance. Check it out!

 

 

A Beautiful Sight!

 

 

 

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There in addition to the great views, one of the things we like about the Sound View was that while it wasn't huge, they had a very nice selection of items on the menu, which was great for Bev (crab cakes!) and me (not crab cakes!!! - cheeseburger!!!). They had salads and a variety of other items...including some fantastically tasty hot chocolate!

 

 

 

Tasty Goodness!

 

 

 

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A look at part of the menu board

 

 

 

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We had already logged a couple three hours in the Market and had worked up a bit of an appetite, but fortunately we didn't have to wait long for the food. Here's a look - if you think it looked good, it tasted even better!

 

 

 

Crab Cake Feast

 

 

 

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Cheesy Greatness!

 

 

 

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Our bellies full, we headed out to finish up our visit to the Market - including a stop at the original Starbucks...

 

 

 

L.J.

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Oh my gosh thrilled to see you got photos of the "flying fish" at the Market.

 

Have seen it many times on TV but this was even better.

 

The Market reminds me somewhat of Reading Market in Philly with some variations. Looks like I could spend an entire day at Pike's and how I wish I could have reached out and grabbed some Swedish Patries...YUMO!

 

Loving this review, looking forward to more.

Susan

 

Thanks Susan - it was dumb luck we got to see it (maybe they "stage" shows sometimes, but the person walked away with the fish this time), but it was so cool to see something we too had only seen on tv, only to get to see it live. It was foreshadowing for many of our adventures yet to come! I took a ton more photos of the various shops and kiosks but I don't want to bore everyone to death. If we had the inclination to check out all the arts & crafts in detail, we really could have spent several more hours. Hopefully you'll find some time to check it out!

L.J.

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