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Review on our Alaska Cruise aboard the Radiance


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We just spent 12 wonderful days in Alaska. We cruised from Vancouver, one way to Seward and then spent 4 magical days in the Kenai Penninsula. Following is a recap of our trip. If you have any questions, ask away.

 

This trip was just my husband and me (43 and 45).

 

We arrived in Vancouver BC at 8:30pm to a wonderful sunset. We hopped on the Sky Train to get to our hotel. The sky train is a easy, easy way to get around downtown and certainly a cheaper and easier way to get to downtown from the airport. It was around $8 a piece for us and a cab would have been double that. It is extremely clean and safe feeling. Do not hesitate to use this. By the way, I don’t really know why it is called the sky train as it was underground most of the way. It should be called the dirt train, or maybe the sub’train’ean train. Haha!

We were staying at the Opus hotel. We won this hotel on priceline for $120 a night.

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It was a super nice art deco hotel in the Yaletown area.

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This is the Yale town area.

When we departed the sky train and stood on the corner trying to figure out where to go. Some lady came up and offered to help us. I only mention this because this was the first in a long line of nice encounters with the locals. It certainly was the “nicest” city I have ever been in. Both in friendliness and cleanliness. It was gorgeous and very safe feeling. I know there are some rougher areas but we didn’t see them.

 

We checked into our hotel and then went across the street to the Cactus Club for dinner.

We only had one day in the city, so we decided we really want to explore and not fly over to Butchart Gardens (which are supposed to be spectacular). I decided to do the hop on hop off trolley (how touristy of us). I bought an entertainment book for $15 because they had a B1G1 coupon in it. The trolley costs $37 pp. We actually really liked the trolley…..the open bus…..didn’t like the closed one to much. I think they alternate.

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The have tons of stops around the city and they loop every 20 minutes.

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This is the Olympic Stadium. They are redoing the roof which is apparently costing half again as much as the whole stadium costs....

things to make you go hummm.

 

They also have commentary so we got to learn lots of interesting facts about the area. Like, did you know that one in every eight people in Vancouver is a millionaire? I don’t doubt it looking around. Also, it is the most expensive city in north America to live in. Another really weird thing I noticed, there are no African Americans in the city, seriously…..what’s up with that…..Lots of Asians and east Indians but no black people. More things that make you go ….hummmmm.

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This was an amazing really long mural depicting famous people either from or who had a significant impact on Vancouver. It was really neat.

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The day today was cold and cloudy, but we really enjoyed all we saw.

 

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China Town

 

I loved the Gastown area. It was very quaint and filled with tourist shops.

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There as a steam clock there that (insert technical things about steam clocks here) and also had steam (duh, it is a steam clock) and played music every (fill in the blank with a time here). Okay, I really wasn't paying attention but it was pretty.

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We went to the top of the Vancouver Lookout (once we figured out how to get in) We expected a tall tower with the round thing on top. Nope.....it is just sitting on a building. Okayyyy. We really enjoyed the view and listening to the tour guides share information. For instance did you know that the air traffic control tower on the top of the building next to the port is the tallest in the world? Didn’t think so.

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See it on top of that building? It is for flight planes and helicopters. The white peaks are the cruise terminal (Canada Place)

The green area in the background is Stanley Park.

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Later we went to Stanley park (on the trolley). We got off on the first stop and decided to walk the sea wall for a bit.

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For the record, there is no “walk the seawall for a bit”. You either commit or your don’t. By the time you get to the bridge you may as well just have your mail forwarded there because that is your new home for the next several miles. It was a lovely walk and certainly not hard (unless of course you have to pee like a race horse like I did and then it totally sucks!) You have the sea on one side and a steep, 50 foot wall of land on the other.

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And it keeps going, and going, and going…….

Finally you reach third beach and you can climb out and either visit the tea house or the concession stand. I chose the ladies room.

 

We caught the trolley and headed back into to town. We exited the bus by where you catch the water ferry over to Granville Island. We walked for a bit and had lunch at the Burrard Bridge Bar and Grill.

 

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It was very good. We walked the seawall back to Yaletown and went back to the hotel.

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While I was getting ready for dinner, Glenn Morshower from 24 and transformers fame was out front of our hotel.

 

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My husband enjoyed seeing him, however, he didn’t feel it was important enough to come and get me. If you are angry and frustrated to hear this I want you to know that,, oh yes, I made him pay for that poor decision. You know I did. Later we went to Salsa and Agave for some margaritas, nachos and to watch the game.

 

The next day we were driven to the port in the hotel’s BMW. It was quite fancy. We were dropped off about 11am and headed through security. We checked in and proceeded to wait until around 1pm to be let on the ship. We were surprised as the ship was in dry dock the week prior so we assumed that with no one exciting the ship we could get on early. Au Contraire my friend, au contraire. AND I'm pretty sure they shipped in the cruise terminal employees from a less friendly city.

Some observations about Vancouver…..

If you want unsweented ice tea, you are out of luck….they only serve sweetened ice tea. Maybe that is why everyone there is so sweet. maybe I will try and give some of it to my 15 year old to test out my theory. I will get back with you on that.

If you want pepper, you may have to ask for it…..most restaurants didn’t have it on the table.

Sweet n Low was hard to come by. Probably because everything is already sweetened so it is redundant.

However, if you want coffee, you literally need to walk about 10 steps…..they are on every corner, three to a block, no exaggeration. One intersection had two Starbucks on the corner.

Ferries to Granville island are $3 each way.

Curling irons are super expensive (what? I needed a curling iron, I’m just sayin’) as were candy bars (around $2.00 a piece)

 

Tune in tomorrow for our first day on the cruise.

 

Night all!

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Oh my gosh - sooo many memories. Can't wait to hear the rest.:)

 

 

Yes, wonderful memories. We were married on the Radiance 4 years ago on June 24th (Friday).....in Juneau. We will always gave a special place in our hearts for the Radiance.

 

 

...and.....

 

As far as sweetened in Canada.......

 

I used to travel to Canada often for work and I discovered it is challenging to be a diabetic up there. It is truly difficult to find unsweetened or low carb options we are used to down here in the lower 48. I am very careful with my diet and count carbs as my maintenance. One example.....a regular yogurt can be as high as 40 carbs but the "lite and fit" variety is only 17. Guess what you CANNOT find up there!

 

That's ok. I still loved Canada and her wonderful people.

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Really enjoying your review and can't wait to see pics of the ship and the ports! I spent a week in Vancouver on a land vacation and loved it. There's actually one intersection where they have FOUR Starbucks - one on each corner! If memory serves, they have 60 locations in the downtown area. Cincinnati, a city of similiar size, has only 3 downtown Starbucks locations.

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I'm excited to hear more of your review about the ship and what other rccl ships have you been on to maybe compare to the Radiance. Like did you enjoy the Radiance IF you've been on larger rccl ships?

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I'm excited to hear more of your review about the ship and what other rccl ships have you been on to maybe compare to the Radiance. Like did you enjoy the Radiance IF you've been on larger rccl ships?

 

We have been on 10 other cruises. This was our 5th one aboard RCCL. We have also been on Disney (2), Carnival (2) and Princess and NCL once each. In our opinion, all of the cruise lines are pretty equal (except we are not the biggest fans of Carnival....but that could be because the last cruise we were on with them was an older ship and in really poor shape....) By equal, I mean that they all have something they excel in. Our favorite line though, is RCCL because of her ships. We love the ships and we love the big ships. So I wasn't really sure how this one would go. We hadn't been on a small ship since the Monarch in 2002 with the exception of the Carnival Victory, that I referred to above, that wasn't the best experience (although, hey, it was a cruise so it was still awesome)

I have to say, this ship was absolutely beautiful. I really loved it. I loved the cascading balconies looking into the centrum, I loved the decor in the Colony Club, I loved the Schooner Bar. The Solarium was my favorite space, decor wise, of any ship I have ever been on. Just as a caveat though, this wasn't a Caribbean cruise and I didn't have my kids (15 and 12) with me so it is hard to compare apples to apples. But overall, this ship was great.

 

As for seeing these spaces....you'll just have to wait ;)

 

 

I am proud to report, we experienced no plumbing issues....well except for that night after Mexican. KIDDING!

 

This was an amazing trip and we did things that were truly once in a lifetime. If you are thinking of booking this trip, hold off from booking the post tour until you read what we did. I can't wait to share everything with you. I will get started.........after I get a cup of coffee.....where's a dang Starbucks when you need one!

Edited by jennat
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One thing about the embarkation process, after you check in (which really was quite easy) you are supposed to take a chair. Take the chair. We, along with a bunch of other folks were standing around the walls, thinking they were going to open the door (gate?) anytime so we didn't want to walk way back and sit.....well they make everyone sit and then they let people board the ship by rows. By the time we (followed the rules?) acquiesced, we were almost in the back of the second room. Bummer. There's really is a payoff for following directions. Damn! I didn't take any pictures of the inside of the terminal as I am totally a rule follower now (at least the ones that make sense) but close your eyes and I will describe it to you. Imagine you are sitting in a large room. On one side there is a long line and at the end of the line is a wall full of counters. After you pass these counters you see hundreds of chairs and a bunch of fools trying to beat the system standing along the wall. You can walk through a hole in the wall (sometimes called a door) where there is another room filled with chairs. The walls are white. As you can imagine, it is a lovely place to be. Simply paradise. The outside of the terminal, however, really was quite lovely. See the photos about 5 down.

 

We boarded the ship on the 4th level into the Centrum (atrium).

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We were so excited to be on board. Truthfully, with all the planning of excursions and the post trip, we had forgotten we were actually taking a cruise and all that goes with that. We literally remembered on the plane ride to Vancouver, so that excitement was new. We were booked in room 9588, a balcony on the hump, 9th floor. We are not people who HAVE to have a balcony. We usually end up getting one but always waver. On this cruise I would say that this balcony was perfect. It is worth the extra money, if you have it, simply for the Hubbard Glacier day.

 

By the way, that hot lookin' mama is me, Jen,.....mama being the operative word!

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And the stud in the photo is my man, Mike.

 

Remember that if you get a regular balcony on this ship, there is a big white ledge covering the life boats, so especially if you are on a lower level, you can't look straight down.

 

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There is lots of storage in the room. There is a double closet. One side all hanging stuff and the other side corner but large shelves that go from floor to ceiling. There are drawers on both sides of the desk (total of 8) storage behind the angled mirrors on each side of the desk, some small shelves good for bottles, and a cabinet above the tv, with a small safe in it. It is a "code" safe as opposed to sliding a card to lock it. There is a flat screen tv with questionable signal but that is probably not their fault. BTW there is also wifi all over the ship (not free of course). While I am thinking about it, you HAVE to log off or they keep charging you if you are not on their computers. On apple products you have to get a strip of paper from guest services and type in a web address or code or something. I'm sure they will get this resolved but be aware until then.

The bath is a typical cruise bath but it is the smallest shower ever in the history of the entire world.....this is not over stated. It has one of those clingy shower curtains that wraps around you like cling wrap cutting off all oxygen and bringing up all your childhood terrors of suffocation and being buried alive. What? That was just me?

To shave your legs you have to either, practice Yoga regularly and be extremely flexible, or open the curtain and put your leg on the toilet, now using the entire bathroom as a shower (which really is a lot closer to the size of shower we are used to). I finally learned, on the last day, to lower the nozel to about shoulder level and face it toward the wall, taking the facet thingy (not an official word) off to rinse and repeat. They do have some kind of liquid something on the wall. Don't know what it was, brought my own shampoo, use at your own risk.

Otherwise the bathroom was exactly like all other cruise bathrooms.

Combine all of this with a full sized couch and two small night stands and you have yourselves a cruise room. (oh, and a bed)

I know there was some issue on the ship with people having water pressure issues and temperature issues, we had those the first couple of days. For us, it wasn't a big deal.

Rooms were ready at 2pm, no bags yet so off to explore.

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Awesome review so far! Trying to get my DW to go on one of these. Maybe you will convince her;)

 

You may as well go ahead and book. I will definitely convince her. Give me a challenge would you. You can tell her, I had no interest in going on an Alaska cruise until I was old. I am a warm weather girl. Well, honey, this ain't your momma's cruise we took. Plenty of excitement and adventure.

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Love your review so far.

 

As a Canadian, just a couple of comments:

 

The reason you will only find sweetened tea is because none of it is fresh brewed tea like you get in the States. I split my time between Toronto and Kentucky and it one thing that I miss when I am back in Canada- real, unsweet tea. I'm surprised you had trouble finding sweetner though- it's usually on the table or brought with coffee at every restaurant I have ever been to.

 

Vancouver doesn't have African Americans but it does have African Canadians-I promise!:D Not that this is a term used in Canada. Vancouver has traditionally had a very large Asian community, stemming back to when the railroads were first constructed. Did you get to visit Chinatown?

 

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip and see the changes to the ship!

 

Cheers,

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Loving your review and I love the Radiance class ships, but have a quick question. Didn't the Radiance just come out of dry dock? Just curious...the picture that shows the couch in your room appears that the couch is really worn. Was it, or is it just the picture?

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First of all, I want to say, that everything I write is my opinion and how I saw things. I realize different people have different experiences. All I can offer is my own.

 

Now let's talk about packing. Now that is a challenge. I might be able to help narrow down your load. We had amazing weather. We had sunshine for all but 2 of the 12 days. That being said. It was cold a lot of the time. I took 1 pair of shorts and several short sleeved t-shirts for both of us. Didn't need them. I did see some people walking around in shorts, I just assumed they were crazy people not taking their medication but hey, who am I to judge. In the ship, in the evenings, you can get away with less than long sleeves for dinner etc but not outside. Definitely take gloves, a hat, a coat, a scarf and a rain coat. I used the gloves and coat just about everyday and I used the scarf on more than one occasion.

This was the first cruise I took jeans on, and I wore them all the time. It was really kind of weird. I did not take any formal clothes with me, although a lot of people did. Not as many as a caribbean cruise but certainly a fair amount. You definitely need a back pack so you can pack for any weather contingency during the port days. I took umbrellas, only used them once, but once again, not much rain. Didn't take ponchos because I figured with the umbrellas and raincoats I would be covered (you know that pun was intended). we did use ponchos given to us by our guides once and were happy to have them.

Definitely take binoculars, cameras, extra batteries (several as you take so many photos you need more than one per day....if you google the type of battery you have you can find them really cheap (like $10 including shipping for 3) super cheap)

I took a pair of low hiking boots and a pair of cute flip flops and that is it for shoes. I was actually in the hiking boots a lot and I am NOT a tennis shoes girl at all!

We were really out in the bush and water hiking a ton (which you will see later), etc and didn't need bug spray at all. I had NO bites (and I am super sweet, haha) but did see a couple of mosquitoes.

Don't forget a power strip like I did. Drat!

 

I will post more on this as I think of it.

 

One thing I forgot to say, when we got to the room the first day, the first thing I did was to ask the cabin steward for two blankets (for the balcony). I was surprised that RCL didn't offer these on the decks, especially with the big screen playing outside movies.

 

We headed up to explore the ship......here are some photos.

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This is taken from deck 12 (the crown and anchor society something or other) looking down (duh). I love the cascading balconies over the centrum.

 

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This is pretty much how the pool looked crowd wise all week. The only exception was the Stanley Cup playoffs, which they played on the big screen.....and maybe the NBA playoffs too, I really don't know, did I mention it was cold. There were often people in the hot tubs also. This seemed quite appealing but I could never get past the horrific image of my death by freezing as I tried to get out of the hot tub and make my way to some place warm. Just didn't see it turning out good so didn't try it. I would like to point out that I live in Colorado so it is not like I live on a Caribbean island or anything. Just sayin'

 

 

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Windjammer.....I thought this was set up nice, although we didn't eat here much. They added two restaurants behind and to the sides of this. Walking back to the left was Rita's Cantina and to the right was Izumi, a sushi restaurant. Behind these in the aft of the ship was open seating. I know the restaurants were having a really hard time keeping overflow from the windjammer out of the pay rest. I'm sure they will figure it out.

The surcharge for Rita's was $3 pp plus ala carte. I think it may have been the same for Izumi (we didn't eat there). To give you an idea about ala carte prices in Rita's, we got the fajitas for two (rice, beans, meat and all the fixin's and it was $4.50.....total, tons of food. Chimichangas $5, nachos $2.50 etc Not to pricey. The food was "fine", not a lot of flavor but it was pretty much fajitas....the service was fantastic.....awesome. Maybe because they weren't very busy. If you order a margarita from here, be warned. They are strong!!!! Not "oh my, this is strong" strong but "Holy, Mother! THIS IS STRONG!" strong. Do not underestimate what I am saying here. Be forewarned and proceed with regard to your motives.....you want to get drunk cheap, this place is what you are looking for. My thought is, why waste the calories, do a shot......the result is pretty much the same in this case. I want to enjoy the flavor of the drink.....these drinks, not so much.

As you enter the windjammer, to the right (actually before you enter) was The Doghouse, a hot dog restaurant offering 5 different kinds of hot dogs. I don't "do dogs" hot or otherwise, so can't comment but I am sure the kids would love it.

Back to the tour

 

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Just a note that I will get to later.....the production entertainment on this ship was amazing......

 

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This was the big round room on top (which totally has a name that I am too tired to think of.....crown something, can't remember....you know what I am talking about. I thought this was kind of weirdly (yes that is a word) decorated.....like, last minute, throw some furniture in here.....or maybe, don't worry about decorating it, everyone will be looking out anyway.

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Loving your review and I love the Radiance class ships, but have a quick question. Didn't the Radiance just come out of dry dock? Just curious...the picture that shows the couch in your room appears that the couch is really worn. Was it, or is it just the picture?

 

Yes it did just come out of dry dock....three weeks worth. I know they didn't do everything. I see what you mean by the couch looking warn. I don't remember noticing so I am thinking it was the light in the picture.

I know the carpet was new and the tvs were new in the rooms.

 

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Edited by jennat
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Jen, thank you so much for taking the time to give us your review and your honest observations.

 

One question, having been on Radiance 12 times ourselves with 3 more cruises planned beginning this September (can you tell we like this ship :D) ..........there used to be an outside coffee station on Deck 11 where the Boardwalk Dog House is currently located. Did you notice if it is still there or did they relocate it?

 

Can't wait to read more of your amazing cruise.

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Lovin' your review...I'm hooked! Ready for the next chapter. We are set to sail on our first Alaskan cruise in a little over 2 months, Aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas. The ROS was our very first cruise ship and I'm hoping we haven't been spoiled too bad by the wonderful Voyager Class ships.

 

(*)(*) looking for the next part......

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Love your review so far.

 

As a Canadian, just a couple of comments:

 

The reason you will only find sweetened tea is because none of it is fresh brewed tea like you get in the States. I split my time between Toronto and Kentucky and it one thing that I miss when I am back in Canada- real, unsweet tea. I'm surprised you had trouble finding sweetner though- it's usually on the table or brought with coffee at every restaurant I have ever been to.

 

Vancouver doesn't have African Americans but it does have African Canadians-I promise!:D Not that this is a term used in Canada. Vancouver has traditionally had a very large Asian community, stemming back to when the railroads were first constructed. Did you get to visit Chinatown?

 

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip and see the changes to the ship!

 

Cheers,

 

There was definitely sweetener, just not sweet n low. you know, we all have out "brain cancer in a package of choice". Mine was in low supply! luckily there was no fresh brewed tea to sweeten so it wasn't that much of a deal. How's that for putting a positive spin on a desperate (no tea) situation!

 

We drove through China town but didn't get to walk around there.

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Here are some more Vancouver photos

 

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Gastown

 

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From the Sky Tower

 

Yaletown

 

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