GEARADRIFT

I'd go with the longer cruise and superior visibility of Serenade. I'd also prefer Boston to beautiful, gorgeous Bayonne, only because it's not common for Royal to cruise from there.

Thanks, Bob! I was 99.99999 % sure you would say Serenade. And, I agree. I have enjoyed the Brilliance and the Radiance. I just like that class of ship. Before I pulled the CC out, I just wanted to see if there was something I may be missing regarding ships.

Why not? I would.

I should have clarified. 'I' could make a 9N cruise work. Does not work for the wife's work schedule.

Once again, we are probably going to push the (Sep '19) cruise to Bermuda back one more time. I was leaning towards another Alaska Cruise next year, this time out of Seattle. However, my better half had been exchanging cruise experiences with co-workers a few weeks back and New England/Canada came up. From the last week of August to the 2nd week of October 2019 (our window of opportunity to cruise), I have drilled down to the 7N Serenade and the 6N Adventure. There is also the 9N Anthem, but I would not have that at the top of our list.

Simply regarding the class of ship, would you be heading to Boston for a 7N on the Serenade of the Seas or to Cape Liberty for a 6N on the Adventure of the Seas? Inquiring minds value your opinion. Or, is it inquisitive? :D

I wrote a review to encourage those who are sailing the Independence between now and the time of her refurbishment in April.

 

She is FINE!

 

Staff and crew were great. Ship (older but in good shape) was very good. Entertainment great. So much to do.

 

We had a wonderful cruise.

 

I wrote a long (positive) review -- but it is lost. Sigh. I'll answer questions if you have any.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise on the Independence!

 

Judith

I second that! Was a great cruise! Was really neat to be berthed in Falmouth across from Liberty to get an idea of what Independence is going to look like after the yard period. Coming back from an excursion, a fellow cruiser made the comment that the Liberty was 'bigger' than the Independence. :confused: I just let it go ...... ;) When you look at them up near the water slide, etc., one may get that impression. NAH!!

I don't suppose you have any of your compasses or the menus? We are sailing March 1.

You are living right! I just posted the links at the following thread.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2586366

Have a Great Cruise!!

Okay, now that I have stopped sniveling since they made us get off the ship on Saturday and have found my way back to the office :rolleyes: I have gotten around to scanning/uploading the Cruise Compass and other documents provided during the sailing (minus the ship/port shopping flyers). Was a GREAT Cruise! Very nice weather. And, met some great people (fellow cruisers and staff). Show highlights for me were the band Private Stock, Comedian Rondell Sheridan and of course Grease (I had never seen it).

Cruise Compass Boarding Day Edition

Cruise Compass Day 1

Cruise Compass Day 2

Cruise Compass Day 3

Cruise Compass Day 4

Cruise Compass Day 5

As You Depart (My least favorite) :(

Miscellaneous (Cleanliness Letter, Staff and Crew & OS Luggage Valet and Onboard Check-in Service)

Happy New Year to All!

Heading to FLL this upcoming weekend for a 5N on the IOS which will be departing out of Terminal 29 (Jan 8). That will be a first for us. Looks like parking options are the Midport Garage and shuttle To/From Terminal 29 or use an Off-Port Facility and shuttle To/From Terminal 29. Looks like an Advanced Pay at an Off-Port Facility is a little cheaper, but that is not always better. I consider the 'winner' to be the service that is operating the most number of shuttles To/From on our arrival day keeping the wait time down after disembarking. Looking for some feedback from experienced Terminal 29 cruisers. What say ye?

It would cut your cruise short, but if I were onboard, I would hope that they would pull-in Friday AM sometime so that I could vacate the area as quickly as possible (whatever that may be). Keep this in mind, the airlines are not going to leave airplanes in harms way. There will come a point when there will not be anymore inbound A/C. And, they will error on the side of caution. As for the rental car companies, I suspect that they will run out of cars quickly as the time approaches. And, they are happy to give them to anyone that wants to 'evacuate' one of their vehicles out harms way. As Tony20 mentioned, get one reserved. I would go as far as to abuse the system, reserve through a couple of companies. I have walked to a counter before and was told they did not have a vehicle for me (some big event in town). I had two (2) more reservations. The second company did have a vehicle. PLAN BRAVO.

If it's warm enough, the outdoor WIndjammer seating can be very enjoyable.

Bob, STOP telling people about the Outdoor Windjammer Seating. LOL!! Sshhhhhh. Be quiet about things like this ...... My favorite spot.

Thanks. I have a friend who will be my "plan b" next Spring...but looking to see if I can get one before that time.

 

I'll also take your suggestion and check some upcoming roll calls to reach out.

Since it appears that I will only need to ship to ATL (from NE FL) and since I plan to purchase one to go with my Brilliance of the Seas, I will see if I will have the suitcase space for another. Southbound sailing August 18th.

Happened to be at my desk at the right time to capture some images as the RADIANCE arrived Ketchikan this morning via KPU (webcamketchikan(dot)com). What? Everybody still asleep? Saw nearly a sole out on the helipad! Have a Great time in Ketchikan!

Didn't want to bring the whole house.

I hear ya! Definitely makes it easier. I will gladly spend $$ on laundry over extra luggage.

Doing this cruise (southbound) in August. Following! Have a great time!

The Radiance is scheduled to arrive in Vancouver at the end of a southbound cruise at

7 a.m. My connection is at Canada Place at 9:15. Is this too tight of a timeframe or will we be ok? Thanks so much for your help.

You catching the BC Ferry Connector (via Wilson) down to Victoria? I only ask, because the 9:15 caught my eye. We are using this service (@ 9:15) when we arrive Vancouver as our means of transportation down to Victoria. They (Wilson) have assured me that we will have plenty of time. But, just the same, we plan to carry our own luggage off and make use of the express service (around 7AM).

I'd be fine with 9208, I think it's far enough from the centrum to have minimal noise and smoke.

Thanks Bob. While on the phone will reservations, they informed me that 9038 was now available. Took that one. Being forward is closer to where I will find myself most often; Deck 5 and helipad; and the Forward Overlooks (Deck 11, 12 & 13). Although I seem to recall that one of the forward overlooks are for 'Gold Cards ONLY'.

Hump location would probably give you the largest balcony. However, there are sometimes disadvantages to the hump area on Radiance class because of possible noise and cigarette smoke coming up from the centrum. Doesn't happen all the time, but enough to make us favor the forward locations.

A quick question for the SME's (Subject Matter Experts), if I may? I do not know why I do this to myself. I looked at what has come available on an upcoming Radiance Southbound. Currently in 9236, but saw where 9208 and 9220 became available. Wondering whether 9208 may be a little too close to the Centrum (noise/possible smoke), and whether 9220 is worth the move (a little closer to the stairs/elevators, but not much else). I should have never looked. :confused:

Thoughts?

I really love the Windjammer outdoor seating area on the Radiance Class ships to just sit outside and enjoy Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner or just read a book in between.

Now you are talking my language!! Having only been on the Brilliance (in the class), I am looking forward to sailing the Radiance in a few months. I am with you, if a ship of each class that we have sailed (Vision, Radiance, Freedom & Oasis) were sailing identical itineraries, I would select the Radiance Class. Not taking anything away from the other classes, we have enjoyed all of them immensely, there is just something about the Radiance Class.

Cindy, I am only up to page 15 of this report, but wanted to thank you for being OCD. My wife and I will be cruising this August (2017) Southbound along with another couple whom we have cruised with before, and are very much looking forward to this trip/cruise. It may be my 20 years in the service, but I must plan it out in advance. If we change it along the way, no problem. But, start with a plan! I have shared your packing list, etc. and it is a great help. It has everyone thinking ahead. The 2nd week of January, I made mention that it was time to start thinking about 'packing.' So many of the items that you have on your list we just drop them in a large plastic storage bin with that item checked off the list. I always try to get the 'low hanging fruit' (little items) completed early. Looking forward to reading the rest of your Cruise Tour. We are not going to be doing any RCI Pre-Cruise Itinerary. We are planning a couple extra days in ANC and opted to head down to Victoria, BC area (Butchart Gardens) for a few days once we arrive Canada Place. We found a Coach/Ferry Service that leaves Canada Place and will take you downtown Victoria. Let me get back to reading. Thanks Again.

The RCI cruise train transfer does leave ANC between 11:30am and noon....We have taken this train from Seward to ANC and it arrived right to ANC at 11:30am...and there were indeed many cruiser's waiting to get on this train that turns around and goes back to Seward and arrives right next to where the ship is docked. What you might be seeing is the regular train and not the cruise contracted one.

As we gradually get closer to cruise time, I am revisiting this train schedule thing. I apologize for revisiting/asking another question, but you referenced ANC in your post. With my aviation background, I take that as the train arrives at the Anchorage International Airport Alaska Railroad Station. Is that a good assumption on my part?

No, we did not take the train from the airport. If you read my first paragraph, I

detailed what we did on the overnight at the Hilton from Anchorage. The free

Hilton shuttle took us to the Anchorage train station (about 5 miles away) I booked

train passage myself online. You simply show your receipt at the counter, and they

give you your tickets. Very easy to do.

 

You need to arrive at that "regular" train station an hour ahead of time. The RCI

crew with the box truck that takes your luggage will open up for checked bags around

6 am. Also very easy.

Thank You very much. That sounds much better for what the Wife and I would like to do. A member of the other couple that is going has expressed that they do not want to get up that early while on vacation. Whereas, the Wife and I are always up by 5:30/6AM. They'd prefer to take the Noon(ish) train from the airport. We may be taking separate trains getting down to Seward. :) I told them that as far as their body would be concerned, it will be 11:45AM (EST)!! We are more inclined to take the same train you did. Get down to Seward, and 'kick around' there for the afternoon. Thanks Again.

\

 

are you talking about in Anchorage? Because i did a DIY land tour of 6 days prior to getting the train to go down to Seward and i stayed at Comfort Inn Ships Creek which is just a really short shuttle ride from the hotel to the station and the hotel provides it free. We left at 5:00 in the am to get over to the railroad station with out bags and i was traveling with a 6 year old. It was EASY-PEASY! Hotel had a nice indoor pool, decent room, and a free continental breakfast in the am before we left for the station.

Thanks, we are going to think about taking the earlier train from the downtown station. Would certainly get us into Seward earlier so we could look around there during the afternoon. In fact, I just made reservations at the Comfort Inn Ships Creek. Great convenience to the station.

We stayed this last August at the Hilton Homewood suites in Anchorage overnight.

The hotel picked us up at the airport, later took a shuttle to Walmart to pick up some

wine, then they shuttled us with our luggage to the train station in the morning.

All free of charge (but of course we tipped the driver ;)).

 

We simply handed our luggage from the shuttle to the RCI crew members at the

train station which indeed was loaded onto a box truck (not the train). Be sure to

have your luggage tags attached before you get to the train station, to make it

easier. Our luggage was not seen again until delivered to our cabin.

 

It was a beautiful day when we got to Seward, so we opted to just walk to the

ship with our rolling carry on bags. Most others just hopped on the free of charge

waiting buses for the quick 1/2 mile trip to the ship.

 

Was indeed easy peasy. :D

Question? Did you take the train that originates at the airport? We initially made reservations through RCI pre-cruise (tours) for a 2N Stay at the Hilton Downtown plus the train down to Seward. We decided not to stay at the Hilton for the 2 Nights but still wanted to use the train to get down to Seward. I was told today that since we were not doing any pre-cruise/tour stuff (through RCI) that the system would not let them book/make reservations for the train (since we were arriving 2 days before the cruise(?)). :confused: Apparently, now that we will have a rental car at our disposal, that all we need to do is go back to the airport the morning of departure and find a RCI staff member in the airport baggage claim and they can sell us tickets for the train service to Seward. Does that sound correct to anybody?

Has anyone taken the 'regular' train service from downtown Anchorage, that leaves early in the morning (6:45)?

On the RCCL CruiseTour #3A they asked that you keep one bag for daily delivery to your room and any other bags they will store in a box truck until the day before the cruise when you will receive all your bags. The morning that you leave from the hotel to the ship all bags for your cruise will be collected and dropped of at the ship terminal and receive at your cabin. Just don't give them anything you might need during the day. We received our luggage at about 6pm the first night on the ship. Enjoy Alaska It was Fantastic.

Sounds like what I have been seeing. Thank You for the response. We are really really looking forward to it.

Still 9 months away, but I have some questions that cannot seem to be answered by the the folks on the other end of the phone at RCCL.

Looking for any fellow CCers with experience staying at Hilton (or, Marriott) prior to taking the 'cruise train' down to Seward. I have perused some Youtube videos where it appears that 'cruisers' staying at the pre-cruise (Hilton/Marriott) hotels checked their luggage with RCCL (contractors/staff) at the hotel before getting on the bus that took them to the train awaiting them at the airport. In one video it appeared that the luggage was being placed in a box truck. It did not appear that they had to 'deal' with their luggage (other than what they wanted to take with them on the train) once they departed the hotel. Is this the case? Is the luggage handed over to RCCL at the hotel prior to departing the hotel, not to be seen again until it arrives in your stateroom? Or, do you retrieve it once you arrive Seward via the cruise train and then hand it back over to RCCL at the Seward Port?

Inquiring minds would like to know. Thank You.

Very Nice Photos! Thanks for sharing. We will be on the Southbound Cruise Aug '17. Really like that class of ship!