Leslaf

Better to post this on the Roll call.

The roll call wasn't there anymore when I went to post this morning. I guess they get rid of it once the ship sails. August 25, next week's sailing is there and onwards.

So basically the M and M wasn't well attended. I, for one, was told it was in Starquest by Guest Services but another function was there. I popped back to my room at about 10:30 am and the notice was on the bed. So it arrived at some point between 8:45-10:30 am this morning. Should've been dropped off last night.

There were about 12 of us out of 38 people there. Oh well. Met some nice people though.

Just as an aside - we couldn't go into the Hubbard Glacier this afternoon since the weather was horrible and apparently hurricane strength winds in there. Too risky with large chunks of ice floating around.

Can only hope weather gets better. Supposed to be rainy at every port from here on in.

Guess I may just have to come again!!

Wrong info Samba Grill at 11 am

There are 38 of us signed up for M and M today. I didn't receive a notice in my room but I checked at Guest Services and they said it was today 11 am in Starquest.

I am throwing this out there in case others didn't receive a notification. I hope this info is indeed correct.

Following this thread. We're on the same cruise as the OP. I've been doing some research as well so I can add a couple of things to this.

Regarding there being no self-serve laundrymat on board - in the cabins there should be a laundry bag which can be filled as far to the brim as possible and it's a flat rate of $35 I believe. The cabin steward will know about that.

I was going to use the $35 laundry service once we got on board because we are doing an 8-day trip from Fairbanks down to Seward. However I did some research at the different hotels we will be staying at and it turns out that the last hotel we stay at the night before the cruise, Harbor View 360, has a self serve laundry for $3 for a wash and $3 for the dryer. Perfect! I'm doing a load for hubby and myself once we get to that hotel. Now I don't have to use the ship's laundry.

If you're on a pre-cruise tour, do a wee bit of research about the hotels you are staying in and you'll find that some of them do have self-serve laundry services.

A couple of other tips I've learned about the ship: there is no charge for roomservice if you're getting the continental breakfast. I have also heard that they don't bring you very much so you can order a couple of them maybe. This would be perfect if going out very early on a shore excursion.

Views from Schooner Bar are amazing and Colony Club has views of the ship's wake and is underutilized (until now - since I just posted it lol). At Icy Strait Point often you can see whales, otters around the ship so keep an eye open even from these locations including the Champagne Bar.

I've also heard the beef roll (roast beef sandwich) is excellent from the Park Cafe. I'm going to have to check out that salad selection as well.

We learned...if we have MTD (not our first choice), we make reservations for sure. Recommended.

We made reservations for every night on MTD on an upcoming cruise. If we decide we just want to go to Windjammer instead and I go online and cancel my reservation even an hour before, is that ok?

Just did this tour last week. I would NOT use them again. I am just typing up a TA review now. Will get it posted here also when I can access CC on my computer.

I'd like to know what the issues were. So far the service via emailing, etc. has been great. We do this tour on August 22. Please keep me posted. Thanks

If the invitation is not in your cabin when you board, go look for it immediately. Check with your cabin steward first. If not successful there, go to Guest Services. If not successful there, find the Loyalty Ambassador.

 

Usually the M&M is on the first full day of your cruise. If you don't find out the date, time and place right away, you will probably miss it.

Thank you. Good advice especially since on our cruise, the first day at sea is the next day and then after that we're in ports the rest of the days.

For our upcoming cruise we were told that we would get a note to our stateroom telling us where and when the M and M would be. So as someone mentioned, maybe they have done away with that list of M and M's.

Is that of Aug. 25th ?

No August 18th leaving from Seward. August 25th I believe the ship will be leaving Vancouver going northbound.

hi all,

I am travelling on the independence of the seas in October 2017. Is the deluxe drinks package worth it? It says drinks up to $12, are there plenty of cocktails in this price range. Views appreciated.

Many thanks

Louisa

We are sailing soon and I did a bit of research. IMO it'll be worth it for us because we like to have a specialty coffee in the morning and afternoon as well as soda perhaps for lunch. These things are included in the drink package as well as adult beverages and if we purchased that all separately then it would be well over the drink package price per day.

I have seen the same thing in red before on my reservation. It's happened when I've called in and someone from RCI is making a change to my reservation. Because she was in on my reservation I couldn't access it. Is it possible someone was in on your reservation and then didn't get out of it? That's my experience anyhow.

20 days on Radiance OTS southbound Seward to Vancouver!

Thanks for the videos! They were great! I'll be on Radiance in 20 days but we are sailing southbound!

Thanks, we did ask and they did say we would be back by 2:00. Guess I'm just looking for reassurance, don't know why I'm nervous about this one excursion because we mostly do them on our own.

You'll be fine. The cruise ships are pretty much their only business so they always know all the ships itineraries, etc. Just confirm when you meet up with the guide right off the bat.

We're doing the bear watch in August from 11:00 - 2:00. Our port time changed and we have to be back on board at 2:30. Did anyone have issues with not returning on time? We can still switch to the 7:30 trip if needed.

I asked the same question when I booked our tour from 11-2 p.m. Our ship leaves at 3 p.m. The woman told me that we would be back at the dock by 2 p.m.

I always got quick email replies from them, so you may want to follow up with a quick email to double check but you should be fine.

Darn, we're going to be at Skagway, Alaska on our cruise. Most likely the worst place you could be to see it, but I'm on a cruise, so that's all the matters!

I debated on whether or not I would buy the alcohol package while on the cruise. In the months before our departure, the package was available for $55/day. At that price, I wasn’t sure I would drink enough to make it worthwhile. A couple weeks before departure they offered a discounted package with Voom internet and the alcohol package for $54/day. I decided this package was worth the expense. I cannot leave work totally behind when I go away so I needed internet access to stay in touch with work from time to time while on the ship. I was going to buy the Voom package anyway but when they bundled it with the alcohol package, it made my decision easy. I got the internet access I needed and I was able to drink enough to feel I got my money’s worth. J

Thanks very much for the great trip report. In 3 weeks we are heading to Fairbanks and are also working our way down to Seward to board the Radiance. We are in Fairbanks for a couple of nights and then head on to Denali for three nights, then one night in Girdwood before going to Anchorage and lastly staying in Seward one night before our cruise. We have booked with Alaska Train, making our way south by train and are taking some of the same tours you did. Lots of great info for us!

We have also booked the drink package with the Voom as it was a decent price. I figure with a couple of specialty coffees a day in addition to some pop, water and adult beverages, we would get our money's worth out of it.

In general are these re-positioning cruises a decent price?

We just got off Radiance in Vancouver on 6/17. We did a group tour thing, but even then it was fast and easy. so much so, that when we showed our customs paper to the agent, he asked one question and said welcome. He didn't even ask to see the passport.

 

 

I do agree, if possible, it might be easiest to wait at the hotel. You have to walk by the elevator to get to the street. As far as parking, that I couldn't help you as we just walked up to the street and took the tour bus. This was a very easy disembarkation process.

 

Enjoy your trip. It was amazing.

 

 

Erika

Thanks Erika!

There is a passenger private pick-up/drop-off area on level P2 marked in green with benches/seating, same level as taxis & transfers,etc. Passengers awaiting rides can wait in that area and there's plenty of space to stop car and pick-up. Your friends need to go down the ramp at Canada Place "Cruise Ship Terminal" (see photo below) and read the signs as they go down. They'll grab a ticket to get in, but pay nothing on the way out if you load up and leave.... it's free. It's very easy, I picked up a cruising buddy there just a month ago to show her around Vancouver for the day. I arrived just after 9am (on a normal Radiance Friday, only ship in town) and it was a ghost town, not busy at all.

 

 

Photo here is at front of Canada place at street level. Can't miss it.

Thanks so much! This is great info! I appreciate it!

If the ship docks at 7 then no one is getting off until 8 I would think as the ship has to clear customs.

 

As mentioned there is nowhere for private vehicles to park on the street, or wait for free. The area is right in the middle of downtown and quite unlike the typical US port which opens up onto massive parking lot.

Yes that's what I thought! So I'm just going to get them to come for 9 a.m.! Thanks for the info!

You're welcome.:) We sailed from Vancouver before so I have all sorts of bookmarks for that area since we came in early to be able to see the area.

 

We are doing a southbound on Radiance next May, so post after your cruise and tell us how it goes. Have a great cruise!

I will! We are also doing a pre-cruise trip from Fairbanks down to Seward, stopping at Denali, Girdwood and Anchorage along the way. Then traveling in BC for a week after the cruise! Busy busy!

Vancouver can be crazy depending on how many ships there are in port. I just checked the schedule, you are the only ship in port that day, so that helps a lot.

 

https://www.portvancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2017-Cruise-Schedule.pdf

 

You should talk to your friends about where they are going to meet you. There is no place in front of the Pan Pacific for them to park. There are spots across the street, but who knows if they can get one of those. They won't be able to park on the hotel side of the street since that is where the hop on/hop off buses operate from. If they are familiar with the area, they can just wait somewhere close and you can call them when you get to the street. They can then drive over and get you quick.

Thanks so much for that link and for checking that!! Yes that's a bit more reassuring that it'll only be our ship there! Yes I'll talk to them about where we'll meet!

It's an easy quick walk through the arrival parking lot and into an elevator and up to the main lobby of the hotel. We've arrived that way so assuming it would be easy to do this on the return. This would definitely be easier than the congested mess.

 

I'm sure someone who has done this will offer up some advice...even if you have to walk outside to get to the front of the hotel.

Thanks very much for the advice of going to meet our friends at the hotel! I will make note of that!

What do you think about disembarking at 8 a.m.? Is it realistic to think we will be able to get off at that time or are we better to have our friends come for 9 a.m.?

I've been following this thread and thought I would add my 2 cents!

 

On our 14-day NCL Sun cruise to Alaska in May, our last two ports were in British Columbia. On the sea day between Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, we spotted lots of porpoises jumping and playing in the water. It was fun to watch, but pretty hard to get any kind of decent photo.

 

Then I looked directly down into the water from our balcony and saw one racing alongside the ship! I was amazed at how well...and how long he was able to stay with the ship!

 

Here is the video I took...

 

That's a great video! We are going on an Alaska cruise in August from Seward to Vancouver and I'm planning to spend every moment on the ship looking down at the water and along the land for wildlife! I can't wait!