LindaD22

We will be in Halifax until 8:00 pm on our anniversary date. I would love to surprise my husband with a dinner in town. I’m looking for someplace that’s nice but still casual, since we have an excursion until 4:00 pm and I don’t want to go back onboard to change for someplace dressy. If it’s walkable to the port, extra points!! Thank you very much for your help!

Use the callback option. You keep your place in the queue and get a call from customer service when it’s your turn. Much less stressful than waiting on hold the whole time!

We just returned from an Alaskan cruise on Radiance. I bought this name magnet on Etsy for our cabin door and coupled it with a Life is Good magnet. I saw lots of other doors that were decorated too.

You would report it because RCI policies are very generous in offering compensation for those testing positive up to 10 days after the cruise.

We just got home from our Alaska land tour and cruise. Our pre-cruise tour group had 27 people. It is, as stated above, a very active tour with early mornings and long days, but entirely worth it. However, based on our experience, I would do the land tour following the cruise because of the COVID exposure risk. You are stuck all day in close quarters (bus, train, tour) with people. Out of our group, 3 tested positive at the end of the tour and were denied boarding on the ship. My husband tested positive 3 days later while on ship and was quarantined for the remainder of the cruise. The medical staff who tested us said that we were the sixth couple tested so far that day and all had been on land tours. So, while normally I would agree that doing the tour first and then relaxing on ship would be ideal, in the current COVID situation I would recommend the tour last.

I packed rain pants (bought on Amazon) and used them enough to warrant the purchase. I also bought a waterproof baseball hat that I wore on just about every excursion. Layers were perfect - long sleeve T-shirt with my rain jacket if warm and a hoodie also if colder. A backpack helps a lot to store layers as needed, if it warms up. But, we were quite active and did excursions at every port that involved hiking and whale watching. I also brought warm gloves & hat for glacier viewing on the ship.

We are on the Radiance now. She is looking a little tired and really in need of a refresh. There are missing floor tiles in our bathroom, streaks (water? drinks?) on our stateroom walls, torn fabric on our balcony lounges, and just a general sense of being due for a makeover. This is our first time on the Radiance. I knew it was a smaller ship, which I actually like a lot. But, I wasn’t aware that it didn’t have a promenade, self-serve beverage dispensers, or a larger entertainment venue (ours looks like a high school stage). The shops are only open for several hours each day and otherwise are closed, possibly due to staffing issues. The main dining seems fully staffed, though, as does housekeeping. Staff are as efficient, professional, friendly and helpful as always. Even with her current deficiencies, I believe I prefer her to a mega-ship like Quantum.

We normally book all our excursions through RCI; in fact, this is the first time we booked independently. Several of the most popular excursions were sold out pretty quickly in the cruise planner, so we looked for recommended alternatives here on CC. Yes, we knew and accepted the risk of doing so, but felt we had taken all possible precautions to stay healthy by being fully vaccinated (2 boosters), using stairs instead of elevators on board, and generally exercising caution. We are happy with the response from RCI to my husband’s situation, and certainly this confirms our past practice of booking excursions exclusively through RCI.

My husband began experiencing symptoms on day #3 with extreme fatigue and body aches. We had spent the entire previous day outside in the cold & rain, so at first chalked it up to that. By early afternoon, since he wasn’t feeling better, I tested him with a kit we had brought along. We then notified the medical center of his positive result and they took over from there. BTW, members of our Cruisetour tested positive just before boarding and were not allowed to continue. We had spent the tour time with these people on a bus and train, so that may have been his point of exposure.

Alaska Shores tours has a 30-day cancellation policy and Glacier Winds has a 14 day. I will submit my losses to our travel insurance, which is certainly something all travelers should have, especially now.

We are aboard Radiance on an Alaskan cruise. My husband tested positive on day #3 and was placed apart in isolation. Of course, we had excursions already planned and paid for, both independently and through RCI. The independent tours do not offer any refund for cancellation due to COVID, while we got full refunds for my husband’s tickets from RCI. Just something to consider when deciding how to book those costly excursions, during this current COVID situation. We have lost hundreds of dollars from those independent tours. I am not debating the right of those tour operators to make policies on (unavoidable) last-minute cancellations, but instead pointing out the advantage of booking through the cruise line.

Update: I politely talked to the hotel manager this morning. She said she had received a text last night about this situation but didn’t know the details, so she asked me to walk through exactly what had happened. She agreed that it was not handled properly and apologized. I asked for complimentary breakfast tomorrow as consideration and she, of course, graciously agreed. Still no explanation on how this happened, but we have moved on from the shock! Tomorrow we move on to Denali and are very much looking forward to that part of the tour! Thanks to all for validating that I wasn’t unreasonable to be upset about this mishap.

We are on a RCI pre-cruise tour, beginning in Fairbanks at Pikes Waterfront Lodge. We checked in yesterday, attended our planning meeting with our tour guide, dropped our things off in the room and went for a walk around the property. When we returned to our room, there were 2 ladies sitting on the beds. One said, “Oh, there’s the lady with the white hoodie (that I had left in MY room). This is our room! You need to go to the front desk.” I was beyond shocked, quickly moving to very angry, that these people had been given access to the room, with our things, and that in our absence our bags were unceremoniously moved to another room. Our keys still worked for the room. The front desk did not contact us ahead of time about the situation but instead just allowed us to find out by walking into this situation unaware. My husband is unhappy that I voiced my anger to both the ladies (no yelling or cursing, just anger that strangers were in our room) as well as to the front desk. He says that “things happen” and that we may very well continue to see those ladies on the tour a/o cruise. Although, to be honest, I don’t think I would remember what they look like, as my vision was clouded with the shock and anger. Has this ever happened to anyone? How did you handle it? Was I unreasonable to be angry?

I have read that having a separate bag for the land tour is recommended, as your larger checked bag can stay stored on the tour bus for that portion of the trip. So, my husband and I will each have a carry-on with enough to cover our land tour, and also our larger luggage that will have the rest of our things for the cruise itself but that will stay on the bus.

We booked the Taku Glacier Adventure in Juneau and the Glacier Point ATV Adventure in Skagway. Really looking forward to both!

I’m using them for 2 excursion on my cruise, which starts next week. They get excellent reviews and are recommended here often. And yes, they are less expensive too!

Thanks for the link! After looking at our pre cruise itinerary, I’m not sure what time to book. We leave Fairbanks on 06/09 for Denali on the domed train, not sure how long that takes and what time the tour plans to begin the Denali Natural History.

We are doing the Royal Caribbean cruisetour that includes the Denali Natural History tour. We would like instead to do the TWT. Would you recommend pre booking that now, or waiting to do that in Denali through our tour guide? I’m not sure if this is something that sells out. Right now, the Denali reservation website lists availability on the TWT that begins at 1:00 pm. Thank you.

Thank you for those suggestions, Don. I agree that the time allotted, especially the evening hours, doesn’t allow time to really enjoy Haines.

We will be on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas and will be in Haines from 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm. I’m not finding any tours or excursions for those evening hours and the local bars & breweries look like they close at 7:00 pm. Any suggestions for this limited time?

The individual test kits cannot be opened ahead of time, not the big shipping box. No need to lug that big box, just tuck the individual unopened test kits in your bag.

I’m on the same RCL cruise. So glad the test requirement has been dropped for the pre-cruise tour portion! I purchased the Abbott Binox emed tests (monitored) through the RCL website. We’ll use them in Anchorage the day before the cruise. Make sure to tuck them in your carry-on if you plan to have the tour handle your larger bags.