Haysiedaze

First time to Alaska on the Radiance in July. Booked almost 1 year ago (3/13/14) and the time is going by so slowly..............

Saturday, July 11, 2015 Fairbanks Hampton Inn & Suites Fairbanks

Sunday, July 12, 2015 Fairbanks Hampton Inn & Suites Fairbanks Chena Hot Springs & Ice Museum and North Pole

Monday, July 13, 2015 Fairbanks Cruisetour Museum of the North and Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 Fairbanks Cruisetour GOLD DREDGE 8 and RIVERBOAT DISCOVERY TOUR

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 Denali Cruisetour Railroad to Denali, Cabin Night Dinner Theater

Thursday, July 16, 2015 Denali Cruisetour TUNDRA WILDERNESS TOUR - AM

Friday, July 17, 2015 SEWARD, ALASKA

Saturday, July 18, 2015 HUBBARD GLACIER

Sunday, July 19, 2015 JUNEAU, ALASKA Taku Lodge Feast & 5 Glacier Seaplane - JU04n 12:30 pm

Monday, July 20, 2015 SKAGWAY, ALASKA Chilkoot Charters - Yukon Territory 8:15 AM

Tuesday, July 21, 2015 ICY STRAIT POINT, ALASKA Whale Watch (Glacier Winds or Misty Bay Lodge) 10:45 am

Wednesday, July 22, 2015 KETCHIKAN, ALASKA Anan Creek Bear Viewing with Island Wings 10:00 am

Thursday, July 23, 2015 INSIDE PASSAGE (CRUISING)

Friday, July 24, 2015 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

One thing I thought I would add to my itinerary was info on when I booked and what if any were the deposits. As a newbie to Alaska I read many stories here on CC of how quickly excursions fill up. I am so glad I did and hope this info is useful to others.

We booked cruise tour 4B on RCL Radiance of the Seas on March 13, 2014 using a travel agent we have used for our previous cruises. We reserved 2 connecting inside cabins on deck 8. The sail date is July 17, 2015. Our party is Myself, DW, DS (17) and DD (16).

We were notified of the RCL BOGO promotion by our TA on May 2nd, 2014. She had already rebooked us with an $810 per cabin savings.

We contacted Island Wings via email regarding the possibility of booking Anan Creek Bear Viewing on May 3rd, 2014. I received a reply on May 5th. I put a hold for the 4 of us with Island Wings May 11. On July 14th someone on our roll call contacted them and they were told Island Wings had already had all 10 of their anticipated permits booked for the July 22, 2015 date. Received confirmation from Island Wings that they were able to get our permits on October 25 (permits are awarded October 15). They will contact me in January for a deposit.

I contacted Glacier Winds August 3rd, 2014 regarding Whale Watching on July 21, 2015. I received a response the same day from them. I placed a hold with them that day. They take deposits after the current cruise season ends. On September 20th they contacted me and I made a $200 deposit with them over the phone.

I booked with RCL for the Taku Lodge Feast on August 4th for the 12:30 time slot. The main reason I did this was for the points on my United Visa. This pushed me over the amount I needed to book our 4 one way flights to Fairbanks and the return from Vancouver. We also wanted the 12:30 booking. This required us to pay in full.

I contacted Chilkoot Charters about the Yukon Territory by Bus excursion in early August. They said they take reservations starting October 1st for the next season. They also said they would email me when they were taking the reservations. On September 30 I received email that they were taking reservations. I reserved with them for July 20, 2015 on October 1st. The deposit was the full amount of the tour.

I made hotel reservations in Fairbanks on August 2nd for July 11th and 12th. We are staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites. Our cruise tour starts July 13. No deposit required.

I booked a rental car with Avis for July 11th to the 13th on September 5th. No deposit required.

Our Gold Dredge 8 and Riverboat Discovery tours in Fairbanks are part of the cruise tour as is the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour. We may book additional excursions at the time of the cruise tour such as the Cabin Dinner Night Theater.

Hope this info is useful.

Regards, Steve

Thanks for writing this review. It is one of the best I have read here. Your bear encounter is just incredible. It's like living a "National Geographic" moment.

Steve

On March 15th I booked 2 adjoining inside cabins on an 11 night pre-cruise cruisetour (4B) for July 13, 2015. The cost then was $9605.96.

Our TA sent new invoices to us yesterday and the total is now $7975.96. $1630 less!

That counts as savings in my book.

Our travel agent emailed me yesterday and our 11 night Alaskan Cruisetour in July 2015 on the Radiance went down by $800 per cabin. We have 2 adjoining inside cabins and saved $1600. Was considering upgrading one to a balcony but decided that using and additional $1600 for excursions was the way to go. Glad our TA was on top of things!

Hi - I would like to plan a cruise to Alaska & a land tour with RCCL for 2015 but I don't see that on the website. Do I need to call? I thought maybe they didn't have it posted for 2015 yet, but I don't see it for 2014 either.

 

Thank you.

 

Sue

They are there under "CruiseTours". I booked for a Jult 2015 Cruisetour. Look under the "Plan a Cruise" Pull Down Menu

Yes we considered the DIY and could change to that later on in our planning. At this time I prefer someone else to do the "driving" for our first trip to Alaska.

One problem for our family for boat (or even cruise liner) trips is that my daughter has issues with them. That is why we stopped cruising in 2012. She is willing to try one more time on a cruiseship. Our NH February school vacations are different then most schools and in 2012 there were only 20 kids under the age of 17 (most younger than 6) on our cruise so they had no one their age at that time to hang out with. I expect that on a cruise in Alaska in the summer there will be more teens. If there are she may forget she is on a ship.

My wife and I will do a whale watch trip in ISP and my son and I will do some other boat related trip during the vacation.

Once the kids are in college my wife and I will go back and do a DIY trip for a couple weeks.

Haysiedaze - have you thought about doing a do-it-yourself land tour rather than a cruise tour? I think you will enjoy it a lot more and being that you are taking teenagers with you. It is so nice to do what you want when you want and stop for as long as you want. There are so many scenic spots to see that the tour buses don't stop at that you could see by renting your own minivan for the 4 of you. Planning the trip with places that interest all of you is half the fun of the trip. You would all love, love a 6 hour boat trip of the Kenai Fjords National park out of Seward on Major Marine tours. You see whales, puffins, sea lions, glaciers. Was an awesome tour and a highlight of our trip in both 2007 and 2012. Whatever you choose to do you will love visiting Alaska. You can get many discounts by buying the Northern Lights tour book. It totally pays for itself. Well these are just my thoughts.

 

 

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We are booked on Radiance of the Seas, Southbound, departing 7/17/2015.

It will be our first trip to Alaska. We booked Cruisetour 4B. Going with DW, DS (will celibrate his 17th Bday on the cruise) and DD (16 then). We are booked in 2 insides on deck 8 so that we have more for excursions.

Hope to do 2 additional days on our own in either Fairbanks or in Vancouver

This will be our first cruise in 3 years, that is way to long between cruises. As someone that loves to plan our vacations, Alaska is very exciting.

My 10 year old daughter took this picture in St. Lucia. I like the way the light is filtered through the canopy of the forest.