surgie

Yes, you are correct Northern Aurora:) We have 11 family members including 5 kids ages 5-11. I have booked Pan Pacific for the convenience of the cruise package (distance plus breakfast and luggage delivery) and have also booked the Delta hotel. The price difference is nearly $200 USD per room. I need to cancel one of the hotels so trying to make sure I have all the info before deciding. When I came across the post mentioning a different pier I wanted to check that info out. At least now I know it's Canada Place for all.

Yes but I'm looking at July 2024 and the price is $448 on Priceline which is the same as quoted on the hotel website. I generally don't do 3rd party bookings but would for a significant savings. I'm sure the hotel is in greater demand during the cruise season. Thanks for the info, though.

We are considering staying at Pan Pacific prior to our July 2024 cruise. Someone suggested I check to see which pier RCCL Radiance will be docked at for boarding in Vancouver. I don't want to pay a premium for Pan Pacific Hotel only to find out that is not our pier. Thanks.

Ok - is the docking location set several months in advance. We are on RCCL Radiance of the Seas and I don't see anywhere in my reservation info that lists where the ship docks. But yes I'm considering PP due to convenience and it would be a bummer for it not to be convenient after all!

I do have a reservation at Delta in case we don't go with Pan Pacific but when I did a dummy booking for PP there was not problem booking rooms for 4 people. The upside of Delta - Marriott points.

The price on the website is several hundred dollars more than $144! I'll look at Priceline.

I'll call the hotel if no one here knows...but in booking a night pre-cruise at Pan Pacific for our family (3 rooms), my choices are King bed or 2 "doubles". I find in Europe doubles often mean US queen size beds. Does anyone know if doubles at Pan Pacific mean the US size "full" beds or US size queen beds? Thanks.

That's what I am thinking. The bus options are a reasonable cost relatively speaking but we won't be back to Alaska for a while so we want to make the most of our short land journey.

Be sure to accept the "windshield damage" insurance from Avis. We rented a really nice SUV in Skagway from them and declined the insurance since our auto insurance covers rentals. But the fact that there was specific windshield insurance for about $7 should have been a sign to me lol. Sure enough, we came back with a big round ding in the windshield from a rock that flipped up on it on the way to Emerald Lake. Avis was so nice about it - examined it and determined it could be repaired locally without needing a windshield replacement (which I found out later our own insurance would not have covered). They charged us $60 which I happily paid, relieved that it could have been much worse.

Trying to decide which nights for specialty dining and it would help to know the type of food being featured each night in the MDR. Is there a list somewhere and does the order typically remain the same throughout the season? Sailing July 2024 Northbound from Vancouver.

Although the consensus seems to be that Sitka is easy and cheap to DIY, we booked a tour with Baranof - the Bears, Raptors and Totems tour. We have some in our group of 11 with less mobility and we didn't want to take a chance of not getting entry tickets. It's just a 2-hour tour which will give us time to do other things while in port.

We are planning to stop at Bear Creek Weir, the Byron Glacier Trail for a short hike, and the AK Wildlife Conservation Center...maybe other stops depending on time. We hope to eat in Anchorage and then return the cars for our 8:00 pm flights. I did look at Seward Bus Lines and the bus is $95 pp to drop us at ANC ($1045) and they get there at noon as you indicated which is way too much time at the airport with the kids. So two minivans for $1200 doesn't seem as bad with the flexibility we'd have. But I will contact Seward Bus Lines directly to see if they have other options. Thanks for ideas!

Thanks for the notice! A nice savings! I booked our group of 11 for lunch in two groups - 6 people at 12:15 and 5 people at 1:00. My cruise is booked through a TA - Am I able to call to see if I can get the lunch times closer together or do I need the TA to do this?

I appreciate your input. I have to weight the cost-effectiveness of the bus vs. the flexibility of having our own vehicles.

I can't imagine RCCL in Alaska in summer months having few kids. We took Celebrity from Vancouver in May of 2015 which caters to an older crowd but there were still several kids on board - even though it was May. We are looking forward to Radiance from Vancouver to Seward in July 2024 with our 5 grandkids ages 5-11. I feel pretty confident they will meet others their ages. And it's their first cruise so I think it will be a nice size ship with plenty for them to do. The star of Alaska is Alaska - so I'm ok not having onboard surfing and other things the mega ships have. We only have one day at sea.

Family of 11 - 6 adults, 5 kids ages 5-11 - need transportation from Seward to Anchorage airport the day after our cruise as we are spending one night in Seward. We do not want to spend any time in Anchorage - going straight to the airport. I have investigated these options: Train - arrives too late for ANC flights Bus - (arranged through Alaska Tour & Travel) - arrives ANC at 1:30 pm - approximately $700 for all of us - quite early for those of us with 8:00 pm flights Private transportation services - I have checked a few - we have too many people Car rental - can only find availability through Thrifty - am I missing others? About $600 per minivan and we need 2. This option is most expensive but gives us flexibility for stops on the way. Is there anything else I should consider?

We did Celebrity southbound in 2015 (loved it) and are doing Radiance with the adult kids and grandkids in July 2024. It is important to note itineraries, as others have mentioned. We saw Hubbard Glacier in 2015 and it was stunning.

Yes we will definitely split up for part of the day. We all want to see the glacier center and some want to hike and/or kayak. Still figuring it out ... And everything is so expensive that I want to choose carefully.

We are in a similar situation -family of 11 (6 adults and 5 kids ages 5-11 - two of whom need boosters which we are bringing). I am finding Juneau hardest of all to plan. We are not planning to do helicopters or whale watching here and we definitely won't rely on drivers at the port to help us. We'd like to get to Mendenhall (all of us) and do a kayak trip (some of us) and the tram (some of us) and walk around town at some point (all of us). Anything I've found has been very expensive as you mentioned. So I'll be watching to see if any solutions appear here.

Yes to one way from Vancouver. We sailed that route on Celebrity 8 years ago - end of May/early June. Great weather but did not see bears. Too early for salmon to run. Magnificent day at Hubbard Glacier. In July 2024 we are taking our adults kids and grandkids (ages 5-11) from Vancouver to Seward. We chose RCCL. It definitely doesn't get the love here that Princess and HAL do but we love the Radiance class ships. Not so many bells and whistles for the kids but Alaska is the star attraction of an Alaskan cruise! And it was most cost-effective for 4 balcony cabins than other cruise lines at the time we booked. Have a great trip!

Is it offered for JS or just the suites above that category? I realize not all perks are applicable for JS.

Thanks for the info.

That's what I was wondering...do the dividers actually have the ability to be opened on Radiance since it is an older ship?

We have 2 sets of connecting cabins - 1582>1580 and 1082>1080. Can the balcony dividers be removed between the two connecting cabins?

Thank you! I am finding Juneau hard to plan with various ages and interests in our group!