Review on our Alaska Cruise aboard the Radiance

[QTMichele]

LMAO I fell asleep watching The Alamo at an IMAX theater in San Antonio. It was a great nap, but a waste of money!

[jennat]

Today we awoke and it was cold and RAINING....hard. Mike asked if I wanted to bail on the ATVing I said heck no. I paid $300 (and that was B1G1....I'm telling you that coupon book pays off). We headed out to Palmer to check in for the adventure. At one point we had to cross a bridge over the river and the fog was so thick on the water you felt like you were driving to your doom. Kind of dramatic? You weren't there! It was eerie.

 

 

We went with Alaska Backcountry adventure tours and they were awesome. I hadn't seen a lot of information on them online so I didn't really know what to expect. We were transported to where we were going to start. Our journey would take us through all kinds of terrain 23 miles into the Alaska backcountry to the base of an iceberg (and back out again).

Kevin was our guide and he was very clear about the rules. At first we thought that it was going to be one of those nose to butt tours, no fun to be had. Boy were we wrong.

 

 

Pretty quickly we hit one of the hairiest parts of the ride. There were really deep, muddy ruts but this wasn't your mamma's mud, girls and boys. This stuff was SLICK and your ATV tips really far and you have to really trust your guide and your ATV to not freak out. I know, sounds easy sitting there on your computer, eating your pop tarts......just sayin' Obviously I don't have pictures of the scary parts because I was trying to stay on the top of my atv instead of under it so you will have to take my word for it.

 

Going across the lake bed was a blast. You could really open it up and get some speed. There were mogals (?) on it that made you fly up and down which obviously aren't in these pictures but they were there : )

 

 

We had to navigate across lots of streams...

 

[jennat]

 

If you think this is a bad picture...just wait....good thing I am only here for your entertainment and have no pride at all!

 

Like my daughter used to say "if you're not diry, you're not having fun" This was a lot of fun.....still doesn't explain the pants (lesson is: if you don't have your own waterproof pants....you are at the mercy of the sense of humor of whoever is handing them out. Obviously Kevin had it out for me. I look like I have scrubs on.)

 

The weather hadn't rained since we left but was actually getting quite nice.

 

 

 

 

[jennat]

 

 

 

 

You can see the "bumps" here

 

These gorgeous flowers were everywhere.

[jennat]

 

Kevin had his gun out....which he carried for bears.....doesn't he know that I am the "bear whisperer" Silly man. Just Kidding!

Someone asked to see it and he emptied it and handed it over.....(he was a former marine and you could kind of tell) That is a good thing.

 

Now I want you to remember what I said about no pride....

 

 

Definitely should try out for Charlies Angels.....I would be a shoe in.

 

We arrived at the Knik glacier and Kevin immediately started to cook.....my kind of man.

 

 

We took off to explore.

I was beautiful.....especially with the wild flowers in the foreground.

 

[jennat]

 

 

 

 

 

[jennat]

 

Under my daughter's way of thinking, I am having more fun than my husband...you can tell by the unibrow.....(he wore goggles, they messed up my cute outfit! (hee hee snort, NOT)

 

 

We chowed down our campfire dinners while pumping Kevin for celebrity information. He had taken several celebrities on this tour. It was interesting to get his take. I won't sell him out. He did say the travel channel was coming the next day to take the tour so we will have to keep our eye out for that.

 

 

 

 

[jennat]

 

It was now about 2:30 (we had met at the office at 8am) so we started to head back

 

One of our party (no, not me!) decided to go even more off road than we already were.

 

 

 

Sometimes there was a trail but just as often there wasn't. It was seriously a blast.

[jennat]

 

 

 

 

 

[jennat]

There's the unibrow...I knew it was there somewhere.

 

I would highly recommend taking this tour.....we arrived back at 6:30. It was a long day for the money. It was our favorite day (once again, you can't count the bears, that was a once in a lifetime thing) of the trip. Simply incredible. 46 miles round trip into the alaskan backcountry. Loved it.

 

Now, look at how we look......one thing we didn't think about was....our flight home was in 4 hours. We kind of looked homeless at this point.

we shed our outer layers of clothes......the "scrubs" were good for something......washed our faces and headed back to Anchorage for some pizza at Humpy's.

Finishing dinner, we drove to the airport, returned the car, put our bags on one plane....got on another (flight delayed caught an earlier flight, had to go back to the airport later for bags....bugger!~)

Arrived home at 9:20 the next morning, tired but having had our best trip yet.

 

Thanks for letting me relive the trip with you. Hope it wasn't too long or drawn out. I am happy to answer questions. We really liked all the companies we booked with and would not hesitate to recommend them. Especially Emerald Air and Backcountry Tours (ATV). I would really encourage you to get off the bus and get out there on your own. There are only like 2 roads in Alaska so it is not hard to get lost.

If you can't afford a cruise, we saw everything we saw on the cruise, once we got on the mainland. It doesn't replace the cruise but it is a taste that you will want to come back for more of.

 

If you enjoyed this review, I have two others in my signature below you are welcome to take a look at.

 

I hope to cruise with all of you one day.

 

Jen

 

What? I couldn't leave you with just the "homeless" picture! Aren't curling irons and makeup wonderful things....and soap!

Edited July 4, 2011 by jennat

[jennat]

LMAO I fell asleep watching The Alamo at an IMAX theater in San Antonio. It was a great nap, but a waste of money!

 

What's funny is, I stayed awake in that one.....you know this was slow!

[jennat]

LMAO I fell asleep watching The Alamo at an IMAX theater in San Antonio. It was a great nap, but a waste of money!

 

Hey Michele,

I am reading your Allure review (we are on the Oasis in a couple months) and really enjoying it.....I gotta get back to it now but if anyone else is interested, check it out.....it's in her signiture. Lots of pictures.

[Ginnylou]

Truly enjoyed your review read all 20 pages straight through. :)

[DKNYC]

Wow what an awesome trip even from my Laptop with pop tarts!

Love the wildflowers & Ice tour. At least now I know that spring comes even to AK.:D

Happy 4th of July!

 

Denise

[VegasCrossfire]

This is Turnagain Arm, the body of water that juts in and cuts off the Kenai from Anchorage (kind of). There is a point called Beluga Point that I really wish we had stopped at. you are supposed to be able to see Beluga whales from that spot. We thought of it but you know how it is after driving a bit, you talk yourself out of it. A man on our tour the next day had done it and saw them. BUGGER!

 

Now you have something on your "Have to do next time we are in Alaska" list!:D

You have inspired me so much - not only have I booked a trip to Alaska for next June, I have already started booking tours! :eek: Thanks so much for your review!

[ellasab]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. We are leaving our town tomorrow to stay in Vancouver before boarding the Radiance. We are very excited.

[Peace72]

Really enjoyed your review. We leave on Wed. to Vancouver before boarding on the Radiance. This is our second cruise. Very excited!!!:)

[Bella days]

Jen,

Thank you!!!!!

I have so enjoyed reading your Alaskan review.

My friends, Judy and David (Chickalo) and myself and DH, Rick are doing a Hawaiian cruise on the Radiance next April and then continuing on our first B2B to Alaska. Your whale watching and bear hike excursions have me so excited for next Spring. Photos are fantastic.

I understand Judy has contacted you regarding some tips for Hawaii.

Thank you again for sharing you experiences with us.( I definitely agree with everyone else. this is your calling)

Brenda

[inlinesick]

Awesome reviews! Its remind me so much souvenirs, now looking for for june 2012 on radiance.Your review help me make my mind, read so much bad reviews of radiance of the seas

[music]

Great review..I have to wait till next year to go but reading all this helps with the planning, thanks.

 

One question about your "Green Moments" please.. We are planning to take the same trip you did in Seward. Were you green because the water was rough? Did the boat created the green for you, too much motion?

 

Thanks again for all the great info! Glad you have a great trip.

[Darkwolfe]

A great review jennat! I've got Alaska on my list of places to go myself and you've moved it up a notch or two.

 

As a country raised fellow, I was quite tempted to twit you a bit about being worried about guns in the wild, but you overcame it by the end of the trip. You get points for that too! :D

 

I'd be willing to bet that your guide on the grizzly tour had her own hardware tucked out of sight so as to keep people from being nervous. The "I'll take care of it" comment seems to support that thought.

 

Still, if I'm that close to a wild bear, I'm going to feel a good bit undressed without my own .357 on the belt!;)

[jennat]

Great review..I have to wait till next year to go but reading all this helps with the planning, thanks.

 

One question about your "Green Moments" please.. We are planning to take the same trip you did in Seward. Were you green because the water was rough? Did the boat created the green for you, too much motion?

 

Thanks again for all the great info! Glad you have a great trip.

 

I was green because "i'm me"....mostly. Our water was super smooth. AND IT WAS STILL ROUGH. The area outside the bay before you go into the protected waters is apparently always really rough, so I would prepare for that.

 

Have a blast!

[wave rider]

Jen

 

Thank you so much for your fantastic pictures and review! :D. We leave on Radiance in 11 days. Your review hasreally whetted out appetites for this trip. I only wish I was as articulate as you are!

 

Thanks again

[GRANDPAFAITH]

jen

 

this has been a great review,we are from thornton,co and we leave this thursday and renting a rv for a week before boarding the radiance on the 15th for the southbound cruise.hope we have a great trip like you had.

[jennat]

With the weather we have been having here today...take a coat!

 

Just kidding! Have a wonderful time. Are you flying into Anchorage and then getting an RV? Have a great time.

 

I want someone to book the Emerald Air Bear excursion and then come back and tell me. See if you had the same experience I did.