Radiance of the Seas Cruisetour #11 trip review - Aug 7-19, 2011

[wismergirl]

I am really enjoying your review. We took this cruise in June and LOVED it. Best vacation ever.

 

PS Love the photo of you two jumping and touching the pipeline and your pictures from the flight in Talkeetna are amazing.

 

Looking forward to more!

 

I also read yours and it was your wonderful review that inspired me to include pictures using Photobucket.

 

Thank YOU!!

[wismergirl]

Thanks Wismergirl for the fantastic review and amazing photos! :)

 

You are most welcome! Unfortunately the weather had not been very good for our excursions, so the pictures were not as nice as they should be. It rained in Juneau, Skagway and Icy Strait Point :( Luckily, we saw lots of whales and it was very nice when we did the flightseeing in Ketchikan ;). I'll work hard to be more productive...

[gschwartz001]

My DH and I are doing the 2012 version of this cruisetour next July. We are hoping to take an earlier train to Seward on embarkation day and add a Kenai Fjords tour. Do you think this will work? Did anyone on the cruisetour portion leave early?

 

Any info is appreciated. Thanks. Your review is making me really excited about my trip next year!

[wismergirl]

My DH and I are doing the 2012 version of this cruisetour next July. We are hoping to take an earlier train to Seward on embarkation day and add a Kenai Fjords tour. Do you think this will work? Did anyone on the cruisetour portion leave early?

 

Any info is appreciated. Thanks. Your review is making me really excited about my trip next year!

 

I knew there was a 7 a.m. train for non-cruisetour passengers from Anchorage to Seward and it would arrive at Seward by noon, but I don't know if you're allowed to switch to that train. Why not have your travel agent call RCI's Alaska Cruisetour Help Desk to see if they can figure something out for you.

 

I called the Alaska Cruisetour Help Desk many times this year, trying to upgrade to the train without success. It was fortunate that my tour director could help me get 4 tickets for the 1 p.m. train, enabling us to travel with my parents. If I were to take the 7 a.m. train, upgrade fee would be $100 per person which was too expensive!

 

I was going to work out an excursion for Kenai Peninsula but the cruisetour schedule was so tight that basically I could fit nothing in. If you don't take the train and just go by bus, the cruisetour bus left at 9:30 a.m. from the Marriott and they were scheduled to arrive at the Seward port before 1 p.m. (which was just a bit later than the 7 a.m. train's arrival). Can you fit something in between 1 and 7 p.m. in Seward? The ship departed from Seward at 9 p.m. and you're supposed to be on the ship 2 hours prior to departure.

 

I usually opt for private tours when I go on shore excursions but dare not do so this time. If I missed one, it'd have to multiply by 4 and it's too big a risk to take.

 

Good luck with planning! I wish I had someone to ask when I was planning mine this year! I had so much uncertainty this year, from packing to planning, but was really thankful that RCI's cruisetour was so well-planned and organized that I was glad I chose to pay extra bucks to be taken care of by RCI, it was definitely a worry-free cruisetour (except for the train upgrade part!!)

[wismergirl]

August 14, 2011 (Day 17) – Downtown Juneau, Alaska (Day 3 of the cruise)

 

We drove around downtown Juneau for a bit and saw a house roof filled with seagulls.

 

 

We drove to the State Capitol and saw a Liberty Bell outside.

 

 

Next to the State Capitol there was the Juneau Douglas City Museum.

 

 

The round-about in front of Juneau Public Library where Silversea’s Silver Shadow docked was the place we drove past many times during the day.

 

 

After we returned the car, we used Alamo’s Shuttle service (cost $5 per vehicle) to return to the Radiance. We didn’t see lots of people going on Mt. Roberts Tramway that was right beside the Radiance as it was very cloudy and I guessed there would not be much to see from the top.

 

 

We were going to have a walk around and probably bought some Alaskan souvenirs but it started to rain very hard so we had to take shelter under the RCI tent. This marked the beginning of the next few rainy days.

 

 

After waiting for about 10 minutes, we finally got back on the ship and went to Chops for a delicious dinner. It was one of the best Chops on the RCI fleet, both the service and the food was much better than the one on Freedom!

[wismergirl]

August 15, 2011 (Day 18) – White Pass Summit and Yukon Rail, Skagway (Excursion 8 – Day 4 of the cruise)

 

We woke up to a dull and gloomy day. The excursion lasted for over 8 hours. We were to take the coach on Klondike Highway to White Pass Summit, had lunch at Caribou Crossing Trading Post, then took the train from Fraser, B.C., Canada, back to Skagway. The train went all the way to the dock to pick up passengers who went on a return trip, and our coach was also waiting there to pick us up. What a scene with cruiseships, train and coaches together!

 

The Klondike Highway was very scenic, though we could only see everything in basically 3 colours: gray, brown and white! The bus stopped at the big Yukon sign for us to take pictures. However, the sign was messed up, with the 'K' missing and the 'Y' turned upside down and placed in the spot where the missing 'K' was. I didn't want to put a picture like that here!

 

Let's look at this one, much more enjoyable and less shameful! This was another beautiful spot on the way to Caribou Crossing or Carcross.

 

 

Lunch at Caribou Crossing was chicken leg and potato with dessert and coffee. We just walked around the trading post, took some pictures with the training dogs, but didn’t fancy going on a dog sled. After lunch, we went to the town of Carcross, visited the General Store and bought some souvenirs before boarding the train at Fraser, B.C.

 

 

It started to rain when we were boarding, making most of the pictures blurry and dull. So we bought a DVD and a White Pass & Yukon Route Guide Book for $20 and got a White Pass and Yukon Route cap as a free gift. The picture below was taken at Denver where hikers were picked up after a day’s outing to Denver Glacier along the Skagway River.

 

 

The railway was a masterpiece in civil engineering. In 1994, the American and Canadian society of Engineers jointly declared the White Pass and Yukon Route an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark – one of only 34 worldwide. Other such landmarks include the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the Panama Canal (quoted from pg. 14 of White Pass & Yukon Route Guide Book).

 

 

It was still raining when we got back to town, so we didn’t have a chance to walk around Skagway. However, we drove by a lot of areas in the morning and learned some history from our coach driver/guide. Her narration was clear and entertaining!

 

Whale watching at Icy Strait Point on the following day…accompanied by more and more rain!! :(

[Larry5440]

Keep those photos coming, they are amazing!!!!!!! Both of us are reliving our cruises to Alaska a few years ago. Next time we go we will do a cruisetour for sure, hopefully with our friends from Australia on board with us.

 

Do you have any shots of the new renovated areas on the ship? The Park Cafe, Giovanni's, the CLounge, etc?

[wismergirl]

 

Do you have any shots of the new renovated areas on the ship? The Park Cafe, Giovanni's, the CLounge, etc?

 

Didn't take a lot of pics there, we spent more time eating as we love food more than photos!! :p

 

Here are a few (I wouldn't post them if you didn't ask!!):

 

Lunch at Giovanni's Table - we had such a good experience on the Oasis that we did this on the Radiance and was quite disappointed...food was just average and the steak was overcooked! I think we need to go on the Allure to relive the amazing, extraordinary, incredible and unique specialty dining experience. Even Park Cafe on the Oasis was way better than the one on the Radiance!

 

 

 

Samba Grill - the location was really weird at the back of Deck 12 (Sports Deck) and we had to walk past the Kids' Pool on an open deck without any covered walkway. We were freezing cold in our formal night attire! Walking back to the inside of the ship was OK as Samba offered shawls to the ladies and we could bring them back the next day. Here's the entrance (only from the outside so you'd better bring an umbrella if it's rainy):

 

 

It's an all-glass venue without any curtains with a glass roof and lots of windows. We found the place too bright even on a partly-cloudy evening.

 

 

Samba fed you well with 9 types of meat and a Brazilian salad buffet. The food tasted delicious but not all the meat was AAA. We were spoiled by the fantastic Brazilian Grill experience while joining an RCI post-cruise tour after cruising the Brazilian islands on the Splendour!

 

 

 

 

Both DH and I liked Chops the best on the Radiance, both the oysters and the steak were yummy.

Edited September 8, 2011 by wismergirl

[wismergirl]

August 16, 2011 (Day 19) – Whale watching, Icy Strait Point (Excursion 9 – Day 5 of the cruise)

 

We originally booked the 7 a.m. whale watching tour through RCI. All other private vendors were fully booked! It turned out to be wonderful as we had a 150+ passenger boat for just over 50 passengers. Binoculars were placed on the seats and the marine guide provided us with lots of info regarding marine life. Thanks to the Diamond Concierge, Chris, for switching us to the 11 a.m. tour! Many passengers came back from the 7 a.m. tour and said they didn’t see much but we were sooooooo lucky as we saw whale breaching many times. Their tails were beautiful too! Even the marine guide on board said that was one of his most rewarding trips in 3 months! It was unfortunate that we could only take pictures from inside the boat as it was raining very hard…non-stop rain for the whole trip! Sorry for the black & white pictures!

 

First we’d start with some seals, enjoying the rain on a lighthouse.

 

 

 

Here come the whales!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t miss the tail – a beautiful episode!

 

 

Since it was still raining hard when we got back to Icy Strait Point, we just walked around the Cannery but did not go to the town of Hoonah. It was the 2nd formal night so I went for some more spa services (still had to use the rest of my discount coupons as I had 6 from my family members). We had Samba Grill that night, as the head waiter told us they would have lobster tails the following night so we'd rather skip the MDR on formal night. While having dinner, the sun shyly came out for a little bit, accompanied by a half rainbow! Finally, no more rain…just realized we had only one more port left, Ketchikan, before Vancouver! Time flies!

[wismergirl]

August 17, 2011 (Day 20) – Misty Fjords Flightseeing Floatplane Tour, Ketchikan (Excursion 10 – Day 6 of the cruise)

 

We got beautiful weather again! After an early lunch on our balcony, we got off the boat and waited for our private floatplane tour with Seawind Aviation. As there were 6 of us on the 6-seater floatplane, we got $10 family discount per person, over $100 cheaper than booking through RCI. The Kamm family (owner of Seawind Aviation) was very friendly. Steve was a great pilot who performed the smoothest landing on water. Lesley picked us up from the Visitor Centre right beside the ship and recommended many great places of interest for our walk-around after the flightseeing, including the famous Creek Street, where lots of brothels were situated during the Gold Rush. Steve said the clouds were so low and the wind was so strong on the previous day that they had to cancel all flying trips…lucky us!

 

This was where we boarded the floatplane.

 

 

Beautiful scenery en route.

 

 

 

 

Misty Fjords

 

 

Water landing

 

 

Aerial view of the Radiance in Ketchikan

 

[wismergirl]

August 17, 2011 (Day 20) – Creek Street, Ketchikan (Day 6 of the cruise)

 

We could finally go shopping in the last Alaskan port, Ketchikan.

 

 

There were lots of totem poles in town.

 

 

Creek Street with many gift shops.

 

 

 

 

Those who don’t want to walk can rent this cute little thing to explore the town.

 

 

Bye! Beautiful Alaska! Thank you for an amazing trip!

[wismergirl]

August 18, 2011 (Day 21) – Inside Passage (Day 7 of the cruise)

 

Last day at sea! Last day to enjoy this beautiful newly renovated ship! DH loved the Solarium Pool!

 

 

 

 

 

Last day to awe at the spectacular scenery of the Inside Passage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 19, 2011 (Day 22) - Debarkation (Day 8 of the cruise)

 

We woke up to find ourselves in Vancouver again. What a lovely port!

 

 

 

After we had breakfast, we lined up to leave the ship at 9 a.m., and we got to the airport before 10:15 a.m. Getting a minivan at the Vancouver cruise port was really easy. Although the van could only seat 4 people the most, it could accommodate 6 people’s luggage. Our daughters took the Skytrain to Richmond, DH and I took my parents to the airport. The taxi cost less than $25 but we gave the driver a big tip as we had so much luggage.

 

At the airport there were 2 counters especially for cruise passengers between the Domestic and USA check-in areas. We had to wait for about 30 minutes in line before saying goodbye to my parents. It’s good that they went in just before 11 a.m., so there was still 1 ½ hour before their 12:30 flight.

 

We went to Enterprise to pick up our last rental car of the trip (it’s the 5th one) as we were going to spend 3 more days in Vancouver. Silly me again! I didn’t know that Enterprise’s office was actually off the airport. We had to go past the airport parking lot where ALL other car rental companies were and called for the Enterprise shuttle. No wonder Enterprise’s rate was so much cheaper than the other car rental companies ($13.50 per day for a standard size). Make sure you allow extra time for pick-up and return if you rent from Enterprise. The office was about 10 minutes from the airport, close to the casino and Costco.

 

August 21, 2011 (Day 24) – Vancouver to Toronto

 

Last shot of this trip…stunning aerial view of Toronto at sunset…never knew Toronto could be so beautiful! We could finally sing, “Home, Sweet Home!”

 

 

Thank you for reading my review! Hope it didn't bore you too much! I'll be glad to answer any question regarding this wonderful trip.

[mrkkm]

Excellent pictures and trip review! I'll definitely vote your review to be the "Alaska Review of the Year"! I just went to Alaska and didn't see half of what you posted! I think I should go back and do it again!

 

Thank you for your time for such a wonderful review!

[mr.jdm]

July 30, 2011 (Day 2) –Vancouver Downtown

I forgot to mention that we rented a Nissan Versa hatchback for $183 (8 days) from Hertz. Surprisingly, that little baby could fit all our luggage (3 big suitcases, 3 small suitcases & 3 backpacks) and it could still seat 4 adults. Good job, Nissan!

 

 

We decided to explore downtown using the new Canada Line of the Skytrain that connects downtown Vancouver and the airport/Richmond. Instead of paying for 2 zones, we only needed to pay for 1 zone on weekends. It’s important that you have exact fare in coins as sometimes the machines could not give you change or take any bills. It took less than 25 minutes to go from Aberdeen (in Richmond) to Waterfront where the cruise terminal (Canada Place) is.

 

 

A Princess cruiseship was docked there when we were there. On the other side of the dock there was a Holland American one. Seeing them made me REALLY want to go on the Alaskan cruise…can’t wait!!

 

 

Walked along the Sea Wall and saw the Olympic Cauldron overlooking Coal Harbour.

 

 

 

WOW small world! the picture you have with the nissan versa. I live in the same complex!

 

loving your alaska trip review by the way

[wismergirl]

WOW small world! the picture you have with the nissan versa. I live in the same complex!

 

loving your alaska trip review by the way

 

 

It is indeed a small world! We love Vancouver so much that we are thinking of visiting it again in March...and eat Alaskan King Crab...if we can get some cheap flights!

Edited September 11, 2011 by wismergirl

[RenieRaider]

TERRIFIC REVIEW!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I've been to Alaska twice and did not experience some of what you did!

Thanks again... great photos!

 

We're going back in July on ROS!

[DALMAN88]

Wise girl - have any suggestions for shore excustions on this trip. Doing the land-cruise torur in July. Sail from Skagway on July 27. Looking for glacier trips, whale watching. WE are GOING to do the zip-line in Ketchican!

 

Dalman88

[jennat]

We really liked Dyea Dave in Skagway.....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1434211&page=7

Here are some pics, Skagway starts at post 201

We loved all of our excusions so much that we joke, when we go back we will do the exact same things. All except, didn't love the flightseeing in Misty Fjords. many do though.

I have it all detailed in the above review if you need other ideas. Have a wonderful trip. We loved Alaska!

[alaska_planner]

great review and pictures!

 

thanks for taking the time to share it all with us!!!! :)

[wismergirl]

Glad to know that you enjoyed my review. I have not been checking this thread for a while...happy to know that it's still helpful to fellow cruisers.

[wismergirl]

Wise girl - have any suggestions for shore excustions on this trip. Doing the land-cruise torur in July. Sail from Skagway on July 27. Looking for glacier trips, whale watching. WE are GOING to do the zip-line in Ketchican!

 

Dalman88

 

Please refer to Post #56 for the White Pass Summit and Yukon Rail in Skagway. We joined RCI's 8-hour excursion for this one as we really liked the train portion.

As for whale watching, we also joined RCI's excursion as I was too late to book anything with private vendors. There were several little boats when we saw the whale breaching and they were really close to the whales. Refer to Post #59 for photos.

We did a wonderful flightseeing trip with glacial landing in Talkeetna and had a fantastic view of Mt. McKinley (the highest mountain in N. America) during our pre-cruise cruisetour so we didn't do any of that during the 1-week cruise portion.

Wismergirl

[mrsfecura]

Loved it, what a fantastic job!! Fabulous photos!

[wismergirl]

Loved it, what a fantastic job!! Fabulous photos!

 

Thanks for reading my review! Enjoy your Alaskan cruise on the Radiance!

[AngieGal3]

Great report and pics!

 

would you happen to have scans of the compass? I'm sailing July 13, 2012. Thanks!

[negc]

Thanks for reading my review! Enjoy your Alaskan cruise on the Radiance!

 

Thanks for the great post and fabulous pictures. We did tour #11 two years ago and your thread brought back wonderful memories of that fantastic trip. We stayed at Wedgewood Resort which is located adjacent to Bear Lodge and did many of the same excursions, though not as many as you did. I was disappointed to note that this year they have substituted the Denali Natural History Tour for the great Tundra Wildernesss Tour that you and we did. We have done both, but the TWT was far superior to the NHT. I agree with your comment about the trainride between Anchorage and Seward being the best one of the three legs we did by train. Thanks again for helping us relive a wonderful time in Alaska.:)