Back from Alaska- Radiance North Bound

[vaka08]

Just got home from a 7 night northbound Alaska cruise on the Radiance. We did a pre-vacation visit to Seattle for a few days. We had a great time. The Radiance is a beautiful ship and the crew went out of their way to make sure we were having a great time. We will post a review soon (once all the laundry is done and we have gone through our 5,000 pictures) But we will happily answer any alaska questions!

[dons44]

Any chance you know the order of menus in the MDR. Will be on Radiance June 22 and May try Chops but not sure which night. Thanks in advance. Can't wait for your review.

[vaka08]

Off the top of my head, the first night was the typical first night with vidalia onion tart, smoked fish tapanade. Night two was formal night (not the fishermans plate one). There was one Alaskan themed night that they served halibut chowder, fresh alaskan salmon, I believe that was night 5 ( i think i took a picture of that menu) and our second formal night was night 6... I took pictures of every food we ordered (and some that we didn't that our waiter brought us to try) so I can go back and give you a better idea. Is there a particular menu you are looking to eat or avoid??

 

By the way, our wait team was Ioan and Ivan- I highly recommend asking for them the best service we have had on a ship in the dining room. We had late seating.

[Albobeagle]

As expected or maybe warmer than that?

Can you provide some insights on the excursions you take? we will cruise on July 6th..

Regards

[vaka08]

It was chilly. High 40s low 50s. As the captain says there is no bad weather only bad clothing. Just layer a lot and you should stay warm. The day of the hubbard glacier I wore 8 layers.. it worked, I wasn't too cold to be out there. bring gloves and a hat.

 

As for excursions:

Ketchican- Mountain Point snorkeling adventure- It was amazing. So much fun, felt very safe and saw lots of great sea creatures.

ISP- we just walked around- to hoonah and also the trails that were right there. We were able to see a ton of wildlife while walking around: whales, sea otters or sea lions (not sure which it was), bald eagles, baby bald eagles. I believe the bear search folks were able to see a few bears when they went out.

Juneau- helicopter and guided walk on the mendenhall. The walk was about 20 minutes, but I couldn't imagine spending too much more time out there, they let you drink the water, show you some different ice formations and then the helicopters come back for you.

Skagway- White rail train. Still a lot of snow up there so it was cool to see the change of scenery as you ascend the mountain. We did this one privately and had a van drive us back down.

Seward- kenai fjords boat cruise. Saw a ton of wildlife- but make sure you take something if you get seasick- the boat was rocking!!!

 

I'll give more details when I start posting the review- only up to writing our pre-cruise part so far.

[mommabean]

Off the top of my head, the first night was the typical first night with vidalia onion tart, smoked fish tapanade. Night two was formal night (not the fishermans plate one). There was one Alaskan themed night that they served halibut chowder, fresh alaskan salmon, I believe that was night 5 ( i think i took a picture of that menu) and our second formal night was night 6... I took pictures of every food we ordered (and some that we didn't that our waiter brought us to try) so I can go back and give you a better idea. Is there a particular menu you are looking to eat or avoid??

 

By the way, our wait team was Ioan and Ivan- I highly recommend asking for them the best service we have had on a ship in the dining room. We had late seating.

 

I love Ioan. Not to be confused with the other Ioan who I also love. Both Romanians. GREAT guy(s)! Lucky you!

 

Gina

[bajathree]

Looking forward to your review....my DD and I leave in 4 days for the northbound Radiance sailing.

[we like it hot]

7 days until embarkation for our land tour/cruise on Radience. Any additional info would be appreciated.

 

LOL! 8 layers???!!! That is the part that worries me the most. I will start packing soon, but I am not used to packing for such cold temperatures. Iceland in September was in the 60's!

[vivavegas]

Thanks for posting your pre-cruise info! Looking forward to reading your review!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

I love Ioan. Not to be confused with the other Ioan who I also love. Both Romanians. GREAT guy(s)! Lucky you!

 

Gina

 

We agree! :)

[CVU]

Vancouver is about 2 degrees+ cooler than normal for this time of year. June isn't looking too great so far in the forecast. Still waiting for some summer temperatures of 20C!!

[vaka08]

we had a great sailaway day in Vancouver- I believe it was about 70 degrees. We didn't really see the sun again till we got to seward- we had another sunny warmish day there too.

[bigeagle12]

How did you get from Seward to Anchorage? And if you don't mind .. what was the cost?

[vaka08]

How did you get from Seward to Anchorage? And if you don't mind .. what was the cost?

 

 

We did the kenai fjords boat cruise with lunch and airport drop off through the cruise line. We got off the ship at 9am (which was great since debarkation starts at 6am!) they took us on a bus to downtown seward for about an hour of free time. If you purchased the sealife center part you would go there. (people seemed to finish walking through it quickly) Then you are driven to the pier where you board the boat for the 5 hour cruise. (note: It gets pretty rocky when you are out in the gulf. if you think you may be prone to seasickness take something before you sail) Then you get your luggage and get driven to anchorage. Its about a 2 hour (maybe 2.5) drive. Our bus driver was fantastic telling us stories about life in Alaska and explaining what we were seeing. We got to see an Avalanche!

[bigeagle12]

We did the kenai fjords boat cruise with lunch and airport drop off through the cruise line. We got off the ship at 9am (which was great since debarkation starts at 6am!) they took us on a bus to downtown seward for about an hour of free time. If you purchased the sealife center part you would go there. (people seemed to finish walking through it quickly) Then you are driven to the pier where you board the boat for the 5 hour cruise. (note: It gets pretty rocky when you are out in the gulf. if you think you may be prone to seasickness take something before you sail) Then you get your luggage and get driven to anchorage. Its about a 2 hour (maybe 2.5) drive. Our bus driver was fantastic telling us stories about life in Alaska and explaining what we were seeing. We got to see an Avalanche!

 

Thanks for the info!

[cruisenfever]

we had a great sailaway day in Vancouver- I believe it was about 70 degrees. We didn't really see the sun again till we got to seward- we had another sunny warmish day there too.

We were on the cruise prior to yours which was the southbound from Vancouver and we had beautiful weather from the time we left Seward until we reached Vancouver. No rain with sun and 55-60 degrees in each port.:)