Review of Cruise and Independent Land Tour with photos

[sue402001]

Thanks for the great review twinkd, I enjoyed it very much. I (almost) feel like I went on vacation with you! Happy travels to ya!

[Twinkd]

so very glad you got a view of the northern lights for your birthday! wonderful icing on the cake, eh!

thanks so very much for sharing your trip with us, totally enjoyed going along for the ride with you! hope you share your next vacation with us :D

thanks again!!!

 

Hey there - thanks for that - really enjoyed reliving the holiday. Yes - now that next holiday planning planning planning!!!:D

[LOVECRUISING100%]

This is how close the whales got to the kayakers!! WOW!!

 

 

 

That's so awesome to see & be so close to the whales!! I just loved Alaska when I was their back in June, cant wait to go back .. : )

[Twinkd]

Thanks for the great review twinkd, I enjoyed it very much. I (almost) feel like I went on vacation with you! Happy travels to ya!

 

Glad you enjoyed it Sue. It is always great to read other people's reviews to give you a "taste of holiday" without leaving home - NEVER as good as the real thing tho - but does tend to inspire planning!!!:D Happy travel to you also!!

[Twinkd]

That's so awesome to see & be so close to the whales!! I just loved Alaska when I was their back in June, cant wait to go back .. : )

Yep I know what you mean - the beauty of the place just keeps drawing you back. I always laugh when people talk about planning their "once in a lifetime trip to Alaska" - who can ever go there and not want to start planning their next trip??

You go somewhere the first time to find out what you want to do the next time:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loved the review.

And the pictures are so beautiful.

THank you!!

[Twinkd]

Loved the review.

 

And the pictures are so beautiful.

 

THank you!!

 

:DGlad you enjoyed it - the hardest part of all was deciding which photos to use - I have sooo many awesome images it was really hard to choose which ones to put in!!:)

[Twinkd]

How is everybody's planning going for their next trip to the "Great Land"?? Planning the vacation is sooo much fun - almost as fun as the trip itself!!:D

[JimAOk1945]

Yes, Twinkd I agree that planning is almost as much fun as the trip! :D

 

We've been to Alaska twice and plan to go again in a year or two. Just can't get enough!

 

My wife always takes loads of pictures then has trouble deciding which ones to post on her website :rolleyes:

[Gardyloo]

 

This is the roof of an underground house that we saw on the tour. Pretty cool!!

 

Friends of ours live there; my architectural firm designed the house in the early 80s.

[Twinkd]

Friends of ours live there; my architectural firm designed the house in the early 80s.

 

Well I have to say it was pretty darn cool!! Would have loved to have had a wonder around inside!! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

How is everybody's planning going for their next trip to the "Great Land"?? Planning the vacation is sooo much fun - almost as fun as the trip itself!!:D

 

Our first cruise to Alaska was back in the 80's. Since then we have done quite a few variations of Alaskan cruises.

The last 2 years we did HAL's 14 round trip out of Seattle which included ports like Homer, Kodiak and Anchorage which aren't included on 7 day itineraries. Sadly HAL has dropped that itinerary.

[Gardyloo]

Well I have to say it was pretty darn cool!! Would have loved to have had a wonder around inside!! :)

It's actually not fully underground - it's built into the side of a very deep ravine so one side is mainly windows.

 

Unlike similar residences on N. Island, the windows and doors aren't round ;).

[masonpips]

I'm in the midst of planning our FIRST trip to Alaska next summer and your review was fantastic! We are cruising Radiance S to N, then plan the train ride to Anchorage, 1 night there, 4 in Denali and 1 more in Anchorage. I'm almost jumping up and down w/excitement and your review helped!

 

Thank you!!

[eskie]

Well I have to say it was pretty darn cool!! Would have loved to have had a wonder around inside!! :)

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful review and posting your incredible pictures. I think I saw a posting that you said you were using a Sony a200. What length of lens did you find the most use? Were the pictures of the flowers, still with the Sony? The colours were so vivid compared with some distance photos. Was there a filter on?

 

We are going next year and I want to take pictures as well and I can only hope that they turn out half as nice as yours. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[Twinkd]

I'm in the midst of planning our FIRST trip to Alaska next summer and your review was fantastic! We are cruising Radiance S to N, then plan the train ride to Anchorage, 1 night there, 4 in Denali and 1 more in Anchorage. I'm almost jumping up and down w/excitement and your review helped!

 

Thank you!!

 

Hey there - oh I remember that feeling soo well. But alas - this year we have our daughter getting married so have a big wedding to pay for so not holiday planning for us this year!!! :confused: Hope you enjoy yours!!:)

[Twinkd]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review and posting your incredible pictures. I think I saw a posting that you said you were using a Sony a200. What length of lens did you find the most use? Were the pictures of the flowers, still with the Sony? The colours were so vivid compared with some distance photos. Was there a filter on?

 

We are going next year and I want to take pictures as well and I can only hope that they turn out half as nice as yours. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

Hi there - sorry for the delay in replying - life kinda got away on me!! Yes my camera is a Sony Alpha 200. I tend to interchange between the 18-70 lens and the 75-300. I do not use a filter. If it is a bit dark I do increase the ISO but that is about all. I do prefer the 75-300 lens as it tends to produce a much sharper image but of course if you are close then this lens is no good. But do love the camera.

 

I am no expert on photogrpahy but having a good camera certainly makes such a huge difference. Enoy your trip - you will be blown away by the beauty of Alaska and of course all of the photo ops. :)

[Twinkd]

Hey - hoping everyone is having a fabulous time planning their "Alaskan Adventure" and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all from the deep south - New Zealand - "Hobittville"!! :)

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed this review and photos.

 

Keith

[RedHeadTexan]

Thank you for posting such a detailed and fantastic review! I am beginning to plan our first Alaskan cruise...North to South...and we want to do the land portion pre-cruise on our own. You have given me some great ideas. :D

 

Lisa

[fireflymd]

Gorgeous photos!!! Thanks so much for posting them.

[Twinkd]

Thank you for posting such a detailed and fantastic review! I am beginning to plan our first Alaskan cruise...North to South...and we want to do the land portion pre-cruise on our own. You have given me some great ideas. :D

 

Lisa

 

 

Oh Lisa - that is fantastic - you will love love love your trip and will absolutely fall in love with Alaska. Happy planning and Merry Christmas to you.:)

[allisons]

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful! We are doing the Radiance Northbound followed by an independent land tour. We are both reading this with interest.

[Twinkd]

We'll be doing a land tour before a southward bound cruise out of Whittier. We leave home on a Thursday and the cruise leaves on Monday night. Island Wings to Traitors Cove is one that we are considering in Ketchican or else doing a bear trek while we are at Icy Strait Point.

 

Loved hearing about your bike ride in Anchorage, about how long did it take you to do the 25 miles? We arrive in Anchorage around noon local time.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Hi Sue - was just reliving our holiday from last year and rereading this review. Just wondering how things are going for you guys and what you have planned for your trip??? You must be so so so excited by now. :)