Radiance to Alaska

[Radioguyaz]

My wife and I are on the Radiance from Vancouver to Seward in May 2013. Anything we should know? It's our first cruise to Alaska.

[travelbug11]

My wife and I are on the Radiance from Vancouver to Seward in May 2013. Anything we should know? It's our first cruise to Alaska.

 

You should go over to the "Alaska" board....tons of information there.

[NorbertsNiece]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

You will love this cruise. I have done the reverse itinerary and the full blog is in my sig below.

 

The Alaska Board is here.

 

Others from the same cruise can be found here which is the Radiance of the Seas roll call board.

[Budget Queen]

I would highly recommend you add another week and do mainland Alaska touring. Independent is superior for allowing Seward and Denali Park activities easily. If you are going with a cruisetour, be VERY certain you understand fully what you have booked, most people do not.

 

Budget fully for touring, it is excellent in Alaska. Consider making the most of your short time. Plenty of excellent tours to consider.

 

I was just on the Radiance in Sept. very nice ship and itineraries, especially if you take advantage of being in Seward.

[bradpole]

My wife and I are on the Radiance from Vancouver to Seward in May 2013. Anything we should know? It's our first cruise to Alaska.

 

If time and budget allow, spend a day or two pre cruise in Vancouver. Vancouver is truly a wonderful city!

[Radioguyaz]

If time and budget allow, spend a day or two pre cruise in Vancouver. Vancouver is truly a wonderful city!

I wish I was able to get to Vancouver a day early.. However we are doing the dreaded fly in the day of the cruise. Our flight is schedule to land 4 hours before the ship leaves, I hope we will be fine.

[bajathree]

I wish I was able to get to Vancouver a day early.. However we are doing the dreaded fly in the day of the cruise. Our flight is schedule to land 4 hours before the ship leaves, I hope we will be fine.

 

That is cutting it tight....customs in Vancouver was not the shortest...especially if you have several overseas flights coming in at the same time like we did....there were more Asians going through customs there than I have ever seen in one place before....and many didn't speak English well....so it wasn't the fastest process.

 

BTW...Vancouver is beautiful....you really should try to get in a day or 2 early to enjoy the city;)

[Robertac1004]

i too am on Radiance next May. We are staying in Vancovcouver for 2 days before the cruise. We are leaving from NJ on Wed AM. Please join our thread and sign up for the meet and mingle hope to see you there. It will be my first trip to Alaska and need all the Help I can get.

[Radioguyaz]

i too am on Radiance next May. We are staying in Vancovcouver for 2 days before the cruise. We are leaving from NJ on Wed AM. Please join our thread and sign up for the meet and mingle hope to see you there. It will be my first trip to Alaska and need all the Help I can get.

We are on the May 17 cruise.. You as well?

[Radioguyaz]

That is cutting it tight....customs in Vancouver was not the shortest...especially if you have several overseas flights coming in at the same time like we did....there were more Asians going through customs there than I have ever seen in one place before....and many didn't speak English well....so it wasn't the fastest process.

 

BTW...Vancouver is beautiful....you really should try to get in a day or 2 early to enjoy the city;)

Well my short attention span in elementary math has come back to bite me.. We actually land 6 hours before the ship leaves. :)

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Well my short attention span in elementary math has come back to bite me.. We actually land 6 hours before the ship leaves. :)

 

Six hours is better than four. The person sitting next to me on our flight to Vancouver (2 days before our cruise) was booked on a cruise for the same day aboard Princess. I hope she made it. We arrived about the same time I think you will. (10:50am)

 

We walked briskly through the airport (we were hungry) Once we got to customs it took 43 minutes to get through. There were 4 flights that had arrived within 20 minutes of us. But, the area is designed to hold many more people. I can not tell you if it is usually full.

 

After we finished we walked outside and immediately took a taxi to our downtown hotel. We arrived at the hotel at around 2pm. I think it would be about the same timeframe for you to get to the pier. (if all goes well)

[pamletx]

We took that cruise this past May. It was wonderful! I'd recommend taking the week after and touring on own as well if possible. We took the train from Seward to Anchorage and rented a car the next day at the airport. (Well actually 3 Chevy Traverse .. as there were 12 of us).

 

It truly is going down as one of (if not THE best) vacation we've ever taken!

 

We'd never sailed on RC .. and LOVED it. The ship was beautiful, the staff friendly .. and we really enjoyed the Solarium area..

[skandls]

Well my short attention span in elementary math has come back to bite me.. We actually land 6 hours before the ship leaves. :)

 

We have spent a couple of hours in the airport getting through customs etc. You need to be on the ship about 90 minutes prior to departure. If you can use the 'Direct' program where you can bypass customs and board a bus that takes you directly from the airport to your ship.

[Radioguyaz]

We have spent a couple of hours in the airport getting through customs etc. You need to be on the ship about 90 minutes prior to departure. If you can use the 'Direct' program where you can bypass customs and board a bus that takes you directly from the airport to your ship.

Is it possible that I would be clearing customs before I land in Vancouve?. I fly from Phoenix to Seattle then to Vancouver all on Alaska Air.

[Cheryl H]

We did that same cruise last summer. Loved it!! Our very favorite tour was the whale watching we did with F.I.S.H.E.S. at Icy Strait Point. Book it early if you can. Floyd only takes 6 people out with him at a time.

 

Our second favorite was the flight to Misty Fjord at Ketchikan. We went with Seawind Aviation. It had a landing and we got out for pictures on some flat land. Then reboarded for the flight back.

 

We did the short train ride at Skagway with Chilkoot Tours. Had lunch at the Skagway Brewery.

 

In Juneau, we did the gold mine tour. That was something different and enjoyable. Then we did the shuttle out to Mendenhall Glacier. Be sure to walk the Nugget Falls trail back to the falls.

 

In Seward, we booked a late flight so we could see as much as we could in one day. Salmonberry Tours picked us up in Seward. We were taken to Exit Glacier, the Wildlife Conservation Center, and to Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood. We rode up the mountain in the gondola.

 

For us, the biggest mistake we made was picking the northbound and having the terribly long flight back home from Anchorage at the end. We were exhausted. But that's just us.

 

There's 2 photo books of our trip in the link below. The first part of book one is our pre-trip to Seattle/Victoria, then we arrive in Vancouver and the cruise begins.

 

Have fun!!! We took 3 pairs of binoculars but kept forgetting to use them because we were so busy snapping pictures!

[bajathree]

Is it possible that I would be clearing customs before I land in Vancouve?. I fly from Phoenix to Seattle then to Vancouver all on Alaska Air.

 

Nope....you will need to clear customs still in Vancouver as that is your entry into Canada....Seattle is still US.

[Radioguyaz]

Nope....you will need to clear customs still in Vancouver as that is your entry into Canada....Seattle is still US.

That's too bad.. Back in 1999 when I flew to Sydney to play baseball in the pre olympic tournament, we cleared customs in Hawaii I thought.. But that was 1999 so I could be misremembering...

[klingoncruiser]

Can I go too?:D It is a wonderful ship and a great cruise. Have a wonderful time!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We have spent a couple of hours in the airport getting through customs etc. You need to be on the ship about 90 minutes prior to departure. If you can use the 'Direct' program where you can bypass customs and board a bus that takes you directly from the airport to your ship.

 

I read recently that they were not doing the "Direct" program anymore. If they have it next year it would be a big help.

[jonbgd]

We did this exact cruise this year. We look forward to doing it again. Radiance is a great ship to see Alaska

 

In May it might still be raining. Be prepared for the cold. It gets colder the further north you go. In Seward during the day it was in the 40's

If you forget or choose not to bring a jacket. They have plenty in every port.

Also grab the coupon book at the airport and cruise terminal. It can save a little on souvenirs

[Radioguyaz]

We did this exact cruise this year. We look forward to doing it again. Radiance is a great ship to see Alaska

 

In May it might still be raining. Be prepared for the cold. It gets colder the further north you go. In Seward during the day it was in the 40's

If you forget or choose not to bring a jacket. They have plenty in every port.

Also grab the coupon book at the airport and cruise terminal. It can save a little on souvenirs

Jonbgd... I am actually in the process of reading your very good review on the cruise right now!

[Budget Queen]

We did this exact cruise this year. We look forward to doing it again. Radiance is a great ship to see Alaska

 

In May it might still be raining. Be prepared for the cold. It gets colder the further north you go. In Seward during the day it was in the 40's

If you forget or choose not to bring a jacket. They have plenty in every port.

Also grab the coupon book at the airport and cruise terminal. It can save a little on souvenirs

 

I have sailed in May at least 10 times, and this is not true, IF you sail mid May and later. the first week does have much more chance for rain and cold weather.

 

IF you are going interior Alaska it will be much WARMER than the inside passage, which still has snow on the ground at White Pass and Yukon. Again, I am taking about arriving Seward the third week or later. (which you want to do, IF you are going to Denali- never a southbound cruise). It has been in the 70/80's in Fairbanks, EVERY trip.

[bajathree]

Did this exact sailing....Vancouver to Seward June 8th 2012...it was cold right from the start in Vancouver....by the time we got to White Pass and Yukon...at the top it was 34f and snow flurries were coming down....it was completely snow covered except for the road....we saw no shortage of snow at any of the stops and also no sun for 1 week....not really rain but always a kind of mist and overcast...sometimes lite drizzle.

[jonbgd]

Jonbgd... I am actually in the process of reading your very good review on the cruise right now!

Thank You...... I hope it isnt too boring:o

Awesome cruise we cant wait to do it again

[jonbgd]

I have sailed in May at least 10 times, and this is not true, IF you sail mid May and later. the first week does have much more chance for rain and cold weather.

 

IF you are going interior Alaska it will be much WARMER than the inside passage, which still has snow on the ground at White Pass and Yukon. Again, I am taking about arriving Seward the third week or later. (which you want to do, IF you are going to Denali- never a southbound cruise). It has been in the 70/80's in Fairbanks, EVERY trip.

While I have learned some things with your personal experiences touring Alaska and I appreciatte all your knowledge.

 

What I experienced is that.... My experience. So what did I say that was untrue????? I didnt know you were on my cruise

 

I sailed mid May just as the OP is planning to do.

We were in Seward the end of the 3rd week and here are the temps http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/seward-ak/99664/may-weather/336746

 

I dont think the Op ever mentioned they woud be going to interior Alaska so that is irrelevant BUT since you brought it up

We also made it up to Talkeetna and didnt experience any 70 degree weather.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/talkeetna-ak/99676/may-weather/336762

 

BTW here is the weather for Fairbanks May 2012 ...Where are these 80 degree weather you always experienced????

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/fairbanks-ak/99701/may-weather/346836