OCD Planner's Live ALASKA Photo Trip Report 16 day Cruise Tour aboard Radiance

[ace1zoe2]

We have already boarded the ship. Super fast check in & straight walk on to the ship. Have already had lunch in windjammer & we only left the hotel 1 hour ago. Next up I'm off for a self guided picture taking tour from the top to the bottom of the ship.

[we3peas]

Cindy,

 

I love your blog. I am also getting onboard the one bag train. I am looking at the exact Rick Steves bag you have. Can you give a review of it? Is it working for you? Enough space for what you brought? Are you missing the extender pockets that most carry-on bags have nowadays?

 

We will be cruising Alaska with Princess in September and doing our land portion beforehand as well. Loving your pictures can't wait until you are able to load everything.

[volunteer cruiser]

I am looking at Radiance's aft on Seward Harbor webcam. The weather looks fantastic. I am excited for you! And for me, 22 days and my adventure begins! Thanks for all your advice.

[avalon007]

We have already boarded the ship. Super fast check in & straight walk on to the ship. Have already had lunch in windjammer & we only left the hotel 1 hour ago. Next up I'm off for a self guided picture taking tour from the top to the bottom of the ship.

 

 

Hi Cindy,

 

Quick question, do you get any sort of priority boarding since you are coming off a RCCL tour, or was it fast just because there was no crowds etc? (regardless of C&A level etc).

 

Do you still have to check your own luggage or does the tour guide organise that part?

 

We love Radiance as well, can't wait to get back on her in August.

 

Hoping to get on board fast at the end of our tour, dump our hand luggage in the cabin as soon as possible & get back off to see more of Seward.:)

[avalon007]

Enjoying your review! Amazing pictures! We will be in Alaska in August for our RCI Cruisetour!

 

Have you been using bottled water to drink and/or using the water from the hotel also to drink?

 

What hotel did you stay in at Alyeska?

 

 

They stayed in the Aleyska Resort- pics & description etc start at post #279 :)

[ace1zoe2]

Hi Cindy,

 

Quick question, do you get any sort of priority boarding since you are coming off a RCCL tour, or was it fast just because there was no crowds etc? (regardless of C&A level etc).

 

Do you still have to check your own luggage or does the tour guide organise that part?

 

We love Radiance as well, can't wait to get back on her in August.

 

Hoping to get on board fast at the end of our tour, dump our hand luggage in the cabin as soon as possible & get back off to see more of Seward.:)

 

We were dropped at the port terminal building while others had to walk in quite a ways. Our luggage was picked up from our rooms at 10am this morning & delivered to the ship so we only had to handle our carry-ons. There were probably 25-50 people in the general line and we got to go in the suite line (for the first time ever in a Jr Suite and only one person in front of us.

 

Rooms opened at 1pm, we dropped our luggage & have been exploring.

 

Hope that helps.

[ace1zoe2]

I am looking at Radiance's aft on Seward Harbor webcam. The weather looks fantastic. I am excited for you! And for me, 22 days and my adventure begins! Thanks for all your advice.

 

Maybe you'll see me later ;). I'll wave!

[ace1zoe2]

Cindy,

 

I love your blog. I am also getting onboard the one bag train. I am looking at the exact Rick Steves bag you have. Can you give a review of it? Is it working for you? Enough space for what you brought? Are you missing the extender pockets that most carry-on bags have nowadays?

 

We will be cruising Alaska with Princess in September and doing our land portion beforehand as well. Loving your pictures can't wait until you are able to load everything.

 

We have had no complaints with the bags so far. They do have lots of pockets. We were able to take everything we needed. The worst part is living out of a bag on the land portion. I'm looking forward to unpacking and living like I'm at home for the next week.

 

We finally got a JR Suite with a walk in closet & now I don't even need it :D

[ace1zoe2]

Enjoying your review! Amazing pictures! We will be in Alaska in August for our RCI Cruisetour!

 

Have you been using bottled water to drink and/or using the water from the hotel also to drink?

 

What hotel did you stay in at Alyeska?

 

We've drank from the tap & refilled our travel bottle at each hotel. The Alyeska Resort provided 2 bottles of water each day.

[ace1zoe2]

I just have to say that I am addicted - I cant wait for your next post - I feel like we are with you on your vacation - but I really thank you for it - it is amazing how much information I am getting out of this review. I wish that there was more info from RCCL - I feel left in the dark by them about the cruisetour.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you do much for following along. I'm glad you are enjoying my posts.

[avalon007]

We were dropped at the port terminal building while others had to walk in quite a ways. Our luggage was picked up from our rooms at 10am this morning & delivered to the ship so we only had to handle our carry-ons. There were probably 25-50 people in the general line and we got to go in the suite line (for the first time ever in a Jr Suite and only one person in front of us.

 

Rooms opened at 1pm, we dropped our luggage & have been exploring.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks Cindy,

 

Yes that helps. Appears the boarding is as per normal, based on cabin or C&A level etc.

[ace1zoe2]

Couple quick questions (while I still have them in mind):

 

Did you notice whether you could drive to the WAC to pick up your pre-paid tickets? We'll have a car and would love to be able to pick up our tix in between our rafting tour and our ATV tour.

 

Speaking of rafting - the booties that they gave you, do you think that they would cover an orthopedic "boot"? My youngest threw a monkey wrench into all my planning by fracturing the metatarsal on his right foot, so I'm having to make contingency plans to accommodate the boot he's currently wearing. Hope is he'll be in a regular shoe by then, but I'd rather have contingencies in place just in case!

 

Also - do they give you waterproof gloves? I've read that you should have them or your hands will get cold, but wasn't sure if we should buy them or whether they will give us some.

 

Great review so far! We leave in 13 days!

 

I'm only talking from memory & it's been a few days... I think the only parking area is at the Visitors Center and then you take a shuttle to the WAC.

 

They have you pull your regular shoes off then slip on the neoprene booties.

 

There are no gloves provided. I had isotoner gloves & hubby had leather gloves but he didn't wear them. We were in the back of the raft. The folks in the front did get splashed.

 

The websites recommend bringing cheap disposable gloves (think Playtex dishing gloves)

[wcswingdance]

Thanks again for all the great pictures and notes! I am not going until next year but this makes me feel like I'm almost there now! The Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center looks great. It is not on the cruisetour I am taking but we are going to Anchorage early and may take advantage of the time and go there. Thanks for sharing

[bravostar]

Thank you very much for one of the best blogs I have read. I will be boarding the Radiance as you are leaving and will be reading your every word!!!

[ace1zoe2]

Thanks again for all the great pictures and notes! I am not going until next year but this makes me feel like I'm almost there now! The Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center looks great. It is not on the cruisetour I am taking but we are going to Anchorage early and may take advantage of the time and go there. Thanks for sharing

 

Thank you for taking time to read & comment. We really enjoyed the Conservation Center, especially the bears!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ace1zoe2]

Thank you very much for one of the best blogs I have read. I will be boarding the Radiance as you are leaving and will be reading your every word!!!

 

Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm hoping this next week onboard drags by because I do not want to have to get off thee ship! Have fun on your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[BecciBoo]

Woohoo, you're moving! Bon Voyage!:D

[secret1122]

Yes, we do. It is exactly 11:03 here now. My last post had a time mark of 9:16 which showed on the top of the post. This one has the correct 11:04 time.\

Now I see where the error was, it was the time stamp on CC being incorrect. Your first post where you mention the time as 10:14, exactly matched the time stamp on my page (set to ET). This post that you show having the correct 11:04 time is matching with my 12:04 time (again, set to ET). CC seems to have time stamp issues quite often.

 

Like you, I've been following this thread as it happens. It's neat to read about someone's trip and know they're experiencing it as you're reading about it. About a day or two before your "wakey wakey" post, I had noticed ace saying her alarm was set for 6:15, and I realized she was waking up 3 minutes after I read the post.

 

I'm hoping to do an Alaskan cruise in 2015 and will be saving this review for reference. I already read NE/Canada version since that is my planned trip for 2014.

[BecciBoo]

Just be at your ship on time!;):D

[July4]

Thanks for the great reports, reading all and taking many notes:)

[Seagalpat]

Just finished reading about your trip....WOW! Your photos are amazing.... Reading your posts, whether Alaska or the C/NE is like you are right next to me and we are both experiencing at the same time.. Thank you for sharing all of this.

Oh yes, we will book NE next while we are doing Alaska in Aug.

 

You are one special person. :D

[kruzinkel]

got off the Radiance just as you were getting on. lovely ship! have a great week

[Tkaklita]

Your journey has been spetacular and amazing so far. The photos, info and narrative have been such a joy to follow and of course so very helpful. Thanks for bringing us along. It will be interesting to see what you tell and show us about the Radiance.

 

 

Loving the journey so far and thank you for the wonderful trip!!

[mapleleaves]

Couple quick questions (while I still have them in mind):

 

Did you notice whether you could drive to the WAC to pick up your pre-paid tickets? We'll have a car and would love to be able to pick up our tix in between our rafting tour and our ATV tour.

 

YES, you can drive to the WAC to pick up your tickets. Or after hours you can pick them up at Riley Creek Campground. There is parking at both locations.

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/wildernessaccesscenter.htm

[Trainman-2]

ace1zoe2,

 

WOW! A Fantastic Live Report and Review!

 

We just booked this tour/Cruise for August 2014 so we will be following along with you.

 

Trainman-2 & Judith