ALASKA landtour 13A/Radiance cruise July 5, 2013 review with pics

[volunteer cruiser]

This railroad route is a international historic civil engineering landmark because of the steel bridge. It was used until 1969.

 

 

 

Glacier station was used as water stop for steam engines and crew lived here to maintain the railroad.

 

 

The train did have scheduled stops to pick up hikers.

 

 

The forest service provides this caboose for nightly rental for hikers.

[volunteer cruiser]

Before ending at the train station in Skagway, US customs boarded our car. This one was more strict and taken very seriously. The instructions are no cell phones, no pictures, have your passport out to photo page and hold it in left (or right) hand next to your face. A guide for another group that was on our train car said that the last tour she had, not everyone had there passports out and someone was on cellphone. The customs agent was not amused and told everyone to get out and go into the building for inspection. She said most in her group were foreigners with little English speaking or understanding. They were very upset thinking they had done something terribly wrong. They held up the train for a bit.

I was very happy with this tour. My husband liked this train ride the best because of all the historic value and the dramatic scenery. We walked around Skagway and ate fresh Halibut at Wild Alaska Catch. This was recommended by our bus guide. He said it was the only place for FRESH Halibut in Skagway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street from the Wild Alaskan Catch was an IGA grocery store. They have a good assortment of little incidentals: over the counter meds, toiletries; on the land portion of our trip the Cottonwood was everywhere. I had a slight allergy to it and needed cough drops to sooth my throat.

[volunteer cruiser]

Leaving Skagway, drinks in the Colony club aft. This is what is below room 7672.

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

July 9, Tuesday Day 5 of cruise Icy Straight Point

 

I made reservations for bear search tour with Misty Bay Lodge in Hoonah. The van could hold 12 so I booked the van for the 8 of us. Then I offered to add a couple I meet through roll call. Nice couple whose one highlight was to see a bear. To prepare for this morning, we had to be on first tender because our tour was first. On Sunday, I asked the Concierge if tender tickets were needed. They don't do tender tickets. I though we would be ok getting on first or second tender. We ended up on first one and it wasn't full. No worries. I followed directions to meet our shuttle to take us to a restaurant in Hoonah to settle the remaining payment. First little hiccup on the trip; the owner said we were scheduled for afternoon bear search and she was waiting for another party. :( I told her, Hope I think, that no we were scheduled for 7:15AM. My down looking face must have gotten attention, because she said no worries, we are on vacation, go ahead. Our shuttle driver was a native American. He took us to the restaurant and Hope met us there and she apologized for the mix up and said she did schedule 2 tours at once, her mistake. It actually ended up being to our benefit. Our shuttle drive who was going to be our guide had to transport other folks, so Hope called in a backup guide, who was the shuttle drivers son and a policeman for Hoonah.

 

The van had plenty of room for 10

 

Clearing cutting that could be seen everywhere.

 

 

First bear sighting in clear cut area. Young female.

 

 

The tour consisted of riding in a van in areas known for bear. Our guide was very knowledge about the bears and knew where to look for them. The bears weren't at the river yet. He said the salmon had just gotten to the mouth of the river and after a good rain would be upstream. After the first sighting, he took us to bridge over a river bed and told us signs that bear had been there: scat, paw prints, and vegetation that had been pushed down. The whole time we walked along the bridge he was on the watch for bear and carried his pistol. Only to shoot to make noise to scary away.

 

 

Eagle above the stream.

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Our guide said a lot of his work had to do with people calling about bear nuisances. He said he was attacked only once as a teenager because of his own stupidity. He has walking in the brush and spooked a mother who had cubs. He said he escaped by climbing a tree. Most of the land is owned by logging companies and their access roads are off limits. The next bear we saw was just on the edge of one of these roads. He was so close it was scary.

 

 

 

 

 

Our driver called his dad and soon his van with the other group arrived to watch the bear as he was heading into the woods. That group wasn't have as much luck at finding bears as us. Another vehicle drove up and happened to be security for the logging companies. They do keep check on their property so as not to have any accidents and law suits.

[volunteer cruiser]

Our guide said that bear was a good size male. We also spotted an eagle and several deer.

 

 

We started our search again and found the first young female again, in the middle of the road in front of us. She had found something on the side of the road to eat. She was also scary close so I stayed inside. Our guide only let the twins out of the van as long as they were right beside him.

 

 

 

 

On the way back to town, we passed the airport. Another large male bear was walking all the way down the runway, it took him about 10 minutes to get to the end. The guide told us bears are lazy and like the path of least resistance so that is why so many travel on the roads.

[A&L_Ont]

First bear sighting in clear cut area. Young female.

 

 

Do you think this bear is doing the same as the first one you pictured, only with a bit more privacy? :p

[volunteer cruiser]

My sister in law, who watches a lot of reality TV, asked about bear hunting laws because she saw on TV that Ted Nugget was arrested for killing a bear. Our guide said it was his brother who arrested him but said that it was not all Nuggets fault because of a law that even our guide did not know about. Nugget was bear hunting legally and shot a bear, they found blood but could not find the bear. A couple of days later, he shot and killed another bear. All this was video taped and put on his reality show. Of course, Nugget had to brag about it. A hunting enforcement official saw the show and started the process to arrest Nugget. The law states that if you draw blood from a bear, whether you kill him or find him, that is your tag and you are not allowed to kill another. I really enjoyed this tour and listening to the local stories from our guide.

 

An eagle's nest in town.

 

 

Our new friends stayed in Hoonah to eat crab at restaurant. Our guide drove us back to ISP. We could have walked but decided to save the walking for ISP.

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Do you think this bear is doing the same as the first one you pictured, only with a bit more privacy? :p

 

I wasn't going to mention it but this same female didn't in the woods but in front of us on the road. My husband got it on film.

Squatting

 

Now walking away. My niece and nephew couldn't stop laughing at seeing another bear pooping. It's nature, it has to happen somewhere.

 

[A&L_Ont]

I wasn't going to mention it but this same female didn't in the woods but in front of us on the road. My husband got it on film.

Squatting

 

Now walking away. My niece and nephew couldn't stop laughing at seeing another bear pooping. It's nature, it has to happen somewhere.

 

 

"Oh yes", in my best Triumph The Insult Comic Dog inpersonation voice.

 

I think our families need to travel together some day. I think we would have a blast. The people around us will be laughing too, or think we are ready for the padded room.:p

[volunteer cruiser]

"Oh yes", in my best Triumph The Insult Comic Dog inpersonation voice.

 

I think our families need to travel together some day. I think we would have a blast. The people around us will be laughing too, or think we are ready for the padded room.:p

 

 

You and my husband would get along great. The whole trip would be spent seeing who has the funniest comeback.:D

 

Didn't realize I spelled Ted Nugent's name wrong. It is Nugent.

[volunteer cruiser]

We enjoyed walking around Icy Straight Point. It has tons of photo ops, walking trails, shopping, and a few restaurants. My husband said he liked this port most of all. Our bear search tour guide said that tendering is limited to one ship at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sharkb8]

Ha, this was a good tour! We went last week and didn't find any bears, anywhere (and from what I can tell, the other tours from the ship didn't either). We did see a lot of salmon and salmon kill on the side of the streams. And two deer that looked like this bear. Just peeking at us from a distance.

 

Do you think this bear is doing the same as the first one you pictured, only with a bit more privacy? :p

[volunteer cruiser]

Ha, this was a good tour! We went last week and didn't find any bears, anywhere (and from what I can tell, the other tours from the ship didn't either). We did see a lot of salmon and salmon kill on the side of the streams. And two deer that looked like this bear. Just peeking at us from a distance.

 

 

We were definitely lucky the entire 2 weeks seeing all the wildlife we were hoping for.

[volunteer cruiser]

Cruise day 6, Wednesday July 10 Ketchikan

 

I picked a salmon fishing trip for this port. I tried to find a boat that would hold 8 but the most was 6 passengers. I choose Ken of Northern Lights. He said he could get another fishing boat and have 4 and 4 fishing side by side. Since my daughter is not thrilled with fishing, I decided that it was time for mother/daughter time and we did not go. The fishing trip was from 12noon to 5PM. I took my family to the pier to wait for Ken. He walked up with a chalk board with the twins name on it. He is very good with kids. I did some shopping at the pier. It was raining pretty good so my daughter and I did not go walking around town. We had planned on eating crab legs at Annabelle's restaurant but decided not to.

My family came back with nothing but good things to say about Ken. My husband who loves to fish helped Ken with getting the fishing rods ready for the twins. Ken taught them how to identify the different types of salmon. The trip was very successful. The twins each caught a king salmon, coho, and pinks. My husband only caught a rockfish.

 

 

 

 

They got to see 2 bald eagles.

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

The twins said the fishing trip almost ranked as high as the dog sledding. All of my family had a great time. I highly recommend Ken of Northern Lights for any family with children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom had the fish processed, half in smoked salmon and half in fillets. She had it shipped Fed Ex and it arrived the Thursday after we got back. The cost of the processing and shipping averaged to $7.50 per pound of cleaned fish. In total the twins caught 64 pounds of fish and cleaned it was about 48 pounds. My mom said it was money well spent because when we ate the salmon we would remember our trip.

[volunteer cruiser]

Both the smoked salmon and fillets were shipped frozen. We have already had some of the smoked salmon and it is so good.

 

 

 

WOW, I am finally done with 2 weeks worth of excursions. Would I have done anything different, absolutely not. If we get the chance to return would I do the same tours again, some yes, some no. There are just too many other sites to see and experiences to be had in the great state of Alaska that we did not get to.

[MillbrookMom]

Had a quick look through you photos and will read your review thoroughly when we return from our holidays. My husband and I so very much want to do Alaska (land and sea) and for now have decided upon Quantum....but your photos have made me second guess our choice.

[volunteer cruiser]

Found a pic of the rock fish my husband caught. Ken, our captain, kept it. He said is was tastier than salmon.

 

 

 

A few comments on RCI's Adventure Ocean program. We signed up the twins during the open house hours first day. The kids found some activities they were interested in. My daughter was with us and the teen counselor gave her a program of the week's activities. Their favorite activity was playing fuss ball which the teen counselor, twins, and my daughter played for 20 minutes while we signed the forms. We gave the twins permission to check themselves in and out. My nephew went once after this for 2 hours and said he had an ok time. He said there were a lot of kids there. My niece never went. I think they rather spend the time with us since they don't get to see us that often.

 

Now for the teen club ages 12 to 17. My daughter is 17 and her new friend was also 17. She loves to dance and on our previous cruises, the dance clubs always designated at least one night for teen dancing. They did not do this on this cruise. Probably not enough teenagers. She and her friend went to teen club one night and said all the kids looked under 14 and they were all coloring. I think this program is good for younger teens. My daughter and her friend weren't old enough for the disco/dance club but all the others in their group were 18 to 20 so they could get in. She did dance the night of the 70's disco party. They spend most of their time in the card room playing games in the evenings.

[HouCplCruise]

Great review and photos!

[volunteer cruiser]

This was a smooth well planned vacation but we did have a few very minor hiccups. My niece's sea pass card wouldn't open the cabin door and had to be changed 3 times. In Ketchikan when we were leaving the ship, her card did not register and my brother's family were taken to guest services to remedy the situation. My sister in law was afraid she was going to miss the fishing boat. I told her not to worry, they were the only ones on Ken's boat.

 

The concierge, I will give him credit for remembering our names every single time he saw us. I usually have very few requests of the concierge since I do all the planning ahead of time but I was a little concerned about disembarking to get to our reserved transportation at 8:30AM to Vancouver airport for 12:15PM flight.

I turned in luggage tag request for the timeframe I thought was reasonable for our flight. The concierge said don't worry you will get off in time. He threw it away. So I trusted that answer. Thursday morning, I saw our cabin steward and asked him for luggage tags and he gave me No. 59, a 8:50AM departure time. My mom and sister in law got theirs No.59. They went immediately to guest services to No. 53 as I had wanted. They turned their No. 59 in. I needed to get some coffee from concierge lounge so while there I asked JD again about the times and we had gotten 59 instead of 53. He said don't worry I will get you off at 8:30AM. I also asked where to meet because we had no info on that, he said Chops grille and he would escort us off the ship. This was making me a little uncomfortable so at 10:30AM I went to guest services. JD was in the line assisting guests to speed up the line. I was hoping he won't notice me. I took my recommendation to the guest service personnel. He went behind the scenes and came back and said concierge guests leave at 8:50AM. Then JD sees me and says "ah you did not believe me." My reply, our transportation is scheduled for 8:30 and flight at 12:15. Again he said you will have plenty of time, I will get you off the ship. They did not give me 53.

 

So, I told my family to use tag 59 instead of 53 (stupid on my part because they had enough extra for me to).

 

Schedule for departure: guest services did all highlighting on my sheet

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Continued story of disembarkation: Thursday evening during Concierge lounge cocktail hour, a lot of guests asked questions about where to meet the next morning. Then JD made an announcement to everyone about the procedure. Next morning we meet in Chop's at 8:00AM. I was sitting by the window watching a few passengers at a time go through the terminal, no line. At 8:30, JD asked for guests with tags 53 and 54 and escorted them. 8:40 and we are still waiting. At 8:50, JD asked for 57 and 58. I told my family lets go and just pretend we thought we had luggage tag 58(we actually had 59) if we were asked. We got off the ship ok, got a porter to carry all 8 check in bags and from experience have found the $2/ bag tip is so worth them getting us from point A to B quickly and easily, we just follow the leader. I got very concerned when our porter went to have us pick out our luggage and group 58 and 59 luggage was not out yet. It was 9AM and our transportation had been waiting for 30 minutes, if they have to wait an hour, I get an extra charge. Finally the bags arrived after a 5 minute wait. The porter had us at the curb for our transportation. I have to say this was the only time during the trip I was uneasy, a little stressful wanting to get to airport in time.

 

I used Aerocar for transportation for 2 reasons: recommendation from Alaska boards to use private transport to get to airport quicker with no extra stops and waiting for bus to fill and the price plus tips was half the price of RCIs bus transfers. Because Aerocar did not have a vehicle that would hold 8 plus all luggage, they sent 2 stretch limos. Boy was my family surprised. The twins said WOW we have never been in a limo before. This was a nice end to an otherwise stressful disembarkation.

 

 

 

Everything at the airport went smoothly. We used another porter from curb at international terminal to baggage drop off. We were at the gate with 45 minutes prior to start of boarding.

[volunteer cruiser]

Great review and photos!

 

 

 

Thanks

[gambee]

Great pictures, I am really enjoying the review. Mom and I are looking for when we get to do an Alaska cruise.

 

 

Thanks for sharing :)