Alaska Cruise Tour & Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas Review 7/25/15 – 8/7/15

[Bmorecruiser021]

On the way back to the airport the sun kept trying to break through.

 

 

Giving us some gorgeous views of waterfalls and other unbelievable scenery.

 

 

But before long the airport was in sight and it was time for this adventure to end.

 

 

We landed without incident, and thanked our pilot very much. We all piled back in the van and headed back to the hotel. We grabbed a quick dinner in the hotel's cafeteria, and then headed to bed, we all were exhausted!

 

Wednesday ~ July 28 2015 ~ Talkeetna to Anchorage

 

We woke up a little later this morning, very tired from the previous nights activities. Put our bags outside our door and met up with the family to go into town for breakfast. There was a free hotel shuttle that took guests into town every half hour, but the walk was only a mile for those who wanted to do it.

 

After talking to a few locals, the place we were urged to go was called the Roadhouse. So thats exactly where we decided to go for breakfast.

 

 

 

After the shuttle dropped us off, we were walking down main street when a train passed by and Ali grabbed a quick picture with it.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

The Roadhouse was an interesting and entertaining experience, definitely recommend it! You sit family style, anywhere you want, with anyone you want, you may know them, you may not. A server will come take you order and the portion sizes are huge. I got the pancakes and Ali got the breakfast plater, both over flowed the plates!

 

 

 

 

 

The building is also an inn of sorts, with guest walking around to and from the bathroom and the kitchen. Very interesting. The walls are filled with pictures and history. I was able to get a picture of one of the infamous shirts from the 90's when the Iditarod was being won again and again by women.

 

 

After breakfast the family walked down the street to the River Park to get a view of the river and also feel how cold it was.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

We went down to the Susitna River and felt how cold it was. It wasn't as cold as we thought it would be, being glacially fed.

 

 

 

While we were there we ran into my parents and brother, who were stopping over for a lunch break on their way to Denali from Anchorage that morning.

 

 

Here is where I give you my opinion on the cruise tour as a whole. I definitely recommend doing it. Even if you do it yourself and not through the cruise line, I still recommend doing it. After traveling all the way to Alaska, We would have kicked ourselves if we hadn't experienced the interior of Alaska at all. It was a very different experience then cruising between cities on the ship. None of the interior cities / towns were commercialized and visiting the interior really made us feel like we were immersing in the culture of Alaska not just viewing it. However, after talking with my parents and comparing our experiences on the land tour portion, I have come to the conclusion that your experiences really do depend on the amount of time you have while visiting the interior of Alaska. For example our tour (7B) was almost a full week in the interior, while my parents tour (5B) was only about 3 days in Alaska. Our tour (7B) had between 24 and 48 hours in each city / town we visited, while my parents only had 12 to 18 hours in each town. This really limited their immersion time and they said the experience was wonderful but they did feel very rushed and did not get to experience everything they wanted to while participating in the cruise tour portion of their vacation. So my advice is, if you have the time and the finances, seriously consider a longer cruise tour. However if you do choose to do a shorter cruise tour that's fine, just be prepare for go….go….go and have that expectation. I know my parents where not prepared for that, and I wish, in my research, I could have found some information to let them know what to expect. OK getting off my soap box, back to the review.

 

Saying bye to my parents and brother (they had to catch their train to Denali) Ali and walked through and explored the town.

 

We found the mayor hiding in the general store. And yes their mayor is a cat!

 

 

 

We saw the Fairview Inn where President Harding stayed when he helped complete the original Alaska railroad.

[Bmorecruiser021]

We ran into Elizabeth and she showed us around town. She showed us an oosik (ill let you all look up what this is) She told us how it has turned into an expensive gag gift Alaskans give to non locals.

 

 

We then headed to the history museum and looked around.

 

 

Then we made our way to the Ranger Station. This is the ranger station where you must check in, and apply to climb Mt. McKinley or Forakner.

 

 

 

 

We watched a short video on what goes into applying and preparing for climbing the mountains.

 

Then we grabbed some lunch and caught the shuttle back to the hotel where we met up with the rest of our tour group and jumped on the bus for the short ride to the train station for our train ride to Anchorage.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

As we departed Talkeetna the sun started to come out.

 

 

The train staff led us down to dinner and we sat with our friends Suzanne and Blake, who we sat with the day before for lunch. They are a lot of fun and our friendship continued for the rest of the vacation.

 

 

Ali ordered the Reindeer Sausage Pasta, and I had the Prime Rib for dinner. Both were wonderful!

 

 

 

Then we headed back up to the passenger area and watch the sun start setting and the clouds roll by.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

As we pulled into Anchorage the rain stopped, and I was able to get a shot of the skyline.

 

 

Elizabeth picked us up from the train depot and drove us downtown to our hotel.

 

 

 

We got lucky tonight and had a big corner room with a great view!

 

 

 

Ali was tired and went to bed, but I wanted to go for a little walk. I walked to the harbor and took a few pictures before heading back to the hotel, and bed.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

*** So I just realized I've been one numerical day off my entire review. Im so sorry for that. The days of the week have been correct, but the vacation started Saturday July 25 2015. Sorry for any confusion everyone, the dates will be correct from now on. ***

 

Thursday ~ July 30 2015 ~ Anchorage to Seward

 

We got up and put our bags out then headed down to meet our family for breakfast at the hotels cafeteria. We had food from the buffet, then headed out to explore for little while before meeting the rest of the tour group. We ended up finding Alaska'a war memorial. A very touching memorial, beautifully done.

 

 

We headed back to the hotel where Suzanne and Blake grabbed us. You see the tour group had been making fun of me because, at this point, I had yet to see any wild life while on vacation, everyone else, even my wife, had seen something. So Suzanne and Blake took us to the second floor of the hotel to show us a bear.

 

 

 

This way I could say I had seen wildlife while in Alaska. Very funny.

 

We loaded up on the bus and headed into downtown to the Anchorage Museum.

 

 

The museum was neat with a lot of exhibits on Alaska and it's culture. One exhibit we saw was about Captain Cook and his expedition to the north pole.

 

 

 

To see the size difference between his ship that went to the pole back then, and the Coast Guard icebreakers that go there now was fascinating.

[Havin'fun]

Kraig,

 

Great pictures and a wonderful review. I love reliving the trip thru someone else's eyes.

 

It was great meeting you Ali and some of the family. I have spotted Bob and I in a few of your pics.

 

Say "hi" to Ali from us and happy cruising in the future

 

Diane and Bob

[Bmorecruiser021]

The next exhibit we saw was one on baseball in Alaska, very interesting.

 

 

 

The family went on a narrated tour of indigenous Alaskan cultures and people, while I wandered around.

 

 

We stubbled upon the interactive "kids" area, but honestly I think we had more fun in this area then any of the other areas in the museum.

 

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

Kraig' date='

 

Great pictures and a wonderful review. I love reliving the trip thru someone else's eyes.

 

It was great meeting you Ali and some of the family. I have spotted Bob and I in a few of your pics.

 

Say "hi" to Ali from us and happy cruising in the future

 

Diane and Bob[/quote']

 

Diane!:D

 

I was a pleasure meeting you and Bob, hope he is feeling better.

 

Ill let everyone know you say hi, and thank you again for all your help, guidance, and information when we were preparing for this vacation. It was invaluable!

 

Hope you are settling back into home life fine, I know Its been a struggle for me and Ali, Ali especially, she had to go back to work last monday. I, at least, have to the 17th. 2 more days to enjoy my summer vacation :rolleyes:

Edited August 15, 2015 by Bmorecruiser021

[Bmorecruiser021]

After the museum we walked around town, looking in shops and buying souvenirs.

 

 

We went to Brown Bag Sandwich Co. to grab some lunch to take on the bus ride to Seward. The sandwiches were phenomenal! Such a great idea. Definitely recommend it!

 

 

 

Then we boarded the bus for our scenic 3 and half hour drive to Seward.

 

 

 

[pearlie]

We did tour 4 b. 2 nights Fairbanks and 2 nights in Denali. Our weather was spectacular. We were actually in the 10% who saw mt McKinley clearly in Denali. It was high 80's in Denali and no ac in the hotel was brutal. We saw caribou laying on piles of ice in Denali.

If I can figure out how to post a pic I will

 

LOVING your review

[Coolcruise02]

Loving your review and great photos!

[Bmorecruiser021]

The view continued to amaze as we drove down the highway!

 

 

And I finally got to see an animal!!! Those white dots are Dall Sheep!!!

 

 

About 2 hours in we stopped at a rest stop. Beautiful view!

 

 

 

I think my sister in law was doing the "thinkin man" but I'm not sure.

 

We continued the final hour and a half to Seward, snow capped mountains the whole way.

 

 

 

I asked David why we did not take the train to Seward. He told me that the locals call it the "cruise train" and it's always sold out with cruise guests going down for a cruise. It was not lucrative enough for the rail road to add two Wilderness Express cars with cruise tour passenger when they could put 2 passenger cars on and make twice as much money. I understood, but that little bit of information would become very important the next day (ill tell you about it later in my review).

[Bmorecruiser021]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Im glad you all are enjoying the review!

[franl24fan]

Sunday ~ July 25 2015 ~ Fairbanks to Denali

 

 

Earlier I said we did not budget very well for food. Well breakfast at the hotels averaged $20 a day. I realized halfway through the land tour that food averaged $75 a day a person. $20 for Breakfast $25 for Lunch and $30 for dinner. Definitely not something we budgeted for, and with more research, I'm sure we could have found more affordable eateries, however we were told that all restaurants in the "tourist" areas raise their prices for the summer months, since that is the majority of their income for the year (can't fault them for that)

 

 

Then we headed to the bus for our ride to the river boat excursion. This excursion was one of two that came with the land tour package and all in tour 7B went on.

When we got to the bus we met David and our driver Elizabeth

 

We came to find out that neither actually worked for Royal Caribbean. Royal subcontracts to tour companies in Alaska and not even David or Elizabeth worked for the same company. The company David worked for, which was seasonal and only operated during the summer months, contracted the bus company that Elizabeth worked for, which ran year long operations throughout Alaska. Each bus was given a different name so that we always would return to our bus, and even when we took the train, Elizabeth would drive and meet us at the next stop. So both David and Elizabeth were with us for the entire week of our land tour. Our bus's name was Ogilvie.

 

I was on land tour 6B in June, also had the Ogilvie bus and Elizabeth was also our driver. What a wonderful young lady, her talks on local info and how she is getting ready to climb Denali next year were awesome. I actually tipped her more than the tour director, although he was also very good, a kindergarten teacher from Anchorage.

 

I too was shocked by the price of food. And there was no way to get to less expensive eating places, except in Seward the Windsong Lodge runs a free shuttle to downtown. After seeing the menu at the lodge with $24 hamburgers, I jumped on the shuttle, was dropped off near a Subway, ran in and got a 6 inch sub (same price as lower 48, but the footlongs were double the usual price) and caught the shuttle on his way back to the lodge.

[Bmorecruiser021]

 

I was on land tour 6B in June, also had the Ogilvie bus and Elizabeth was also our driver. What a wonderful young lady, her talks on local info and how she is getting ready to climb Denali next year were awesome. I actually tipped her more than the tour director, although he was also very good, a kindergarten teacher from Anchorage.

 

I too was shocked by the price of food. And there was no way to get to less expensive eating places, except in Seward the Windsong Lodge runs a free shuttle to downtown. After seeing the menu at the lodge with $24 hamburgers, I jumped on the shuttle, was dropped off near a Subway, ran in and got a 6 inch sub (same price as lower 48, but the footlongs were double the usual price) and caught the shuttle on his way back to the lodge.

 

Funny we did the same thing…..and David was very good as well!

Edited August 15, 2015 by Bmorecruiser021

[Bmorecruiser021]

We got to the hotel and settled it. It had the same make up as the lodge in Denali with one main lodge and 2 story room buildings spread throughout the property. The main difference was the main lodge only had a coffee stand, no restaurant. They had a free standing separate restaurant on the property (conveniently right next to our room).

 

 

 

 

 

This was the view from right outside our room, spectacular!

 

 

After settling in we caught the free shuttle to town (about 3 miles away). It will drop you off at the harbor, downtown, or Safeway (our stop).

 

 

It was great, we got all the last minute essentials we needed for the cruise, our case of water, bottles of wine, a hair brush (my MIL forgot to bring) and some diet coke for my dad. After purchasing all that stuff we caught the shuttle back to the lodge and met up with the family for dinner.

[Bmorecruiser021]

The family went to the roadhouse. Very expensive but the food was delicious! A local told us to order the nachos, they are not on the menu, only locals know about them, so if you ask your server for them, the kitchen will make it special. One order was enough to feed all 6 of us!

 

 

 

I got the salmon burger and Ali got some sort of pot pie. Both were very good!

 

 

 

After dinner we went into town and explored with my mother in law and sister in law.

 

 

 

Thought that mural was so pretty!

[Bmorecruiser021]

We walked around to a few of the shops, bought some souvenirs, then made our way down to the water.

 

 

 

 

 

We found the original mile marker "0" for the Iditarod!

 

 

 

It was getting late, and the next day was going to be a big day, so we headed to the shuttle stop. Caught the shuttle back to the lodge, and headed to bed. The next day was cruise day and we could not wait!

 

That all for tonight everyone, hope you all have a goodnight!

[crusinot]

I want to cruise Alaska in summer of 2017. This review helps! Great review so far!

[juggler78]

Alaska's definitely on the bucket list, maybe when the kids are grown! They're 4 and due December so I've got a long wait! In the mean time your I'll live vicariously through your review, thanks.

 

Sent from my 710C using Tapatalk

[Bmorecruiser021]

Afternoon All!

 

Friday ~ July 31 2015 ~ Seward (Cruise Day!!!)

 

We woke up early, put our bags out (for the last time, it was getting old by this point) and hopped the shuttle into town to grab some breakfast. It was a beautiful sunny morning and a local we talked to the night before told us we had to try the smoke shack. It did not disappoint!

 

 

 

After the shuttle dropped us off we got our first good glimpse of the beautiful Radiance!

 

 

 

The Smoke shack was a neat little idea. A diner made out of old Alaskan Railroad cars. We sat and ate our breakfast looking out the window at the ship we would call home for the next week. Ali had the breakfast burrito and I had pancakes, they we very tasty.

 

 

After breakfast we caught the shuttle and headed back to the hotel to meet up with David and Elizabeth for one last excursion. Included in our tour package was a whale watching tour, so the group loaded up and headed to the harbor to board the Glacier Explorer.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

On the way out of the harbor I got some good pictures of the Radiance (although Keith, the guy in the picture got better ones, :p)

 

 

 

The scenery was unbelievable as we headed out the fjord, and the whether was incredible!

 

 

It didn't take long for us to see our first whale!

 

 

Then the pod started breaching, man was that something to watch, unfortunately I could only ever catch the splash after.

 

[pearlie]

We were a group of 25. Our travel agent arranged to have meals included. Wow. I had an Alaskan crab leg appetizer in Denali. It would have cost $48 just for that. Best thing they could do. Breakfast and dinner. We saved a bundle.