Review: Radiance Alaska Northbound - August 2015 plus DIY land

[EMED2010]

Great review and great pictures! I enjoyed it very much.

 

Thank you!:)

[EMED2010]

Thank you so much. We are so ready to go now. The Alaska Tourism Board (if there is such a thing) should hire you.

 

Sherry

 

Ha, ha! Thanks!:D

[liptastic]

Truly wonderful posts and photos, again just to say thanks for taking us along on your holiday.

We have enjoyed following your journey, and I am sure everyone will agree, it's sad to see it end.

Safe trips home to you all, and very best wishes.

Jean.:)

[alaska_planner]

really enjoying your review....i'm about halfway through i guess (just got to your posts on seward)...

 

we were on the cruise right before yours - we left the ship just as you boarded...(and we really wanted to turn around and get back on)..

 

we were the cruise that didn't make it into hubbard glacier because of the traffic accident between anchorage and seward...

hubbard glacier looks wonderful...guess i'll just have to go back to alaska again!! ;)

Edited September 6, 2015 by alaska_planner

[DKNYC]

I'm glad you enjoyed it it and found it helpful. I lived on these boards prior to the trip waiting for reviews to pop up.:)

Yes that's exactly what my cruise tour roommate and I do. We send each other links all the time.[emoji1]

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[EMED2010]

Truly wonderful posts and photos, again just to say thanks for taking us along on your holiday.

We have enjoyed following your journey, and I am sure everyone will agree, it's sad to see it end.

Safe trips home to you all, and very best wishes.

Jean.:)

 

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[EMED2010]

really enjoying your review....i'm about halfway through i guess (just got to your posts on seward)...

 

we were on the cruise right before yours - we left the ship just as you boarded...(and we really wanted to turn around and get back on)..

 

we were the cruise that didn't make it into hubbard glacier because of the traffic accident between anchorage and seward...

hubbard glacier looks wonderful...guess i'll just have to go back to alaska again!! ;)

 

What accident? I didn't hear of it but I'm sorry you didn't get to go.

[DKNYC]

I believe the accident on the highway between anchorage &Seward was on July 31. I read about it on another review. Several busses of boarding passengers were stuck in the traffic blockage and delayed. They didn't get to the ship till 12:30am. The ship left late so missed Hubbard glacier.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Edited September 7, 2015 by DKNYC

[alaska_planner]

What accident? I didn't hear of it but I'm sorry you didn't get to go.

 

yes as the other poster said, the accident was on july 31 (we were on the southbound radiance from july 31 to august 7th)...

 

it was a major fatal accident between anchorage and seward that closed the road for 12 hours (from about noon until midnight...

 

900 passengers were unable to reach the ship....many of them were stuck on the road for the entire 12 hours!!!

 

because it was so many passengers, there was no way for the ship to leave without them....that was almost half the ship....

so the ship waited for them....

 

the 900 started coming on board at about 12:30 am....

we finally sailed at about 3 am so it was too late for us to be able to make hubbard glacier...

 

we were already on the ship as we'd stayed in seward for 2 nights...

so we stood up on deck cheering the people as they finally made it to the ship...

they were a haggard looking bunch...especially those who'd been stuck in cars and busses on the road for 12 hours!!!

(including children and babies)...

 

i was standing next to a family that had been split...one car was in front of the accident, one right behind the accident....very fortunate for them that they weren't one of the vehicles actually involved (it was a multiple car accident)...

 

anyway, missing hubbard just means we HAVE to go back :)

 

oh and this reinforced my policy of always arriving at the departure port several days before sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited September 7, 2015 by alaska_planner

[EMED2010]

I believe the accident on the highway between anchorage &Seward was on July 31. I read about it on another review. Several busses of boarding passengers were stuck in the traffic blockage and delayed. They didn't get to the ship till 12:30am. The ship left late so missed Hubbard glacier.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

Thanks! I hadn't heard about this before.

[EMED2010]

yes as the other poster said, the accident was on july 31 (we were on the southbound radiance from july 31 to august 7th)...

 

it was a major fatal accident between anchorage and seward that closed the road for 12 hours (from about noon until midnight...

 

900 passengers were unable to reach the ship....many of them were stuck on the road for the entire 12 hours!!!

 

because it was so many passengers, there was no way for the ship to leave without them....that was almost half the ship....

so the ship waited for them....

 

the 900 started coming on board at about 12:30 am....

we finally sailed at about 3 am so it was too late for us to be able to make hubbard glacier...

 

we were already on the ship as we'd stayed in seward for 2 nights...

so we stood up on deck cheering the people as they finally made it to the ship...

they were a haggard looking bunch...especially those who'd been stuck in cars and busses on the road for 12 hours!!!

(including children and babies)...

 

i was standing next to a family that had been split...one car was in front of the accident, one right behind the accident....very fortunate for them that they weren't one of the vehicles actually involved (it was a multiple car accident)...

 

anyway, missing hubbard just means we HAVE to go back :)

 

oh and this reinforced my policy of always arriving at the departure port several days before sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wow! That's awful for everyone involved.

[alaska_planner]

just caught up with your review.

I really enjoyed it all - the descriptions and the pictures.

thanks so much for taking the time to share your trip with us!!!

 

How would you rate the various places that you stayed?

Would you stay in all of them again? any you wouldn't?

Edited September 7, 2015 by alaska_planner

[EMED2010]

just caught up with your review.

I really enjoyed it all - the descriptions and the pictures.

thanks so much for taking the time to share your trip with us!!!

 

How would you rate the various places that you stayed?

Would you stay in all of them again? any you wouldn't?

 

Thank you!

 

I chose the hotels/B&B's that I did for price but they were all a good value for what we got.

 

St Regis, Vancouver- gorgeous place, great service, nice restaurant attached, free breakfast excellent

 

Breeze Inn, Seward - Basic motel, updated room, higher end toiletries, great location

 

The Hutch, Cooper Landing - nice owners, convenient location for us, nice continental breakfast, they had a fire every night for guests that I would have liked to go to but it didn't work out for us on the two nights we were there.

 

Alaska Garden Gate B&B - this is the one where she couldn't give us the room we booked because the man staying there broke his ankle and was getting a pin put in. The place was beautiful and it sounded like the breakfast would have been wonderful. This was a very awkward situation. I am still not sure why she could t have moved the people since they were obviously not going to be able to come back. She did work with us to move us into the other place so it's hard to say with this. The second place was nice but we only slept there.

 

McKinkey Creekside - basic room, wish they had a refrigerator in it. BUT location, location, location! Alongside the creek, across the street from a tall mountain, excellent Cafe attached.

[alaska_planner]

Thank you!

 

I chose the hotels/B&B's that I did for price but they were all a good value for what we got.

 

St Regis, Vancouver- gorgeous place, great service, nice restaurant attached, free breakfast excellent

 

Breeze Inn, Seward - Basic motel, updated room, higher end toiletries, great location

 

The Hutch, Cooper Landing - nice owners, convenient location for us, nice continental breakfast, they had a fire every night for guests that I would have liked to go to but it didn't work out for us on the two nights we were there.

 

Alaska Garden Gate B&B - this is the one where she couldn't give us the room we booked because the man staying there broke his ankle and was getting a pin put in. The place was beautiful and it sounded like the breakfast would have been wonderful. This was a very awkward situation. I am still not sure why she could t have moved the people since they were obviously not going to be able to come back. She did work with us to move us into the other place so it's hard to say with this. The second place was nice but we only slept there.

 

McKinkey Creekside - basic room, wish they had a refrigerator in it. BUT location, location, location! Alongside the creek, across the street from a tall mountain, excellent Cafe attached.

 

thanks!! good to know for our next trip to alaska!!

we only stayed in anchorage and seward (2 nights in each) on this trip..

i was happy with where we stayed in both, but for our next trip i think i'd like to go a little further afield...

[RoobyDoo]

Linda,

 

Great review! I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing your memories.

 

I think I liked your orca photos the most. I did the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise (with Kenai Fjord Tours) in the latter part of July. We also saw pods of orcas as well as orcas breaching. But I wasn't as quick on the camera trigger as you, and I couldn't get any photos of the breaching.

[EMED2010]

Linda,

 

Great review! I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing your memories.

 

I think I liked your orca photos the most. I did the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise (with Kenai Fjord Tours) in the latter part of July. We also saw pods of orcas as well as orcas breaching. But I wasn't as quick on the camera trigger as you, and I couldn't get any photos of the breaching.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was just luck that I was able to catch it.

[luvthetropics]

Just loved your review and all of your amazing photos!! We are booked on Celebrity Millennium next August, first time to Alaska and your review has helped so much in our planning.

 

A couple of questions for you:

1) what time did you do the dog sledding? I'm wondering if it makes a difference

2) are those rain boots lined?

3) did you do morning or afternoon for the whale watch?

 

You may have already mentioned these things in your review if so I missed it :)

 

Thanks again for sharing your fabulous journey with all of us!

 

Deb

[EMED2010]

Just loved your review and all of your amazing photos!! We are booked on Celebrity Millennium next August, first time to Alaska and your review has helped so much in our planning.

 

A couple of questions for you:

1) what time did you do the dog sledding? I'm wondering if it makes a difference

2) are those rain boots lined?

3) did you do morning or afternoon for the whale watch?

 

You may have already mentioned these things in your review if so I missed it :)

 

Thanks again for sharing your fabulous journey with all of us!

 

Deb

 

Hi! I'm glad you enjoyed my review.

We did the first dog sledding of the day. When I called to book the person I spoke with suggested it. He said to book an early one in case the weather was bad and it would have to be canceled there would be a possibility to get on a later one. As it was, only one more went up after U.S. And then they cancelled the rest for that day. The ships tours all cancelled.

The books were just unlined rubber rain boots. I thought lined would be too warm in August. They were great and kept my feet totally dry.

For the whale watch we also booked the first one of the day. The vendor we used does two a day. I personally like to do my tours first thing so that I have the rest of the day to do what I want.

[luvthetropics]

Hi! I'm glad you enjoyed my review.

We did the first dog sledding of the day. When I called to book the person I spoke with suggested it. He said to book an early one in case the weather was bad and it would have to be canceled there would be a possibility to get on a later one. As it was, only one more went up after U.S. And then they cancelled the rest for that day. The ships tours all cancelled.

The books were just unlined rubber rain boots. I thought lined would be too warm in August. They were great and kept my feet totally dry.

For the whale watch we also booked the first one of the day. The vendor we used does two a day. I personally like to do my tours first thing so that I have the rest of the day to do what I want.

 

Thank you so very much for the info!! Your review will be very helpful to all of us first timers in Alaska.

 

Really looking forward to our trip :)

 

Deb

[duluthga]

HI,.

Great review.

which Nikon Tough camera do you have?

I googled it and saw several different models.

Your pictures were great.

[EMED2010]

HI,.

Great review.

which Nikon Tough camera do you have?

I googled it and saw several different models.

Your pictures were great.

 

Nikon Coolpix AW130 Waterproof Digital w/ built in Wi-Fi. I really loved it and I can't wait to try snorkeling with it.

[MAPCruises]

Well a year plus after your review. and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! for taking the time to do this. It was amazing. Making me rethink my post cruise course now. :confused: And definitely added the helicopter / dogsledding to my excursion option list. what a once in a lifetime adventure.

[AryMay]

I'm glad this got brought to the top again...I just read the WHOLE thing from start to finish and enjoyed it so much! (I really need to go back and see what other reviews I've missed from last year!)

 

I am in planning mode for our second Alaskan cruise next May and your review is a great resource! Thanks for all of the extra work to include the photos...they were excellent!

 

(I was wondering if you work in emergency medicine? My husband is a paramedic so your screen name caught my eye.)

[EMED2010]

Well a year plus after your review. and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! for taking the time to do this. It was amazing. Making me rethink my post cruise course now. :confused: And definitely added the helicopter / dogsledding to my excursion option list. what a once in a lifetime adventure.

 

 

Well thank you! I was just scrolling and saw my name and was surprised this is still being read. I thought it was a once in a lifetime but we loved it so much we hope to do it again someday.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[EMED2010]

I'm glad this got brought to the top again...I just read the WHOLE thing from start to finish and enjoyed it so much! (I really need to go back and see what other reviews I've missed from last year!)

 

 

 

I am in planning mode for our second Alaskan cruise next May and your review is a great resource! Thanks for all of the extra work to include the photos...they were excellent!

 

 

 

(I was wondering if you work in emergency medicine? My husband is a paramedic so your screen name caught my eye.)

 

 

Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! My screen name is from my first cruise: Eastern MEDiterranean in 2010

 

 

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