My Full Alaska Trip Review (14 Days on Land + 14 Days on Radiance)

[truthandkeidy]

 

Hey, we're honored you even mentioned us by name. I had to chuckle at the part with the reminder "F.I.S.H.E.S. does NOT take credit cards!". :eek:

 

Ikohawaii...I suppose one could mistake me for F.I.S.H.E.S. by the quote above. Actually, we were patrons who went with no cash in hand. Luckily they had an ATM nearby and we were with GMoney who graciously loaned us the balance due. (that G must stand for Give) What a guy! :)

 

Trudy

[lkohawaii]

Thanks Patrick and Trudy...I'll get my friends to make a decision and quick. If they can't make up their mind I'll go myself with my family based on your rave reviews.

[lkohawaii]

Thanks Patrick and Trudy...I'll get my friends to make a decision and quick. If they can't make up their mind I'll go myself with my family based on your rave reviews.

 

I need help convincing my DH to spend the money on F.I.S.H.E.S. being that we live in Hawaii we can see humbbacks every year. Did you see any Orca's on your cruise. We're cruising too early to see bears (early June)

 

Patrick I see you're going on the Wonder. I wanted to be on that cruise whichever way it repositioned..being that I'm an educator I just couldn't leave my students for that long. I envy you.

[GMoney]

I need help convincing my DH to spend the money on F.I.S.H.E.S. being that we live in Hawaii we can see humbbacks every year. Did you see any Orca's on your cruise. We're cruising too early to see bears (early June)

 

Patrick I see you're going on the Wonder. I wanted to be on that cruise whichever way it repositioned..being that I'm an educator I just couldn't leave my students for that long. I envy you.

 

I saw orcas in Aialik Bay on a Kenai Fjords National Park tour out of Seward. We had excellent views for about 15 minutes, but the humpbacks were much more compelling.

 

Not sure how the viewing in Hawaii works, but the FISHES tour was compelling because 1) you are almost guaranteed to see whales at Pt. Adolphus; 2) there were so many (8-12); 3) it's fun to see how the sea lions interact with the whales, and 4) you are just so close. Floyd is very careful to mind the rules of viewing and stay at the lawful distance, but you are still amazingly close and the detail you see and hear is incredible.

 

I'm looking forward to the Wonder cruise. It goes from LA to Florida. A full transit on the canal is really one of my last cruise goals (other than world cruise :) ), especially before they modify the canal for bigger ships.

 

Unfortunately, it will be one of about 2 cruises I get to do next year. :( Oh well, I can't complain - 2007 was a very good year! :D

[mitaxi]

I saw orcas in Aialik Bay on a Kenai Fjords National Park tour out of Seward. We had excellent views for about 15 minutes, but the humpbacks were much more compelling.

 

Not sure how the viewing in Hawaii works, but the FISHES tour was compelling because 1) you are almost guaranteed to see whales at Pt. Adolphus; 2) there were so many (8-12); 3) it's fun to see how the sea lions interact with the whales, and 4) you are just so close. Floyd is very careful to mind the rules of viewing and stay at the lawful distance, but you are still amazingly close and the detail you see and hear is incredible.

 

I'm looking forward to the Wonder cruise. It goes from LA to Florida. A full transit on the canal is really one of my last cruise goals (other than world cruise :) ), especially before they modify the canal for bigger ships.

 

Unfortunately, it will be one of about 2 cruises I get to do next year. :( Oh well, I can't complain - 2007 was a very good year! :D

 

Patrick - LOVE the itinerary of the 15 day Wonder.. don't know if all the "mickey" would do me in for 15 days... have not sailed on Disney...

 

by the way -- just back from Colorado....not the same as Alaska...but did see Elk....:D, for my wildlife

[GMoney]

Patrick - LOVE the itinerary of the 15 day Wonder.. don't know if all the "mickey" would do me in for 15 days... have not sailed on Disney...

 

by the way -- just back from Colorado....not the same as Alaska...but did see Elk....:D, for my wildlife

 

Hi Michele - You'd do just fine on Disney. They have some great adult only areas that they actually enforce. You don't get swamped with kids, the entertainment is great, and their private island rocks. The only problem with Disney is their rates; however, there are some decent deals for the Caribbean between now and the end of the year. Try them sometime.

 

Colorado sounds awesome. I bet you got some great pictures. You are a traveling maniac - good for you! :D

[Host Kewlguy]

FISHES is the name of the whale watching tour company in ISP, owned and run by Floyd and Marjorie.

 

I would definitely email them and see what they say about 2008. The seating so limited, the early bird gets the worm, and this is one worm you want! :)

 

http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/

 

We booked with FISHES over a year in advance for our cruise in September 2008. Same thing with Captain Davey in Sitka. It's never too early to book.

[sagiv666]

Ok, I finally finished it! Here's my review of my recent month-long trip to Alaska (2 weeks independent land tour and 2 weeks on Radiance).

 

It's not the 109 pages on Liberty, but there's about 50 pages of info that may help those of you planning future trips.

 

NOTE: Unfortunately, the page loads slowly; I think because there are so many pictures. Be patient; it's worth it. :) I'm working to speed it along.

 

You can access the review 2 ways:

 

DIRECTLY at:

 

http://web.mac.com/mellicon/My_Voyage_to_Adventure/Blog/Entries/2007/10/2_Alaska_Review_files/alaska.pdf

 

Through my website at:

 

http://web.mac.com/mellicon/My_Voyage_to_Adventure/Blog/Blog.html

 

Welcome home!!!

We think alike, for we also combined a land tour of Alaska with a 14-night cruise aboard the Radiance. We left New York on September 2 and returned home September 28. I am still sifting through the 2000+ photos I took and hope to share them with this website (especially those of brown bears I shot closeup). I am having trouble reaching your writing and photos, but I'll keep trying.

[sagiv666]

Patrick,

How do your pics print on paper as nice as in your report? If that's that case I'm looking into a new camera. I have a heavy Canon Rebel..that was a bit of money. If I can downsize and get that quality I will. How's the lag time on your camera? That's one thing I couldn't take on the smaller cameras. I want to take one picture after the other if I have too. I'm going to look into that Elph right now.

 

My wife and I were on an Alaska vacation also combining a land tour and a 14-night cruise on the Radiance. My wife had a combination unit binoculars-digital camera, which functioned improperly. She used it for the binocular and I depended on my Panasonic DMC-TZ3 digital camera. The camera is a point and shoot, but it has a Leica lens and a greater telescoping property than other digitals I saw in the store. My pictures (more than 2000) came out wonderful, including those in Denali National Park, on the cruise and related excursions (whale watching, landing on a glacier and glacier viewing, and trips on the Alaska railroad between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and Whitehorse), and an independent trip which my wife and I took between the land tour and the cruise. The day before we left Anchorage for Vancouver, a float plane took us to a lodge in Lake Clark Reserve. All morning, and all afternoon (after lunch and before we were picked up by the plane), we toured the lake watching and filming brown bears closeup. I will share these pictures with all of you as soon as I have sifted out all my photos, but I can say that these were my prize (in fact, on the cruise I put the card with the bear pictures in the safe).

This last trip was marvelous, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a real Alaskan experience. Some advice: for those with digital cameras, make sure you carry extra memory cards, extra batteries (chargeable or non-chargeable), and do not forget your battery charger if needed.

[GMoney]

Welcome home!!!

I am having trouble reaching your writing and photos, but I'll keep trying.

 

I discovered I was a bit over my limit with Apple for my website, so I bought more storage. You should be able to at least reach the site now. As noted, the review / blog / PDF will take time to download, but folks have had luck right-clicking to start the transfer and then coming back when it's done.

 

The text of the review appears earlier in this post.

 

That Ultimate itinerary is an excellent one. Glad you had a good time. Where'd you see bears?

[mitaxi]

Hi Michele - You'd do just fine on Disney. They have some great adult only areas that they actually enforce. You don't get swamped with kids, the entertainment is great, and their private island rocks. The only problem with Disney is their rates; however, there are some decent deals for the Caribbean between now and the end of the year. Try them sometime.

 

Colorado sounds awesome. I bet you got some great pictures. You are a traveling maniac - good for you! :D

 

I will look into Disney....but for the rest of this year...I have the Enchantment cruise...just turned it into my first B2B...and I am now Diamond for the cruise...SO excited..even got the same cabin..don't even have to change...:D

 

I did get some great pics up in Rocky Mountain National park....beautiful area.

[GMoney]

I will look into Disney....but for the rest of this year...I have the Enchantment cruise...just turned it into my first B2B...and I am now Diamond for the cruise...SO excited..even got the same cabin..don't even have to change...:D

 

Congratulations! You worked hard for it! Have a great time...:)

[sagiv666]

I discovered I was a bit over my limit with Apple for my website, so I bought more storage. You should be able to at least reach the site now. As noted, the review / blog / PDF will take time to download, but folks have had luck right-clicking to start the transfer and then coming back when it's done.

 

The text of the review appears earlier in this post.

 

That Ultimate itinerary is an excellent one. Glad you had a good time. Where'd you see bears?

 

After our land tour ended on September 9, we decided to send a few days on our own in Anchorage before flying to Vancouver to meet the Radiance for our cruise starting September 14. On September 10 we hired an air taxi which took us by float plane to the Redoubt lodge in the Lake Clark Reserve. At the lodge, we met our guide, who took us and another couple on an open boat with a small outboard motor around the lake. We had the opportunity to get quite close to a large number of bears, most of whom were so busy feeding on salmon they didn't pay any attention to us; they only looked our way when the guide gunned the engine to keep us off shore. Still we got close enough that I kept praying the motor wouldn't konk out. We watched bears all morning, had lunch at the Lodge, then watched again all afternoon until the plane returned to take us back to Anchorage. An experience not to be missed!;)

[lkohawaii]

Patrick,

In Hawaii we mostly see the whale tails and far off in a distance. Did you actually see the humbacks out of the water. We are doing Kenai Fijords out of Seward no matter what.

 

I would like to be on that Disney Repo with you. Did you hear the rumors? Disney to Alaska and Hong Kong. I'll have to see how Alaska is on the Radiance and decide if I want to do it with Disney. Hong Kong is a must.

[GMoney]

Patrick,

In Hawaii we mostly see the whale tails and far off in a distance. Did you actually see the humbacks out of the water. We are doing Kenai Fijords out of Seward no matter what.

 

We did not see them breach; but I don't think that's uncommon at Pt Adolphus. We did see lots of tails and fins and humps right up close. You could see the barnacles on their "skin."

 

I would like to be on that Disney Repo with you. Did you hear the rumors? Disney to Alaska and Hong Kong. I'll have to see how Alaska is on the Radiance and decide if I want to do it with Disney. Hong Kong is a must.

 

Wow no I hadn't heard this but it's great! I'll keep my eyes open.

[truthandkeidy]

 

I did get some great pics up in Rocky Mountain National park....beautiful area.

 

 

Sorry GMoney for butting in on your thread for a minute. Michele, we had a reunion in Estes Park last year and went Whitewater Rafting on the Poudre River. Beautiful place! More and more I'm wondering with all the beauty in the USA, why do we stay in the swamps of Lousiana! :confused:

 

 

 

 

Trudy

[truthandkeidy]

Patrick,

 

It was indeed a trip of a lifetime! Alaska exceeded my highest expectations and I'm still in awe of it all. Our excursion with FISHES in Icy Straight Point with yourself, Stephen, and Michele was one of our highlights. You have compiled an invaluable cache of pictorials and descriptive narrative that we will use as a resourse tool for a long time. In fact, we were so inspired by the trip, and all you've done that we have yet to do, that we switched our originally planned TA on Brillance in April to the Ultimate Alaska on Serenade in May. Having seen Alaska in it's late season, I would like to experience this spectacular venue when it's offering of snowcaps is in greater abundance. Again Patrick, thanks for the terrific job you did in your summary. Michele too, you have awesome photos from our trip as well on the Alaska thread. We feel so blessed to have had such expert photographers and photojournalists as shipmates!

 

Keith

[mitaxi]

Sorry GMoney for butting in on your thread for a minute. Michele, we had a reunion in Estes Park last year and went Whitewater Rafting on the Poudre River. Beautiful place! More and more I'm wondering with all the beauty in the USA, why do we stay in the swamps of Lousiana! :confused:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=11969017&posted=1#post11969017

 

Trudy

 

Trudy. ...always make a trip to the Poudre/Estes/ & Rocky mountain National Park when out there.....

 

 

[GMoney]

Patrick,

 

It was indeed a trip of a lifetime! Alaska exceeded my highest expectations and I'm still in awe of it all. Our excursion with FISHES in Icy Straight Point with yourself, Stephen, and Michele was one of our highlights. You have compiled an invaluable cache of pictorials and descriptive narrative that we will use as a resourse tool for a long time. In fact, we were so inspired by the trip, and all you've done that we have yet to do, that we switched our originally planned TA on Brillance in April to the Ultimate Alaska on Serenade in May. Having seen Alaska in it's late season, I would like to experience this spectacular venue when it's offering of snowcaps is in greater abundance. Again Patrick, thanks for the terrific job you did in your summary. Michele too, you have awesome photos from our trip as well on the Alaska thread. We feel so blessed to have had such expert photographers and photojournalists as shipmates!

 

 

Keith

 

That is just the nicest post - thank you. I try to tell people about Alaska, but words don't do it justice. I think it's great you've switched to the May Ultimate Alaska; I will expect to hear all about it!

[truthandkeidy]

Patrick,

 

In looking more closely at your Alaska review, it is evident that a highlite was the Pangaea adventure 10 hour sea kayak tour to Columbia Glacier.

Your statement "The whole experience was incredible and surreal, and it turned out to be not only my most amazing experience in Alaska, but probably my entire life." says a lot. Your pictures of this part of the trip look amazing. Is this excursion available via cruise ships, or only independently? Is this excursion only recommended for the most physically fit, considering the kayak duration?

 

On a seperate note, I know you experienced many a heli/floatplane on your trip and Trudy and I would like to chose one heli excursion during our 14-day "Ultimate Alaska" next May. If you had to chose JUST ONE, which would you recommend? From your comments and pics, I would guess Mendenhall in Juneau...but would like to get your response.

 

Also, thanks again Patrick for the RCL cap. Looking forward to wearing it more onboard future cruises.:)

 

Keith

[TwoTravelin]

Thanks Patrick for an awesome detailed review....have it saved for reference for a return trip - I hope next summer.

 

Hey Patrick, although we aren't planning Alaska anytime soon, thanks for the review. But more importantly for us, thanks for your older Med./Europe review. It travelled with us on our cruise and was tattered around the edges by the end! To future Alaska cruisers - print and carry this review!

[GMoney]

Hey Patrick, although we aren't planning Alaska anytime soon, thanks for the review. But more importantly for us, thanks for your older Med./Europe review. It travelled with us on our cruise and was tattered around the edges by the end! To future Alaska cruisers - print and carry this review!

 

That is really nice of you to say. Alaska was so incredible it sometimes overshadows the wonderful time I had in the Med. I'm glad the reviews helped and I hope you had a great time on Brilliance!

[GMoney]

double post

[truthandkeidy]

Patrick,

 

You may have overlooked my post from last night, please respond whenever you have the chance. Thanks.

 

Keith

[GMoney]

Patrick,

 

You may have overlooked my post from last night, please respond whenever you have the chance. Thanks.

 

Keith

 

I did! I'm sorry. I saw the other post on my iPhone in the airport, so I think I was distracted. One moment...