Fyrmdc

Our taxi from the Westin downtown to the airport was flat rate of $42 plus tip. This is for any downtown area to the airport according to the signage in the taxi. 
 

Dave

We rented a car through budget and drove from Seattle to Vancouver. The money saved on the plane tickets covered the car, fuel and the hotel in Vancouver (right downtown). The border crossing was a non-event, it was only about 3-5 minutes to get through the border at 5pm. 
 

Dave

I did my review of the debarkation in this thread:

We just got off of the Ovation on Friday. There was also a Celebrity ship at the pier as well. After the nightmare of getting onto the ship on May 11th in Vancouver we were hoping for a better experience in Seattle. Unfortunately, neither port wins awards for their handling of embarkation/debarkation.

If you get off the ship early you will have no problem getting a taxi and getting to the airport quickly. I would give some serious thought to using the cruise line's pre-arranged shuttle to the airport or get off as early as you can (self-assist). We were staying in Seattle for an extra day and were in group 31 getting off of the ship. The leaving the ship part was quick and orderly and the baggage pickup was well organized. Once you left the terminal building everyone got mixed together and it went down hill from there. You walked out of the terminal there was no coordination by staff as to where the lines were. It was a massive mob of people crossing the road to get to all of the different transportation options. The taxi/Uber lines were atrocious. We waited in the taxi line for over an hour and had port staff directing people to go past us and get into the taxi line ahead of us (no good cue system/process). They didn't even have the strap barriers available to create a zig-zag line for the taxis. It became a free for all getting out of the port. After being in line for about an hour and the staff saying it would be about 2 hours more to get a taxi, we ended up sharing a gypsy cab (Uber driver dropping off that just drove over and offered a ride for as many people as he could fit in the vehicle) for $20 a person to get to downtown Seattle.  

The ride share parking lot is a decent walk from the terminal (1/4 - 1/2 mile). They do have a shuttle, but then you have to wait until you get to the parking lot to request your ride or you will pay a waiting fee or loose your ride. As we passed the ride share lot, the line was a good 200-300 feet long waiting for rides (it crossed the road to leave the port). There was traffic trying to get into the port backed up all the way to Alaskan Way. We actually saw a couple who had walked all that way getting picked up by an Uber/Lyft out there.

The people arriving (at 9:30 am) to board the ships were intermixed with those trying to leave. This caused even more issues because the traffic flow was all combined onto a road that was one lane in each direction in and out (split into 2-4 lanes at the terminal building). This was for all traffic (buses, taxis, ride share and personal vehicles dropping off and picking up). 

Even being early in the season for the port and cruise lines this should have been handled better. This wasn't the first year for either having cruise lines in port and the processes learned in past years shouldn't have to be re-learned each year.  

When we were in Belize in January, the ship tours met in the theater and were escorted to their tenders from there. Anyone that wanted to get off the boat early (and didn't have a tour) had to get a ticket to join these tenders. After a bit of time (maybe an hour or so) after arrival, anyone who wanted to go ashore could just go down and get on a tender. There were always tenders running back and forth from the ship to the pier. On the pier you just went to a specific dock area and they loaded you onto an awaiting tender. 

Dave

Greg,

Finally getting around to posting saying it was great to meet you the first night. The internet is horrible on this ship versus our past experiences. 
 

Enjoy your retirement and hope to share a drink with you later this week. 
 

Here is the speed test I just did while sitting by the pool enjoying an drink.

Dave

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

We did AK in June, and the weather was great (highs in the low 70's and sunny for the whole trip). One nice thing about going a bit later in the season is that the closer you get to mid June the later the sun stays up. Also, as it gets warmer the chances of seeing a glacier calving an iceberg increase. It was really cool to see the captain dispatch a lifeboat to retrieve a large piece and hoist it up into the main pool so we could all see one up close. We were in Sitka mid cruise, and the sun barely set at all. Sunset and sunrise were about 20 minutes apart - a once in a lifetime experience for a Floridian.😃

We did a land and sea cruise tour in early June 2019. Weather was great the whole time. I wore shorts every day. We only had rain one day of the entire 10 day trip.

One nice thing about going early is that the locals/tour groups are happy to see new people. You don't  get the "great, here comes another bunch of cruise ship tourists" look at every stop.

Dave

14 hours ago, Jimbo said:

 

Where did you fly into Fairbanks?

We flew into Fairbanks. We actually flew in a day earlier and stayed at the hotel the land tour uses. It was nice to arrive early in the day and have the time to relax before a busy land tour schedule. We also got to go to the local museum and other attractions that were not covered on the tour. 
 

Dave

If you have the ability to do it yourself you will be able to save some money and go to the places you want. The train to Denali was nice but some of the other parts of the SB land tour were a little boring and expensive for what you got.

Shore Excursions:

I attached the shore excursion brochure that was in our room the first day. We did the land tour before boarding so we did not focus too much on doing a bunch on the ship.

We had done a few excursions on land so we only chose to do a few of the ship-based excursions. I will review the land portion later.

In Juneau we did the Mount Roberts Tramway (bought an all day pass at the tram for $35). The trip to the top was fun to look out and see the sea planes flying below you. There are a couple of different trails at the top as well as a little nature center, restaurant and gift shop. The short trail is about 1/2 mile and is a good leg stretcher after being on the ship for a few days. After spending an hour or two on top of the mountain we went back down and just wandered the shops and visited a couple of breweries in town.

In Skagway we did the White Pass Railway and Skagway Highlights tour. They picked us up on the pier and took us by bus to the train. Along the way the bus driver gave us a little bit of a tour around the town. There are a few locations around town where the trains load and depending on which tour you are on depends on where you load. The train then took us up and through the area where the gold rushers traveled to get to the Yukon and beyond. The scenery is amazing and there are some really steep drop-offs for the faint of heart to experience. We did see moose and bear along our train ride. Once we crossed into Canada we loaded back onto our bus and returned to Skagway. The bus driver (same one that picked us up) gave us a good narrated tour on the way back and took us by a few sights including the gold rush cemetery. We were then dropped off either in town or back at the ship (individual's choice). We stayed in town and visited the two breweries there. 

In Icy Strait Point we did not do any tours. It is a little dock area with a few shops and restaurants spread out over about 1/2 mile. If you want to go into the town of Hoonah you can either take a bus or walk the 1.5-2 miles. The dock area was a good spot to watch eagles fly and watch the zipliners come down over your head. There is a rope course set up in the trees at the dock for those looking for a little adventure.

In Ketchikan we did the Alaska's First City Highlights and Lumberjack Show tour. We loaded up on a bus on the dock and were driven through the city given a narrated tour. We stopped at one of the totem parks in the city and spent about 30 minutes learning about the totem poles and wandering around the small park. We then loaded back onto the bus and were taken to the lumberjack show. The lumberjack show pits the USA versus Canada in a lumberjack challenge showdown. Each team competes head to head with the other completing lumberjack activities. There is a little showmanship involved and the the lumber jacks are talented. It is a fun show to watch but don't get your hopes up to high for the big burly guys. After the tour we just wandered around town and visited the brewery there (seeing a pattern yet?). 

In Vancouver we paid for the airport transfer from the ship ($21.95 per person). This had us disembark as one of the last groups of of the ship so we had plenty of time to have breakfast on the ship and relax in the room before leaving. We had to collect our bags from the terminal and take them through the Canadian customs area (very simple pass through). After exiting customs we were led into the bus area and handed our luggage to the staff to be loaded onto our bus. We were given a short tour through the city on the way to the airport (about 45 minutes). We were then unloaded at the international flight area of the airport to check-in for our flight. One thing we learned here was do not put your passport away until you are on your plane. They checked our passport at every stop throughout the airport (check-in, US Customs and before you boarded the plane). Getting through the airport was fairly fast for an international flight.

Radiance Shore Excursions.pdf

We had a great time on this cruise. The ship was not the biggest or the newest but it was laid out fairly well. The biggest complaint we had was that you could not go from the front of the ship to the back of the ship (from the Quill & Compass to the Schooner Lounge) on level 6 without having to pass through the casino (smokers paradise). Other than that the ship was well maintained and easy to navigate.

We did a land tour prior to going on the cruise so this picks up from day 4 (I think). 

We took a bus from Anchorage to Seward to board the cruise ship. The trip was about 3 hours from Anchorage to Seward through many small towns. Our guide told us about some of the towns and sights along the way. We did make one stop about mid-way through the trip for bathrooms and snacks. Once we arrived at the terminal, check in and boarding was fast (unlike the Caribbean cruises) and off to the ship we went. You do have to climb a ramp to get to the ship as the terminal is a one story building on the pier.

The food on the ship was the standard Royal Caribbean fare in the main dining room with about 7 appetizers, 7-8 entrees and about 7 deserts each night. I don't feel that the menu really changes between the Caribbean cruises and this one as the selections seemed fairly similar to our past cruises. Being in Alaska you would have thought that you would see salmon or crab on the menu more but it was only offered twice. No real standout meal items but the sugar-free deserts got good reviews from my FIL.

The best entertainment on the ship was the guitar player Jack Wallis in the Quill & Compass. He was way better than the piano player in the Schooner Lounge. We stayed up and closed the Quill with him most nights as he kept singing and entertaining so well that time flew past us. If you want a fun filled evening we really recommend spending some time in the Quill & Compass from 9 to close.

I'll cover shore excursions in my next post.

We just got back this weekend from doing the 7 day Southbound on the Radiance of the Seas. We added the 3 day land portion on before this. I am going to post the cruise compass' first and then will type a review on the cruise. I will then add a review of the land portion. Feel free to ask any questions. I will try to answer then to the best that I can.

Dave

Radiance Alaska SB Day 1.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 2.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 3.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 4.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 5.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 6.pdf Radiance Alaska SB Day 7.pdf

No. Your meals are not included on the cruise tour. We are currently in the middle of our cruise and none of the meals on the land portion were included. If you are going to Fairbanks we highly recommend the Chena Alaskan Grill versus Pike’s Landing. 

Dave