Review:Radiance June 2018 southbound

The hunt for bears...2 Brits in Alaska ....

We booked this cruise the day it went on sale, wanting to get the coveted aft 9256.

We then spent 2 years planning our trip.

First lesson Alaska is very very expensive. What ever your budget is... double it!

We flew from London to Seattle, spent just over 24 hours there. Hyatt house Hotel is right opposite the space needle and Chihuly. Ask for room 811...fabulous views.

We loved Chihuly and we loved Pike place market and generally we loved Seattle. Given our 8 hr time difference we were still up early the next day. Breakfast in Pikes market with wonderful views, a quick emergency tee shirt buying trip as the weather was shaping up to be much warmer than we expected, then an Uber to the airport and ready for the next part...

Tip: go up the Columbia SkyView 73rd floor observatory instead of the Space Needle because it’s cheaper at $14.75 ( also offers an over 55 for under $10) it is taller, and your photos will have the Space Needle in them!

We flew Alaskan up to Anchorage. They charge $25per bag in addition to the air fare. You pay this at the kerbside.

Stayed for 2 nights at the Ramada. In desperate need of renovation, but comfortable beds and friendly staff. A few blocks from the centre. Free shuttle from the airport and to the train station. Had a super meal at Tequila 61.

Tip: Hire a car via Enterprise on E 5th - it was only $160 for 3 days ( cheaper than hiring at the airport.)

Drove down to Girdwood, the Wildlife centre and Whittier on Sunday.

Drove up to Denali, via Talkeetna for lunch. Quaint little town. We stayed 2 nights at the Home Dome in Healy. Ate at Prospectors Pizza and 49th brewing. Did the transit to Eielson. $50pp. Not much success on bears....the van behind had a mother and 2 cubs lie in the road in front of them!

Tip: We had bought The Milepost beforehand. I wouldn’t say it is a must have though. Viewpoints are well signposted on the road.

Back to Anchorage and one more night in the Ramada. Then early start for the 6;45 train to Seward. You must be at station about an hour beforehand and you have to go into the office to collect your tickets. No one tells you that on the paperwork. Suitcases checked through to our Hotel in Seward which was unexpected and efficient. If you can afford it, pay for the Gold service, fabulous glass domed railcards, breakfast included and 2 free alcoholic beverages. Yes I know it was only 6:45 but free champagne is good at any hour right?. $212pp

Seward: stayed at Harbor 360. Nice views but very basic breakfast included on paper plates. DIY bagels and some yoghurts. At $339 for one night I expected more.

Dinner at Chinooks... another $120 meal...

Northern Latitudes Whale watching.. small boat and only 4 of us. Superb experience and highly recommended $163pp.

Hotel transported our cases to the cruise ship for us.

Easiest check in ever. Muster was at 6 and sailaway was at 8

FYI: When the ship was docked in Seward there was an additional 7% tax added to the bar bill.

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Loving your review & looking forward to more!

Whittier

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Wildlife Conservation Centre. Just in case we didn’t see them in the wild....

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Denali... apparently only 10% of visitors get a clear view....

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He’s leaving town....

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Sorry for the individual photo posts, but Voom is not very Voom-y!

Take the train...

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Following with interest, this one is high up on my bucket list.

Gorgeous pics and what amazing weather you experienced! I think we had 1 hour of sun total on our entire Alaska adventure a few years ago.

He’s leaving town....

 

 

 

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Just Alaska Rush hour traffic

Loving the review, we will be on her next Friday.

Whale watching in Seward. See how crowded the big boats are....

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We are doing NB Radiance and leave August 10th! Can't wait to see the rest of your review.

Random ship thoughts:

Wi-fi is $12.99 or $17.99. With careful use of our D+ perk we were able to get 2x 24 hr free and then a 3 day package free ($38.98 was the D+ allowance)

Have not even seen the CD -apparently he’s called Ken Jones. Have not been to any shows as they are at 7 ( clashes with CL drinks) and 8;45 ( clashes with dinner) so cannot comment.

Steve Mudflap Mcgrew

City of Dreams

PengFei

The Long Run ( Eagles tribute)

Piano Man

Movies shown included:

Greatest Showman

Pitch Perfect 3

Justice League

15:17 to Paris

Wrinkle in Time

Peter Rabbit

Star Wars

Jumanji

Formal nights were Hubbard Glacier and ISP days.

1 hour clock change between Ketchikan and Inside Passage

Food I’m afraid was totally unforgettable. Lobster tails last night served with 🥕 carrots. Really?!

I did not seen a 10-drinks card offered.

Sorry; that all sounds a bit negative doesn’t it?! For us the ship was all about the animals and wildlife.

Watching whales bubble feeding off our aft balcony ... magical.

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So glad to see this review. We will also be on Radiance SB next Friday. In Denali early next week and I hope we have as good weather as your pictures indicate you had!

Radiance looks very very tired and is in desperate need of a dry dock I’m afraid. But she is still the perfect ship for this itinerary. We were blessed with perfect weather for the trip (dry and some occasional good spells of sunshine). The sea was dead flat.

Hubbard Glacier. Watched from the helipad. They were charging $4 for a hot chocolate ... it was freezing with biting wind.

Impossible to convey the size of it..

Juneau. Had booked a taxi with Evergreen to take 10of us up to Mendenhall. He never showed. Bad start. Had to take the local tour for $40pp round trip. Bonus sighting of black bear cubs up a tree and Mendenhall was more impressive than the Hubbard imho. Back in town we had a few beers at Hanger on the Wharf watching the floatplanes.

Tip: don’t book with Evergreen

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The whales were bubble net feeding off the aft of the ship in ISP a couple of weeks ago too. We were in 1100 and had ordered room service breakfast since the whales had been seen by the ship the week before. DH got great pictures of a porpoise jumping behind the ship too. We never saw the CD either, we were not impressed.

Enjoying your review.

Black bear cub

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Skagway. Booked with Chilkoot... bus out and train back stopping at Carcross for lunch and dog sled ride.$225pp. I personally didn’t care for the animal experience. Sad looking donkeys standing in muddy fields with no grass upsets me.

The train was good. Fab views. Sit on the right if you are on the downward route. Our guide was excellent and fascinating hearing about what the prospectors had to endure in trying to get to the gold ...

Tip: don’t forget your passport as you cross into Canada.

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Hey little britain!! Following... can't wait to see your Vancouver pictures ;)

Funny... you were in my hometown, look (signature) where I'm sailing next week :)

Hey little britain!! Following... can't wait to see your Vancouver pictures ;)

Funny... you were in my hometown, look (signature) where I'm sailing next week :)

Are we EVER going to meet??!!!

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Thanks for posting, will be follwing along.

We are from Vancouver and sailing on the Radiance in September to Hawaii, sorry to hear the ship is a bit tired but we will be on vacation so I think we will survive!

Icy Straight Point: another private tour with Hoonah Wilderness..a bear search and boy, did we see bears....! Mission accomplished!!

Beautiful sunny day, quaint little town, which is an easy stroll away; and very nice modern facility at the dock ( that means clean toilets...) with shops and (expensive) restaurants.

And a Bloody Mary with a crab claw...

What are you looking at??

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Sitting here in my hotel bed in Fairbanks catching up on your review. Looking forward to the rest as we arrived Tuesday night & my internal clock is still kinda screwy even though it’s only 4 hrs earlier than home for us. Taking the train to Denali later this morning to stay there for 3 nights before a few more stops & the 6/22 version of Radiance southbound. I won’t hijack your trip report & been too busy so far to do a live one of my own. One quick anecdote, Steve McGrew was a comic on Oasis for us last July & we loved him. We actually saw him sitting alone in Central Park after seeing his show the night before (he was performing every night since Oasis class has the comedy club) & we talked to him for a bit. Super nice guy who even told us he’d be changing up his act if we came back... which we did & he did & we enjoyed it again. I’m sure he’ll have moved on by the time we board but would have loved to have seen hm again. Time to try to get back to sleep. I’ll probably have a few questions once we get a bit of down time tomorrow & Friday. The itinerary my wife put together has some long days but so far so good for us!

Ketchikan: we really were being blessed on this trip.... it wasn’t raining! This is the place to do your shopping as all fleeces, jackets and hoodies were much cheaper than at any other port.

We walked around town, Creek Street, then strolled out to the salmon ladder and the Totem heritage centre $6pp entry.

Wonderful views of whales bubble net feeding in the afternoon off the aft.

70s night in the Atrium. Finally saw the CD!

Rocked to sleep and through the Inside Passage.

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