Just Back from N.Bound Alaska Radiance Cruise - Potpourrie of Info

Just back from an amazing Northbound Alaska Cruise on Radiance, and below is part review, part info, part answers to questions that have been asked over the last few months:

We had AMAZING weather - 5 days of sunshine. It was rainy in Vancouver, and Ketchikan, and then simply gorgeous.

1) Which side is best? I was on the Starboard (right side), the good: The whales at Icy Strait Point are right outside your window; the bad: so's the sun at 4am even with the curtains drawn you'll get light. The other whales/wildlife could show up on either side at anytime. HOWEVER - be warned the ship will NOT tell you when they see whales or any other wildlife (like the other 28 cruises I've been on have done...) - the closest they get is a vague "From 6:30pm to 9pm we'll be going through and area that we normally see wildlife" and that only happened twice.

2) Early or Late Seating (if you're doing traditional). I like late, but because of the times they pass through whale rich areas, if you want to see whales - consider early seating, or miss a couple of nights.

3) Embarkation was a nightmare in Vancouver - 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and from talking to several people there really wasn't a good time. Even if you were there right when it opened at 11:30 - it was still 1 1/2 hours. The problem was supposedly caused by US Immigration and sequestration. Multiple ships go through this at the same time.

4) All the whirlpools have bubbles, and ALL the pools are heated - including the outdoor one.

5) For our cruise it was the old menu, but the food was much better than what I had had on Grandeur 1 1/2 years ago. However - stay away from the cookies unless you want to break a tooth. They could double for hockey pucks - all of them.

7) Icy Strait Point - There's a shuttle that goes to the little town of Hoonah down the road, I think it was $5. You don't need the excursion to see the Whales - they live there. According to the workers at Icy Point: the 3 Humpbacks are always there, the workers at Icy Strait feed the fish with left overs every morning. I would have felt ripped off if I'd paid $150 to follow the 3 humpbacks around that I could see from either the ship or land all day. I did talk to some people who went on the whale watch cruises, and because of the commentary they thought it was worth it. There's wi-fi available at the restaurant at the bottom of the zip line. Oh - and be sure to say "Hi" to Rascal. He's a very old black and gray dog that lives there, he belongs to one of the managers, and he's a professional mooch and goes from outdoor eating area to outdoor eating area looking for a handout :D.

8) Wi-fi in Port - The easiest is Juneau if you get one of the dock spaces in the middle, the library will be either right in front of the ship, or slightly to the left. It's on top of a parking garage - there's free wi-fi and computer terminals when it's open. There are also several other places with free wi-fi - you can get a list from the visitor's center. As for the other ports, there were a bunch of place in Ketchikan - BUT - the provider was having issues so it was out/spotty all over. Icy Strait at the restaurant at the bottom of the zipline, in Skagway at the place that says "Internet" (it will be jammed) and there's also a photo shop down one of the side streets on the left with terminals and wi-fi. In Seward, I didn't find any.

9) Bus Tickets to Mendenhall are $6 each way and will be available right as you get off the ship - look for the kiosks (they also sell other tours too). When you're there, look for bears. We saw one go right behind the bus stop, at the bear crossing sign no less. If you take the trail out by the waterfall - look up. Several people saw long horn sheep.

10) Pick up the free "tourist" shopping guide before embarkation. The free silver charms at Royal Jewelers are very nice.

11) Hubbard Glacier - the whole ship gets a great view. He spins the ship around. If it's a nice day for Hubbard Glacier they'll be a bbq by the pool for lunch. The chicken was great, the beef ribs were really chewy.

12) Disembarkation - If you do it through Royal, expect to leave the ship at 6/6:30 am. If you do it solo and want to do the 6pm train to Anchorage, which I did, you can leave the ship as late as 9:30/10 am. I went on the 5 hour Resurrection Bay tour with Major Marine - and it was amazing. We saw every animal you can imagine (orcas, humpbacks, dall's propoise, 2 different kinds of seals, puffin, mountain goats, otters, other birds, etc...) - now, the crew said this was highly unusual, especially for the Orcas - they normally only see those about 15% of the time and we saw multiple pods). Other people I met went with Kenai Fjords and had the same experience. The major difference between the 2 is for Kenai lunch is on an island, with Major Marine it's on board (and optional) - and it was very good. Burt our Park Ranger was great too. They will both hold your luggage and then transfer you to the train station.

13) In Seward to get from the ship terminal to downtown for either Major Marine, or the National Park shuttle - just ask the Hertz shuttle bus driver. He'll take you. Both stops are the same place.

14) The train was great - we saw bears, moose, a porcupine up a tree, a beaver trudging through snow (felt so sorry for this little guy), and some amazing views.

15) Best place for crab - Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau. It's right by the library, just off the docks. Look for the red shacks. They have King, Snow, and Dungeness. Prices are bad either.

16) Desert Buffet - Yes, they did a desert buffet 11pm - Midnight.

Let me know if there's anything you want to know that's not here.

Thanks

Lydia

Lydia,

This is so fantastic. We are doing this cruise next June on Friday the 13th!!! Such a wealth of info in a very concise manner, thank you.

I will be saving this and rechecking as time becomes closer. I surely will be asking you any questions as they pop in my head but I'll make it in list form for easier answering.

So glad that you had a wonderful time. Btw, what was the snow coverage like? I know it can change each year, just curious.

Thx,

Linda

I thought the old menu was a thing of the past??

We have an aft balcony in Sept, I assume we will need to go port or starboard to see the whales? We did the Radiance in 2007 Southbound with a port balcony, never saw one whale the whole trip!

Thank you for the info. We are going on the July 19th trip southbound. I cant wait but still have 49 days until the cruise tour.

Did they have lobster any of the nights in the MDR - I have a few people in the group that want this but I dont want to book Samba grill on that night.

Thanks for the info - I apprecaite any and all info you can share.

Just back from an amazing Northbound Alaska Cruise on Radiance...

 

Thanks

Lydia

Thanks very much for posting this. We leave in about a month and your little points will come in handy.

We got off Radiance from Hawaii to Vancouver last Friday, and it was a breeze for CA Immigration/Customs. Fastest ever. No line up at all.

I guess there are less US Officers right now, so there is a delay to check in the passengers.

We had the old menu as well for the 11 nts.

We have an aft balcony in Sept, I assume we will need to go port or starboard to see the whales? We did the Radiance in 2007 Southbound with a port balcony, never saw one whale the whole trip!

I had an aft balcony on the same cruise back in May '09. Fear not, I saw plenty of whales from my balcony. :D

The further north we sailed, the more whales we saw.

Lydia,

 

... So glad that you had a wonderful time. Btw, what was the snow coverage like? I know it can change each year, just curious.

 

Thx,

Linda

As for snow, except for mountain tops there really wasn't much. However, 5 days before we arrived in Juneau it had snowed there, but melted right away.

Lydia

We have an aft balcony in Sept, I assume we will need to go port or starboard to see the whales? We did the Radiance in 2007 Southbound with a port balcony, never saw one whale the whole trip!

The whales don't keep up with the ship, so you'll be able to see them when they start to drift behind :D or if they're going the opposite direction, and the ones in Icy Point, you'll probably be able to see from your aft - the ship anchors facing Icy Point, so if you leave Icy point along the road (on the right side of the ship) it runs kind of along the right side of the ship and then bends to the left to go back to the cove the village is in.

If you go to the left of the ship when you get to icy point (toward the zip line landing area) The coast makes a 90 degree bend to the right. The whales spent all day going from next to the ship, to the village, back to the ship (between the ship and the road) and then the other direction, then back to the ship, then back the village... so anytime they're near the village you should be able to see them off the aft of the ship, but they are really close on the starboard side when they're next to the ship.

Lydia

We got off Radiance from Hawaii to Vancouver last Friday, and it was a breeze for CA Immigration/Customs. Fastest ever. No line up at all.

I guess there are less US Officers right now, so there is a delay to check in the passengers.

We had the old menu as well for the 11 nts.

Whatever was going on was definitely US customs/immigration, not Canadian. "less officers" was the excuse they used... however there were only 2 desks not manned out of approximately 16. Kind of find it hard to believe that that backed it up that badly.

Lydia

I thought the old menu was a thing of the past??

It's being rolled out in stages. Not all ships have it yet. Somewhere on CC the schedule is posted.

Lydia

Did they have lobster any of the nights in the MDR - I have a few people in the group that want this but I dont want to book Samba grill on that night.

They did have lobster tails one night, the 2nd formal. However, check when you get onboard I think they get the new menu pretty soon, so it could be different.

Lydia

15) Best place for crab - Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau. It's right by the library, just off the docks. Look for the red shacks. They have King, Snow, and Dungeness. Prices are bad either.

 

 

Thanks

Lydia

Typo - that should be: Prices 'AREN'T' bad either :o

We did the 11 day cruise out of Vancouver in June of 2011. To date the Radiance is still our favorite ship. We had a blast on it. As for the Crab. My DW had the crab in Hoonah at "The office" She still talks about it being the best crab she ever had. The cabin was 8586, it was on the forward side of the hump which gave you a larger balcony that is angled so that you could sit in your chair and look forward. We recently were on a Celebrity cruise with the same cabin location and it had the same advantages.

We also did the Juneau, Alaska "Alpine Zipline & Glacier Adventure" booked through RCCL. We had a fantastic time. Very nice guides and very professional. During this cruise/tour we came to the conclusion that RCCL does everything top notch. The tour part of the cruise was great The best buses, hotels, and the guide was fantastic. If interested the link below has many photos of our Alaskan cruise/tour with photos of the cabin, ship and towns.

Made a mistake. the Zip line excursion we used was the "Rainforest Canopy & Zipline Expedition - KE35" Sorry.

We also loved the "Husky Homestead Tour - DL01" if you love dog, (especially puppies) you'll love this.

Thanks for posting the very well written review.

Keith

Thanks for the well organized review. The information is helpful as we will be on the Radiance southbound on 6/21. The kids were happy to hear the pools are heated!

Thanks for the review. I'm going on the southbound leg in a couple weeks. It's on Celebrity, but its the same route. Thank you for the info. I'll be looking for that good crab in Juneau. :)

Paul: expect you to come back with a review too! My brother's father n law was stationed there with the guard in Juneau back in the day. 3 more months to go!:D

Thanks for yours believer, BTW, did they have the Solarium pool heated?

Thank you Lydia. Good info. We'll be sailing on her northbound on June 14. Can't wait. I booked the cruise a year ago and the time is finally here. YEA!!! :D

Paul: expect you to come back with a review too! My brother's father n law was stationed there with the guard in Juneau back in the day. 3 more months to go!:D

Thanks for yours believer, BTW, did they have the Solarium pool heated?

BOTH pools were heated - solarium and outside. All jacuzzis working too.

I was on this same itinerary..some of the confusion and mess embarking was apparently the new system of not having pre-printed luggage tags...Not as easy to just get them from the porters as many have said it is in other ports...Even the RCI port staff that was there had no idea what to do/where to go. The line to get them was mixed in with the line for those getting off the ship and trying to get a taxi. Finally "One" quick thinking porter grabbed a handfull of luggage tags and started walking throught the terminal...What also contributed to the mess was X's Millenium using the same area that RCI ROS was..This made me wish I was departing from Ballantyne again.

As far as most of the food I was disappointed, especially in the hockey puck (aka) cookies..We mentioned it to the head waiter in the WJ hope it changes for those next cruisers. And after sailing with RCI for many years and seeing the desserts go from bad to worse this was definitely the worse...Looked good but had NO taste..The only highlight was 2 evenings in the WJ they did offer custom made Creapes but too little too late...RCI, hire a pastry chef from the good old south that knows their desserts instead of a young kid from the Philippines (not that there's anything wrong with that if he knew how to bake).

Also service has picked up in the WJ (literally) they are asking to take your plate while it's still in front of you with food on it (this happened consistantly at every meal whether they were crowded or not). And don't even think about a quick step over to the window to look at a whale going by...your full plate will be gone and table wiped (but not so clean ).Would love for placemats to be used instead of those smeared tables wiped with dirty cloths. :eek:

Don't get me totally wrong I am very loyal to RCI and this trip put us over the hump to D+ but I guess the longer we sail the more we are starting to see the decline of their "Gold Standard" service...But was pleased to see that as far as our cabin steward the now $12.00 per day automatic charge made no difference with the wonderful service and attention to detail she provided.

14) The train was great - we saw bears, moose, a porcupine up a tree, a beaver trudging through snow (felt so sorry for this little guy), and some amazing views.

 

Thanks

Lydia

FYI - this is the Alaska Railroad Train from Seward to Anchorage.

There were several people I talked to that did the one in Skagway, and they said it was wonderful.

Speaking of Skagway - There's a great little "town" shuttle bus, it's $5 for an all day pass and takes you to pretty much everywhere you want to go.

I was on this same itinerary..some of the confusion and mess embarking was apparently the new system of not having pre-printed luggage tags...

It had absolutely nothing to do with the luggage tags. That wasn't the big hold up or the line. The line was AFTER you got in the building and was waiting to go through security because US Customs/Immigration was backed up (we had a long chat with Security while we were waiting to go through). I didn't have tags (my printer broke before I left so I couldn't print them) the porter handed me one to fill out, and it took 1 minute for me to fill it out and slap it on the bag.

And yes, both ships go through the same security and then US/Immigration area - ship check in isn't until AFTER that.

Lydia