My Journey To The Last Frontier via Radiance of the Seas & DIY Land Tours-Pics Galore

ABOUT US

We are a mature Diamond member couple on our 26th cruise -- 18 with RCCL. We opted for a DIY land tour following the seven day cruise. A cruise tour through RCCL would have been much simpler and I'm sure they are nice, but we preferred to avoid the cattle herding onto the buses and adherence to schedules. It took a ton of research and work but I feel it was well worth it for the flexibility of stopping when and where we wanted to. It was also a few dollars less. We sailed on the old Norwegian Sky on a seven-day round trip from Seattle to Alaska 12 years ago and always talked about going back and exploring inland, so this was our time.

PRE-CRUISE

Not knowing what the weather may be during our two-week journey, we packed a variety of clothing to meet any condition. We each took a large bag and a carry-on bag. I left room in one of my bags for any new purchases. Turns out I only wore half the clothes and didn't have nearly enough room for the "stuff" we bought. I always say next time I'm not over packing, yet I always do. A girl thing I guess.

Our journey began by driving an hour and a half to Baltimore, MD and an overnight stay at Doubletree BWI. Our car was parked in their lot for our two-week trip. Next morning we caught the hotel shuttle for our flight to Vancouver ($253 each). I had obtained a room for two nights at the Westin Grand for an excellent rate on Priceline. The hotel is quite nice and in a good location for walking. Vancouver is a vibrant, eye-catching city with loads of things to do. Prior to the trip I purchased on line a two-day (buy one-get one free) hop on/hop off trolley ticket and we rode one route the first day and the other route the second day. It took us all over town and into Stanley Park, the Gaslight District, Granville Island, a complimentary wine tasting stop, and more. The drivers were very informative and funny. We hopped off and took a free very short water taxi ride to Granville Island; the market there is a must see. We spent a few hours there and when ready to hop on again, it took a while for another trolley to show up (supposed to be every 20 minutes). We walked from our hotel to Gastown the second evening and saw the steam clock, shopped, and enjoyed dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I love Vancouver.

Vancouver Airport by vbkathy, on Flickr

View from Westin Room by vbkathy, on Flickr

Another view from room

View from our Room by vbkathy, on Flickr

Westin Bedroom by vbkathy, on Flickr

Westin Tiny Living Room by vbkathy, on Flickr

Lions Gate Bridge by vbkathy, on Flickr

Little boat to take us to Granville Island

DSC_0018 by vbkathy, on Flickr

Granville Island Market

Granville Island Market by vbkathy, on Flickr

Granvile Island Market

Granville Island Flowers

by , on Flickr

Old Spaghetti Factory

by , on Flickr

Vancouver Public Library

by , on Flickr

Steam Clock

Old Steam Clock in Gas Town by vbkathy, on Flickr

Vancouver Docks

Vancouver Docks by vbkathy, on Flickr

Vancouver Train Tracks

Vancouver Train Tracks by vbkathy, on Flickr

SHIP FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Friday morning about 10:30 a.m. we took a short taxi ride to the ship where we checked in and were on board in about 45 minutes.

Canada Place

Canada Place by vbkathy, on Flickr

Walking Aboard

Port of Vancouver by vbkathy, on Flickr

Beautiful Centrum

Centrum by vbkathy, on Flickr

First things first; off to the Windjammer.

Nice Welcome

Nice Welcome by vbkathy, on Flickr

Windjammer by vbkathy, on Flickr

I was so looking forward to seeing the newly renovated Radiance. I must say I didn't notice anything refurbished; just the addition of restaurants, digital signage, and a movie screen on the pool deck (too cold to enjoy it on this trip). I noticed a lot of the railings were in rough shape and carpets needed replacing. Still, it is amazing to me that ships are maintained as well as they are with the constant wear and tear. The sewage smell lingered in many areas of the ship including our bathroom. Even our Yankee Car Jar that I always bring and hang in the bathroom did not phase that smell. But..........I'm on a cruise and the Radiant Lady is still one beautiful ship so I overlooked all of that. I love the Radiance.

From Top Deck

. by vbkathy, on Flickr

Turned out to be a beautiful day to sail away

Vancouver in Rear by vbkathy, on Flickr

Pool Deck with New Movie Screen

New Movie Screen by vbkathy, on Flickr

CABIN

Our D2 balcony cabin 9576 was spacious with a large end-of-the-hump balcony but I did not notice any new furnishings in the cabin. There was plenty of storage for two people. Beds were quite comfy. We still had to fight off the same old clingy shower curtain (can't believe they didn't install the doors during renovation). Our cabin attendant, Putu, was super so we gave him an extra tip. There was no Diamond welcome basket or drinks of choice waiting in our cabin. I mentioned it to Guest Services on two occasions and the loyalty ambassador before they were finally delivered. No big deal, but hey, we racked up those points and spent lots of dollars to get the perks offered. We did have the old Diamond coupon books waiting in the cabin and the Diamond welcome letter. Apparently the chef no longer sends a plate of goodies to your cabin during the cruise as we never received one. I asked the concierge if they had discontinued that and she said she had never heard of such a thing! We've always gotten them in the past. I love Putu.

Our Balcony

Our Balcony by vbkathy, on Flickr

I forgot to take photos of the cabin so here are some random ship shots (don't say that very fast!).

Elevators & New Signage

Elevators & New Signage by vbkathy, on Flickr

Fitness Center

Fitness Center by vbkathy, on Flickr

Fitness Center by vbkathy, on Flickr

Conference Center

Conference Center by vbkathy, on Flickr

A Peek In

A Peek In by vbkathy, on Flickr

Art Gallery

Art Gallery by vbkathy, on Flickr

Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery by vbkathy, on Flickr

Shops of Centrum

Shops of Centrum by vbkathy, on Flickr

Shop Goodies & My Reflection In My Moose Shirt

Shop Goodies & My Reflection in My Moose Shirt by vbkathy, on Flickr

Internet wasn't as slow as usual when I was using my complimentary minutes.

Internet Stations by vbkathy, on Flickr

Informative Display

Informative Display by vbkathy, on Flickr

Okay, time for sail away.

Departing Vancouver

Approaching Lions Gate Bridge

Under Lions Gate Bridge

We Made It Under

And We're Off

Enjoying your review! Hope to do a similar itinerary in a couple of years.:D

Great photos! Where did you find the BOGO trolley tickets for Vancouver? That sounds great. Can't wait to sail her in Sept. Also, do the days have to be consecutive?

I have been pouring over your Flickr account and your photos are absolutey drool worthy. I am not a Nikon user but what is the lens that you shoot your landscapes?

Enjoying your review! Hope to do a similar itinerary in a couple of years.:D

Thanks. Much more to come.

Great photos! Where did you find the BOGO trolley tickets for Vancouver? That sounds great. Can't wait to sail her in Sept. Also, do the days have to be consecutive?

I found the trolley tickets on line - vancouver trolley dot com. Don't know about the consecutive day rule. It should give that info on line.

It was an incredible sailing and inland adventure.

I have been pouring over your Flickr account and your photos are absolutey drool worthy. I am not a Nikon user but what is the lens that you shoot your landscapes?

Thanks. Most with 18-55.

Our bags arrived fairly quickly and we unpacked and headed for the Schooner Bar for muster drill. Then some more exploring.

Schooner Bar

Samba Grill

Art

Yay Sunshine

Library

The lovely Solarium. Twice a day during certain hours children were allowed in. There were only 200 children on this cruise and I encountered no unruly ones.

Starquest

The Birds

Kiddie Pool

DINING

I snapped some food porn but found myself diving into it before remembering. The food photos are in no particular order and I also forgot a lot of the names of the dishes. Days two and six were formal with lobster night on day six. This Alaskan cruise seemed a bit more casual than others and I wore decent jeans in the dining room twice.

According to the wait staff, this was the first Radiance sailing with the new menus. The meals we had in the dining room were very good.

My Time Dining was interesting. Two months prior to cruising I made MTD reservations for each night as suggested by RCCL. The first night we showed up at our reserved time and were told they had no seating for us. The Maitre d suggested we plan on coming to dinner at an earlier time the remainder of the cruise. So began the old Seinfeld routine: "But I made my reservations for the times I want each day. That's why you make a reservation; so it will be there for you." He did not understand. The next evening when we arrived for our reserved seating, he told us lots of other people showed up to eat during our reserved time so we would have to wait. Huh? This was quite baffling. We tried to get the same waiter to no avail. When we tired of hearing the excuses, we ate at the Windjammer and Giovanni's Table.

Alaskan Cod

Beef & Mushrooms

Shrimp Cocktail - Available Every Night

Seafood Starter

Tasty Raspberry Dessert

Apple Dessert

Strawberry Cheesecake

@N05/]vbkathy, on Flickr

Chocolate Souffle - Excellent

Extra Dessert Thing Waiter Wanted Us To Try - Okay

Peach Dessert in Windjammer - Where has this been? - Delicious

Dessert Trio - All Good

Carrot Cake - Oh My, So Good

I love good food.

Tutti salad in the dining room on both sea days was as delicious as ever.

The Windjammer, as always, has anything you may want to eat. Really good omelettes with a wait.

Cherries Jubilee in the Windjammer

Windjammer Dessert

Uh, Title This As You Wish

by

The enthusiastic Windjammer greeter wore a funny animal hat each day.

Windjammer Balloons

Having sailed on Allure, I was so excited to have a Boardwalk Dog House on board. Oh dear, they were nothing like the delicious ones on Allure. I almost spit up the one bite I took -- nasty. But.....there is plenty of food on board so I just wandered someplace else to partake of something to my liking.

Park Cafe on the Oasis and Allure is better than Radiance's abbreviated version. The pizza was pretty good.

Park Cafe Breakfast - On Par with Egg McMuffin

Egg & Spinach - Too mooshy

Everything we had at Giovanni's Table was really delicious; however, it took so very long between courses -- anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. That's just too doggone long.

Giovanni's Scallops - Superb

Giovanni's Caesar Salad - Very Good

Giovanni's Steak - DH said it was very good

My Giovanni's Shrimp - Delicious

We had some very good to great food on this cruise. Anyone can certainly find good food to eat and plenty of it. If you can't find something to your liking on this ship, then you cannot be pleased.

PUBLIC AREAS

I didn't notice any renovations in the public areas but they did use up some of the space to add the new venues. There are plenty of places to hang out, relax, play, be entertained, dine, drink, or whatever. The Diamond Lounge is nice with a great view. Continental breakfast, afternoon sandwiches, and evening snacks are served. I took advantage of the complimentary latte and had one glass of wine one evening and a glass of ginger ale another (not a drinker). The area was extended into Starquest when seating ran out, which was both evenings I was there. I love Diamond perks.

Diamond Lounge

Mini Golf

Rock Climbing Wall

Basketball Court

Reclining Lady

ENTERTAINMENT

The best live music on the ship was Sound Waves. They could play/sing anything. We enjoyed them in the Centrum, karaoke in the Colony Club, the country hoedown in the Colony Club, and wherever they played.

The pianist in the Schooner Bar sounded pretty good although we only passed through.

Since my aerialist/dancer neice had auditioned with RCI (but did not make it - they said she wasn't peppy enough), I was anxious to see the advertised new aerial performances and spectacular light show in the Centrum. But, to my disappointment, this did not happen on this ship.

We enjoyed headliner El Gaucho. The production show, Piano Man, was also very enjoyable. The Horizon Motown singers we had seen on other ships and it was the same old show.

The casino was kind for once to DH. He won $500 on a slot machine. I'm no gambler but I won $20 with my match play coupons.

Yay.....RCI must have been reading Cruise Critic boards as they brought horse racing back!! It was held in the Centrum and folks just loved it. Good move RCI.

I liked Cruise Director Paul Rutter and also the Activities Director. Another fun member was named Mama.

I love Sound Waves.

GENERAL

It was smooth sailing except for a short while when hitting the open water on day six, but nothing too bad at all.

We used our $10 off coupon for laundry on the fourth day and managed to get quite a bit in the little bag by rolling the clothes (thanks to a tip on this forum). Only tee shirts, underwear, socks, pajamas, and the like are allowed.

NEW GRATUITY GUIDELINE

Our gratuities were already paid as a perk from our TA but at the end of the cruise we did receive one envelope labeled "WOW" for your stateroom attendant.

THE CRITTERS

I love towel animals.

PORTS

We had already done a lot of the port activities 12 years ago so we only took one excursion through RCI and explored mostly new things on our own.

Ketchikan

Cool and rain off and on. We took the free shuttle to town and jumped off at Creek Street to browse the shops. We loved this area 12 years ago and still do. Then we walked around town a while before returning to the ship. Ketchikan is a great port.

Incoming Sea Planes

Landing

Ketchikan Shopping

Ketchikan Totem Pole

DH Couldn't Resist

Solstice Was There Too

Radiance in Ketchikan

Leaving Beautiful Ketchikan

 

Uh, Title This As You Wish

 

.

Love your review and pictures. But, I kinda lost my appetite on this one......:p

This cruise is on my "bucket list". I so want to cruise Alaska, but my husband says he can go on a couple cruises with what this one would cost. Maybe I should just go by myself someday.:rolleyes:

Thanks again for posting this review and awesome pictures. I will be sailing on the Grandeur in a couple months, and am looking forward to the upgrade on that ship. I think it is a Radiance class ship too.

Gwen :)