Direct from the Radiance - reviews on port excursions

[Trekker954]

Everything we did was self planned – no cruise tours or cruise excursions

My comments on Denali.

• We took the Talkeetna Aero Day Tour that included the 8.5 hour tour to Eidelson and flightseeing of Mt. McKinnley and glaciers.
  
• The flight alone was well worth the money. We had a clear day above the clouds for touring around the top of McKinnley in the small airplane (there were four passengers in probably a 7 or 8 pax plane). Very knowledgeable pilot who pointed out a lot of interesting facts from the moment we flew out of Anchorage. One the way back from Denali, he took us on an incredible tour down around; in and out of the glaciers. Incredible. We had awesome weather.
  
• Denali – Maybe I’m hard to impress, but while I saw every wildlife imaginable, other than a couple of close up moose and fox, most of the animals (herds of caribou, grisley bears; wolf, doll sheep) were soooooooooo far away). Riding on a school bus for 8.5 hours passing other buses on high cliffs with no guard rails were quite nerve racking. Also on the crowded bus, was a rowdy toddler, a farting smelling man and a woman who wouldn’t open her window for wildlife photos. If it weren’t for the small air part of it, I would really have not thought it was worth it.
  

Things I learned about Alaska Railway Anchorage to Seward

• Don’t arrive before 0530 (they aren’t open until then)
  
• Regardless of the sign get your ticket first, drop you luggage off at the bag drop off (they will check your name on the manifest provided you have a reservation.
  
• Regardless what you’ve read, they do not weigh nor seem to charge for more than two bags a piece. We checked five bags.
  
• For Gold Star Service(dome car) passengers – there is no room for large carry on, so while they say the size is limited, it really isn’t, but you will have to squish it within your feet space (its not a big space under the seat) and no overhead space – and they did make the guy sitting near me, check his big camera bag. While my daughter brought hers onboard, we had little space for our feet. So try and carry on very little again, for Dome car riders only.
  
• My preference was the left side, although most say right – if you want to chose you need to do that when you book; they will not change seats at check-in. Actually IMHO, it didn’t matter, things to see both sides and lots of opportunity to go outside to the platforms.
  

Seward Kenai Fjords

• Breeze Inn – the old section sucked and we paid about $200 for one room but we had a pretty awesome view of the port.. Location was awesome, staff was really great. I’m sure everyone’s read there is a new section and an older section, If you want the new section, book it but its more money. Don’t expect to ask for it when you get there. Understand this is sold out all the time a cruise ship is sailing. There is no air conditioner in the old section. Although it wasn’t very hot, it was uncomfortable for us and while you could open the windows, for privacy you needed the curtain closed. The beds were hard and kept sliding off the box spring. The sheets were stained. The bathroom was stained with rust and dirt. The laundry facilities were nice. And shuttle was a nice feature..
  
• Restaurant – Rays on the water was excellent
  
• Kenai Fjords 9 hour Northwestern Glacier Day cruise – The HIGHLIGHT of the trip with an incredible captain and naturalist. Keep in mind we had unbelieveable weather that allowed the captain to go into small areas he sometimes cannot get to. The 9 hour tour was half a boat full (we saw the 6 hour tour boat and it was packed like the typical cruise ship excursions)…. I was glad we were on the longer day tour and it went by very quickily. We saw a lot of humpbacks, orcas (with a baby); sea otters, puffins, and calving of the Northwestern glacier with an ice waterfall, (I found it more impressive that Hubbard). The captain also took us to a cove with gorgeous waterfalls and went right underneath it for some incredible photos. They served complimentary warm cinnamon buns, coffee for breakfast; chicken Ceasar wrap (or vegetarian) with water, granola bar, celery sticks for lunch and an hour prior to docking a warm chocolate chip cookie. Also, Kenai Fjords picked us up at the breeze inn (across the street) b/c we had a lot of luggage and tagged it for the cruise ship. While on this tour, they delivered our luggage to the cruise ship at 11 a.m. It was nice coming off the tour at 6:30 pm being dropped at the cruise ship and our luggage was already in our room.
  

Juneau – Helicopter Glacer Landing

• My daughter took this and said it was awesome. I spoke to others who also said it was a highlight. I’m kicking myself for not going. Sounds awesome.
  

Harv and Marv Whalewatching in Juneau

• 2:30 pm tour – Shuttle was timely but we had to wait for Captain Tony who was about 15 minutes late.
  
• Spent 1.5 hours aimlessly scouting for whales he’d point out far far away, and Tony kept talking about wanting us all to get a taste of what whale watching was like and he will be bringing us to the grand finale. We’ve been on other whale watching and while respectful; have gotten close. We understand they have a 100 yards away, but our boat was always the furthest away compared to all the other boats. Tony stayed very far, by saying the whales will come to the boat. They never did.
  
• The grand finale was to be bubblenet feeding. If he knew this was at a certain location why we didn’t go there straight away????? They didn’t bubblenet feed, but almost. There were a number of whales trying to get a feed going. It was pretty nice, yet we were still pretty far away. Had we gone straight away we would have seen a bubblenet feeding.
  
• One the Seward tour, the Captain angled the boat so that the side was facing the whales so everyone could line up. Captain Tony face he bow toward the whales so only the two people in the front had a view.
  
• I do want to say Captain Tony’s boat was comfortable and all six of us were kept warm, dry and had seats inside. He also had soda; water; cookies and granola bars.
  
• We also found out that Harv and Marv subcontract out to other whale watching tours.
  
• This may be an example of a company who is getting too many good reviews but outgrowing their good reputation.
  

Skagway - White Pass Railroad – Carcross route

• We found it boring and not all that scenic. There were a few wow/photo ops but overall, 8 hours of a very slow moving train.
  
• Larry the shuttle van driver was nice enough, but seemed very anti government and constantly trashed both U.S, and Canada government workers which I found unnecessary.
  

Icy Straight – FISHES whale watching

• FISHES made me realize that I was correct in bashing Harv and Marv because our boat captain Floyd (also the owner) got us up close and personal with many whale. He knew where they were, he took us straight there, he communicated with other captains and he got very close. As hard as he tried to scout for bear, that wasn’t to be. He took us to a pod of sea lions playing also. Very cute. Floyd is a good old boy from Hoonan, AK a very small town and really has little to say. He is not your typical guide, but hopefully by the time you reach Icy Straight you will have learned about whales in others ports. He’ll answer your questions but he isn’t very talkative. The only con I will say about this tour is the boat., They claim it is a tour for six, yet it only sits five and the expect the sixth person to stand or to take turns sitting. The gentleman who stood on our tour, stood the entire time. Ummmm, personally I think that sucks. Once you get outside it clearly is comfortable for six; but considering the weather in Alaska, they should be up front and only offer the tour to five. They had cookies, coffee and hot chocolate on board.
  

Tomorrow is Annon Creek bear watching

[MightyQuinn]

I appreciate your straight-forward assessment of your excursions so far and I look forward to hearing more of your insights. Thanks!

[GweninTX]

Thanks so much Linda for the insight on Alaska Railroad! I wondered about really getting there at 5:30 AM. I am a rule follower so I would have been there at 5:30. We are Goldstar and we are staying at the Anchorage Grand close to the train station - what would you suggest as a time to head over to the train station? Also - did you eat on the train to Seward? The prices seemed kind of high to me. We get a Continental breakfast at our hotel and I am thinking maybe that can hold us til we get to Seward at 11:00? Any other good places to eat in Seward? Thanks so much for your factual review.

[Trekker954]

The train boards at 6:15. The line starts forming around 5:45 - 6:00 but not too bad. just drop your bags first. There is a snack bar in the waiting room and also on board. Gold star gets free coffee and solt drinks. There will be a snack bar right in the gold star train as well. There will be a waitress of sorts who comes around as soon as the train leaves seward to see who wants sit down breakfast and they will take a group down says rows 1 - 7 first seating and an hour or so later come back. we didn't eat the sitdown breakfast.

[DivingPrincessE]

Here are our pictures from the whole trip. The best pictures are from Anan Creek (Bear watching) and start on Page 6 :)

 

http://emilys.smugmug.com/Animals/Alaska-2011/18248710_P2qHw9

[GweninTX]

OMG - your pictures are great! I loved all the bear pics especially! I can hardly wait to go!

[hbear]

Your comments are greatly appreciated. We are doing the Kenai Fjords cruise (offered by HAL, 6 hours), we are booked with Harv & Marv, and we were considering the train trip.

 

Your pictures are wonderful, only once in a while do I get a couple as nice as yours!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your honest reports of your tours.

[cdnishk]

Hi, Linda, Thanks for your straight forward review, very useful. So you don't think the White Pass railway is anywhere as good as the Anchorage-Seward ride? We're booked on the latter and are thinking about doing the Yukon bus/rail rail which is essential covering the same route, right? We have an 8-year old boy with us. If you think your ride is boring then, we should think again?!

[cdnishk]

The Yukon bus/rail ride is 7.5 hours altogether. Bus 1.5-2hr each way (3.5-4hrs total) + 1.5 hr train ride but there are a few stops on the way - lunch, Wildlife musicium, puppy camp, plus a few photo stops. Does this make the ride better?

[scapel]

Here are our pictures from the whole trip. The best pictures are from Anan Creek (Bear watching) and start on Page 6 :)

 

http://emilys.smugmug.com/Animals/Alaska-2011/18248710_P2qHw9

 

Those are some really great pictures and well done. What kind of camera did you use? Anan continues to be the best for wild life viewing. Where do you book that tour out of? Did you need a ticket? Something about a ticket between July and Sept??

[DivingPrincessE]

Those are some really great pictures and well done. What kind of camera did you use? Anan continues to be the best for wild life viewing. Where do you book that tour out of? Did you need a ticket? Something about a ticket between July and Sept??

 

I used my Canon 1D Mk3 with a 100-400 lens most of the time. I also used a 1.4 teleconverter for Denali.

 

The cruise line doesn't go Anan Creek so you have to book through an independent. We used Family Air and they were great!! Can't recommend them highly enough. You need a permit, which the tour company (Family Air or other) will secure for you...but you need to book early (i.e. at least 3-4 months in advance) because the permits sell out FAST.

[maggieq]

We are looking to do Alaska next year on the Radiance. Wondering if it's best to leave from Vancouver or Seward. Not familiar with transfers from airport to port...

 

Is there a best way to do this? We would definately fly in a day earlier before the cruise.

 

Thanks!

[scapel]

We are looking to do Alaska next year on the Radiance. Wondering if it's best to leave from Vancouver or Seward. Not familiar with transfers from airport to port...

 

Is there a best way to do this? We would definately fly in a day earlier before the cruise.

 

Thanks!

I'm not sure it makes much difference which way you go, but You should probably fly into Vancouver two days ahead had have two nights in Vacouver before sailing. In seward you would probably have a bus transfer to Anchorage after the cruise. Now you could book two nights in Anchorage also and rent a car (beter if you have four people). and even drive to Denali, dirve to Whittier, and all around using Milepost.

If you start in Seward book two nights in Anchorage (you would fly into Anchorage) maybe one or two in Denali rent the car at Anchorage airport drive around and turn the car back in at the Airport and ride the Cruise transfer bus to the ship.

See if Budge Queen has a comment. The Queen has some good ideas.