Aunt Linda Sails to Alaska – Review of Radiance of the Seas Northbound from Vancouver

[Baseball fan]

I love your pictures! I also admire you greatly for taking care of Aunt Linda. I have a brother who is developmentally disabled and some day he will be my responsibility. And yes she is probably nervous...my brother gets like that too:)

[LitaArn]

I’m loving your review, and your photos are beautiful! Thank You so much for sharing.

 

Your family is lovely, including your sister’s, your Aunt Linda, and your dear friend Lindsey.

 

I also admire you greatly, the same as CC member Baseball fan (Hi Dena :) ) for taking care of Aunt Linda. She is very blessed to have all of you in her life.

 

Take care, and as always... Happy Sailing :)

Edited October 1, 2012 by LitaArn

[masonpips]

After imbibing several raspberry martinis, we created a little rosemary “forest.”[/size][/font]

 

 

Tee hee, I love this.

[Sh1035]

Love your reviews and glad to see a new member of the family.....she's one lucky gal! Also, as I. Recall from the last review good thing no driving involved!

 

But are you once again going to leave us hanging on for days????

[Beth C]

 

The grilled tomatoes and rosemary showed up at pretty much every meal. After imbibing several raspberry martinis, we created a little rosemary “forest.”

 

 

I can never understand how they can afford to go through so many tomatoes that inevitably end up in the recycling bin... not like they're cheap! Hey Royal - cut back on the tomatoes and put the chocolates back on the pillows!

 

Great review so far!

[MisterMom]

Love your reviews and glad to see a new member of the family.....she's one lucky gal! Also, as I. Recall from the last review good thing no driving involved!

 

But are you once again going to leave us hanging on for days????

 

Not planning on it but weeknights tend to be busy with kid stuff. I will hopefully have time for another chapter tomorrow evening.

[MisterMom]

Ya know, I had pretty low expectations for Icy Strait Point. I’ve been to enough “cruise-made” ports (Mahogany Bay, Falmouth, Labadee, Half Moon Cay) to feel like I’m in a “cruise-made” port but I was pleased with Icy Strait Point. Of course, it has the vanilla, Disney-like atmosphere of a touristy spot, but I was pleasantly pleased.

 

Quick position check

 

 

How could you NOT have breakfast on the veranda?

 

 

The approach

 

 

I am GOING to find that fireplace and sit by it

 

 

We make our way to the Aurora Theatre to get in line for the tender. We have The Marine Mammal Tour booked so we get priority tendering. Pretty convenient. Unfortunately, Lee (Sister’s hubby) strains his ankle in the theatre while oogling sound equipment (he’s a techie). Poor guy. We find ice for his ankle and first aid. He was VERY well taken care of on board – x-rays, crutches, TLC. He’s in good hands so we head to the tender to make our tour.

 

Linda makes a new friend on the tender.

 

 

Obligatory “pull away” ship shot

 

[MisterMom]

Here we are!

 

 

We directly board the tour boat and head out to look for some whales.

 

 

This tour was simply amazing. Granted, the weather was yucky (cold and wet) but I had “suited up” with my rain coat, rain hat and rain pants so I stayed on the open top deck to feel the full outdoor experience. I’ll try to pick the highlights of the several hundred pics I took!

 

Thar be whales!

 

 

Okay, here’s the scoop on whale watching. The whale will come up for air and will exhale several (3-4 times).

 

 

After she or he has his or her fill of air, s/he will dive back down to feed.

 

 

Once that happens, that whale is gone for quite some time. So the boat captain then has to keep her (that’s right, her. This crew was all female) eyes out for another whale surfacing for air. We must have had 4 or 5 whale sightings so I had plenty of opportunities for photos.

 

 

I recommend you bring a camera that can take multiple pictures in rapid succession. Out of the hundreds I took, I can easily say only a handful came out well.

[MisterMom]

Not only did we see multiple whales, we also saw a cute sea otter.

 

 

Linda tried using the binoculars provided by the tour. Note how she holds them!

 

 

 

Time to head back. Where’s that fire place?

 

 

Once we debark the tour boat, we take a self-guided nature tour of the area.

 

 

 

This dude (dude-ette) was kinda’ loud.

 

[MisterMom]

If you are feeling truly adventurous, I recommend you book the “world’s longest” zip line. Sadly, we had not booked it and all the reservations had been taken. You can barely see the start of the zip line amongst the clouds.

 

 

The landing site.

 

 

I manage to find that fire place. It’s in a pretty unremarkable restaurant so we keep on going. Continuing our stroll, it’s time to eat! Alaskan beer and chowder!

 

 

Some final Icy Strait Point pics.

 

 

 

[MisterMom]

Farewell Icy Strait Point.

 

 

We successfully make it back to the ship. Freddy recommends tipping your room steward throughout the cruise.

 

 

We have martinis (again) at the Champagne Bar and then it’s off to Samba.

 

 

Family pic. Wait, where’s Lindsey?

 

 

Oh, there’s where she got to.

 

 

[MisterMom]

 

 

Overall, we were not impressed with Samba. The appetizer/salad bar was amazing and, I suppose, purposely built to fill you up before all the meat was presented. The meats were very good but it was a challenge to get the gaucho’s attention. The little light you turn to green to get more meat was relatively ineffective.

 

 

Regardless, it was family time so we were happy.

 

Linda, being the party animal she is, drags us out to the Colony Club to listen to music and dance. My sister, Jen, even pawns the kids off on her crippled husband and gets a night out, too!

 

 

We meet a lovely couple from Australia (note how light it is outside at around 10:00pm).

 

 

By now, Lindsey and I are pretty well lubricated and Jen stumbles off to bed. The Colony Club is closing for a “private function.” Linda is still WIDE awake so she drags us up to Viking Crown to continue the party. Even at 67, Linda just won’t stop. She dances and dances and several liquored up frat boys dance somewhat inappropriately with her. Lindsey and I run interference and chase them off. However, there’s one young guy that dances respectfully with Linda for what feels like an hour or so. She SO loved the attention! It is a memory she’ll have forever. I wish I had pictures (because he was HOT)!

 

We all stumble off to bed after a CRAZY night.

[NeuroQueen]

What a wonderful family and you all look like you are having a great time!!! Keep up the great work!

[DT1304]

I am loving this review and pics.

 

Alaska is the number one cruise I want to go on, however will have to wait until the kids are a little older to appreciate the beauty.

[MisterMom]

What a wonderful family and you all look like you are having a great time!!! Keep up the great work!

 

Thanks so much!

 

I am loving this review and pics.

 

Alaska is the number one cruise I want to go on, however will have to wait until the kids are a little older to appreciate the beauty.

 

I think you have good logic. 5 (Tim's age) was probably a bit young but Malik and Cam at 15 and 17 were really able to appreciate the natural beauty. Stay tuned for Malik's profound statement about Skagway!

[Assateague Island Princes]

Yay! You're back! I was scouring these boards to find the continuation for the past few days and was hoping I didn't some how miss it.

 

Loving seeing Aunt Linda's expressions with her experiences - her eyes light up when she is having such fun! I'm an Aunt Lynda too, and I sailed to Alaska (for the fourth time) in Aug. of 2011 w/my sweet niece and her boyfriend, so I know what its like to hear "Aunt Lynda!" ring out with wonder at all we did and saw - makes my heart sing.

 

More please....:)

[MisterMom]

Hi again-

 

My sincerest apologies for the long delay in finishing out my review. The younger DS decided to play high school football midway through the season so that has (happily) cut into my CC Review time! So, I'll keep working to complete my review/Aunt Linda Palooza!

[MisterMom]

Well, here we are.

 

 

We have arrived in Juneau! The weather is overcast and drizzly but we don’t let that get our spirits down.

 

 

We brought adequate rain gear including hats, water proof jackets and pants. I strongly recommend investing in a good pair of rain pants. They enhanced the trip for me.

 

Right off the cruise dock you can see the lower station for the Mt Roberts Tramway. More about that later.

 

 

We ate a quick breakfast in the Windjammer since we wanted to capture as much of Juneau as we could. I’m not a fan of the Windjammer but it was tolerable. I recommend you sanitize or wash your hands AFTER you touch all those serving utensils and start to eat.

 

We headed out to pick a bus to go to the Mendenhall Glacier on our own. Right off the dock, there’s a series of tour booths. We were bombarded with offers for tours but simply settled on one. For all of us, it totaled $128. We booked with “Adventures Unlimited.” Since all the pricing was the same, I simply went with the guy who was the least pushy.

 

The wheels on the bus….

 

 

The trip only took about 15-20 minutes. We were dropped off at the Park and told to pick up a bus back.

 

 

There are tons of Mendenhall Glacier pics out there so I won’t bore you with those. I think if I go back, I’d be very interested in this kayak tour.

 

[MisterMom]

Aunt Linda is always hamming it up for the camera.

 

 

We struggle to find the “right” bus back that takes the “pink” return ticket. We have to wait what feels like forever to get back in the rain. Blech. (Bring those rain pants, folks.) Overall, I would not recommend visiting Mendenhall. It was very crowded and over-developed. The experience later in the cruise at the Hubbard Glacier gave us adequate glacier exposure. More to come on that later.

 

Well, we have to get back to the ship for our Dogsled Adventure! Aunt Linda LOVES animals so I booked this especially for her. We board a mini bus to the Sled Dog Camp. When we turn off the main drag, we start climbing a mountainous one-lane gravel road. We pass by several old mining structures. It’s neat to see all the stuff that’s left. After several twists and turns, we arrive at the dog sled camp. It’s nestled in a beautiful valley and there are dogs everywhere!

 

 

We learn about the dogs in training for the Iditarod race and then it’s time to hook the dogs up to our “sled.”

 

 

 

We go for a quick run. The dogs are definitely excited about the run. The tours definitely keep the dogs in shape.

 

[MisterMom]

Then it’s time to see the puppies!

 

 

 

It was a great tour to learn more about dog sledding.

 

When we arrived back in Juneau, the group split up. Some to do some shopping and mingle with local celebs….

 

 

Lindsey is dying to do some hiking so she and I take the Tramway to the top of Mt Roberts. The view from the top is stunning. The Radiance looks so tiny.

 

 

 

I was excited to walk in snow! We’ve had some snowless winters lately here in the Southeast and I love snow. Warning…

 

[MisterMom]

Freddy is quite the risk taker.

 

 

The elements have sculpted trees into twisted figures that are quite stunning.

 

 

It’s almost supper time so Lindsey and I head on down to board the Radiance. Tonight, supper is in Izumi, the Asian-themed restaurant.

 

We order some rolls

 

 

And soup to warm up after our chilly, wet day.

 

 

The apps were yummy!

 

 

We all ended up ordering the hot rock plates.

 

 

Now, putting a very hot rock on which to cook meat in front of my special needs Aunt could have been reconsidered as I had to help her cook her food. While cooking raw meat and seafood at the table on our own rocks wasn’t an altogether unpleasant experience, I simply prefer to have my food cooked by the professionals and presented to me fully prepared! Izumi is probably a specialty restaurant we’ll pass on next time.

[MisterMom]

Time to walk around the ship and get some pics (some of which I may have already shared).

 

 

Concierge Club outdoor dining. (Who says there are still “classes” (first, second, steerage) onboard ships today?)

 

 

 

Obligatory wake shot

 

 

One thing that is dramatically different between Carnival and Royal Caribbean is the amount and choice of art put on Royal ships. They are well-thought out and placed. Having sailed on the Oasis and viewing its permanent art collection, I see that Royal is very purposeful in its art investments. I love it and recommend you take some time to admire the installations on the ships.

 

The reclining chick again. Looks a little stiff to me!

 

 

Even art with light on the ships is cool.

 

[MisterMom]

 

Well, dangit. We’re wore out again. Time to say good night to this little fella!

 

 

[Sinppu]

Nice to have you back! :)

[Rocknsoul]

I love this review! I hope you get to finish it. I'm waiting to hear your son's reaction to Skagway...