OCD Planner's Live ALASKA Photo Trip Report 16 day Cruise Tour aboard Radiance

[ace1zoe2]

Day 14, Sea Day, Inside Passage

 

Sadly, we are running out of days to look forward to. Today is our last see day as we

cruise the INSIDE PASSAGE. Tomorrow they will be forcing us off the ship :(

 

We had planned to take the opportunity to sleep in after all the magnificent adventures we've had over past two weeks. Well I guess hubby succeeded... It's 9:15 and he's still sleeping. I, on the other hand, was awake without the option of falling back asleep, at 7:15. So I got up, showered, made me some hot tea and planned to sit on the balcony for a while. However it is very overcast with zero visibility form the aft and it started misting rain so I decided to come inside and catch up my journaling instead.

 

We have had unbelievable weather up until this morning. However, it was really more of misty fog and it burned off by around 11 or so. After a quick bite for lunch we went to the Captain's Corner Q&A session. It was pretty interested and Captain Sindre was quite entertaining.

 

 

The first day of the noro outbreak there were 40 people ill, the second day after all the reminders about washing hands it was down to 22 and today after they implemented the staff serving in the WJ and no hand shaking it was down to 10 total reported cases. Luckily no one in our traveling party or that we had met on our trip were ever feeling ill.

 

We spent the day looking for the things we've missed doing on the ship, ate a little more food, had another drink or two and talked about what a fantastic trip we have been fortunate enough to have.

 

Still had some onboard credit to use up so we decided to play WIN-A-CRUISE BINGO this afternoon. This was the first time I had played on a ship since 2005. The pack of cards for 4 games (3 money prizes and 1 for the cruise) each had 6 boards for each game that cost $35, I purchased an extra sheet of 6 boards for just the free cruise for an additional $12. Then they were offering another sheet of 3 extra boards for a $5 donation to Make A Wish Foundation so I did that too. I figured someone had to win, right? It could just as easily have been me... only it wasn't!

 

 

We had dinner in the main dining room tonight with our friends and the 3 sisters from California. I think everyone enjoyed a good dinner and conversation.

 

We invited our friends over to our balcony tonight after dinner to enjoy the bottle of champagne that Teri, our table mate, had given us a few days ago.

 

 

I think that all of the research and planning has paid off tenfold. Alaska is like no where else that you've ever been. We were fortunate enough to have sunshine for the entire two weeks that we've been here! I could not have asked for a better time.

 

We finished packing our carryons and left out clothes for the morning. Tomorrow we will be spending our last day in Vancouver.

 

The final evening looking out from our balcony:

 

[ace1zoe2]

Final night menus:

 

 

 

 

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[avalon007]

Final night menus:

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

 

That menu looks nicer to me, as I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of a few things I don't eat on the new menus, or am I just imagining it?

 

Seems to be a lot of duck-Yuk, just don't like duck!:D

 

Mushrooms added to things I would normally eat - they don't agree with me.

 

Fish ok, but other seafood like shrimp/scallops etc I don't like, seems to be added in to many fish dishes?

 

Peppers & chilli - don't agree with me.

 

Broccoli- major stomach cramps for hours if I eat it, a shame as a like it!

 

I think WJ for tea or specialty restaurants may be the answer on some nights as they seem to have menus on some nights where the majority of dishes contain things that I avoid, one menu had 2 duck options in the one course I recall.

[ace1zoe2]

Day 15 - VANCOUVER

 

The view from our balcony this morning:

 

 

Today is D-Day (departure day) and they are forcing us to leave the ship. I'm not sure how I will function without someone tending to all my needs, someone to clean my room, make my bed, turn down my bed at night, someone to cook for me, serve me and thank me over and over for traveling with them... oh the things I love about Royal Caribbean!

 

We will walk off the ship with our CARRY ON bags and backpacks and head for our

fabulous day in VANCOUVER! We enter the city thru Canada Place - the cruise port terminal.

 

 

We have visited Vancouver at the end of our Hawaii tour and did an excursion thru RCI which took us on a motor coach to Stanley Park and then on to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This time we plan to drop our bags at the Marriott Residence Inn downtown and jump on the HOHO bus to tour the city.

 

We were off the ship around 9:15am, thru immigration (they didn't even want to see our passports) and in line for a taxi. We could take a shared shuttle with multiple stops for $12 per person to our downtown hotel or take a private taxi for around $20 according to the greeter. We chose the taxi. After waiting in a LONG line for around 15 minutes we were whisked away to our hotel, all for the low-low price of $8 US - I gave the driver a $10 and thought we got a great deal.

 

We arrived at the Residence Inn Marriott at 9:55 and asked for early check-in. The rep said not a problem but we needed to hurry as the electricity was being turned off in 5 minutes for a 4 hour annual safety drill that they are required to have. NICE - a room with no lights, air, etc... at least we had already planned to be out for the afternoon on the HOHO bus!

 

 

 

We dropped our bags in our room, put on our light weight rain coats as it was drizzling outside and caught the Vancouver Trolley just outside the hotel. The cost for one day is little expensive in my opinion ($40 each) but a 2 day ticket was a bargain for $45 each - only problem? We're only here for the day!

 

We did the red line first thru Stanley Park (1000 acres) of forrest and flowers. You could spend an entire day there and not see all there is to see.

 

2013 is the 125th anniversary of the park:

 

 

The rose garden:

 

[ace1zoe2]

Some beautiful Calla Lilies:

 

 

The girl in the wetsuit, at high tide her hand just touches the water:

 

 

The English Bay Inukshuk:

 

 

A giant tree trunk near Prospect Point. There is an even bigger one that has been featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine that is so large you could put a small car inside of it, the cover featured a VW bug inside the tree.

 

 

We took the trolley, then a free 9 passenger "ferry" to Granville Island where we had lunch at the Farmer's Market. That's the ferry boat captain in the middle portion of the boat.

 

 

We received a free coupon booklet with our trolley tour that provided a free one-way ride on the small ferry.

[ace1zoe2]

If you are a foodie, you will love this place:

 

 

 

This is just a tiny sampling of the fresh breads, cheese, pasta, veggies, meats, seafood & flowers that are offered here for sale.

 

A look across Lion's Gate Bridge that leads to the most expensive neighborhood in Canada. Average house price starts at $4.5 million:

 

 

Then we did the rest of the HOHO redline and blue line before heading back to the hotel. For dinner we grabbed Subway just around the corner from the hotel.

 

We were back & in bed by 9pm. Our flight out tomorrow is at 8:55am so we are leaving the hotel at 6:30 to head to Vancouver Int'l Airport. We checked on taking a taxi to the airport and were told that it would be $35 + bags & tip. Since we only have one carry on each and a bag pack we decided to take the Canada Line instead.

[ace1zoe2]

Day 16, HEADED HOME!

 

The alarm went off at 5:45 and we were out the door at 6:15, not knowing for sure how long it would take to get to the airport We walked 6 blocks from the hotel (7 minutes) to the Roundhouse stop and went inside to purchase tickets for the Canada Line to YVR. The total cost was $5.50 ($2.75 each).

 

Warning: There are lots of stairs to haul your bags down. Luckily we only had the one carry-on each and a back pack we were each wearing. We got on the metro (tube/subway/sky tram, whatever you choose to call it) and arrived at the final stop (Termini YVR) about 20 minutes later.

 

Went thru the terminal, then security (I got picked to undergo a random check for explosives residue, quick and painless)and then my camera backpack got detained and opened because they weren't sure what the battery grip was, and then finally immigration (no form needed, its done electronically at a self check terminal).

 

Once we were finally thru we got some breakfast at Starbucks then waited to board the plane. Our first flight was only 45 minutes and we landed in Seattle around 9;45m.

 

Had lunch around 11:15am in the Sea-Tac airport then boarded our final flight home around 12:20. The waiting area to board was a ZOO! There were different flights all boarding within minutes, there was NO place to sit, you had to stand with your bags and people were sitting and laying all over the floor.

 

Finally we were on the plane & on our way home. We've been gone 16 days as of today. I'm ready to be back in my own bed! We arrived at DFW in Texas at 6:35 and our oldest daughter and 3 of our 4 grandbabies were waiting there to pick us up... boy how I've missed those little ones (4yr, 20 mo & 2 months).

 

After stopping for carryout to take home for dinner we finally walked thru the door around 9pm. Today is my other grandson's 1st birthday & we are celebrating with a swim party at our house in less than 24 hours!

 

**********

 

Sunday... post vacation day 1

 

Got the laundry all done. Had overnight guests of daughter #1 and 3 kiddos, daughter #2 & son in law last night. Celebrated grandson's 1st birthday today. Finally in bed about 11pm.

 

Monday... back to work - time to get some rest!

 

I'm finally all caught up! I still have all the ship pictures and a final overall report of the trip that I hope to get done in the next couple of days.

 

I also have all the Cruise Compasses, Spa Packages, Excursions Brochures, etc. that I plan to scan and post as well. It will just take me few more days to get that all done as real life tends to get in the way now that we're back to reality :)

Edited June 18, 2013 by ace1zoe2

[Tweedy]

Day 16, HEADED HOME!

 

The alarm went off at 5:45 and we were out the door at 6:15, not knowing for sure how long it would take to get to the airport We walked 6 blocks from the hotel (7 minutes) to the Roundhouse stop and went inside to purchase tickets for the Canada Line to YVR. The total cost was $5.50 ($2.75 each).

 

Warning: There are lots of stairs to haul your bags down. Luckily we only had the one carry-on each and a back pack we were each wearing. We got on the metro (tube/subway/sky tram, whatever you choose to call it) and arrived at the final stop (Termini YVR) about 20 minutes later.

 

 

 

You look as though you've had an amazing trip. I really loved seeing your ISP photos of the whale tales. Amazing! :D

 

One note that I thought I would point out (albeit too late for you guys) is that there are elevators at each of the Canada Line Terminals that you can take down to the trains. You don't have to use the stairs.

[ace1zoe2]

That menu looks nicer to me, as I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of a few things I don't eat on the new menus, or am I just imagining it?

 

Seems to be a lot of duck-Yuk, just don't like duck!:D

 

Mushrooms added to things I would normally eat - they don't agree with me.

 

Fish ok, but other seafood like shrimp/scallops etc I don't like, seems to be added in to many fish dishes?

 

Peppers & chilli - don't agree with me.

 

Broccoli- major stomach cramps for hours if I eat it, a shame as a like it!

 

I think WJ for tea or specialty restaurants may be the answer on some nights as they seem to have menus on some nights where the majority of dishes contain things that I avoid, one menu had 2 duck options in the one course I recall.

 

The main dining room menu also has the favorites menu each night. I don't recall exactly what they were thought... I might find a picture later. It's like a steak, a chicken dish, beef sliders (small burgers) and a pasta I think.

 

 

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[ace1zoe2]

You look as though you've had an amazing trip. I really loved seeing your ISP photos of the whale tales. Amazing! :D

 

One note that I thought I would point out (albeit too late for you guys) is that there are elevators at each of the Canada Line Terminals that you can take down to the trains. You don't have to use the stairs.

 

We had a wonderful trip. Thanks for taking time to read & comment. Thanks also for pointing out about the elevators. We didn't even look for one since we only had small bags, but I was just thinking that someone with lots of luggage or limited mobility would have a harder time.

 

ISP was fantastic, my favorite excursion EVER!

 

 

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[BecciBoo]

Whew, I am worn out just listening to all you have done in the last couple days! Loved the photos from your balcony of our hotel. Sailaway will be fantabulous! We can't wait. We should have the same view.

Thanks for a wild and wonderful ride, can't wait to see more of your pics, but girl, you better get some rest!:D

[ace1zoe2]

Whew, I am worn out just listening to all you have done in the last couple days! Loved the photos from your balcony of our hotel. Sailaway will be fantabulous! We can't wait. We should have the same view.

Thanks for a wild and wonderful ride, can't wait to see more of your pics, but girl, you better get some rest!:D

 

Thanks Becci for following along for the whole trip... I am worn out! Whew... few days rest and I should have all the rest posted...

 

Then I've got to get busy planning our 2014 European Cruise... which by the way, we found out had been redeployed last Friday so our entire itinerary changed... learned about this from Cruise Critic when we arrived in Vancouver on Friday!

 

Just got everything settled today with the new itinerary! But hey, it's all in a day's planning for us OCD-types :)

 

 

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[CT Granny]

I have enjoyed your trip report thoroughly from start to finish. I love planning. We will be making a return trip to Alaska in 2014 and are planning a small boat cruise. With many excursions included in the price, it isn't a lot more expensive than a large ship cruise and suits us much better.

 

Your photos are wonderful and the port detail so helpful. I am almost as disappointed as you are that this trip has come to an end. I can hardly wait to follow along on your European plans and trip.

 

Barbara

[Nana57]

You mentioned that on your last trip to Alaska you took the Vancouver tour offered by RCI. Was that the 7 hour tour, cost $219 pp. Our flight doesn't leave until 10:15 pm so we needed options, since we have luggage to haul around. If we take their tour the luggage isn't a problem. How was that tour?

[BecciBoo]

We have Allure to check off the bucket list next May after this Alaska trip and then we are going to take a year off to finish some unfinished business around the house!

But never been to the Med or Europe so that is still in the bucket so will be following on your next venture! Happy cruising ya'll!:D

[Cheryl H]

Day 16, HEADED HOME!

 

 

Went thru the terminal, then security (I got picked to undergo a random check for explosives residue, quick and painless)and then my camera backpack got detained and opened because they weren't sure what the battery grip was, and then finally immigration (no form needed, its done electronically at a self check terminal).

 

 

Can you explain the immigration part? On the ship, we usually fill out a paper immigration form, I think. Then we hand it off when exiting the ship, if I recall correctly. So is that not the case? Did you have to go to a kiosk and fill one out electronically in the airport?

[ace1zoe2]

I have enjoyed your trip report thoroughly from start to finish. I love planning. We will be making a return trip to Alaska in 2014 and are planning a small boat cruise. With many excursions included in the price, it isn't a lot more expensive than a large ship cruise and suits us much better.

 

Your photos are wonderful and the port detail so helpful. I am almost as disappointed as you are that this trip has come to an end. I can hardly wait to follow along on your European plans and trip.

 

Barbara

 

 

Thank you so much for taking time to read and post. Once I get finished with the ship pictures/report then I need to get busy planning for Europe :)

[ace1zoe2]

You mentioned that on your last trip to Alaska you took the Vancouver tour offered by RCI. Was that the 7 hour tour, cost $219 pp. Our flight doesn't leave until 10:15 pm so we needed options, since we have luggage to haul around. If we take their tour the luggage isn't a problem. How was that tour?

 

Our tour went to the suspension bridge and a driving tour of the city and Stanley Park. It would have been ok, except our bus broke down and we had to wait on another then switch everything over. Then people started worrying about getting to the airport so they cut the trip short to start dropping people off. We were staying the night in a hotel so it didn't matter to us.

 

I did email RCI that we were disappointed in the excursion because it started almost an hour late (2 people were on the wrong bus & they couldn't find them), then the bus broke down & we didn't get to go everywhere we were supposed to), etc.

 

RCI refunded the entire amount of our excursion though, so it turned out ok.

[Cheryl H]

I'm anxious to hear about your Med. cruise too. We are hoping to do a Italy/Greece one in 2015....so my guess is we'll have to book it 2014. What did they change about your booking? Did they switch the itinerary or did you have to completely book another cruise? Well, happy planning on that and I can't wait to read about your adventure next year. If you can shed any helpful hints on booking ahead of time, let me know. I need to find out when they even open up booking for Europe for the following year.

 

Thanks!! Enjoyed your Alaska report. Looking forward to more pictures!

[ace1zoe2]

Can you explain the immigration part? On the ship, we usually fill out a paper immigration form, I think. Then we hand it off when exiting the ship, if I recall correctly. So is that not the case? Did you have to go to a kiosk and fill one out electronically in the airport?

 

You will fill out a Canadian immigration form on the ship that will be left in your room. You will hand that in when entering Canada place and go thru immigration.

 

When you get to the airport you will go thru US Customs & Immigration before boarding the plane. Since you have a US Passport, you do not have to fill out the US immigration form, instead you will use the kiosk.

 

Hopefully, that is as clear as mud :)

[Cheryl H]

You will fill out a Canadian immigration form on the ship that will be left in your room. You will hand that in when entering Canada place and go thru immigration.

 

When you get to the airport you will go thru US Customs & Immigration before boarding the plane. Since you have a US Passport, you do not have to fill out the US immigration form, instead you will use the kiosk.

 

Hopefully, that is as clear as mud :)

 

Okay, thanks!

[ace1zoe2]

I'm anxious to hear about your Med. cruise too. We are hoping to do a Italy/Greece one in 2015....so my guess is we'll have to book it 2014. What did they change about your booking? Did they switch the itinerary or did you have to completely book another cruise? Well, happy planning on that and I can't wait to read about your adventure next year. If you can shed any helpful hints on booking ahead of time, let me know. I need to find out when they even open up booking for Europe for the following year.

 

Thanks!! Enjoyed your Alaska report. Looking forward to more pictures!

 

I was not happy about them redeploying our ship & changing the ports but after getting $400 OBC on top of the $150 we already had to move-over to the new itinerary I wasn't as disappointed as I originally was :)

 

Original Sailing – Venice to Barcelona – 10/27/14 to 11/06/14

10 nights

8 ports

2 sea days

Venice – overnight, Corfu, Kotor, Salerno, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Nice, Barcelona

Balcony $1349 for 10 nights (when booked, was up to $1849 now)

New Sailing – Rome to Barcelona - 10/29/14-11/6/14

8 nights

7 ports

1 sea day

Rome, Florence/Pisa, Nice, Corsica, Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Valencia (Spain), Barcelona – overnight

Balcony $999 for 8 nights

 

We went ahead and upgraded to a JS for the new sailing since hubby loved the one we had on this cruise. I know RCI is doing everything they can to keep everyone happy but I think it could have been handled better. In hindsight, they should have put all the booked rooms on hold and contacted everyone already booked to see if they wanted to move over or cancel first, before releasing the rooms for general sale.

 

There were already 10 or so people on our roll call that had B2B booked in the same cabins, the aft cabins, hump balconies, etc. that aren't going to be available now. The aft cabin I had booked was already gone. Luckily though I snagged the JS 1100 on the aft corner so I was REALLY happy... but I'm positive someone else is going to be really mad. Luckily I learned about the change early & was on the phone 3 times this weekend trying to get things worked out. We'll just have to do Venice another time :)

[olemissreb]

Too bad you missed the Groupon for the HOHO tour - 2 for 1! I bought it for 4 of us ($75CA). Can you tell me how difficult it might be to get on & off the bus with crutches? And how far to walk to the entrance to the flower garden? I know the website says the tour takes 90 minutes if you don't get off the bus, but do you know if that is just for the red line? blue line? both?

 

Did you happen to notice if the flower garden has wheelchairs available? How much is the entrance fee?

 

My youngest broke his foot 2 weeks ago and is now in a cast - makes for an interesting monkey wrench in planning! At least he's on crutches which makes things a little easier, but I still have to be mindful of how far everything is because while he's 13yo, he just can't do a marathon on crutches yet!;)

 

I may have more questions as I print off more info for my "bible" so we can decide where and when we want to hop off/on.

 

Oh yeah - did you happen to notice if they still rent out lockers in Canada Place to hold luggage? We've only got the day in Vancouver and then we catch the train to Seattle that night. Are taxi's easy enough to flag down? We'll probably take a cab to the train station - or 2 since there are 5 of us with luggage and a pair of crutches!

[ace1zoe2]

Too bad you missed the Groupon for the HOHO tour - 2 for 1! I bought it for 4 of us ($75CA). Can you tell me how difficult it might be to get on & off the bus with crutches? And how far to walk to the entrance to the flower garden? I know the website says the tour takes 90 minutes if you don't get off the bus, but do you know if that is just for the red line? blue line? both?

 

I would think that it would take 90 minutes for each. I have the schedule at home, I'll try to look. If you get off anywhere it will be a minimum of 30 minutes for the next trolley to pick you up to go on.

The red-line was a trolley looking vehicle with 2 steps up I think and priority seating for wheelchairs / disability in the front row. The blue-line was an actual bus with two steps also.

 

Did you happen to notice if the flower garden has wheelchairs available? How much is the entrance fee?

 

If you are talking about the rose garden in Stanley Park, it is all free. You just hop off the trolley then walk around til your ready to go again then line up at the trolley stop according to the schedule they will give you.

 

My youngest broke his foot 2 weeks ago and is now in a cast - makes for an interesting monkey wrench in planning! At least he's on crutches which makes things a little easier, but I still have to be mindful of how far everything is because while he's 13yo, he just can't do a marathon on crutches yet!;)

 

You might check on a "knee scooter" for him. We saw a young girl probably 10 or so that had a broken foot. She had a scooter than she pu her knee on and drove it around like a scooter. She was everywhere and it looked so much easier than crutches. You still walk on the one leg and the other is bent at the knee and you put you knee on the roller, hold on to the handles and wheel yourself around. They are collapsable and looked a lot more fun than crutches!

 

I may have more questions as I print off more info for my "bible" so we can decide where and when we want to hop off/on.

 

Oh yeah - did you happen to notice if they still rent out lockers in Canada Place to hold luggage? We've only got the day in Vancouver and then we catch the train to Seattle that night. Are taxi's easy enough to flag down? We'll probably take a cab to the train station - or 2 since there are 5 of us with luggage and a pair of crutches!

 

We didn't actually go in to Canada place other than to walk thru immigration and line up for a taxi. There seemed to be a lot of taxis on the streets when we were waiting for the trolley or outside the hotel they would cruise by slowly looking to pick up people.

[happyiam]

I've been following along your wonderful trip and thoroughly enjoyed your posts and pictures. I have shown this to my DH as we have been thinking of an Alaskan cruise. Now we want to add the land tour on to it. All of your tips will help with the planning. Thank you for taking the time to do this.