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

[lovelife]

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying.

 

That is chocolate ice cream!

 

Grandeur is a smaller Vision Class ship. I've been on her six times and love her.

 

Hope you get to see Alaska as it is truly amazing.

[sr4mjc]

No new aerial show on the Radiance?

[lovelife]

Icy Strait Point

 

Cool day. I really liked this port. We walked the nature trail with a bonfire along the way where you can make a wish and throw in the wood chip given to you by the locals. This was a lovely area and the cannery history was very interesting. Don't waste your time taking a free bus to town as there is nothing at all to see. It was a wonderful visit to Icy Strait Point but we did not see one whale around the ship as others have reported.

 

I love Icy Strait Point.

 

 

 

 

 

Tender

 

 

 

Warming Up

 

 

 

Nature Walk

 

 

[lovelife]

No new aerial show on the Radiance?

 

No. Very disappointing. I checked through all the Compasses to be sure I didn't overlook it. :(

[lovelife]

More Icy Strait Point

 

 

 

 

Zip Line

 

 

 

Hoonah - Little Cemetery Across the Water

 

 

 

Departing Icy Strait Point

 

[lovelife]

Juneau

 

Cool and rain off and on.

 

What an exciting and eventful day this turned out to be!

 

First, the only negative: DO NOT RENT FROM JUNEAU CAR RENTAL COMPANY. We had rented a car in advance for the day and were advised it is a three block walk from the ship to their location. It turned out to be 9/10 of a mile -- half of it uphill and it was raining. Upon inquiring, they claimed those are "Alaskan blocks," apparently thinking it was humorous. I call it grossly misleading. The stinky, dirty vehicle we were assigned jerked and rattled the entire trip and we weren't sure if it would even make it back. But having the day to explore on our own was wonderful.

 

 

 

 

We Were Not Alone

 

 

 

We visited Glacier Gardens where you are driven up the mountain in an extended golf cart with commentary. There is a superb view from the top and the main area is filled with lovely flowers.

 

 

Glacier Gardens Upside Down Tree Planters

 

 

 

 

Road to the Top

 

[lovelife]

Glacier Gardens continued...........

 

 

Great View from the Top

 

 

 

Down the road we went.

 

 

 

 

Lots of Eagles

 

 

 

Parkside Johns

 

 

 

To The Right

 

[lovelife]

Next was Mendenhall Glacier for a new look. We were there 12 years ago and it is still a wonder.

 

 

 

Next we stopped at Chapel by the Lake

 

 

 

 

And then Auke Bay

 

 

 

 

Now, what happens next will go down as one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.

[Fishfish]

Way to leave us wanting more! :D Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

Thank you for taking the time to do your review..:)

[lovelife]

Sorry, laundry called.

 

 

So as we drove further down the road I was jabbering away about all the eagles we had seen when DH asked me if I had my camera ready. Me? Always. As he eased off to the side of the road, I couldn't believe my eyes. About 12 feet from me was a mama black bear and two cubs. As I slowly lowered the window, mama looked at me and as if through BearSP or something relayed to me, "keep your head in and behave yourself and I won't eat you." I agreed and, oblivious to anything else around me, snapped away, both excited and scared to death she would not keep her end of the bargain and jump in the window and have me for dinner. But mama just continued to eat while the little ones scampered along remaining close to her. Quite a surreal experience that I will never forget.

 

 

Little Cub Behind Her

 

 

 

Baby Is Camera Shy

 

 

 

Big Mama

 

 

 

 

Please Spare Me

 

 

 

Gotcha Cub

 

 

 

 

What a fantastic day in Juneau.

[rednancy1]

Subscribing. :)

[BecciBoo]

Wow, I thought my adventures in Yellowstone were close, but this is insane!:D

[Tweedy]

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

 

 

 

 

 

I love those breakfast sandwiches. Nice to see they have them on the Radiance.

[lovelife]

Skagway

 

Cool day.

 

Arrival in Skagway - Again, we are not alone

 

 

 

 

We took the RCI Big Nugget Tour and even though it was a little hokey, we thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was a short bus ride away and began with a film. We then met an Iditarod musher who presented the history of Iditarod and the role of sled dogs. We interacted with the dogs, saw a demonstration sled run, and then held the puppies.

 

 

Dogs were very excited to see us.

 

 

 

 

 

Sledding Demonstration

 

 

 

Cute Little Puppies (and Musher)

 

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Reliving our Radiance repo cruise3 years ago through your review!!

 

Loving your review, especially the pictures.....awesome! Love he pictures of the bears.

 

***

[lovelife]

Skagway continued......

 

 

Next was the 40 Below Experience! where we layered up and entered the cold chamber.

 

 

DH took this of me and that's exactly how I felt. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

 

 

We toured the old gold dredge and listened intently to a presentation by the prospector/panning instructor .

 

 

Old Dredging Equipment in Rear

 

 

 

Panning for Gold

 

 

And there was gold in 'them thar pans.' Together we weighed in at $26 worth which I had put in a pendant ($27) as a memento.

 

 

Next was the brewery where the brew master talked beer ad nauseam. Several beers, a wine, and root beer were freely poured to all. The root beer was oh so delicious and I had five!

 

 

The excursion ended with a scrumptious smoked barbecue buffet lunch.

 

It was a fun day and I recommend this excursion.

[lovelife]

Glad you are enjoying. So much more to come - about the halfway point.

[lovelife]

Cruising Hubbard Glacier

 

Cold.

 

We watched from our balcony for a while and then went on an upper deck to look. Lots of ice flows and the captain ever so slowly rotated the ship for viewing from both sides. It was really, really, cold so we did not stay out long.

 

 

Hubbard Glacier from our Balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I set the date on my little point and shoot camera to show the sunset time (and left it on by mistake for a while)

 

 

11:02 pm Sunset

 

[lovelife]

Seward

 

Lovely warm day.

 

And so ends the wonderful northbound journey on the Radiant Lady. What a wonderful cruise and what glorious things we have seen.

 

 

Smooth as Glass

 

 

 

Surrounded by Beauty

 

 

 

Since we were independently traveling post cruise, we remained on the ship as long as we could before the crew began asking us if we were staying on. We were escorted off in the easiest and quickest debarkation ever.

 

 

Luggage was raised/lowered from the ship via this contraption but no worries, there's a safety net!

 

 

 

Up Next: Our DIY Inland Excursion

[Tweedy]

Seward

 

 

Luggage was raised/lowered from the ship via this contraption but no worries, there's a safety net!

 

 

 

Up Next: Our DIY Inland Excursion

 

 

 

Oh my :eek:!! I see a few holes in that net.

[lovelife]

I can describe Seward with three words: wow, wow, and wow. The beauty of this place is beyond description. I wish we would have planned to stay here at least overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

We first caught a free shuttle to town and checked our luggage in at the train station in advance of our 6 p.m. Coastal Classic Gold Star Service journey to Anchorage (comments later).

 

We walked along Resurrection Bay in awe of its jaw dropping scenery.

 

 

Resurrection Bay

 

 

 

 

Yep

 

 

 

We then walked all over town browsing some shops in search of more "stuff" and stopping in a popular little coffee shop called Sea Bean.

 

[lovelife]

Oh my :eek:!! I see a few holes in that net.

 

I see you are in for quite an adventure on your upcoming north and southbound cruises. I hope you have a wonderful time.

 

I love your city!

[DT1304]

I am enjoying reading your review and your photos.

 

I was on the same cruise and the same train to Anchorage so it is so interesting to read other peoples comments and experiences of the same cruise.

 

I am so jealous of your bear sighting. We were constantly on the search for bears but never saw any unfortunately.

[lovelife]

Seward continued..........

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown

 

 

 

Cute Little Church on the Hill

 

 

 

Love this Exterior

 

[lovelife]

I am enjoying reading your review and your photos.

 

I was on the same cruise and the same train to Anchorage so it is so interesting to read other peoples comments and experiences of the same cruise.

 

I am so jealous of your bear sighting. We were constantly on the search for bears but never saw any unfortunately.

 

What a trip! I love reviews too.