Trip Report: Radiance of the Seas - Alaska

[rednancy1]

Enjoying your review! Thank you for sharing. :)

[jnors]

After reading so many reports before our cruise, I decided to do one of our cruise aboard the Radiance of the Seas.

 

Our cruise was a 7 night Northbound aboard the Radiance of the Seas. It left Fri May 30th and returned June 6th.

 

We are a family of 3 and this was our first Alaska cruise. It was simply amazing.

 

I am looking forward to reading your report! So far your report is great!

 

We too are a family of 3, my wife and I as well as our 13 y/o son. We leave from Seward next Thursday the 20th and can't wait!!!

[wcswingdance]

Thanks for posting about your trip. We are leaving next month for the southbound trip and can't wait. Great to see your photos!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. Your pictures are great! What type of camera did you use!

 

I used a Canon Powershot SX30 IS.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Just a few more pics from our day cruising the Inside Passage:

 

 

 

A beautiful sunset.. Which took place around 10pm:

 

 

Pool deck during sunset:

 

More to Come... Our day in Ketchikan.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

DAY 3

Ketchikan, Alaska

 

Our plan for the day was to explore the port from about 7:30-8 o'clock until around 10:45 when we would get something to eat before departing on our excursion - the Coastal Wildlife Cruise

 

Before Arriving in Port:

 

 

 

Then we spotted an eagle!!

 

 

This just reminded me of the "Real Alaska":

 

 

 

Our view after docking:

 

Edited June 10, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Ketchikan was a very busy area for seaplanes:

 

 

A view of Radiance from the pier:

 

 

The Solstice was also docked with us:

 

 

Along with the Pacific Princess:

 

 

The Aleutian Ballad (a ship from the show Deadliest Catch):

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

One of Ketchikan's many shopping areas:

 

 

Had to get a picture of the sign!!

 

 

We then took a walk to Creek Street, the former red light district, now shopping area.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

A totem right before the entrance to Creek Street:

 

 

I thought it was neat how many steps there were around the town and how some roads were just built on pilings..

 

 

Thought this was also a nice picture:

 

 

More to come tomorrow.. Our Coastal Wildlife Cruise.

Edited June 10, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[hollon]

We were on the Radiance in August 2012 but did the Southbound Route from Seward to Vancouver. It was a fantastic experience. Can't wait to do it again. The ship is beautiful and Icy Strait Point is an awesome port of call. The whale watching/bear watch combo tour we did there was outstanding!

 

I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. Your pictures are great! What type of camera did you use!

 

Woud you beable to see the whale watching/bear watching in June, or would bears be out and about? About how much did it cost and how long did you stay out on water?

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

So now it was time for our Coastal Wildlife Cruise excursion, which was booked though Royal Caribbean. It was mostly focused on finding bears, along with any other wildlife in the area. Very nice cruise and the girl narrating did a very nice job and was very knowledgeable.

 

We met right at the pier next to Radiance and soon enough, we were on our way.

 

The boat, West Rock:

 

 

Our views while leaving Ketchikan:

 

 

 

And then our first wildlife sighting of the excursion:

 

 

And another eagle:

 

 

We went a little further from town and soon spotted some more wildlife.

A deer and its fawn:

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

We continued cruising, and then we spotted a mink.

Very cute little thing:

 

 

 

And then the captain pointed out some starfish:

 

 

We still were on our search for a bear and we continued on our cruise...

 

Nice views of the surrounding area:

 

 

With no luck finding bears, our captain took us to a place where he said sea lions usually hung out.

 

Some were relaxing on the rocks, while the others swam around:

 

Edited June 11, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[JimAOk1945]

Woud you beable to see the whale watching/bear watching in June, or would bears be out and about? About how much did it cost and how long did you stay out on water?

 

I think the excursion lasted about 5 hours. As I recall, the description on the Royal Caribbean website said the whale sightings are guaranteed but not the bear sightings. Our guide told us the bears were active then because the salmon were running so I guess we were just very lucky to see them.

 

If we go back there again on another cruise I would book only the whale watching excursion because of the guarantee of seeing whales.

 

I don't recall how much it cost for this excursion. We were there in August of 2012.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

After seeing the sea lions, we started our return trip to Ketchikan. The whole way we still searched for bears along the coastlines.

 

We cruised by an eagles nest:

 

 

And then another wildlife sighting... This one was to our surprise since we didn't plan on seeing these until the next day in Icy Strait Point... A WHALE!!

 

 

 

 

From there we returned back to Ketchikan..

 

Although we didn't see a bear, it was still a beautiful and fun trip.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

More to come tomorrow.. Our day in Icy Strait Point.

[Lost_in_BC]

Great review! Keep it coming. :)

[Tinkerdevil]

We flew out from Phoenix about an hour after you. Also stayed at the marriott and aye at Cadero's albeit on Thursday, not Wednesday. It was a wonderful trip

 

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[texasmomoftwo]

We went in late June a few years ago. We saw bears but we went "off road" on a bear search with a guide. We saw a couple. (Icy straight point). It is my understanding bears are more "available" during July salmon run season. It was a thrill to see a couple!

 

 

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[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Sorry for the little delay of posting the review.

 

Next is our day in Icy Strait Point. Before going on our trip, I saw a lot of people saying that ISP was their least favorite port...well we ended up not feeling the same way as those people, we loved it and it was one of our favorite ports.

 

So on to our day; we booked a whale watch with Hoonah Travel Adventures in the morning and had the rest of the day to explore ISP.

 

Arriving in ISP:

 

 

View from our balcony:

 

 

Tenders:

 

 

So as I said before, we booked our whale watch with Hoonah Travel Adventures. And let me make it clear, it was amazing. I definitely recommend them..

 

We were picked up right near the pier at around 9:30 and then brought into the town of Hoonah where our boat was docked.

 

 

The "Hoonah Bound":

(It is not the little white boat, as some of you might of thought!!)

 

 

The boat had a capacity of only 18, and that is part of the reason we choose this whale watch. Our captain was Paul, a great guy who lives Hoonah and knew so much about the area.

 

Our views after leaving the harbor in Hoonah:

 

 

Edited June 12, 2014 by cruiserccl1212

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Not to far into our tour, we saw some whale spouts:

 

 

Then a whale:

 

 

We also saw one of the larger whale watching boats and were so glad we didn't choose an excursion like that.

 

 

We also got to see some harbor seals:

 

 

Along with plenty more whales..

 

Some nice views of the surrounding area:

 

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I thought the color of the water was also amazing:

 

 

Later in the tour, a whale tail:

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Now the best part...

 

We came across a mother whale and her calf. It really was a great experience.

 

 

The baby quickly dove down, but we still had some nice views of the mother:

 

 

 

 

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

We viewed the 2 whales for some time and then began to head back to Hoonah. On the way back Capt. Paul took us past a buoy known for attracting sea lions..

 

 

They were very funny to watch!! Capt Paul told us that a few years ago the coast guard painted the buoy, but the smell caused the sea lions to stay away for about two years until all the bird poop eventually covered the smell.. Interesting, haha.

 

 

 

[Kimahri]

I'm excited to hear you enjoyed your tour with Hoonah we are booked with them later this summer.

Thanks for doing this review. I've been planning this trip for a year and never get tired of reading another review with great pictures:D

[JimAOk1945]

cruiserccl1212,

 

Did you see the "resident" whale that lives right there at the Icy Strait Point pier area? The guide we had on our whale watching excursion said it has been living there for quite a while.

 

It is an amazing sight to be standing on the shore and see it swim by!