Radiance of the Seas – ALASKA – May 9-16, 2014 Inner Passage REVIEW w/Photos

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My wife and I planned this cruise nearly 10 months in advance. We also had 2 (new to cruising) friends join us on this amazing experience. It has taken some time to put all this content together, but here it is.

 

Thanks to various posters at Cruise Critic, and the many bits of information learned from others here in advance, we managed to get the maximum benefit of this outstanding trip. So we are now “paying it forward” through our review, including a fair number of photos.

 

Make no mistake…the original count of our digital photos on this trip exceeded 1600, but got “narrowed down” to about 500. This was a difficult and time-consuming task. This review only includes a tidbit of what was seen and captured. Both video and photos helped us keep a visual collection of memories.

 

Our key goals for this trip – whale and wildlife watching, as well as Alaska scenery, glacier, and local landmark viewing. All those were accomplished in grand form.

 

Rather than get to “wordy”, we thought we’d mix some commentary with photos (if indeed a picture is worth a thousand words). This is a “Cliff Notes” summary.

 

We arrived the day before the cruise departure in Vancouver, BC, Canada early Friday afternoon.

 

Vancouver is an amazing city. It is worthy of a 1-week trip to enjoy all it has to offer in and of itself. Since we were originally told (for months) that we would depart from Canada Place pier, we stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle hotel. This proved to be a wise choice and very enjoyable place – highly recommend it.

 

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Having done some walking-based sightseeing nearby (including the views at the Olympic cauldron and other sights by the harbor just a few blocks away), we prepared for departure the next day. Here are a few views during our “roaming around” experience.

 

 

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DAY ONE: A short 15 minute cab-ride away, we arrived at Ballantyne Pier. It’s an older place, and in desperate need of repair, staff organization, and cruise-friendly setup. Rather than waste a lot of time – let’s just say that was the only downside to our entire trip, and rumor has it that they are going to level the place sometime in the near future.

 

Once boarded on Radiance of the Seas, we quickly could see that this ship was well appointed in terms of nice trim and finish inside. We first headed to Windjammer as a group (our cabins were not yet ready) with our carry-on bags, and easily found a nice table. Windjammer on Radiance is very nicely detailed and looks “classier” than a number of other cousins on other ships.

 

 

After lunch, both of us couples proceeded to our cabins to “settle in”. Eventually, we all met up and began to explore the ship and prepare for departure. My wife and I chose to watch things from the Helipad together…and the views were excellent. Only about 15 other people joined us at this location.

The departure included passing Canada Place and the general downtown area, as well as passing underneath Lion’s Gate Bridge and past the lookout in Stanley Park.

 

 

 

The evening was relaxing, as we ate in the Main Dining Room and enjoyed both the meal and the company. On this cruise, we used the “My Time Dining” option for the first time. There were no real issues we encountered, but the next time we’ll return to the conventional Main Dining Room reservation setup.

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

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DAY TWO: CRUISING DAY. This included some good exploration around Radiance of the Seas, as well as listening to some live entertainment, a few views on Deck 5 of the passing sights, and capped off in the evening with a Specialty Dinner at Chops Grille.

 

This was a relaxing, enjoyable day – the Chops dinner was outstanding (as we experienced before), including perfectly-grilled filet steaks and accompaniments.

 

 

 

 

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DAY THREE: Being an early bird…I enjoyed the quiet and picturesque views entering the Icy Straight Point area. The clouds hanging (temporarily) in the early morning in various places were beautiful. On time, we arrived at this first destination. The ship’s shuttle boats brought us from our tender offshore to the main docks.

 

 

We had the opportunity to roam around the museum, shops, and eateries onsite. All were clean, well-run, and inviting. Mid-morning, our time for departing on our first excursion had arrived. We pre-scheduled the Whale-watching/Wildlife tour, and a nice and clean boat roamed through the waters to a planned location where some of our viewing would be best.

 

First one, then another, and then still more whales appeared – humpbacks. Their mid-sections arose out of the water followed by their fluke (tail). It’s an amazing site, and we were fortunate to get to see a number of them, and at varied distances from the tour boat.

 

 

 

At one point, we were “between” sightings, and the boat driver noticed a brown bear on the shore not that far off, so we watched him slowly move along the beachfront area and eventually into the woods. We also saw some huge hawks (no eagles yet). Soon thereafter, a family of dolphins surfaced repeatedly for a few minutes, jumping as a group. We then returned to the dock area and soon after, returned to Radiance.

 

Later in the afternoon, we attended the “Crown *& Anchor Welcome Party” in the main theater. This was a nice event with beverages and snacks provided. It was also our first chance to meet (before the start and during the program) Amy Fickert – the Cruise Director, as well as our Captain (Goram Petersen). Amy was very warm and engaging, and the Captain enjoyed showing off some of his sense of humor during the event.

 

 

The day ended in the Main Dining Room with a great dinner meal and relaxing stroll through the Centrum area and shops.

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

[niksmom630]

Fabulous photos! Thanks for sharing--this cruise is on my "bucket list", so I shall enjoy following along....

[hairymelon]

Absolutely loving this review as we are going in May next year and it is great to see your photos and hear about your experiences :D

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DAY FOUR: While this day was classified as a “cruise day”, it was actually one of the more spectacular scenic days of the entire cruise – the Captain slowly entered a channel with chunks of ice floating everywhere, and carefully moved along into the Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

Radiance was surrounded for some time by beautiful mountains, rocks, snowy peaks, and plenty of ice chunks along the way. At times, we all wondered how a ship of this size could navigate this narrow channel, but a methodical pace, the Captain and his team did a fantastic job and we simply took all the scenery and landscapes in for enjoyment and future memories.

 

At one point, we could begin to see “blue ice” ahead, and soon came upon Sawyer Glacier. We stayed in the position for a bit, before the ship was slowly turned around and the reverse trip through the Fjord was completed. This was a “WOW” scenic day we’ll never forget. Just a few views that don’t even do justice to what we experienced.

 

 

 

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DAY FIVE: After enjoying an early room-service breakfast on our balcony upon arrival in Juneau, we disembarked for another day of scenic wonder and our 2nd whale-watching excursion. Why do a 2nd one? Because this one was specifically aimed at Orcas (Killer Whales) – an entirely different experience.

 

In addition, this more expensive excursion also included a visit to the Orca Point Lodge and then Mendenhall Glacier – a fully-packed day.

 

The Orca boat tour didn’t disappoint…the tour-guide knew just where to go…and numerous Orcas were seen. This included pods (groups) of them on multiple occasions…and unlike the Humpbacks, they were seen much closer to our boat itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JUNEAU CONTINUED....

 

The Bald Eagle citing at Orca Point Lodge...and then...

 

Mendenhall Glacier...

 

 

 

 

The waterfall next to the Glacier....note the size of the people in front compared to the waterfall itself...

 

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DAY SIX: With the multiple tours the past few days, as well as having seen a long list of incredible sights, we arrived in our last port location – Ketchikan.

 

Prior to arrival, we had learned that this town averages 13 FEET of rain per year. To no one’s surprise…it was slightly drizzling upon our docking…but not enough to deter people from enjoying this quaint and friendly town.

 

 

We had a planned excursion here, and the rain halted for some time as we enjoyed a Lumberjack Show that was laced with humor as well as talented lumberjack skills. This is a must-see in this port. It is followed by a bus trip to a Totem Pole park…filled with impressive (and huge) carved poles in a variety of colors and forms. The returning drizzle for about an hour didn’t dampen this part of the excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

Following the return bus ride back to port and some shopping…we returned to Radiance for our departure. Another good dinner in the Main Dining Room capped off a solid tour day. Of course…this was “Lobster night” in the Main Dining Room…so the dinner was extra-special.

 

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DAY SEVEN: This was our final day on Radiance before departing the following morning. We started off with a hearty Windjammer breakfast, and took advantage of the time to relax, revisit favorite places on the ship, and enjoy the time with our friends to recap all we had seen on the cruise.

 

There was plenty to talk about. Having been an early bird each day just to catch some sunrise photos, as well as some amazing sunsets, it was an opportunity to reflect on a fantastic experience.

 

Having chosen the roundtrip cruise based in Vancouver through the Inner Passage ports, we were glad we made that choice.

 

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DAY EIGHT: In the early morning, we returned under Lion’s Gate Bridge and returned to the familiar harbor view of Vancouver.

 

This is a very clean and friendly place. As we prepared to disembark, we had one more nice breakfast onboard, and then made the trek off the ship (somewhat painful do to the disorganization of staff at the Ballantyne Pier). It has been quite the cruise.

 

We then took another short cab ride back to the Marriott Pinnacle for our second sat there. After lunch, we waited outside for our Land & Seas Tour bus to arrive, which happened right on time.

 

 

 

 

 

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Vancouver Tour Continued...

 

In advance, we had booked a nice city tour that included many of the sights around town, as well as stops in Stanley Park, Granville Island, Queen Elizabeth Park, and other locations along the way. This was a great way to see the city while “somebody else did most of the work”.

 

Land & Sea Tours does a very professional and friendly job on their tours, and we would use them again without hesitation. We got a good look at this fine city, and it reinforced how it was worthy of a future trip just to enjoy it in even more detail in the future some day.

 

 

 

 

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DAY NINE: We had one more day on this trip, and had planned ahead to take a full-day tour to Vancouver Island – targeting the capital city of Victoria.

 

This tour was also with Land & Seas Tours, and included a 90-minute ferry ride to that destination (it went very fast and the Ferry ships are huge). The ferry ride itself was scenic, smooth, and relaxing. Our tour bus drove right into the lower level parking deck before we went upstairs to find a seating location. The tour included the return ferry trip as well.

 

 

 

 

Upon arrival, our tour bus drove along beautiful scenery and stopped at one location just to enjoy the view of a few parasailers.

 

 

We then continued on to Victoria. This is a historic place full of numerous sightseeing opportunities.

[Keith1010]

Very nice review and photos.

 

Keith

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Victoria Tour - continued...

 

Of course no visit to Victoria is complete with at least a walk-through tour of the Empress Hotel. This huge historic place is perched right at the center of the harbor area, overlooking a beautiful scene.

 

Our tour at this point included 3 hours to walk and enjoy whatever we wanted to experience. The tour guide made several suggestions prior to leaving us on our own, and she did a super job of not only this information, but providing us with solid background on what we would be able to view. We greatly enjoyed the city, the sights, some shopping, and even a lunch at Milestone’s, a nice eatery right on the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon returning to the bus, everyone was buzzing about all they had seen in Victoria, and it was clear all the passengers on board had enjoyed this city.

But the day was not quite finished...

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

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The frosting on the cake of the tour was another short bus ride over to Butchart Gardens.

 

If you haven’t seen this place, you haven’t been to Victoria.

 

We had the opportunity to spend a few hours just calmly walking the grounds and seeing this beautiful place. Rather than to go into a lot of detail…more information about Butchart Gardens can be found at their site here:

 

http://www.butchartgardens.com/

 

The history of this place is very interesting, and the sunken gardens in particular highlight how some affluent people in the past turned things from a potential eyesore to a showplace of beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a nice day of beautiful viewing and a brief onsite snack, we returned to the tour bus for the short ride back to the ferry, and the return ride back to Vancouver. It has been a long 12-hour tour day, but worth every penny and all the time.

 

Once we returned (it was about dark at docking), we returned to our rooms and packed for the flight home the next day. Our group of 4 found a nearby place for a quick dinner and called it a day (since we had a morning flight home).

 

In summary: The cruise was fantastic, the ship terrific, and the tours outstanding. Almost 10 months of planning ahead had paid off in our experience of a lifetime. Since our friends were first-time cruisers, this trip

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I'm not sure why some of the photos I uploaded here aren't showing up now...they were the first hour they were posted...but I have to say that sharing photos in posts on this site are much more of a challenge than many other sites I frequent.

 

What is truly strange is they showed up at first, 20 minutes later, and then seemed to disappear...that was about 2 hours of work down the drain.

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

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I am reposting some of the missing photos again...since the originals "disappeared" for no known reason...these are from the Vancouver Tour...

 

 

 

 

 

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Here are the re-posted photos from Icy Point Straight, Glacier, and the whale-watching...

 

 

 

 

 

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And here are the re-posted Tracy Arm Fjord photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Reposted Juneau photos...

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

[PuterMonkey]

I can't see all the pics, but loving the ones I do =) That garden is gorgeous!

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I can't see all the pics, but loving the ones I do =) That garden is gorgeous!

I'm nearly done reposting the "missing" photos from the earlier posts...