Alaska Cruise Tour & Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas Review 7/25/15 – 8/7/15

[Bmorecruiser021]

We stopped at Fox Island for lunch, which was included in the tour. Lunch was a buffet of prime rib and salmon with sides.

 

 

 

We got about 45 min for lunch, then we boarded the boat and headed back out to the fjord. On our way out we had a great view of a glacier and the mountains.

 

 

 

We made our way to Sea Lion Island, and had some Dall Porpoises play in our wake along the way.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

After seeing the sea lions we headed back to the harbor. I finally got my good picture of the Radiance!

 

 

We said a tearful goodbye to Elizabeth and David and thanked them for everything! (make sure you have cash for tips) Then we headed through checkin and security and were on the ship within 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So at this point I would like to give some more unsolicited advice. As I said before I completely recommend doing a land tour. It was a once in a life time experience. We got to see and do things we never thought we would ever experience. With that being said, It was incredibly exhausting! We averaged 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night. I definitely recommend doing the land tour first, that way you can relax a little more the fallowing week when you are on the ship. Everyone we talked to agreed, and others who did the reverse said the same thing. That they had a wonderful time but that it was exhausting and they wished they had the relaxation of the cruise following the land portion. Hope that helps some of you who are on the fence as weather to do the land tour before or after the cruise.

[Bmorecruiser021]

We made our way to our cabin and met our cabin steward. Sheryl was awesome! We loved having her as a cabin steward!

 

 

We got one of the extended balconies on the seventh deck. Not much in the way of privacy, but since we had family in the surrounding 4 cabins, it was nice for communication.

 

 

 

 

 

The view was gorgeous.

 

 

I have to admit I was a little bummed, last year on the Explorer, we pulled into St. Marteen and saw that the Jewel had loungers on their extended front balconies, but no such luck on the Radiance. O well, we were on a cruise, nothing to complain about!

[Bmorecruiser021]

So now that we were on the ship, I started to worry about my parents and brother. You see we had heard reports of a bus accident at mile marker 80 on the one and only highway between Anchorage and Seward. Well it turns out I had every right to worry, you see a bus loaded with passenger that has disembarked from the Radiance that morning was heading north on the highway around noon, earlier that day. Well as reports came in we found out that a vehicle traveling southbound was making an illegal left turn into the wildlife center at mile marker 80. A northbound truck, trailering a mobile home slowed for the turning vehicle, and the bus did not stop in time causing a chain reaction, that resulted in a 7 vehicle pile up on the only road to or from Seward. Thankfully my parents bus was approaching mile marker 80 around 12:30pm, but if they had just been 20 minutes earlier, they could have been involved. Tragically one person did parish in the accident, but to the best of my knowledge all passenger from the Radiance were fine. This accident caused the road to close for 10 and a half hours. All but 3 of the cruise tour buses were informed in time and turned back to Anchorage or went to Alyeska for the day (a ski resort located about a quarter of the way between Anchorage and Seward) Unfortunately my parents and brother were on one of those 3 buses. They ran out of food and water about 6 hours in, I felt awful that there was nothing we could do. Here is a picture of the crash, I'm so glad that more people were not hurt. Looking at the pictures, the injury total could have been much worse.

 

 

While waiting to hear some news, Ali and I walked around the ship taking photos of different places. We went to the rock climbing wall and the water slide in the kids play area. Took a picture of the outdoor eating area of the windjammer. Then made our way up to the Solarium.

 

 

 

 

 

After our little stroll around the ship we went to our muster drill. At the drill the captain announced that of the 25 hundred people on our cruise, over 800 were stuck in Anchorage or the traffic jam, and we would not be sailing until all guests arrived. Due to the late departure we were going to have to miss the Hubbard Glacier. This was really sad news to everyone, but I was really glad my family was alright and not hurt. And I know me telling them that the captain told everyone he was going to wait for them, did make my parents a little less stressed about the situation.

 

Remember earlier in the review I talked about how David told us that the train was always sold out. Well that was the case this time too, and while the train was able to stop a few times and pick up extra passengers, unfortunately there was no way for the railroad to get them all.

 

So we continued to wait for news and in the mean time. then headed to the dinning room to meet up with my DW's family from Texas and eat some dinner.

[Bmorecruiser021]

Dinner was wonderful, It had been almost 2 years since we had seen my wife's family. We caught up and shared stories. Our wait staff was amazing, took such good care of the kids. I had the seafood pasta and Ali had the pork. Delicious!

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Martin, our waiter was booked up for the rest of the cruise and we did not see him again.

 

After dinner we walked up to the helipad to watch the sunset and wait for word on my parents.

 

 

 

 

My cousin-in-law Joey and his daughter Ella kept us company.

 

Traffic started moving again around 11pm and my parents make it to the ship around 12:30am. The staff were incredible. Kept the windjammer open so everyone could eat. Sheryl was running around making sure my parents and brother had all their bags. The staff greeted all the incoming passengers with champaign and drinks. Top notch service. I was very impressed! After seeing my parents I said goodnight and joined Ali, who went to bed a few hours earlier. My parents had to stay up to do the muster drill, but they told me, the next morning, that they were in bed asleep by 3am. Boy, it had been a busy and exhausting day. Let the cruise begin!

 

Thats all for tonight everyone. Hope you all have a restful nights sleep!

[cj_one2000]

We did tour 4 b. 2 nights Fairbanks and 2 nights in Denali. Our weather was spectacular. We were actually in the 10% who saw mt McKinley clearly in Denali. It was high 80's in Denali and no ac in the hotel was brutal. We saw caribou laying on piles of ice in Denali.

 

If I can figure out how to post a pic I will

 

 

 

LOVING your review

 

 

I live in Anchorage and it is brutal with no a/c especially if your house has a lot of windows :) this summer has been crazy and our lawn almost died even with watering it every other day.

 

To the OP, it's fun seeing the Alaska tour and cruise reviews here on CC, especially from non-resident perspectives! Glad you got to see parts of my home state and enjoyed your trip! My hubby jokes we should start our own tour company, charge half what the cruise ship companies do and still have a great business! ;) Alaska is a huge state, so much too see. I've lived here almost 30 years, very blessed to call it home.

[Bmorecruiser021]

Afternoon everyone!

 

Saturday ~ August 1 2015 ~ Cruising

 

Today started out overcast and very windy. We were moving very fast through the water to make up for lost time. I waked out onto the balcony and ran into my brother.

 

 

We talked awhile then went to breakfast in the main dinning room with my parents. I absolutely LOVE bagels and lox, and Royal has them every morning in the main dining room and the park cafe. You can guess what I ate every morning of the cruise.

 

After breakfast we met up with most of the family, changed into our family reunion shirts, and when to explore the ship. We saw the next cruise room above the centrum on deck 12, then the pool deck, and then we made our way down to the helipad after that we went to the park cafe for lunch. First Roast beef sandwich of the cruise, SO GOOD!

 

 

 

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

After lunch some of the family went to see a movie in the movie theatre, while Joey and I entered the poker terminate at the casino. Joey ended up winning the preliminary round, beating me by one hand. O well, I would end up entering another round, but more on that later.

 

 

After the tournament Ali and I went back to the cabin and sat on the balcony for a while enjoying the view.

 

 

Then we took a nap before dinner. It was the first formal night of the cruise. So we got dressed and headed to meet the family for dinner at the dining room. Ali had the duck and I had the beef. Scrumptious!

 

 

 

We returned to our room and found that Sheryl had made us a towel animal! We love finding towel animals in our room.

 

 

Ali and I went out and sat on the balcony. Enjoying the scenery and sunset.

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

More of the beautiful sunset!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After watching the sunset it was time to call it a night, and we went to bed.

[Brigbound]

Well done OP on this review so far. Thank you for sharing your cruise and muse with us! [emoji3]

[Bmorecruiser021]

Sunday ~ August 2 2015 ~ Juneau

 

The fog horn from the ship woke us this morning. Man was it foggy, like sailing through a cloud. But as we approached Juneau, we sailed right out of it.

 

 

 

Turned out to be a bright sunny morning. Ali and I grabbed our favorite breakfast from the park cafe. Then took some quick pictures on our balcony of downtown as we docked.

 

 

 

 

We headed to the gangway to exit the ship. The boys (and Ali) were going salmon fishing today. We were all very excited!

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

Well done OP on this review so far. Thank you for sharing your cruise and muse with us! [emoji3]

 

Thank you for the complement!

[Bmorecruiser021]

We waited on the pair for our excursion to start.

 

 

 

 

The excursion was going to be a lot of fun. Any salmon we caught we could ship home (and we did). The only thing that annoyed us was the extra $20 (and it was actually $30 - extra $10 for king salmon) that we had to pay in cash once on the fishing boat. But other then that, we loved the excursion!

 

The shuttle picked us up from the pier and drove us the half hour to the harbor where the fishing boat docked.

 

 

We boarded the Blue Addiction and headed to the salmon grounds. On the way out we got a great view of the Mendenhall Glacier.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

We made it to the grounds quickly and the deck hand set our lines. It wasn't long before we had a bite, but the first couple catches we throw backs.

 

 

 

Then the salmon really started biting. We caught 8 in total, 1 pink salmon and 7 silver. We split the catch with the other family we shared the boat with and sent home about 30 pounds of fish!

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good days catch. After our time was up, we went in, turned in the catch to the cannery, and then caught the shuttle back to the ship.

[Bmorecruiser021]

We did a little shopping then decided to take a quick trip up the mountain on the tramway before calling it a day in Juneau.

 

 

 

The view was spectacular! We got great pictures of the Princess ship pulling out of the harbor, along with the rest of the ships and the city as a whole.

 

 

 

The ascent was rather quick, going up 12 hundred feet quickly made me and Ali get a headache, so we turned right around and headed back down.

 

 

When we got to the bottom we noticed an Eagle sitting on top of the seafood building. I was able to get it as it swooped down and grabbed a fish out of the water.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

We made our way back to the ship, dropped our stuff off in our cabin, then headed down to meet the family for dinner. Ali had the Caprese Salad while I had the Arancini for an appetizer. For dinner, Ali had the Shrimp Insalata Mista while I had the Tiger Shrimp. Everything was delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we watched the sunset, then went to play some pool before going to bed.

 

 

 

Thats it for tonight everyone. Sleep well!

[Havin'fun]

Loving your review Kraig. One of the best and most comprehensive reviews I have seen.

Bumping this back to page one.

Diane

[Bmorecruiser021]

Loving your review Kraig. One of the best and most comprehensive reviews I have seen.

 

Bumping this back to page one.

 

Diane

 

 

Thanks Diane! Sorry I haven't written today. First day back to work has been brutal, plus it's mine and Ali's anniversary. I'll try writing a little more later tonight if I have time :)

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Thanks Diane! Sorry I haven't written today. First day back to work has been brutal, plus it's mine and Ali's anniversary. I'll try writing a little more later tonight if I have time :)

 

Oh that first day back to work is awful! How many times have you found yourself day dreaming about your cruise?

 

I can relate to a few things you posted.

First doing the pre cruise tour vs post cruise. We also did pre cruise and even though we only did 3 days, yes it was exhausting.

 

Second, I hated having to have the bags out the door at 6 am! Only good thing I did was we packed cruise only suitcase so that stayed on the bus the whole land tour and didn't see it until it appeared in our cabin.

 

The Radiance is our favorite ship, can't wait for the rest of your review and pictures!!

 

Welcome back to reality...don't work too hard!! ;)

 

***

[MrsK]

I've been enjoying your review.

 

We board the Radiance on Friday.

[Havin'fun]

Thanks Diane! Sorry I haven't written today. First day back to work has been brutal, plus it's mine and Ali's anniversary. I'll try writing a little more later tonight if I have time :)

 

Happy Anniversary!!! Take the night off from Cruise Critic! ;)

[lobster129]

Afternoon Everyone

 

So more on the Cruise Tour portion of our trip. I did a lot of research before out trip. Trying to figure out how much to budget for. I wanted to pay as much off ahead of time as I could, that way we would not have to worry about money while on vacation. I have to admit, that’s one of the major appeals of cruising.

 

So when we met with David, our tour director, the first night, he handed us our itinerary and our optional excursion packet with the princess and locations of the excursions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily we had budgeted a good amount of money for the land tour part, knowing that we wanted to fly to McKinley and do a few other excursions. What I forget to budget for was how expensive food was and is up there, but more on that later.

 

We found out that the reason why information is so hard to come by is because the options and prices for the excursions are constantly changing from week to week. Whether, time and availability being some of the variables that effect what is available. For example, as you see white water rafting was available in Denali. We wanted to do this excursion, so we told David, and filled out the paperwork. Unfortunately, due to whether and the fact that we participated in another excursion, which i will tell you about later in the review, we were unable to go. It was ok though, we were never charged and did get to participate in other wonderful excursions along the way. The way the excursions work is/are, you fill out the paperwork, hand it to your tour director, then he or she makes all the calls and sets it up so you can go, the others in your tour group may be relaxing or doing other excursions at that time, but they set it up so you never miss anything important. Then on the last day of the land tour, they charge your credit card for what you actually participated in.

 

I really appreciate you sharing these documents. It is information that I have not been able to find elsewhere. Even though we are sailing with Celebrity, both use the same company for the land tour portion, similar hotels and also extra/optional tours and upgrades.

 

We are not sailing until June...the numbers really help my budgetting. Also your comments about food and prices have encouraged me to make upward adjusted estimates for our planning.

 

I am also enjoying your reviews and lovely photos. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

 

Hope your anniversary celebration was special!

 

Becky

[pspercy]

Another "Thank you" for the land tour details. I notice fly fishing as an option for Denali, I wonder how this fits with the TWT etc.

 

We're thinking about "doing" Alaska again (We did =X= 11dy in 2010) but also considering HAL's 14 day cruise.

 

:) :)

Edited August 18, 2015 by pspercy

[edjny]

I really appreciate you sharing these documents. It is information that I have not been able to find elsewhere. Even though we are sailing with Celebrity, both use the same company for the land tour portion, similar hotels and also extra/optional tours and upgrades.

 

We are not sailing until June...the numbers really help my budgetting. Also your comments about food and prices have encouraged me to make upward adjusted estimates for our planning.

 

I am also enjoying your reviews and lovely photos. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

 

Hope your anniversary celebration was special!

 

Becky

 

It is important to remember that the details on these Land Tour documents are DIFFERENT for each Land Tour. We were on the '8B' tour and ours had the details relating to our tour. The ones posted have many differences with the daily plan and optional tours from ours.

 

While it is interesting to read the documents of a different tour, yours may be quite different.

[cruising to paradise]

Your review was great!! So excited to be going on Celebrity Millenium next week for our cruise/land tour.