Just off Radiance of the Seas, Vancouver to Seward + cruisetour 5A

[CCJack]

Many thanks to all cruise critic members whose advice helped me to plan a great trip for my wife and I - we had a great time !!!

 

I would be happy to answer any questions about this ship or the ports (Vancouver, Ketchikan, Icy Straight, Juneau, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier, Alyeska, Denali, Talkeetna, Anchorage)

[mapleleaves]

Glad you had a great trip!

Could you post some details about sights and activities at each port and land stop?

And since cruise tour folks have so many questions about the land portion, please indicate the hotels where you stayed, how you travelled, and how long it took. In other words a brief trip report :) thx!

[CCJack]

I will post some photos later, but here is a text write up of our trip.

 

Ship - we have cruised several times on RCI. I thought the MDR food was very good, better then several of our last cruises. The Radiance is in fine shape. A little bit of a problem with the bed being a little hard (worn) and the bathroom smelling a little musty, but these are small complaints. Overall, the ship was beautiful. I am sure the entertainment changes, but our best show was the Elton John impersonator / comedian. It was very funny. The production shows where typical. We did not eat at any specialty restaurants, because excursions tend to be pricey in Alaska, we budgeted our money there. Actually we ended up cashing in most of our TA OBC on the last day. They gave me cash with no surcharge applied.

 

Vancouver – lovely city, our second trip. We stayed at the Pinnacle Hotel the night before and it was a very easy walk to the ship and just brought our luggage with us. For those walking up (as opposed to taxi or bus) it is a little confusing as to where to go. We found if you walk into the hotel, through the lobby and to the right there is an elevator you take down to floor CS (cruise ship), then it is straight forward when you exit the elevator. Alternately, you can take the ramp down just to the left of driveway that goes down, although it is tight quarters and a little tricky with luggage at spots. No problems at all with embarkation.

 

Ketchikan - It did not rain for us! We had great weather. The naturalist on board the ship (who gives lectures throughout the week) indicated in his 150 trips to Ketchikan it has rained all but 3 of them, so we got lucky, plan for rain. We booked a flightseeing excursion to Misty Fjord National Monument. It was great. We booked thought Mountain Air (actually tried Island Wings who were booked, but they operate somewhat jointly with Mountain Air. Both offer you a chance to exit the plane and spend about 30 minutes on land in the monument.) It was an excellent day. Ketchikan has excellent shopping opportunities as well.

 

Icy Straight Point – I was very pleased with the brand new dock and the surrounding buildings / development area for the ship. Reminded me a little of the cruise line private islands in the Caribbean, but it is not. I understand from talking to the locals, that the town of Hoonah (800 people and 1.5 miles away) funded it with help from the state. They did a very nice job with the cruise ship area. Don’t miss the short nature trail; there is a sign right after you walk through and exit the first red building. The Nature trail reminded me a bit of Muir Woods near San Francisco. An excellent way to spend 20 minutes after you return from your excursion. Icy Straight Point is a place you want to do an excursion, there is not a lot of ways to occupy a day if you do not. We booked a whale watching tour with Icy Straight Whale Adventures and this may have been the highlight of our cruise. We got very lucky and ran across 3 Orcas preying on a harbor seal. They “played” with this seal for about 30 minutes (which Orcas will do). It did not end well for the seal, and it was a bit graphic, but it is how the food chain works. The Orcas came over one at a time and bumped our boat several times, likely to let us know it was their prey and not ours. I got many photos less than 4 feet from an Orca. Amazing experience. Note that all wildlife tours are luck of the draw, however. Others on our cruise ship reported that they did not see any whales close up but did see quite a few whales from a distance on their RCI excursion at the same port.

 

Juneau - we opted for no excursion here. Instead we bought a combo ticket to the tram and Glacier bus for $59. We had intended to just take the tram up and down quickly but discovered hiking trails at the top. The tram goes up to 1800 and we ended up spending a half day up there hiking. The trails go up another 2000 feet or so, the top of Mount Roberts. Not an easy hike but you could see for miles and miles at the top. We then took the bus to Mendenhall Glacier. It was very nice, but likely should have skipped the glacier since we went to Davidson Glacier the following day. Go to Mendenhall if you have no other glacier visits planned.

 

Skagway - We booked the Glacier Point Wilderness Excursion through Alaska Shore Excursions. The interesting thing here is you can book this through the cruise lines, or through a number of different outside vendors, but they are all the same thing. They all use the same crew at the glacier, same buses, same canoes. The crew there was a lot of fun, younger folks who camp there for the summer and work for the company that puts on the excursion. This was a lot of fun, and we were lucky to get to touch the glacier. This depends somewhat on the weather, etc, but none the less this was a very fun day.

 

Hubbard Glacier – we had some fog, but cleared up towards the end of our 1 or 2 hour visit to the glacier. You remain on the ship but the views are really breathtaking, and cruising through the ice field is really something to experience.

 

Cruise Tour #5A:

 

Overall this was a great tour and RCI and Premier Tours (their contractor) handled it very well. Our tour guide and bus driver were both excellent. Our driver made an interesting comment, he said that RCI has put their money in the buses while Princess put their money in the Denali lodging. I think this may be true, the RCI buses looked much nicer than the Princess buses, but the Princess lodge at Denali appeared a bit newer and nicer than the Denali Village where we stayed. We did not do any excursions except for the Denali Wilderness Tour Upgrade.

 

Seward: They drop you off at the Sea Life Center. This is a good way to spend a couple hours, but likely will not be the highlight of your cruise, it is not a large aquarium that you may be used to seeing in a large city. A stroll along the shore in Seward was very enjoyable. You then board the bus to Aleyska.

 

Aleyska: This is a ski resort hotel and the by far nicest hotel of the trip. It has beautiful grounds, several stores in the hotel and 5 or so restaurants. There is a very large tram that goes up to the top of the ski hill and the tram ride is included in your package. We had a lot of fog, but I would expect the views to be fantastic if it were not for the fog we had. This would be a good place to not do an excursion, because the hotel is really beautiful and you can easily spend the evening taking the tram up and or hiking the beautiful trails around the hotel. People on our bus reported having a good time on some of the excursions as well, however. You will leave Aleyska and stop for lunch in Anchorage before make the long drive to Denali where you stay at the Denali village.

 

Denali: Everyone on our bus upgraded to the Wilderness Tour except for one family. I would highly recommend upgrading. It is a 7 hour tour, but it goes by fast and they stop the bus when you see wildlife. The Nature tour (included) has a different goal, you get off the bus to view plant life, etc, and it is only 4 hours. We were told that the Nature Tour usually does not see any animal wildlife. We saw 3 moose walk behind our bus, 1 grizzly bear walk right beside our bus, several other grizzlies from a distance, and about 10 or so caribou. Our guide said this was better than average. We did not take any other excursions, but people on our bus reported that the whitewater rafting was really fun, others said the “Dog gone it” tour to a sled dog training facility was also really fun. You need to pay attention to the different shuttle schedules while at the Denali village. They can be confusing. We went to the Denali visitor center and watched the movie there, it is beautifully done.

 

Talkeetna: The Talkeetna lodge hotel has a fantastic view of the Alaska mountain range out the back of the hotel. It is difficult to see Mount Denali this time of year due to the clouds, but if you are lucky you this hotel is an excellent vantage point. The town of Talkeetna is quirky and very small. However, we enjoyed a few of the shops as well as visiting the ranger station in town. This is where all Mount Denali climbers have to register and repot to. They also have a small display for tourists and a pretty good free movie on the mountain as well at the ranger station.

 

Wilderness express train: This was really nice. The seats are super comfortable, and you sit up high with wonderful viewing. They offer bar service and a very nice meal service. A very nice way to end your vacation.

 

Anchorage – you arrive at 8 pm and with an early flight we did not go out to see much of Anchorage.

Edited July 28, 2016 by jwith2boys