Any Royal Caribbean Alaskan Cruise Reviews?

[TeeBuccs]

My husband and I have booked our first Alaskan cruise for late May 2006. We are both very excited as we have always wanted to see and experience the great Alaskan wilderness. I am looking for anyone who has specific information on unique or great shore excursions that we should be sure not to miss.

 

We are sailing on the Radiance - ports of call include: Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, and Seward. We then have a land tour for trips to Anchorage, (2 nights) Denali and flying out of Fairbanks. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if there is time to see anything at Seward? Or do you just get on the RCCL tram to head in-land towards Anchorage and Denali?

 

My main goal is to see as many critters as possible, particularly bears. I know this could cost a pretty penny - but it would be worth it. Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

[Jessi T]

No one else seems to have posted... so I guess I'll start.

 

Granted, it's been a couple of years since I last cruised to Alaska, but I loved it. Absolutely fell in love.

 

I'm pretty bad with specifics... though if you asked me some specific questions I could try to look things up in my hoarde of pamphlets/Compasses/what-have-you (I'm a bit of a packrat... I tend to keep just about everything).

 

One thing I will say is I took a land tour, and I almost enjoyed it more than the cruise itself! There is so much to see, and inland is so different from the coastal areas you seen when you're on the ship. With regards to Seward... it depends on your tour, I think. Some specifically tour around Seward before going off to other places, other's it's onto the bus and off to Anchorage.

 

As for the critters... I remember seeing the most in Denali. Never did see a bear, but we saw quite a few caribou and Dall's sheep, and some foxes and squirrels and so on. If you do see a bear, let me know! Our tour guide said it's certainly not common, but does happen.

 

Feel free to bug me for more info... it just helps to know what I'm looking for before I go digging.

[sailor moon]

There is an Alaska board under the "port" section of the message boards. That is where I found the information/suggestions/reviews for my trip planning. We were in Alaska in June on the Radiance doing the Vancouver/Inside passage route. We went to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchiken and Hubbard Glacier. The Radiance is the perfect ship to view Alaska given all her glass windows. You will have a fantastic time. We did whale watching with Captain Larry in Juneau and were to do a kayak trip in Skagway but the weather caused it to cancel.

[Host Caroline]

I am the "host" on the Alaska port of call board and there are quite a few posts from folks who went to Alaska last year on RCI if you look back a bit.

There are a lot of independent tour ops up there that do a great job.. but whether you use them or book through the ship's tour office you will have a great time.. Here are some websites to get your started in your planning:

http://www.traveljuneau.com, http://www.skagway.com and http://www.ketchikan.com..

Kayaking in Ketchikan with Southeast Kayaks is a great tour that you can book on your own.. a longer one to Orca Cove is popular and they have a shorter time as well. Floatplanes to Misty Fjords are also popular there.

In Juneau whale watching (Orca Enterprises is recommended a lot on the board), glacier flightseeing with walk on glacier (Coastal) and flightplane to Taku Lodge are popular.

Skagway's White Pass & Yukon RR gets rave reviews but we enjoyed renting a car and driving into the Yukon more.. The Chilkot Hike & Float is a great tour if you want to do some moderate hiking. Park Rangers in town do a walking tour (free) that gives a good overview..

[wolfcathorse]

Did Alaska June 2005 on Vision. Skagway - do the Yukon train and if possible eat at The Fish Co, Icy St Point - do your whale watching here (pods feeding all over the place), Juneau - anything with Mendenahll glacier (river float or fly in), Seward - we did a boat tour of Resurrection Bay (had a whale lobbing his/her tail by the boat), with the cruisetour you'll probably take the Wilderness Express (saw Moose in Achorage) to Denali. In Denali we did the 7 hr Bus tour of Denali (saw, grizzlies, wolf, ptarmigan, caribou, and sheep/goat). Also try and catch Cabin Night Dinner Theater in Denali (don't know which lodge that's held at) its a do-not-miss. If you overnight in Anchorage, the Outlet store in downtown had the best prices we saw in all of Alaska and the best selection and variety of merchandise. All the jewelry stores you'll see are owned by the cruise lines (they bring them up from the Caribbean), so don't buy, that's not what Alaska is all about. You'll have Capt Loekling so look forward to a great time on board.

[Barbee524]

Click on my screen name and you can find my review of the tour portion oly of our trip this year.

[Cruisechick82]

I've been looking for RCCL Alaska reviews too! We are going ont the Serenade next year r/t Vancouver stopping at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. I haven't seen as many RCCL reviews on the Alaska board as most people seem to go with Princess.

[Barbee524]

Look for a review posted by EBERTKMK, it's very good. He was on my same cruise southbound from Seward. We were on the Vision and departed June 3. Would love to type in more for you, but due to surgery I am currently down to one hand. Please forgive the typos.

[www]

Did Alaska June 2005 on Vision. Skagway - do the Yukon train and if possible eat at The Fish Co, Icy St Point - do your whale watching here (pods feeding all over the place), Juneau - anything with Mendenahll glacier (river float or fly in), Seward - we did a boat tour of Resurrection Bay (had a whale lobbing his/her tail by the boat), with the cruisetour you'll probably take the Wilderness Express (saw Moose in Achorage) to Denali. In Denali we did the 7 hr Bus tour of Denali (saw, grizzlies, wolf, ptarmigan, caribou, and sheep/goat). Also try and catch Cabin Night Dinner Theater in Denali (don't know which lodge that's held at) its a do-not-miss. If you overnight in Anchorage, the Outlet store in downtown had the best prices we saw in all of Alaska and the best selection and variety of merchandise. All the jewelry stores you'll see are owned by the cruise lines (they bring them up from the Caribbean), so don't buy, that's not what Alaska is all about. You'll have Capt Loekling so look forward to a great time on board.

Noticed you were on the Vision in June 05, I'm getting ready to book for late June or mid July of 06. How was the ship, was she beautiful, or worn? Were there many activities, how was the food? Thank you.

[MGilly]

We did the Vision of the Seas in June 2004, and it was one of the most memorable cruises we've ever been on! The ship was great, and the ports were wonderful. The Hubbard Glacier was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen! I truly had no idea what it would be like, and I could never imagined anything as spectacular as it turned out to be. Misty Fiords also took our breath away. Wow! As for excursions, our planned excursion in Icy Strait was cancelled, so we stayed onboard. Mistake! It turns out that a lot of the folks we talked to who HAD gone on the tender to explore Icy Strait had a really good time. We thoroughly enjoyed staying on the ship that day, but we regretted not exploring that port. Oh well. We spoke tp several people who had taken whale watching excursions. We didn't have to! One afternoon, just before dinner, we went back to our cabin so DH could change clothes, and we stepped out on the balcony. There were three whales jumping and spouting water and air through their blowholes, and we happily watched - along with about a hundred others people applauding from their balconies! You will have a wonderful time no matter what you choose to do on an Alaskan cruise. I have a felling you'd have to really try hard to NOT enjoy something that awesome!

[coast2coast]

See this link for a review (long) I wrote last summer...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=66904

[ebertkmk]

TeeBuccs, we did a week traveling on our own before taking the southbound cruise on the vision. Even with a week, we purposedly did not choose to go to Denali or Fairbanks and instead drove to Valdez and Homer as our primary destinations. While our oly bear sighting that week was one crossing the road a couple hundred yards in front of us, we saw eagles, moose, caribou, whales, poppins, and many others. My opinion is to rent a car, and make your own plans. That time of year, you should not have too many problems finding places to stay, but you're right it can be expensive.. Barbee, thanks for the compement.

[nerak]

I've been looking for RCCL Alaska reviews too! We are going ont the Serenade next year r/t Vancouver stopping at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. I haven't seen as many RCCL reviews on the Alaska board as most people seem to go with Princess.

 

We've done Alaska twice on the Serenade...it is wonderful! We had an aft balcony this year and could not have had it any better. We have done whale watching, the tram in Juneau, rock climbing at Skagway, the logging show at Ketchikan...and some times just a little shopping and wandering around the towns. Misty Fjords is peaceful and Hubbard is an awesome place! This year the glacier was calving continuously.

[bdoster]

We did Alaska last year on the Serenade, I highly recommeend it...beautiful!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=72104&pp=25

 

This is a review I did last year.

[TeeBuccs]

Thanks all for the advice. Obviously I know about the Alaska forums, but wanted the opinon of some experienced RCCL cruisers!

 

Sounds like we might do the following unless anyone thinks of better idea.

Juneau - Bear Excursion

Skagway - Glacier Excurison

Sitka - ? Not much information out there. Possibly fishing???

Icy Stait - Whale Watching Excurison

Denali - ??? not sure yet what to do

[elleluv]

TeeBuccs,

 

I'm wondering if you'll be getting off the ship in Seward while we are getting on? We're on the 6/3 Radiance cruise.

 

This is our first Alaska cruise, but we live in the Alaska Interior and have RV'd around the state quite a bit.... I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the land portion of your visit.

 

Of course you can never guarantee what wildlife will do, but we had the greatest bear experience on a bus into Denali a couple of years ago. A mama bear and her cub probably about 50 feet from the bus. The bus stopped and we watched them for quite a while.... What a fantastic experience!!

 

Have a great trip! :D

 

elleluv

[Cruisechick82]

We've done Alaska twice on the Serenade...it is wonderful! We had an aft balcony this year and could not have had it any better. We have done whale watching, the tram in Juneau, rock climbing at Skagway, the logging show at Ketchikan...and some times just a little shopping and wandering around the towns. Misty Fjords is peaceful and Hubbard is an awesome place! This year the glacier was calving continuously.

 

Unfortunately, RCCL took out cruising through Misty Fjords from the Serenade's itinerary for next year. We will have longer at Ketchikan, but I wish they would have kept the trip through Misty Fjords.:(