“Live” – Alaska – Radiance of the Seas August 19, 2016 – Indecision Cruise

[ozscot01]

I'm so excited to read this review as Alaska is a bucket list cruise for me. Thank you for sharing.

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

Have a safe trip home and thanks for another great review!

[Clarea]

Thanks for taking us along Bill, it was an enjoyable week with you and Marie.:)

[birdylady]

The luggage is in the hallway so I guess this cruise is just about over. We will be grabbing a car at the Alamo desk and driving home. Takes about three hours.

Hopefully tomorrow I can close this out. I have the Cruise Compasses and will scan them if there is interest. Thank you to all of you that followed along.

Yes, if you could scan the Cruise Compasses, that would be greatly appreciated. As has been this whole thread. Thank you for everything.

 

Erika

[britty1]

Thank you for taking us along, really enjoyed cruising with you and Marie. We will be on this cruise next year around the same time. The sea looked a little choppy on the way back in, any rocking and rolling issues. Look forward to your next cruise.

[island lady]

Hi Bill & Marie,

 

Great review. Do you recall the Hotel Directors name?

 

The hotel directors name is Robert. We had the pleasure of lunch with him on our

southbound leg (8/5) and dinner in Chops with him on our northbound leg (8/12).

Really great guy, and a lot of fun! :) F&B is new, and also a nice guy, named

Ken.

[sunset seekers]

The hotel directors name is Robert. We had the pleasure of lunch with him on our

southbound leg (8/5) and dinner in Chops with him on our northbound leg (8/12).

Really great guy, and a lot of fun! :) F&B is new, and also a nice guy, named

Ken.

 

Thanks, Is it Robert Taggart? If it is he is a great guy and very approachable. He is from our home town. I hope he stays on the Radiance for the Hawaii crossing.

[luvscruising2007]

Thank you for another wonderful review. You have renewed my interest in another Alaska cruise.

 

Can't believe your cruise is over already. Way too fast.

[CruisinBarb63]

Thank you for allowing us to tag along. It appears to have been a beautiful trip. An Alaskan cruise may have moved up on my bucket list.

[jaspercat]

A fantastic review, awesome pictures. Enjoyed tagging along. Thank you!

[island lady]

Thanks, Is it Robert Taggart? If it is he is a great guy and very approachable. He is from our home town. I hope he stays on the Radiance for the Hawaii crossing.

 

Yes, it was! He and his family indeed live in Vancouver. We spent a lot of time

talking to him. He is highly intelligent and has a great sense of humor. :)

[island lady]

Thanks so much Bill, for letting me relive our trip so quickly! Miss it already! :)

Great review and absolutely beautiful pictures!

[Gypsydreamin]

Thanks Bill, for a fantastic review!

 

Maybe next year we can go again.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Gypsydreamin

[Ron Don]

Thanks Bill & Marie for allowing us to enjoy your trip with you! Your pictures were fantastic :D.

 

Safe travels home.

[BecciBoo]

Hey Bill love the report...gotta ask you a question about the monorail. We're staying at the Holiday Inn by the needle...plan on going down to the market the afternoon before we sail. How close does the monorail get us. Can't walk as far as I once could.

 

Also, we're eating dinner at Elliot's Oyster House on pier 56. Have you been there or heard good things?

 

Thanks.

 

Becci

[SeaTeach]

Thanks so very much for taking me on a fantastic vicarious journey. I have tried to wrap my thoughts around an Alaskan cruise but this true Floridian just can"t do it...yet. So again thank you, Marie and Bill, for allowing me the "tag along".

[joand452]

Thank you, Marie and Bill, for letting us sail along! We hope to get back someday, even though I can't handle cold as I once did. Our first trip was in late May/early June, and it was much warmer than we expected. I remember being in a short-sleeved t-shirt on our balcony while cruising through the glaciers.

 

Everyone should do an Alaska cruise at least once -- those glaciers won't be around forever!

[ArkieCruisin]

Thanks for the wonderful review Bill. I always enjoy following along with you and Marie on here. You have us considering an Alaska cruise sometime :)

[easyboy]

Nice photos! Thanks.

[PCWalton1]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I am going to get back in here and close this out, probably tomorrow. I had to finally replace my home computer today. It was at least six years old and I had already replaced the power supply twice. :eek:

 

I spent most of the day setting up the new one so I should be back at it tomorrow.

 

Hey Bill love the report...gotta ask you a question about the monorail. We're staying at the Holiday Inn by the needle...plan on going down to the market the afternoon before we sail. How close does the monorail get us. Can't walk as far as I once could.

 

Also, we're eating dinner at Elliot's Oyster House on pier 56. Have you been there or heard good things?

 

Thanks.

 

Becci

 

The monorail ends at Westlake Center which is a good four blocks from the

market. Also that last block between 1st and Pike is fair steep hill.

 

Elliot's is good but pricey. They do give you a good selection of different types of oysters if that matters to you. :) Are you going down by pier 56 for other reasons than eating? Just asking as there is a lot of construction going on there

[Darkingnj]

Wonderful review and great pictures! My in-laws have been trying to convince us to take an Alaskan cruise... I guess they got tired of waiting for us, they're onboard now, embarked when you disembarked...lol.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Darkingnj

[NancyIL]

Thank you for a wonderful trip review, Bill! Your photos are amazing, especially in Misty Fjords. I have never seen such blue skies in Ketchikan, and I've been there 4 times! In fact, the Misty Fjords flight with Michelle was the first excursion I booked - months before our first Alaska cruise. Unfortunately, our flight first thing in the morning was under a low cloud ceiling, and we had to turn back after not going very far into Misty Fjords. I haven't been willing to try another flight there since then.

[PCWalton1]

OK, time to close this out. I bought a new tower computer yesterday and spent the day getting it set up. I know towers are old fashion but a brand new one is also cheap. :D

 

I scanned the Cruise Compasses along with the Diamond benefits list and the officer list. Hopefully you will find them here.

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7L10MPpLTl0U3dSOU5vLVR5Yjg

 

 

The cruise was tremendous, better than I anticipated. Probably what made it so good was the unusually dry and warm weather. Standing on the deck of a boat looking for whales or standing on a bridge looking for bears is a lot more fun when it is warm and dry. :p

 

Are we glad we finally took an Alaska cruise, you bet. Will we ever do another one, no way. I will not go back for all the reasons I didn't want to go in the first place. For the cruise we dodged the weather bullet but the two days pre-cruise in Seward showed us what can happen instead (as it did for the two cruises prior to ours).

 

Also it is just too dog gone expensive. Yes we got a killer price on our cabin but that does not happen all the time. But we actually spent more money on the shore with the excursions and meals than we did for the cruise. I understand the locals have a short window of opportunity for gathering income from tourists and I was happy to do my part. I just don't want to make another contribution. :o

 

Lastly (and here is where I will get the Alaska supporters riled) we have most of the same scenery/wildlife right here in Washington within a 100 mile drive. Our glaciers may be smaller and we do lack bears, but I have seen a lot more orcas and eagles within 20 miles of my house. Now please, please, please do not hammer me for this part, especially if you have not spent time around the San Juan Islands or explored the North Cascades or Olympic Peninsula.

 

A few words on Radiance. I thought they would have accomplished more cosmetically during the overhaul in May but I guess not. Railing stanchions still suffer from the multiples layers of slapped on paint and the furniture throughout the ship is still considerably worn. But that did not have any affect on our cruise, I just mention it as someone will ask.

 

The only thing ship-wise that detracted was the stench of cigarette smoke in the centrum frequently. There were several occasions we elected not to spend time in the centrum as it was too strong. Bad enough we have to tolerate it in the casino but it is disappointing to find it so heavy in a central gathering area. I guess we had a lot of smokers on our cruise. :rolleyes:

 

As for the crew, they were amazing as usual. It was great to meet up with some we had met back in April. We even got our same waiter we had back then. Good bunch of people and looking forward to maybe seeing some of them again in May.

 

Food was what we expect, no real surprises there. There was a menu in MDR one evening that was Alaskan focused with plenty of crab and salmon. Also lobster night was on the sixth night instead of on the fifth which worked well for us as we ate in Chops on the fifth night.

 

I'll leave it open for any questions. Hope you all had fun following along.

thanks

[PCWalton1]

Looks like the link I sent for the Cruise Compasses was not shareable.

 

Try this,

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7L10MPpLTl0U3dSOU5vLVR5Yjg&usp=sharing

[Missusdubbya]

thankyou, it was wonderful travelling with you and Marie :)