Radiance of the Seas Alaska Northbound, May 18, 2018

[5soonerfans]

Definitely interested in hearing about the motion...

 

 

Another question

Ketchikan and points north are in the AKDT time zone... not sure about Inside Passage... Vancouver is PDT... I assume the ship clock changes at some point -- can you let us know which day it changed for you?

 

We turned our clocks back before going to bed on Day 2.

[syracr]

I just looked at Day 1 Compass. There was a special of $99 per person or $179 per couple, limited to the first 30.

 

 

Awesome!

thanks!

[reallyitsmema]

What’s the weather like!?

 

 

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Weather has been okay. Temps in the low 50’s with some rain every day but not all day. Today is Skagway and is sunny and 48 right now but is supposed to be mid 50’s later, only 9:30am now. Layers, layers, layers. 😀

[OCSC Mike]

Hope everyone on this cruise had a great trip. Eagerly awaiting trip reports and compasses from anyone who wants to share!

[reallyitsmema]

Hope everyone on this cruise had a great trip. Eagerly awaiting trip reports and compasses from anyone who wants to share!

 

Mike, to address your DL dress question, can’t find the thread it was on but what you have planned is fine. We have seen jeans every night including formal nights. People have been dressed up more than I expected but there are both ends of the spectrum. Have seen shorts in DL during the day but not at night.

[OCSC Mike]

Mike, to address your DL dress question, can’t find the thread it was on but what you have planned is fine. We have seen jeans every night including formal nights. People have been dressed up more than I expected but there are both ends of the spectrum. Have seen shorts in DL during the day but not at night.

 

Thanks for thinking of me, appreciate it!

[5soonerfans]

We popped into the DL a couple of times to check it out, but did not stay since only 3 of us in the group were Diamond. It never seemed to be too crowded and as far as dress, you saw everything. We went to the CL every night and sometimes we were in our casual clothes and sometimes we were dressed for dinner.

 

I have started my trip report and scanned the compasses and hope to have it published by the weekend. My week has been crazier than anticipated, so I am slow to get it done.

[little britain]

Did they do any immigration checks or keep your passport?

 

Did they show any movies on the big screen or was it too cold.?!

Thanks

 

 

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[OCSC Mike]

I have started my trip report and scanned the compasses and hope to have it published by the weekend. My week has been crazier than anticipated, so I am slow to get it done.

 

Can't wait! You have been more than helpful. We don't leave til the 12th so take your time. :)

[5soonerfans]

There was no immigration check on board and they did not take our passport. We never had to fill out an immigration form. If you are sailing from Vancouver, everything is taken care of at the cruise terminal before boarding and it is very easy. If sailing from Seward, the process is also easy when getting off the ship in Vancouver. When flying from Vancouver you actually go through US Customs at the airport before getting on the plane, not when you land at your destination in the US.

 

Yes, they did show movies on the big screen even though it was chilly. People were usually in the hot tub and occasionally some kids would be in the pool. Four movies were shown everyday throughout the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[reallyitsmema]

Did they do any immigration checks or keep your passport?

 

Did they show any movies on the big screen or was it too cold.?!

Thanks

 

 

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We were on the May 25th sailing and they did not keep our passport (US citizens) but I know they did keep the passports of a Brazilian couple that were on our White Pass excursion. Excursion tickets specifically say you need your passport as you go into Canada and guest relations only wanted to give them a copy to take on the excursion. The couple almost missed the excursion because they were arguing with the person at guest relations.

 

Our sailing also had four movies a day, like 5soonerfans sailing, movies seemed to be the emphasis of the entertainment. Movie trailers were shown as part of the daily morning show by the cruise director. They had a family Quest, but no "real" quest, very few sports tournaments, very little entertainment, not impressed with the CD at all.

[5soonerfans]

As always, life got in the way when we got home, but I have finally wrote a report of our trip. I have also attached a link to view the Compasses, menus, and some miscellaneous stuff. The link is shareable and you do not need a Google account to view.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer or hopefully someone else can who has just cruised.

Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pk6H9MkLRBu9FmnP8CfSAtasKBQc9gqT?usp=sharing

May 18, 2018 Alaska Northbound

 

Background: Myself (51), Hubby (51), Son and daughter-in-law (both 28), Son (26) and his fiancée (25) and son (21). We are all from Oklahoma. We stayed in two Owners Suites and one Grand Suite. All rooms were in great condition. Our stateroom attendant, Putu, was very good.

We flew to Vancouver on the evening of May 16 and stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront. It was in the perfect location next to the cruise terminal. The only time we used a taxi was when going to Granville Island. The best thing was they took our luggage to the cruise terminal and checked it in for us. We didn’t see it until it was delivered to our stateroom.

 

On May 17 we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. There is a free shuttle from Canada Place and we enjoyed our time there. We then rented bikes and rode around Stanley Park for a couple of hours. We had a light meal at the Cactus Club before heading over to Granville Island. For dinner we went to Joe Fortes which was very good, but pricey.

The morning of the cruise some went to Tim Horton’s for breakfast which was very near the hotel. The hotel then took our luggage to the cruise terminal for us which was a very nice bonus.

 

We checked in for the cruise around 11:30am. We did the usual for us, eating lunch, making spa appointments and confirming our MTD reservations. I am never confident with the cruise planner when linking reservations.

 

MDR - The menus were newish. We have had them before on some of our cruises, but not last year on the Radiance. I would have to say that there were some parts I liked better, but overall not sure. The Vidalia Onion Tart is not as good as the original and there was one chilled soup. The gluten-free options were not all that great, but luckily our son is willing to be adaptable. The head waiter did stop by every night and Ben would place his order. He would ask if they could make something GF and sometimes they could. On Day 6 I asked if I could have the Savory Bites and Abhinav, our waiter, made it happen for the night of Day 7.

Dress code – Most nights were casual except the two formal nights. You saw jeans, pants, casual dresses on those nights. On the formal nights there were quite a few dressed up, but mostly pants and long sleeve shirts for the guys and dresses or nice pants and tops for the women. I don’t remember seeing anyone wearing jeans on either formal night.

 

We ate in Samba Grill one night and it was very good. There was a small salad bar to begin the meal. They then brought out some side dishes to go with all the meat they were going to bring out. There were seven different types of meat and they were all good. My one suggestion is to go hungry! It is a lot of food.

 

Concierge Lounge – Ricardo Sanchez was the concierge. He was very helpful when I made a request. He also arranged for there to be a hot and cold plate of GF items for my son every evening.

 

Diamond Lounge – Only three of us are Diamond, so we only went to the CL. I did pop in to the DL during cocktail hour to see how busy it was, and it did not seem to be overcrowded. Some of the regulars can probably give a better viewpoint. The food was the same in both lounges.

 

Casino Royale – There was letter in the stateroom for each C&A member. We were all Choice, except for dear hubby, who is Prime. One word of advice: if playing Craps make sure both dice hit the wall every time or they will call it a No Roll and there is no warning.

 

Ketchikan – We decided not to do anything here except walk around the town and do a little shopping. We ate lunch at Bar Harbor and it was very good.

 

Icy Strait Point – Most of the group went Halibut fishing with Hooked Adventures. Not a lot of look as only one halibut was caught, but the group had fun. There are a lot of eagles to be seen. As we were leaving ISP we saw quite a few whales.

 

Juneau – This was my favorite last year and again this year. We did the Canoe Paddle and Mendenhall Glacier Trek. We paddled over to the glacier and then hiked on it. Our guide, Daniel, drilled two ice spikes into the edge of a crevasse and then attached ropes to them and then to our harnesses, so we could lean back and look down into the crevasse. I am sure there are more technical terms to the whole process. The glacier has changed quite a bit since we were there last year.

Skagway – We did the Musher Camp and Dog Sledding excursion. We were picked up at the port and drove up to the camp. We were pulled by sixteen dogs for a short sled ride. Our driver and owner of the dogs is the grandson of the Iditarod founder. We then met the dogs and late listened to a short and interesting talk about the Iditarod. After the talk we were able to play with a few of the puppies.

 

Hubbard Glacier – We were not able to get very close to the glacier as there was a lot of ice in the water, but it was still amazing.

 

Seward – We used Anchorage Tours and Transfers. Our driver, Ira, picked us up at the pier and we spent the day driving towards the Anchorage airport. Ira was very informative and took us to some spots for photos. We went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for a bit. We then went to Alyeska Ski Resort and rode a tram up the mountain and had lunch. It is very scenic at the top and snow was still on the ground. On the way down, we saw a mother bear and her three bear cubs. After a couple of more photo stops and quick tour of downtown Anchorage Ira dropped us off at the airport around 6 pm. The price for the seven of us was the same as using RCCL’s bus excursion and included the tickets to the conservation center, the tram and a $20 lunch voucher for each of us. It was great that it was only the seven of us. T i

 

We loved the cruise and I think I could do it every year. Having done both the southbound and the northbound, I prefer the southbound. This is mostly because that last day of the northbound is long and the flights home are so late. If northbound was the only option I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

[vacationlover_mn]

Ok, I've asked this in a few posts previously, but would love your opinion too :) I plan to wear dresses on formal night, but would like to wear my well fitting LulaRoe leggings and tops for the other nights. Would I feel out of place? I'm in my early 40's. Thanks!

[ace1zoe2]

Thanks for the review! We fly out in the morning for Friday’s Southbound Cruise.

 

 

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[5soonerfans]

Ok, I've asked this in a few posts previously, but would love your opinion too :) I plan to wear dresses on formal night, but would like to wear my well fitting LulaRoe leggings and tops for the other nights. Would I feel out of place? I'm in my early 40's. Thanks!

 

Leggings and tops will be perfectly fine.

[BBQluver]

Thanks for the report. I appreciate the menus and the daily compass guides. They help me with planning for our southbound trip coming up in July. We live in Oklahoma, also. By July we will be ready to cool off in Alaska.

[ccarroll57]

Thanks for your review and posting the cruise compasses. We leave on the 15th of June and this is great info.

[BBQluver]

Thanks for the report. I appreciate the menus and the daily compass guides. They help me with planning for our southbound trip coming up in July. We live in Oklahoma, also. By July we will be ready to cool off in Alaska.

 

As an addition to my above comment, I noticed that the Compasses that were posted are dated for June 2017. Were the activities more or less the same for your cruise this year?

[reallyitsmema]

As an addition to my above comment, I noticed that the Compasses that were posted are dated for June 2017. Were the activities more or less the same for your cruise this year?

 

Thank you for noticing that! We sailed Radiance the week after the OP and I was looking at this set of compasses wondering why they had more activities than we did. I think she just linked to her last years compasses by mistake. She had said they sailed last year too.

[5soonerfans]

Oh, wow! That is my BIG mistake and what I get for being in a hurry and not paying attention to what I was doing! I will update to the correct Compasses tomorrow.

 

Thank your for bringing that to my attention.

 

Jennifer

[cctimmom]

Thanks so much for answering all of the questions and posting your trip review! It sure does have me excited for our trip!!

[mommo6]

For anyone who will be in Anchorage on June 16 and might be looking for something good to do, I have a tour that I had booked for my husband and myself that we will not be able to go on now. We were in an automobile accident recently, and as a result, we have had to cancel our Alaska Cruise/Tour. Here is the information on the tour: Alaska's Finest Tours & Cruises "Glacier and Wildlife Explorer Tour" for 2 on Saturday, June 16 that starts at 1:00 p.m. at the Anchorage Visitor's Center directly behind the log cabin in downtown Anchorage. I can transfer this tour to 2 other individuals who are interested in taking this tour. The tour includes a boat ride to the Portage Glacier and wildlife sightings. It received very high ratings on Trip Advisor. If anyone is interested in taking this tour, you can contact me at: golightj at gmail.com

Thank you!

[emory2001]

Thanks for sharing, especially the new menus. I'm sailing Alaska in July and will probably have dinner in the WJ and specialty a few nights because these look very lackluster. :/

[vacationlover_mn]

Loved looking at the menus! Trying to exhibit some restraint, and avoiding the planners, so that I’ll be surprised :)

 

 

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[EndlessSea]

Thank you so much for taking time to post all your experiences. It is very useful in planning for everyone. I hope you have a chance to include the cruise compasses.