Long -Just Back Radiance of the Seas 6/24 Cruise Tour

[lovquilts]

June 24, Radiance of the Seas, Land Tour #4, North Bound, Plus some touring on our own.

Day One - (Arriving at Vancouver) Friday, June 23rd, 24 of us flew out from Chicago O'Hare to Vancouver, BC. on United. Good Flight, no issues. Everyone got their luggage at the airport, (thank goodness). Cabbed and shuttled to Holiday Inn Express, Hastings Street. Clean hotel, neighborhood seemed "ok". Only 1 drawback, the very discreetly labeled "Adult" store across the street from the Hotel.

 

Day Two - (Embarkation) Woke up early, par-took of the complimentary breakfast, wearing shorts and t-shirts. On the road to the pier, via free shuttle, by 9:45am. The free shuttle brought us over in groups of 4 so we were all at the pier by around 11:15 am. Walked into the check in area at Ballantyne pier, went directly up to an agent. She was in training and a bit confused, but we were all done and heading on to the ship within 10 minutes, (including the stop at customs). None of our group had to wait to speak to a check in agent, we all walked up to one. Everyone on board by 11:30am (with photos). We were told that we should wait until 1pm to try to get into our room so we went straight up to the Windjammer for lunch. Sliced to order prime rib (yummy), and some kind of salmon - go figure ;), are the only things that stand out in my mind from that lunch.

After lunch we went to drop off our carry ons in the room. Inside cabin 3517, towards the way front of the ship. Sleeps 4. Nicely decorated, small couch, table, desk with drawers,hutch with slide out tv, mini-bar(pay as you take), 2 end bedside tables, closet with a second level of hanging bars that you could fold down for more hanging space. Several smallish shelves to hold folded clothes. Opened bathroom door got knocked down by stench, toilet contained old urine. Yuck.

No luggage yet.

Off to explore the ship. Worked from the bottom up. Located our dinning room tables. 1- 12 seater and 2- 6 seaters. Stopped for the "Mustard" drill - as my 8yo DD called it. Departure delayed until 6pm due to a late flight from NC. Found the "Rock Wall" at around 5:30pm. Was scheduled to open from 6pm-7pm. The climbing wall attendant(?) was starting to set up when we arrived so we stuck around. The 8yo dd was the first up the wall, ending her 30ft climb at around 6pm. Headed down to dinner.

Dinner was uneventful, good portion size, appeared to be good variety of items to order. I always went with the Beef option. Strip steak was a "staple" on the menu, you could get it everyday, as was a chicken breast and pasta marinara, and few other things I don't remember.

Went back down to room after dinner, some luggage not all, DH unpacked and put his suitcases under the bed. Toilet would not flush. Called maintenance. Went to evening "Welcome Aboard" show. Noticed toilets toward the front of the ship were "out of order" Came back to cabin, toilet flushed ok for first person, plugged for 2nd. Another call. Rest of luggage in room, I unpacked for the rest of us. Sprayed a little cologne in the bathroom to kill the nasty urine stench that had been there since boarding. Then headed out to check out the night life for a while. Didn't stay out too late tonite, kids (mom) were tired. So, after a round of mini-golf with the cousins, we turned in early. Kids love to get room service on cruises so we tried some tuna sandwiches and cookies. DH stayed out late with others from our group and at the casino.

 

Day 3- Toilet worked for first 2 people, then plugged up. This was the 3rd strike. Off to Guest Services to complain. Gave them 3 tries to get it fixed. They opened a "ticket" to document issue or whatever they call it and would get back to us. Went up to get breakfast and do a little walking around the deck. Came back to room with a message to call the Guest Services Manager. Called her, Ghana, she stated that there is an issue with the entire front end of the ship plumbing, that was being worked on, with no time estimate. She offered to move us to another room, 3144, Aft. (last cabin on that deck), found husband and decided to get out of the plugged toilet room.

Went to get keys to new room, they kept all old keys except 1, Went to check out new room, walked in, full of clothes, computer, camera, etc. Back to Guest Services. Room was supposed to be empty. Now, down to 1 key in for 3517 (old room) and 4 keys to new already occupied room. Guest services states that room is listed as empty in their records. They call someone several times to go check out who's stuff is actually in the room, they believe it is a contractors stuff, because that is who is supposed to be in there starting tomorrow in Juneau. Person on the on the other end of the phone refuses to go check. This goes on for about 15 minutes, the guest services person says, "Don't make me call your boss about this." The conversation ends, Guest Services person then starts to call bosses up the list. Was told to come back in a while as it could take some time to sort it out. Went away for a while, then came back at 4:30. Still didn't know what was going on. Was told to come back later, I refused to leave cause nothing was getting resolved if I didn't stand around. Ended up standing there until just about 6pm (on formal night) in my sweat suit. Still not resolved, they figured out who's stuff is in there but they can't find him to move him out. He's somewhere on the ship, they don't know where. Finally spoke face to face with Ghana, told to go enjoy the evening (yeah, right) and they will tell us when we can move our stuff. Missed our "cocktail" party but went on to formal night dinner (in sweats). We were not the only ones, apparently 50 people never got their luggage prior to getting on the ship. The cruise line was still trying to track it down.

After dinner, had a message on the phone that the new room was ready and as soon as we were ready they would send a bell hop over to move our stuff. Tossed everything back into suitcases and called bell hop at 8:30 to come help us move. Was told it would be about 15 min for the hop to arrive. At 9:10 I called back wondering what was going on. They said they thought I had been moved already.... at 9:30, the bell hop lady arrived. 2 trips across the boat later we were moved into our new room. Unpacked again, picked up the kids from Kids club and went to bed, totally aggravated and exhausted from the days activities.

 

Day 4 (Juneau - supposedly)

Woke up early (had a window now...early sunrise) had breakfast and went up to the Starlight Lounge to see if anyone was waiting for tender tickets yet (8am) , scheduled ticket dispersal time was 11AM, because I needed to get 24 tickets for early exit due to 1pm tour with Capt. Larry. The folks were already waiting. Stood in line for a long time, several of us needed tickets to get off due to privately booked tours in Juneau. Around 10am the wife of the gentleman behind me comes in and states the rumor on the pool deck is that we are not going to be able to get into port today due to a satelite issue. We all start to do the preliminary worry. At about 10:20 the Capt. comes on the PA system and it is true, due to the satellite being down they were not able to transmit the manifest to the coast guard 24 hrs prior to arrival so port stop in Juneau is cancelled. They knew this was going to be the case the night before, why didn't they say something earlier so many of us would not have had to waste hours standing in tender ticket lines. Up until around 8am, everyone that asked at guest services, was told we were on schedule and due to arrive early! Horrible communication. To help to make it up to us, each person was being given a $100 credit to the state room ($400 for us). And free drinks available at 3 bars for an hour that afternoon.

Called Capt. Larry to inform them, they were very nice. Going to refund us and told us where to look for whales from the ship.

The "Free drinks" were specific drinks and it was a mad house trying to get served. Rum punch, bloody marys, screw drivers, and some yellow banana type drink. There may be more but those were the ones that our group had.

Ended up cruising into Tracy Arm Fjord for the afternoon to see Sawyer Glaciers. They were interesting. The kids liked seeing the seals on the "icebergs". Was told by many that this was a big deal, that they don't usually let cruise ships in there anymore. We got up to the point where there was a Y in the fjord and you could see both glaciers at the same time. Very chilly, Hubby had an "enhanced" hot chocolate and liked it. The kids went off with 2 of their older cousins for the viewing. At one point they sent a life/rescue boat out into the water to retrieve some glacier ice. We don't think they actually got any to bring back on board but I may be wrong, very amusing to watch though. Lots of crew came up on deck to take photos too. They seemed very excited to be seeing a new "port" as well.

After the viewing, it was back out to sea, heading to Skagway, assured by the Capt. that we would have no issues with this port. The "missing luggage" was being sent on to Skagway for the 50 missing theirs.

Was starting to get ill this day so the rest of the activities are kinda a blur. That evening I skipped the show and went off to bed. Husband brought the kids down after the show (I think,i was asleep very early).

 

Day 5 (Skagway)

As Pooh would say, "A very blustery day". Cold and VERY Windy. We arrived in port on time, if not early. Got off the ship and walked into town for a while to buy some souvieners. It was so cold and windy that at one point my the 8yo had trouble actually making progress in walking, she was leaning into the wind and it was holding her up. Went back to the ship to drop of treasures and headed out to our Klondike Summit and Gold panning Tour.

Tour guide Brandon was very helpful and amusing. Had lots of stories and info as we were heading up the pass to the Summitt. Had a couple of ladies that from the moment they got on the bus were asking about bathrooms. Ya'd think you'd go before you got on a bus for a 3 hour tour? They were appalled at the "emergency" pit toilets at the top of the trail, just over the boarder of Canada, so they continued to hold it, asking every few minutes when we would be at the "good" toilets. Doing the potty dance at each stop. My 2 girls 8/10 were not as whinny as they were.

So, after making our way back down the mountain, we made it to Liarsville for the gold panning. They give you some warm cider and a ginger snap cookie. Then off to the "Hippodrome" for the show. They did an amusing little show. Then did a brief lesson in gold panning. My daughter was chosen as a helper for this part. She enjoyed it. Then we were sent off to pan for our "genuine Alaska gold shipped in from Canada." We found our almost microscopic gold and searched the panning bins for some others missed. Stopped by the store, petted the Malamute, Denali and head back to the bus.

We were dropped off in town. Did a little more shopping. They had giant cookies at Starbucks for lunch. Hubby took the Red Onion upstairs tour, hoping to see ghosts, nothing. Did a bit more wandering around and then headed back to the ship, thoroughly frozen at this point.

Back on ship, headed up to Windjammer for a snack and hot chocolate. Casual night for dinner, was so tired and cold, decided not to change clothes and just went to dinner "as is". Kids went to Adventure Ocean (kids club) for the evening, but wanted to see the show, so I picked them up. Afterward, off to bed with the kids. --at this point I realized how old I am getting, I used to be able to party all night.

 

The luggage for the 50 people arrived. As we were exiting the ship, they were loading it on in one of those monsterous luggage bins, and 1 suitcase went overboard, into the water....what rotten luck those people are having!!

 

Day 6 (Sitka)

Not windy. Rainy. Light misting combined with intermittent rain. Woke up with sore throat but seemed better after breakfast. Tendered into town, walked around to the National park, with the totems. Walked through the woods to the Raptor Center, by the time we arrived, I was exhausted with splitting headache. Parked myself on a bench outside and waited for the rest of the group do tour the place. Cabbed it back to the town, right near the Russian Church. Went into some shops as we worked our way back to the pier, in the rain. I was not very impressed. Perhaps the weather and my physical state of being that day had a lot to do with it.

Don't remember much of the evening. I think I skipped the show? I was getting pretty ill by now.

Day 7 (Icy Strait Point)

Had scheduled Bear Watching tour for dd10 and me and hubby dd8 was too young so she spent the day in the kids club (had a complete blast). Mom wished she could stay in bed, full fledged illness. Think I had the flu, barely any voice and coughing and aching. Joyful day. Out of all the ports we went to, I liked ISP the best. They made you feel really welcome, from the wood chips for the fired to the way you were treated on tours and in shops. Always very welcomed and eager to talk to you. Our guide on the Bear watching tour was really good, unfortunately I do not remember his name, but he said he is a paramedic, had been in the military (i think) and was now back at home. He gave detailed information on this history of Hoonah and its culture. Explained the Eagle/Raven clan situation, how every person is a member of a clan, and an Eagle always had to marry a Raven (his mom is from Chicago, but was adopted into the appropriate clan). Very interesting. The guys with the shotguns (for protection) on the bear hike were brothers, and were very knowledgeable as well, apparently they were brothers of the gentleman on the pier who was handing out the wood chips as we arrived. Saw 2 teenage bears and an older bear the guides had named "Junior". Got some good shots on video of them standing and sniffing. Otherwise mostly just shots of them in the grass eating. Guess some others later in the day didn't see anything.

After the tour we stopped at the Cookhouse Restaurant for a Dungeness Crab and some beer batter dipped Halibut. I am a meat eater, pretty much don't like fish. Halibut was great. I still can't believe I am typing that. But it was really good.

After lunch, the rest of the group went for a walk around the hiking trail. I headed back to the ship to bail out my DD8 from kids club but her grandma had already gotten her out. She was playing cards and sipping a Strawberry Daquiri when I arrived. She went with me back to the room, after showering, she played Tetris and watched tv while I napped until DD10 came back from her hike with Dad. Cleaned her up too, then changed for formal night #2 dinner. Lobster tails and some excellent prime rib. ( I think it was prime rib? Evening kinda fuzzy) Husband had both, I had lobster. DD8 had lobster, DD10 had prime rib. Went back to the room after dinner, had chills and shakes for a while, then turned in for the night. This was quest night, the 1 night I wanted to go out and do something....no way was I going anywhere, plus my ears were now plugged up too. In bed by 9pm.

 

Day 8 (Hubbard Glacier)

Several people in our group didn't think they would bother to get up to see the glacier, as they had seen one earlier in the week at Tracy Arm. Boy did they miss out. This was like nothing you could imagine. Managed to get several shots of glaciers calving with the video, at a wide angels. There was 1 section that appeared to be very "top heavy" so I focused over there. Paid off, got several big chunks falling. I was on the 12th floor near the Kids Club. As the boat rotated, I just opened the door and walked through to the other side and picked up where I left off. Much better than walking "around" the ship as others we're doing. Quicker with brief 30 second warm up every few minutes. Perfect way to view it.

After the viewing, I went down to start packing up. Packed and napped for most of the day. Had a good dinner. Finished packing up, and put our luggage outside the cabins, praying we will see it again at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Went to the juggling show, amusing. (DD8 has been trying to juggle stuff ever since.)

Noticed the bathrooms at the front of the ship are still "Temporarily Out of Order"- according to others in our group, they have been all week. Guess they never got that major plumbing issue resolved. Glad we changed rooms. On that note, we had been very upset at the aggravation and wasted time due to that room moving earlier in the week. We received a letter stating that they would either credit us $100 on our stateroom or give us the equivalent of 1 day credit on a future cruise. At this point, we decided to take the credit on a future cruise as 1 day for the 4 of us was much higher than the measly $100 they wanted to credit us.

 

Day 9 (Debarkation and a bus trip to Talkeetna)

We were "Pink - 1" tickets. We were called off the boat shortly after 8am. At the end of the gang plank, they pointed us to the correct bus and loaded us on. Everyone from our group made it, had to wait for 4 people for a while but eventually they arrived, and off we went. Tour director gave out information and time tables, tried to explain the luggage tagging system (that was so incredibly confusing for some folks!), and told us about areas we were passing. We arrived at a stop at the Wildlife Conservation Center. One of their guides jumped on our bus and gave us a brief tour and talked about the different animals and why/how they came to be there. He had really cool curly blond hair (he said it was natural). Saw brown bears, black bears, moose, baby moose, and some other animals I don't remember exactly which ones. After a quick potty/souviener break we were back on the road to Anchorage.

In Anchorage they dropped us off in Ship Creek very near the Saturday/Sunday Market. Very much like "Craft Fairs" at home. We had lunch at the Downtown Deli. Then went to walk around the fair for a while. Headed back to the bus and were then on our way to Talkeetna for the evening.

Arrived in Talkeetna around 4:30ish. Hopped a shuttle into town, went to a few shops and then the guys in our group discovered ICEAXE beer. 9.2% by volume. 2 beer limit per person. A couple men drank their limit while us ladies shopped. My big purchase, duct tape for 1 suitcase that had a broken zipper. This turned out to be the joke of the week, this ugly suitcase. Had dinner at the Smokehouse Shack, good food, I hear the ribs were massive. There was a big yellow dog here, lounging, we asked if we could feed it, the guy said he didn't care, it wasn't his dog, belonged to the guy next door, Jim from the Fairview Inn. Asked his name, "Jim's Dog". He was pretty polite, just said there with big sad eyes until you gave him food. If you asked him what he wanted he'd put his paw on the table and stare at your food. He was amusing for the kids. Didn't like potato chips though.

As it was now about 10pm and still completely sunny out, the rest of the gang decided to walk around some more, I headed back to the hotel by myself, exhausted and coughing. I think I was asleep when they came in.

 

Day 10 - Talkeetna to Denali

Luggage had to be out by 6am. We had to be on the bus by 7:30. The buffet breakfast was $13.50 pp. Ala-carte items were really high also, $5 for 1 piece of French Toast. Ended up splitting 2 very large - $4 muffins for the 4 of us. Back on the bus headed up to Denali. Bus ride was nice and scenic. We went past our hotel, McKinley Village, on the way to our Natural History Tour. We were dropped off at McKinley Chalets, several of us ran across the street to get Subways subs to take on the bus for the tour. This process took so long I though we were going to miss the bus. There were about 10 people in line infront of us. It took about 30min to get through those 10 people. The folks working there were so slow. It was like they had no idea what "effienciency" is. Everything took forever and they were talking to each other in forgein languages and moping and stuff while people were waiting, it was unreal. So sandwiches in hand, we dashed back to the bus, just in time to head to be picked up by the Park Service bus. We had an excellent guide, once again, I have forgotten his name. We saw a moose on the way up the road. At the "turnaround" we were given hot drinks and granola bars. Most folks went out to hear a native alaskan speak about the land and his tribe. With my cough, I opted to stay out of the cold wind and sit on the bus. On the way back down the driver got very excited about seeing a ptarmagin and it chicks cross the road, said it was the first one he'd seen this year. When we were almost back to the visitors center, there was a moose right next to the road. She was not scared at all. She had been tagged and was being studied. Moose have 2 calves each time they give birth, if lucky 1 will survive. Apparently this moose mom has discovered that if she tolerates being around people more, coming closer to the visitors center, etc, that her calves will survive. She has managed to bring both her calves into adulthood each time she gives birth. Smart moose, realizing that bears are won't come that close to people if they don't have to.

Went to our room at the McKinley Village lodge. All luggage there, pretty nice room, view of the river. Hopped the shuttle bus into "Glitter Gulch" to do some shopping before our Cabin Nite Dinner Theater. Cabin Night was interesting. They seem real nice when you get there and then seem to rush you. I guess to get to the show, but I felt kind of offended by this, we are paying lots of money to be there and to be rushed through everything was annoying.

After the show, went back to the room for bed.

Day 11- (Denali to Anchorage)

DH and DD10 had an 8am River Float Trip. They were very cold and hungry when they got back but really enjoyed it. DD10 says next trip is a white water rafting. We then boarded the bus for a ride back to Talkeetna to catch the Wilderness Express Train. In Talkeetna, the "drinkers" all headed over to the pub for Iceaxe beers and the rest of us went shopping or walking. Around 4pm back on the bus, for the 2 min. ride to the train station where we were told the train was delayed until 5:15. At 5:15 the train arrived, we hopped on and were on our way.

We had "first" seating on the train for food. Excellent Prime Rib. Spotty service, over all a nice dining experience. Spent some time standing between the cars, outside, this was fun. Then went back up top to the domed car. Napped a bit and soon arrived in Anchorage at our hotel for the night, Marriott.

Once we arrived, another couple decided they wanted to go home that night, so I shared a cab to the airport with them to pick up our rental car for the next 2 days.

Easy pick and drive back to the hotel, due to being able to see so well at this time of night, for those of us in the lower 48, it looked like 6pm outside. Got back at 10:15pm, kids wanted to go swimming, so we went down until 11pm.

Got them showered and in bed by 11:30am.

Day 12- (July 4th- A day on our own) The rest of the group of 24 left today from the hotel at 5:30am for a 7am flight. We pulled out in the Honda Pilot SUV at 6:30am. Heading south back to Seward for a night stay there. We had an 11:30am tour of the Seavey sled dog facility near Seward. This facility is right near Exit glacier, we arrived early and took the small hike to see the glacier. Afterward we went to wait for the dogs. Got there early and were taken back in our small group (5 -MIL was with us) to see FlapJack - played Buck in movie Eight Below. And to cuddle puppies. 3 weeks old. Had one sucking on my neck. Interesting to hear that puppy cuddling is part of their training, so they will be used to being handled by anyone anytime on the iditirod trail. Mom had no trouble with us holding her pups, wagged her tail the whole time. We then played with the 3mth old puppies, they were really rambuncious. Cute, but rambunctious. Watched a brief movie on life on the Iditarod Trail, then Dan (?) came out and showed us how they bundle up the dogs on the trail and how they take care of them, how the sled works, etc. Then it was off to the "Sled Ride". We went out into the dog yard where the dogs all went nuts with "Pick me, pick me" barks. They were all very eager to pull the "sled" . Very bumpy but very fun, the dogs were all slobery but friendly. Guess cause they are "pups" and are still in training and not in very good shape yet, they get drooly. They really seemed to be happy dogs.

After the Seavey tour we headed into the VERY crowded Seward for the Mt. Marathon races. We were staying at the Van Gilder Hotel, only one with a vacancy on July 4th. Plus when my husband heard it may be haunted he had to stay there. Hotel was clean but really needs to have the windows replaced, our room had 2 windows that would not shut. We ended up putting towels in the gaps and putting a blanket over the headboard of 1 bed to block the breeze, they also gave us a space heater. Ended up being ok. We were right in the middle of the "action" of the races. So we went to the booths and shops, etc. Had great Beer Batter Halibut and Hush puppies with Honey butter. VERY good. Husband tried Reindeer sausage smothered in grilled onions...I just couldn't bring my self to eat it, (picky eater) the kids were kinda leary, thinking it would make santa angry. After the town cleared out, we headed down the street toward the Breeze Hotel. I got some cold pills for the plane ride tomorrow cause my ears were still plugged up. We picked up a couple of subs for dinner and went back to the hotel. I set up the camcorder to record the room to see if we can catch any ghosts on tape. (We watch way too much SCI-FI channel can you tell?) Then off to bed.

Day 13 - (Heading Home)

Woke up fairly early - 8-ish and packed up and headed out. Drove by the Benny Benson Memorial, then over to the abandoned Orphanage he used to live in, (Another suppossed haunted site) for some photos.

After that fueled up and headed back to Anchorage. Stopped at the Ranger Station just outside of Girdwood. Then headed to the Crow Creek Mine for a look around. We didn't do the gold panning as we didnt have much time left but walked down to the "creek" (big stream with rushing white water). There were a few people down there panning. They had found some gold and were excited. They were heading out shortly after us.

Back on the road to Anchorage stopped down by Dimond Ctr mall, as I knew there was Wal-mart there, to replace the "Duct Tape" bag. Thinking we'd be hassled at the airport, the thing really did look like a bomb all taped up like that. Stopped for a burger at McD's and then head back into "Downtown". We walked through a few more shops and then headed back to the airport for our 8:05pm flight back to Chicago. Will NOT do that again. I was thinking the kids would sleep. NOT!!! They were up all night, for the 6hr flight. Way crowded and way hot on that flight, I could not get off fast enough.

So now I am back home and still trying to recover from the busy busy trip. Thought I would share this as I enjoyed reading so many others experiences.

[lovquilts]

Things I noticed and would pass on to others,

The line to get a cab in Vancouver, from those debarking in Vancouver was unreal. We watched it for 2 hours and it still was not completely gone. There were only 1 or 2 cabs there at a time, shuttling people around. You'd think they'd know to line up there, like the airport, guaranteed fares? I don't get it. The line was massive. - TIP - get transfers or you will be waiting endlessly for a cab, - maybe because this was Ballantyne pier, and not Canda Place?

 

If you are taking a Northbound cruise tour, you will stop at a Wildlife Conservation Center, on your way to Anchorage area. They have bears and moose (among other animals). You can get very up close and personal...so if you don't mind seeing the bears in wire cages, you can skip the expensive bear watching tours where you may see little brown fuzzy dots eating things in tall grass....or you may have a bear walk up to your group and stand about 50ft away too...or see nothing at all. Also saw many Holland America Buses at this place as well.

 

If you have an inside cabin, take a night light for the bathroom, if you have an outside cabin take some tape to make sure they stay shut at "night" so you have some darkness.

 

For the Denali hotels on the Land tour, McKinley Village, is for RCCL, McKinley Chalets is used by Holland America. Princess Lodges by Princess. Denali Cabins appeared to be in use by private land tours, Did not see any "big name" buses over there.

 

If you are trying to get Cabin Nite tickets and they are sold out through your cruise line, try at the hotels, they have a separate allotment they can sell. We ended up getting ours at the Chalet, even though we were staying at the village.

 

When in Alaska, don't expect speedy restaurant service. They are just so much more laid back up there than we "rush rush" lower 48-ers.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your honest review. I don't know what's going on with RCI/Celebrity, but they seem to be having quite a few problems lately with their ships. I would've been SO disappointed to miss Juneau!

[jjduck]

Hi lovquilts,

 

I hope you are feeling better, now that you're home, safe and sound.

 

With all the humbug stuff that happened to you onboard, you managed to have a good time. Fantastic attitude you have. Loved your comments about sci-fi and taping things to catch ghosts and such. :D You have so much energy, to do stuffs with the kids with those pesky flu symptoms. Good on you! Your kids are lucky to have you.

 

We were in Seward recently and had read about the Mt. Marathon race, so went to the trail head. Oh, it was tempting to walk a part of it, just to see how long we'd last (we do pretty good for the ole folks at home), but decided not to over do things. The racers are ca-raaazy, but I bet they have the greatest time.

 

Just wanted to pop in to thank you for the review. I really enjoyed reading it!

 

Aloha,

Noreen.

[Coral]

Thanks for the review. So sorry you missed Juneau. We had a bad experience with RCCL in Juneau on the Radiance also - though we did eventually get to get off the ship there. I do find it strange that they made a big deal about ships going to Tracy Arm because many ships do go there, maybe they are not RCCL ships.

 

We also had a very cold trip in July to Alaska. All of my May cruises have been warmer compared to my July cruise - go figure.

 

Glad you made it home safely. Some trips can be more adventurous than others :)