review tour #1 and cruise radiance of the seas 8/12/06

[sisocialworker]

REVIEW: RCI Land Tour#1 and Cruise on Radiance of the Seas 8/8/06-8/19/06

Our first time to Alaska

 

Due to the long flight we decided to do a two day independent tour of Fairbanks on our own, mostly to adjust to the 4 hour time change. Traveling were myself 50yo, DW 46yo and DS Aaron, 8yo.

 

8/6 Day One-Fairbanks

Left New York City at 8am from Newark Airport on Alaska Air on time. We were traveling 1st class thanks to sky miles. Our seats had plenty of leg room; felt sorry for those in coach as the flight was long. But we are spoiled now. It was 5 1/2 hours to Seattle with a one hour lay over for our connecting flight to Fairbanks. Food served was excellent, fresh fruit plate, choice of French Toast or eggs with reindeer sausage. On our connecting flight the lunch was terrible, cold chicken salad or turkey wrap. Alaska air should do better for first class passengers.

We arrived in Fairbanks at 4:30pm, but our bodies said 8:30 and tired from all the travel. However, one of our bags didn’t make it. We had 2 suitcases check, and two carry-ons. Good thing we cross pack our checked luggage and bring a full days change in our carry-on. The airport personnel said it was located on the next flight and would be sent to our hotel the next morning.

Since we were doing a 2 day independent tour, I rented a car from Budget..it was nice and we had no trouble.

We were staying at Pikes Lodge. I decided this property as it was the same one RCI had us in for their tour. When I checked in, I told the clerk this and asked if we could stay in the same room, they said yes.

Pikes is a very nice property, despite being across the road from the airport, we didn’t hear any early or late night flight noise. We had 2 queen size beds, a microwave and refrigerator, and best a balcony overlooking the Chena River. The room was clean and service was fine. We got to the room at 5:30pm (9:30 to us-but felt like midnight).

We were hungry, due to the poor lunch on our flight. Looking through the telephone directory I found a coupon for a pizza restaurant. A large pie with 4 toppings and a 2 liter soda, including delivery; $19.95. I called them and within a ½ hour it was at our room. Big Al’s Pizza, you did good. We ate and went to sleep by 7:30-8:00pm.

 

8/7-Day Two-Fairbanks

Still suffering jet lag, we awake at 4:30am. Pikes buffet starts at 6am-by the time we take a shower and get dressed, we are first on line..and not the only ones there. A nice buffet for $10 a person, $5 for Aaron. Fresh fruits, juices, eggs, etc…and good coffee

Once done we head off to the North Pole. While it is a pure tourist trap we thought it would be a hoot to mail our friends’ letters with a post mark from the “north pole”. There were also some reindeers there for Aaron to see. After writing lots cards and letters, we went off to the Tanana Valley State Fair.

We spent the rest of the day there with beautiful weather about 70 degrees. The usual fair was at this Fair, except for the great view of mountains surrounding the grounds. We had fresh halibut for lunch, yummy.

Left there about 6pm and went to Fred Myers, kind of an upscale Wal-Mart and Supermarket in one. While there we bought souvenirs, much cheaper at a super market than a tourist trap...and just as nice. Also bought a chicken dinner for us to eat. Aaron loves mash potatoes and gravy. After diner we walked around the property at Pikes...nice lake with ducks and geese. Went back to the hotel, played some games with Aaron on the hotels free internet computer, posted to the CC board and went to bed about 9:30pm..and it was still light outside!

 

8/8-Day Three-Fairbanks

Woke up at 7am..late today. Went to the buffet at the hotel again. Drove around and saw the sights. The University of Alaska…awesome campus. Had lunch at Brewster’s, a place that was recommended by some college students…always a good sign.

Great Burgers and beer. Had to get the car back today as our official RCI pre cruise tour begins tomorrow. Bought some franks and French fries for dinner to go with our left over chicken from last night..ahhh having a refrigerator and micro in the room. Spent the evening walking around some of the trails surrounding the hotel.

That evening I meet Bryan, our RCI tour director. Very friendly. Told me that we should pack our carry-on with clothes for tour and pack the cruise clothes in a separate suit case. The cruise suitcases we would not see again until the night in Anchorage before the cruise. As my DW Anneliese did that, Aaron and I went to play video games on the free computer. As there were two computers he played games and I posted the CC boards. We needed to meet in the lobby at 7am for our Riverboat cruise.

 

8/9-Day Four-Fairbanks/Denali

After another breakfast buffet at the hotel, we turned in our key cards and boarded the bus for a ten minute drive to the Riverboat Discovery Sternwheeler. Bryan was there to greet us and introduced us to Shelia, our bus driver for the next few days.

The Sternwheeler is an old, but fully refurbished wheel boat. We sat upstairs in the front. They provided free tea, coffee and donuts on the ship. The ship stopped at a dog sled camp where a presentation from the shore was given by a musher and her dogs.

Then we stopped at an Athabascan Indian Village. Some nice things to see. Reindeer, tents and clothing…but nothing great...at least they didn’t sell souvenirs.

On the ship, our guide told us about how people live, saw some nice homes along the shore. Seems everyone owns a boat or plane.

Once back on shore, about 3 hours later, we boarded our bus for a ride to down town Fairbanks for lunch. We ate at a nice little café. Soup and sandwich, but at Alaskan prices it ran us $35. We walked around a bit, then back on the bus to Denali…about 4 hours. Our tour director , Bryan was very informative and funny…telling us about himself and tid bits about Alaska.

Got to the Denali Village lodge…not the Grand Denali lodge…which is 100 times better.

After checking in to this grade B property, our room was small, no refreg. Or micro, no balcony, a bit worn on the carpeting and mattress, but clean…but a nice view of the river…beds were not the greatest. This place needs a “dry dock experience”. We got there about 4pm. Walked around the property, which is beautiful…right on the Nenana river ,and great views of mountains. We had diner at the hotel. I had the salmon, Anneliese had the Ribs and Aaron had chicken fingers. All were very good. I also had the sea food soup…very good. Service was excellent. After diner went to the room, only one free computer at this hotel…and it was always busy. Need to be up and in the lobby at 7:30am for our trip to Denali Park.

 

8/10 Day Five-Denali

 

Woke up and had the breakfast buffet at the hotel….very good….even better than Pikes…what they lacked in the room they made up for in food. It was a bit more $15 per person, but Aaron was still $5. They had a much bigger selection of meats and waffles made to order.

Met our bus driver for the Tundra Wilderness Tour and had the front seats...make sure you get them as you can see out the front and side of the bus for all wildlife. We went to mile post 63….saw bear, sheep, caribou, birds and more….even the north peak of Mt. McKinley. I would image if we saw the whole mountain it would be awesome. We did see some nice mountains. What a place! Only 10% of visitors saw it this summer, it was a bad summer …they say usually only 30% see it at all. During the stopped we did some hiking…the views are incredible. Make sure you take the TWT and not the Wildlife tour (I think that’s what they call it). This tour does not go into the park very far…hence very little, if any wildlife sightings. The box lunch provided was a small bottle of water, slab of cheese, 4 slices of meat, and bread.

Words cannot describe this experience….you must go. We had great weather for this tour as well…no rain and warm temps ….for me…about 65 degrees. Got back at 5pm.

We took the free bus to town….glitter gulch….a tourist trap. Went into some of the stores. They all have the same things. Instead we went to the local pizza place and had a pie…the bonus was they had in the back a two jazz musicians playing. We thought what a bonus…good pizza…not like NY pizza, but the good music made up for it.

All in all, a great day. Caught the 7:30 bus back...and got ready for bed. 7:45am bus ride to Anchorage….they say we should be there by 4:30pm.

 

8/11 Day Six-Denali/Anchorage

Back on the bus. A real long, long ride , making stops about every hour or so. Lunch was provided. A small ham sandwich, cookie, bottle of water and bag of chips. Some real nice views along the way. Bryan , our guide, narrated along the way.

Got to Anchorage at 4:30 right on time. Checked into the Anchorage Marriott and in our room by 5pm. All I can is WOW, what a room, very large, 2 queen beds; with up graded bedding…wow was it soft. A full window view of the bay.

Called our friend Susan who lives in Anchorage to meet us for diner. Got to say, Susan (and her mom) is someone we met last year on our cruise, JOS. We have been chatting ever since…in fact all of us have been. What a CC group…they’re great. Anyway, Susan came and picked us up and we went back to her house, where she made us diner and margaritas . Aaron, while hesitant at first, fell in love with her dog Shadow.

We took some pictures and chatted away. At about 9pm she took us back to the hotel. What a great evening. Thanks again Susan, you’re the best!!!

Thought we would do a laundry at the hotel, as we had a weeks worth of dirty clothes. We would have brought them to Susan’s house, but our luggage didn’t make it to room in time. Anyway, this hotel only has one washer and dryer…and of course there were 3 others waiting to use them…at 10pm!!!! Marriott, if you read this, how can a hotel with 20 floors only have one washer and dryer…get more!!! By 11:30pm I was done and back in the room. Need to be in the lobby at 6:30am to get the train to Seward. Boy those beds were comfortable.

 

8/12 Day Seven-Anchorage/Seward

 

The domed rail car was GREAT. I recommend this method rather than bus, if possible. The big leather chairs and panoramic views can’t be beat. Breakfast was made to order, with a nice choice of items. I had the blueberry pancakes with reindeer sausage. Anneliese had eggs with potatoes and sausage, and Aaron had silver dollars (children’s portion). They gave crayons and coloring mats to the kids too, a nice touch. Most items with coffee were $7.00. Not bad. Some great views and lakes, mountains, glaciers, water falls and wildlife (bears, sheep, caribou and eagles).

Arrived at Seward and went to the Sea Life Center. A nice place, great for kids and the kid in ya. Nice under water viewing tanks. We had a hour and 15 minutes to stay there, it was too short. You really need about 3 hours to do it justice and see everything. Back on the bus for our 10 minute ride to the ship.

We had a JS cabin so we went to priority boarding. Also do the on-line set-sale check-in. While others were lining up, we were first on our line and within 5 minutes we were boarding, while other were still in line. It was 12:45pm , and we went to our room to drop our stuff off. Since we had cabin 1100 on the Jewel of the seas last year we knew what to expect…and were not disappointed. Now I know why I love this cabin. It’s like a regular hotel room, except you have a great balcony. We met our room attendant, Juan. He did a great job of keeping the room clean, making sure we had up graded lotions, ice, robes and towel animals every night…sometimes more than one…which Aaron loved.

The mattress needed to be replaced, which I guess will be done at the next dry dock. We asked for a foam topper which did the trick and we slept fine every night. Off to explore the ship and lunch at the Windjammer. The railing on the balcony need to by re-varnished and sanded, and the chairs replaced as they were stained. But not enough to ruin this vacation.

As it is a Radiance class ship, like the Jewel, we were right at home. Windjammer had the usual fair. Come on RCI, you do need to keep the food hotter; but that’s just me, my DW Anneliese thought it was fine. The staff in the Windjammer were friendly and always asked if they can get you a drink. Rolling carts with coffee and juice, tea, etc. were always there. Really glad they didn’t push the alcoholic drinks. Back to the room to unpack.

The temps were 65 degrees, perfect for me; it was 105 in NYC when we left. I put on my Hawaiian shirt, as I thought Alaska was the Caribbean of the North West. While DW finished unpacking, I went to find out when our M&M was. Since I left early for our land tour, RCI didn’t post the date, time location; and no notice was left in my room. Walter and others at guest relations could not do a thing. They said they no information and could not help, even their supervisor was useless. They said they would look into it and call me call my cabin. We ate dinner in the Windjammer and went to the Adventure Ocean(AO) orientation. Aaron loves this program. Everyone there was great. He didn’t want to leave. If he could have lunch and diner with them every night, he would. He would sleep there too, if he could. Good activities and well supervised. They asked to see my sea pass before releasing Aaron; every time, even the last day of program…and they knew us….I liked that!

 

8/13-Day Eight-Hubbard Glacier

 

Woke up and went to Windjammer for breakfast. Dropped Aaron of at AO. Went back to room to the room to relax and take in the views from the balcony. At 12pm picked Aaron up from AO and had lunch. Dropped him back at AO at 2pm. Went exploring the ship some more. As I never got a call from Guest relations on the M&M, I went back to see what happened. Spoke with Jennie and told her the same story….also that Walter was suppose to call us, but never did…and he was standing there too. She checked the system, but this time call Loraine, a supervisor with Guest Services. She told me that the M&M was at 12 today, two hours ago. I explained that I was not notified by a note in my cabin, nor from Walter. She was very apologetic and said she would reschedule another meeting for the last see day and call everyone. Way to go Loraine! Saw Hubbard Glacier form our balcony…What a sight. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching the mountains and ice. Magician tonight, very good. Also had drinks in the Schooner bar. Liam and Esra the bar tenders were great, they also had a silly bar trick to show us. I showed them a card trick or two also that they didn’t know.

 

8/14-Day Nine-Skagway

Windjammer for breakfast. Had the heli-ride and dog sled ride today. Was fearful that since this is most cancelled excursion. But it wasn’t. This was the highlight of the trip. Yes expensive, but worth every penny. Heli-ride to landing area, then snow cat ride to base camp. Aaron and I both had a opportunity to drive a sled, and played with puppies. It was over too soon, next time we will do this twice.

Back to ship for lunch, drop Aaron off at AO. We walked back into town. A very nice town, but all tourist trap stores.

 

8/15-Day Ten-Juneau

 

We had Mendenhall Glacier and Whale watch planned for today. Both were excellent, lots of whales. Saw bears eating salmon at Mendenhall too. Ate at Chops for dinner as was eating dinner with the AO. Chops was great…don’t miss it. Some musical review tonight…not great but entertaining.

 

8/16-Day Eleven- Icy Straight Point

Took the tender in, but not much there. Walked some of the trails and went back 2-3 hours later.

 

8/17 Day Twelve-Ketchikan

 

Went into town and walked around...again the same tourist shops selling the same things.

Went back to ship for lunch. Picked up Aaron the Lumberjack Show….nice and worth seeing…especially for kids.

Saw another show…City of Dreams…not too good. But the kids in the AO, put on a skit about pirates before. Aaron was thrilled to be on stage, very cute; all the kids had a great time….and the program counselors seemed to enjoy it too.

 

8/18 Day Thirteen-Sea Day

 

Relaxed. Played ping pong, gambled a bit, walked around, ate at the Sea view, don’t miss it . Great Rubin sandwiches and onion rings. Had to pack…very sad. Booked another cruise for a 12 night Panama Canal in Dec. 07. Now that made us feel better…even got cabin 1100.

 

8/19 Day Fourteen- Vancouver

Off the ship by 9:30 and had a nice flight back. Used Delta for the return. Vancouver to Salt Lake. No food for the 2.5 hour flight. Delta stinks. On the second leg, salt Lake to Newark, good dinner…as far as first class airline food goes. Bad news, none of our 4 bags made it. They were delivered by 2pm the next day.

 

General Overview:

We never ate in the formal dining room-so no comment.

Windjammer, always found something to eat and great service…and a great view all the time.

We only had drinks in the Schooner bar, but a nice place time and Liam was great.

Sea View café: always a good sandwich and soup.

Adventure Ocean kids program: the best

Cabin 1100-the best, but does need a dry dock-as does the rest of the ship

Chops: excellent…didn’t do Portofino’s

Show’s : OK

Fellow cruise mates: nice.

Ship Staff: Always a smile and a greating. All good, except Walter at Guest Relations.

Views: to die for

Would go on another cruise: in a NY minute.

 

see the pic's under my signature

[breenw]

Great review - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as we are setting sail this coming Saturday. We can't wait. Was there any day on the cruise where they offered a special "laundry service in a bag" deal? We are doing our land portion after the cruise so I'm trying to decide how much to pack.

[sisocialworker]

breenw,

glad you liked the review and hope you saw the pic's as well.

 

RCI had no special laundry day...but they do have a service. If you can't do a quick laundry before the cruise..try doing on in town while you walk around and shop...can't remember which towns had them...but many di .

 

packing for alaska was the most challenging. pack layers...nothing heavy. if you search the threads there are many lists around on the alaska board. I suggest pack light, it is very informal..and buy waht you need once you get there.

have fun...you'll it

 

barry

[NancyIL]

Thanks for a very nice review.

[sisocialworker]

thanks nancy. Hope you enjoyed the Pic's too. One of them was chosen by CC and is posted on the CC home page. My wife and son on our balcony w/Hubbard Glacier in the background.

barry