My Full Alaska Trip Review (14 Days on Land + 14 Days on Radiance)

[lephysteria]

Yayyyyy, my idea of downloading the doc first, then opening it has helped another cruiser !!! :D

It is worth the download! ;)

[lkohawaii]

Yayyyyy, my idea of downloading the doc first, then opening it has helped another cruiser !!! :D

It is worth the download! ;)

 

The download is SOOOO worth it! Thanks for the idea. It took a long time even to download..but it is so much more with the layout and the beautiful pics.

[GMoney]

The download is SOOOO worth it! Thanks for the idea. It took a long time even to download..but it is so much more with the layout and the beautiful pics.

 

Hi - Thanks for your nice comments and your patience. Sorry it took so long. :rolleyes:

 

I just used a Canon Power Shot SD600 Elph for the photos. It's a small, inexpensive digital camera, but it seems to do a very nice job!

[phopte]

[snip]

NOTE: Unfortunately, the page loads slowly; I think because there are so many pictures. Be patient; it's worth it. :) I'm working to speed it along.

 

You can access the review 2 ways:

 

DIRECTLY at:

 

http://web.mac.com/mellicon/My_Voyage_to_Adventure/Blog/Entries/2007/10/2_Alaska_Review_files/alaska.pdf

 

Through my website at:

 

http://web.mac.com/mellicon/My_Voyage_to_Adventure/Blog/Blog.html

 

AMAZING! What a great review. I saved it to my flash drive to show to my wife. Maybe this will get her interested in an Alsaka cruise. :)

 

BTW, the pdf is 90.5 megabytes or 724 megabits of data. On most home setups, that is going to take a looooooong time to download. It is so worth it to see the pictures though. I think lephysteria's suggestion about saving to your hard drive and then going back later is the absolute right thing to do. Get the download started, go get your cokes and popcorn (or dinner!) and come back after a while.

 

Once again, great job!

[lephysteria]

The download is SOOOO worth it! Thanks for the idea. It took a long time even to download..but it is so much more with the layout and the beautiful pics.

 

 

I totally agree :)

I like how his pics are in frames. Mine are just pasted next to the text ... but they're not framed. His has more of a photojournalist style. I like it! ;)

[lkohawaii]

Hi - Thanks for your nice comments and your patience. Sorry it took so long. :rolleyes:

 

I just used a Canon Power Shot SD600 Elph for the photos. It's a small, inexpensive digital camera, but it seems to do a very nice job!

 

Patrick,

How do your pics print on paper as nice as in your report? If that's that case I'm looking into a new camera. I have a heavy Canon Rebel..that was a bit of money. If I can downsize and get that quality I will. How's the lag time on your camera? That's one thing I couldn't take on the smaller cameras. I want to take one picture after the other if I have too. I'm going to look into that Elph right now.

[GMoney]

Patrick,

How do your pics print on paper as nice as in your report? If that's that case I'm looking into a new camera. I have a heavy Canon Rebel..that was a bit of money. If I can downsize and get that quality I will. How's the lag time on your camera? That's one thing I couldn't take on the smaller cameras. I want to take one picture after the other if I have too. I'm going to look into that Elph right now.

 

I have a simple HP printer with "Vivera" inks, and the pics printed very nicely.

 

I learned with Alaska when trying to shoot wildlife how important the lag time is. I think is about 5 seconds, which I found disappointing. We were on the whale watching tour in ISP, with whales all around us; Mitaxi was just shooting away with her lovely camera and I was waiting for mine to reset. :mad:

 

But, given that I do not shoot wildlife often, I am still very pleased with the camera. I recommend it.

[Cruising89143]

Patrick, very nice review. Thanks for sharing.:)

[Cheryl H]

What did you mean about being banned from Glacier Bay? Hadn't heard about that.

 

Nice review. Can't wait to see Alaska someday.

[lkohawaii]

Patrick...given what you know about Alaska would you recommend me taking my SLR (that's heavy but has no lag time) or buy one of your Cannon Elphs? I can't see taking my SLR places like on a Kayak. I think I know the answer...just don't want to take 2 cameras on 1 cruise. I just love your pics..but that lag time will drive me crazy.

[GMoney]

What did you mean about being banned from Glacier Bay? Hadn't heard about that.

 

Nice review. Can't wait to see Alaska someday.

 

My understanding is that in June 1998, Royal Caribbean entered a plea agreement with the Department of Justice on 8 felony counts for violations of the Oil Pollution Control Act and paid penalties/restitution of $ 9

million dollars. As a result, they still cannot get the needed permits to return to Glacier Bay.

[mitaxi]

Patrick...given what you know about Alaska would you recommend me taking my SLR (that's heavy but has no lag time) or buy one of your Cannon Elphs? I can't see taking my SLR places like on a Kayak. I think I know the answer...just don't want to take 2 cameras on 1 cruise. I just love your pics..but that lag time will drive me crazy.

 

Just wanted to say - I did take 2 cameras...the SLR was a must for the whale watching and excursions that I knew the size wouldn't be an issue and wanted the speed for the animals, glacier calving etc. and I did take a pocket digital for the excursions that I only wanted something to slide in a pocket,...so really since the second camera was so small taking two was not an issue..

 

Sorry to jump in on your thread Patrick...:D

[GMoney]

Just wanted to say - I did take 2 cameras...the SLR was a must for the whale watching and excursions that I knew the size wouldn't be an issue and wanted the speed for the animals, glacier calving etc. and I did take a pocket digital for the excursions that I only wanted something to slide in a pocket,...so really since the second camera was so small taking two was not an issue..

 

Sorry to jump in on your thread Patrick...:D

 

It's fine; I'm glad you did. :) Your opinion is more meaningful because you have more experience.

 

My advice would be the same - take 2 cameras. I'm going to get an Nikon D40 for future travels, but I plan on bringing both cameras.

 

I think the good thin is that you really can't take a bad picture in Alaska. :)

[GMoney]

Just get an Elph with a magnification of 12x. They make a few different models.

[GMoney]

What did you mean about being banned from Glacier Bay? Hadn't heard about that.

 

Nice review. Can't wait to see Alaska someday.

 

The violations in Alaska included four counts of dumping oily bilge water into the Lynn Canal between Skagway and Haines and discharging dry-cleaning chemicals and other toxic waste into Gastineau Channel, within the Juneau city limits.

[Cheryl H]

The violations in Alaska included four counts of dumping oily bilge water into the Lynn Canal between Skagway and Haines and discharging dry-cleaning chemicals and other toxic waste into Gastineau Channel, within the Juneau city limits.

 

Oh my. Maybe that's when their "save the waves" campaign started up. Hope they cleaned up their act. Thanks for the info.

[truthandkeidy]

Patrick...I'm blown away with your review! It's obvious you took a lot of time compiling your memories and you have an absolute treasure to show for it! You put my PG-rated whale watching video to shame! :o

 

Hey, we're honored you even mentioned us by name. I had to chuckle at the part with the reminder "F.I.S.H.E.S. does NOT take credit cards!". :eek:

 

Thanks so much for sharing your "journal" with all of us in CC land. I can't wait to show Keith. I'm sure he will expect more of my videos now! :D

 

 

Trudy

[truthandkeidy]

[GMoney]

Oh my. Maybe that's when their "save the waves" campaign started up. Hope they cleaned up their act. Thanks for the info.

 

Bingo. ;)

 

I think RCI has improved with this. Their argument back in the day was that it was the actions of a small number of people.

[GMoney]

Patrick...I'm blown away with your review! It's obvious you took a lot of time compiling your memories and you have an absolute treasure to show for it! You put my PG-rated whale watching video to shame! :o

 

Hey, we're honored you even mentioned us by name. I had to chuckle at the part with the reminder "F.I.S.H.E.S. does NOT take credit cards!". :eek:

 

Thanks so much for sharing your "journal" with all of us in CC land. I can't wait to show Keith. I'm sure he will expect more of my videos now! :D

 

 

Trudy

 

Hi Trudy - Thanks very much for your nice comments! I'm glad you like the review. It's a great way to remember a great trip.

 

Hopefully someday FISHES will take credit cards. My guess is that Floyd prefers to keep the 3% fee the banks assess and good for him.

 

Looks like you have a lot of great cruises coming up - enjoy!

[GMoney]

 

LOL now this is too funny. Me looking for whales. Thanks for posting it. :p

[truthandkeidy]

 

Looks like you have a lot of great cruises coming up - enjoy!

 

Patrick...I'm going to pose to you the same question I just asked Michele.

 

We're thinking of switching the April 14 TA on Brillance to the May 3 Ultimate Alaska on Serenade. That's a tough one for me to chose between. Check the itineraries and see which you'd do if you had to pick one.

 

Here are the pros and cons tossing through my head all day.

 

* Both are 14 days with only 3 post cruise days

* New ports for us on both itineraries

* Serenade is our favorite ship, thus far

* Alaska is our favorite destination, thus far

* Have never sailed on Brillance

* Never been on a TA

* Want to see Alaska in May (more snow than Sept)

* Paris and 30th Ann. seem to go together...or is that just the movies?

* Europe currency exchange rate currently pathetic

* Cruise rate comparable on both

* Airfare...TBD...sure wish we had air miles!

 

I appreciate your input.

 

 

Trudy

[GMoney]

Patrick...I'm going to pose to you the same question I just asked Michele.

 

We're thinking of switching the April 14 TA on Brillance to the May 3 Ultimate Alaska on Serenade. That's a tough one for me to chose between. Check the itineraries and see which you'd do if you had to pick one.

 

Here are the pros and cons tossing through my head all day.

 

* Both are 14 days with only 3 post cruise days

* New ports for us on both itineraries

* Serenade is our favorite ship, thus far

* Alaska is our favorite destination, thus far

* Have never sailed on Brillance

* Never been on a TA

* Want to see Alaska in May (more snow than Sept)

* Paris and 30th Ann. seem to go together...or is that just the movies?

* Europe currency exchange rate currently pathetic

* Cruise rate comparable on both

* Airfare...TBD...sure wish we had air miles!

 

I appreciate your input.

 

 

Trudy

 

Hi Trudy - I posted this on Michele's thread on the AK board too. Sorry bout that.

 

I don't have too much to add here other than personal opinion; you really have all of the bases covered. The decision to do Serenade is a no-brainer for me; all of the seas days on the TA would drive me nutty. Combine and it with the bad exchange and I'd be rushing back to Alaska.

 

I can tell you that the service I had on Brilliance last year was the best I've ever experienced on RCI. I've never been somebody to be passionate about a ship and crew until Brilliance. But those kinds of things fluctuate...

 

I really love the Ultimate AK itinerary. To me it's very unique and you get a flavor of a few different areas. We stopped in Sitka on our second cruise in Sept; I really liked it and would love to see more, as it seemed very authentic.

 

My only question would be are there things you can;t do in May because things are still thawing out? It may not be a big deal for you as you've already been to some of these places.

 

Either way, I'm sure you will have a great time. Let us know what you choose.

[lkohawaii]

Thanks everybody for the camera advice...I knew what the answer would be...just thought I could save myself some money..but hey, I'm spending so much already what's a few hundred dollars more....and Truthandkeidy (I'm thinking you're F.I.S.H.E.S. ) I'm sailing next summer early June is it too early to book my tour? I'm ready just thought that the companies were still recovering from this summer.

[GMoney]

Thanks everybody for the camera advice...I knew what the answer would be...just thought I could save myself some money..but hey, I'm spending so much already what's a few hundred dollars more....and Truthandkeidy (I'm thinking you're F.I.S.H.E.S. ) I'm sailing next summer early June is it too early to book my tour? I'm ready just thought that the companies were still recovering from this summer.

 

FISHES is the name of the whale watching tour company in ISP, owned and run by Floyd and Marjorie.

 

I would definitely email them and see what they say about 2008. The seating so limited, the early bird gets the worm, and this is one worm you want! :)

 

http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/