Just back from RCL Alaska Cruise
Jul 22nd, 2007, 08:48 AM
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Just back from RCL Alaska Cruise
Just back from a week on the RCL Radiance of the Seas, from Vancouver to Seward.
First the good:
The ship in general is beautiful, and even with a full load of over 2400 passengers, you'd think the ship was not even half full. Plenty of space and no crowds.
Our suite - Grand Suite 1030 - about 350 sq feet + a big balcony. Comfy throughout. Full bar, sitting area, TV, DVD, stereo system, plenty of closet space and a big bathroom with double sinks and a tub. Couldn't be better. Two twins that became a queen and a comfy queen pull out. (yep, actually a comfy pull out bed!!!) Room service that was right on time. Concierge lounge to handle any last minute requests or freebie drinks or snacks before our late sitting 8:30 pm dinner.
Excursions - Weather cancelled one attempt to dog sled on the glaciers at Juneau, but we were able to reschedule with another company and actually made it via helicopter to the glacier late afternoon. Highlight of the trip. Pricey, but recommended. Did the zipline at Ketchikan, loved it. A number of walking tours in Skagway and Ketchikan, all great. Many of the shore excursions sell out in advance, but at most ports you can find the same excursion for less.
Entertainment - About what you've come to expect on a cruise ship. But, a good variety, and some of the comedy was really great. Marty Allen, an icon from the 60's, was found to be alive and well and worked the celebrity night. Some of the best entertainment was in the lounges late at night.
Service - Inconsistent, but mostly good to very good. Room attendant was top notch, which we'd expected due to paying the premium for the suite.
Best site - Hubbard glacier. Ice in the water to where the water appeared to be solid ice, the glacier a deep blue, and the skies clear from clouds. The ship did a 360 and the experience was simply amazing.
Now, the not so good:
The food. Ok, if you prepare 15,000 meals a day I suppose you can't expect much. And that's what they delivered - basic hotel banquet food that was pretty bland or a failed attempt at something that sounded unique and full of flavor. Windjammer, the buffet, was worse.. The exception was in Portofino, the $20 per head Italian specialty restaurant, which was as good as any of the best I've had in Boston or New York. Really great, great food and service, which suggests that the food suffers due to volume, not talent in the kitchen.
Icy Strait Point. Claimed to be "real Alaska" but is really a tourist attraction for RCL and sister company Celebrity Cruises that is a downer after doing the other port calls. Too much time in such a limited port.
Whitehouse and Yukon Railway. Did not live up to the hype. Our trip on the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Anchorage had much more dramatic scenery and better tour guides.
Warnings and/or hints:
RCL charges $25 per person for a transfer from Vancouver Airport to the dock. If there are more than two in your party, a limo for $41 will save money and time..no reservation needed, just grab one at the airport. If you're doing a same day arrival, try to arrive Vancouver airport before 11 am when immigration backs up due to flights coming in from Asia. Check in process was easy at the pier, less than 20 minutes from arrival to being on-board. Although the cruise tickets said arrive at 1, we arrived at 12 and found that they'd been boarding since 11am.
Go off-menu to find the traditional cruise treats. No baked Alaska on the menu, but if you ask, you can usually get what you want.
Beware the wine package, which allows you to save about 30% off the price of wine. Of course, there is a limited selection and even the best package is mostly so-so wines and they'll not let you upgrade by paying the difference.
Alaska Railway. Lost one of our eight pieces of luggage. It will arrive home sometime mid-week (I hope). The real problem is not enough cabs at the depot to handle a train full of passengers and railway staff and depot security that vanish once the train arrives.
Time between train and airport for connections. The train arrived at 10:15pm, we were flying out of Anchorage at 1:50am, ended up waiting at the Deport for well over an hour for a cab. It's a short, twenty minute ride and $20 taxi to the airport and although Alaska Airlines baggage check was crowded, we still had over an hour to kill at the airport after security.
Overall, it was a great trip where the good outweighed the bad.
First the good:
The ship in general is beautiful, and even with a full load of over 2400 passengers, you'd think the ship was not even half full. Plenty of space and no crowds.
Our suite - Grand Suite 1030 - about 350 sq feet + a big balcony. Comfy throughout. Full bar, sitting area, TV, DVD, stereo system, plenty of closet space and a big bathroom with double sinks and a tub. Couldn't be better. Two twins that became a queen and a comfy queen pull out. (yep, actually a comfy pull out bed!!!) Room service that was right on time. Concierge lounge to handle any last minute requests or freebie drinks or snacks before our late sitting 8:30 pm dinner.
Excursions - Weather cancelled one attempt to dog sled on the glaciers at Juneau, but we were able to reschedule with another company and actually made it via helicopter to the glacier late afternoon. Highlight of the trip. Pricey, but recommended. Did the zipline at Ketchikan, loved it. A number of walking tours in Skagway and Ketchikan, all great. Many of the shore excursions sell out in advance, but at most ports you can find the same excursion for less.
Entertainment - About what you've come to expect on a cruise ship. But, a good variety, and some of the comedy was really great. Marty Allen, an icon from the 60's, was found to be alive and well and worked the celebrity night. Some of the best entertainment was in the lounges late at night.
Service - Inconsistent, but mostly good to very good. Room attendant was top notch, which we'd expected due to paying the premium for the suite.
Best site - Hubbard glacier. Ice in the water to where the water appeared to be solid ice, the glacier a deep blue, and the skies clear from clouds. The ship did a 360 and the experience was simply amazing.
Now, the not so good:
The food. Ok, if you prepare 15,000 meals a day I suppose you can't expect much. And that's what they delivered - basic hotel banquet food that was pretty bland or a failed attempt at something that sounded unique and full of flavor. Windjammer, the buffet, was worse.. The exception was in Portofino, the $20 per head Italian specialty restaurant, which was as good as any of the best I've had in Boston or New York. Really great, great food and service, which suggests that the food suffers due to volume, not talent in the kitchen.
Icy Strait Point. Claimed to be "real Alaska" but is really a tourist attraction for RCL and sister company Celebrity Cruises that is a downer after doing the other port calls. Too much time in such a limited port.
Whitehouse and Yukon Railway. Did not live up to the hype. Our trip on the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Anchorage had much more dramatic scenery and better tour guides.
Warnings and/or hints:
RCL charges $25 per person for a transfer from Vancouver Airport to the dock. If there are more than two in your party, a limo for $41 will save money and time..no reservation needed, just grab one at the airport. If you're doing a same day arrival, try to arrive Vancouver airport before 11 am when immigration backs up due to flights coming in from Asia. Check in process was easy at the pier, less than 20 minutes from arrival to being on-board. Although the cruise tickets said arrive at 1, we arrived at 12 and found that they'd been boarding since 11am.
Go off-menu to find the traditional cruise treats. No baked Alaska on the menu, but if you ask, you can usually get what you want.
Beware the wine package, which allows you to save about 30% off the price of wine. Of course, there is a limited selection and even the best package is mostly so-so wines and they'll not let you upgrade by paying the difference.
Alaska Railway. Lost one of our eight pieces of luggage. It will arrive home sometime mid-week (I hope). The real problem is not enough cabs at the depot to handle a train full of passengers and railway staff and depot security that vanish once the train arrives.
Time between train and airport for connections. The train arrived at 10:15pm, we were flying out of Anchorage at 1:50am, ended up waiting at the Deport for well over an hour for a cab. It's a short, twenty minute ride and $20 taxi to the airport and although Alaska Airlines baggage check was crowded, we still had over an hour to kill at the airport after security.
Overall, it was a great trip where the good outweighed the bad.
Jul 22nd, 2007, 07:50 PM
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Thanks for the review. We sailed the Radiance last year Pacific Coastal ending in Vancouver before it started the '06 cruise season. We definitely found RCCL's food quality to be slipping also, I think they are trying to cut costs. We too saw Marty Allen on the Radiance however we run into him a bit at home too as he lives in our area in Las Vegas. Glad you got to enjoy the sights of Alaska and sounds like that portion of the trip was wonderful!
Jul 23rd, 2007, 06:17 AM
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Beware the wine package, indeed.However, they have other wines available at a markup similar to restaurants. We were able to order 10 for the week at a discount. May I ask in a gentle way why you had 8 pieces of luggage? I can pack for a cruise in one small piece. Yikes!
Jul 23rd, 2007, 02:25 PM
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Eight pieces, two for each person in the party of four. We had hiking boots which took up one suitcase. Really didn't need the heavy coats except on the glacier. Yep, I agree, sounds bad, doesn't it? We never, ever pack that heavy...even for two week trips. Interestingly, we used all of the clothes we brought simply due to the wide swings in the weather, the boots, and the formal clothes we brought, as we decided to take advantage of the formal nights.
