NJCruisers

I ended up booking a car thru them as well, my husband wasn't comfortable with Turo. There will be 4 of us in a Kia but we will make the best of it! I just hope they don't give our car away before we get there. Our ship arrives later in the day and our pick up is 4pm. 

For our upcoming cruise in three weeks, I booked a smaller SUV with AVIS - pickup and dropoff is at the dock area. Was around 280$/day, even cheaper and more comfy for a family than taking the blue, green or what so ever bus. And you can explore the whole area around Juneau on your own!

Add me to the group that was cancelled by M&M as well. This was MY must do for this trip and I'm bummed. I hope to get a car from Turo to make it up there. Didn't want to have to pay the extra money but this is a trip of a lifetime for us. 

My daughter made us a really nice custom magnet, she actually made 3. When I asked her why 3 she said one was for inside and one was to keep at home in case someone decided to move it and we never found it again. I'll bring 2 with me & hope for the best!

Radiance Class ships are one of our favourites.  They have the best sea views (from all over the ship).  When sailing to the destinations where scenery is the "star" (Alaska, Norway, Panama Canal, Iceland, Antarctic and Canada [in the fall], etc) they are "must do" ships.  They have very few (maybe no) bells & whistles, but they are ships that help you feel like you are a part of the sea itself.  It will be very difficult to replace these ships.
@WAAAYTOOO ... We are greatly looking forward to Serenade in January.  We are particularly interested in:
Centrum Bar and dance floor:  Is it used for lots of live music? (Jewel in June was OK, Radiance in May was fantastic). Speciality Dining:  Is there anything of note? (Chef's Table on Jewel was excellent, but it is hard to mess up a meal with that much wine in one sitting). 😉 Diamond Lounge:  On neither Radiance nor Jewel did they open up the Diamond Lounge at night to the "Viking Crown Lounge".  The Diamond Lounge was always too packed to be of use.  Which arrangement are they using? Name of best Bartender in the Centrum:  We tend to hang out there a lot. Anything special of note? Our sense is that Serenade to Antartica will be very different.  An Ultimate World Cruise will introduce a very new dynamic.  Still, we are interested in anything special about Serenade.
Curt from Canada

This is an interesting topic I raised with the captain of Radiance during our recent sailing.  The issue is that the Voyager class ships (and larger) won't fit under the bridges in places like Baltimore and Tampa.  In addition, (as @bobroo pointed out) there are some ports the larger ships can't go to.  The captain of Radiance did point out that there will be another class (currently named "Discovery class") that will be built in 2025 or later.  These will be smaller (but I don't know if small enough).  
On our recent Alaska cruise, we took Radiance and loved it.  Last year, I was on Rhapsody (Vision class) for a Greek/Adriatic cruise and it was also great (one of my favorites was Montenegro).  I'm not that interested in an "amusement park on water" and would rather experience the classic cruise experience and visit interesting destinations.

In Juneau we will be going to Mendenhall Glacier with M&M tours, In Icy Strait we booked Wild Bear Safari, we plan to walk around Sitka, Skagway we booked a Ghosts & Goodtime girl tour with RC & in Seward an Exit Glacier hike with Adventure 60. We plan to stay in Anchorage a few days before heading home. Wish we could go further in the state but we just couldn't swing the time. My hubby is going on the Zip Line in ISP, I'm not going with him though! 

Yay!!!  Someone else!!  You will LOVE Alaska!  The scenery is so beautiful!  Hope you have some fun excursions planned!  We've got the rent your own Jeep excursion in Juneau, the ZipRider in Icy Strait and looking forward to exploring the area in ISP, a private land tour in Sitka, a kayaking excursion in Skagway, and then taking the ACT bus all day tour to Anchorage.  It's getting closer!!

I'm on this cruise too, it's our first trip to Alaska & I'm super excited. 

I'm on this cruise too, it's our first trip to Alaska & I'm super excited. 

I got our final cruise docs from our TA today! So pumped that we are within 30 days of sailing. I also prepared in anticipation of these docs arriving, so if you need any help, you can ask me - I'm now an expert.
(yes, this is a joke, I know I can just cut and put them in my luggage tag holders)

Cruising in Alaska in May or September has the benefit of not having mosquitoes, for the most part.  The last time we went to Alaska it was a last minute deal and we went in August.  I discovered the meaning of the attached sign which was posted in Skagway.  For those who have been to Alaska in the summer months I thought you might get a chuckle.

Yay to the countdown!! I did the trick they suggested above of changing the sailing date in the app to the current sailing, and I was able to look at the menus! Now the days until vacation can go lightning fast, but the week on the boat can go snail sloooooow! 😜 

I make kind of a poor man's charcuterie tray. I go to the Windjammer early and make a plate of sliced meats, cheeses, crackers, sliced veggies with dressing for dip and what-not and take that back to the room for "Happy Hour".  Mrs Fan and I nosh while getting ready for the evening. She drinks wine and I get a whiskey. Sit out on the balcony and chill with the snacks.

By using "we," I take it more than one person.
You can order drinks every 5 minutes or so.  You and your partner get a cocktail.  Pour it into your insulated beverage cup that you get on board.  Walk to the next bar and get two more drinks.  Go to your room and enjoy your beverages.  That is how we did it.

@Aron_Ross, you can most definitely ask to speak with the F&B manager.  The truth is, bitching about bad food or service on a blog does nothing to improve it.  Only diplomatically discussing the issues with someone actually in a position to do something about it, will help.  I have found that the management staff on the ship truly appreciate constructive feedback.  They don’t want yellers and screamers, but someone with tempered feedback are generally always appreciated, in my experience.

Cell service works very well while in port around the city you are visiting.
Once you leave port, the signal disappears.
Yes, while at sea

If a crew member reminds you there is a survey and/or it’s important, that’s fine and I answer “no”. 
 
But if they guilt you about how it needs to be 5 stars or it’s a problem, then answer “yes” because they’re not supposed to do that. 

As Californians it's easy to dismiss our opinion but we regularly go to your part of the country and when we do we have the pizza, having hit almost all of the fabled pizza places in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Chicago (Boston's North end honorable mention but we have the pasta when there). But trust me, even though you hail from an area with some of the best pizza in the world, you will not be disappointed with the Moose's Tooth. Here in Cali, the best places out here are usually owned and operated by Italians transplanted from the East coast. The Moose's tooth was founded by two blond guys from Portland, weird? But an hour wait on a random Tuesday, the parking lot affixed with a circus tent to accommodate another 30 tables and you'll see they are on to something, it was that good. Grimaldi's, Lombardi's, John's on Bleeker Street, Peqods and the Moose's Tooth should be mentioned in the same sentence. Unfortunately no halibut pizza, now that would be fusion.

In the app - Profile tab > Select a different cruise > Browse our ships.
Again, no promises the current sailing's menu order will be the same as yours.

I have no problem getting 2 apps or an app & a salad or whatnot, I'll make it work. Just for planning purposes, I don't want to go out for our specialty dining night and miss lobster night or whatever the one I really liked was.  I like steak, but I don't want to eat the same thing over and over again. 

Two dining highlights from Anchorage, Moose's Tooth Pizza. Not the first thing you think of when you think Alaska, but it was great and the #2 restaurant on yelp for Anchorage.
The other was 49th state brewing for the halibut and chips, like eating clouds. If you are with someone else, get one order battered and fried, one order another way if available and share, it is epic. But 49th state was our favorite of the 7 or 8 places we got halibut. I just cannot remember of it had grilled or baked, only half the places did and we got halibut every day in anchorage and in every port, but 49th state never got knocked off the number one spot not for lack of trying.
In Seward, the Cookery exceeded expectations, that town was far more of a foodie place than we expected.
As far as the hotel, we were there summer of 2022 with a couple of years of pent up demand and hotels were sold out six months ahead. We ended up at the embassy suites and it was nice (near the moose's tooth, which is how we found that gem) but we never had a problem getting ubers so it wasn't an issue getting around even though we were not in the heart of things.

Sounds like they should just get rid of the "theme menus" because most of the items don't fit the theme at all. I like my steak medium rare, had a hard time getting it right last cruise but I may just send it back if I have to. We definitely won't starve LOL

Thanks for the reply, our last night is technically at sea so I thought that was Royal Night? I definitely won't go to the MDR for Italian, Mexican or Mediterranean nights which stinks because I love Mediterranean food but this menu is yuck. Maybe on Italian night we'll get apps and dessert only. 
It's just so hard to plan. 

I'm doing the Northbound for the first time and have many of the same questions.
I used an MEI travel agent and booked Air2Sea, It's costing 2 adults traveling non stop from NJ to Vancouver, Anchorage back to NJ approx. $1300. Haven't used it yet so I can't offer any reviews but it was better than what we were finding on our own pricewise & I like not having to worry if we will make the ship or not. 
I booked through Wild Bear Safari in Icy Strait based on reviews from others. It's a small group type excursion, price was reasonable & Luke seems pretty chill.
I also need to eat crab legs in Alaska so I'm curious too!