Lets discuss Alaska

[deep1]

I guess the better part of 20+ years since I went there. Here's the first question: If you look up Anchorage as a starting point it involves land tours that I have zero inerest in. The north /south cruises seem to start or end in Seward. Sooooooo...... How does one get to Seward? I remember how we did it years back. FlewMiami to Seattle to Anchorage. Spent two nights there. Then got on a really cool train ride to Seward. I remember we booked all that stuff ourselves and transfers and stuff then at the other end (Vancouver) we stayed a couple days there as well. Again we did all that booking ourselves. 

I take it Royal does have "air to sea" or something like that... Would that work with going to one place then leavig from another? Is it a good deal?

Does Royal have ties to hotels and train booking as well? Maybe a package with Train, hotel, transfers and Air? 

Next question: Is there some way to see excursions before booking? Fiance has bucket list things as do I. For her lumberjack type show was at one of the stops. For me halibut fishing was along the way. I don't remember which stop had what...  

Next: I did July on my last run. It was great. Any input on earlier or later as being better or worse????

 

[CGTLH]

49 minutes ago, deep1 said:

Is there some way to see excursions before booking?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/shoreExcursions/downloadBrochure/ might help give an idea.

For the rest of the questions I can't really quote what Royal has to offer. Many years back when we did Alaska it had the land tour booked with it. Only deviation was at the end when we broke off from the group. The morning we would have had one last stop then motor coach to Seward, we opted to take the train in the early morning. At the time we had to book the train on our own.

[AlohaLivin]

While my husband did not like sailing from Canada (there is a lot of extra “stuff” dealing with passports), when we sailed from Vancouver we were able to stay another six days there and make our Alaska/BC trip the most amazing vacations we’ve ever had! For excursions, we loved the Whale / sea lion watching and day trips to the Yukon Territory (we did a private tour, it seemed like it was way better than the train as we got to stop often along the way). And we prefer early June for Alaska - chilly to mild, but not truly cold usually. 
 

 

 

 

[steverk]

Last time I was there, royal offered transfers from the Anchorage airport to Seward. The ride took about 2 hours and was a bus ride. The driver gave some narration and we stopped along the way,  but it was still just a bus ride.

I  think royal offers similar transfers using the train for additional cost.

Call air 2 sea to verify. You didn't have to purchase air through them, but it's probably a good idea 

[Moby Dick]

14 hours ago, deep1 said:

Next question: Is there some way to see excursions before booking? Fiance has bucket list things as do I. For her lumberjack type show was at one of the stops. For me halibut fishing was along the way. I don't remember which stop had what...  

 

 

The way I preview tours in Alaska is to do a search in Youtube and you'll find many/most of them.  Some are severely outdated and some aren't so bad.  But, you can get a little knowledge of what to expect:  

For example:  

 

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by jay1021
changed "search in google to Youtube

[Psycho and Barb]

12 hours ago, deep1 said:

For me halibut fishing was along the way. I don't remember which stop had what...  

 

 

I did the Halibut hunt in Ketchikan Alaska in 2017 on our cruise.  There was just six of us on the boat and we caught lots of Halibut.  I told our guide I would be using their shipping service to ship my catch home.  My fishing partners had planned to have their catches cooked but after we got back, they were told the cook was sick and couldn't cook the catch.  So they all donated their catch's to me and I had them shipped home...Halibut makes the best fish taco's.   Going back in June on the Serenade of the Seas and already have the Halibut Hunt booked on the 1st of July 2022 and I will be shipping my catch home again.  Hope I can get my fishing partners catches again!!!

 

[Kathleen]

You can take a train or bus from Anchorage to Seward. Beautiful train ride. I have done both the train and bus and both offer nice views and there are some very beautiful places between the two. The train offers more of an "experience" than the bus but the times of travel are not as good generally. 

[barbeyg]

For your questions, in the past bookings for the hotels/train could be made thru RCI.  Others may be able to answer about now.  Also,  we check out TripAdvisor for reviews on tours.  Typically the tours RCI offers are also offered independently, so if you look around for one with the same description, (if planning to book thru RCI), you can usually find reviews on the tours in AK.

For the trip from Anchorage to Seward, we booked a rental car, one way, for that drive.  We booked the car a year in advance, and we were glad we did, because the cost was twice as high the year of the sailing.  We loved that drive.  Allowed us to stop along the way and hike, stay overnight at a B&B, and pull over anytime we wanted to take photos of the gorgeous scenery, which we did...alot.  Some time in the future, we will book the train, just to try it out.  

For us, the highlights of our trips have been whale watching in Icy Strait Point as well as Juneau (both were great), and a rental car for the drive out to the Yukon (your mileage may vary right now, depending on if CA still insists on a test before driving across the border for the day trip...where you see NO ONE ).  We have a car rented there, because my sister and aunt aren't very mobile, so we will keep it and stay on our side of the border, if CA doesn't relax the rules between now and then.

We have sailed in late May, and find that to be our preference.  Very long days of sun, accompanied by moderate weather for the most part.  We may try September sometime to see if we can catch the northern lights, but May is a favorite of ours.

[KJones]

We're sailing in September from Seward to Vancouver. Non-RC Anchorage to Seward transportation options are bus ($70/p), train ($105 or $205 for the glass dome cars), or one-way rental car. The train leaves around 7am, and the bus leaves at either 7am or 3pm. I've read on other posts around here that the RC train/bus leaves later in the day, so we'll be opting for non-RC so we can explore Seward a bit before boarding.

I think I remember reading that July might be peak mosquito season?

[deep1]

4 hours ago, Kathleen said:

You can take a train or bus from Anchorage to Seward. Beautiful train ride. I have done both the train and bus and both offer nice views and there are some very beautiful places between the two. The train offers more of an "experience" than the bus but the times of travel are not as good generally. 

I did the train before and really liked it.... Don't know if they have anything worked out with Royal to make part of a package or if we need to book and arrange transport ourselves... 

 

 

[deep1]

3 hours ago, KJones said:

We're sailing in September from Seward to Vancouver. Non-RC Anchorage to Seward transportation options are bus ($70/p), train ($105 or $205 for the glass dome cars), or one-way rental car. The train leaves around 7am, and the bus leaves at either 7am or 3pm. I've read on other posts around here that the RC train/bus leaves later in the day, so we'll be opting for non-RC so we can explore Seward a bit before boarding.

I think I remember reading that July might be peak mosquito season?

So RC does have its own train scheduled ?  I'm looking at the train website  now as being 6:45 AM. I think the one we took the last time  was a little later than that??? On another note is the upgrade to the dome worth it? 

 

[KJones]

This is the post that I recalled reading. It's a bit old, but most of the information will be roughly the same I imagine.

 

[AshleyDillo]

23 hours ago, deep1 said:

On another note is the upgrade to the dome worth it? 

My opinion is no, but I'm also a cheapskate when it's spending my own money.

We took the regular option (they call the dome Gold Star service when you DIY it) and I thought it was more than adequate.  We were able to walk the cars to the snack and dining areas an there was also a viewing platform on each car.  You could easily see out the windows on both sides in coach.

We were coming off of the land tour pre-cruise where we had done 3 legs by train that had the dome, though, so I did get to experience it.

[deep1]

6 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

My opinion is no, but I'm also a cheapskate when it's spending my own money.

We took the regular option (they call the dome Gold Star service when you DIY it) and I thought it was more than adequate.  We were able to walk the cars to the snack and dining areas an there was also a viewing platform on each car.  You could easily see out the windows on both sides in coach.

We were coming off of the land tour pre-cruise where we had done 3 legs by train that had the dome, though, so I did get to experience it.

I'm looking now at the RCL charter train info from  few years ago thread...Trying to see whats incluuded or not..

[Jill]

Here’s the Halibut Hunt in Ketchikan from my cruise planner. FYI the lumberjack shows are in Ketchikan too

[smokeybandit]

This is probably a dumb question but I feel compelled to ask anyway.  Are the pools open for Alaskan cruises?

[Jill]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

This is probably a dumb question but I feel compelled to ask anyway.  Are the pools open for Alaskan cruises?

I’ve been told yes. Radiance has an enclosed solarium (retractable roof) that has “family hours.” 

Ovation has retractable roof too. 

I’m being optimistic that we’ll get one of those rare 80 degree days and packing a bathing suit!

[deep1]

1 hour ago, Jill said:

Here’s the Halibut Hunt in Ketchikan from my cruise planner. FYI the lumberjack shows are in Ketchikan too

That sets up a little problem. "She" really would like to see the Lumberjack show but this fills in that time slot. I see other Halibut excursions at other stops but no idea if they catch or are just boat rides. This is the last fish on my bucket list. I have fished the world and this is the last one. Doesn't have to be a barn door, any will do. Guess I need to see if the other ones really produce or not. 

 

 

[Jill]

6 minutes ago, deep1 said:

That sets up a little problem. "She" really would like to see the Lumberjack show but this fills in that time slot. I see other Halibut excursions at other stops but no idea if they catch or are just boat rides. This is the last fish on my bucket list. I have fished the world and this is the last one. Doesn't have to be a barn door, any will do. Guess I need to see if the other ones really produce or not. 

 

 

I’ll look through my planner and see if there are others. You can also book outside Royal. Go to trip advisor, viator and get your guide and see what tours they have. Many times the same operators have cruise people and regular shoreside visitors on the same boat. 

[deep1]

13 minutes ago, Jill said:

I’ll look through my planner and see if there are others. You can also book outside Royal. Go to trip advisor, viator and get your guide and see what tours they have. Many times the same operators have cruise people and regular shoreside visitors on the same boat. 

I saw they had from Juneau and I think one other port along the way. I need t research with my industry peers to make sure they put in real effort... 

[deep1]

Next on the ist is finding who's got the best deals on king crab...

 

[Temeculaguy]

We had our 2020 early August Seward to Vancouver cruise lifted and shifted twice and in February I went to book the train, completely sold out the day of the cruise and only the regular tickets available the day before, no gold star available. We booked the day before train and a night at a hotel in seward, which was also almost booked up. I read there are more ships going to alaska this summer than ever before, so whatever you do, book early, it may already be too late. I think I booked the train and room in February and there wasn't much left. Anchorage was also pretty booked up, some hotels already sold out, the same hotels I had booked in 2020 with no problem. After going on 3 pandemic cruises ranging from 25-50% capacity I've gotten complacent, looks like this summer in Alaska will look nothing like our recent sailings.

[steverk]

On 3/31/2022 at 6:25 PM, smokeybandit said:

This is probably a dumb question but I feel compelled to ask anyway.  Are the pools open for Alaskan cruises?

It's not a dumb question! On radiance in June 2006, the pools were open the whole time. The solarium was great! Outside was 50 degrees and light rain. A few brace souls hung out in the outdoor hot tubs.

In June 2017, I took a round trip Seattle cruise on Princess. All the pools were in use, but it was 85 degrees and sunny the whole week!

[Matt]

Yes, pools are open. Hot tubs more popular, as you might imagine.

[Jason12]

Yes let’s…..

just booked b2b radiance August 23 for our 35th anniversary so hopefully we can do everything we want as must ports are repeated..

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

Yes, pools are open. Hot tubs more popular, as you might imagine.

I'm not much of a pool person, but with a 10 yr old in tow who's a fish and thinks all cruises end up with beach stops, this pool will be at least somewhat of a compromise.

[AlohaLivin]

1 hour ago, Jason12 said:

Yes let’s…..

just booked b2b radiance August 23 for our 35th anniversary so hopefully we can do everything we want as must ports are repeated..

That sounds like that will be quite the anniversary! Congratulations