Alaska was great, the Radiance wasn't up to par with previous cruises

Radiance of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 58

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Radiance of the Seas

7 Night Alaska Hubbard Glacier Northbound (Vancouver To Seward)

Sail date: June 12, 2015

Ship: Radiance of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 3588

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This was my third cruise, 2nd with Royal Caribbean. We were disappointed by the activities on the ship. Wasn't as many fun games as previous cruises. My teenage kids were bored by the teen activities as there weren't many. The service in the main dining room was not as prompt as I would have liked. The cruise crew was great though. My kids particularly loved Darryl.

I could never find on the website what the themed parties would be, if any, so wasn't able to dress up fun for the 70's disco party. We had fun regardless but I would have liked to have known that they were doing that so I could have costumed.

Our stateroom only received 2 towel animals. I look forward to seeing what's there when I get back to my room at night so was a little disappointed as other cruises had a new one almost nightly.

The evening shows were pretty good. I enjoyed the comedian, my son loved the magic show and the first show was great. I did get bored with the love story performance and one other musical but the actors and dancers were great and the musicians do an outstanding job.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Cascades had slower service than I am used to. Food was great though.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Most activities were sales pitches or trivia. I like more interactive games.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Wasn't as impressed with the nightly entertainment as other cruises

Children's Programs

1 out of 5
My teenage kids didn't feel there were any fun activities for them.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

Cabin was a typical cabin. One room we had had issues with plumbing on the 1st or 2nd day. It took a little while to resolve. they couldn't flush the toilet in the meantime. I was disappointed by the lack of towel animals each night. Steward was nice though.

Ship tip

It's a smaller boat than I thought. The mini golf was fun. I wanted to do the rock wall but it was closed the day I went because of winds. I wish it was opened later at night. The ship is well maintained and clean. It has many elevators which made getting to rooms much easier than on some ships

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

5 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
Eat the crabs..mmmmmmm

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska Did not visit port

Not a ton to do if you don't have an excursion planned but I enjoyed the walk to town and in the forest. You can occupy yourself without a high dollar excursion here.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
Whale watching was great. Saw several humpbacks. if in town, go to the Red Dog Saloon. It was fun.

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5
The dog mushers camp was cool but the ride was over pretty quickly.

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

5 out of 5
We got to the glacier earlier than expected. Be prepared to be awakened by all the announcements.

Seward (Anchorage), Alaska Did not visit port

We took the 3 day Talkeetna land trip from here. Our first stop was the marine life museum. It was nice but I would have enjoyed more time to check out the shops/restaurants.

Traveler Photos

Hubbard Glacier Dog sledding in Skagway The view on the walk to Hoonah My son as copilot on our flightseeing tour in Ketchican Red Dog Saloon in Juneau Ketchican crab feast
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1 Comment

glomarrone    9 years ago

Sounds like your cruise was a mixed bag - some good, some not so good.  Thanks for posting all the photos.  I enjoyed viewing them.  Thanks also for posting your first review on this site.