This was my second cruise, both with RCL. My first cruise was on Adventure of the Seas in the Caribbean, so there will be a few comparisons between the 2 ships. I am a 51 year old female divorcee who traveled with a 51 year old married female. We were celebrating our 50th birthdays a little late.

Our evening arrival in Anchorage was uneventful. We got a shuttle to a nearby hotel where I had made reservations. The following morning we were picked up by Alaskan Leopard Tours for a 4 hour tour to Seward where we were to board the Radiance. The tour was very enjoyable, on a 16 passenger bus that was half-full. We had wonderful views and stops. We stopped at a wildlife refuge for our first glimpse of Alaska's wildlife. It was most informative.

Embarkation was a breeze. Less than 15 minutes from start to finish. I will say that later in the day when we were headed into to the town of Seward, the lines were considerably longer. Once aboard, we had our first taste of the excellent service we would be receiving for the next 7 days. My friends' water bottle had leaked all over her pants and her backpack, leaving her and her valuables wet. We tried to use the hand dryers in the restroom as it was still too early to go to our stateroom. When they didn't work, a crew member quickly found out that they had all been turned off because it had been discovered that regular paper towels were much safer to avoid the spread of germs. Then she took us to our cabin steward and explained our predicament and he let us in our cabin to dry her off with the hair dryer. After a quick exploration of the ship, we went ashore for more exploring until shortly before we were to depart. Read more