We took the last cruise of the season to Alaska leaving Vancouver on 22nd September. We are first time cruisers in our 40's and had originally booked the week be fore's sailing but opted for the longer two week cruise after some thought. We travelled by ourselves so we are unable to write about the kids programmes but those children we did see in the company of the cruise staff seemed to be having a great time!

We used Royal Caribbean to book our air and we arrived on the day of the cruise at Vancouver airport at 1000 a.m. We were met in the baggage area by RCI representatives who then walked us over to the bus depot where they took our bags and we boarded a bus after a 10 minute wait. They were very efficient throughout the whole process though be advised that due to ongoing construction at the airport we had to push our luggage a fair distance through the airport parking lots to get to the bus.

On arrival at Ballantyne pier [15 minute bus ride max] we went through the embarkation process. We had printed off our set-sail sheets so we were through immigration and on the ship in about 15 minutes. All very quick and efficient (again!) Read more