We are a family of four (2 boys aged 10 and 12) who along with my mum departed on an Alaskan adventure from Australia doing back to back cruises from Seward to Vancouver and back to Seward. We had been on about 4 cruises prior to this trip with two of them also on Radiance from Sydney so we were very familiar with the ship. As a quick summary the positives were fantastic weather (save for one night - details to follow), jaw dropping destinations, great food and entertainment and a ship that was ideally suited to soaking up all the scenery.

On the negative side we had continual trouble with the toilets as did many others around our cabin (deck 7 forward starboard side) which on a couple of days also seemed to affect every public restroom within cooee of our cabin. If that was not enough we experienced a full on flood one night at 3am as water gushed out from behind the bathroom wall into our cabin. The staff who dealt with fixing the actual problems were always there quickly and did their best however the lack of empathy from guest relations for our continual dramas was disappointing. Not even an offer of a bottle of wine to say sorry for your cabin getting flooded, your shoes getting all wet, your sleep being disturbed for several hours and your carpet being smelly for a couple of days!

We were told that embarkation at Seward was slightly delayed after we hopped off the Gold train from Anchorage but we were keen to look around Seward anyway so no major problem there. When we did arrive at the dock we were on within ten minutes and went straight to our cabins. Except for the plumbing issues our cabin was ideal with a large extended balcony and clear views down to the water (no lifeboat covers). Our two boys were in one interior cabin across the hall and my mum was next to them in another. An added bonus of travelling in three cabins was we could bring 6 bottles of wine aboard at Seward and Vancouver! Our room steward was brilliant and he even snuck us some extra chairs to put on the balcony which were greatly appreciated when viewing the tremendous scenery, spotting whales and other wildlife and just generally relaxing on the balcony with wine and cheese. Read more