I had heard all the hyperbole about Alaska and how it is a must do cruise. I, frankly, did not buy all that stuff as I believe that if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't true. I was wrong. It is all true. Alaska is a must see destination.

This is a review of the 14 Day Alaskan Repositioning cruise on the Radiance of the Seas starting September 10, 2010. The cruise embarked in Vancouver and 14 days later terminated in San Diego. We are in our mid-50's, married for 30 years and this was our 9th cruise with RCI since April 2005. Although we normally like to travel alone we went with 2 other couples on this cruise. It was our first Alaskan cruise as I have not really wanted to risk a cool and/or rainy cruise. As luck would have it the weather was outstanding. It rained on 2 days and both were sea days. The weather at our Alaskan ports was warm and sunny with warm being subjective. Every port was between 15C to 20C (60F-70F) and cloudless. The nights were so clear that we even saw the Northern Lights the night we left Skagway. The Gods were indeed smiling on the Radiance during the entire cruise, save those 2 sea days that it rained.

We stayed 1 night pre-cruise at the Sutton Place Hotel. The price was $119.00 before taxes that we booked through one of the online hotel re-sellers. We liked the hotel and had no issues. We thought we got great value for the price and we would stay there again, if the price was right. We are going to sail from Vancouver next September to Hawaii and the Sutton Place would certainly warrant consideration. We would probably go 2 days early to see more of Vancouver and the areas around it. Read more