R/C cruise tour was a dream come true. My wife and I have talked about going to Alaska since we were dating 29 years ago. R/C did not disappoint from picking us at the airport to debarkation. We did the land tour first and would highly recommend it be done first,it is a lot of traveling getting up early to see all of the sites, then you have 7 days to rest on the ship. The Hotels/Lodges they stay at are mostly 1st class the only complaint was the McKinley Village Lodge. The lodge wasn't ready for the amount of people R/C was bringing to their lodge, they wasn't any wait staff in the restaurant when we arrived The water in our building had to be shut off so maintenance could fix a leaking shower. R/C could do nothing about this they can't control the mismanagement of the lodge. The other places we stayed were excellent, the Talkeetna Lodge and the Alyeska Resort were first class without any complaints. The land tours were well done and we got to see a grizzly in Denali, Mt. McKinley also was viewable they say only 30% of the people get to see it, saw Moose at many sites and a black bear and cub were seen at Alyeska Resort. To me these were bonus that R/C can't control we were just lucky.

The ship is eleven years old to those who say they see wear, look at a eleven year old car, you may take great care of it but you might have door dings,spots on the seat and carpet and this is your car that you take care of not a rental this is how some people would treat the ship.The staff does an excellent job maintaining the ship they are cleaning all the time. The staff from the Captain to cabin steward is above expectations, we had no complaints. The food at Cascades is good to very good depending on what you like. Windjammer is the very good buffet with many choices but it is buffet food. In my opinion not as good as Cascades but very good for buffet food. The shows are very good the singer/dancers are as good as any Broadway show that comes to my home town. The lounge acts were entertaining and a pleasant addition to the lounges. Paul the cruise director does an outstanding job keeping the entertainment going almost nonstop.

The shore excursions we took were well done without any problems. We went to Mendenhall glacier and glacier gardens the gardens are beautiful, then we took a whale-n-mammal tour that guarantees that you will see whales or give you $100 back, and lastly the lumberjack show with a historic trolley tour. Read more