We were in cabin 7016 which is a forward balcony cabin on the port side of the ship.
The cabin is reasonable in size with lots and lots of storage space and a king size (or two twin) bed.  Basically the features are what you would expect in cruise ship cabins.  The only small negative thing about the amenities is  that Royal Caribbean doesn’t provide coffee makers in any cabin less than a suite.  Easy way to fix the no coffee pot issue is to simply order room service to be delivered first thing every morning.
We loved our cabin, from our perspective there were several benefits of this cabin.  First IT’S A BALCONY, I can’t stress enough just how awesome it was to be able to enjoy sailing the inside passage up to Alaska while sitting on our balcony.  Due to the configuration of the ship the first four or five balcony cabins from the front of the ship on deck seven have balconies that are about twice the size of the rest of the ship.  The increased size it due to deck seven being just above the lifeboats.  What I mean by twice the size is that the balcony is standard width (rail length) but it’s twice as deep (distance from the balcony door to the rail).  Another advantage to cabin 7016 is that unlike several of the cabins further back on deck seven it doesn’t have a lifeboat directly below it which means you can look straight down to the sea with an unobstructed view.  The last major advantage of cabin 7016 is that it’s directly above the theatre and directly below other cabins.  Which means other than during the two hours in the evening when the shows are going on (which we were usually at so we didn’t care about any noise) the cabin tends to very quiet.

Having sailed out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale before I must say that the folks in Vancouver have gotten this thing dialed in.  For one thing Vancouver is a really cool city with lots to see and do (it could be a vacation destination all on its own).  We really enjoyed Chinatown, Gas Town, Granville Market and the Queen Elizabeth Gardens.   Public transportation is awesome in the city, we used the Sky Train and the buses to get all over town.  We spent three days in Vancouver before sailing and on sail day we dropped our luggage off at the port at 9:00am and then went back out and walked around downtown Vancouver for a few hours before boarding the ship and having a late lunch.  The port facilities were spotlessly clean and the staff were incredibly friendly.   I can say hands down that Vancouver was the best boarding and embarkation experience I have ever had on any cruise.

We had a wonderful time in Ketchikan.  The city offers a free shuttle bus that will take you from the dock around downtown and to several of the main tourist stops.  We took the shuttle to the Totem Heritage Center which has a nice collection of antique totem poles.  The staff at the heritage were very knowledgeable and more than willing to spend personal time explaining many aspects of nature culture and how it was reflected in the exhibits on display.   We visited the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, which is a great place to get an overview of the life and culture that is Southeast Alaska.   We then took the city bus ($1) out to Totem Bight State Park (it’s free).  Totem Bight has recreated totem poles and a spirit lodge set right on the edge of the water.   Spent the rest of our time walking Creek St. and souvenir shopping.  Hint on the souvenir shopping we were given a coupon book as we boarded the ship in Vancouver which had several really good coupons for stuff in Ketchikan (example $1.99 hats).

This port stop is way different from the rest of the ports we visited on our cruise.  It sort of had the feel of visiting the cruise line “private islands” in the Caribbean with the difference being that in this case the tribe owns the facility not the cruise line and charges a fee for everything you see, do or eat.   Where the ship docks is an old fish cannery site that has been converted to a cruise stop.  The facility is interesting enough to walk around for a couple of hours but nothing really fantastic.  There is a shuttle that costs $5 to take you the two miles into the village of Hoonah which is a town of about 700 people.  We took the shuttle in to Hoonah and really enjoyed spending some time at the carvers shop.  The shop is where a couple of native gentlemen work to carve totem poles and decretive wall features as well as other native craft work.  We spent well over an hour watching them carve and talking with them.  The men are more than willing to spend as much time as you want discussing the work they do and the meaning of it.  We found it to be a very special opportunity to talk with a person about their culture and to learn about how that culture is expressed in art.  Back at Icy Strait there is a short nature trail that is worth a quick walk.  One really cool thing about Icy Strait is that it is a very good place to see whales.  Late in the afternoon right before we left there were several whales feeding right next to the ship.  We could see and hear them very clearly from our balcony.

In Juneau we chose to rent a car for the day, there is a rental place that is just a few blocks from where the ship docks.  It was great to have the freedom to see the sights we wanted on our schedule and we saved a ton of money over paying to go on the scheduled tours which when to the same places we visited.  Suggestion book well in advance online, you get a much better rate and from what I heard the rental location close to the ships at times sells out of cars on days when several ships are in port.  First stop Mendenhall glacier which is a wonderful experience.  One good thing about renting a car and heading straight to the glacier is that we got there before most of the tour groups which means it was way less crowded.  Took the two mile hike from the visitor’s center over to Nugget Falls and a sandbar which is the closest you can get to the face of the glacier.  Drove out of town to The Shrine of St. Therese which is a small church situated on a small island accessible by trail/causeway just north of the city.  The church itself is nice and a great place to stop and reflect for a moment or two but for us the best aspect of the location was the view from the cliff face.  We could see the mountains across the water and several whales feeding in the channel.  From there we drove up to Eagle Beach which as the name suggests is a good place to see eagles, it’s also a great place to simply enjoy some peace and quiet, the day we were there we spent probably an hour totally alone sitting at a picnic table.  We also drove up to the ski area which was obviously closed but it was a good way to see the some high ground and an overview of the area.  Since we had a car we made good use of it and chose to drive all four roads leading out of Juneau to their very end so we can now say that we have literally been to the very end of the road in all directions at Juneau.  We also took the opportunity to drop by Fred Myers (a lot like Walmart) and pick up a few things that we needed.  Juneau is a very pretty city and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring it on our own for the day.

In Skagway we chose to rent a car again and explore on our own.  Skagway is one of the very few places in Southeast Alaska that you can actually drive out of town and connect to the outside world, which means that Skagway is a great place for a day trip to The Yukon Territories.  Be aware that Skagway had the longest walk we have ever had from where the ship docked to the actual town.  We walked probably close to a mile from the ship to town (from what we saw there are two cruise dock locations and we were docked as the second ship at the further of the two docks so other had a much shorter walk).  We rented from Avis which is located fairly close to where the ships dock.  If you chose to rent a car reserve ahead of time, you save money and you will get a car.  The day we were there several people in line at Avis had to be turned away because there were no more cars.  The Klondike Highway is the one road leading out of Skagway and it pretty much follows the same route as the White Pass Railroad.  It’s seven amazingly beautiful miles from town to the Canadian border (bring your passport) and then several more amazingly beautiful miles through the very northern edge of British Columbia on to The Yukon.   At the top of White Pass there was still several feet of snow on the ground and the lakes were still frozen over in Late May, but as we dropped back down in elevation temperatures got to be very pleasant.  We stopped at the “Carcross Desert” which is billed as the world’s smallest desert, in reality it’s a set of sand dunes formed as a part of glacial movement in the past.  The dunes are fairly small but it is pretty cool to be walking around on sand dunes and look around and see snow topped mountains all around you.  We drove on up to Emerald Lake which is in the Yukon and is naturally colored this really bright emerald green color (the sign says its due to the sediment that naturally occurs on the bottom of the lake).  On the way back we stopped at several turn off locations along Tutshi Lake.  Tutshi lake is a huge natural lake that offers incredible views.  The drive from Skagway to Emerald lake and back was a perfect was amazingly beautiful and it was a really great way to see the interior of the land that we had been sailing past for the past several day.  BE AWARE as of May 2015 there are several miles of road construction along the Klondike highway,  This construction didn’t really back up traffic, but it did result in probably 20 or 30 miles of having to drive on gravel road.  This driving on gravel resulted in lots of dust and in our case a cracked windshield due to a rock being kicked up by a Semi going the other way.  I had declined the additional coverage on the car (including glass coverage) but I will say that Avis was more than fair with me.  However, I would STRONGLY urge others who chose to rent a car and drive up to Emerald lake consider paying the $8 a day for glass coverage at least.  After our drive we got back to Skagway just in time to take a short walk around the historic district.  The national park service operates several sites in the historic district where you can learn about the glory days of the Alaskan gold rush.

Disembarking in Seward was really easy.  We were given a time to exit the ship and simply walked off and found our luggage waiting for us in a large hanger type building.  We had chosen to take the Alaskan Cruise Transport bus service from Seward to Anchorage.  Our bus was waiting for us and took us to Anchorage as promised.  About ACT, the bus ride wasn’t anything special but it was the least expensive option available to get us from the ship to the airport in Anchorage.   I would definitely take ACT again, but consider it more like a big taxi you are sharing with 50 other people and not a sightseeing experience.

We spent three days in Vancouver before sailing and on sail day we dropped our luggage off at the port at 9:00am and then went back out and walked around downtown Vancouver for a few hours before boarding the ship and having a late lunch.We walked probably close to a mile from the ship to town (from what we saw there are two cruise dock locations and we were docked as the second ship at the further of the two docks so other had a much shorter walk).

Radiance of the Seas Review

An Excellent Alaskan Experience

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Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

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