CRUISING ALASKA ON THE RADIANCE OF THE SEAS AND THE NCL SUN

I have cruised to Alaska twice, both on the 7-day round-trip itinerary from Vancouver.  The first was in July 2005 on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, and the 2nd was in August 2009 on NCL's Sun.  Let's just say I preferred the former to the latter.  Although I had fun accompanying a group of 28 passengers celebrating a 25th anniversary, I confess I am not always a fan of NCL's "Freestyle" (or in other words, get you on the ship with the lowest price but charge for everything separately) style of cruising.

Mini-golf at Sea!

Adults-only Solarium Pool

Stateroom and activity finder: never get lost on a ship again!

 

On the Radiance of the Seas, we left Vancouver on a spectacular warm and sunny day.  I have been fortunate enough to cruise into and out of some of the most gorgeous cities in the world, but I have to say there is nothing like cruising past Stanley Park and under the Lions Gate Bridge, against a backdrop of the North Shore mountains.  I feel so lucky to call this city home when I hear other tourist’s comments like, “Imagine living here?!”  Of course if it was pouring rain, it wouldn’t be so great!

I love the crew on Royal Caribbean; I always find them to be the friendliest, happiest crews at sea.  We looked forward to dinner each night, where our wait staff, Yasmin and Lun would be interested in how we spent our day. 

For this cruise, we took an ocean view cabin.  Even if we’d wanted another category, our choice was limited as it was a rather last-minute decision to accompany friends on this cruise, and we literally got the last cabin. 

 Refurbished balcony cabin

 Refurbished Inside Cabin

It was a beautiful ship then, but I just toured it again recently after a major refurbishment and it is spectacular!  All the cabins have been redecorated and most of the public areas as well.  Some specialty restaurants have been added, like Giovanni’s Table, the Samba Grill, Izumi’s Asian Cuisine, and the Chef’s Table.  Of course the dining room and buffet are still free of charge, but if you want a treat, dinner at one of the specialty restaurants makes for a wonderful evening.  Charges range from $10 - $25 per person for the restaurants and the Chef’s Table has a $75 fee.  I can tell you they are well worth it!  The meals are sumptuous and the service impeccable. 

 Main dining room  

Giovanni's Italian Table                  

The Alaska cruise landscape has changed greatly in the last few years.  It used to be the majority of ships left from Vancouver, but the recession forced many of the cruise lines to change their home port to Seattle.  That way, American tourists could keep their flights within the USA.  It’s an unfortunate reality that Americans pay a lot less for their flights than we Canadians do.  However, the ships from Seattle must stop in a Canadian port.  This is a requirement because of the Jones Act, which does not allow a ship to travel exclusively between U.S. ports unless it is registered in the U.S.  Since most ships are registered outside the U.S., they must make a stop in another country along the way – hence Canada and Victoria.  For a time, Prince George and Nanaimo saw some ships, but for 2012 it looks like only Victoria and Vancouver will benefit from the large influx of tourist dollars a cruise ship in port brings.

When taking an Alaska cruise, there are a number of choices to consider, ensuring you get the best from your vacation.  The most commonly booked is a 7-day round-trip from Vancouver or Seattle.  The usual ports are Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and an afternoon at one of the Glaciers. 

Another choice is to take a 7-day cruise from Vancouver or Seattle that ends in Alaska, in Anchorage, Seward or Whittier.  From there, the best option is to take a cruise tour.  This is a land package in conjunction with your cruise that is operated by the cruise line.  Once off the ship, you take a domed train into the wilderness and stay at a Wilderness Lodge where you really get back to nature with the wildlife of Alaska.  The alternative is to fly back the same day, but what’s the point of going all that way, if not to experience true nature at its best?  These same 7-day one-way cruises operate in the reverse direction, so you can also choose to fly to Alaska and do a pre-cruise tour, then cruise home.  There are often great deals on 14-day back to back cruises where you would cruise there and back, and as a result, see each port twice.    

 White Pass and Yukon Railroad

In my opinion, one of the unfortunate side effects of the recent itinerary changes is the dropping of Skagway as a port of call on the 7-day round-trip Vancouver cruises.  For history buffs, this historic Gold Rush town is a fascinating port in which to take a 3-hour trip on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.  The trip starts with a visit to the Museum where you can see just how much the miners - and their pack horses - had to carry.  The RCMP required a full 1 year of supplies, which weighed approximately 1 ton!  The train follows the path miners and their horses wore into the mountainside on their quest for the ever-elusive gold strike, including Dead Horse Gulch.  You can imagine where that name comes from.

View from Mt. Roberts, Juneau

Juneau is a great port for whale-watching excursions or taking the Mt. Roberts tram up the hill, where you have a beautiful vista of the port and town (if it’s not raining).  There is also the inland Mendenhall Glacier, which is unfortunately receding at an alarming pace: 1.75 miles (2.82 km) since 1958.  The Red Dog Saloon is a fun watering hole in which to take a break.

Creek Street, Ketchikan
Ketchikan is famous for being the Salmon Capital of the World, as well as the Rain Capital of the World, receiving an average of 162 inches per year!  It also has the wooden boardwalk of Creek Street – a former Red Light District where you can tour an historic bordello.  There is also the Totem Heritage Center notable for its collection of 19^th century totem poles.

Hubbard Glacier
By far the best thing about an Alaska cruise is the glaciers.  Depending on the itinerary, the cruise ship will visit the Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, or cruise up Tracy Arm to the Sawyer Glacier.  Generally, the ships from Vancouver go to the Hubbard Glacier, and the ships from Seattle go to Tracy Arm or Glacier Bay.  Beware of NCL’s 2012 itinerary which no longer includes a glacier visit!  That is truly a crime, in my opinion.

  Calving      

Of the 3, the Hubbard Glacier calves the most.  There is nothing like the sound of a massive chunk of ice splitting off from the glacier - it is truly awe-inspiring.  And managing to catch it on film is a rare treat!  The ships will get as close to the Glacier as weather will allow, and then slowly turn 360 degrees so that everyone gets a great view, no matter where they are on the deck.  It can be very cold, so the crew is usually seen serving hot chocolate and supplying blankets.  The passage up Tracy Arm is spectacular on a sunny day, but if calving is what you’re after, the Sawyer Glacier rarely accommodates.  The ship does not have enough space to do 360 degree turns there, so make sure to get a good spot on the deck for viewing this one. 

 Tracy Arm       

                                                         

Sawyer Glacier

                              

                                                              
The Alaska cruise season runs from May through September, with the best pricing at the beginning and end of the season.  July and August is peak time, when prices are higher and the weather is supposedly better.  Having said that, the 2 cruises I took were in August and it was mostly rainy, so my advice is, don't go to Alaska for the weather!
The ships cruise to Vancouver or Seattle from their winter destinations in May, and go back in September; so the repositioning cruises between Vancouver and Hawaii or the Panama Canal are therefore only offered in May or September.  This also applies to the short 1-3 night Pacific Northwest cruises.  There is a popular misconception that they sail frequently from around here; in fact, they occur in the short period between the Alaska season and the ship's winter destination, so if you want a weekend cruise, plan on May or September. 

FRENCH POLYNESIAN PARADISE

In November of 2009, my husband and I took an amazing trip to French Polynesia to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It was a bucket-list trip that was in the works for close to 2 years, but worth every minute of waiting.

We flew from Los Angeles on Air Tahiti (the most common way to get to Tahiti) to the capital, Papeete.  The flights depart from Tom Bradley terminal at LAX, an easy walk from Air Canada in Terminal 2.  The flight attendants supply complementary food, drinks, headrests and blankets. The 8 hour flights arrive around midnight so we went straight to our hotel after a long travel day.  We stayed at a hotel near the airport, the Sofitel Tahiti Maeva Beach Resort. The room was lovely and the atmosphere in the hotel was great. We couldn’t wait to get outside the next morning and get our first taste of Tahiti in the daylight. 

It did not disappoint!  The day was beautiful and we had a fabulous view across to the island of Moorea (pronounced Mo-o-reah, as they pronounce all their vowels).  After a breakfast buffet, we headed off to catch the 45 minute ferry to Moorea. 

The inter-island ferry is an excellent way to travel between the islands for less money than flying.  It’s all a well-oiled machine, with a place to drop your luggage before heading onto the ferry.  Living on the coast of BC, and having taken many cruises, I am used to the water but this was truly one of the roughest crossings I’ve ever taken!  There were sick-bags at the end of every row of seats and the only people moving out of their seats were the attendants, who could barely walk without falling over themselves.  Luckily Albert and I are not ones to get sea-sick, so it was just an adventure. When we arrived we grabbed our luggage and then took a cab to our second hotel, the Sofitel Moorea Ia Ora Beach Resort.  The lobby was open and inviting, and we were promptly taken by golf-cart out to our over-water bungalow.  Our luggage followed shortly after.  The bungalow was a dream come true!  There was a glass window in the floor to view the water below, and sliding doors to a lovely verandah with a ladder directly into the water.  It was a large open room with a separate bathroom, including state-of-the art fixtures and a huge shower.  The bungalows sit in about 4-5 feet of water, so even non-swimmers would enjoy this luxury.  We quickly discovered the room came with a single-serve espresso machine so we grabbed a coffee and went out to the deck.  It was simply heaven to sit there enjoying the amazing views, especially to see the fish swimming all around us.  After a quick coffee break, we grabbed our snorkel equipment and hopped in the water.  It turns out we had a resident fish that lived next to our ladder and would peck at our toes as we climbed up and down the ladder, almost as if to say, “How dare you trespass in my water!”.  It was a little disconcerting at first, but since she was only about 2 inches long, I quickly realized she couldn’t do any real damage.  We named her Wanda.  The water was crystal clear and about the temperature of bath water - just the right warmth for me!  I had heard that the beach at the Sofitel is one of the nicest on the whole island, and I certainly agree.

That night we had a buffet dinner at one of the hotel’s restaurants.  The food was excellent the whole trip; very Parisian, but also very expensive.  The breakfast buffets were included with our room, otherwise it was $50/person.  Dinner buffets were $100/person.

The next day we rented a scooter and toured the island on our own.  It’s about 37 miles so you can easily do it in half a day, with stops at the popular places like the Belvedere Lookout.  We had lunch at a great little family owned - in fact it was their house - restaurant called Le Bounty.  The cheese salad was excellent and much more reasonable than the restaurants near our hotel.

That night we had a fabulous romantic dinner on the beach in the hotel’s K restaurant.  Not for the faint of heart though!  The bill was about C$250 with only one drink each.  I was amazed at all the newlyweds and young couples there ordering bottle after bottle of wine.  Who pays the $500 bill?

We took a Shark & Stingray Feeding excursion the next morning with Albert’s Tours that included a Motu Picnic, for about $100 each.  It lasted 6 hours and was great value as the meal was excellent – the local dish, Poisson Cru, made fresh while we watched - and all drinks were included.  (Motu’s are tiny uninhabited islands where they set up private picnics.)  To top it off, on our way to the shark and ray feeding grounds, we passed cow and calf Humpback whales and our guide stopped the boat so we could watch them frolic in the water for about 20 minutes.  We’d met some hotel guests the day before who had paid for a whale-watching expedition and didn’t see any, so we felt especially fortunate!

The experience of swimming with sharks and rays was very daunting to me at first, but eventually, I took a cue from Albert and got right into it.  I drew the line at kissing rays though.

The next 2 days we stayed around our bungalow, just swimming and snorkeling and enjoying the fish and water.  It was a bit disconcerting though, when we swam almost to the reef and then spotted a reef shark!  That was enough to get me swimming back to the bungalow.  I’m sure he wasn’t used to tourists feeding him like the ones the day before.

On the 5^th day we packed our bags and took the ferry back to Papeete to catch our cruise ship.  The crossing was much smoother than the way over. The cruise terminal is walking distance from the Moorea ferry if you can manage your luggage.  We dropped our bags at the ship and wandered over to check out the Papeete market, which specializes in pearls, fish and woven goods.  Not being enticed to buy, we headed back to the ship.  

The cruise was a 10 night round-trip Papeete itinerary on the Pacific Princess, a small 670 passenger ship.  We loved the ship and met lots of wonderful people.  Our table of 8 became fast friends and we spent each evening together after dinner, watching shows or just enjoying each other’s company.  I have to say the shows were not what I’m used to on a ship, but that’s simply because of the limited stage-space on such a small ship.

The ship overnighted in Papeete at the beginning and end of the trip, to facilitate the late-night flights.  Most of the outbound flights are around 11:00pm, so at the end of the cruise, you can check out of your cabin, but still leave all your bags on the ship and use the dining facilities until heading to the airport that evening. 

We stopped in Huahine, Rangiroa, Raiatea, Moorea, and overnighted in Bora Bora.  In Huahine, we did an excellent tour called Marc’s Outrigger Snorkel and Motu picnic for $100 each.  It was an all day tour and certainly the most fun we had in any of the ports.  Our guide was hilarious and the food and weather were just perfect.  In Rangiroa, we did Mata’s tour, which I don’t recommend, even though I realized he was the same tour guide who Ellen Degeneres used when she was there on her honeymoon.  He didn’t supply any food and it was over-priced.  The one highlight was all the dolphins at Tiputa Pass.  We took Suzanne’s tour in Raiatea and that was good, but by then we’d had enough of Pearl farms.  We rented an exorbitantly-priced dune buggy on Bora Bora, only because all the cars were already rented.  Tip: if you want to rent a vehicle on Bora Bora, book it in advance!  We’d read about Bloody Mary’s restaurant, but it was just an over-priced tourist trap.  Take some pictures, but don’t waste your money on the food.  On our port day in Moorea, we had a torrential downpour – the only rain of the trip -but that was fine because we’d already enjoyed 4 spectacular days there.

All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime, and I hope to get back there someday.  The people are super friendly and the setting is simply paradise on Earth.  If you want to keep costs down, a cruise is the most-economical way to really enjoy the islands, but splurge on a few nights in an over-water bungalow.