We have booked our first cruise ever to Alaska in June 2006 aboard Radiance of the Sea. I booked with a travel agent since its our first cruise. We are doing the 5 day pre cruise land tour of Denali and Talkeetna and down to Fairbanks and then we fly back up to Anchorage and take train I believe to Seward where we continue on our cruise. The problem I have is they said I wont get my tickets or any information until about 2 weeks before the cruise. Is this normal? Also it states that we spend the night in Anchorage when we arrive and then two nights in Denali but neither place says where we will be lodging? Is there a way to find this out? I know we stay in Talkeetna Lodge when we are there. Also should I book excursions on line now or wait till we arrive in ports. We are doing Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau and Icy Straits and cruising thru Hubbard Glacier. I know we want to do at least one glacier trip and possibly floatplane also. I called Island Wings and she said I couldnt book with them until Feb 2006. I hope I can get in then. Any help is appreciated. We are staying in cabin 9068 which I think has a bad view down to the water from what I have read on other posts. Something about tops of life boats even though someone said they were tucked away but others said they couldnt look down and see the water. Any way I know I will enjoy cruise. Thanks for any tips.
Lynn
Book any landtours you are really interested in as soon as possible. There were many tours already full before the cruise even started. Have a backup plan as due to weather some tours get cancelled at the last min.
Have you tried calling RCI cruise line directly to ask them about the hotel information ?
They may tell you to wait for your travel documents to arrive, but it doesn't hurt to try calling and asking.
I took a similar cruise tour in July (with Celebrity cruise line and Royal Celebrity Tours handled the land tour) , arriving in Anchorage overnight at the Marriot in Anchorage (I think the Hilton is nicer and better location), then the McKinley Lodge just minutes outside of Denali, then the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge (gorgeous place !).
You can't book tours thru the ship until 90 or 120 days out.
We just did the Radiance in May for the repositioning cruise and are sailing her to Alaska in 5 days. Yes there is a ledge or overhang outside the balcony and you can't see straight down to the ocean but it's not that bad. Besides you're not really looking down you're looking at the scenery around you...straight out more than straight down.
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CU@C,
Teresa and Larry
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My husband and I have taken many cruises and we have always given over our laundry to the ship and they have always done a fabulous job. It's your vacation, so why waste your time doing laundry? You've probably spent a bundle for this vacation already, so what's a few bucks more for laundry? I'm a penny-pincher, so I know it is hard to pay for the laundry to be done.
Our last 12-day cruise, we spent about $25.00 to have our laundry done on-board. Not bad at all and we had the time to enjoy exploring instead.
You are way too early to be booking shore tours for next year. Do your homework and keep researching, you are bound to change your mind several times over the more you read. RCI stays at very nice hotels, no worries there. Be certain you have the Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali Park and get a map. For clairfication. Fairbanks is 350 miles north of Anchorage, Seward is 125 miles south.
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alaska cruise in June 2006
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