Radiance Of The Seas – An Overview

“Welcome to the first day of the most amazing cruise vacation of your life” – these words are taken from the Cruise Compass that you will find in your cabin each day, that lists all the important things to know from the safety drill, to the dining, entertainment and activities. I really enjoyed the May 11, 2012, cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. This is the perfect ship to take in the sights of Alaska as the views are magnificent and can be seen from within the ship due to the floor to ceiling windows.
Here are some more details of my May 11th, 2012 cruise, including pictures of my cabin, restaurants, swimming pool, entertainment, theatre, coffee shop, and other public areas. This is not a big ship, such as the Oasis of The Seas which can hold up to 5,200 people or so. The Radiance Of The Seas (a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship) holds about 2,200 people approximately, and is easier to get around. If you don’t want to get “lost” in a ship, then this may be the one for you, it is easy to get the feel of it, and to get your bearings compared to some of the larger ships.
As far as entertainment, what can I say? Spectacular! The entertainment was different every day, and could be viewed in the Aurora Theatre either before dinner or after dinner. Then were was also entertainment that was brought to you all around the ship, including the lobby area – named the Centrum – or to the swimming pool by DJ Terry, and the Cruise Director and his staff such as the 70’s Disco Inferno one evening in the Centrum, as well as the highly entertaining Sail Away Party at the Poolside on the first day of the cruise. There’s a movie theatre, a casino, shops, a gym, solarium, spa, kids clubs and activities.
The dining options are magnificent! I ate in the Cascades Restaurant with my CruiseOne colleagues, and we had the late dining at 8:30 pm every night. There are also a handful of specialty restaurants that are available if you wish to try something different – such as Giovanni’s Table – I tried it, and I liked it! There is also the Chef’s Table, Chops Grille, Izumi’s, Samba Grill, Rita’s Cantina and these all range in price and can go up to $30 per person, which is very reasonable. If you don’t want to spend extra money, you don’t have to….Cascade’s, and Windjammer Cafe have more than enough food for you to feast on, and the food in these two restaurants is very good quality and varies from day to day. If you are looking for specialty coffees, there’s Cafe Latte-tudes (but you will have to pay for these – they’re not included). My recommendation to you for breakfast is the Park Cafe, this place was a fantastic discovery, because first of all, I thought it was a specialty snack shop/cafe, but the food here is included in your cruise fare, and you must try it. The paninis were so delicous, I can’t even begin to describe them accurately – my favorite was the breakfast panini with eggs, cheese, spinach and salmon! It was so good, I ordered a second one! The yoghurt parfaits are tasty – there were two kinds: strawberry or mango-banana, and there were also quesadillas, as well as other types of paninis, sandwiches and fresh fruit. Close to the Park Cafe, was another counter where you could get pastries, and a coffee bar (with complimentary American coffee) and complimentary juice machine were also close by. On other cruises, I have always opted for the breakfast buffet, but this time I could not wait for my paninis at Park Cafe. Also, don’t forget to try the Boardwalk Dog House, this place serves delicious hot dogs – I tried one that was spicy turkey.
Even though the cruise was not scheduled to sail until 4:30 pm, it is important to get to the cruise terminal as early as possible. I got there at around 1:00 pm, and was actually on the ship at around 3pm (that was two hours spent in the line even though I had done my online check-in, sometimes it’s not just the cruise line, but the immigration process that could slow things down). Now for some photos that will show you around the ship, and give you some insight into my seven days of cruising enjoyment.
Firstly, we have my cabin – an Inside Cabin with no windows unfortunately, but I still loved it, it was spacious and comfortable. There was a safety video playing on the tv, and we did have our muster drill within the first few hours of getting on the ship.
The lobby of the Radiance Of The Seas is ever so spectacular, colorful, modern and one of the nicest lobbies I’ve seen on a cruise ship.
I headed to the Windjammer Cafe to take advantage of a buffet lunch that did not fail to please. What a nice welcome!
I just had to take a picture of this waiter who had some colorful drinks:
Too full now to get anything from Cafe Latte-tudes
Went to take a look around the ship, and we were still in Vancouver – not sailing yet.
The skies are still a brilliant blue, while we are in Vancouver.
Our first taste of some terrific entertainment – poolside!
And the audience joined in, every one got into vacation mode, that’s the spirit!
We were not the only ship leaving from Canada Place, so was Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody Of The Seas
I then walked around the ship and took these pictures, some on the first day because I was so excited to see the ship, and some pictures I took on other days:
Best place to relax, and read a book, be warm and feel like you are in paradise. The birds are chirping, and you don’t need a jacket here. This is also where the Park Cafe is.
The Crown & Anchor Lounge – go here to sign up for an account so that you start getting acknowledgement each time you cruise with Royal Caribbean – you will accumulate points and/or rewards. This is not automatic membership, you have to sign up for it, so you might as well do it while you are on your cruise.
Bring your babies along, and your other kids too!
Sports time, stay fit on this ship with plenty to do!
Play mini-golf on Deck 13
Rock-climbing
You can’t go wrong with this interactive device, find out what to do, where you are, and where to go. It is truly your compass.
Read a book in the library on one of the decks, or play board games on the deck one level up
This is where spectacular entertainment was delivered every evening – The Aurora Theatre
A few pictures of the entertainment, as good as any Broadway show in the Aurora Theatre
Forgot what the dessert was called, but it was delicious!
The staff of the Cascades all get together at least two or three times, and say a few things about their team, they do a terrific job!
Dinner at Giovanni’s Table was a nice change, and for $20 – there was plenty to eat. Bring your appetite!
The most tasty and succulent chicken dish was devoured at Giovanni’s Table
The most scrumptious breakfast ever – breakfast panini – is to be had at Park Cafe in the Solarium area
I love to eat Indian food, and every day the Radiance Of The Seas had Indian items in their buffet at the Windjammer Cafe, but on this day – this Andhra Pakora Curry was undoubtedly the best!
The changing landscape – Alaska in the background
Every day there was a new towel animal design, the staff are so clever and talented
They’re hard at work in the kitchen feeding so many people; I got a look at the hard workers when I took a tour of the kitchen:
Actually, I saw long lines today (I think this picture may have been from Day 2 or 3)
As you can see, there is a lot to do and see on the Radiance Of The Seas. I have so many more pictures, and will also be including some in a video that I will produce soon. I hope you enjoyed my overviewof the cruise that I took. Actually, this could be considered a review if I give you my recommendation – and I do – I definitely recommend taking this cruise. You will love it, you won’t be bored – in fact, you’ll have way too much to do! Thank you for reading.
Skagway

It is now Day 6 of the cruise. I will be taking excursion no. 3 today, and it leaves at 8am. Who said cruising was all about relaxing? I have had to wake up early every single day, and one of the days when there wasn’t a port visit, I had a CruiseOne seminar from 9 am to 4:30 pm or so, and still had to wake up early. Today’s excursion is called Skagway City and White Pass Summit. By the way, the three excursions that I booked through my own website (http://www.likecruises.com) with our Shore Excursions provider were only $141 in total for all three – that’s a very good deal, and as you can see from yesterday’s excursion to Mendenhall Glacier, it’s worth getting on a bus and exploring.
The instructions on the ticket said to be just outside the cruise pier, and to check in by 7:40 am. It was a good job that I brought my passport with me, as we were supposed to go into Canada, just past the border. I managed to make it to the bus in time, and we set off promptly at 8am. Here are some pictures that were taken at some of the stops, and this time I am going to use bigger pictures instead of thumbnails, please feel free to let me know if this is a better choice or not.
I wonder what’s nicer – being on the train, or being at a distance and seeing the train?
The landscape is now changing as we are climbing higher up the hills in the bus, this picture was taken from the bus, and shows the trees are now dotted with white.
and it is getting whiter and whiter……..snow! And lots of it!
It’s beginning to look very white out here, and the sun is trying to break through the sky, but it is very cold!
Welcome to Alaska, a must-have photograph – everyone wants their picture taken here.
There was too much snow, that we couldn’t go past the border, what a shame! I would so much have liked to go into Canada again, even if for just a few moments. We were told the roads were not clear enough, and not passable. Now we headed back down to Skagway from the White Pass Summit.
We stopped here because it was another scenic spot to take pictures.
The Norwegian Pearl, side by side with the Radiance Of The Seas.
- We went on a short hike, and saw the Gold Rush Cemetery
Be prepared for a short hike up, about a 5 minute walk to this waterfall, past the Cemetery.
We are done with the excursion, and I’m off the bus and decided to walk around Skagway, instead of heading back to the cruise ship. The excursion lasted about two and a half hours, and it is only 11 am or so. However, we have until 4pm today in Skagway….so might as well see it.
Downtown Skagway, five minutes or so from the cruise ship
Tlingits are an Alaskan Native people who have lived in Southeast Alaska for generations. You can read more about the Tlingits by looking at the picture.
Interesting choice of names for these chocolate-covered concoctions. I chose the fudge instead.
Alaska is famous for its fudge in addition to its natural beauty and wild life, gold panning, Native American history, etc.
I did try their chocolate almond fudge – it was so good!
Found an Indian restaurant – didn’t eat there though, perhaps next time.
Looks like there’s inscriptions on the rocks, or are they signs?
Want to buy gold? There is still a lot of signs of the Gold Rush era.
A golden hotel…..the Golden North Hotel
Really wished I had taken this train to the White Pass Summit
Interesting name for a place
That’s the Norwegian Pearl in the background
Looking back at Skagway for the last few minutes before I head back to the cruise ship.
The trains of Skagway. I think I like trains…..
The walk back to the Radiance Of The Seas rock….I passed interesting rock art, trains, and the Norwegian Pearl…..
Now I see the Radiance Of The Seas
Now, I am back on the ship, and tomorrow is the last full day of the cruise. Will let you know how Day 7 goes. Thank you for reading.
Juneau

It is now Day 5 of the cruise – Tuesday, May 15th, 2012, and I had to wake up early because my shore excursion meeting time – for the tour titled Juneau City and Mendenhall Glacier Tour – is scheduled for 9:30 am. This will be shore excursion no. 2 for me, even though it is the third port (I didn’t do an excursion when in Icy Strait Point).
I walked past the train which was right outside where the cruise ship docked, and was half hoping that my excursion would involve a train up to Mendenhall Glacier, but I knew from the tour instructions on my ticket that I would be going on a bus again. It was only a two or three minute walk, but I was almost late, so I ran the last half minute to the bus. I was supposed to have been there 15 minutes before the bus set off. Here are some pictures taken during one of the stops prior to getting to Mendenhall Glacier. We stopped so that we could take some pictures of the Radiance Of The Seas, and of course, I just loved to take pictures of that beautiful ship. Here are some of the ship with Juneau in the background:
Here are some pictures taken from the bus, please excuse the reflection of the windows, I just couldn’t stop taking pictures:
I think these pictures were taken on one of the stops when we got out of the bus:
I could keep going on, and inserting more pictures, but I think I should stop at that. I’m sure you can see how beautiful Juneau is, and why Alaska is worth the visit? Then we went to a place called Chapel By The Lake (it was like a Log Church), and took a quick look inside, but I was mainly keen to get outside to take pictures:
We then drove to another stop to take some pictures of Mendenhall Glacier from a distance:
And now we have arrived at the final destination – first some preliminary pictures of the arrival area:
Then, beautiful Mendenhall Glacier, awesome, breathtaking, what can I say?
Here are some more pictures of the area surrounding Mendenhall Glacier, isn’t the blue color that’s in the glacier incredible?
Well, after all those breathtaking pictures (even though I do say so myself), it seems like a let-down to add pictures of a different kind, but I must finish up, here are some pictures of downtown Juneau, near the cruise ship where our bus took us after the amazing visit to Mendenhall Glacier.
A little background on Juneau: It was discovered in 1880 due to the discovery of gold, Juneau began its history as a prosperous and unique mining town, you can see some of the recommended sightseeing spots by viewing the picture of the sign post below:
You are probably wondering about the food in Juneau, here’s a picture of a menu:
Here’s some pictures I took near to where the cruise ship was docked
PS: If you are going to be in Juneau on June 7-9, 2012, you should not miss Celebration 2012. This is a major dance and cultural festival held every two years. Read more about the festival right here: http://www.sealaskaheritage.org/celebration/celebration_2012.htm and to view beautiful Alaskan Native art showing fabulous Tsimshian culture, please take a look here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/terrance-h-booth-jr.html?page=2
I really hope that you like my pictures of Juneau, and the Mendenhall Glacier. You just have to visit this amazing place, it was well worth the visit. Gold was discovered here, but there is so much more to discover too.
Icy Strait Point

It is now Day 4 of the cruise – Monday, May 14th, 2012. I don’t have any excursions booked for today, but one of the main excursions for this port is the zip line – which is for all those who wish to experience adventure, excitement and who aren’t afraid of heights. I’m not daring enough to take the zip line – I like adventure, and excitement – but I think I either don’t like to be too high up or I’m just afraid of rides.
Icy Strait Point is very picturesque, and I’m glad I came off the ship to take a look. There were several people onboard the ship who didn’t want to get off today because it was raining, and there had been a steady drizzle for most of the day. We had to get on a tender boat to get to where the boat docked, and when I got off, I couldn’t help but be in awe of how beautiful the Radiance Of The Seas looked against the snow-clad mountains.
After taking pictures of the ship, I walked along the beach, to where I could see the zip line. The rain kept on falling on the lens of both my camera and camcorder, so I kept on putting them away, and then getting tempted to take them back out again a few moments later, and then away again after a few minutes because of the rain. It was a busy time mostly due to the rain. Here are some more pictures that I took along the way.
As you may have noticed in one of the pictures, somebody had started a little fire on the beach to keep everyone warm. It was quite icy cold in Icy Strait Point, it surely lives up to it’s name! The drizzle did put a little damper on my outing, as I would definitely have liked to take more pictures, but I didn’t want to damage my camera, and already had got it wet various times.
I walked into the big brown building which was kind of like a museum towards the end of the pier, and this building also had quite a few shops. Apparently, I had missed a native dance, and found out about this later.
I then started on the track of one of the nature trails on the other side of the building shown above (museum) to the left of it, and discovered a most incredible sight – a lake with trees and snow-clad mountains in the distance (shown below). By this point, it was drizzling quite a bit. I then recorded the zip line on my camcorder, and will have to put it into a video later and add the link.
Altogether, I spent about two and a half hours in Icy Strait Point, and would definitely recommend that you get off the ship to visit this port. Don’t listen to those who tell you there’s nothing to see here, if you like natural beauty, you will see a lot of that around you. I then proceeded to take the tender boat shown below at the dock back to the Radiance Of The Seas.
Recommendations: take your umbrella to Alaska, and a thick jacket, plus gloves, and you can’t go wrong. Will soon write about Day 5 of the cruise.
Ketchikan

It is now Day 4 of my trip, but Day 3 of the cruise – it is Sunday, May 13th, 2012, and it is also Mother’s Day. Ketchikan was our first port visit on the cruise, and therefore, my first real glimpse of Alaska. I had a shore excursion that I had pre-booked with our CruiseOne shore excursions provider http://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/Ketchikan-Shore-Excursions-s/104.htm. The shore excursion consisted of three excursions in a package, and would allow me to experience Ketchikan, as well as two of the other port stops – Skagway, and Juneau. The price was really good, and I figured that instead of just walking around the pier where the cruise ship docks, I should go further into these destinations, and go to the main attractions. So, today’s Excursion 1 (out of 3) is the Saxman Native Village and Ketchikan City Tour.
I live in San Diego now, so it’s a little like someone coming to San Diego, but not knowing about the beautiful beaches of Del Mar, La Jolla, and Encinitas or about Balboa Park, or the Hotel Del in Coronado. If they just wander around the cruise port area, all they would see is beautiful SeaPort Village, and the harbor area near Anthony’s Fish Grotto Restaurant. There would be so much left of San Diego that would be left undiscovered, and that is why you sometimes just have to take these excursions, so that a professional tour organizer will take you to the best spots.
I only had to walk about two or three minutes away from where the cruise ship docked to check in with the bus – all the information about the meeting point was on my ticket. The bus set off promptly at 8:30 am and altogether this excursion lasted about two and a half hours. We went past the downtown Ketchikan area, which is within walking distance of the cruise terminal, and then made a few stops along the way to our ultimate destination – Saxman Native Village – which is where all the totem poles are. The two stops we made along the way were so we could take pictures of a waterfall, and a lake.
Here are some pictures of these two stops along the way:
I kind of like the picture above, even though it’s not the best since it was taken in the bus, and shows one of the passengers in the way of the view. The waterfall pictures were not that unique, so I didn’t include. Below is a picture of the lake where we stopped, and then I just had to take a picture of a house in Ketchikan. Then there are some pictures of totem poles, and some interesting street signs, as well as a Ketchikan trolley.
After viewing all the totem poles, we headed back to downtown Ketchikan, which is where I took the rest of the pictures below:
Don’t forget to visit Dolly’s House on Creek Street, this is a tourist attraction – with a story behind it that I won’t get into here. Ketchikan is well worth the visit, it is so colorful, I could not stop taking pictures. I hope you enjoyed looking at all of my pictures, and please let me know if you have any comments.