Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Vision of the Seas Cruise Review
Alaska

Sandra Craven

I booked this 7 day cruise with air through the RCCL group department. There were 40 of us that went. We all category H, ocean view cabins on Deck 3.

Day 1: We had flights on Delta leaving Charlotte, NC at 8:00 am, a short layover at Salt Lake City and then on to Seattle. The flights were smooth, no problems at all. We arrived in Seattle and there was a team of representatives from RCCL there. Once we claimed our baggage, the RCCL team checked it in for us and we boarded a bus for the port. So easy! We were on the ship just in time to check out our cabins and then go to the mandatory muster drill. The drill lasted 30 minutes. After that, we purchased our soda package and headed to the Solarium café for food. The pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs were quite good. We went up on deck to watch the sail away from Seattle. There are great views of the Seattle, The Space Needle and Mt. Rainier from the ship. Since we were dead tired we went back to the cabin to rest. I woke up at 6:15 PM and decided to go up to the dining room. My husband and son did not wake up at all. They slept all night. I ate a little dinner and then went back to bed. I had been up all night packing so I was ready for some zzzz’s!

Day 2: Today was a sea day. This was a good day to explore the ship. We went to the shopping talk where we purchased a Savvy Shopper book for $25. There were a lot of free or free with purchase, coupons in it for all of the Alaska ports. We played and lost a bingo game, tried our luck on the slots, and checked out the shops onboard. We also ate lunch at the Windjammer and had some ice cream. The captain made an announcement that there was a medical emergency and we had to turn around and sail back 2 hours to meet a Coast Guard helicopter. We heard that a man slipped and hit his head on the pool. At dinner we watched as the helicopter hovered over the ship. They must have dropped a basket down and when they loaded him up it came back over the deck and picked him up. This of course would make us @ 4 hours late for Juneau, but that was okay, we understood. Tonight was the first formal night. The foods, especially the desserts, in the dining room were very good each night. The entertainment tonight was a comic by the name of Ralph Harris. He was very funny. You can see him on Last Comic Standing on NBC. We also enjoyed the karaoke tonight.

Day 3: In Juneau, better late than never! We had booked the Mendenhall Glacier/Whale Watch excursion here. It was not cancelled although some other excursions were because of our late arrival. We got to Juneau @ 3:00 pm. It was so warm - 73 degrees. We boarded a bus (not air conditioned) and he drove us to the glacier. It was a little cooler there. Mendenhall is a beautiful place. We were there for about one hour. We got back on the bus and headed for Auke Bay. On the way we saw a black bear just sitting in a ditch by the road! We got to the marina and boarded a boat. They had free bottled water, hot chocolate, coffee, juice and apples. Later they gave us some chips and cookie. This was a great excursion. We saw so many whales (well, at least we saw their backs, tails and the spray from the blows). We also saw bald eagles and harbor seals. We enjoyed this very much. We got back to the ship just before it left. My son & I ordered room service. He got the pizza and I got the chicken wings. Both were very good.

Day 4: Today we arrived in Skagway. There was a very light rain, but we caught the shuttle into town and walked around and shopped for a while. We came back to the ship for lunch and then boarded the White Pass Rail Road for our excursion. This excursion lasted 3.5 hours. It was a train ride up to Fraser, B.C. We never got off the train. It just made a loop and came back the same way it went up. We saw two bears during the trip. The scenery is beautiful. The train has free bottled water. It was very comfortable and each car had a bathroom. My son & I spent a lot of time on the platform taking pictures. We got back to the ship and boarded the shuttle and went back into town for more shopping. We used our Savvy Shopper books and picked up several freebies here. We were not able to use any of our Juneau coupons due to our late arrival.

Day 5: Today was another sea day. We actually went through Tracy Arms Fjords today. It was so beautiful. It was a little cold on deck but the sun was shining and the icebergs were a beautiful shade of blue. The captain sent some of his crew out on a raft and they came back with big chunks of ice from an iceberg. The ice looks like it is put together like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. We enjoyed our day on the ship. Tonight’s entertainment was fabulous…….the Drifter’s! They signed autographs and sold CD’s after the show.

Day 6: Today we arrive in Prince Rupert, BC. It was raining (a light mist) but we got off the ship and walked to the shops nearby. We had planned to take my son Halibut fishing here, but it was cancelled due to the weather. We went back to the ship and had lunch. After lunch we went back out and walked around the town. There is not much to see or do here on your own and the transportation is not great. Someone from our group did the Grizzly Bear excursion and really enjoyed it. The whale watching did not go so well – I heard that they did not see one whale. I would have preferred going to Victoria or another Alaska town. Tonight’s entertainment was the ship singers/dancers in a production show called Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme. It was okay.

Day 7: Today was another sea day. We went through the inside passage today. It was very scenic. We enjoyed this relaxing day. The captain and crew had a parade of nations around the pool area today. Tonight’s show was a variety show. In addition to the ship dancers and singers there was a juggler/clown named Charlie Frye. He was okay. There was a comedian names Kevi Rogers. He was so funny. He really talked about how terrible Prince Rupert was and he imitated the Captain speaking over the intercom. We enjoyed the show very much.

Overall this was a nice cruise and we enjoyed our excursions very much. The ship was very clean and the staff was very friendly where ever you went. The ship has a lot of public areas with a lot of glass for viewing. We even spotted a few whales from the ship. The food was great and the entertainment was good too. We enjoyed the “lounge singers” in the Centrum area and Dan the Piano Man in the Schooner bar. I did not attend, but I did catch the Marriage and Quest game shows on the cabin TV. They were very funny. The cabin was kept clean and the shower had good water pressure. The hair dryer supplied by the ship was fine too. The captain was very visible around the ship. We even saw him & his wife and new baby in the buffet one day.

We all chose to pay the $20 per person for Luggage Valet. This was well worth it. We put our bags out Thursday night and did not see them again until we got home. We were the second group called off the ship. Express (carry your own luggage) was first. We walked right off the ship and onto a bus that took us to the airport. I will definitely do this again.

This was a great cruise and I would love to go back to Alaska .