Alaska Cruise Or Land Tour For A Vacation That Warms Your HeartWritten by Elizabeth Ann Wares
Besides its reputation for being "cold", what else do you know about our 49th State? Alaska has an abundance of things to do and see, whether you are a first time vacationer or a returning traveler. There is no other place like Alaska for traveling and exploring. Alaska is 586,000 square miles. With an area that big, think about possibilities.Here are just a few of attractions that are available and are sure to whet your appetite for adventure. Wildlife viewing, helicopter tours, and train rides are very popular. You can also relax on a bus tour into Denali State Park, watch a totem pole being carved, or try your luck at catching one of Alaska’s world famous King Salmon. It would take (2) lifetimes to experience everything Alaska has to offer. With its vast wilderness, Alaska provides opportunities for viewing wildlife either up close or from far away, in its natural habitat. For example, Alaska holds distinction of having largest Eagle population in world. Whether you are a nature lover or not, just seeeing these magnificent birds soar throught air is enough to take your breath away. With a wilderness area that is 2 1/2 times size of state of Texas, you can be guaranteed excellent photo opportunities. It's hard to believe that Alaska has largest temperate rain forest in United States. Take time to walk in it and discover this incredible gift. Indescribable adventures await you whereever your journey takes you in Alaska. Every "ice-blue" glacier and historic waterfront town calls for you to jump in to explore and discover its uniqueness and beauty. Give yourself freedom to answer this "call of wild". In every city from Anchorage to Fairbanks and beyond, there's plenty to do and see.
| | Western Caribbean CruiseWritten by Clint Leung
We were on Radiance of Seas for western Caribbean cruise on November 28/04. This was our second cruise with Royal Caribbean with our first last year on larger Adventure of Seas. After one cruise with RCI, I expected roughly same standards with Radiance and in general, I wasn't disappointed. Staterooms: Our stateroom was an inside aft cabin and we were not disappointed. It was roomy enough and lighting was adequate. Closet space and drawers were also sufficient for our use. We noticed that double beds here were actually a bit better than one we had on Adventure since we couldn't really feel split between two separate beds like we did last time. If there's one thing that can be improved is shower curtain. The one installed was not adequate in keeping in all water from shower. The shower on Adventure utilized a double glass door system which was far superior. Otherwise, cabin was nice and dark for sleeping at night. Although we heard a little noise from cabins next to us, it was minimal. We didn't miss having any window or balcony at all since we were hardly ever in our stateroom. We were either at port or elsewhere on ship and went back to our cabins just to relax or sleep. We would definitely book an inside cabin again with RCI unless we had a free upgrade. Dining: The main Cascades dining room was nice and meals were good. Breakfasts had same menu every morning. Lunch at dining room was okay. The dinners were good but not every meal item was a winner. There was odd appetizer and dessert that was not up to par. One thing that my partner noticed was that portions of main courses seemed to be smaller than those served on Adventure. We usually went upstairs to Windjammer to get more food after dining at Cascades. In some parts of Cascades room, tables were placed too cramp so walking to out own table was tricky at times. The self serve Windjammer was good. It usually had more variety of food than served downstairs at Cascades. Breakfast and lunch were busy at Windjammer but during evenings, most people chose to dine at Cascades. The two other optional restaurants onboard Portafino and Choppe House were available at $20 US per person but we never tried them since meals already included at Cascades and Windjammer were fine by us. Other passengers who did go to these optional rooms told us that they were nothing special. There was another cafe available during late evenings called Seaview and they provided fare such as sandwiches, salads and burgers. This was a nice feature. One thing we did object to was that they charged for coffee and tea there. There was also a specialty coffee place on main centrum of ship and they also charged. We had more availability of free beverages on Adventure.
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