Cruising - Day One - Hubbard Glacier

The ports of call on the Radiance of the Seas: Day One - Hubbard Glacier.

This day was spent at sea with a visit to the Hubbard Glacier. From its source in the Yukon, the glacier stretches 122 km (76 mi) to the sea at Yakutat Bay and Disenchantment Bay. It is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, with an open calving face over ten kilometers (6 mi) wide.

When the glacier calves, a sound very similar to thunder can be heard.

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Here is some of the scenery along the way to the glacier:

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We begin seeing ice from glacial calving in the water:

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The tip of the iceburg:

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Day Five and Day Six

Day Five - Talkeetna/Anchorage: We take a Motorcoach ride to Anchorage. Overnight in Anchorage.

The population of the state of Alaska is less than 700,000. About 42% of that population resides in Anchorage. The city is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The photos here are from our arrival in Anchorage, views from our Hotel, and, a short tour of an Alaskan Native Cultural center.


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Day Six - Anchorage/Seward – We take an Anchorage Tour in the morning followed by a motorcoach to Seward in the afternoon to board the Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas.
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. Jaw bones from a whale:

. A Whale skeleton:

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The bus ride from Anchorage to Seward revealed some spectacular scenery. We didn't see much of Seward as the bus took us directly to the ship for boarding:




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Day Four - Denali/Talkeetna

Day Four - Denali/Talkeetna – Free morning. In the afternoon, we board the Wilderness Express, Royal Caribbean’s glass-domed traincar on a journey to Talkeetna. This evening was spent at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge.

These photos are from our rail trip to Talkeetna:


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Talkeetna: This Alaskan town is famous for two reasons;

1. This is ground zero for Mt. McKinley climbers. There is a cemetary in town where those who have died trying are laid to rest. So far, two people have died attempting the climb this year.

2. This is the town that the Television show "Northern Exposure" was based upon.


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Views of and from our hotel:


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. We are told that you should be able to see Mt. McKinley in this view. The hotel offers a Mt. McKinley call (similar to a wake-up call) when and if, the mountain comes into view. She did not make an appearance for us although some in our group did receive the call and reported that they could see the mountain for about 5 minutes.

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