Reporting live from Radiance of the Seas in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Today, Sydney and I embarked on our 7-night sailing from Vancouver, Canada to Alaska. It was a gorgeous spring day with the perfect temperature. We really couldn’t have asked for a better send off on our first cruise day!
Our boarding slot today was for 1:30 PM this afternoon and we packed in a full morning before boarding the ship. Sydney and I stayed at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center in downtown. This was a great location in the city for exploring. It was also a quick 5 minute drive to the cruise port, which was perfect for us. We enjoyed our stay and would recommend the hotel for any cruisers because of its prime location.
Vancouver and Stanley Park’s Seawall
Downtown Vancouver is a super fun city to explore. I would highly recommend allowing some time to enjoy the downtown area if you're cruising from here in the near future! They have great walking and biking paths right along the waterfront that shouldn’t be missed. Stanley Park is also gorgeous and has a 6-mile looped called The Seawall.
With jet-lag on our side, our morning started early at 5:30 AM. Sydney and I had coffee and a lovely breakfast at the hotel before making our way towards Stanley Park. Sydney is someone who loves to be active when traveling, so we decided to rent bikes for an hour. Our plan was to our bikes around the 6-mile loop and enjoy the views from Stanley Park.
It was only $5 USD to rent the bikes and included a helmet - very affordable and a nice activity for all ages to enjoy. As my luck would have it, the gear of my bike collapsed within a few blocks of renting the bike so I had to walk it back and trade for a new one. I am so glad this happened before we had made any headway on the trail because it was a pain waling back my broken bike.
With a new bike ready for round 2, we made our way back to the biking trail. Once we were finally on our way, the bike ride was absolutely stunning. The weather was a brisk 55 degrees and we were comfortable with pants and a light jacket on. We could even see the ship in the port! To my pleasant surprise, the path is flat and paved for the entire 6 miles. The route takes you along the waterfront and even goes under Lions Gate Bridge.
After we finished biking The Seawall, we stopped for a snack at Break Bakery and Cafe. This was recommended to us as a good local cafe to grab coffee or a pastry, so I opted for a brownie cookie which was perfectly gooey and chocolatey.
Sydney and I did a little bit of shopping downtown to pick up a few things for the cruise before getting ready to pack out bags and head to the ship. We forgot to pack enough conditioner for the week - and this is a cruising must! The showers only provide a 2-in-1 shampoo and body wash so it's nice to have your own conditioner.
ArriveCan Chaos
We opted to take a Lyft from the hotel to the cruise port right around 1:15 PM for our slated arrival time. The Lyft was super cheap, only costing us $8 USD. The conversion rate right now is amazing!
When we arrived, it seemed pretty quiet in the terminal drop off area. We dropped off luggage and began the boarding process.
Before entering the terminal, one of the port workers simply asked if we had all our necessary documents and we showed her our Set Sail Passes. I was surprised she didn't verify we had the right documents, she just took our word for it! We went through security and then we had to complete customs and immigration since we are leaving Canada to enter the United States.
The line moved quick enough as fellow cruisers shuffled through the customs kiosks. These are similar to what you find in the airports where a slip is printed after scanning your passport and declaring any goods you have. Sydney and I weren’t selected for any additional screening luckily, so we went on our way to the next boarding phase.
Also, I have Global Entry and I am pretty sure I would have been able to bypass the line and the kiosks. I didn’t want to separate from Sydney so I chose not to go in the Global Entry line, but it seemed to be an option.
NOTE: If you are cruising from Canada soon, you will want to read this section to save yourself major headache!
One of the port workers asked to see our ArriveCan forms and we showed her the emails we received for our flights. (This was also when I realized that masks were seemingly required in the terminal because I lowered my mask to use my FaceID on my iPhone - she immediately snapped at me to get my mask back on).
Currently, if you fly into Canada, you will need to enter your travel plans and upload vaccination proof before entering the country. You receive a QR code after and can download the ArriveCAN app that will have your info and QR code. I only needed to show the gate agent for my flight into Vancouver in order to board the flight.
The port worker snipped at us and said we needed another ArriveCAN form to board the ship. We were dumbfounded and had no idea this needed to be done.
None of the communication from RCL mentioned that we would need to fill out ANOTHER form on ArriveCAN to board the cruise. Clearly, no one knew about this because it was utter chaos in the terminal.
Everyone was on their phone - and clogging the cell network - trying to get another ArriveCAN form submitted because you couldn’t board the ship without having the form completed.
We saw a lot of older guests who were struggling trying to fill out this information on their phones; that is, if they even had a phone to use because there were no computers available that I saw.
We also received no direction on how to fill out the marine entry form, as it’s different than the airline one with just arrival date information. Sydney and I were frazzled as the app was slow to respond.
Finally, we were able to complete the marine travel form on the app and thought we had done them correctly. We got in line with our QR codes only to get told at the front of the line that we entered the wrong information.
Apparently you have to enter the entire duration of the cruise from start to end. I guess we had just entered today’s date for departure.
By this point, we were super annoyed with how everything was being handled. People were sitting on the ground trying to upload proof of vaccination and complete the forms. Lots of older guests were receiving little to no assistance either for filling out the required document.
Finally, our information was correctly entered and we were able to board the ship. This was also where our passport was scanned, negative test was verified and health questionnaire was complete.
The port worker said that they had just heard of the requirement that morning. I am not sure if RCL dropped the ball on the ArriveCAN app or if the requirements were only made known to RCL right before the cruise. Either way, this was poorly executed and left many of us frustrated and frazzled.
Either way, if you sail on Radiance of the Seas from Vancouver, save yourself the headache and complete the marine travel form on the ArriveCAN app before arriving at the terminal.
Sailaway
After boarding the ship (finally!), we dropped off our luggage at our stateroom. We are sailing in an inside cabin (3071) for the ship and it’s very comfortable with plenty of storage. We booked an inside guarantee and our cabin is located almost midship, so we can't complain!
Next, we made our way to the dining room to schedule our My Time Dining. I guess you can book your dinner time online prior to the cruise because they were barely able to accommodate us for dinner at 5:30 PM.
I used to just take it day by day with My Time Dining, but my cruises this year made me realize you need to apparently book your dinner time prior to boarding if you want to eat before 8 PM. I thought My Time Dining was meant to be a flexible option, but I guess not.
Eventually, we made our way to the top deck for lunch at the Windjammer. We ate outside on the back deck and the weather was perfect for spring. I had a hot dog and Sydney had a salad and small ice cream cone.
The trauma from boarding was only cured by the cocktails we enjoyed on the top deck as were admired the beautiful scenery. The Sailaway party started around 4:00 PM and the pool deck slowly filled with people wanting to watch us leave port. There was actually some lively energy on the pool deck and everyone was enjoying the scenery. We were looking for whales and seals from above but didn't have any luck.
At 5:00 PM, Radiance pushed back and we were on our way to Alaska! We sailed out of Vancouver and under Lion’s Gate Bridge, which was stunning!
Dinner in the Main Dining Room
It was well past 5:30 PM, so we made a pitstop at our cabin to change and made our way to deck 4 for dinner. There was a long line at the entrance, so I was glad we took care of our reservation right after we boarded.
Our table for 2 was tucked between two other tables of 2 with less than a foot between the tables. It seemed that the waitstaff was very busy, essentially trying to accommodate multiple tables of 2 each ordering at different times.
We are seated near a window and saw whales from afar, which was so fun!
Sydney started with the crab cake and I chose the wild mushroom soup. My mom dies for the crab cakes, so I was surprised when Sydney said it was a little mushy. My soup was pretty good but I could have used more truffle flavor.
For dinner, I had the prime rib and Sydney the herb-crusted salmon. We both really enjoyed our meals, although the service was a bit slower than normal. We also didn’t have a beverage waiter stop by for a while, so we asked the main waiter if we could order cocktails. I think it added some more stress to his plate, so I will opt to get a drink before we head to dinner again.
Dessert tonight was key lime pie, warm hazelnut chocolate cake and peach berry cobbler. Sydney didn’t know the cobbler was low sugar, so she said it was a little tart. The key lime pie and chocolate cake were fabulous.
After dinner, we were pretty pooped so we came back to our room and unpacked. There was no headliner show tonight except for some movies playing, trivia in the pub and karaoke tonight.
Tomorrow is a sea day so I am excited to relax a bit tomorrow. We also booked dinner at Samba Grill Brazilian Steakhouse tomorrow! I’ve never heard of this speciality dining restaurant onboard a Royal Caribbean ship! Our dinner table friends said they heard amazing things about it, so I have high hopes.
